Recipe: Corn Muffins

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought it was good but lacking something.  It needed a little sweet so I added some honey and now it's just perfect!!

Don't be jealous of my beautiful china!

Corn Muffins

1 cup self-rising corn meal mix (I used Gold Medal brand)
2 egg whites
1 can cream corn
3 tablespoons honey

Just mix everything together and pour in a muffin pan sprayed with non-stick spray.  Makes 12 muffins that are just 3 Smartpoints each.  (If you omit the honey they are just 2 SP each)

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

A good reminder!

I saw this today and it was just what I needed.  I've been pretty frustrated lately at the speed at which the weight is coming off.  The first 40 or 50 pounds seemed easy and now it's definitely slowed down and become more of a challenge.  It's harder to stay with it when the rewards each week are so small.  I'm trying to look at the big picture.....and to see how far I've already come....but some days it's tough!

Now this is just MEAN!

Have you seen this??  This could be my undoing!!  My two favorite Girl Scout cookie flavors are now available to make cupcakes and brownies at home!!  How could those sweet little Girl Scouts be so mean??  This will take some willpower...

Weigh-In: Week 22 & Weekend Adventures

This week's loss:  -1.2
Total Loss to Date:  -63.4

Still not a great weight loss....only 1.2 pounds.  Not sure what is going on but I have to figure out how to get past this hurdle.  Any suggestions??

Well, my weekend certainly didn't help me to get past the hurdle!!  We went away overnight to Seneca Allegany Casino with some friends to see the comedian Ron White.  LOTS of fun!!  I was really good at first--I only had a couple light beers (3 points each) the whole time and I preplanned my dinner to stay within my points.  I was doing soooo well!  But then we had been hanging out in the casino and it was about midnight....we had gone for an early dinner before the show.....and we were starving!  I ended up stuffing 2 pieces of greasy, disgusting pizza in my mouth!  I won't lie--it was delicious!  And it wasn't even good pizza!  It was the sort of crappy pizza you would expect to get in a casino at midnight!  I felt so incredibly guilty!!

Love me some slots!  No, I didn't win...

Drinks with the hubby

This is what moms who have escaped their kids look like!
Just kidding, we love them dearly but sometimes you just need a break!!

And then yesterday we had family over for Father's Day.  Again, I did great all day.  Made mac salad and did a separate one for me with light mayo.  Ate chicken sausage while the rest had regular italian sausage.  Had no alcoholic beverages.  But then dessert....and I had a small piece of chocolate cheesecake!  What is my problem??  Again, the guilt started...

Then this morning I get on the scale...and my weight is DOWN!  WTF!!  I think my body is playing a cruel trick on me.  My weight better still be down on Thursday because I need a good week after the last couple crappy ones!!  I am going to be extra good between now and then....and increase the walking....here's hoping!

Weigh-In: Week 21

This week's loss:  -.8
Total Loss to Date:  -62.2

Meant to update earlier but it's been crazy with the last week of school and exams....soccer starting...all that mom stuff!

So, I wasn't happy with a loss of just under a pound.  I am kind of frustrated by the rate of loss these days.  Not giving up...never giving up....but I would totally be okay with speeding things up a bit!!

Tomorrow is my next weigh in already.  Really hoping for a bigger loss.  Fingers crossed!

Recipe & walking in the rain....

I made this really yummy salad at home last night.  Thought I'd share...

It was a southwest type salad with chicken.  I used the Perdue precooked chicken strips and shook them in Frank's Red Hot powder (not too much).  Used shredded lettuce, tomatoes, corn, black beans, banana peppers, fat free cheddar and some crushed up baked tortilla chips.  And the dressing in the pic is from Panera--Thai Chili Lime and it's good!  2 points for 2 tablespoons.  I figured that the whole salad with 3 tablespoons of dressing was 9 points.  Very filling and very yummy!

Been trying to keep with the walking as much as I can.  The other day I was obsessed with having to get my walk in so hubby and I headed out despite the fact that it looked like rain.  We were about a 1/2 mile from our house when the downpour began!  We huddled under a tree for a while but finally decided that it wasn't going to let up!  As we're walking back to our house a car stops and rolls down the window.  The guy says he's from the local newspaper and asks if he can take a picture of our dripping wet selves for the paper!  Ummm.....NO!!  Must have been a slow news day!!

The view from under the tree!!

She's still in there....

Who is still in there, you ask?  Sigh.  The old me.  She came out briefly today before I stuffed her back in.  I know I shouldn't be beating myself up over this but it was a reminder that the old me is still in there and this battle is far from over.  :(

I've always identified with Garfield!  Love my food!

Was at a brunch at church this morning with lots of yummy food.  Stuff I would NEVER make at home anymore--breakfast pizza, hash brown casserole, blueberry bread, donuts, croissants...  All those things I love soooo much!  There was fruit too....and I was going to stick to that....but I didn't.  I found myself filling my plate with a piece of breakfast pizza, hash brown casserole and a mini croissant.  (I ate a lot of fruit too!)  Compared to what I would have eaten in the past, it wasn't that bad.  But compared to my current food intake it was insane!  I don't even want to think about the number of calories in it.  But the worst part?  I made one of the hash brown casseroles and brought home what was left of it.  When I got home I kept taking bites out of it....and craving it....BAD!  I knew if I didn't do something I would eat the rest of it so I ended up putting the dish in the sink and filling it with water.  How sad it is that I didn't have enough will power to stay away from it?  I actually had to make it inedible to keep myself from eating it.

I feel gross.  And I'm mad at myself.  I know it's just one meal....and I am not using it as a reason to binge for the rest of the day.  I am already back on track and making a healthy dinner.  It was just a sad reminder that this is going to be a forever battle....and that I have so far to go.  :(

A little inspiration...

This is my desktop background at the moment.  I have to constantly remind myself of this.  Each walk I take, each chocolate candy bar I don't eat....it all adds up!  Sometimes it's easy to feel like "well if I just eat this it won't matter"....but every little healthy decision I make is a step in the right direction....and in the direction of my goal!

Weigh-In: Week 20

Yes, you read that correctly....20 WEEKS!!  It seriously doesn't feel that long.  I am still feeling really good about things and I am not feeling at all like giving up!  I feel like I can really do this!  I AM doing this!!

This week's loss:  -3.8
Total Loss to Date:  -61.4

WooHoo!!  I've passed the 60 pound mark!!  That feels really good.  I feel like I am making progress and I'm really psyched about it.  I wish I could say that I look in the mirror and see it...but I don't.  Hopefully that will happen before too long.  I do feel it, however.  I have gone down 4 pants sizes....yes, 4!!  And I am buying my shirts smaller too.  It feels good to put on clothes that wouldn't have fit me a few months ago.  Soon I am going to go through my clothes and donate all of the ones that are too big.  I am not keeping them this time.  I need to move forward believing that I will never need those clothes again.  It's a hard idea to grasp, as yo-yoing is all I have ever known.  But if I believe that I will fail and gain the weight back, I will.   This time WILL be different!

I got a little extra incentive this past weekend to continue my journey to improve my health.  I ended up in the hospital overnight for a bout of atrial fibrillation.  For those who don't know what that is, a-fib is an irregular heart rhythm where it is beating really fast and irregularly.  This happened to me once before, 16 years ago and I had hoped it was behind me.  The doctors don't know why it happens to me, they can't connect it to any particular trigger.  I don't consume much caffeine because of my previous problem with this so that wasn't the cause.  So none of the normal triggers apply to me.  I wish I knew what was it was so I could avoid it.  :(  I saw my cardiologist the morning for a follow up and he said all is good.  Said I could resume all activities and to try not to worry about it.  (Clearly he doesn't know me!) He has given me a prescription for a drug that worked this time to get my heart to return to a normal rhythm.  If it happens again I can try to "fix" it at home without going to the emergency room.  If it doesn't correct in a few hours I will have to go in to the ER though.   I feel a little better knowing that I have that available.  The doc said that exercise and continuing to eat healthy, along with trying to reduce stress, is all I can really do.   So that is what I will do!!  :)