Take Three Pounds And Shove It...

Hello All! I trust everyone had a wonderful week/weekend! Other than the gross number on the scale, I had a fine weekend. I knew that after Vegas, I would have a bit of work to do. However, even after a week of being perfect (not to mention the fact that I exercised like a mad woman while in Vegas), I was still up almost THREE pounds. It’s like I can’t do ANYTHING wrong without jumping up on the scale. I realize that I ate too much while on Vacation but JEEZ. Three pounds isn’t exactly easy to work off. Oh well, I didn’t have a great weekend but I’m starting the week off right, as usual. I have really got to get in gear. I have a couple of indiscretions planned over the next couple of weeks but nothing major so I’m hoping to chip away at those three pounds and then after Easter Sunday, I’m going to be even more serious. It would be nice to be down a couple before May…because May is never a good month for me.







Anyway, the recipe this week is a pizza salad from the Hungry Girl called Pizzalicious Chop Chop. I made this salad (the picture isn’t mine, I lost mine in the process of transferring it to my parents ailing computer) and it was quite tasty. I made the dressing also and it was OK, it wasn’t my favorite. I eat a lot of salads so adding turkey pepperoni and olives to the mix was a nice change on the typical salad. I would make it again, I would just probably stick to Dijonnaise which is what I usually use for dressing.





This weekend, a bunch of friends and I went to a charity concert in Tuscaloosa that featured the Alabama Shakes. The lead singer has an amazing voice and the band is great. They are starting to gain national attention and just seem like all around fun people and great musicians. We all had a great time. I wish I had gotten a bit of a better picture of the band, but oh well. It was a good time.





This recipe isn’t healthy but since there is a pizza theme and also, I’m obsessed with Pinterest, I thought I’d share. If you’ve ever had yummy, gooey monkey bread that tastes like a cinnamon roll, this is the non-sweet version of that. This is pizza monkey bread. Basically, you take canned pizza dough, break it off into pieces about the size of a ping pong ball, flatten it a bit, add a piece of pepperoni, a small cube of mozzarella cheese and tuck it in the ball and pinching it closed. After you do that, you put the balls into a Bundt pan that is greased with garlic butter. You also paint the garlic butter on the balls and dump the remaining butter in the pan when you’re done. All you do after that is bake it, let it cool and turn it over onto a plate. You can pull the bread off and dip into marinara sauce. It’s DELICIOUS!

Obviously, I am in what I call a “slow” patch. I am still not in a place where I want to give up or anything. Mentally, I’m fine during the week. I am having problems with motivation, though. I’ve done so well but anytime you lose weight, the biggest fear is of gaining it back. I haven’t reached my goal yet but that’s not my problem. I know it takes longer now and I’m fine with that. However, it is discouraging that a) if I slip up at all, I’m punished more severely than I used to be and b) it seems that I need to find that first love/motivation that I had. That is proving to be extremely difficult. I will continue to plug away but I’m exhausted all of the time and so these disappointments seem to take more of a toll than they used to. I have a lot on my plate so I know I need to rest and I know I need to act right on the weekends so hopefully I will come up with a genius plan to get reinvigorated. A girl at work told me that her sister lost 160 pounds naturally, got a tummy tuck and has now gained every pound back. This made my heart skip a beat and I wanted to vomit. I felt horrible for her. I can’t think of a more horrifying thing to happen diet-wise and I refuse to let it happen to me. 3 pounds is one thing but I can’t go back…and I won’t. I will be brainstorming new ways to get motivated.

That is really all I had today. I want to give a shout out to my Dad! He had back surgery last week. It went well so hopefully he will start to see a change and he will feel more normal as the weeks go by. Feel better Dad! I wish you all the best this week! Talk with you soon! Bye!

“I know the truth when I look in your eyes
I saw the light in your window tonight…” I Saw The Light-Wynonna Judd (I don’t know why but this song has been in my head lately.)

Back In The Saddle Again...

Well, it's been a long time, y'all! I have had a lot of fun since I last posted. I have probably also put on a couple pounds. Before I left for Vegas, I was up a few ounces for some reason and I didn’t hold back on the calories while I was gone so I imagine it didn’t get any better. The good news is that I got more than my share of exercise while I was gone and I’m back on completely today. I will weigh this weekend to see what the Vegas damage is done. There was no way I was getting on that scale this weekend.







I wanted to share a recipe with you that is from the Hungry Girl cookbook…of course…since that’s been my obsession lately. This is just a simple French toast that you can make. I actually had 3 pieces because that’s what the serving size was and you can add syrup as well. It was tasty and because it’s bread, it was filling. This would also be good served with egg whites and turkey bacon for a well-rounded and yummy breakfast.



I went to Publix the other day in search of more fun snacks and I found these. They are pastry twists. It’s just layers of crisp pastry that has the flavor of Wild Raspberry in each bite. They are so yummy and they are only 30 calories per twist so you can have 2 or 3 of them, guilt-free!











We all had a blast in Vegas. We rode rides at the Stratosphere, ate way too much food and got to see the fun casinos. I am going back again in December with Jordan and I can’t wait! Thanks again to my Oma for the fun trip!



While I was away, my BFF Jordan Pittman, was running for delegate in the state of Alabama. He didn’t quite get the votes to go but he got well over 1,000 votes and I am SO, SO proud of him! He’s an awesome and extremely informed person and I can’t wait to see him show up many more times on a ballot!





For St. Patrick’s Day, I decided to chop off my hair. I had just enough to donate. It has taken some getting used to and a couple of minor nervous breakdowns but it’s finally starting to grow on me. I hope it REALLY grows on me…fast…because it’s a little shorter than I wanted. I took my short hair out though with my new purple dress that makes me feel naked on top and had some green beer. It’s been a fun several days! I hope everyone has a great week/weekend. Wish me luck that I didn’t gain too much while eating like a wild woman in Las Vegas! Bye!

“I’m more than just a piece in their games.” Suzanne Collins-The Hunger Games

Las Vegas Bound (Round 1 For 2012)

Hello Everyone!!! I am happy to report that despite my Oscar binge, my lowest weight this weekend (I weighed several times from Friday to Sunday) had me down 1 pound! My hard work is paying off! That brings my total loss to 112.4. I wasn’t completely perfect this weekend but I didn’t do half bad. I ate way too much at dinner last night for my cheat meal. I really wish I could have someone punch me in the face once I’ve eaten enough. I don’t know why I insist on making myself sick. I’d like to see at least a little loss at the end of this week because I’m going to Las Vegas on Saturday and I know that I will gain while I’m there. I’m just happy that I’m on the right track. Hopefully, it won’t take long to work off Vegas and then I really have the whole month of April to take off some pounds before May (the birthday month). My most immediate goal is to be down 115 pounds so I can take a new picture! I was really happy because I borrowed my roommate’s shirt on Saturday to go out in. I’ve never been able to borrow her clothes before…and it was a shirt from express…I have definitely never been able to wear anything from there so…it was a good weekend. I also started my new workout schedule which spreads everything out a bit more because I was starting to get burned out at the end of the week. It added a 1 mile walk on Sundays. I am now doing 20 miles a week between running on the treadmill, walking, biking and the elliptical.







The recipe from this week is another Hungry Girl recipe. I absolutely LOVED this one! It is cute and tasty. All you do is put egg beaters in a pan, let them cook until it’s one solid circle that you can turn (be VERY careful…it’s extremely easy to break) and then add your toppings. It’s cute, and tastes good and it’s low in calories. It’s an all around awesome recipe.



I thought I would share my most recent obsession. I LOVE ice cream. I can eat an entire pint by myself and it is one of things I miss the most. Luckily, there are many great alternatives out there. TCBY is my current favorite way to enjoy ice cream without the calories. They have a lot of selections that are 1 point in a kid cup and 2 in a regular cup. In fact, there nonfat, no sugar added flavors like chocolate, vanilla, and mountain blackberry are only 1 point for the regular cup. This is PLENTY of frozen yogurt for a snack. If you like fruit, you can add fresh blueberries. I personally like texture but since it isn’t a great idea to add a chocolate candy topping, I go with rainbow sprinkles. They are low in calories and they add crunch. Yum! I want some right now, actually.



I wanted to show you all that I got another poem published. This one is especially important to me because I wrote it in honor of Jordan’s Aunt Angel. I was so pleased that it got published. Please keep this family in your prayers as they still feel the pain of this loss (Angel passed away from breast cancer in 2009) every day and even more so because they aren’t able to be in contact with Angel’s three children.



I just wanted to give a quick shout out to the dessert I made last night. The picture doesn’t do it justice unfortunately but I tried to make a cute cupcake. I had all of the ingredients to make more cake batter dip but I didn’t want that alone so I made cupcakes and used the dip as frosting. The dip wasn’t nearly as good this time around because I added too much yogurt but it was still tasty. I piped it on top of the cupcake using a baggie and then put a vanilla wafer on top of it…it was my attempt at having a cute dessert. It turned out OK.

Well, I won’t be blogging next week because I will be walking the streets of Vegas. I didn’t mean for that to sound as mischievous as it did but it is the truth. My mom’s side of the family is having a girls trip. It should be fun. Thanks to my Oma for leading us there! I will bring back the blogging on March 19th though and I will more than likely have pictures to share from Vegas and St. Patrick’s Day! Please pray for our safe travels!

I hope you all have a lovely couple of weeks! Talk with you soon! Bye!

“Anne was getting a little chummy. When people get a little too chummy with me I like to call them by the wrong name to let them know I don't really care about them.” Ron Swanson-Parks & Recreation