Chicken and Dumplings

 This is the recipe I always use. I had never made chicken and dumplings before, and when I was a kid, I did not like chicken and dumplings... So when someone at home requested it, I chose this recipe. Everyone liked it, so I have stuck with it. Why change a good thing? Its pretty easy and really cheap to make.

 3-4 pound chicken, whole
 1 gallon of water
 1tsp poultry seasoning
 1tsp garlic powder
 1/2 tsp pepper
 2 celery ribs, chopped
 4 green onions, chopped
 1 carrot, shredded (or chopped)
 6 chicken bullion cubes

 **dumplings**
 3 cups flour
 2tsp b. powder
 1 tsp  poultry seasons
 1/2 cup butter flavor crisco
 1 egg
 2 c. chicken stock (that has had time to cool)

 What I do.

 In the morning, start your chicken and the other stuff in your crock pot. Let it cook on high 3-4 hours low 5-7 hours until chicken is done.

 Remove chicken and let it cool off. Remove meat from bones as best you can. Place meat in the fridge. Remove 2 cups of chicken stock. Add bones and meat on them back into crock and cook additional hour or 2.

 Once your broth has simmered, remove all bones. I do this by straining the stock into a collinder with a bowl under it. Put broth into a pan and bring up to a boil. Add your chicken, cut up into chunks.

 Meanwhile make dumplings by mixing flour, b powder, seasons and butter until its a cornmeal consistency. Once its there, add your egg and cool broth. Mix into a dough ball. Adding flour if needed. Roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thick and cut into small squares (I do this with a pizza cutter)

 Plop several dumplings into boiling water at a time, stiring well to make sure they do not stick together.

 continue to simmer for about 10-15 min after all dumplings have been added. Serve hot. YUM YUM

A salmon cake by another name... Makes kids want to eat it!

 This was a new recipe a few times ago. The first time I made them, the kids asked "whats for dinner" When I said Salmon cakes, I seen noses immediately turning upwards.... Oh Change of plans... I announced. I am making "CRABBY PATTIES" Suddenly the kids were interested, and ready to try my new recipe!

 For those of you without children, or cable, or both. Crabby Patties are made on sponge bob. They are a secret recipe no one knows but Mr. Krabs, and I somehow got the recipe!!! I am super mom after all. So if you would like to be super mom as well, you can borrow my recipe and my name, and see what your kids think. Or you can even just make them for yourself, and then, you can call them salmon cakes.

 What you will need:

 2 cans of salmon (I like to take as much skin and bones out as possible even though I have heard its edible)
 1/2 cup of oats
 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
 1TBS Dill
 1TBS cilantro
 1TBS green onions
 Salt and pepper to taste of course.

 Mix this together until it makes a texture similar to tuna salad.

 Get your skillet oiled up and nice and hot. I like to use an ice cream scoop as my size for my patty's. Although the original recipe states that it makes 6, I can get about 12-14 using a normal size ice cream scoop. I find them easier to deal with this way as well.

 Take your ice cream scoop of Crabby Patty and form into a "patty" like you would a hamburger. Place into your hot skillet and let cook until side is crispy. Flip and then let the other side cook until crispy. Usually this takes about 3-4 min. On each side.

 The kids like them just served up on the plate with some tartar sauce. They are also good on a bun. They make good leftovers as well, so don't be afraid to make a few extra!

A 2 day streak!

So far I am all on it baby. Monday I started out strong. Well not STRONG but I ate well and worked out. Drank 48oz of water.

 Today same scenario. worked, worked out, ate well. Well I did have home made macaroni and cheese, but I have a very small serving and did not over stuff myself. In fact honestly I would have rather had box mac and cheese than the home made stuff. I just like it better. Go figure.

 I hope to keep my momentum up all week. Oddly enough I showed a loss on the gym scale today. Not sure if that was a fluke or what, but I'll take it. I cannot wait to see and feel a difference, which is what I am really going for.

Gym Bound!

 Wow I am quite the slacker. I started this blog thinking it would motivate me and in turn possibly motivate someone else some day... So far all it has proven is that I want to do this, but never do. Where is that get up and go I had before? I get discouraged because I see no results but deep down I KNOW that I have not worked long enough or hard enough to see any results so getting discouraged is stupid.

 So Monday is tomorrow. I love Mondays a fresh new start a new week and I always feel like I can "start over" this day. Then when I screw up Tuesday I think.... I will start over Monday and fuck my whole week. NO more of that. I am human and I will mess up but I will NOT wait a week to "start over" after messing up. Right back on that track girl... No waiting. NO tomorrow, no next week. NOW.

 My goal is to hit the gym right after work each weekday do whatever for however long, just HIT THE GYM.

 Eating smaller portions and try to stay away from the sugary empty carbs, if I "need something" I will have ONE serving of it. Not 20. Drink my water, and just try to feel better about who I am and realize what I can become with some work.

Gym Today!

Went with my oldest daughter. We worked out a total of 66 min. Felt good, but I am sore, already. I am still loving the woman's gym. This evening when its usually really busy upstairs there were only four other ladies in the gym with us. Very nice.


 Destiny says she 'd like to do Zumba next time... I think I might be scared! I want to try it but not alone so this is awesome!!! :)

 Eating has been pretty good today. I ate a bit too much macaroni salad at work, and ate out dinner but chose subway (6g fat sub) So it could have been better, but it could have been so much worse.

Joined the lady's only gym

 In my gym. My co-worker has had the membership for a while and likes it, but last month they had a special where you could add anything to your membership for half the regular cost. So I did. Ladies gym here I come!

 I went today and let me just say I.LOVE.IT.

 The TV's are NOT on sports. There is a bathroom in there WITH a scale. There is a tanning bed in there WITH a lock on the door. There are lockers in there. A couch. Weight machines, free weights, cardio equipment, mirrors... Add that to the fact that there is hardly anyone in there, and it is my new favorite place to be! ;o)

 On my way into the gym today I saw a regular customer from work (buffy customer) He said to me "you should come earlier, we could work out together!" heh. yeah. Cus I am on the same level as that! :)

 Anyway I worked out for 30 min today. I was kind of all over the place trying to check everything out. They have some nifty machine in there called the wave. I really like it. Tomorrow if I have time to go I want to do the weight machines.

 On the bad side, I weighed myself, clothes and shoes on and I got a read out of 175.0 I guess that is not horrible, compared to where I was, at home clothes off before my scale broke, but even so... blah. Onward and downward!

Keeping Up

 Life has somehow found a way to get in the way again. BUT this time, although I have not hit the gym, I have been keeping within my calories.... I found this awesome new site I like the best of any I have tried http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/ You can get it to tell you how many calories you should have a day, and then add in your foods, water intake, and even workouts and calories burned! I like it a lot. So all week long I have stayed within my calorie range. JUST barely a few days... but under none the less!

 I signed up for the womans only part of my gym. I will go tomorrow and try it out. I hope i love it. I have a co worker that has the membership and she loves it, so I am sure I will too.

 Other than that I have just been plodding along. My scale is broken so I cannot weigh in, which might not be a bad thing as I obsess, and its not really about the scale, its about how I feel and how my pants fit! So far so good, but this week I really hope to get both things going, eating right and working out!

9/28 A good day

Diet wise really anyway, its been good. Lots of stress going on. Work drama, and our cat needs a leg amputation... That we don't really have the money for.... So anyway life has been getting in the way for too long. I wanted, no no I NEEDED to get it right today and for the most part, I really feel I did great today!

 Breakfast was: Yogurt and 1/2 cup Kashi cereal, coffee w/ cream
 Snack was: 2oz beef jerky, protein water, and 48oz plain water
 Lunch was: well that 2nd oz of jerky was eatin around lunch time, that was not so good really I had a cat to get, kids to pick up and a play to get to and eating was sort of put on the back burner
 I WORKED OUT TODAY! I did 30 min on level 4 easy intervals on the bike at the gym!
 we then had  a play and by the time it was over I was ready to eat a cow!

 We went out to dinner, even though we do not have the money to do so Mexican I felt I did well

 DInner was: taco salad w/ chicken fajita meat (ate about 3/4 did not eat the shell) 2 oz or so of chips and a cup or so of salsa, water big glass.

 Considering I normally would have had more, it was not bad, and according to my calories I am just under for the day. So I am going to take today as all things considered a good day.

Monday Monday!

Eat less. Move more. Eat less. Move more. I have been chanting this to myself all day long. It worked, partially.

 First I will post my plan was to work out with my buddy. I kinda knew she would not actually make it over to my house, and knowing that, I should have went ahead and gone to the gym after work, but... I didn't. She didn't come over, and then life got in the way (or near death, of my cat) and I never did get a workout in today. So that was the bad. It can't be all bad though. Tomorrow I will try to do better as far as 'moving more' goes.

 My eating was not spot on. But my calories were below my goal of 1500 Here is a breakdown of my meals:

 8am: Coffee w/ cream (2 cups) 1 egg on wheat toast w/ jam
 10am: Protein water (30 cal)
 11am: Damn breadstick at work those things get me!
 1pm: Shrimp scampi (home made leftovers small portion)
 4pm: Honey Crisp Apple O M G best apple EVER!!!!!
 6pm: Chicken enchiladas made w/ mostly white meat, and corn tortillas LF cheese and sour cream

 Oh and somewhere in there go ahead and throw a oreo cookie and 2 mini doughnuts. Yes not the greatest foods but its better than 12 oreos and 6 mini doughnuts right???

 I had a buttload of tea, and that protein water. only about 10 oz of actual plain water, and a diet coke. i was stressed with this headache and hubby brought me one and I caved and I drank it.

 Tomorrow I hope to have the sweets nixed from this journal and I hope to have some "movement" to talk about! Onward and upward one day at a time.

My pants are loose!

And not for a good reason. Not for a good reason at all.

 I had to buy a larger size. yes I am happy that they do not fit me well, they are loose, but I am upset to have to have bought a larger size at all. I swore I was not going to buy the LAST size larger I bought, and now I am up another size again. STOP THE MADNESS! It ends. NOW.

 I was looking up online all kinds of things. Drugs to take to help lose weight, diet plans, herbal things... Then I came across a site that gave me the 10 top ways to lose weight. Basically the ways were EAT LESS, MOVE MORE, DRINK WATER, DONT "diet", yeah. Stuff I already know how to do, and have known all along was what I need to do to lose weight. Like I said, I have done this before!!! I can do it again.

 So I have a plan in place. I am no longer over complicating things. I am no longer worrying about when I eat, making sure I get in 6 mini meals or extra this or less of that. healthy foods. Smaller portions. Moving more. Simple. Drink water. Simple. I can do this.

 My goal, not my ULTIMATE GOAL but my first goal is to be a size 10/12 by my birthday. That is about 4 months away and 2 dress sizes. I think its completely doable and I think if I work REALLY hard that I can exceed my goal, but if I remember the 10/12 size and I remember feeling pretty good there. Average. Not hot and sexy but not fat and frumpy either.

 I will use this blog to post my journal for the day and log my workouts. Just for myself to keep myself accountable and to be able to look back and see where I have come.

Going on week 2!

 In fact week 2 is half way over. Last week I did my three days M W F just as planned. This week, there was a little bump in the road. I had a dentist apt. late afternoon Monday that left me far from wanting to workout. So workout I did not.

 I have made up for it by going Tuesday though instead. Its good actually because on Tuesday they have a yoga class for kids, and my youngest wanted to go, and LOVED IT! So awesome that she is getting into this early so hopefully it can be a life long thing for her.

 So no real change on the weight part for me thus far. I have been eating pretty well, but weekends, my hard time are never good. This past weekend I made "puppy chow" and rice crispy treats and then ate more than my fair share of both...

 The change I have noticed though. I feel like I am just in a better mood. I am still tired, but I feel like I have more energy in the evenings. So that alone is a wonderful thing. Once I get my weekends straightened out a bit more, I should see some changes in my pants, and on the scale, I hope.

Week One

 If I do say so myself week one went very well. Each day I got in 32 or more oz of water. M-W I went to the gym Friday I did not, but I was SO busy at work, and then weed eated and such so I was still active. My only "Bad" food items were 3 oreos one night and then a DQ blizzard last night. I stayed under 1600 calories each day though even the days I did "cheat".

 I feel my motivation coming back. I snuck on the scale and noticed a loss. I will not make it for real until Monday when I weigh, my official weigh in day. Even so I feel like I can do this again, and that is great. I do get a bit discouraged at the gym w/ all those mirrors seeing myself and how fat I am and wondering why I did not do something BEFORE now.

 I cannot go back in time though, as we all know. So I have to live in the moment and in the moment I am chubby and in the moment I am FINALLY doing something about it. It feels good and I hope to be able to be motivating finally and do something about this.

 Cheers!

Going to do something about it.

 Finally. What does it take? going up my FOURTH SIZE now in jeans. The seam of the thigh splitting open? Feeling so tired and fat? Embarresed to walk around in public? Yeah it was a combo of those things. Finally is all I can really say.

 So why will I do this? Because today I joined a gym. With that joining I agreed to pay them money every month for 2 years. Yes, so, I will go because of this. If that is not enough, there is a pool there, and my kid can go swimming, which means they will be up.my.butt. to go at least every other day. Annoying kids are VERY good motivation. Also... Destiny is my workout buddy, for now. I know that will probably not last long, but for now, its nice.

 So my starting weight on this journey is 172.3 pounds. Yep. Nearly back at where I started so very long ago. A FAR cry from my last smallest weight of 131. My current goal as of now is 140. I want to weigh 140 pounds and I think I will look and feel SO much better because of it. so 32.2 pounds to lose.

 Today I did the bike 30 min (9.5 miles) then I did the treadmill 18 min (1 mile) and then I did the kids gym weight machines (lol?) I did 30 pound 10 reps of each. Its 5 different arm ones and then a leg and an ab one. All while I worked out my kids were playing in the pool. How cool is that? Pretty cool.

 I am feeling it already though, which I know is a good thing, but it also sucks! lol. I hate to be sore. My plan for now is to go M W F and workout for at least 30 min. I would like to work up to taking a class of some sort here soon. THey have boxing and I REALLY like boxing. I am thinking of that one for sure.

The Sky is Blue, the Grass is Green....

 And I am still fat. Still doing nothing about it. You would think I don't even care. I try to act like I don't care. Honestly though. I do.

 My thighs rub together,and that sucks in the warmer months, trust me. Also just yesterday I realized while bending down, getting back up being sore and somewhat out of breath... it is NOT because I am "getting old" I am having these problems because I am overweight! Now i can't control aging but I CAN control my weight if I just work at it.

 I could be happier healthier and look so much better if I would just put forth a bit of effort. My eating although not the best, is not horrible. Its really my activity level. Yes I have been more active lately now that its warm, but I REALLY need to get a workout schedual going. So this week, that is what I am focusing on.

 To get in the swing I have planned myself time for 2-3 small workouts each day. Morning- wii fit/boxing After work- Walk around trail/block Evening-Bike ride w/ kids or walk w/ dogs or trampoline

 So that is what I want to do this week. I might look into the activity center again for membership its cheap and the kids can go... we'll see. I am ready to do something though. I am sick of being embarrased because I feel fat.

Another one bites the dust.

 Day/week that is without working out. My plan. Spring break is not a good time to start, no time ever is. I always have an excuse. What a bummer blog this would be to read for someone looking for inspiration. They certainly would not find it in me. Not this go around anyway.

 I thought about signing up for the gym. But then I thought would I go? Or would I be once again shelling out money for something I would not take advantage of. I have running shoes, dumbells, wii fit, workout DVD's I can do this at home. I was telling myself I have an hour after work, before I need to get kids... I could hit the gym. Guess what? I could stop by that trail and jog/walk FOR FREE.

 So that is what I am going to do. My pants are so damn tight I get sore from wearing them. Its crazy. One day they are going to split and I am going to look like a really dumb fat ass.

Falling off the wagon I never really got on.

 Ugh. Why do I do this to myself? I dont know. I need to stop. Things get in the way.

 Here we go. Starting Monday. Why Monday because Tomorrow I need to get groceries. So starting Monday I have 2 goals. Just 2.

 WORKOUT 20 min 5x a week, and drink 64 oz of water each day. That is it. I can do it, I've done it before. I can do it again. My eating is fairly good 90% of the time. My main problem is not drinking my water, and not working out. This needs to change. This WILL change.

 So slow the wagon down, I am jumping back on and I want to get a good grip this time!

good and bad

 So this is day whatever. I finally weighed myself again. 171.2 today. Yes, that is up. No that is NOT the direction I want to be going. I could try and say I had popcorn, sodium, and also AF is on her way sometime in the near future, but honestly. I did not workout at all since starting this blog.

 I know for some, eating healthy, will cause them weightloss. I also know, for me, I must get off my butt and DO something to lose weight.

 So today I did something. I started out on my treadmill. It was wobbly because its on carpet, and I was wearing my jeans and my thighs rubbing together while jogging where honestly about to start a FIRE between my legs... So I stopped that and did my wii fit boxing. 20 min. No not too long, but a hell of a lot better that not at all. Slow and steady... Just 20 min a day I believe will help me with my goal. More is great, but I want to start off slow as not to burn out. I am SO out of shape.

 The bad. I ate like hell today. I felt FAMISHED all day and I ate, and I ate, and I did not make fantastic choices when I did so. Tomorrow is a new day. I will eat better, and I will do 20 min or more of a workout as well. I am in this to win this. I am SICK of  feeling like a fat cow. Seriously. I am embarrased of myself and hte way I look.

NO workouts this week

 First it was the sore feet, and then I feel and that just made my whole body sore... I did not get in a single workout this week. My eating has not been wonderful but much better than it has been, that is for sure. I can only hope to continue to improve.

 I really want to jog again. Run even. I really want that. I see people around here run by all the time and I feel jealous of them. I want to be the one someone else is jealous of!

Feet

 I got new running shoes before I started this blog. The reason was because my feet where getting achy. With being a waitress, I walk quite often and replace my shoes a lot. So I really thought the reason I was achy, was needing new shoes. So far though that has not solved my problem. I wanted to start to try to jog again, but my feet are not allowing that. By the time I have put in my 3.5 hours waiting tables I just want to get off my puppies, but I still have to cook dinner, and clean, so even at home, its not possible.

 Other than the fact that my feet kill me so I am getting no extra activity in. I did well today. I had breakfast lunch and dinner. I did not snack on bad things at work, only radishes! I did have a cupcake... it was homeade and I just cannot resist home made goodies!

 I did see a loss of 1.2 pounds on the scale this week. I hope I can keep seeing a loss. It is really motivating. Mostly though I just want to feel my damn pants losen up some. Its painful to put them on!

O R E O

 Not a good name for the title of a thread in a diet blog is it? NOPE.

 Today I am sore. Working in my garden area, has been quite the chore. So I did not do any type of workout at all. Too sore. I did however, eat very well...until bedtime, the worst time to overeat too right. Hubby pulled out his stash of OREO'S (double stuff) and I had probably 9 or 10. Grrrr. I had done really well the rest of the day so its not horrible, and its most CERTAINLY NOT a reason to throw in the towel. We are all human, and well, have to have oreos sometimes.

 Tomorrow I plan on getting on the treadmill, and finally breaking in my new shoes. Jog as long as I can and then walk, then jog some more. I am aiming for 20 minuets minimum. I can do that. NO problem! If its not raining I will start to till up my little garden plot as well!

Day 2

 I will probably soon forget to update daily, but for now I hope to do it.

 Today was a good day, mostly. Its a weekend which are my hardest days to keep on track. I had breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Everything was 100% until dinnertime. I ordered pizza. I did not over eat but well, it was pizza. And a breadstick.

 My activity today was yard work. I trimmed down all the hedges in the front and side of the house and I got my front flower bed ready and planted flowers! I plan on doing the side of the house and getting potatoes and onions planted tomorrow evening! I know its not a true workout, but it does burn some good calories and it needed done!

 So far I am feeling fairly confident. My plan is to have my pants buttoned w/o having to lay down by the end of this month. Then maybe rename the blog? :)

Onward and Upward: Day 1

 So day one. My plan was to get up and workout. I forgot I had a parent teacher conference to go to early on. Such is life, this is why you plan a bit better!

 Had the conference it went rather well too, which was a nice surprise.

 I did not weigh myself this morning. I am sure its right at 170 still.

 My food choices were not the worst and also not the best. Again it was a busy day.

 I had breakfast, lunch, and dinner... Dinner was out at Shcklotskis and I got baked chips diet coke and did not eat all my bread... So its better than nothing.

 I did not get in a workout but I walked all over sams club, target ANNNNNND walmart this evening. So I was not totally imoble and I AM totally worn out.

 So there was day one. I kept it in the back of my mind that I was doing this, so that is a good thing. On to day two. Its the weekend, but I have gathered up some healthy foods that I enjoy so I hope it goes well!

So March First

 I got motivated. It was the first of the month, it was a Monday. Wonderful day to start my new lifestyle change for the second time... That day came and went, without sucsess and here is is March 4th, which personally is also a wonderful day to start... but I didn't.

 I have put this off and put this off. Why? You see, about 5 years ago I weighed probably 200 pounds. I am 5 foot 1 inch tall. So this is VERY heavy. I had four kids pretty much back to back and each time I would lose a bit, I would get pregnant and eat for 2 (or 4)

 I drank soda like it was water, and still ate like a pregoo until I realized I was FAT. I felt fat, I looked fat, and I could not wear anything cute, it was all "old lady" things from the plus size section. So one day I just woke up and I did something about it. I quit soda, dropped 10 pounds. Easy. Then I started to work out, and eat right, and I was down to 131 pounds at one point. I could have stood to have lost a bit more but I looked good. I was certainly not fat. I felt good. I got looks and I was not ashamed to go out and dress up a little.

 So then, somewhere along the line. I gained some weight, wanted to lose it, but would fall off track and gain a little more... So now I got to where I am now. 170 pounds, well 169 but why not just round up? I do NOT want to hit 200 before I do something again. I look fat, I feel fat, I am tired ALL.THE.TIME. Walking up stairs is torture. This is bullshit.

 Yet each day I tell myself I will start, and at some point early on, fuck up and say "well tomorrow I will start" This needs to STOP. I need to get a grip. I want to feel good, I want to look sexy, I want to RUN up stairs and not be out of breath. First things first though... I want to put my pants on, button them, and do that, without having to lay on my bed!

 I am in groups where people have been on my side, telling me I am still pretty lade da. I have had people give me the hard truth to suck it up, get up and do it. JUST FUCKING DO IT CLORIE. But every time I feel like I have let them down and I feel crappy and I don't do anything about it.

 I think now, maybe I realize I need to do this, for ME again. Because I want to look good, because I want to feel good, because I want to hear those "oh wow, you look great, what are you doing" comments. Because I do not want to realize that person I have not seen in a while and know just KNOW They are thinking how I have gained weight. I do not want to be ashamed or scared to go into the school to get my kids because I feel fat. I want to have the confidence I have had before.

 So what am I going to do about it? I am going to take it ONE day at a time. Its all you can do. I am going to drink water, workout, eat smaller portions of better options, and I am going to realize even if I screw up once that day, the whole day is NOT blown. Pick right back up. I have done this before. I can do this again! I can do this for myself, I have to do this.


 Yesterday I armed myself with shoes. New shoes. I wore them to work today so they are broken in. Tomorrow I will jog. I might not jog far, or for long, but I will get better, each time, and that is what matters.

 So starting tomorrow. I will begin. I will try to update this, and show my wonderful progress on this blog. For myself, to go back and look, and see what I have done wrong and what I have done right.