Weigh-In Wednesday & a GIVEAWAY!!

Yes, Yes. I am aware that I am….once again… delayed in getting a post up on the blog. If you tuned in to my last few posts, you’ll most certainly understand why! I’m sure you’ve guessed, by now, that with all the crazy shenanigans and goings-on over the past few months, dieting and eating right were not exactly high on my and the Timster’s to-do lists. So much so, that both of us managed to gain back all the previously hard fought weight loss, plus tack on quite a bit of extra poundage. Blech!

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Finally tired of being so overweight that getting out of bed made me breathless (not kidding!), I decided that it was time to jump back on the eating right bandwagon and start fighting the good fight all over again. I was mortified when I first stepped on the scale this morning to get a starting weight- 387.4.

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My GOD! Where in the name of all that is holy did that number come from?!?! I’ll tell you where it came from… it came from stress over a rough living situation, poorly behaved children (sometimes) and more month than money, more often than not.
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As I stood on that scale feeling defeated before I ever even began, I realized I could let that number define me or I could let it motivate me. For the first time in my life, motivation won out.

I’m 34 and I’ve been overweight most of my life. I allowed 4 pregnancies to be an excuse to eat what I wanted (and boy did I!) and I never bothered to lose the weight in between any of those babies. Working in childcare and eating ‘school lunches’ (we all know how healthy THOSE are!) didn’t help; and then my dependance on quick and easy fast/convenience type food just rounded it all out.

Before I knew it, I was (and still am) hovering not on the edge of glory- but on the edge of heart disease, diabetes, and as scary as it sounds to say it…. probably death. So although I’ve started this journey so many times in my head, this time it just HAS to stick.
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I can’t lie… I’ve only been on it 2 days and I’ve already been tempted to throw in the towel.

I know some of you out there (the skinny ones who’ve never dealt with weight or the ones who got thin and forgot what this feels like) are probably rolling your eyes and thinking ‘just get a grip!’ But it’s just like alcoholism or a narcotics addiction- food to me is truly an addiction. And when I’m stressed or sad or happy or lonely or overwhelmed (which I’ve been all of lately), I eat. Food is my solace.
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Take last night for example, when dinner (which should have been SO SIMPLE) went wrong every which way to Sunday. All I wanted to do was run up to McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts and swallow my sorrows. (I mean, how hard is it to roast chicken and potatoes for cryin’ out loud!! It was so bad, I didn’t even bother taking a picture, y’all!)

But I stuck it out, and it may have taken us an hour to get through dinner because we had to keep microwavin’ that dang chicken (ack!), but dammit! I was in it for the long haul!

Because McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts was NOT the answer- the dinner I made was healthy and fresh and tasty…. and just not cooked all the way through! — So we were still fighting the good fight at 10:00, but by George we did it! And everyone went to bed satisfied and grateful for a meal that was good and good for them. And best of all, I didn’t give in to the overwhelming stress. I fought it off… and I won.
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Jenn-1   Stress Monster- 0
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Now, enough talk about a dinner that went wrong and let’s discuss one that went right! Night before last, we had a delicious Honey Mustard Glazed Salmon over Wild Rice with Feta Sprinkled Asparagus.

Sounds delish, right?!
Guess what?
Looks even better!

This dinner was so simple to make and everybody raved about how tasty it was. I always love a sweet touch to my salmon but this was tempered with the bite of a stone ground mustard, a dash of basil, and some finely diced garlic. So it was a wonderful mixture of flavors on the tongue, all glazed on the richness of salmon (my favorite fish!)
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The asparagus was as quick and simple as it gets. Some quick spritzes with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast those babies til they are super hot and even have a few charred spots. When they come out, sprinkle them liberally with feta. Scrumptious!
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Lastly, the rice was an easy Well, thanks to a gift of old Cooking Light magazines from my MIL, I discovered a nifty trick to use when cooking rice-  you actually cook it like pasta! Seriously! You use a ridiculous amount of water, cook the rice until it still has some tooth, and then drain it in a colander. If you still feel it’s too ‘wet’, you can saute it in a bit of olive oil to dry it out and toast it up. No more gummy rice!

By the way, if you’ve never taken advantage of the Subscribe & Save program through Amazon, you need to check it out NOW! You have to be a Prime member, which means an initial $79 investment, but man! do you make that back in shipping alone within the first few purchases! (But if you click Prime members get all their (Prime) products delivered free by UPS within 2 days, and if you join Amazon Mom (even if you’re a boy!), between that and your Prime membership, you save 20% off of every item you order through their Subscribe & Save program. I LOVE IT! I find the best deals on some of the hardest to find products, and it’s so awesome to have the UPS man deliver my toilet paper 😀 (Now we never run out!)

So just in case you missed it, for a 30 day- no strings attached- free trial of Amazon’s Prime, just click —

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And as always, may the fork be with you!

More FabuLESSness here!

Weigh-In Wednesday…It’s Been a Long Time Comin’ Weigh-In Wednesday-#4 Weigh-In Wednesday-#3 Commitment Issues…. {Weight Loss Motivation} Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life!