9 pounds in 2 weeks - Weehooo!

It's been over a week since I posted last but it's not because I fell off the wagon - no siree - I am still going strong and managed to lose another 4 pounds since my last post. Last week was so crazy with both my boys being sick - boogers took the place of blogging. Ha! I don't care who you are, that was funny..

I do have to admit that there were a few days I got discouraged because the scale didn't move at all. I know it's because I'm not exercising but my gosh it is so freaking difficult to find time.. I started doing a few stretches and crunches at night - I'm really thinking about getting a yoga DVD. I've never done yoga before but it seems so relaxing. I need that.... When I laid on the floor to do crunches last night, I just laid there and stared at the ceiling and it was awesome. I have to do any type of floor exercise before or after my kids go to bed, otherwise, I have a 3 year old trying to wrestle with me. I guess that could count as exercise...hmmm..

This past weekend I went to my good friend's birthday dinner at her house where I knew there would be cake and chips and dip and all the good stuff. I planned ahead of time and with my sister's help, made 3 South Beach friendly dishes to take to the party for everyone to try but mainly for me to eat so I wouldn't be tempted by everything else! And guess what it worked! I made Crab and Avocado salad, Bacon Cheeseburger Pie, and Peanut Butter Cheesecake bites. The Crab and Avocado salad was a little spicy but that's only because I accidently put 1 tsp of cayenne pepper in it instead of the 1/8 tsp that it called for.... oops! The Bacon Cheeseburger Pie was awesome as always and the Peanut Butter Cheesecake bites were...different. It consists of natural peanut butter which doesn't have the sweet taste - I thought they were good but not sure it was a hit for everyone. More for me! I did indulge but it was with red wine - 1 glass turned into 3 but it's good for the heart right!

I love trying new recipes on South Beach - I'm obsessed with finding the easiest ones. Last night, I tried a new one - Fake Lasagna. Instead of noodles, you use strips of zucchini. It was really good! Tonight I'm going to make Spinach and White Bean salad. Very fast and easy to make - those are the only kind of recipes I look at.

I was very rewarded Saturday when I went to Kohls to try on fall clothes. I'm still not in the skinny jeans but I have gone down 2 pants sizes since June - that makes it all worth it! I'm very close to going down another pants size so I didn't purchase too many pants. I have a huge storage tub of pants in the next size down and can't wait to dig them out of the closet! It's like going shopping in my own closet!

I'm on the countdown to Vegas - 12 days! I've already decided I'm not going to blow it out on food - think I'll stick to steak and seafood and blow it out on wine!!

Take me out back

I LOVE social eating. I know there are other things you can do with friends besides going to a restaurant to eat and drink but I just LOVE it. Good food, good wine, good conversation....so good/but bad for you menu choices. Last night my good friend and I met for dinner and I really had to think of somewhere that had amazing low carb choices so I wouldn't be tempted... first, I ruled out all Mexican and Chinese restaurants. Then I remembered Outback steaks..mmmmm. So that's where we ate. The only temptation with Outback is the bread but I'm at the point of being able to look past bread..now if they had put a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under in front of me, it would have been all over. Instead I opted for a lean cut of steak - their Outback sirloin with fresh veggies and a salad, no croutons, with olive oil and vinegar. Technically you're not supposed to drink during hardcore South Beach but I had one glass of red wine and used every ounce of willpower I had not to order another glass.. Anyhow, red wine has many health benefits:) Thank you Outback for a great dinner. Thank God no one around me ordered cheese fries. Instead of their dessert, I drove down the street to Starbucks and had a nonfat latte. Another thing I love - coffee at all hours of the day.

I cooked up several things today to get me through the next couple of days and hopefully tomorrow I will have time to post recipes because they were all AMAZING!! First time dishes for me on South Beach - turkey and white bean chili, 4 bean salad, and bacon cheeseburger pie. The bacon cheeseburger pie was so good that I kept looking back at the recipe to make sure it was in fact South Beach friendly - it uses ground turkey, turkey bacon, and lowfat cheese so it's good for all phases. It's going to be a weekly meal for sure.

I feel like I'm doing pretty well on my meal plan..it's the exercise that I'm struggling with. Can bending over to pick up toys and mopping count as exercise? That's the kind of workout video I want to see. How to get the best workout while doing basic household chores. Think I'll Google it now...

Can I get a drumroll?

Okay it's Friday and approaching the end of week 1, "Hardcore South Beach til Vegas." This week's willpower paid off because I lost 5 pounds since Monday! I hate it when people say, "oh it's just water weight." I don't care if it's kool-aid weight, it's 5 pounds gone! The exact 5 pounds I gained this past month - see ya! I think I need to plan a trip to Vegas every month because I have crazy willpower right now. This weekend I'm excited about trying some new recipes I found: Turkey and White Bean Chili, 4 bean salad, and Bacon Cheeseburger Pie. All are quick and cheap to make! I'm thinking of starting a recipe section on the blog... in the meantime, if you're interested, just let me know.

I'm also thankful this week to southbeach.com for sending me daily encouragement emails. I signed up for free a while back when I started the plan and I get daily emails with recipes, exercise tips, etc. It's nice to open my email every day and wham! there's a South Beach reminder. It's $5 a week to join the site, which I haven't done, but the daily emails are free.

You guys know my mantra but I saw another one the other day that is pretty good:
"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels." I think the word "thin" has a negative connetation sometimes so i'm going to rephrase it:
"Nothing tastes as good as fitting into your skinny jeans."

Oh no she didn't!!

Oh yes I did. I ate a pork chop on my way to work this morning for breakfast. Mmmm - mmm! I was literally running out the door - it was the fastest thing I had! Who says you can't have a pork chop for breakfast? With lowfat string cheese and V8, it was pretty good! Can't you just picture me driving down the interstate with my business casual attire and pork chop! I was laughing at myself. I bet the people that passed me wished they had a pork chop. I hate to ruin your visual but it was a boneless pork chop - center cut thin. Now one of my favorite foods for every meal.

I had an insane day at work and didn't have time to eat lunch - not something I would recommend. When the cafeteria closed at 1pm, I was stuck. I am so proud of myself for not giving in and going to Popeye's. We have a pantry full of snacks at work so I picked out the best options: string cheese and peanuts. I was freaking starving by the time I got home!!

Dinner tonight was my favorite quick fish in the oven. I buy the frozen bags of Tilapia - they are so cheap and the fish are individually wrapped which I like. Take out how ever many you want and stick them in the fridge overnight. Once they are thawed, throw them in a pan, coat both sides lightly with olive oil and rub with your favorite fish seasonings (I like Old Bay). Cook them on 400 for 20 minutes and voila you have awesome Roasted Tilapia. I also make a great South Beach tarter sauce that I got from kayln's kitchen blog (link to the right). I like to add extra dill relish to mine. LOVE IT!

And I had chocolate for dessert! And I just sounded like a NutriSystem commercial! Gahhh.. The best quick dessert is the No Sugar Added Fudgesicles. They are only 40 calories a pop too. Without those, I wouldn't last on South Beach. Vegas in 26 days - woohoo!!

Vegas in 4 weeks!

There's nothing like a special occasion to kick my motivation up a notch. I just booked a trip to Vegas in November with a few friends and let me tell you, Vegas nightlife calls for high heels and more skin! Not to mention my good friend is a size 2 sooo let me rephrase: There's nothing like a size 2 friend in Vegas to kick my motivation up a notch! This means hardcore South Beach for 4 weeks! Definition of hardcore: no cheating;)

My other motivation - the likelihood of running into one of my top 3 and being whisked away on their private jet is greater in Vegas and I have to look show stopping. Definition of top 3: people that you can "hook up" with, marry, whatever you desire and it doesn't count as cheating on your significant other. (See, there is so much knowledge in my blog.) Currently, my top 3 are Justin Timberlake, James Marsden, and Mark Wahlberg. Don't make fun. You know you loved the Funky Bunch. I'm getting off subject but whatever, still important..

I started the day off right today with my breadless egg sandwich (2 fried eggs with a slice of low fat cheese in the middle) and a 6oz can of low-sodium V8. It's probably my favorite breakfast on South Beach and it's fast to make. I also had a cup of coffee with fat free creamer. Okay 2 cups. I'm at home today so I'm thinking about what else I have in the fridge for the rest of the day. For lunch, I'm thinking deli turkey over sliced tomatoes. I have some baby spinach too so I'll probably sautee that with some minced garlic and voila, there's lunch. My favorite snack of all time is a huge tablespoon of natural crunchy peanut butter. Already looking forward to that. Dinner will probably be skillet pork chops and one of those steamable bags of pole green beans. The secret to making all these things great: fresh ground peppercorn and fresh ground sea salt. Hopefully by the end of the week, I can post about a few pounds gone! Somewhere in there I HAVE to figure out how to squeeze in exercise..

I'm hiding from my blog

I am the worst blogger there is. My original goal of daily posts has fallen to the wayside and you know why? Because I'm hiding from my blog. It's become my weight loss warden and it taunts me when I don't eat well. If I click on my browser to select a website, I just pretend like I don't see my blog site sitting there waiting for me to do a new post. Some people don't blog often because they don't have anything to say. I don't blog often because I'm busy - busy eating:) If my blog was titled "Quest to a Moo Moo dress" then i would probably blog multiple times a day:)

So on my Sept 4 blog I stated "Otherwise, I will have another post a month from now titled "back in the saddle again, again." Not going to happen!" Well, I ate my words and then some and I freaking gained 5lbs and my pants are tight and I just feel blah.. I also cleaned out my closet this weekend and went through my storage tub of Wish Clothes. You know the ones you wish you could wear so you don't throw them out? They are right up there with the skinny jeans but not as far away from attainable as the skinny jeans. Or so I thought... I have to get in the Wish Clothes first before I can think about the skinny jeans and yall, I can't even get some of the Wish Shorts over my Big Butt. Damn it, I hate you carbs.

I've always found it interesting where people gain weight first. How does the body know to put the fat there first before anywhere else? It's one of life's mysteries. I gain weight in my face FIRST - the worst freaking place to gain weight first because you can't hide your face! If you gain weight in your butt, avoid anything white. If you gain weight in your arms, avoid sleeveless. If you gain weight in your boobs, well I can't stand you. So the 5 lb weight gain - yep, right in my face. Nice.

I've had so much going on in my life that I haven't wanted to think about what I'm eating so I just eat whatever is there.... not a good strategy. I have to get rid of carbs - again.. So today I've had no bad carbs. Just good ones in my salad at lunch. I didn't grocery shop this weekend so I'll probably stop and get a rotisserie chicken from Kroger and cook some grean beans. Two things that are great in a pinch. Sigh....I hate going backwards on the quest to skinny jeans.