One year ago today...

One year ago today I promised this...

In the presence of our family and friends,

I am proud to take you as my partner.

With everything that I am and everything that I have,

I vow to be loyal to you and honor the love that we share.

I vow to celebrate the beautiful moments of life with you

And support and encourage you through the difficult times.

I vow to give you the best of myself and all of my love,

Today and always.

Although Aaron and I have only been married a year, we have shared our lives for almost 7. Seem like an eternity sometimes and at other times I remember those days when we first feel in love like it was yesterday. Although my focus is my food intake, I wanted to give a shout out to the main man in my life. I love you, babes.

My eating today wasn't much different from past days. For lunch I had left over dinner from last night, which was yummy. Had that instead of my usual salad. For dinner, I was invited to my niece and nephew's jazz concert, which was pretty enjoyable. The fed us buffet style. I had a big salad and a big portion of veggies, along with some tasty veggie lasagna and....a piece of cake, which I took my time to enjoy. All in all, I think I managed okay today. I feel really full though, like I ate too much. Also drank a bit too much coffee, but got to hang out with the fam and watch my niece and nephew blossom into beautiful teenagers and young adults. I'm a proud auntie.

Just waiting for my hubby to get home from a long day at the office. We surely didn't have the most romantic of anniversaries, but hopefully we will find some time tomorrow night to go have a nice dinner somewhere. Would like to at least exchange gifts. I decided to start a tradition (at least on my end) to give Aaron something from both categories--tradition and modern. So the traditional gift for the first anniversary is paper and the modern gift is a clock. So...check out the pics to see what I decided. Hope he enjoys them. We'll see if he ever gets home. Oh, I think I hear him pulling up...

Class Canceled

So, today my Total Body Toning class was canceled. I was so excited. Not because Gina was sick, but because 1. It gave me "free time" after work and 2. I didn't have to motivate myself to go to class without my girl, Jen. She is my motivation. I don't think I could work out without a partner. I just can't self motivate. So, yeah, I should be going to the gym and walking on the treadmill, but I am not.

Instead, after work, I ran some errands, which involved getting a grande chai latte at the Target Starbucks. It was a "skinny" one, so it was made with skim milk. Just looked up the calories and it's actually more than I expected...200. I ate well all day though, so I'm not really too concerned. Plus, I think it counts as a diary serving, so it's good for me, right? Also had the chance to see my beautiful niece in her prom dress, so that was a bonus. At my sister's house, I got to have a piece of pineapple cake that my mom made...it's a Weight Watcher recipe, so it was only 2 points...well worth it.

When I got home, I realized I hadn't eaten my afternoon apple. The chai filled me up though. So, now I am enjoying a hot green tea and looking forward to Flash Forward and Grey's Anatomy tonight. I'm also pretty excited to eat the chicken enchiladas that my mom made us. I'll include a picture once I scoop it out onto my (boring) plate.

Just another rainy day

So, today was much like yesterday. My breakfast was exactly the same, except I added in a piece of string cheese to eat on the way to work. That seemed to keep my belly a bit more content until about 10:00. At that time I noshed on about a cup of baby carrots. The carrots seemed to be a bit more filling than the apple that I usually eat. Although I didn't forget about the apple, I ate it about a half an hour after lunch, but before my students came to class, and that seemed to hold off the hunger a bit longer. So, I think I really need to snack more throughout the day. It's a bit harder because my classes are 2 hours long and sometimes 2 hours seems too long to wait for a snack. I guess I will have to figure that out. Maybe there is some sort of drink out there that I can enjoy during class that will placate my hunger during that time? If anyone is reading...do you have any suggestions?

2 lovely Wurther's to accompany me home on a rainy, rainy afternoon.

When I got home, I didn't want more carrots because I was afraid my skin might start to become orange. I may need a tan, but that's a bit over the edge. So, I had 7 (a serving) Reduced Fat Triscuits and I dipped them in the ranch dip I made yesterday for my carrots. Pretty enjoyable. Also had some green tea. Not going to eat dinner for another hour or so, so I just stuffed a Fiber One bar in my mouth since I am off to get the fuzzy wool hat on my head trimmed.

Aaron made a WW recipe and broccoli (just for me) for dinner. One we have made before and enjoyed. It's pretty low in points and tastes good, so you can't really go wrong there. It was a bit salty this go around for some reason. Maybe there was too much stuffing. Something I noticed as I shot the picture...I might need some prettier plates. My plates make my food look WORSE. Maybe I can pick up a couple pretty ones on my next visit to St. Vinny's or something..."special plates" just for me. Also note the AMAZING Fruit Punch Crystal Light...Love It!

This website/blog was suggested to me. I have only checked out a few entries, but seems pretty interesting. She also posted the site below...a way to check how many calories you should be ingesting. Kind of interesting...

http://carrotsncake.com/

http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/calneed

Dinner

I found that I was hungry a number of times today. I found this strange because the way I am eating now is not all that different than how I usually eat when I am working. Of course, before I would have said "hell yes!" to the chocolate cake that was in one of the offices today, or I would have dove into the left over Easter candy that my office mate left me in my desk drawer. Today, I said "NO!"

As I was heading out of school, I grabbed 2 Wurther's candies from my desk. They were tasty and not too bad for me. Made me wanting more tho. I find that when I eat sweets, I just want to keep eating and eating and eating...

When I came home, I was hungry. I ate a bowl full of baby carrots with some dip that I made from light sour cream and powered ranch dressing. I also made myself a cup of green tea. I have heard that green tea is good for the belly fat...getting rid of it, that is. Plus, it's calming, and if you know me...you know I can use any help I can get. By the time my kick boxing class came up, I was hungry again, but once I was throwing punches, I forgot about the hunger in my abs. I was too busy "zipping up," as my instructor, Gina, says.

Since hubby picked up a big ol' carton of Egg Beaters, I figured I would make myself some sort of scramble. So, here is what I had for dinner:

1/2 cup Egg Beaters
Green Pepper
Red onion
1/8 cup reduced fat shredded cheese
1/2 cup diced ham

2 pieces of light wheat bread (naked)
1 piece of light wheat bread with Smuckers low sugar strawberry jam

So, right now I am feeling pretty satisfied. The scramble was a lot of food. Unfortunately, I am burping up the onions and green peppers. Might be a little late in the night to eat either of those things.

So, now I will finish watching LOST, take a shower and get ready to cuddle.

Day One

Okay, so I weighed myself this morning and my scale was a lot nicer to me than the one at the doctor last week, so we will go with mine. Regardless, the number needs to change. Actually, I don't even care if the number changes, as long as I can get my flippin' shorts and capris to fit so I am not a sweaty pig once the weather decides to change for good. As tempted as I was to just go to Walmart and buy a few pairs of shorts with an elastic waistband, I had to remind myself that I am still a young woman and elastic as everyday wear is just not okay.

I'm familiar with the way Weight Watchers works and in my head, I am somewhat tracking points for my meals, but I'm not sure I want to get in that habit...I'm not sure it's doable forever. I really would like to change my ways forever, instead of just temporarily to fit back into my clothes. I know I have issues with portion control, so measuring out my food will be important...not so much for veggies, but for pasta, meat, candy bars...you get the idea.

So, here is what I have eaten so far today:

Breakfast:
2 whole wheat waffles with about 1 tbsp of Reduced Fat Peanut Butter
Coffee with skim milk and 1 Splenda

(I was super hungry by the end of 2nd hour--about 10:15)

Snack:
Apple

(I was super hungry by 11:30)

Lunch:
Spinach Salad with chicken, almonds, and shredded cheese (spray light Italian Dressing)
Light and Fit Yogurt
Orange

Snack:
Fiber One bar

Not sure what dinner will bring. Hubby works until late, so I will be on my own. However, I find that once I start eating at home, I can't stop. Eating later in the evening usually helps this, but I know that's not what you are technically suppose to do either. With no more Easter crack or Avis's famous cake around...I should be safe.

Let's give it a try

So, my idea for this blog came out of needing some sort of accountability for myself and the way that I eat. I know how to eat well, and at times, I am able to keep it under control, but more often, I am not. I have lost weight in my 20's and now that I am a thirty something, I am finding it more difficult. I'm not looking to be model thin...I'm looking to fit into my spring and summer clothes from last year! So, that's my goal. I'm thinking it might take me 5-10 pounds to get there. So, my plan for this blog is to post the food that I am eating each day and see how it goes. Wish me luck!