Quick

I lost another 1.something lbs to be down an even 14 total--just 3 lbs away from where I was pre-remodel.  Not sure how this week will go.  TONS of leftovers.  Mostly carbs.  I am 100% positive I both feel better and lose more weight when I limit my carbs.  Next week, I will plan accordingly!

I'm a loser.

of 2.7 lbs, that is.  Yes, it is good to be back on the correct side of weight loss.  I've lost a total of 12.4 lbs, which still isn't the 17 I HAD lost but at least I'm headed back in the right direction.

Life is busy and I was very uninspired this week, so meals are kind of blah.  Monday (yesterday) I actually was bad and had the crust of my daughter's pbj (school lunch) for "dinner" and then had chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting at a meeting (so worth it!).  Tonight we are supposed to have turkey tacos.  I will have a taco salad to avoid the taco shell points.  Wednesday is the usual leftover night, so I'll find something to eat that is either leftovers or some sort of "diet" frozen meal.  Thursday we'll have pork chops, and Friday I'm thinking chicken sausages on the grill.

I love chicken sausages.  3 pts without a bun and they taste good.  And they're easy.

Since my school has started I'm thinking I may need to make 2-3 weeks worth of menus for "warm" weather, then 2-3 of "cool" weather menus, and just rotate them.  It would be easy, spaced out enough that we don't get bored, and the shopping list would just be ready to go.  I'll get right on that, after I stop procrastinating doing my school reading. :)

Hope you're having a good week!

Slight Deviation.

I thought I'd mention here that I've become a Barefoot Books Ambassador.  My kids had been given a couple of Barefoot's books in the past, and I was very impressed with their quality.  Since joining the company, I have been overwhelmed by how thoughtful, well-written, and beautifully illustrated their books really are.  The company emphasizes multiculturalism and diversity and features stories from around the world, as well as more traditional stories.  This fall they are launching an easy reader series as well as more challenging titles for advanced readers.

Clicking on the graphic above will take you to the Barefoot website, where you can browse their collection and place an order.  If you use code AMBTEN when you check out, you'll get 10% off your order, and shipping is free for orders over $60.  Let me know if you'd like suggestions!

On the diet front, day one of counting points is going well.  Only 4 million to go!

Back to School Week--and back to points!

Next week I'm counting points for the first time since . . . probably since we started our remodel.  It's also the little geek's first week of Kindergarten, and we have lots of other things going on as always.  For that reason, all of this week's dinners are super easy and may not really be that low-point, but I'll compensate by being reasonable during the day and using my weekly points.

I also have a really organized, easy to use pantry now, which means I've discovered lots of stuff in there I need to use.  For some reason, I owned a lot of lasagna noodles.  I'm trying to find a lower-point use for them this week.  I made one low-point recipe, but The Big Geek rejected it (and honestly, it was not tasty).

Monday:  Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches.  4 pts for filling, then add pts for bread/buns/cole slaw as needed.  Spray with cooking spray, chop an onion, and throw in a pork tenderloin.  Cover it with a bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce (check individual point values).
Tuesday:  Chicken with Orzo and Dill.  9 pts for a big serving.
Wednesday: Big Geek is out, so we eat leftovers.
Thursday:  Stovetop Lasagna.  11-ish.  I'm working on making up this recipe so I'll post results and the actual recipe if it works out.  I am going to try to decrease the points, maybe by cutting down on the ground turkey or something.  We'll see how it goes.  I want to use up all the broken lasagna pieces!
Friday:  Out at an event.
Saturday: Out, friend's birthday dinner
Sunday:  Big Geek is firing up the smoker.

Obviously, even with a kitchen this week has challenges, but I think that counting points will make me be more mindful of what I eat during the day and help me lose weight even with all the challenges.  I am really looking forward to getting into a routine and making healthier meals.

Remodel is finished.

My remodel is finally done.  It feels like it took forever, but the important thing is it is finished and looks great.  (See?)  I was hoping for 3 weeks or so to get back in the swing of things before school starts, but alas, that is not to be, as school starts Monday for the little geek and Wednesday for me.

The final tally is that I gained back 7 lbs, but have kept 10 off.  Not as bad as it could be, but not great.  I start counting points again on Monday, so expect a menu on Sunday for the coming week!

Remodel. SIGH.

The remodel is well underway.  We have no kitchen--as in no sink, no stove, no oven, no cabinets.  Lots of convenience food, take out, and eating out.  Plus it's kind of stressful to be stuck in half your house spending what feels like a huge amount of money, and still trying to deal with real life.

Which is all to say, that thus far, I've gained back about 5 lbs.

My counselor suggested that my goal for this time period should just be to maintain.  Which I think is a more realistic goal than continuing weight loss.  But I'm not doing a very good job of that.  Mostly, it's my fault.  I am not really counting points.  And I'm just eating what is around without stopping to think of better options.  I am hoping I can reverse this trend as soon as possible, but honestly, I'm feeling pretty discouraged.  Because once the kitchen is done, I'll have a short amount of time before my semester begins, and my daughter goes off to Kindergarten and my son is in preschool and I am B.U.S.Y. with all of that.  Basically, there will always be stress and an excuse.  And I know that when I get stressed, I fall off the wagon.  What I don't know is how to stop myself from doing that.  Hypnosis?  Wire my jaw shut?

But I have a lot to go think about and figure out regarding the remodel, so I can't spend a ton of time here trying to figure out my crazy brain.

I think a good resolution to take, though, is that when the kitchen is finished, I will not put anything unhealthy in it.  If I'm going to fall off the wagon, it's going to be outside my home.  If I could just do that, I think it would make a big difference.

I was at a family member's vacation house last weekend and did some cooking.  Here are a few things I enjoyed:

Spiced Orange Salad   I know it sounds weird, but it is really good.  My version did not have curry powder because I couldn't find any in the house.


Mayo-free potato salad  I may have posted a link to this before.  It is good.  Instead of mayo, this salad has a tangy vinaigrette dressing.  Dress the potatoes while they are still hot so that the dressing gets absorbed, and also make sure you drain the potatoes well.


Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken  The recipe calls for boneless thighs, but we used drumsticks without the skin, and they were good.  You could use breasts, too.

Also, a friend of mine was there and she made the best salads.  I think the secrets were:  she included fresh herbs with the greens, and she dressed the salad herself with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, just tasting until she was happy with the results.  Plus lots of really good, fresh produce.

Keep on moving in this direction, scale!

Last week I lost 2.8 lbs for a total of 17.4.  I did not track my points closely, just tried eating my planned meals as much as possible and not going crazy.  There was one insane day where I didn't manage to eat until dinner, and I was starving (I may have had breakfast, I can't remember, but if so it was 4 pts).  I had time to eat around 4 but by then I didn't want to wreck dinner so just waited.

At any rate I can't keep doing stuff like that, even though it seems to work in terms of weight loss.  Sometimes things with 2 kids just get so crazy and I have so much to do with the remodel that I just don't get a chance to sit down and eat.  Of course, usually later on I'm starving and eat everything in sight, so it's not something I want to let happen very often.  That night, because people were coming for dinner, I managed to be mostly reasonable and not feel guilty about having dessert.

Also:  I wore a pair of pants I haven't worn since my son was born!  They were tight and a good 2 inches of granny panty undies sticks up all around them, but I got them on!  They are just one size smaller than the jeans I bought right before starting this diet, but those jeans have never fit quite right anyhow and now they kind of fall off.  I had 2 pairs of jeans that fit really well but apparently they are old and developed holes in unfixable places, so I was kind of stuck.  Then I remembered the pre-son jeans and decided to try them.  I'm glad I did, because I really did not want to buy new jeans.  Now, when I get into my post-daughter, pre-miscarriage jeans I'll be REALLY excited, because those were the smallest jeans I'd worn in a while.  Heck, I'll just be excited when I can breathe in the pre-son jeans. :)

So, this week is going to be insane.  My kitchen is being torn out either Tuesday or Wednesday (things keep getting pushed back, but I hear this is normal, and there's no point in tearing out the kitchen if the electrician can't be here until Thursday).  I will plan to cook tonight and (if possible) Tuesday just to stock up on leftovers.  I need to look up points on my grilling recipes since we'll be relying on the grill and crock pot a lot for the next 2 months or so.  I'm sure we'll also eat out more than we should, which will make this tricky. 

My favorite thing from last week--well, it's a tie, actually.  I loved the brussels sprouts (although I burned them), the carne bistec, and Curried Quinoa with Chicken and Peas that I ended up making instead of the chicken roll-up things I'd planned and will now eat tonight.

So, my menu for the week will depend on whether the kitchen tear-out is tomorrow or Wednesday (I hope Wednesday).  My thoughts are chicken rollatini, depends on kitchen, pulled pork (must calculate points), flank steak, and more grilled stuff (how's that for specific?).  I'm off to browse Gina's recipes for crock pot/grilling ideas. :)