Let Them Eat Barbecue!

Hi! I want to start off by giving my Dad an early birthday shout out! He celebrates his 52nd birthday on Thursday.  I hope it’s a great one Dad! Love you!

My second shout out is for America! I hope everyone has a safe and fun fourth of July.  As always, thanks to the men and women past, present and future who have fought to protect our freedom and independence.  I went to a party this weekend where they played American-themed music and had fireworks and even though it was a silly party it reminded me that there are a ton of places in this world where people wouldn’t be allowed to have a lazy Sunday with their friends, listening to music.  It’s important to remember the small things. 

I was in Atlanta last weekend until Monday to see the Counting Crows so that’s why there was no post last week. Had a blast with friends! Before I went, I weighed and was down .2 pounds from the week before.  It wasn’t much  but honestly, since I had a bad weekend before that, I was pleased with that result.  I ate terribly (as you can see from the picture of the burger and tots from the Vortex in Atlanta) over the weekend but got back on track on Tuesday.  I was a picture of perfection all week and then once again, the weekend got the better of me.  I am in a total rut.  I exercised 6 times last week and was perfect on my diet and then ate too much on the weekend and I know I’ll be punished for that.  At this point in my weight loss, my body is accepting nothing less than perfection and it’s really getting to me.  I feel like I’m starving and the weight isn’t coming off unless I’m perfect all seven days of the week so I’m frustrated.  I feel huge right now.  I’m very self-conscious and worry constantly about gaining too much weight back.  I’m back on track today and will do my best to be perfect all week, including the weekend  but Independence Day is this weekend and I’m going to Chattanooga Sunday to visit my Grandmother and family and I know it will be very difficult.  I wish there was a permanent answer but there isn’t and it’s frustrating honestly.  I love to enjoy life and I do that with food and drink so it’s a constant struggle.  As always, I in no way want to give up but as I’m sure you all know, it ain’t easy.

In other news, I wanted to share a couple food tips for you.  The first thing is a snack.  I’m a big fan of Skinny Cow.  Not everyone is as obsessed with dessert as I am…specifically chocolate but if you are a fan of sweets, I highly recommend products from Skinny Cow.  They are normal portions and tasty alternatives to more caloric frozen treats.  They have candy too.  This particular one reminds me of a frozen Snickers bar which was a weakness of mine in high school.  It’s creamy and crunchy and the salted caramel makes for a nice sweet/salty combination.  It’s pretty yummy!

I know in the past that I’ve recommended going meatless sometimes.  Trust me, I love meat too but I’ve discovered in the past few years that one meal without meat won’t kill you.  In fact, it could open your mind to more flavors and it can definitely save you some calories.  I’ve been counting calories again with the Lose It app so I’m always looking for ways to eat as much as possible for as little calories as possible.  Also, I’m always on the run with little time to cook so it’s nice to be able to stop in somewhere.  Subway has a veggie sandwich.  Some of you can probably be satisfied with a six inch but when I get the foot long veggie, it only costs me 520 calories.  This may be more than you want to spend on lunch so you could have it for dinner or split it into two meals.  For me, I like to eat it for lunch and then eat a smaller meal for dinner.  Of course, you won’t want to put mayo on it.  My sandwich has American Cheese, olives, cucumbers, onions and brown mustard.  I put mine on Italian because it has the least calories.  To me, since most of the diet stuff is a mental battle, when you get a foot long sandwich, you feel like you’re really eating and not depriving yourself.  Of course, there are some of you out there who hate veggies so you may not like it but I still recommend giving it a try…you guys need to be eating vegetables anyway.  They are good for you!

That’s all I’ve got!

Until next week! Bye!

“Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing

Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning

Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong

Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay, it’s Independence Day…” Independence Day-Martina McBride