The results are in!

So, I went to the dietitian yesterday, and now I can relax! According to her scale, just like mine I lost 4 lbs in the last 4 weeks! That is exactly the pace I want to be going! Part of me was secretly hoping it was going to be more, but it's ok! I am happy with that amount off of my body for good! I feel great! I feel healthy, and that's about all I could ask for!
After everything was done yesterday, before I had to go into work, I took a nap! (Hence the choice in picture!) It was so nice to catch a nap! I have been running myself ragged, and I need to slow down a little!

Getting a little nervous.....

Ok, so I have my 3rd meeting with the dietitian tomorrow. I feel like I have been doing great this month! Let's hope that her scale shows it! I have been trying to eat good, but I have to admit that I haven't been doing very well the last week or so. I've been doing a bit of stress eating, due to everything that has been going on. I've not eaten as bad as I know I have in the past, so here's to hoping that it turns out better than I think it will! I am ready to feel good about going to the dietitian again, not nervous. I haven't been following my plan quite as closely the last week, but I hope I did enough working out to counter balance it.

EXHAUSTED!!!!!!!!!!

So, this picture is how I feel right now! It seems that I just can't get enough sleep, and I run myself ragged! My poor hubby doesn't know what to do, because I am so tired when I am at home. He keeps thinking I am mad at him! I'm really not, I am just exhausted, trying to wind down so I can get some sleep! My way of escaping lately has been to read. It's been nice to do that, but my hubby feels like I am shutting him out. I'm not intentionally trying to do that. I felt so bad, because I got home a little after 10 last night from my long day, and one of the first things I do as I come through the door is jump at him over something stupid. I felt SO BAD!!! I really don't do that! Bottom line, I need to make sleep more of a priority in my life again!

T-Tapp

So, my friend Carrie introduced me to the at home workout T-Tapp. The Basic Workout is a 15 minute workout meant to detox your system. It was designed for people without thyroids. Teressa Tapp has a Dr. degree, and she designed this system herself, because a lot of people with thyroid problems are very overweight. It is truly fabulous! In the 15 minutes it takes to do this workout, I am pouring with sweat! Check it out! I am a huge fan! t-tapp.com

Article Time!

So, being that my husband lost his job, I have been looking for ways to make healthy meals fairly inexpensively. I found an article about rice and beans, and thought that I would share it with you all! I think my brother and his family who live in Brazil will enjoy it!

(NaturalNews) Failing economies and rising food prices are getting a bit scary. Then there is the talk of food shortages looming, which is scarier. It is time to discuss beans and rice again for inexpensive, tasty, filling, and nutritious food staples, which can also be easily stored for extended periods.

Buy Bulk

Avoid packaged rice and canned beans. The least expensive and most nutritious way to buy and store rice and beans is to buy organic from the bulk bins. Indian basmati rice can also be purchased in large sacks from specialty stores or online. Ironically, Ayurvedic (India's traditional medicine) doctors recommend white basmati rice over brown because it's easier to digest and almost as nutritious.

All the dry beans you buy bulk will require soaking before cooking, which is a good thing if you're concerned about phytic acid. Phytic acid (phytates) is in most grains and legumes (beans) to varying degrees, which is why some oppose a diet of mostly grains, beans, seeds, and nuts. Phytic acid tends to block minerals from being easily absorbed. (Source 1 below).

But the other side of this controversy claims that concern is exaggerated. Phytic acid helps block radiation, which is now more of a pressing issue than ever. (Source 2 below) Either way, soaking beans or rice for several hours prior to cooking does reduce phytates sufficiently, but not completely.

And it just so happens that most beans worth eating need to be soaked the night before cooking. This also results in a much shorter cooking time, a half hour or so. Brown rice can be soaked through the night also, but basmati white rice needs only to be thoroughly rinsed until the water is completely clear prior to cooking.

Lentils don't need to be soaked prior to cooking unless you're very concerned about phytic acid or phytates. In any event, whatever is soaked should not be cooked in the same water. Remove grains or beans from the soaking water and replace that water for cooking. Of course, we're talking pure water with most of the chlorine and sodium fluoride removed.

Preparation

There are several ways to boil rice that is not sticky. You can Google those methods or simply invest in a steamer that doesn't use aluminum. Beans, except for lentils, need to be soaked for eight or more hours. Overnight is efficient. You can tell when they're ready to cook because you can bite through them easily after sufficient soaking.

After you change the water, bring the beans to a boil then simmer until soft. Usually this takes a half-hour to 45 minutes max. The rice needs to simmer with a lid on it for some time, whether using a pan, rice steamer, or cooker.

This writer likes to use black beans, chick peas (garbanzo), or lentils. Basmati white rice is used most often with the black beans while garbanzos and lentils are used with brown or white basmati. Basmati rice is a long grain rice developed in India and South Asia, but grown in the USA now as well.

Parboiled white basmati is an excellent choice. Parboiling is a process of removing the husks efficiently while retaining most of the nutrition and divesting a lot of phytates. Don't confuse parboiled rice with processed instant rice. Parboiled rice takes just as long to cook as any other, 30 to 45 minutes on average. (Source 3 below)

Rice and beans combined offer a lot of nutrients, including protein, along with a healthy, high fiber content. There are many ways to put together fulfilling, tasty rice and beans dishes. (Source 4 below)

Sources for more information:

(1)http://www.westonaprice.org/food-fe...
(2)http://www.naturalnews.com/031902_g...
(3)http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-par...
(4) http://www.naturalnews.com/028007_f...
http://www.livestrong.com/article/2...

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032396_beans_rice.html#ixzz1VrCMR28O

Good, cheap food! I'm all over it! Time to get our stock back up, and we can live off of it for a while! :D Good thing my hubby likes beans and rice!

Stress Level

So, my stress levels were SKY HIGH this last weekend. Friday night, we find out that my hubby has lost his job. We are without his income, and all of the finances have now fallen on my shoulders until he can find something. He's going to try a couple of temp agencies to try to help and see if he can bring enough in to help with our rent.
Saturday, I had a lot of stress going on at my work. I'm a manager, and I had two employees who weren't getting along. I'm not going to go into the details of what and why on that subject, but I came home from work on Saturday, and my hubby didn't know what to do to help me. He is a good man, and he let me have a moment in his arms, and then I was so exhausted from all of the stress of the previous couple of days, that he let me take a small nap. Once the work stuff was all resolved, I felt much better about things, but I still wasn't eating a lot, so I'm glad that I was too exhausted to work out all weekend. I ate like a bird, just kind of picking at my food. Usually in this situation, I would have eaten everything I could get my hands on.
So, even though my stress was high, I didn't emotionally eat, which makes me proud of myself. I know I need to be careful with that, and make sure that I am eating enough. I know better than to intentionally starve myself and kill my metabolism.
So, here's to a week where I can handle stress better! (And find ways of extra income!)

EXCITED!!!!!!!!!

I am happy to announce that I have lost another pound! I'm really chipping away at this extra weight that I have been carrying around! It makes me very excited to see that on the scale. The more exciting thing, is that I am feeling it in my clothes! I'm about ready to buy new pants for work, because I have been wearing skirts all summer! A couple more pounds, and I should have to buy a new pair of pants! :)

Rice Cakes

Ok, so lately I have totally been craving rice cakes! My hubby spotted his favorite ones at the store this last week, so we picked those up, plus a bag of my favorites. I took some for breakfast the next day, and it was so tasty! I could hardly believe it had been that long since I had bought them! They are a wonderful calorie controlled meal/snack for me on my plan, so believe me when I say I will be buying them fairly often! My hubby devoured his in the first night! I could hardly believe it! He usually takes a couple of days with them at least, but he scarfed them down! It was crazy! I guess my healthier food choices are starting to rub off on him...but now we need to work on his portion control! ;)

Costa Vida

Dear Costa Vida,
I'm sorry to inform you, but we have to break up. When I eat one of your delicious Smothered Sweet Pork Burrito's, I can't stop myself in enough time to have portion control. When I eat all of it, I am consuming 1100 calories in one sitting, and 113 carbs, which is insane! I can't succeed on my journey, and continue to eat you on a regular basis. Once I get a little smaller, I may be able to come and visit you again, but for now we must part ways, and move on with our lives. I hope you can handle it better than me. Don't Cry for me Costa Vida, I will be back further along my journey.
Lots of love,
Shae the Fat Minnie

Weekends

So, I have to say the weekends are the hardest for me to stay on track with my eating and everything. It just seems to be so hectic when it comes to my schedule, that I don't know what to do to stay on track! We also usually eat dinner with my parents or my in laws on Sundays. I'm not always in control of what is offered for the meal, so I try my best to not pig out on anything, but sometimes I don't have enough of what I should.
What are your tricks to staying on track over the weekend? I always feel so sluggish and flabby on Monday morning when I do my workout...

WAHOO!!!!!

I am so proud of myself! I jumped on the scale this morning at work, and I realized that I had lost another 3 lbs! YaY! I couldn't be happier! That makes my total weight loss 30 lbs so far, and I couldn't feel better about getting there! It's been a long 2 years of losing weight, but it has been worth it, and will continue to be so!

Cruelty

This morning, I found out what a couple of people on my facebook really thought of me, and it was heartbreaking. I can't believe that I thought they cared about me, and they thought other things of me. Maybe I always look for the best in people, but I have never truly felt that I was better than anyone, or that someone would ever say the things these people said. I'm still in shock over it as I type this post.
The first thing I wanted to do was run across the street to Burger King, and not care what I ordered. I realized that I have done that a lot in my life when I felt someone was being cruel to me. So I stopped myself, and instead of running over there, I did 2 things. First, I blocked these cruel people from my facebook so that I would never have to know anything else their cruelty would ever want to tell me. Second, I wrote this post. I feel like I don't want to pig out on Burger King anymore, so that's a good thing. I'm also glad to get their negativity out of my life. I can't have the negativity if I want to be successful on my journey!
So, here's to a better rest of the day! It's only 6am, and I have a long great day ahead of me!

How am I doing?

So, I was worried about how I would do with my eating and such while my hubby was gone. I did really well yesterday! I am so proud of myself! No major snacking, and no overeating at my meals! It was GREAT!! I felt like I had enough energy as well!
The best thing about yesterday, I got quality time with my kitty! It was so nice to get some one on one time with her again. She gets really cuddly when my hubby isn't around, and it's so fun for me! This isn't a picture of my kitty, but it's a good picture depicting how we both felt last night! Here's to another good day!

TRAINING GOAL

So, this year, I have a goal that I want to do. I AM GOING TO RUN A 5K ON THANKSGIVING DAY!! I am really excited to do this! I've got a group of friends that are going to do it, and I really want to do it with them! I know I can walk a 5K distance, so I want to get to the point that I can jog the whole thing. :) I'm really excited to do this, and I hope that I can get in great enough shape that it won't be a big deal to do! :)
Wish me luck! I'm going to start adding jogging to the walking right away!

What to do?

Ok, so my hubby is going to be out of town for 4 days for a funeral, and we can't afford for both of us to go. I'm kind of dreading it. I'm afraid that I will slip back into bad habits while he is gone. We have been doing this new diet thing together, and he helps keep me accountable, because he reminds me to track my foods the way I need to. He also reminds me not to bake treats and make super cheesy dinners. I don't know how I'm going to do while he is gone. I hope I can stick with my new habits. I've been doing them over a month now, so I hope that I can stick with them! We will see! This will be a true test of my will power, without my diet buddy.
Any suggestions on what I should do? Anyone? Oh, it's a good thing we are poor, so that I won't eat out the whole time he's gone too! That's helpful this time!

Zumba Today

Ok, so I need to do Zumba more on Saturdays! I love the new instructor we have, Ana. She's adorable! She has this great smile on her face all the time, and she keeps her routine the same at Curves, so that the ladies are always comfortable with her. We only had 4 people besides her today, but it was still so fun! I can't wait for more people to come and experience it! I'm going to have to make it as often as I can!
I am totally sweaty and exhausted right now from that workout, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!
Zumba+Curves= Happy Shae!

Not feeling well

So, for the last 3 days I have had a pretty severe headache, and I've been nauseated when I eat. My first thought after 2 days of it, "Maybe I'm pregnant." So, I took a pregnancy test last night, and as I always expect, it came up negative. So, why am I not feeling well? I wish I knew. I eat just enough to get me by. Not enough to where I throw up what I have eaten, but enough that I am not starving. I haven't even reached my 1500 calories the last 2 days because I haven't felt well.
Because I haven't been feeling well, I haven't really been working out. I need to get better so I can get back to working out! I feel flabby!

Success and Changes

So, I feel good after my visit with the dietitian! I have lost 2 lbs and 2 inches off of my belly in the last month on this program! I feel pretty good about that! I have no complaints whatsoever!

We decided that since I didn't have the results I was really looking for..(I want to lost 1 lb a week, which is 4 lbs in a month,) we decided to slightly decrease my calorie intake, and have my meals be a little smaller, since I felt like they were huge. I'm now eating closer to 1500 calories a day instead of 1700. I think I will be able to achieve my goals a little more closely this way. She said that if I have worked out a lot that day, and my body is still hungry, to eat a little bit more, but to make sure it's not too late at night.

I'm really happy with this plan. It's quite structured, but it's still flexible at the same time. Wednesday is my "On The Run" day, as I will be working all over the place tomorrow. So, I have to plan ahead.

Well, I am off to bed! Have a fabulous night and Wednesday everyone!

Birthday Cupcakes!

Ok, so my weakness this weekend was CUPCAKES! It was my 26th birthday, and I was thinking it would be better to get a cupcake rather than a piece of cake! In theory it's great, because it's a one time temptation. But I really should have been better about how I handled myself!

Sunday night, my parents had gone to the local bakery Flour Girls and Dough Boys to pick up my cupcake. IT WAS HUGE!!!!! I should have only eaten half! They got me the "Princess Cupcake" which had an extra tier of frosting on it. I really shouldn't have eaten the whole thing!

Then yesterday, my in-laws went to Cupcake Chic, which is another local cupcake place. I had 1 and a half cupcakes from there! I ate the whole Key Lime Pie one, and then a little more than half of the Red Velvet one!

Good thing today is a new day! The bad thing, I am going to see the dietitian in about 4 hours....wish me luck! I will report back in the morning!