Fortune Cookie

I am veering off my weigh in posts because I haven't had much time to focus on working out. I am at 149 lbs right now and am really confident I will get to my goal by the end of Feb.

We had a busy night last night of picking kids up and basketball. Though we rarely eat out as a family, I felt it was warranted and frankly necessary to eat out last night. We opted for Chinese and it was mighty tasty! The kids favorite part of the meal, of course, is the Fortune Cookies. We all go around the table and read our fortune. Most of the time, they don't apply to our lives, or are silly, or just don't make sense. But mine made me catch my breath:

From now on, your kindness will lead you to success.

Wow, that could not have come at a more appropriate time. Next Saturday I start my new part time job at the Assisted Living facility. The path that led me to this exciting time looks like this:

A couple years ago I found Lunch Lady Steve a job at the High School

He repaid the favor by getting me my two hour position

He left to be Food service Director at the facility

I got promoted to his job

He was able to shuffle people around so I could work Sat mornings

It has been a crazy couple of years of he and I getting each other jobs, but it is our friendship and kindness of   the people involved that was able to make it all possible.

I am so thankful for my Husband and family for adapting so well to me being gone. They didn't really have a choice but everyone has stepped up and makes our crazy schedule work. I have no doubt they will get thru Saturday mornings without me just fine.

I have made some really great new friends recently and feel really blessed to have these people in my life. They all bring a new level of happiness and motivation to my life.

Youngest continues to have stomach issues so we are gradually adjusting his diet. Lots more fruits and vegetables and less processed foods. We are applying this strategy to everyone so it will be a good change for our family. Hard to swallow (literally!) but good.

I hope you all  are doing well. I am looking forward to these upcoming changes, a little worried about staying on top of it all, but thankful for the chance to do what I love.

Have a great rest of your weekend!! More basketball for us tomorrow.

Cat

Weigh in #5

Weigh in 1: 150.6 lbs, Body fat 31.6%, Muscle 36.5%
Weigh in 2: 148.2 lbs, BF 30.9%, Muscle 36.8%
Weigh in 3 (this am): 150.4 lbs, BF 31.6%, Muscle 36.2%
Weigh in 4: 150.6 lbs, BF 31.6%, Muscle 35.9%

Weigh in 5: 149 lbs and I don't have the other numbers because my cheap scale sucks and I don't have the receipt to return it!

I will just be posting my weight. I am excited because two women I work with are either doing Weight Watcher's or are trying to lose weight on their own. It is fantastic to have that support system where I work and we have been doing a lot of recipe trading and morale boosting. It is encouraging to see a 60 year old dropping 2 lbs a week on Weight Watcher's. Very proud of her!

It has been a somewhat stressful week. Started with me being sick Sunday night into Monday. Stayed home and slept all day long. My step count on my Fitbit was like 38!! Youngest was sick Thursday night into Friday and he stayed home with Husband on Friday. I believe his stomach issues are tied to dairy so we will be doing some experimenting with lactose free foods. He now just sounds stuffed up, which can be either a cold or food related.

I have been pursing some part time jobs. I interviewed with Rooster's on Weds and though they had no food prep positions open, they did offer me the cook position. I am not comfortable in that role as I have no restaurant experience (sorry Sandy V!!)! I also interviewed at a nursing home and they offered me a 12-4 Sat and Sun position.  This is a tough one: the money would be stellar but the time away from the kids is just too much. Daughter doesn't even get up until noon on the weekends so I would never see her and there is no way we can get Middle to all his sports stuff with dragging Youngest along, too. I have asked if they could put me in a 6am-10am position instead. Waiting on an answer.

I called Former Lunch Lady Steve to pick his brain before I went to the nursing home interview as he is Food Service Director at a nursing home one town over. He called last night to see how it went and we were talking about what a huge time commitment that position would be and he mentioned that he could possibly get me a 6:30am-12:30pm job on Saturday's only. It would pay a little less but it is a smaller facility and it would only be one day on the weekend instead of both. I am hopeful he can pull this off.

I have been overwhelmed this week by the amount of people who support me and my family. We have had to make some schedule changes coming up which means not watching our little Daisy Trooper in the mornings after spring break and having our friend watch Youngest a little more in the mornings. Everyone took the changes in stride and I am so thankful to have these friends in my life.

I have also been talking with my Cousin more (thank you unlimited texting!!) and I am so glad to be in touch with her more. Our extended family is so small, I feel like I need to gather everyone close and hold on tight to them all.

It is not always in times of crisis when you find who your true friends are. You can find them in every day experiences. Be thankful for those good friends you have and be gone with the ones who don't make your heart happy.

Typical Saturday for us today: basketball, grocery shopping, laundry. Our temps are going to start dropping after today so we will get the kids outside and air them out.

If you need some food and fitness motivation, check out the Foodnetwork site: Bobby Flay has some webisodes that are short and chock full of motivation and yummy food.

Have a great weekend, friends. Enjoy the three days off and do something good for your self, and maybe surprise a friend by doing something nice for them, too.

Cat

Weigh in 4. Not so pretty

Weigh in 1: 150.6 lbs, Body fat 31.6%, Muscle 36.5%
Weigh in 2: 148.2 lbs, BF 30.9%, Muscle 36.8%
Weigh in 3 (this am): 150.4 lbs, BF 31.6%, Muscle 36.2%

Weigh in 4: 150.6 lbs, BF 31.6%, Muscle 35.9%

Just a few words:

Bread Lady provided many bags of Bob Evans Biscuits

and

several containers of pasta salad.

I am a weak woman.

Back to my eggs.

Cluck.

Have a great weekend!!

Cat

Weigh in three and 30 foods you should be eating

Hi gang,
Happy Hump Day!! I hope this Wednesday finds everyone doing well. Here's how my weigh in has looked, including this morning:

Weigh in 1: 150.6 lbs, Body fat 31.6%, Muscle 36.5%

Weigh in 2: 148.2 lbs, BF 30.9%, Muscle 36.8%

Weigh in 3 (this am): 150.4 lbs, BF 31.6%, Muscle 36.2%

I had a pluthora of protein yesterday but didn't factor that the 45 minute walk I went on after work would leave me ravenous on the way to pick up Daughter from school. I stopped and got a McD hamburger and even after logging it, was well within my range for the day. Though my sodium, not surprise was thru the roof! I need to start packing a small box of snacks for the car rides. I have been walking a lot and doing my weights and when I got home today, my jeans were falling off me. I am working on putting a big dent in those numbers by Sat.

Speaking of snacks, I am reading "The Drop 10 Diet" by Lucy Danzinger, Editor in Chief of Self Magazine. These are the 30 foods we should be adding to our diet to help with weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight:

Almond butter, Apples, Artichokes, Avocado, Blueberries

Broccoli, Cherries, Coffee, Dark Chocolate, Edamame

Eggs, Goji berries, Kale, Kiwifruit, Lentils

Mushrooms, oats, olive oil, Parmesan, Peanuts

Pomegranates, popcorn, pumpkin seeds, Quinoa, Sardines

Steak, sweet potatoes, whole grain pasta, wild salmon, yogurt

Each of these foods has fat burning properties, mainly because of their balance of fat and protein. You don't have to eat them all every day, but it is good to incorporate them into your diet several times a week. Not sure I can do a sardine though, but peanuts and a lot of the other items are no brainers. Portion control must be in play when noshing on peanuts, dark chocolate, steak and a few others. I have a few on my next grocery list to see how adding them to my diet affects my hunger.

A good friend of mine invited me to be on their team for the Dirty Girl Mud Run on June 1st. I am excited to say I signed up and am really looking forward to it. It is an 11 obstacle course designed by an Ex Army Ranger. It is not really a race, more for fun, and there will be lots of mud involved. 100% of the registration proceeds go to The National Breast Cancer Foundation. Should be hilarious and it's for a great cause. If anyone local wants to join our team, let me know and I will get you the team name.

Hopefully you are all working towards your New Year's goals and/or resolutions. Give yourself two months to get in the groove. You can do it, I know you can!

As for me, it is time to wash some dishes, get dinner ready and boil some more eggs. I do believe I may turn into a chicken...or an egg....whichever came first!

Cluck cluck,

Cat

Surprising turn of events

A few years ago, Middle child played in the local coach pitch baseball league. He was pretty good and some what of a rarity as he plays all sports left handed. Husband was self appointed third base coach and I am fairly sure he had more fun than Middle child,  as Middle child did not want to sign up again. Ever. Husband was really bummed as he really enjoyed watching him play and being able to participate as well. Husband is also convinced that Middle being a Lefty makes him a better ball player. I don't follow his logic but as with most sport things, I just go along with his theories. Easier that way.

Fast forward thru weeks of hockey lessons, a season in rec basketball and now his current season of travel basketball. Middle would really, and I can't stress really  wants to play in a tackle football league. I put my foot down on this with a resounding NO ( I have a lot of reasons, but mostly it is a safety issue. And yes I know he could get hurt in any sport. Don't try to change my mind because you can't.), but agreed that he could play flag football and try out for middle school football in two years. I have heard about flag football non stop for the last several months. NONSTOP.

I happened to get an email from the local baseball association that it is time to sign up for spring ball. That email reminded me to look up the flag football thing and get Middle child signed up. I had Middle child look at the website, see if he knew any kids on previous teams, etc. He spent quite awhile looking at the pics and the video of the kids playing. Then he looked at me and said "I don't want to play flag football."

I was stunned. He had a couple various reasons and I didn't press him on his decision. I mentioned that baseball sign ups are now, too. He asked if it is coach pitch again and I told him no, it is kid pitch at his age. "Ok, I will play baseball".

Can you hear the silence?? I pressed him on this and am making him wait and think about it before I sign him up for it. But the best part was when he told his Dad that he wanted to play baseball again. Husband hasn't stopped smiling since. I may even see if I can sign Husband up as coach. He will appoint himself one anyway, it may as well be official!!

I didn't go as crazy today with food prep for the week as I did last week. I still have a couple hard boiled eggs left as well as some turkey burgers. I did get some of the kids lunches made and I have a decent arsenal of fruits and veggies ready to go. I made a pork roast for dinner and 5 turkey sausages that will be my lunch at work thru out the week. I feel like I am ready for the week.

Tomorrow is my last day off. I plan on a good workout and maybe a little browsing at some local stores. Nothing I need but it is fun to look.

Have a good week! Will post my weight on Weds.
Cat

Weigh in #2

I tried to weigh in on Wednesday like I usually do, but had a glitch with my new, cheap scale. So I bagged it and weighed in today. And the numbers look like this:

Weight 148.2lbs, down from 150.6

Body fat 30.9 down from 31.6

Muscle mass 36.8 up from 36.5

I am happy with those numbers and will be really ecstatic when that body fat number gets in the 20's. All of my food prep last Sunday really made eating well easy this week. Anytime I was tempted to nosh on something because I was bored, I ate a hard boiled egg (just the white) or a 2 oz turkey burger. I bought some really fantastic hot sauce and have been putting it on everything. It has a little heat right off the bat but then it mellows and is almost a little sweet. It is called Frontera Jalapeno Hot Sauce. It costs about $3.69 at stores and though that seems a little pricey for 5 oz of hot sauce but I promise you, you don't need much to get the heat.

I have been either walking every day or doing a workout dvd. This has been easy since I have been home, the trick will be to incorporate it when I go back to work. I am going to have to do it right when I get home, or even walk around where I work. I have been doing weights as well.

Tomorrow's food prep will be boiling more eggs, making an egg and asparagus frittata, cooking some turkey sausage. Aldi was out of ground turkey so I went for the sausage links. Have never had them but at 150 calories and 10 grams of fat per link, they seemed like a good alternative. I also cut up a cantaloupe. I am more of a veggie than fruit girl, but I am trying to get more fruit in me. 

I have been reading a lot about sticking with a workout/eating well routine. With it being the New Year, everyone is on the band wagon to do better. I read that if you make a two month plan, you are more likely to stick with it. It becomes overwhelming when you try to change your entire lifestyle for the rest of your life. It is much more manageable when you break it down into smaller segments. You know what works best for you, make a plan you can stick with.

I am off to find some more recipes online. Mexican food sounds good right now so I am off to find some healthy recipes! I will let you know what I find.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!! I am up to 14 followers now. Thanks!!!

Cat