The Woman Within

The woman I feel I am on the inside can do anything and wants to do it all. Maybe it’s all the years I’ve spent overweight with limited activity and not being able to do athletic type things because my body wouldn’t let me. The woman inside me has no fear, no limits on how far I will test or push myself to achieve the ultimate for myself. The woman within me is confident, has self-worth, self-esteem through the roof, is beautiful, is an achiever, and an athlete. I must have been an athlete in a past life because everything I want to achieve for myself has to do with sports or running. I have this vision of me running. And I don't mean running like Forrest Gump did. I want to run marathons. I want to jog. I hate that I have wasted so much of my life living in this body that has just weighed me down (in more ways than one!). This body has not been kind to me. This body has not been my friend and in turn I was not kind to it. That was the OLD me! The new me is turning into a wonderful person and I am on my way to achieving everything I ever wanted for myself. Nothing is going to stop me. Nothing.

The Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser starts tonight and I'm totally siked! I cannot wait for this show to start. Every Tuesday night my husband and I eat at Subway and watch the show. I am so excited to see who is on this season. It's going to be interesting to see how this season goes without Jillian Michaels. It's not going to be the same without her. I love watching as everyone transforms their bodies and life into a healthier version. Their journey is just beginning and I am so happy for each contestant that was selected! Ummm, wish it were me! Maybe next time - ya just never know!

Reward Yourself

I came up with this idea for every pound I lost, I should reward myself. This is aside from the things I have listed on My Incentives. For every pound I lose, I am going to put money in my Reward Jar. This money will only be spent on me, for whatever I want to spend it on. Or I can save it up and spend it all at once on one of my incentives. Either way, its for me. And to make it even more fun, once I'm going to increase the amount per pound as I near my goal weight. Here is how I'm going to do it. So now that I have given you an idea, how are you going to reward yourself?

                        

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

This recipe was acquired from Ali Vincent and the credit is all hers. I have eaten this several times and it's FAB-ulous! I will never eat regular spaghetti again. I am also adding my own comments to this and listing the brands I bought.

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

• 4 oz. extra-lean ground turkey (120 calories) (I used Jennie O)
• 1/2 cup chopped onions (29 calories)
• 1 cup mushrooms (42 calories)
• 2 cups marinara sauce (200 calories) (I used Hunt's Spaghetti sauce)
• 1 Spaghetti squash
• Basil
• Oregano

Directions : Spray a frying pan with non stick cooking spray and saute the ground turkey, onions, mushrooms and peppers together (I also added basil and oregano to my meat mixture as it was cooking) Drain if needed. Add this mixture to your marinara sauce (make sure you have a big enough pot). Add additional oregano and basil to taste. Let simmer.

Prepare the spaghetti squash by cutting it in half, scoop out the seeds and place one half in a steamer bag (I used Ziploc Steamer Bags). The medium size bags aren't quite long enough, so trim the ends of the squash. OR place the squash half in an 8x8 glass dish. Add a little water and cover in Suran Wrap and steam for approximately 6 minutes. Using a fork, shred the squash in a bowl so it looks like spaghetti. 

One cup of spaghetti squash is 32 calories.

Serve your "spaghetti" hot and top with your meat mixture.

This recipe will serve at least 4 people. Ali uses a measuring cup when portioning her dishes so she knows how much she is serving. An average serving is 140 calories.

The Power of Willpower

I use to think willpower came from a magic, faraway place that was guarded by fairies in pink tutu’s. These fairies lived in the land of Pot of Gold that no one has seen or been to either. This isn’t my first rodeo at trying to lose weight. But it is my first time to really search deep within myself for truth and understanding. I started diets many times and they all ended after a short time because I had food dangling in my face that I just couldn’t withstand and I would eat it. Then the snowball effect took place.

My husband and I started watching the TV show Ruby. We cheered with her, cried with her and listened to her. She said “food is an addition”. When you eat food in the matter of not eating to live, but rather living to eat, it becomes an addiction. Most overweight people have an addition to food. I realized I had an addiction to food when we went to Subway and on the counter near the cookies, were sweet rolls. OMG! I had to have a sweet roll! But I didn’t get that sweet roll. All the way home, all I could think about was that sweet roll. I could smell it. I felt like someone who craves a cigarette or drink. I was “jonesing” for that sweet roll. Damn. That just sounds crazy even as I write it. That’s when I realized, I’m addicted to food. That revelation has helped me in my journey to know I have to set boundaries for myself. There must be portion control. Always.

I always wondered how people could lose weight and not give in to the temptations around them. I searched deep inside me for the answer. Mind over matter. When you make your mind up to do something and you are passionate about it, nothing will bring that down. Nothing can come in between that. I made my mind up to lose weight and that’s what I’m doing. Why do I want to sabotage myself? I sabotaged myself all those years by putting all that crap in my mouth. Where did it get me? What did it get me? A fat ass with high blood pressure and cholesterol medicine.

 The first day of my diet, I was at work and someone brought us 2 huge bags of assorted McDonald’s breakfast. Thirty minutes later, someone else brought in donuts. Later that afternoon, another wanted to buy us all something from Sonic. Did Michele eat anything? No. Did Michele miss out on anything? Umm…No. Did Michele even go to the break room to look through the bags to see what all was there? No. I didn’t care. There was nothing in that break room that was going to do me any good or help me to progress in my journey. I kept the promise I made to myself. Besides, why would I want to eat that then feel bad about it afterwards? Yay me!

So what I want to say is this. We all have the power within us. You just have to find it and fine tune it. And your mind must be made up that this is what you are ready to do. We all know if we aren’t ready to quit something or we are doing it for someone else, it will never work and we are setting ourselves up for failure. I always thought I was missing that magical piece, but it was inside me all along.

Believe by Suzie McNeil

I Believe in You ~ Video

The First Month is Behind Me

On August 1, 2011, my BFF and I started a diet together. It’s not just a diet – it’s a lifestyle. I have failed at so many diets and I blamed it all on no willpower. How quickly I learned that we all have willpower, we just have to search within ourselves to find it. There is no magical formula, no book to read to get it. It’s there waiting to be used and we know it works when we are faced with our first obstacle. Thr very temptation we are trying to avoid. I have willpower!!! We have changed absolutely everything about our way of cooking, eating, and shopping for food. We have really made healthy decisions about our food choices, how often and how much we eat. I’m so proud of us!! I was really shocked when I weighed in after the first week. I lost 14.3 pounds! I have a new found respect for veggies. I have eaten so many veggies and have found many different ways to prepare them. I just can’t seem to get enough! Love ‘em!!! What I love is, I don’t have to be hungry. I watch what I eat, I carry healthy snacks for in between meals, and I drink LOTS of water. I can eat more of the healthier foods than I can of the junk food and still lose weight! A few times I have gone out for lunch/dinner. I “research” the nutritional value of all the food on the menu before I even get there, and I base what I eat on that. I make a list of the foods I can have and order from my list. This has worked so well! I am really learning my way through this. I must admit, I really miss my pizzas and cheese. Oh man, I have felt like I’ve had withdrawals from these two. So I’ve been looking for alternatives to pizza and I’m working on that right now. Before I give a product suggestion I’ve got to try it first. If I like it, I will blog about it.  During the month of August, I lost a total of 25.4 lbs!!!!! Ahhhh, how wonderful it feels! I’m doing it – I’m changing my life!! I can actually visualize the skinny me. And I can’t wait to see her!!