I Miss New York Already!

Hey All! I am back from New York in one piece! I am actually in one much heavier piece then before I left. As predicted, I ate my weight in the wonderful food of New York City. When I was walking around yesterday, I felt like a giant balloon that could be floated in the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade. My mother and friends have told me not to panic, that I probably haven’t gained as much as I think and starting late next week, I will be completely back on track. I don’t plan on weighing until July 8th so I can give myself time to level out. Once I weigh then, I will know exactly how much I need to work off. I am going to post some New York pictures below. They are also going to be on Facebook so if you are my friend, you can look at more there soon (I will try to add them to Shutterfly as well and include a link for you later). I will be leaving for Nashville for work on Sunday morning so I won’t be blogging on Tuesday but I will be back in the groove of things by next Friday.





















That is only a few of the 215 pictures that I took. I had an AMAZING trip and I can’t wait to go back!!! I have to run but I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Bye!

“If I can make it there,
I'd make it anywhere
Come on, come through,
New York, New York.” New York, New York-Frank Sinatra

New York State Of Mind

Well, the time has come and at 3am this morning, my friend David will be picking me up to head to the airport with several friends so we can go to New York! I am SO FRIGGIN’ EXCITED!!! I won’t be blogging on Tuesday as I will be frolicking around Greenwich Village but I will return Friday to post pictures of my adventures. My blog will be watered down the next couple of weeks as I travel but I’ll get one in the next two Friday’s. I weighed this morning and I was down another 1.3 pounds which brings my total loss to 104.9! I exceeded my mini goal by almost 3 pounds which means I am feeling great about indulging the next week and a half. My next mini-goal will have me down about 8 more pounds by August 12th. That gives me almost 2 months to lose 8 pounds plus recover from my upcoming New York, Nashville and New Orleans trips so I think I can do it if I work hard while I’m not travelling.



Since I won’t be here Sunday for Father’s Day, I wanted to make sure and give a shout out to my dad. We kind of celebrated a bit last week and I gave him a card, mug and made him caramel corn and this dessert he really likes but I know he wishes I could be there on Sunday. I love you dad and I hope you have a great Father’s Day! You are the best!!!





I started the trend last week of posting old vs. new pictures of myself on Friday to serve as a reminder that even if I’m having a bad day or feeling like I can’t tell I’ve lost weight…that I have and I should be proud. Those out there who are losing should be proud too! I hope these pictures come off inspirational and not annoying and again, if anyone ever has any pictures to share…send ‘em my way at heather.m.wyatt@gmail.com and I’ll post them if you want. :)

I know that I am falling down on my weight loss theme and I promise I will get back on track in a couple weeks but if you don’t want to see pictures of lavish food, I’d wait a couple weeks before reading as I may be posting pictures that you won’t want to see next week.

I hope you all have a wonderful, fun filled and safe weekend/week. I hope the same for myself and if you all could be sending well wishes for my safe departure and arrival, that would be fantastic. Happy Birthday David! I can’t wait to celebrate your 50th in the BIG APPLE!

Talk with you soon!

Bye!

“I'm in a New York state of mind

It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the rhythm and blues
But now I need a little give and take
The New York Times, The Daily News

It comes down to reality
And it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide
Don't care if it's Chinatown or on Riverside
I don't have any reasons
I've left them all behind
I'm in a New York state of mind.” New York State Of Mind-Billy Joel

Cute Lil' Dumplin'

Happy week before New York y’all. New York is very much on my mind and I will definitely be more chatty about it on Friday but I wanted to get another plug in there that I’m SO ready. I’ve had a very busy and productive past few days with work, cleaning and creative stuff. I won’t go into detail but I’ve gotten a lot done that I’ve been procrastinating for a long time. Most of what I do is an ongoing process but I’m making great strides in the right direction. Progress is being made!







This recipe is called Potato-Cheese Dumplings with Sour Cream-Chive Dip. The more I make recipes and try to save money, the more I change recipes around. When I give you the name of a recipe, it was the original name but most of the time, I’ve made some adjustments to it. This recipe called for fat free sour cream and low fat cream cheese. Well, I had low fat sour cream and fat free cream cheese so I switched that around. For the sour cream and chive dip, I didn’t have chives so I mixed low fat sour cream with parsley flakes and a ton of garlic and onion powder. The sauce was the best part.

I’ve never worked with wontons before but they weren’t bad. I think my biggest mistake with them was not peeling them apart very well. There were several dumplings with two wontons. Basically, you mix together the sour cream, cream cheese, shredded fat free cheese, salt and pepper and mashed up potatoes (you’ll need to boil them first, I know that seems obvious but you never know) in a bowl and spoon about a teaspoon on the mixture in the middle of the wonton. Gently wet all four sides of the wonton with your finger and then fold it over pinching the edges, making a little half moon. Lay them on a sprayed cookie sheet and spray the top of the wontons before you put them in. I think they were at 350 for about 15 minutes…basically until they are golden brown. One serving of these is four dumplings but they aren’t high in points so I ate all of them and that’s what I had for dinner. They were really tasty! I was especially proud of the combination of the dumpling and the dip. It was delicious and would be great for an appetizer at a party.

I will spend the rest of the week working and packing for my trip. I am sticking to my guns this week because I weigh one more time before New York. I am feeling good about the scale right now and I’m on target so if I gain a few over my back-to-back trips, that’s OK, I’ll be right back on track after they are over. I am not even going to try and pretend like I’m going to be good in New York…in fact I will probably take pictures of every calorie laden piece of food I eat! I apologize if I am sending mixed signals but that’s just how I roll (literally) on vacation. I earned it!

Have a good week y’all!

Bye!

“I've been tellin' my dreams to the scarecrow
'Bout the places that I'd like to see
I said, friend do you think I'll ever get there
Ah, but he just stands there smilin' back at me

So I confessed my sins to the preacher
About the love I've been prayin' to find
Is there a brown eye'd boy in my future, yeah
He says. girl you've got nothin' but time

But how do you wait for heaven
And who has that much time
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know, that you were born, you were born to fly

My daddy, he's grounded like the oak tree
My momma, she is steady as the sun
Oh you know I love my folks
But I keep starin' down the road
Just lookin' for my one chance to run

Yeah, 'cause I will soar away like the blackbird
I will blow in the wind like a sea
I will plant my heart in the garden of my dreams
And I will grow up where I'll wander wild and free.” Born To Fly-Sara Evans

Feel Fabulous Friday!

Top of the Friday to ya! The weekend is here yet again and I think I might actually get to relax a few minutes over the next couple of days. That isn’t to say it will be totally inactive, I got the usual going but I am hoping to sneak some couch and/or pool time in. Well, I weighed this morning and I was down 1.6 this week bringing my total loss to 103.6! This nice loss brought me down below the goal I set for June 17th. So, what that means is, as long as I lose next week or don’t gain more than a pound, I met my pre-New York goal! The next goal has me down a little more than 8 pounds by the end of July. You all know how much I love the little goal system. It works swimmingly for me. I plan on over-rewarding my success while in New York. I am getting SO excited about my upcoming trip. I will blog twice as usual next week but I will not be blogging the next two Tuesday’s after that. I am going to be in New York one Tuesday the 21st and Nashville the Tuesday after that for work. I have some exciting things coming my way!

This morning when I got on the scale and it was the lowest number I’ve seen since I started, I felt pretty good. I put on my long jeans, high heels and a shirt that shows my collar bone quite nicely. I felt…nice. Days like today are what makes the process worthwhile. Then there are those days when nothing I do makes me feel like I’ve lost weight. I’ll look in the mirror and see what I saw 100 pounds ago. I’m not sure why this is or what goes on mentally in my mind to have these negative thoughts. One thing I do that helps me out a lot is I go back and look at pictures from my heaviest weights and compare them to current pictures. This really puts things into perspective. What I’ve decided to start is “Feel Fabulous Friday.” This will be where I take a heinous picture of my former self, post it, but then below that picture, I will post a more pleasant, current picture. I want to do this most Friday’s but sometimes I will have other things to discuss. I really hope this doesn’t give the impression that I’m bragging. I want to put these former pictures up as a form of therapy for me. I know I don’t want to go back. It also shows how far I’ve come. I hope, most of all, that is shows anyone out there who is struggling that if I can do it, anyone can. You’ve never read any word of mine that says this is easy but with a lot of work, you can get there. I know I don’t have many readers. Most of my followers are close friends and family…but if any of you (including those I know) have before and after pictures that you would like to share, please let me know. I’d love to post them if you want me to or if you don’t want me to, I would be happy to see them just to feel encouraged. If anyone out there stumbles upon this and would like for me to see/post a before/after picture of them, email me at heather.m.wyatt@gmail.com. Here goes nothin’…





It’s an interesting feeling seeing photos like that. It’s painful because I know that I wasn’t whole then. I know I was miserable. I don’t think who I am has changed but I definitely feel like who I am has been allowed to come out more…and that’s a great feeling.

I hope you all know that if you haven’t found your inner strength, you will and even if I don’t know you…I’m cheering for you! (sorry, I’m cheesy today.)

Keep on truckin’!

Have a stupendous weekend!

Bye!

(I took the picture below driving through Alberta VERY early last Sunday and I thought it was nice. I posted it with the song “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. So many lost their lives in the tornados and this song just reminded me of that.)



“So put on your best boys
And I’ll wear my pearls
What I never did is done
A penny for my thoughts
Oh no I’ll sell them for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I’m a goner
And maybe then you’ll hear the words I been singin’
Funny when you’re dead how people start listenin’

If I die young bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Oh oh
The ballad of a dove
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears
Keep ‘em in your pocket
Save them for a time
When you’re really gonna need ‘em oh
The sharp knife of a short life
Well I’ve had just enough time
So put on your best boys
And I’ll wear my pearls.” If I Die Young-The Band Perry

I'm sorry, I said burger patty, not cow patty.

Tuesday greetings to my 10’s of followers! I had a whirlwind of a weekend. I won’t bore you with EVERY detail but I will bore you with several. I ate dinner with my parents on Friday night. You know, for years now, I have LOVED Buffalo Wild Wings. I have supported them on and off my diet because they have some healthy options. Mostly, I get their Garden Burger which WAS a nice sized soy burger that they grilled and put on a big bun with all the burger fixins. I love this burger. I’m not a vegetarian but it’s worth it to me to skip the meat because the bread fills you up. As always, I ordered the garden burger on Friday night and much to my chagrin, the burger had changed. It looked like a straight up hockey puck. It was burned around the edges and was a very unfortunate brown. I could tell immediately that this was a different patty. I decided to go ahead and eat it because a) I was starving and b) it wasn’t the fault of my server so instead of sending it back (I wish I would’ve), I went ahead and ate it. It was a black bean patty. I hate all forms of beans but I find black beans to be the least offensive. It was very meal-y with tiny bits of random vegetables stuck in there. It wasn’t a horrific taste, just a bad texture…and terribly over cooked. Because I will always and forever be fat in my heart, I ate the whole thing. For once, I wish I would STOP eating when I don’t like something because this veggie burger not only tainted my love for BWW, it set a very traumatic tone for my stomach the rest of the weekend. If I’m being honest, I’m still not the same. I’d say it gave me food poisoning or a least a touch of it…if you can have a touch.

Saturday morning I got up and did my usual morning exercise and grocery shopping and helped my Oma out with a couple of things. I went to bed pretty early Saturday night so I could get up at 4:30 to run in order to hit the road to Chattanooga by 6:30. Dad, David, Lisa and myself trekked on up to see my Grandpa post his heart surgery. He seemed to be doing really well! He’s still got a few issues they want to look at before he can go home which he is pretty upset about but overall, it looks to be a success. I wish him a speedy recovery! I didn’t have much time to do anything Sunday night but eat and go to bed. Those kind of weekends knock the energy right of you but I plan on resting a bit at some point soon.



This recipe was called Chicken Rollatini with Prosciutto and Cheese. The only thing is…as I do a lot…I changed it up a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t DISLIKE Prosciutto but I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I much prefer the taste of ham and bacon…so that’s what I did. Instead of buying a whole pack if Prosciutto that I didn’t need, I used the deli meat I had in the fridge. The recipe also calls for provolone but again, I didn’t need a whole pack, so I used the fat free shredded cheese I had. You can also put onion and garlic in this. All you do is take a thin chicken breast, dunk it in olive oil, then in bread crumbs. Lay the chicken flat and add the meat, cheese and onion on one half and then roll the other half of the chicken over and tuck it under the bottom. Place it in a sprayed casserole dish and bake it at 450 for 20 minutes. It comes out crunchy on the outside but tender on the inside. It was DELICIOUS! I kind of impressed myself actually.

That’s all I had for today.

I’m getting excited about my summer trips!!!

Y’all have a good week!

Bye!

“I'm on the edge of glory,
And I'm hanging on a moment of truth…” Edge of Glory-Lady Gaga

Dr. Determination & Ms. Thighs

Hello All! This week has gone by pretty fast and that’s good for me because I’m ready for the weekend! I have a VERY busy weekend ahead of me but I think I’m going to get a lot done. I got on the scale today and I lost almost 5 pounds last week bringing me back to my lowest and then some!!! I guess my body was shocked by how little I was eating in comparison to the birthday and beach weeks and I am really headed in the right track! I have until the morning of June 17th to lose .2 pounds which shouldn’t be a problem as long as I remain strict. I was highly pleased to see the number on the scale this morning. It just goes to show that a little bit of effort goes a long way! Also, it shows me that it was TOTALLY worth it to have all of those cheat meals because it didn’t take me too long to detox…as long as you can go right back, I think that gaining a few pounds every once in awhile for a vacation, birthday or any occasion is fine as long as you go RIGHT back to eating healthy. There are no excuses to tell yourself you will just cheat one day longer than your trip or give up because you figure you’ve eaten bad 2 or 3 days in a row, you might as well keep going.



Today has been CRAZY HECTIC…My brain is totally over-stimulated. It’s not so much that I’m extra busy but that there are a gazillion random work, money, New York and other thoughts flying about a million miles an hour in my brain right now. My personality can turn on a dime these days. I can go from being nice and helpful to being irrational and enraged. I find Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (hence the blog title) to be especially prevalent when it comes to eating healthy. One minute I am a stringent engineer of dieting. A perfectionist down to every detail and I am wholly bent on losing weight. Then, out of NOWHERE, a random and plentiful snack or pantry will appear and I will turn into a raving lunatic that is either on the verge of tears because I can’t have the food or a psychopath that turns into a Tasmanian Devil that eats not one item but 70…I get this hungry, crazed look in my eyes like I might actually eat someone’s arm off. It’s kind of scary to know how close to the edge I seem to ride. I feel like I’m always on the brink of some sort of meltdown. I know that’s not exactly inspiring so…I’m sorry about that…know that losing 102 pounds and finally seeing a tiny light at the end of the tunnel far outweighs the tendency to go back but…the truth is…sometimes…it gets like this.

Anyway, the truth is, I’m very satisfied and excited about the near future but I am also anxious because of money and time and other things…I know I will be fine and I need to calm the heck down! One day, I will stop letting my nerves get the better of me.

This weekend I am going to run some errands for myself and other people, do some cleaning and maybe sit down a few minutes on Saturday? I think I am going to Chattanooga on Sunday to visit my Grandpa. He just had open heart surgery this week. Everything went well but he’s still in the hospital so my dad and I may go up to see him.

Other than all that, y’all have a great weekend! Bye!


“I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Does that make me crazy?
Possibly.” Crazy-Gnarles Barkley