Stress = failures

I have been under allot of stress over the past several months plus, maybe pushing a year.  Well at least this past year has been worse then others.  Trust me I do understand that stress is a bad factor when trying to loose weight.  I am and have tried to do things to help alleviate it from my life, but it's just that some things it is not as easy as just turning your head or moving on.  It's much, much harder than that.

I do have to say that I have not had one beer since 12/31/15 and I honestly thought it would help to get rid of this gut, but it still hasn't moved.  I know it is part of the problem, but I thought I would see results by now.  I will admit that I like not feeling really bloated and that and I definitely don't miss feeling like crap in the morning.  Now I haven't given up alcohol completely for I have enjoyed a glass of wine here or there.

This is probably what I truly look like (Beer + babies +junk = fat)

I have been walking on the treadmill at lunch time for about 2 miles and I was doing good the first week with walking on the treadmill for an hour every night,but I already fell off the wagon last week.  I will try to get on the treadmill tonight and watch #MakingAMurder. Yes this is my go to show to help make the hour go by faster.  I'm just hoping that when I get home I don't loose my cool and my family didn't do anything that is going to make me stress out.  

I've changed my eating habits for the past several weeks, but I AM STILL NOT SEEING RESULTS and I'm starting to get really, really frustrated.  I am getting really close to stepping it up into high gear, but I'm afraid I'll over do it and I have to seriously allocate time for "me."  

Here is what my meals for today look like and it is pretty much the same all week (at least breakfast). I have pre-made some overnight oatmeal for the week and I put it in 8 oz mason jars.  

Breakfast:

1/2 cup steel cut oatmeal

1/2 almond milk

1tbsp jelly preserve 

1 tbsp almond butter

1/2 tbsp syrup

- I put the oatmeal and milk in that mason jars on Sunday night and then in the morning I pull out one jar and mix in the above added items and when I get to work I warm it up for about a minute.  You have to be very careful because it over flows if heated to much.  

Lunch:

2 cups Romaine lettuce

1/4 cup cucumber

1/3 cup chicken breast

3 tbsp shredded Mexican cheese

4 tbsp dressing

1/2 hard boiled egg

black olives (didn't measure, but probably less then 1/3 cup)

1/3 cup red onion

And here is my bad part of lunch: 

Instant lunch - Chicken flavor soup.  

Dinner: 

1 Cup of gourmet Mac and Cheese shells. 

Snack:

1.5 Cup of salted caramel ice cream with chocolate chips on top. - I had a craving

No I did not work out, by the time I finished everything last night it was 8:30 and I was exhausted and went to bed at 9 pm.  

(Updated) I am not sure what is for dinner yet, I did not take anything out and I am not sure what DH will make.  I will let you know when I find out.  I am stepping up my level and I am just praying for the motivation to go along with it.  

Oh I made these No Bake Energy Bites and they are very Delicious that I have to admit I feel like I am eating something completely for bidden on the diet menu.  Now it isn't one of the healthiest but it is relatively healthy for the most part.  

My next bar to make is this Granola Bars  this is more on the healthier side.  I will let you know how they taste once I make them. 

Well gotta run, until next time stay healthy my friends and hopefully everyone is a pound lighter. 

~Jennie

New Monthy mean a New me (or try)!

OK, let me honestly say I have slacked and have slacked big time.  I went to my Weight Watchers meeting last Thursday and I took a weight pass, meaning I didn't want to record my weight.  The reason behind this is because I fell off the wagon bad!  I still weighed myself at the meeting and I gained weight.  I was up to a whopping 278.6 lbs.  I think that woke my butt up.  I enjoyed my last beer for a while on Saturday, February 28.   As of March 1st I took advantage of the new month and decided a new me as well.  Summer if coming soon and I'm not even comfortable with having to wear tank tops and shorts.  I have enjoyed my beer alittle to much lately and I believe that is the big contributor to my weight gain and not loss.  So if I want to enjoy a drink or to it will be with soda water and liquor or wine and yes I know those are not that much healthier but it's less calories than beer and for a person like me that doesn't care to much for liquor that means that I will not over drink then.  Yes, I am going to try to drink absolutely nothing, but I know there will be nights when out with friends that I want something, just not as frequent as before.  Meals have been bad choices lately too.  We have been ordering out more then I like because DH and I have been to lazy to cook. 

So what I have done to change all this is: I spent Sunday this past weekend planning a shopping list off of lunch and dinners I was going to make for the week and I made sure they are healthy choices.  The reason I decided to do this is because DH gets home before me from work and is the one that does the cooking mostly and sometimes his choices are not as good as they can be and he'll get lazy and order pizza or Chinese or make something from a box.  So, after shopping Sunday I spent hours prepping for a weeks worth of dinners and froze them.  I started late and so it was late by the time I finished the dinners and was to tired to do a weeks worth of lunches but I did get Monday's lunches ready for us and the kids and I made lunches last night for today.  Below is a list of dinners I've made for the weeks and the links to the recipe.

Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups - had this last night and so delicious.

Meatballs with Veggies - I'm going to make Meatball subs, but I am going to use lettuce for mine

Cheesy Chicken and Black bean Enchiladas

A better Mac & Cheese (with sneaky sweet potato) - Made to much of this so we had half on Sunday night and OMG every loved it and I didn't tell my DH it as made with yogurt & Sweet Potato until he finished it. 

Roasted Lemon-Garlic chicken with Veggies - I used Lime not lemon - Tonight's dinner

So far the ones we have eaten have been a huge hit.  I'm very curious on tonight's dinner.  I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Below are my lunches for the week. 

84 Quick & Healthy Meals.  - Under Lunches I'm making #2 Very Veggie Fried Rice  and #5 Chipolte Turkey Pinwheels had this yesterday w/ veggies and very delicious.

Turkey, Cucumber, Hummus Lettuce Wrap - Today Lunch w/ a side of veggies.

Chicken & Asparagus Lemon Stir Fry - Thursday's lunch

Mason Jar Zucchini Noodle Salad - Perfect for Lent so I'll be having this Friday.

So there it is, all planned and prepped for the week and frozen except for the lunches I am making those the night before.  I also have switched the kids school lunches up too & have given them something different then the same ole PB&J sandwiches.  I have made them something healthier and hopefully fills them up more.  They have well let me say my 3 year old son has been grazing bad when he gets home from school, so when dinner time comes he won't eat and compared to the twins he is a very, very picky eater lately (hoping it's a 3 year old stage).  I still make him eat what we eat and refuse to make him something different (just like how I was raised).  It doesn't help that my DH's Aunt who picks the kids up from school and watches them until he gets home lets the kids eat everything and anything in the couple hours that she is there.  UGH, it frustrates me to no end.  My DH will not say anything or force it.  I am terrified that they will get fat and unhealthy since their genes are already against them and I sure don't want them to have to struggle their whole life with there weight because they made bad decisions early in life or that their parents didn't teach them any better. 

Well that is it for now.  I will up date you on how my weight in goes this Thursday at Weight Watchers. 

Until next time..................

Jennie