Pig Skins/Potato Skins

Hi All! Long time, no blog! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving…I know I did! I hit the 80 pounds down mark on Thursday morning which was very exciting! I know that between all of the good Thanksgiving food that I gained a couple back but I’m not weighing again until Saturday morning so hopefully by then I will be balanced back out. I also ran before I ate on Thanksgiving. I am on week 7 of Couch to 5K and I had to run 25 minutes with no stopping on Thursday. It was pretty tough…my brother went with me. It was so sad…he could power walk as fast as I was running but whatever…I did it and I was very proud. I also ran the 25 minutes again on Sunday and I have to run it this afternoon when I get home. Next week will be 28 minutes and then the last week (week 9) will end with running 30 minutes which I guess for a normal person is a 5K but for me, I think it’s more of a 3K or 4K. I am really noticing a difference from the running and I can’t explain how happy I am when I finish…it’s hard but as long as I’m not hurting too bad and it makes me feel great, I’m going to keep going. I posted a couple of pictures below from Thanksgiving…




I was making yeast rolls. We had SO much food! It was all delicious! Thanksgiving was great and up until the second half of the Iron Bowl, Friday was AMAZING. If any of you out there were wondering how to successfully crap on a 24 point lead, I hope you were watching the Alabama-Auburn game on Friday. Honestly, I don’t think it was the fact that Alabama lost the game…we were playing the number 2 team in the nation. The problem came because we totally let up and let them get the momentum…basically…we lost to ourselves. I was actually OK after the game, I found myself consoling other people but with each passing day, I get more and more disgusted. I thought things were supposed to get better as the days go on but not with this because every time I turn on the TV, I hear about one of the best comebacks ever…gross. Even though it is purely out of meanness, I hope South Carolina beats them in the SEC Championship…if they don’t…then GO OREGON DUCKS! I love football season so I’m going to miss it…though…I feel like I might lose more weight now.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with Jordan, family and SHOPPING. I was trying to get some Christmas shopping done. I’ve made a good bit of progress but there are a couple of things that require me to actually sit down and work on them and I am procrastinating…bad. Also, the mall in this town is crazy busy. I went in there and it was miserable…there were so many people there. I actually had some good luck yesterday on Cyber Monday so that was good…and I didn’t have to go anywhere.

Last night was recipe night-



I made Pepperoni Pizza Potato Skins. They are pretty self explanatory but you just take a large potato and bake it completely, then let it cool. I am impatient so I didn’t let mine bake as long as I should have but it still turned out fine. Once you let it cool, you just cut it into quarters, dig out half of the flesh of the potato and replace that with a layer of pizza sauce, then part-skim mozzarella and diced pepperoni. I dipped them in barbecue sauce too just for an added kick. This was very filling and tasty. Anytime you can make a potato skin or other party type food and it be OK with Weight Watchers, it’s a good thing. OK-that’s all for today…I will blog like normal on Thursday! Bye!

“Time casts a spell on you, but you won't forget me
I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me
I'll follow you down til' the sound of my voice will haunt you
You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you
I'll follow you down til' the sound of my voice will haunt you.” Silver Springs-Fleetwood Mac

Gobble, Gobble Y'all!

Well, hello everyone! I hope that this is a short week for you like it is for me. I am off Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday! I am very excited about the time off. As I told you last week, I weighed on Thursday morning and I was down one pound. I had a rough few days in terms of dieting so I’m sure that I added a couple of pounds. I’m hoping to lose those again by Thanksgiving morning. I am in quite a roller coaster phase right now but as long as I keep coming back down, I’ll be fine. I have a lot going on the next several days so before I fill you in on all my plans, I wanted to share last night’s recipe with you.



I made Home-Style Salisbury Steak With Mushroom Gravy. I apologize for the dark lighting in the picture, my iPhone doesn’t have the greatest camera in the world. So-as you can see, there are a lot of mushrooms in the gravy. I love mushrooms so I put more in there than it called for but you can use less. This was really delicious! It was definitely comfort food. You take the leanest ground beef you can find (4 oz per serving), combine it with onions, salt, pepper and half a piece of whole wheat bread and form it into a patty. Then you put it under the broiler for 6 minutes on each side. While it’s cooking, you sauté mushrooms and garlic and then add ¼ tbsp of flour and ¼ cup of broth and stir for several minutes to make the gravy. I only made one serving so obviously, the ingredients would multiply if you were making the recipe for more people. I made the recipe with green beans which I make a lot because they are pretty much my favorite vegetable but you can make whatever veggie you want as a side. The beef was moist and tasty and the gravy turned out great. The best part was that it really didn’t take more than 20 minutes to prep and cook it. It’s definitely a keeper.

As a side note, while I was sitting on my couch last night, there were many moments I had to stop to retrieve the mushroom or green bean that I dropped on my shirt or on the ground. I am such a messy eater. I cannot tell you how many clothes I’ve lost due to that random grease spot that shows up right in the middle of your shirt when you take it out of the dryer because somewhere along the line, you dropped a fry or some gravy right in the middle. I may have discussed this before but I thought I would bring it back up after I just lost yet another shirt the other day. I want to know why I NEVER see skinny people with those obnoxious stains. I never see a skinny person at a restaurant spill an entire cup of barbecue sauce from head to toe on themselves when a waiter hands them their plate. That kind of thing seems to only happen to those of a more healthy stature. Of course, I would spill things down the front of my shirt. I feel like people think all fat people eat like Jabba the Hut, just frantically throwing food at themselves hoping that they make it into their mouth. That’s not the case…because I know that I’m a clumsy eater so I take extra care to not make a mess but EVERY time…I spill something. I have concluded in the past that skinny people don’t have a large, “D” sized barrier in their way like I do, a food catcher, if you will. Still though, I get stuff underneath my bra…like…how does it even get there? I think those stained clothes are like a fat person’s war wound or something. As if being fat weren’t enough, you have to wear these scars of remembrance on your clothes that not only are you fat, you are fat AND sloppy. I realize MOST of this is in my head but as an avid conspiracy theorist, I have to think there is more to this than coincidence.

Ok-speaking of a time in which I’m guaranteed to spill something on myself, Thanksgiving is Thursday! I am not going to blog again until next Tuesday so I thought I would give you some Happy Thanksgiving images ahead of time…






I hope you all have a wonderful time with friends and/or family. Also, if you know me personally and you don’t have a place to eat on Thanksgiving, email me heather.m.wyatt@gmail.com and I will be glad to invite you to eat with me and my family because no one should spend Thanksgiving day alone. I am looking forward to all of the delicious food! I know that I will not be dieting BUT according to Couch to 5K, I am due to run 25 straight minutes on Thanksgiving. I plan on doing that before I eat anything so if I can accomplish that, I will feel much better about the casseroles and pies I will be eating.

Friday is ALMOST as important as Thursday so I will go ahead and tell you…



That’s right, Alabama has a chance to ruin Auburn’s season and salvage ours this Friday. Auburn is really good this year but Alabama is a monster at home and we haven’t lost at our own stadium in a LONG time so I hope we continue the streak. It will be tough but the Iron Bowl is always jam packed with energy and I’m hoping for a close game with Alabama coming out on top! ROLL TIDE! It’s going to be a really fun day.

As you know, there is a lot going on the next few days. I am going to try and get some Christmas shopping done Saturday and Sunday…most of all…I want to have fun, eat good food and relax because come Monday, it’s back to normal grind for at least a few weeks until Christmas.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend! I will write again Tuesday with another recipe, updates and other things!

Roll Tide! Peace!!!

“Song, song of the south
Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth
Gone, gone with the wind
There ain't nobody looking back again

Cotton on the roadside, cotton in the ditch
We all picked the cotton but we never got rich
Daddy was a veteran, a southern democrat
They oughta get a rich man to vote like that

Sing it...

Song, song of the south
Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth
Gone, gone with the wind
There ain't nobody looking back again

Well somebody told us Wall Street fell
But we were so poor that we couldn't tell
Cotton was short and the weeds were tall
But Mr. Roosevelt's a gonna save us all

Well momma got sick and daddy got down
The county got the farm and they moved to town
Pappa got a job with the TVA
He bought a washing machine and then a Chevrolet

Sing it...

Song, song of the south
Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth
Gone, gone with the wind
There ain't nobody looking back again.” Song of the South-Alabama

Couch to 5K!

Howdy everyone! Has everyone had a good week? If you have , YAY! If not, at least it’s Friday right? I've had a pretty good couple of days. Yesterday, I weighed in the morning just to see what it looked like and because of my hard work, I had lost all of my Vegas weight plus one more pound bringing my total loss to 79.4 pounds! I was so surprised and excited! I celebrated by totally putting weight back on the past two days. Last night, Alabama had a random football game (we won by a landslide) so I probably had a few too many calories last night and then we had our work Thanksgiving lunch today and I ate WAY too much. My body is NOT happy with me…I am not going to weigh again until NEXT Thursday morning. That’s Thanksgiving so I’m hoping I will get lucky and even out so I can gain a little again. I have quite a holiday system here but so far my plan to maintain is working…it should continue to work but that depends on my flawlessness this weekend and Monday-Wednesday. I can do it.

Part of the reason I didn’t have too much trouble losing the Vegas weight has something to do with this…



I have never been a “runner.” Actually, I’ve never been anything close. When we had to run the mile in high school, I walked…it would take me FOREVER to do the mile. Over the past year and half, I have pretty much solidified exercise as part of my daily routine. It’s not something I even question any more. This is a good thing but from time to time, I do like to change things up. It’s good for the body and mind to try new things. I have always admired those people who I see at the park, running for miles. Some of them even say that is where they clear their minds. I have tried running in the past. I would try to go for 60 seconds or longer and I’ve tried just running without timing. I have always given up because there was no real structure and I didn’t know how to really build myself up to go any distance. I sort of decided that I simply CAN’T and WON’T ever run. I heard about the Couch to 5K program through a friend. They have an app for the iPhone and I decided I would give it a try. I have bad knees so I have been keeping a close watch on my knees to make sure I don’t hurt myself…I want to make sure if I’m hurting, it’s a good hurt, not a permanent injury hurt. So far, I haven’t had any knee trouble. I dare say, I’ve had less trouble now that I’ve been doing Couch to 5K. The concept is simple. You run only 3 days a week and each day of the work out, you run different times and increase your endurance with every session. Once you complete the workout, you check it off and it moves for you to the next one. The app tells you when to walk and when to run through your headphones and it also works with Pandora radio or your iPod on your phone so you can also listen to music. You always have a warm-up and a cool down. The first week you alternated 60 seconds jogging with 90 seconds walking. Each week it increases and changes up the routine. It’s a 9 week program and I just finished week 5…which meant I jogged for 20 minutes without stopping. I honestly never thought it was possible for me to do that so I was pretty proud of myself. It’s tough and I still have 3 weeks to go…I peeked ahead and it looks like at some point next week I have to run 25 minutes without stopping…so it’s only going to get worse but I cannot tell you how I feel when I get done. Plus, it's GREAT exercise...I can really tell a difference. I would definitely recommend this program. It’s realistic…3 days a week and it is gradual. I will say though that if you are an actual couch potato who hasn’t exercised much in months or years, I would walk daily for a few weeks at least before I tried Couch to 5K because I’ve been exercising every day for a long time and it’s still kicking my butt…just a suggestion.

Well, this weekend should be relaxing. Tomorrow…I am SO excited…



HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 came out today and I’m going to see it tomorrow! I love Harry Potter so I’m very excited. I have read all the books and it is by far my favorite book series EVER…Regrettably, I’ve only read the series once but I plan on reading them all again before the last movie comes out. Anyway, I am pleased to be going to see it tomorrow afternoon. I’m also cooking dinner with Whitney tomorrow night…it should be a lot of fun…we both love to cook and we got a pretty awesome menu set up. Sunday is REST day…I have to run and do a load of laundry but I plan on catching up on TV the rest of the day.

Next week will also be awesome. It’s a short week, Thanksgiving is Thursday and the Iron Bowl is Friday (more on all that next week)! I hope you all have a great weekend! Roll Tide! Bye!

“I’m only one voice in a million
But you ain’t taking that from me
Oh oh no you ain’t taking that from me.” Strip Me-Natasha Bedingfield

Must...Get...Through...Holiday...Season...

Greetings Y’all! It feels like a long time since I’ve posted but I think that’s because I’ve just been so busy. After Vegas, I had a lot of work to catch up on. I’m also way behind on TV but I didn’t get to do too much TV watching this weekend. Saturday, I weighed against my better judgment. I was up 4 pounds. Honestly, that’s not too bad considering that I ate pretty crappy for 5 straight days. I would have really hated to see how much I would have gained had I not been exercising like crazy. I am going to weigh again Thursday morning to see if I have gotten rid of most of the 4 pounds…I hope I have because I know there will be some sketchy moments on Thursday night at Alabama’s football game and then at lunch on Friday because we are having our Thanksgiving lunch at work. That’s right, Alabama is playing this Thursday night…it kind of sucks because it’s a work night, it’s going to be cold and we are playing a team who didn’t even exist last year. It’s Georgia State and this is their first year to even have a football team. Anyway, I will have to leave right after work to get there so I know dinner might be a little touch and go. Hopefully between this weekend, yesterday, today and tomorrow, I will have gotten rid of most of those 4 pounds so I can even out again by next week. This maintaining stuff is hard…I need the holidays to hurry up on out of here because I am DETERMINED to lose at least 20 more pounds by May. That was a lot of rambling just to tell you that I weighed on Saturday…but anyway. I also cleaned the heck out of my apartment, watch Alabama beat Mississippi State, hung out with my folks and some friends and I even got like 3 hours just to do nothing. It was a nice weekend.

Last night was recipe night…




In the spirit of casserole season, I made green bean casserole last night. I included a picture of the the plate I made (I just made a pork chop and some bread to go with it) and then a picture of the whole thing so you saw it all together and didn't think it was just a blob of plain green beans. The casserole was an actual Weight Watchers recipe and it was DELICIOUS! First of all, I am weird about green bean casserole that my mom didn’t make because…that’s just what I’m used to. The recipe called for fresh green beans but I’m not a fan, so I did use canned. The only thing was…I misread the recipe…it said ¾ pound of green beans but I read it as 1-1/4 pound…so I had too many green beans but it still turned out awesome. The creamy factor for green bean casserole is usually cream of mushroom soup but since that is kind of fattening (I know there is reduced fat cream of mushroom…you may be able to substitute but I think making it yourself may taste better), you sort of make it yourself. You use reduced sodium chicken broth, onions, mushrooms, garlic and flour. Once you thicken the sauce, you mix it with the beans. Then you top it with a crumble of low fat butter, bread crumbs and grated parmesan…and then you bake it. I ate a TON of this stuff because it tasted so good and it’s basically just vegetables. I will definitely make this again as a side.

It has been so dreary here the past couple of days. The sun hasn’t been out more than a few minutes and we have had a lot of that cold rain. It’s all around icky outside, plus it gets dark by 5. I am not adjusting well to the weather and time changes…my throat hurts in the morning, I have all kinds of fluid built up in my ears and I am totally exhausted all the time. I think part of my fatigue can be attributed to the fact that I just got contacts for the first time and for some reason, they wear my eyes out. I think once I get used to a foreign object in my eye and once I get accustomed to the weather, I will feel better…and stop complaining.

Well, I know that I said I am ready for the holidays to get over with, but I really am looking forward to being with family, giving gifts and eating good food. I just find it really hard to work everything off and also…I am SUCH a scrooge when it comes to Christmas music. The only time I usually accept Christmas music is when I’m decorating a tree, other than that, it sort of drives me crazy.

I think that was all I had today, I know it was sort of a hodge podge of things but it’s my blog so I guess I do have certain liberties in what I want to say…even if there is not really a point.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening!

Bye!


“I learned to live half alive
And now you want me one more time

And who do you think you are
Running 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are

And it took so long just to feel alright
Remember how to put back the light in my eyes
I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed
Cause you broke all your promises
And now you're back
You don't get to get me back

And who do you think you are
Running 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Don't come back at all.” Jar of Hearts-Christina Perri

Thanks Vets! Wish I Could Take You All To Vegas!

Yes, Happy Veterans Day! We should appreciate the armed forces every day but I am glad there are a few days a year that we specifically honor those fighting and those who have fought for our freedom. Thanks to everyone who has been in and also those currently serving in the military (thanks DAD!).

Before I show you the pictures of Vegas, I will briefly state that I am saddened and disgusted to report that Alabama has lost again…this time to LSU. I hope this losing thing this season is a curse that is just for road games because we have three more games at home and it would be nice if we could win the rest of them so we can come away with at least a decent season. We have yet to play Auburn who as you may know, is still undefeated and they are a really strong team so we will have to bring some skills out of somewhere to beat them…and I’m worried because we just aren’t as good as we were last year…but you never know…stranger things have happened. It was very fun winning every game last year but the reality is that you do eventually have to lose and we obviously don’t have what it takes this year…so the best to hope for is that we win the rest of our games and win a decent bowl game…that would be a very respectable season. No matter what though, I will always be an Alabama fan! I can’t stand a fair weather fan…there are times that I get mad at the game or think we will lose but I would never change teams! Roll Tide!

Ok-I’m done going on and on about that now…I posted some pictures from Vegas below…









We had a great time!!! Vegas is so big…there was a lot of walking but it’s so colorful and there is so much to do…it’s like every casino is an adult Disney World. We went to the Stratosphere, rode the roller coaster at New York, New York, I got another tattoo (sorry Grandma), saw Cirque de Soleil, and ATE FOOD, ATE FOOD, ATE FOOD! Ugh…I haven’t weighed because I know it won’t be pretty. I do know that I have A LOT of work to do. I’m hoping to lose the Vegas weight and get back to normal by the morning of Thanksgiving. I could have done worse because my mom and I shared at least 3 meals while we were there, I ran twice during the week AND there was a massive amount of walking but make no mistake, I ate way too much good food. I am completely on the wagon today and it hasn’t been too bad. I need to be good for the next two weeks so I can have a delicious Thanksgiving. I can do this…I am in no way interested in giving up so I should be fine…like I said…I’m all about maintaining until the first of the year when I can start being extra serious again.

This will be my only blog this week. I will start back again next week with the regular recipes and whatever else I decide to ramble on about. I hope you all have had a great week and that you have a fun, safe weekend.

Rolllllll Tiiiideeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bye!

“From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and it’s time we stand and say.

That I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

And I'm proud to be and American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.” God Bless the U.S.A.-Lee Greenwood

Can You Take Me To Vegas?

HELLO EVERYONE! Happy Friday! It has been a long week but the weekend is FINALLY here!!! I hope you all have had a great week. As I may have mentioned, tomorrow, my mom, Oma and Aunt Betty and I are headed to Las Vegas!

I have never been to Las Vegas so I am very excited to see the city and get another state under my belt. I have a mental bucket list and one of the items on it is to visit every state so I always get excited to add another...I think I’ve been to 24...3 of those were only airports though and some people don’t count that so I definitely want to go again. Anyway, we leave tomorrow for Vegas and we are coming back Wednesday. It should be a lot of fun! Flying doesn’t really bother me but there have been just enough news stories the past week to make me annoyed. Also, I know that security is going to be especially strict with all the stuff going on but hey, it’s just part of it...so please keep us in your mind this week that we have a safe trip!

Right about the time we will be getting settled in Vegas, Alabama will be kicking off against LSU...



This game is HUGE! We HAVE to win this game and we are playing IN Baton Rouge so it’s going to be tough. I hate missing the game but honestly, this one is really stressing me out so it may be best that I am distracted by Sin City so as not to go crazy worrying about the game. Roll Tide!

So-I wanted share some new gum I’ve discovered.



The Strawberry Shortcake gum is a new campaign from Extra that makes gum taste like dessert. I think there is a Key-Lime Pie that I’ve heard is good but I haven’t tried it. The Strawberry Shortcake gum is good. At first, I didn’t really care for it as much but it’s grown on me. It’s really sweet but it has 5 calories and it’s good if you just want something to chew on. The other is from Trident. They make Layers gum that includes more than one flavor. They have lots of different versions of Trident Layers but I have only tried Green Apple & Golden Pineapple. It’s SOOO good! It’s tart at first but then has this bold, refreshing flavor. I know I sound like I should do a commercial for them but it really is tasty. Both of these are sugar free and while I don’t claim that they stifle hunger, they are good if chewing helps you get your mind off food.

Another thing I wanted to briefly mention was that I noticed now that I’ve lost almost 80 pounds, I can definitely tell when I’ve gone up a few pounds. Before I lost a significant amount of weight, I couldn’t really tell by looking in the mirror if I gained or lost a few pounds. On Monday, after the Halloween binge fest, I could look in the mirror and I could really tell that I was up a few pounds. I was surprised and I thought my reaction would be more devastated but actually...it was kind of refreshing...to actually be able to see physical changes in my body. To me that meant that I am no longer one solid blob, I am starting to regain structure in my body. I can see my waist now and I can definitely tell when I had gained a few because my waist had become less defined. Anyway, it was just something I noticed.

Ok-Speaking of gaining weight, I hope it’s not too bad in Vegas. I plan on walking a lot and I am going to actually set aside time to work out twice while we are there just so I can maintain some sort of structure.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week. I probably won’t post again until next Friday so until then!

Roll Tide!

Bye!

“Listen up now honey, you're gonna be sorry
Can't get out from under a sky that is falling
And you say
No fame no money I'm nobody
The way I'm running has sure got me down
On my knees.
Next stop, Vegas please.
Can you take me to Vegas?” Vegas-Sara Bareilles

Until Next Year Halloween!

Hello All! I hope you all had an amazing Halloween weekend…I know I did…I posted some pics below. Jordan went as Liza Minnelli and I went as Judy Garland. I also dressed up as a fairy on Sunday night for the trick-or-treater’s so I posted that too. We had so much fun!







I think I look a lot like my grandmother in these pictures…I’ve seen some pictures of her as a teenager and we have a lot of the same features…especially with my hair curled like that. I really love getting all dressed up…I miss Halloween already. I tell you what though, I ate like a beast Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. I decided I’m not even going to attempt to get on a scale until I have gone at least two weeks being good so I think it might be the day before Thanksgiving. I don’t want to get discouraged so I think weighing as little as possible while being as good as possible on most days will be my strategy.

I made a Weight Watchers recipe last night…



This is an Herbed Ham-and-Potato Frittata. Basically, you cook up diced potatoes in a skillet for 10 or 15 minutes then you add egg substitute, ham, salt, pepper, oregano and parsley and then let it cook about 10 more minutes until it’s firm. After that, you broil it for 3-5 minutes so it browns on top. This was actually pretty tasty. I think next time I make it, I will sprinkle some cheese on top but other than that, I wouldn’t really change anything. The potatoes make it very filling and because there is so much fiber and very little fat, you can eat a lot of it.

I have been really busy today and I’ve also had major computer issues at work lately. I also got contact lenses for the first time in my life yesterday and I’ve had some trouble putting them in and out so I’ve been a little stressed. Things are improving slowly though so there is light at the end of the tunnel…PLUS I am going to Vegas next week!

I think that is all for today…have a great rest of the week!

Bye!

“If I'm such a legend, then why am I so lonely? Let me tell you, legends are all very well if you've got somebody around who loves you.” Judy Garland