Surprise, Surprise!!!

Ever wonder how something happens without you even trying? Well, that was me today. I go into work this morning and decided to get on the scale. I said to myself, "Let's see how much I've gained!" Boy, when I tell you that my mouth dropped open, I mean a fly could've flown in it. I was expecting to see about a 5 pound gain from last time I weighed myself (the week after Thanksgiving), I haven't been doing so well, in eating or activities. I was in so much shock that I stepped on the scale three times. So the scale read that I have lost a total of 13 pounds so far. "WOW" yeah that's what I said too! I have to admit, I was excited. I haven't lost that much weight in a long time. I really need to get a regimen set. I can't continue playing with my weight. So I found this website How To Look Good Naked, I requested their FREE DVD, they say it takes about two weeks to receive it, I will let you know how that works out. Well, this is a short blog, but I just couldn't wait to let yall know about my scale experience. Until next time!!!

WOW, It has been a long time!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. To update you since last post, here I am.

After losing the first 9 pounds it became hard to lose any more and I have to admit, I kind of gave in to the sweets. I did regain the weight back. I started attending school in August and every since I started losing weight again, so far I am down 8 pounds. I am really not trying as hard this time, and I really don't know how I lost them. I also started physical therapy again to treat my back pain from my car accident in june 2010. I have to go there 3 times per week and my muscles are usually sore ( I am still getting used to it) by the time I get home I just want to rest my achy muscles.

I hope your Thanksgiving Day was great! I went to my sister's for dinner (buffet style) I contributed the mustard/turnip greens, sweet potato pie and an apple pie. It was wonderful. I am somewhat proud of myself for not eating like a pig, like I used to during the holidays. I ate enough, a little bit of everything to satisfy my taste buds and to my surprise, when I went back to work the Tuesday after Thanksgiving Day I found that I had lost another pound. Not too bad for a holiday weekend!

Well, until next time. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

And Then There Were 9!

Hello, I know it's been a while since my last blog! Well I finally got a chance to sit down and give you all the scoop! I have been working hard and fighting lots of temptations over the past couple of weeks. As I told you before, the office where I work at usually has breakfast & lunch catered every day, well when you are trying to be on a diet it is hard if you got yummy smelling food around you. Try avoiding some soft chewy chocolate chip cookies when everyone else is eating it! Let me tell you, I almost needed a splint put on my wrist after trying to grab a cookie 2 weeks ago. I had just eaten my lunch, which if I remember it consisted of a salad and maybe some kind of meat, I thought to myself, "I have been doing good so far, a treat shouldn't hurt!" I reached into the cookie tray and started to break a cookie in half, and before I could transfer it to my plate my coworker grabbed my wrist and shook the cookie violently out of my grip, oh how I suffered! After that suffering I decided to change the contents of my candy jar at my desk, I switched chocolate candies for my Special K Bars! Although I had not grabbed one piece of chocolate I decided to take it away so that I would not be easily tempted. "Thanks Eddie!" I have been weighing myself, and last time I updated you on my weight loss I was down 4 pounds. Well all of my hard work has paid off so far since I have lost a total of 9 pounds to date! So exciting, I know! Cooking is a challenge! I have to feed my growing kids and the man of the house a meal that must be different from mine. I don't think my man would appreciate a meal that to him is considered a meal for a girl. Lets say I cook rice, I have to replace it with vegetables so that I avoid the starches. For instance, today I cooked pasta and pink salmon in a fat free lemon butter dill sauce and mushrooms (see picture). I had my fish but replaced the pasta with a delicious salad! My salad tasted so good. It consisted of mixed baby greens, cherry tomatoes, Craisins, and tangerine slices. Tossed in 2 parts olive oil and 1 part vinegar, I had the best of both worlds, Tangy & Sweet!!! I like adding strawberries and walnuts, but I was out of them. I hear the first 10 pounds are the easiest to lose, but I am going to keep working hard to keep on track and hopefully after the first 10 pounds, my weight will continue to melt away! 

Back Slider!

O.M.G., this past week has been brutal. I try to get into the routine of doing my morning exercise and I manage to sleep late, and by the time I get home from work I just want to sit and rest. What is a girl supposed to do? Saturday I tried to stay outdoors with the kids. They went to an Easter activity in the morning and after we were done I packed up some sports equipment and headed towards the park. I was so excited to be active and play some stick ball and toss the football with the kids! What the heck, after driving and picking up lunch from Wendy's (I had a salad), I get to the park and to my surprise they were charging to go in, cash only. I don't know about you, but in these times I don't carry cash on me, I am strictly plastic! So after shifting my purse around looking for the little bit of change I had, I could only come up with $1.50 out of $2 that I needed, that security guard didn't give a hoot, and turned me away. "Darn these budget cuts", it had been over a year since I last visited that park, I guess next time I do my research before living in the moment, trying to do things spontaneously. After driving back to my side of town I stopped at the community park and tried to have a quiet lunch at the picnic table while the kids played at the playground. That was disastrous, flies were trying to get at my salad and all in my face, and I was getting frustrated. Finally, I put the cover back on my salad and moved away from the picnic tables. By that time my son decided he had to use the restroom, but the restroom was closed, ugh, so we went straight home and stayed home. What a day that turned out to be! I had some difficulties with food during the past few days. I would eat a healthy meal sometimes, and sometimes I might had pigged out. Sunday's dinner wasn't any better. I didn't do the common thing of having an Easter dinner, like ham, and collard greens, and so on, mmm mmm mmmm, I'm getting hungry talking about it. I decided to stop at KFC and got a bucket of original recipe, and a side of mash potatoes, and cole slaw, and those buttery biscuits. I did bad, I know, but darn was it good. But is it o.k. if for lunch I had cottage cheese and peaches? I have been trying to have that Carnation Breakfast drink and a Special K bar for breakfast when I remember to grab it. I guess I need to be consistent with my meals in order for it to work. As I'm writing here on my blog I am thinking of April 27, a very important day for me. It was the day my mother passed away. It was a very sad day, it was very unexpected. My mother was only 50 years old and she was on medications for her heart. The doctor's could never pin point exactly what was wrong with her, but all they knew was that heart medication made her feel better. Her early death is just a reminder for me to eat better and get healthier. I don't want my kids to go through what I went through. At 18 I lost my mother, although I was already out of the house living on my own, I was still my mothers baby girl. I could not imagine what would happen to my kids if they were to loose me at a young age due to my health. I need to do this for them. I must stop back sliding and get my act together before I end up like my mother. I miss her a lot, everyday I wish she could see my accomplishments and my kids growing up. I want to be around long enough to see my grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up! RIP MOM 11/19/54 - 4/27/05.

On the Right Track

As my weekend began since last time I blogged, I felt more at ease about my dieting plans. As surprising as it might sound I was actually able to do a whole lot better over the weekend with my diet. I guess being away from work allowed me to have a better selection in the foods I eat while at home. Along with my great food choices, I had made better decissions with my activities. I usually don't like being out in the heat of this Florida weather. Saturday I chose to do what was best for me, and went walking while helping my fiancee at work. I walked all around apartment complexes, walked up and down stairs, and even did some jogging, it was a workout. My kids were actually complaining more than me and they are supposed to be active by nature. Sunday I decided to stay active by doing some extreme cleaning. Not only did I clean the floors, I had to scrub them and then mop them, talk about working out my biceps! I am proud of the food choices I made over the weekend! When ever I was thirsty I drank water, including with all of my meals. When I cooked, I made sure to improvise my meal to fit my diet. Instead of having rice, I had steamed vegetables, instead of pizza, I had chicken, you get the idea. All I know is that I felt so good at the end of the weekend. I could feel having more energy and more stamina. Friday, while at work, I weighed my self, and on Monday when I went back to work I weighed myself again. Another reason to stay motivated, losing 4 pounds over the weekend! I have decided to do a workout every morning before going to work. I have a DVD called "The Special K Challenge" Vol 1: 10 minute Solution. I am also planning on buying a workout game for the Wii game system, I am still searching for the best choice (if anyone has any suggestions please let me know). I am hoping to get this routine down packed so that I can loose my weight faster. I am so far doing the right things and feeling better about myself. I plan to stay on the right track, and soon when I start seeing the end results, I will be able to proudly show my before and after pictures!

Give me some Sugar!

Today was an o.k. day! I was able to avoid temptations this morning. There were Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast at work, ooh how much I like donuts, specially those cream filled kind. I did pretty good, ran in and out for a cup of coffee, as good as those donuts looked, I am so proud I was able to avoid sneaking them. I ate a Nutri-Grain Cereal Bar along with my coffee, it was yummy in my tummy! At my desk at work I have a jar with chocolate candy in it. Every time I get a chance I would sneak one in my mouth, but this morning was not like that. I admit, I stared at it, picked it up, and shook it around, but at no point did I reach my hand in it. I guess I was afraid my hand would get stuck in it for trying to maintain my muffin top. So I went about my morning without thinking of those chocolate cravings, which is very hard to do since where I work there is too much estrogen in the atmosphere. Someone's always asking for something sweet to eat, I guess it's just being part of being a female. So my morning went pretty smooth and before I knew, it was lunch time! We were catered with food from Tia's Tex-Mex. There was grilled chicken & steak to make fajitas, and nachos with their awesome cheese sauce, which I avoided immediately. I decided to grab a few pieces of chicken and took it home and made me a chicken salad. It was good and filling. After lunch I returned to work, and when the 2 o'clock hour came by, it was crash time. Boy was I missing that sugar in my system! I decided to just get a piece of churro that was left over from the luncheon. I thought, "One churro won't hurt, it's more of a treat, I did good!" Before I knew it one piece of churro turned into three pieces. I learned my lesson, never treat yourself while on a diet, all you are doing is opening the door to destruction. I felt guilty after that incident, I was doing so good and just like that I caved into the sugar. I don't know, is it o.k. to just go cold turkey off sugar, or do I have to wing off it? All I know is that I felt like I haven't had a bit of sugar in ages. I was glad when it was time to go home! I knew that once I got home I could concentrate more on what to eat instead of being at the office with a limited selection in food choices. I made chicken & broccoli alfredo pasta. I served up only a portion of what I would normally serve. I noticed that when I was done eating I was still feeling hungry. I almost went for a second helping, but I maintained myself. I thought, if I still feel hungry I would just grab a cup of yogurt. I am so glad I waited, because after a few minutes I guess my stomach spoke to my brain and let it know that I ate enough to satisfy my hunger. I had heard that eating slower keeps you from overeating, I did eat kind of fast, maybe because I was hungry and the food was so good! I am going to try to make it a habit to eat at a slower pace, even if I am super hungry, I guess it will pay off in the long run!

This Can Be a Challenge!

Day 1 started as a good day! I got up this morning, just like any other day. I had the day off so all I had to do was get the kids to school in the morning. Getting dressed was a bit of a challenge. As I tried to stuff my muffin-top into my pants, by pulling them up from the belt loop I heard a rip (oops). I started my breakfast at Subway, I ordered a Steak Egg & Cheese on a flatbread. I was trying my best to pick the right ingredients; egg whites, onions, American cheese, and I guess I shouldn't have chosen the chipotle sauce as a condiment. That was a little spicy for an early morning meal. Along side a cup of coffee, 3 creamers and 3 sweet & low packets of sugar, it might sound like a lot but the cup was pretty big, may I add for my defense! After that nice filling breakfast I kept my trajectory towards my physical therapy appointment. I go when ever I get a chance to go, working 8-5 is not as flexible as one might want. That was a nice little hour of therapy & massage. I headed back home after my session and I did not do any exercise, I should have but I was not dressed appropriately. I know I need to get into a routine, I couldn't agree more. Before lunch I went to a meeting and boy was I starving by the time we left that office. Luckily I had spotted a deli that my mom used to get food from whenever she had a gathering, called "La Casa Sierra", their "Arroz con Gris" is the best!!! So we decided to stop in for their hot lunch menu. Oh my how the memories came back. I had not eaten home-cooked Spanish food like that in years. I had a bottle of waterto drink, arroz con gris, yucca al escabeche, and pork roast, mmm mmm mmmmm. That was the most high calorie and high fat meal I had in a while, I was BAD, but it made me feel so good! Am I wrong for loving good food? Don't worry my friends I made up by having a salad for dinner. Of course I must have my protein so I seared up a piece of cubed steak with some onions and bell peppers and topped it over a plate of baby greens. No dressing added, it was a good eat. Conclusion, I need to do better with these cravings and my choices in the food I eat. Today was only the first day, I hope tomorrow goes better!

Getting Ready!

I know what you are thinking, what the heck is this, "Muffin TOP-LESS"? No, it is not about being naked at all. I have decided to start this blog so that I can keep track of my eating habits and weight loss. This is something that I have been wanting to do for a LONG time, but seem to keep getting off track. For as long as I can remember I have been overweight. Struggling through childhood with my weight, and believing that I can just melt the pounds away by watching infomercials of diet pills, exercise machines and meal plans, from the comfort of my couch! WHAT WAS I THINKING? I am at the point of no return, this is my last chance to change my old habits. I have to think about my future and the future of my kids. They need me around for as long as they can have me. My final goal is to get rid of my Muffin Top (but first I need to get my bunt size belly to look like a muffin-top... Ha ha ha). I hope that you follow me through this long process to losing weight, and I want to thank all of my family and friends for your support!