Ready For This Jelly?

Well y’all, to say I had no shame this morning during my morning weigh in would be an understatement. I finally lost weight. I am down 1.2 from my previous lowest weight bringing my total weight loss to 108.6! Did I wait until I worked out and sweaty to weigh? Yes. Did I try to potty at least 6 times before I weighed? Yes. Did I get stark nekkid and consider chopping off my hair before getting on the scale? Yes. But you know what, I don’t care. I needed to see a loss and it didn’t matter how I got there at this point. It is incredibly difficult for me to lose weight right now, especially if I’m not perfect 100% of the time, so I’m happy with the results. If I can lose 1.4 more to 110 down, I will post a new picture. That’s my most immediate goal. I still need to get a little more aggressive if I have a chance of meeting my January 15th goal which requires me to lose 13.6 pounds from now until then. To someone who is first starting, losing 13.6 pounds in 13-14 weeks shouldn’t be that bad but when you’ve been dieting as long as I have, it’s a struggle. I won’t beat myself up and quit trying if I don’t meet the goal…especially if I’m not gaining…but that’s the goal I’d really like to reach.



This week’s recipe is Sesame Encrusted Baked Chicken Tenders. I absolutely love fried chicken, in all forms. I especially love to get a plate from places like Guthrie’s and Zaxby’s and go to town on golden fried tenders. Since eating those would probably be the equivalent of having a dozen donuts, I typically try and stay away. So, when I saw this recipe, I thought I would give it a try. I get a bit disgruntled when healthy cooks try to act like a baked sweet potato stick is as fulfilling as a McDonald’s French fry so I rarely try and compare foods, I just see them as their own separate entity. These guys were tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. They are dipped first in a sesame oil (I used olive oil) and soy sauce mixture and then coated in a mix of panko bread crumbs and sesame seeds. All you do after that is bake them and then enjoy. Even though coating and dipping things isn’t my favorite thing, these weren’t too hard to make. They didn’t take long and they were tasty. The soy sauce gave it a nice, Asian kick.





The before and after this week is a bit silly. I have always been frightened and disgusted by the first picture. Only the enormity of my former derriere could distract the human eye from the perfect beauty of the pacific ocean. I’m pretty sure my dad took this picture of me in La Jolla, California on a family vacation. I guess I’m glad I have it because it’s a perfect example of a before and after. I didn’t have a current picture of myself from the back but I, like most people, try to avoid having pictures taken of my butt. Since I didn’t have a comparison, I had someone at work (pretty much the only person at work who wouldn’t think it was weird to ask if they could take a picture of my butt) take a current of picture of the junk I got going on in my trunk. Despite my weight loss, I’m not entirely fond of my butt, hips and thighs…but…they are certainly better now than they were. Good gracious…if that doesn’t keep me on track, I don’t know what will.



Alabama had another easy win last week, beating North Texas. This week, even though playing the last three schools was lovely, the real season actually starts. Bama is taking on the Arkansas Razorback’s and even though we are good and favored, this will be our first real test of the season. SEC games are always intense and difficult so I’m looking forward to seeing Bama taking down the Hogs! Oh, and Auburn lost, so, YAY!

Wish me luck as I will no doubt be faced with food and drink galore this weekend. Good luck with any weight loss ventures you have going as well! You can do it!

Have a great weekend!

Roll Tide!

Bye!

“Own me, you own
you rattle my bones
you turn me over and over
'till I can't control myself
make me a liar
one big disaster
you make my heart beat faster

cause I jump back, crash, I crawl
I beg and steal, I follow you
yeah you own me
and you make my heart beat faster.” Faster-Matt Nathanson

I Can't Say No To Cake! Help!

It’s FRIDAY! As always, I’m super glad the weekend is here! That is a picture of me posing in my mom’s Bama shades that she wore in the 80s. I think they are cute so I took the opportunity for a photo op. I weighed this morning before and after I ran and the results are in…I weigh about the same I did last week. It came as no surprise to me and you will understand too after you read about the cake pops I had last weekend but I’m a bit frustrated with myself. I’m also annoyed because I’m dealing with some stomach issues that certainly don’t help with my weight loss. It may not make too much of a difference but if I were on more of a “regular” schedule, I may not be so bloated and full of a week’s worth of food. Anyway, there are more pleasant topics I’m sure but with dieting and weight loss, there are some physical consequences. Most of the time, those consequences are good. I feel better, look healthier and I’m much more confident but my insides sometimes disagree with the amount of food I put in my body during the week versus the binging I sometimes do on the weekend. The way I feel today, like a basketball has permanently moved into my stomach, is motivation to do a better job on the weekends. I’ve been so weak lately. Luckily, I work my tail off during the week, so I’m not gaining but what if my lack of will starts bleeding into the week and it leads to a downward spiral? I know that sounds dramatic but if you’ve never been on a weight loss venture, you don’t know how fragile it all is. I am going to do my best to follow the rules that I set out for myself this weekend. There is no reason to go off track. I have GOT to start losing or I’m never going to make my January 15th goal.



On a more hopeful note, I ran in my 2nd 5K last Friday night. I was distracted to say the least because the 5K was a bit disorganized and when I asked where it started, I was told the wrong place. By the time I realized where it started, I had to walk a good ways to get there and I could see everyone in the distance starting ahead of me. I was at least two minutes behind. I know you are on your own in a 5K but it definitely helps to have the encouragement of others who are running around you. I estimated that I went about a minute or so slower than my first 5K which is kind of a bummer but I figured between my two minute deficit and the fact that I was still breaking in a new pair of shoes, I had an excuse. I don’t really care so much about time, it’s just a nice feeling to know that I can jog over 3 miles without stopping. Three years ago, I could barely walk 10 minutes without having to sit down, so I’m proud of my accomplishment.



These cute little guys are a product of the craze known as cake pops. I didn’t lose weight and they had a little bit to do with that so even though I normally share healthy recipes, I thought I would show you these. I apologize if you’re on a strict diet but just remember the consequences of having too many of these…the scale will not be nice to you. I had my first cake pop a few weeks back after my roommate brought me one from a baby shower. It was delicious and so when my friend David invited us over for the game, he told me he was making all kinds of appetizers and I told him I’d take care of something sweet. I enlisted my mom to help me as I always do when I don’t want to do something myself. It wasn’t that they were hard to make but they were pretty high maintenance. Basically, you bake a cake, let it cool, crumble it up in a big bowl and mix it with frosting (with your hands). From the mixture, form several 1 to 1-1/2 inch balls and put them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, take sucker sticks, dunk them in the chocolate you’ve melted and then poke the stick in the ball and dip it back in the chocolate. I probably won’t make them again because I found melting candies and chocolate to be entirely too temperamental and I don’t have time to handle attitude from my food. Also, they were very drippy making it hard to get the sprinkles on. You either put them on right away and everything dripped all over or you let them rest a second to allow the candy to harden before you put the sprinkles on and then they get all flat and ugly. Anyway, they ended up OK, especially after we got the hang of it and they tasted YUMMY! I especially like them cold. I’d try them and unfortunately have no healthy replacement suggestions with these. If anyone has ideas…let me know.





The before picture is from a few years ago at the hotel I stayed at in Louisville, KY while getting my MFA at Spalding University. The after picture is me holding one of my parents ducks after the game last week. Again, I’m happy to see these to keep me motivated!



I made an oversight last week by not mentioning 9/11. I wanted to take a minute because after recapping that horrible day last weekend and spending the whole day crying on the couch, I thought that I would at least give a shout out to those who lost their lives that day and those who continue to suffer from the consequences of the events. No human should have to die in pure terror or pain and I pray for their families and friends!

Have a great weekend everyone and ROLL TIDE! We play North Texas tomorrow…should be a pretty easy win…I hope. Bye!
“Don't dream too far
Don't lose sight of who you are
Don't remember that rush of joy
He could be that boy
I'm not that girl

Ev'ry so often we long to steal
To the land of what-might-have-been
But that doesn't soften the ache we feel
When reality sets back in.” I’m Not That Girl-Wicked

Recipe Schmecipe

Well, I won’t waste time with chit chat today. I am not in the best of moods. I knew my weekend drink/eat binge fest would come back to bite me. I weigh the same as I did last week, give or take a couple ounces. I don’t expect I will lose too much next week either because we have plans to watch the game this weekend with my friend David and there will be multiple delicious game day fare going on. I’m going to make the ever-trending cake pops and see how they turn out. Hopefully, they will be delicious and worthy of a recipe shout out next week, despite their lack of healthiness.

Even though I didn’t do great last weekend, I had a fine week and I’ve been exercising as usual. In fact, I may even try to get on the scale again tomorrow because I am running another 5K this afternoon. We will see how it goes. Usually on Friday’s when I weigh and I don’t see what I want, I weigh again after I run but since I’ll be running tonight, I didn’t get that chance. It probably won’t make much of a difference but we will see. I am certainly on a slow track but I’m OK with that. I don’t want to gain though so I need to make sure I practice my typical diet and exercise discipline MOST of the time. I have until January 15th to lose roughly 16 pounds. That’s around a pound a week from now until then so I really need to do my best to keep everything in order. That goal is one that I set…I won’t spontaneously combust if I don’t reach it but I’d like to get there to prove I can still lose weight.





The recipe this week is Spanish Chicken and Rice but I changed it up A LOT. The recipe called for skinless, chopped chicken thighs but I am certainly a proponent for using what’s in my freezer before going out and needlessly spending money so I had no problem using the turkey breast I already had. It called for onions and garlic which I have no problem with and I always have so I used that. It called for chicken bouillon but all I had was the “Better than Bouillon” ham flavored stuff that’s lower in calories so I used that instead. The recipe called for mixed veggies, peppers and pimento but I used a can of Rotel tomatoes for spice. I used the quick rice and basically threw it all in a pan. I know it’s sort of pointless to call it Spanish Chicken and Rice…especially since I used turkey but the recipe was inspired by the Spanish Chicken and Rice recipe on skinnytaste.com and I again wanted to show how resourceful you can be even if you don’t have or want to buy every ingredient a recipe calls for. This was filling and packed with flavor and only took 10-15 minutes to make.



Alabama had no problems dominating Kent State last weekend though their performance was sloppy at best during several moments in the game. The challenge will be much more tough this Saturday as they meet Penn State for the second year in a row on Saturday. This year, Bama travels to their home turf at Happy Valley so this will definitely be a much greater test. I hope we win and I can’t wait to watch the game.





I posted a picture of me and Jordan at the Arkansas game a few years ago as the before and a picture of my Dad and I from the game last week as the after. This isn’t a great representation because it’s only my face but there is certainly less double chin and huge cheek action going on if you ask me.



I have been posting a lot of Colbie Caillat lyrics lately because she just came out with a new album and I highly recommend it! I love her and her music is always good for lifting the spirits! Have a great weekend and Roll Tide, y’all! Bye!

“Stop me on the corner
I swear you hit me like a vision
I, I, I wasn’t expecting
But who am I to tell fate where it’s supposed to go with it?
Don’t you blink you might miss it
See we got a right to just love it or leave it
You find it and keep it
Cause it ain’t every day you get the chance to say

Oh, this is how it starts, lighting strikes the heart
It goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun
Oh, it could be the stars, falling from the sky
Shining how we want, brighter than the sun.” Brighter Than The Sun-Colbie Caillat

Who's a runner? Yes, that's me!

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a swell Friday and that your week was wonderful. Mine was quite good. I weighed this morning and I was down two from last week which is great considering how bad I was Friday night. Also, I’m only a few ounces away from my lowest weight. I’m hoping to get rid of that next weigh in and be down even a little more. I have been working out like crazy, even changing it up a bit so I know that’s helping.





So, my Dad and I had every intention of going on the Brews Cruise which was a beer cruise on the Bama Belle. We got on the cruise and realized it wasn’t really our scene so we left the boat before it set sail and went to a place called the Alcove. We had fun and dad planked so of course, I had to take a picture of it.



The recipe this week is not really a recipe but a kick I’ve been on lately. I am so sick of light dressings that I could die so I decided to take my new found love for spicy mustard, mix it with a bit of reduced fat mayo and make my own dressing. It’s really yummy and I added some chicken with some leafy lettuce and it makes a flavorful salad! I’ve been using that like crazy!



Last Saturday morning I ran in my very first 5K ever! My friend Nish had registered for the race but wasn’t able to go so she graciously allowed me to use her registration. It’s extremely difficult by the way to take a picture of yourself with a number on your stomach with an iPhone. Anyway, I jogged the whole time and I got in right under 43 minutes which is pretty slow considering some of the times but I was happy I finished and it inspired me to do more. I’m signed up for another one next Friday night. I guess that means I’m really a runner now. I run 4 times a week. I am still not the type of person that enjoys the process but I am proud of myself every time I complete the time or distance I set out to accomplish.



Guess what y’all? It’s time for football to yet again to be the main topic! I know you are excited! The Crimson Tide kick off this weekend for their season opener against Kent St. and I am SO ready to get back to football! Roll Tide!





Again, my new picture is totally unfair to my before picture but I couldn’t find another. I need the inspiration though…they had hot dogs at work today and being around stadium food isn’t easy either. Wish me luck. Have a wonderful 3 day weekend! I’m excited! Yay!

“All I want is my dream life, to be my real life,
How could that be wrong?” Dream Life, Life-Colbie Caillat

Miss Me?

Long time, no see y’all! I hope your past two weeks have been great. I am just going to jump right in. I weighed this morning. I knew that it wouldn’t be great. Over the past few weeks, I have been to New Orleans, experienced a week of calorie and fat soaked lunches provided at my teaching orientation, and at least 3-5 pieces of cake scattered over the days. I wanted to use this week to not only recover, but prove to myself that I could still be strict several days in a row. I succeeded because since Monday morning, I’ve been flawless. I am going to be a bit bad tonight because I am going on something called a Brews Cruise with my Dad but after that, there is no reason to cheat until Halloween. When I got on the scale this morning, I thought I was up almost 4 pounds. When I looked at my weight tracker though, I realized my lowest weight was a little higher than I thought so after all the food and a week of damage control, I’m up 2.2 pounds. I am glad it’s not almost 4 but I’m kind of bummed that my lowest weight was more than I thought, lol. Oh well. I know it’s not great to be up 2.2 pounds but it’s pretty good considering and I’m back in diet mode so I should be OK.



After my week of strenuous orientating at the University of Alabama, I felt ready to teach. I learned a lot at the orientation and I was able to get access to some great resources. My first day of class was on Wednesday. I got there before the students did and laid out everything. I made sure no one was looking and then I took a picture. I didn’t want the students to know it was my first class and that I was nervous but I was. I love all of them already and I felt at home in the classroom. I am so happy to have this opportunity and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the semester goes.



I know by now everyone has probably heard of the book and now, movie, The Help. I just wanted to throw in my two cents and recommend that everyone read this book and see the movie. It’s one of those things where you will laugh, cry (A LOT) and become inspired.



The recipe this week is Lemon Cheesecake Yogurt Cups. These tasty little treats use reduced fat Vanilla Wafers as the crust and all you do is whip together the ingredients, put the wafer in the bottom of a baking cup and pour the batter over the top. The batter included cream cheese, Greek yogurt and lemon juice…all in reduced fat. I got the recipe from skinnytaste.com if you want the specifics. You can add berries, mini chocolate chips or whatever you want. They are low in calories/points and a nice light dessert to have.





Again, I’m not sure why I punish myself by posting some of these pictures but after getting back in line this week, these pictures are certainly motivational. I am doing my version of dancing in both of these. To my credit, I was obviously not ready for a picture in the old version. I have always stuck my tongue out of my mouth and/or let my mouth hang open…since I was a kid…bless my heart…it’s not very attractive. I wish people would alert me to this when they catch me doing it.

That was all I had for the week!

I hope you enjoy your weekend and I will blog next week!

Bye!

“The other day when someone asked me
"are you living your dream?"
I didn't know what to say,
I honestly had to think.
I try to be so many places at the same time
Every day a million things cluttering up my mind.
Another feather falling off my wings
I climb so high it gets hard to breathe
forget to remember, what I really need.” What Means the Most-Colbie Caillat

Too much of a good thing...

Afternoon y’all! I hope everyone is well. I am doing OK. I went to New Orleans last weekend and had a great time but that in addition to the two pieces of cake I had at random this week has me up 3 pounds. I mean, I know WHY I gained but it still rubs me the wrong way that I can work my butt off 75% of the time and instead of even maintaining, I gain 3 flippin’ pounds?! Whatever.

I have my orientation next week that will help me before I start the class I’m teaching and they sent out a menu of the food they are providing which includes but is not limited to: pastries, snacks, barbecue, local diner food, pizza and sandwiches. Since I know that I won’t lose next week, I’m not going to weigh again until the 26th to give myself a week to try and get some of this extra poundage off. After that, I need to do better. I have a goal to reach by January 15th and I need to get in gear. Because of my orientation, I won’t be able to blog next week so my next blog won’t be until August 26th. So, on that day, I will have to report about my weight, my orientation, my first class teaching at the University of Alabama and many other things. I know you will miss me terribly.



This is a group shot from the girls trip to New Orleans. We all had an absolute blast! That place is one of my favorite cities. Sometimes, when I go to these places, it makes it feel like Tuscaloosa is so small. It feels nice to branch out every once in awhile. I would go to New Orleans anytime!



This isn’t really a set recipe but one of those things that I throw together that tastes yummy and takes less than 5 minutes to make. It’s just a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon and barbecue sauce with a side salad. I use the pre-made chicken fajita strips and pre-cooked bacon that you can get from Oscar Meyer. I think 2 pieces is less than 40 calories and anytime you add bacon to a sandwich…it makes it feel more filling. I also love having an entire plate of food for 6 or 7 points. The more food the better!





This before and after is timely. The first one is of me in New Orleans a few years ago and the second is from this past weekend. The one from last weekend isn’t that great of a picture but it was the only full length one I found acceptable and I think it’s only fair to try and put full body pictures on here. I have got to remember these pictures when I have bad mornings on the scale. I need to get motivated!

If everyone could please send me good vibes and pray that I have wisdom and confidence as I embark on this teaching journey. I’m super nervous and this weekend I’m going to be preparing my syllabus and having to work at my regular job a bit to make up for lost time so I’m kind of stressed. I know it will all work out…if I could just get organized and get into a routine…I will feel much better.

I’m not doing much this weekend…I hope you have fun plans!

Talk to y’all in two weeks!

Bye!

“There’s something, something about this place…” You and I-Lady Gaga

Empty Chest Syndrome

Welcome to August everyone! It’s been a revolting 100 degrees every day this week and it has felt even hotter. I can NOT WAIT until fall. So, I got on the scale and due to my strict behavior over the last week, I was down 2.2 pounds bringing my total loss to 107.4!!! I am proud and feel like I earned that drop in weight. The bad news is, I probably won’t move much from that amount over the next couple of weeks because I’m going out of town this weekend and then the 15th-19th, I have orientation for the class I’m teaching and I received an email that they would be feeding us breakfast, morning snack, lunch and an afternoon snack. I don’t necessarily have to overeat during these times so I will do my best to stay in line but it’s easier said than done, especially when it’s in your face. The good news is that I lost weight, I know that if I still stick to my guns exactly I can lose and I also go down a point which will help me maintain through all the potential for screw ups the next couple of weeks. I am so pleased!





These are pictures of BLT Macaroni Salad. Obviously, this is not macaroni but the recipe called for multi-grain elbow macaroni and I didn’t have that so I used the whole grain linguini I had in the pantry and broke it up. This has GOT to be one of my favorite recipes in awhile. Anytime I get to eat pasta, I am happy and because there wasn’t much to it, I got to eat a good bit. Basically, you just toss the pasta with a wee bit of reduced fat mayonnaise, a little bacon, spinach and tomatoes. I am getting more and more OK with tomatoes but I discovered I still don’t enjoy a big hunk of cold, chopped tomatoes. I think next time I make it, I will definitely use sun dried or much tinier pieces of green tomato instead. I also added some chopped onion in mine for more flavor. It was quite tasty.

So, I know this is too much information and while I am happy with the results of my weight loss, I could stand to get a few pounds back in my chest area. In all seriousness, when I was at my biggest, I couldn’t lay on my back or my side because my breasts were so big they would literally choke me, I couldn’t breathe. Things have gotten much better now and that’s because, well, I no longer have any breasts to obstruct my airways. I saw this commercial once…it was a cartoon. A husband and wife went on a diet together and it showed his before and after in a few weeks and he was all skinny…her before and after showed her the same size with a much smaller chest. This is SO TRUE! I’m not really complaining but it is frustrating because I feel like I can never find a bra to fit right and the ones I have, they puddle around in there as if they are trying to stretch as thin as possible so they can cover as much room as they can. I have briefly contemplated “fixing” this problem with some sort of elective surgery but I think I’ll wait until I “fix” my financial problems before I do that…so it could be awhile. I think what I need to do is go to Victoria Secret and spend a ridiculous amount on bras so I can at least pretend. I apologize for the overload of impertinent and personal information but I feel like I’m not the only female weight loss boob victim out there. We should start a club.





This before and after picture for this week isn’t really fair because the before picture is bigger than the after. I’m bigger and the picture is bigger but it’s a bit distorted. I’m running out of full length pictures of myself from recent times. I’m hoping to take some this weekend. I took this picture a few years back with my friend Whitney. I remember we were at the playground near my parents house. We used to go there all the time and swing. I miss doing that…I may have to bring that back at some point. Anyway, I’ve come a long way…I bet my butt would fit a little better in the swings now!

I am headed to New Orleans this weekend for a girls trip! I will go ahead and give a pre-shout out to my roommate and bestie Cassandra. Her birthday is on Tuesday which is partially the reason we are going…so Happy Birthday Cassandra! I hope to have fun…New Orleans is one of my favorite cities.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

I also ask that you keep my extended family in your prayers. My dad’s cousin Connie lost her battle with cancer this week so I hope that her close family and friends can somehow find peace.

Bye everyone!


“When I'm alone in my dark dark room,
I have to tell myself to,

Think good thoughts,
Think good thoughts,
Imagine what the world would be if we would just,
Think good thoughts,
Stop the bad from feeding,

I won't let the negativity turn me into my enemy,
Promise to myself that I won't let it get the best of me,
That's how I want to be
Na, na, na, na

I'm not saying that it's easy,
Especially when I'm moody,
I might be cursing like a sailor till I remind myself I'm better,

Cause words can be like weapons,
Oh and you use them, you regret them,
Oh but I'm not gonna let them take away my heaven

And when I start feeling blue,
I remember to tell myself to,

Think good thoughts,
Think good thoughts,
Imagine what the world would be if we would just,
Think good thoughts,
Stop the bad from feeding…” Think Good Thoughts-Colbie Caillat