Today's weigh in is 163.8 lbs! It has been about 7 or 8 years since I was this weight. I must admit to doing a happy dance in the bathroom this morning. This result was much needed. I know I have been losing about 2 pounds a week, but I have to say I have not noticed my body change, well besides my face is not so round anymore. When I look down I still see my giant belly with no change. In fact yesterday I had a little cry because I was losing hope. I know I see results on the scale, but when I'm not seeing a change in my appearance it's a little (a lot) disheartening.
I had been avoiding measuring myself and trying on some of my "I will fit into this one day" clothing stash, but I felt good today so I put on a top that I have not warn in about a year because I felt it was far too tight. The shirt fits nicely! Later on I gathered up more courage and tried on a pair of dress capris I bought a few years ago and never wore because they were too small. They fit! In fact they are a little too big. This made me feel even better about myself so I did the unthinkable! I tried on the super tight pair of jeans i bought last spring that fit in the store but not when I got home....I hate when that happens! I wore them for about 10 minutes and got tired of not being able to breath. The jeans do up without a fight, but my "muffin top" pours over the sides. This didn't upset me because I was able to do them up as well as breath in them, which is a significant change from the last time i had them on. If it was cool enough to wear them I could just have a sweater on to cover my 'muffin top".
Things I did this week:
-I have continued to drink a large glass of water before every meal, including snacks.
-White potatoes are still a bad word in this house...well Colin gets to eat them. I roast other vegies
-Went to bed hungry ( not starving just hungry)
-Had protein at every meal including snacks, this helps to keep me feeling full longer
-no carbs after lunch. Carbs while delicious, don't keep you feeling full. And worst of all make you crave more
-measuring proper portions. Half a chicken breast is one serving,
Colin and I didn't go on our usual long walks this week as he hurt himself playing soccer, but we still went for small walks around the neighbourhood.
I'm so happy about my weigh in this week. As I said I was loosing, not hope, but I guess some drive. Seeing the results on the scale in one thing, but seeing your appearance is another. And lets face it, people don't lose weight just because they don't want to see a certain number in the scale. They want to look nice, not see rolls of fat. Trying on my old clothes was good idea for me today. I just have to make sure I don't try on stuff too often.
13 more pounds until my goal wedding weight on 150!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Trying to Live the Simple Life
As I have previously mentioned, I lost my job about 4 months ago and I have not been able to find another as of yet. So I have been trying to find ways to save money, Which I have found from searching the internet, many people are doing the same. The majority of folks are still living beyond their means and are trying to keep up with those "Johnson's".
Colin and I have decided we don't care what the "Johnson's" are doing! We must save money and cut down on expenses. When we have that mastered I will be sure to let you! Here are a few things we are trying out at the moment.
Plastic zipper bags, everyone uses them for snacks, sandwiches, leftovers, as pencil cases. I have decided to eliminate that expense completely. I know you think oh that's not really going to make a big impact, but they cost between $5 to $7 a box, which lasts for about 2 months. At least they did in my house. that's over $30 a year. Which to be honest I would rather save or spend elsewhere since I'm just going to throw it out anyways. I remembered something my aunt used to do all the time, she would cut open the milk bag and wash it out. There was always a milk bag drying on the banister at her house. She would use the bags for my uncle's lunches and anything that needed a bag. What a great idea, the milk bag was going to be thrown out anyways, might as well get a second use out of it before it goes in the trash. a reused twist tie works great to keep it closed, or I have just folded it over when storing a tomato that has been cut.
Energy savings. I do think this is an issue for most everyone. Where I live we have "Smart Meters" which basically means we have to pay more to use electricity during certain times and days of the week Not the best idea, in my opinion to prevent brownouts and whatnot. They are really just making sure the little guy lives in the dark until 7pm. But anyways we have had to change when we do laundry and run the dishwasher. Computers and TV's do not use much more energy than when turned off, so it's the big appliances that we have to watch out for. I dry the towels and sheets on the little umbrella clothes line we purchased last summer. It's was $60, not exactly a cheap item but I love the nice smell, and we don't use the dryer for anything but our clothing which is 2 loads a week.
We also turn the dishwasher off when it hits the drying cycle. The dishes can air dry.
Cutting down the grocery bill. This on I think is the hardest challenge for us. We spend far too much money at the grocery store. I'm terrible at planning out meals, or even just sticking to the list I have made. I will need to work on that. But we do have a so called "Victory Garden". I know I was not around during the Second World War, but I have been doing a lot of research on that era. It was a touch time for everyone. With the war on people from all around the world had to ration everything because the resources were needed for the war effort. The Governments called on the civilians to create "Victory Gardens" so they could grow their own food as many farmers were asked to farm goods that could be made into rations for the men in the field. Now I know that after the war many people continued to grow a vegetable garden. But in recent years people have stopped because they didn't have the time or want to spend their time on a garden that may or may not produce what they want. I am very lucky to have Colin, he has a big green thumb, I'm afraid I just don't know what I'm doing in the garden nor know what is a weed and what is not! Over the winder he grew from seeds vegetables in the basement. My parents gave us a couple of light fixtures used for growing plants indoors. Colin researched what light bulbs to use at what times, and thankfully they are the low energy type. We were able to successfully transfer most of the plants into the garden. A few died, we think it was because it is so hot and humid out.
Colin made a quick lattice for the cucumber to climb out of wood we found in the garage from the previous tenants, and bamboo sticks from the dollar store. This year he put plywood under it because last year the weeds grew and made it difficult to see when the cucumbers were ready to be picked.
Also please note we would make the area around the garden prettier, but as I said we rent this house.
Two mounds of compost soil and sheep's manure were made and compacted down for the row of green peppers and row of cucumbers. We planted marigolds around the boarder to keep little critters from eating our plants.
Lettuce was planted in the side of the pepper mound.
A larger circular mound was made in the middle for onion, cauliflower, arugula, spinach (which is not doing well) and watermelon.
On the lattice was have tomatoes and sweet peas. The tire rim in the back is our compost.
Things are starting to become ready to eat now. I have not bought lettuce in 3 weeks! That's a savings of about $16 already! The only problem is that the romaine is almost gone so we have to grow them in sequence so there will be a steady supply. I have also talked to Colin about the possibility of have some of the vegetables grown inside over the winter. We can save over $20 a months on growing our own lettuce, imagine how much more we can save.
If you have any other neat ideas I would love to hear them.
Colin and I have decided we don't care what the "Johnson's" are doing! We must save money and cut down on expenses. When we have that mastered I will be sure to let you! Here are a few things we are trying out at the moment.
Plastic zipper bags, everyone uses them for snacks, sandwiches, leftovers, as pencil cases. I have decided to eliminate that expense completely. I know you think oh that's not really going to make a big impact, but they cost between $5 to $7 a box, which lasts for about 2 months. At least they did in my house. that's over $30 a year. Which to be honest I would rather save or spend elsewhere since I'm just going to throw it out anyways. I remembered something my aunt used to do all the time, she would cut open the milk bag and wash it out. There was always a milk bag drying on the banister at her house. She would use the bags for my uncle's lunches and anything that needed a bag. What a great idea, the milk bag was going to be thrown out anyways, might as well get a second use out of it before it goes in the trash. a reused twist tie works great to keep it closed, or I have just folded it over when storing a tomato that has been cut.
Energy savings. I do think this is an issue for most everyone. Where I live we have "Smart Meters" which basically means we have to pay more to use electricity during certain times and days of the week Not the best idea, in my opinion to prevent brownouts and whatnot. They are really just making sure the little guy lives in the dark until 7pm. But anyways we have had to change when we do laundry and run the dishwasher. Computers and TV's do not use much more energy than when turned off, so it's the big appliances that we have to watch out for. I dry the towels and sheets on the little umbrella clothes line we purchased last summer. It's was $60, not exactly a cheap item but I love the nice smell, and we don't use the dryer for anything but our clothing which is 2 loads a week.
We also turn the dishwasher off when it hits the drying cycle. The dishes can air dry.
 |
| Green peppers and cucumbers |
Colin made a quick lattice for the cucumber to climb out of wood we found in the garage from the previous tenants, and bamboo sticks from the dollar store. This year he put plywood under it because last year the weeds grew and made it difficult to see when the cucumbers were ready to be picked.
Also please note we would make the area around the garden prettier, but as I said we rent this house.
Two mounds of compost soil and sheep's manure were made and compacted down for the row of green peppers and row of cucumbers. We planted marigolds around the boarder to keep little critters from eating our plants.
Things are starting to become ready to eat now. I have not bought lettuce in 3 weeks! That's a savings of about $16 already! The only problem is that the romaine is almost gone so we have to grow them in sequence so there will be a steady supply. I have also talked to Colin about the possibility of have some of the vegetables grown inside over the winter. We can save over $20 a months on growing our own lettuce, imagine how much more we can save.
If you have any other neat ideas I would love to hear them.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Medal Boutonniere
I had been looking for a new take on the boutonnieres for the guys in our wedding party. I wanted something to go with theme we have going which is a 1940's War Time Wedding. I was perusing the web when I saw the idea for vintage war medals. I immediately loved the idea, it's a very different idea then the usual flower. Not that there is anything wrong with flowers, I just wanted something different.
I was really excited because my brother is wearing his Royal Canadian Air Force uniform, and he already has real medals. So I would not have to make him one, but since he has his own real medals I needed to make sure the ones I made looked somewhat real, and nice. Before I decided to make the medals I thought I could buy some. HAHAHA! I totally forgot that they are collector's items.
So the time to search for materials. I had thought of pendants, coins, medal buttons. Anything that was metallic and round of a sort. I found some nice aluminum pendants at the dollar store, but there was not quite enough for all the men. I bought them anyways thinking we would go to another store.
A few days later I went to Micheal's and wondered into an isle I never ever go in. (I'm a frequent Micheal's shopper) At the end of this isle were these pendants! How perfect for my purpose! I was told to go down the isle by the ghost of Micheal's I just know it! haha.
Since I had a bunch of bar pins and hot glue I only needed ribbon and something to go over the long pin. Finding ribbon was harder than finding the pendants! I wanted to use the same colour of purple as the girls dresses, but I was unable to find it in ribbon form. I settled for black with white diagonal lines. I'm happy with the choice, looks better than I had originally expected. I stumbled across these inch and a half long medal things, for a lack of a better word, at Micheal's. They were the perfect size to cover the long pin.
I'm sure anyone can figure out how to make them, but if you are anything like me I like to see what other people have done to help with ideas.
First I pulled the ribbon through the loop hole at the top of the pendant making sure the pattern side is facing out.
I matched the ends together and hot glued them. I also folded the part of the ribbon that is now narrow in the loop, to make it neat.
I hot glued the top of the ribbon to the long pin on the sticky side. Make you the pin is on the right side here, the pendant should be facing out.
I then hot glued the medal thing to the front and put a strip of the plain black side of the ribbon across the top of the pin so it looked clean.
Here is what they all look like. To make sure Colin's stood out he has the top 2 on the left. The next 2 are for his brother/bestman. I gave him a plane to signify the fact that he is Colin's wingman. the top 2 right are for the ring bearers. Bottom 3 on the left are for the 3 grooms man and the remaining 2 are for the Dad's. I'm really happy with my craftiness on this project. I think They are going to look amazing on the day of the wedding.
I was really excited because my brother is wearing his Royal Canadian Air Force uniform, and he already has real medals. So I would not have to make him one, but since he has his own real medals I needed to make sure the ones I made looked somewhat real, and nice. Before I decided to make the medals I thought I could buy some. HAHAHA! I totally forgot that they are collector's items.
A few days later I went to Micheal's and wondered into an isle I never ever go in. (I'm a frequent Micheal's shopper) At the end of this isle were these pendants! How perfect for my purpose! I was told to go down the isle by the ghost of Micheal's I just know it! haha.
Since I had a bunch of bar pins and hot glue I only needed ribbon and something to go over the long pin. Finding ribbon was harder than finding the pendants! I wanted to use the same colour of purple as the girls dresses, but I was unable to find it in ribbon form. I settled for black with white diagonal lines. I'm happy with the choice, looks better than I had originally expected. I stumbled across these inch and a half long medal things, for a lack of a better word, at Micheal's. They were the perfect size to cover the long pin.
I'm sure anyone can figure out how to make them, but if you are anything like me I like to see what other people have done to help with ideas.
I hot glued the top of the ribbon to the long pin on the sticky side. Make you the pin is on the right side here, the pendant should be facing out.
 |
| Medal Boutonnieres for groom, best-man, groomsman, ring bearers, and fathers. |
July 11, 2012 Weigh In
Odd, I had made this post lastnight on my phone, but I guess it did not save. Oh well. So the weigh in yesterday was 167.1 lbs. Not much of a change, but at least it didn't go up. There was still a lot of chips and other bad and yet so yummy food in the house. Since I knew I could not avoid it or I would end up binging on it, I would have some chips with my lunches and such. But I would make sure I only had a handfull and no more. I was surprised I didn't keep digging in the bag for more. Now I know I can eat chips in moderation. But this does not mean I'm going to go out and buy chips and crackers. The only reason they were in the house was because friends brought them for the party. I don't buy chips. I try not to buy anything that comes in a box or is processed.
I make my own turkey burger paddys, and turkey meatballs with out breadcrumbs. I love a couple of meatballs in a low sodium chicken broth with a few sprinkles of fresh parmesan cheese and spinach leaves. I think that is my favourite lunch.
I also have a herb and vegetable garden in the back, which I will talk about in another post, that I use for some fresh produce. I would love a greenhouse to have fresh fruits and vegies all year long.
I also drink 1 large glass of water before each meal now, instead of the small size cup. Colin and I have also been going for long walks a few times a week. Our speed and endurance is better each time. We feel good.
I make my own turkey burger paddys, and turkey meatballs with out breadcrumbs. I love a couple of meatballs in a low sodium chicken broth with a few sprinkles of fresh parmesan cheese and spinach leaves. I think that is my favourite lunch.
I also have a herb and vegetable garden in the back, which I will talk about in another post, that I use for some fresh produce. I would love a greenhouse to have fresh fruits and vegies all year long.
I also drink 1 large glass of water before each meal now, instead of the small size cup. Colin and I have also been going for long walks a few times a week. Our speed and endurance is better each time. We feel good.
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