Trials of a Long Haired Girl

Happy Friday friends!  Yes!  We finally got made it to Friday!  Is anyone else feeling like this year is just flying by?  No?  Just me?  I am feeling a little frustrated that I haven't made more progress, but I can't change the past, only the future.  Of late, I really have felt like I'm floundering and, honestly, I'm looking forward to the new changes WW is coming out with for the new year.  In the meantime, I've decided that I'm going to really focus on what my cardiologist suggested and I'm going to continue with WW with a low carb emphasis.  I know there are going to be times, like the meal I made on Wednesday and Thursday nights, both meals had rice.  Here are my goals for the month of September: 1. Water intake of at least 90 oz. per day. 2. Track, track, track!   3. Cardio, at least 3 days per week, and strength training, even if it's body weight, at least 2 days per week. 4. Take care of myself.  By this, I ...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve!  I hope everyone has had a great week so far!  Something was mentioned awhile back on one of my FB groups about not knowing what weight loss route to take.  To be honest, I can completely understand that.  You can go to any bookstore and pull any book off the shelf in that section and will likely read something slightly different in each one.  There's a slightly different spin, even if there are some similarities.   I know there are some people that wonder why I stick with WW and part of the reason is that I know it works.  It may not be perfect, but it has worked for me in the past and I can always find ways to tweak it to make it work for me.  Here's my two cents, not that anyone really asked.  There isn't one diet that seems to work across the board for each person.  The fact is that no matter what weight loss route you take, you will have to figure out what works for you.  Sometimes, you h...

Happy hump day!  You know that moment when your dinner preparations go EXACTLY as planned?  That did not happen with this recipe.  In all seriousness, I started out with a pretty basic Ravioli Lasagna Bake  recipe and then I realized that I needed to add some more protein in it since I have one that doesn't want to eat meat and I just happen to have some Ricotta cheese.  Then I found the Million Dollar Ravioli Lasagna recipe.  Ultimately, I did a variation of these recipes.   Unfortunately, I ran out of Mozzarella cheese and had to wait on my husband to get home from Trader Joe's with more mozzarella.  I thought we had some stashed in the freezer, but we did not. I used the Zero Point Marinara recipe, Kirkland Parm and some Mozzarella along with the ricotta and some organic ricotta and spinach ravioli.  I followed the cooking directions from the Ravioli Bake.  Overall, it turned out pretty well.  Well enough that my fami...

Happy Tuesday friends!  If you read my blog yesterday, not that there was much to it, but quite honestly, I was exhausted when I was trying to type it.  It was the first day I'd really been up and out of the house for any length of time.  I came home from work early on Wednesday and didn't leave again until Friday morning to go to the doctor.  She put me on medications, one of which she said can cause some people to get drowsy.  Apparently I am "some people" because it knocked me out!  So we're going to talk a little about recovery...after illness or after surgery...for me, I know I often have the desire to start moving immediately again.  I know that if I do that, I'll wind up doing myself more harm than good.   Something I've learned is that I need to listen to my body.  The beginning of this week, I'll probably focus on taking it a little slower and easier than I normally would simply because I do not want to get hit with this aga...

Happy Monday friends!  Hope you had a good weekend!  I was pretty much didn't eat anything after breakfast on Wednesday.  I'm not sure what exactly was going on, but the physician assistant said stomach bug.  Suffice it to say, I didn't really eat much nor did I stick to the meal plan.  I even missed my women's conference that I was so excited about!  😥  Better to have missed than to make others sick.  This week we are still playing it by ear.  So, meals this week are really dependent on how I am feeling.  So far, burgers and a side, fish and sides, likely a veggie plate night and fettuccine alfredo.   Hoping for a good week and that I am feeling much better.  Have a great one!

Happy hump day, friends!  So, I decided to do something different rather than eggs this week.  I remembered seeing a sheet pan pancake recipe and decided to give it a whirl since I found some of the newer Lily's chocolate chips that I've been seeing everyone posting (the Semi-sweet baking chips and the milk chocolate baking chips) about finding.  I found mine at Sprouts when I went to pick up Almond Coconut milk for myself and A2 for my oldest son.  Being determined on Monday night to get some stuff prepared for the week, I promptly went home and looked up the recipe on Pinterest.  Once I entered it in the Weight Watchers Recipe Tracker and determined it was only 4 Freestyle SmartPoints, I decided that would be breakfast for the remainder of the week.  I will boil some eggs to help get some protein in as well.     I used 2 cups of Kodiak Buttermilk Pancake Mix, 2 eggs, 1 cup of Almond Coconut Milk, 1 banana and 28 grams of Lily's Semi-Sw...

Happy Tuesday, friends!  Hope your week started out well.  I spent last night making some headway on my meal prep.  As I was reminded by my friend Anita at  Chit Chat Paddiwack  of the quote: Failing to plan is planning to fail.  I just love her because she's honest and down to earth!  While still at work, I determined that I was going to make some progress with my meal prepping so I could be prepared for the week.  There are weeks, as you could tell from yesterday's blog post, that I feel a little like I'm flailing.  Having a few things prepared so that I can easily throw something together, is going to help so much.  Anita also suggests keeping things simple so that it works for you.  For me, having something prepared or veggies cut, will make me more inclined to use it.  I don't do as much as some folks, but I try to do what works for me.  I don't often prepare meals for the entire week but as I'm watching more ...

Happy Monday Friends!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Ours was busy but it was good.  We did some painting at church to try to make a space for our little bitty folks and "trading spaces" for our youth and young adults classes.  It made the weekend pass quickly, but aside from that, we enjoyed some family time too.  We celebrated our anniversary belatedly with my in-laws who were in town before heading north again.  It is such a blessing to have some family time.  Then I find out a cousin passed away from the Dobbs side of my family, so there was a family night to add to the mix as well.  Our little Allen Life Chapel was pretty packed yesterday as well.   At weigh in on Saturday morning, I was down 0.6.  Not what I was hoping but my eating was not 100% on Friday.  After dinner with my in-laws, etc., I have decided I will not follow the WENDIE Plan for this week, but will act like I've used up my weeklies and just foc...

Happy Friday friends!  Hope you have had a great week.  I have to say not everyday this week was a win Points-wise, but I tried to adjust and my body was definitely guessing.  I was trying to eat every 3 to 4 hours...that's wasn't a win everyday either.  Most days I managed to eat within that window except dinner.  Dinners are going to take some more work next week, but I feel like I'm making some progress.  We will see what the scale says on Saturday.  I have been trying to add some strength training into my days.  Some desk push-ups and some squats when I'm just standing around or filling my water bottle.  I took some time while we were slow to walk at my desk yesterday.  I'm trying to be intentional.  For the coming week, my focus will be to continue being intentional and fitting in workouts where I can. I will also continue to do the following: 1. 90-120 oz of water each day. I have not done well while on vacation. 2. TRA...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve! My thoughts today are on the fact that I just celebrated 10 years of marriage with my sweet husband. I am not sure I could be more blessed than I am with this man who supports me and loves me. We have been through so much during our time together, including moving my Mom in with us and then losing her. Being with me after my son’s multiple hospitalizations for various things. Let me tell you that I honestly don’t think I  could have done or handled all of that without him. He has been my rock. There is no one that I  would rather do life with than my sweet husband. Even though he really doesn’t need to lose weight, he has been so sweet as to support me when I  buckle down to get control of my health/weight loss. He eats what I cook, without complaint.   No fat, low fat, full fat, vegetarian, Southern cooking, he eats it all. He gets up early to go walk  with me. I know not every man would do that, but he does.  ...

Happy Wednesday a/k/a Hump Day friends!  So I managed to make some flounder that everyone actually ate! *Pat self on back*  Seriously, it was pretty tasty.  I used this recipe as my guide.  Her recipe was super easy, but I used what I had on hand. I used 5 flounder fillets, Penzey's Season Salt, juice from a whole lemon, a just a small pat of butter.  I am curious about the seasoning and am looking forward to making it again.  We had steamed broccoli and Kraft cauliflower mac and cheese on the side.  Honestly, Kraft isn't my favorite like it used to be, but the cauliflower pasta wasn't too bad.  I would definitely use this recipe as my base again.  It was easy and so good.  No tartar sauce was needed for me and that says something!  Hope you have a fantastic day!

Happy Tuesday friends!  Hope your Monday went well.  I am sad to say that I did not stick within my points allowance yesterday.  I will do what I can to hit my Points Allowance for the remainder of the week.  Okay, now to discuss the "elephant in the room", why the name change?  Well, to be honest, given the way things have been going, I need a pep talk and thought others might need one too.  Also, I decided on this because my dear friend and former WW leader was doing a "Pep Talk Tuesday" and I thought it would be a good idea for our little part of the internet.  For those of you that know me, in real life or as an online presence through social media, I'm a pretty positive person.  Definitely glass half full person, by all accounts.   From my own experience, I have been maintained a great schedule with my workouts and with my eating and I have not been so great with my schedule or with my eating.  I know that I feel better ...

Happy Monday friends!  My family and I took a nice break to spend time together and enjoy some time away...just in time for our 10 year anniversary.  Yes, my sweet husband and I have been married for 10 years.  Today is definitely back to life, back to reality. 😪 Unfortunately, there are still bills that have to be paid so it's necessary to go back to work.  Thankfully, I enjoy my position and my co-workers so it won't be too much of a hardship.  This week, we're (the royal "we") trying to add in some more fish.  I am not a big fish person.  In past, I have really only eaten fried fish and I am truly not a fan of salmon, unless you are talking about salmon patties that my Mom used to make.   To that end, I have a couple of recipes that I want to try: 20 Minute Lemon, Garlic, and Herb Baked Cod and Garlic Parmesan Flounder.  Likely these will be served with at least one veggie, perhaps broccoli or roasted green beans or may...

Happy Thursday a/k/a Friday eve friends!   I apologize for not posting much this week.   I had planned to make time to post, but I haven’t been feeling 100% this week.   The CPAP machine seems to be keeping me up nights.   I’m sure at some point I’ll adjust, but at this point, it just makes me tired.   I received an email from my provider/maker of my machine that said 81% of people who use a CPAP for more than 7 hours a night have less daytime sleepiness after 3 months.   I’ve just got to make it to that point.   The next few weeks are going to be a little harder for me to meal plan, but I’m going to try for sure to stay on plan.   It’ll be a challenge, but hopefully one I’m up for!