Day 242

So I'm finally hauling myself over here to catch up with everyone! My last post was more of a "I promise I'm still alive" than an actual post, so I'm here for a long overdue real post.

Things have been going pretty well, especially considering I've been taking a vacation from my pills and thus have had more appetite than usual. I had a few days where I definitely overate, and had to rein things back in big time. But I got back to counting calories towards the end of last week, so that's been helping a lot.

Alas, as a result of my slacking in the eating department, my weight has kind of plateaued at 196. But I'm determined to go down another 20lbs by the time Lindsey and I leave for London at the end of August, so I've got to get serious! I'm going to have the house to myself next week - Mom is in Arizona until the end of June and Dad is going to visit her for a week starting tomorrow, so I'm going to have to be extra on top of it with my eating.

Exercise has been pretty hard, too. Daycare wears me out, which is part of it, but the other problem is that because my hours are always different, it's very hard to get myself into a routine. Maybe I'll start taking walks in the evening, as the weather usually gets pretty bearable after the sun starts going down. The toe should be ready to go back into a shoe (again) very soon, so hopefully I can make that happen.

It's a little scary being off my pills, as those feelings of being out of control of my eating have been coming back with a vengeance. But counting calories has really helped my feel like I have power over it. It's definitely a whole different thing without chemical assistance, and something I need to get used to and overcome. So I think this is good for me.

And now for the food pictures! I had a preview in my last post, though it wasn't the best quality. These might be a little better, though they were all taken with my phone. We had the following one night last week...

Sauteed Asparagus with Gorgonzola (SOOO yummy!)

Creamy Cauliflower Purée (aka Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes...also so so yummy!)

Roasted Red Snapper Fillet (also incredibly yummy!)

Yep, that whole dinner was a total win! Everything in it was so good...I wish I could make it every night!

Another night last week we had something else pretty tasty...

Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Vinaigrette

I love SkinnyTaste! This was also perfectly delicious. I LOVE coconut so this was perfect for me! Will definitely make it again.

So I'm on my own next week, but I plan to get busy and do some cooking. And exercise. Lord knows my room and bathroom could use a good scrub down! Luckily I'm working mostly afternoons this week at the daycare, which will give me some extra time to get things organized. Gotta keep on keepin' on! Wish me luck!

Day 112

To begin with, I have to say - today was an extra delicious day at Campbell's house. But more on that in a minute.

I missed my walk today, even though it was a pretty day outside. I had lady pains, and I just couldn't get the energy together. So, logically, I spent two hours cleaning and organizing my room instead. Lol! I don't know where I got the energy to do that...I didn't take my pills today and I didn't have a paper to avoid either! Weird. But I figure I burned about the same calories as I would have walking, even though it wasn't really aerobic activity. I scrubbed down the bathroom, did laundry, changed the sheets, dusted, vacuumed, wiped down surfaces, organized bookshelves, and even spot cleaned my bedspread! But I will definitely be back out to do my walk tomorrow. I've done two 30 minute walks so far this week, so I still have two more to go!

Anyways, back to the delicious thing. I had a Greek salad for dinner:

I was inspired by this Greek salad, but had to edit out the ingredients I don't like, namely onions and cucumbers, along with the stuff I didn't have. The salad I ended up with is a mixture of spring greens, banana peppers, Lindsay natural olives (I know you're supposed to have kalamata, but I like these better!), artichoke hearts, and goat cheese.

As directed by the recipe, I let the peppers, olives, and artichoke hearts marinate in an olive oil/lemon juice/salt/pepper/McCormick's Mediterranean spice mix concoction. DELISH! I enjoyed it far more than restaurant Greek salads, which always have the iceburg lettuce with the crunchy white parts (as most of you know I cannot abide the crunchy white parts!). Yuck. The spring mix was a great substitute!

Oh, but the deliciousness does not end there. For dessert, I made (or rather, improvised on) Susie Bee's Blueberry Banana Smoothie...

Dang, you guys, I can't even communicate how scrumdiddlyumptious this smoothie was! It was really more like ice cream. As usual, I did not have all the ingredients (forgot to buy coconut milk and flax seeds at the grocery), but it still turned out amazing. I used frozen blueberries as well as a frozen banana, and the texture was just like Smoothie King! All I added to the fruit was one egg white and a splash of skim milk. It was PERFECT. Y'all have to try this! I made it in my food processor, as I don't own a blender, and it turned out great. YUM.

A side note: Seems like I'm using a lot of CAPS in this post.

Anyways. Weigh-in tomorrow! Hope it's good news!

By the way, y'all are awesome.