Trials of a Long Haired Girl

Happy Tuesday, friends!  It's been a week or two since I've done a Tuesday Talk, but things have been a little bit hectic in my world.  This week, let's talk about meal planning.  I struggled with this for many, many years.  After moving back to meetings a few years ago, when we were talking about meal planning, someone mentioned just tackle planning one meal.  I decided I would try and while every week is not fully planned and I still struggle with a strict plan for each day, each day has a plan of some sort that may change, but at least I have an idea of what we are having each week.  This also means that I have some idea of what I need to buy at the store each week.  I can also adjust my meal plan to focus on what is on sale at the store.  This also helps with the budget, as well as my SmartPoints budget also.  I can plan for high point meals.  I think initially I felt overwhelmed that I felt I needed to plan every meal and every sn...

Happy Monday, friends!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  While nothing specific to share, overall, our weekend was good.  Last week's meal plan was as follows: Monday: Pulled Pork with chips Tuesday: Cheeseburger and Tot Casserole Wednesday: Fettuccine Alfredo & Garlic bread Thursday: Breakfast for dinner Friday: Beans and Mom's cornbread Saturday: Cane's Sunday: Snack food because we had a late lunch. The plan for the week is a little fluid because we have friends coming in from out of state, so things are subject to change without notice. Mexican Lasagna Baked Potatoes Spaghetti, Salad and Garlic Bread Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes and an unspecified vegetable.  I really tried to focus on my points this week.  My moment was not as good as I would have liked, but I did lose 2.2 lbs.  I realized that I only have a little more than half a pound to hit 30 pounds lost!  I haven't been that low since before my husband and I began...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve, friends!  Have you ever read or listened to something and it seemed like that person wrote that or was speaking directly to you?  My childhood pastor used to refer to it as "reading someone's mail" and I have also heard it referred to as having someone's number.  Well, I tell you, in all honestly, I was seriously feeling like I was being spoken to this week.  Earlier this week I was listening to an audiobook called "Made To Crave" by Lysa TerKeurst and promptly decided that I needed to get the ebook and have not made up my mind for sure yet, but I think I may have to go check out a hard copy from the library and there is also a participant's guide as well.  When she started speaking about needing to see herself through God's eyes instead of through her past situations and her baggage, it was a reality check.  I mean, hello??!!  I have struggled with my self esteem for so many years.  Then a YouTuber that I follow...

Happy Wednesday a/k/a Hump Day, friends!  A few weeks ago, Valentine's day, in fact, I whipped up this Hamburger Stroganoff .  I have to tell you, back in the day, we (my oldest son and I) were big fans of the Hamburger Helper Stroganoff.  After trying this one, I have to tell you that I cannot believe I EVER spent money on the boxed stuff!  This was so easy and so very tasty!  The last time I made this, I fixed some crescent rolls and some green beans.  Just a note, she includes that mushrooms are optional and I did not include them due to allergies in my house to mushrooms.  There are ways to lighten it up, I am sure, but I track it with the full fat sour cream.

Happy Monday friends!  I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  I took some time to enjoy some things I don't do often.  I must admit that we sat down and had Mexican food at my favorite restaurant in my hometown area.  It is my all time favorite and I haven't found anything like that in my area.  I also started an audiobook by Lysa TerKeurst called Made to Crave.  I quickly figured out that I needed the book, so I found it available in ebook from the library.  They also have a hard copy and I may have to make a run to go check that out, but I'll try this ebook first.  I have to admit so far, this had really spoke to me about my mindset and food.  Last week, we did LOP for lunches and at least one night because we really had a lot of leftovers with the soups. So, we had:  Sunday: Beans and Mom's special cornbread Monday: 7 can soup variation Tuesday:  Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Parmesan Soup Wednesday: White Chick...

Happy Friday friends!  This week, overall, has been a good one.  I have been accountable for a lot of my food this week by posting on Instagram, but even more than that, I have been tracking.  I've been consistently hitting my step goal this week and drinking 120 oz of water.  I only got one 5 minute workout in this week, but it's better than weeks past. Quite honestly, I've been struggling with my breathing this week and I'm not quite sure why.  I've been to the doctor a couple of times in the last couple of weeks and my oxygen level is good (like 99 and 98, respectively).   Things I'm proud of this week?  Unlike many of my fellow Weight Watcher members, I do not do fat free and sugar free stuff.  I have still been craving some sweets like a crazy person.  So this week, I cut myself a banana and had weighed out 1 serving of Hershey's Simply 5 (I think that's what it is) Chocolate Syrup.  It was a tasty afternoon snack that curb...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve friends! I hope everyone has had a good week!  Overall, so far, it's been a pretty good week.  I had unexpected downtime on Tuesday night so DH and I headed to the movies, which hasn't happened in ages.  It was nice to have a night time date since we normally do breakfast dates on Saturday mornings.  I love having that time with him, but we did not do that this past Saturday.  I am feeling much better than I did last week and my 5 perfect days seem to be going pretty well.  If I can continue to string them together, I'll feel pretty good about my birthday month.  I have been thinking about some things recently that I thought I would share.  I have been doing WW for more years than I'd care to remember.  When I started WW, I was very dedicated and I ate all the fat free or low fat stuff and all the sugar substitutes and the like.  My primary focus was how many Points is this or that?  Looking up the ...

Happy Wednesday a/k/a Hump Day, friends!  I hope everyone has had a good week thus far.  My sweet husband and I had an unexpected mid-week date last night.  Several of the theaters in our area have $5.00 movie tickets on Tuesday nights.  It was an enjoyable evening and made me thankful that I kept my points lower during the day or I wouldn't have had enough points to have dinner at the theater.  I had already prepared a Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Parmesan Soup .  It turned out quite well.  Since we went out to eat at the movie, DH and I only had a taste, but DD had two bowls, which definitely means she likes it.  I used more of my Zero Point Marinara instead of the diced tomatoes (I have diced tomatoes in my marinara that I leave chunky).  I will be having this for lunch and White Chicken Chili for dinner.  Hope everyone has a great one!

Happy cold Monday!  I am not a fan of the cold weather!  So we're going to be having some soup!  Well, at least Monday through Wednesday, we're having soup.  Then some warmer weather is supposed to hit.  I haven't fully decided what we are doing the rest of the week, but we really didn't follow the plan closely this week, so I may sub in some of the things that I planned last week.  I was down for the count the better part of the week with a kidney infection.  If you haven't had one, I pray you don't ever get one.  Given that, I have been pushing water a lot.  Since Tuesday, I know for sure, I've been getting 120 oz. of water or more each day.  Thankfully, my sweet husband was able to help with meals and we did some leftover patrol several times, which is just called LOP around here. So, my basic meal plan is: Beans and cornbread Slow Cooker Quinoa Chicken Parmesan Soup A variation of the 7 can soup.   White Chicken Ch...

Happy, Happy Friday!  February did not go quite as well as I'd planned.  Meal planning was better for the most part, but trying the "no spend month" was a bust.  However, a new month is upon us.  My birthday month.  Now is a real test for me to figure out how to continue moving forward with my weight loss and live life, which includes celebrations!  My goals for the year remain.  Figuring out to how to hit my ultimate goal weight and live my life is definitely a balancing act.  It is so important for me to prepare and plan ahead.  Some days it's just easier for me to focus on making sure hamburger meat is browned or that I have cooked chicken available.  I have been watching some videos and researching time blocking.  I think it will be very important right now so I can stay on top of everything.  My planner has become my ever constant companion and is even more important to my sanity at the moment.  My goal for the week...