OK people, it's the day before Christmas Eve!
Challenge #1: This is the LAST day that you WANT to do any shopping, so triple-check your fridge against your list (if you don't have a list, you want a basic plan/idea of what you will eat from now until at least breakfast on the 27th). And check your presents if they're not done and get going! You want to enjoy Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day with family. Besides, many places will be closed, have weird hours, or be packed because they're the only ones open.
Challenge #2: Take something OFF your list! Make one less side for Christmas dinner, do one less activity, clean one less area (just close that door). YOU need enjoy Christmas also :)
Challenge #3: Pre-prep! What can you do today so you don't have to do tomorrow? What can you do tomorrow that you don't have to do Christmas Day? What can you do in the morning so you don't have to do right as Christmas Dinner is being served?
I have most of my wrapping done, just the gifts for my nieces and nephews left, but they're for the 2nd, and I HAVE the gifts. I'm hosting Christmas Dinner with my in-laws Christmas Eve. I'm making Saving Dinner's white bean dip today and one of my sides today. I'm going to make the mashed potatoes in the MORNING and put them in the crock cooker with a little butter over the top on 'keep warm' (this is a FABULOUS tip, but you really should TEST your crock before you try this for a meal, different crocks have different temperatures and as Leanne Ely says: 'Your mileage may vary' you don't want them to scorch). I'm also going to arrange my 'goodie tray' while the potatoes are boiling (and stick it covered in the garage).
So that means I'll only have one SIMPLE side to make while the turkey is 'resting' and I'm making the gravy :)
Saving Dinner's Christmas Morning Strata has become a tradition for us. (I usually half the recipe because we're only 2 people and then we eat it for a few days - love the toaster oven for re-heats!) It's super-good, decadent but easy AND you prep it the night before, and just pull it out of the fridge and bake in the morning! LOVE that!
Here's to a less stressful time! Merry Christmas!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
A Simple Christmas - December First
Christmas can get so busy... I love FLYlady's babysteps... Holiday Cruising is what she calls it. I'm aiming for a simple Christmas this year.
December 1st!! We're embracing DH's Scottish heritage this Christmas :) Today we did 3 small Christmas things:
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
December 1st!! We're embracing DH's Scottish heritage this Christmas :) Today we did 3 small Christmas things:
- Added plaid bows to the wreath and put it on the front door
- Put up the tree (pre-lit, simple) with just the lights and our new angel for now
- I brought up the Christmas dishes (OK, mugs and 1 glass, plus some hot pads and tea towels) and put the dishes in the dishwasher, put 'regular' mugs right back into the same box and put the box back downstairs :)
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Christmas is Coming! But First: Company and Carpet :)
Confused by that title? :D Let me explain.
First of all 'Christmas is coming' - not very difficult to comprehend. I know many of you are groaning: 'But it was just Halloween, gimme some time!' Please don't get upset, I agree with you! It drives me crazy that there's Christmas stuff in all the stores already and personally, I refuse to decorate one iota before December 1st.
But! NOW is the time to plan and prepare! Flylady's Holiday Cruising Missions are in full swing, and the organizing sites are bursting with time-saving ideas. What's a Holiday Cruising Mission? Well, simplest way to put it is Flylady sends out one mission per weekday, starting mid-October, and she helps us to baby-step our way through preparing for Christmas. There's a fun little game behind it where you're pretending you're going on a cruise December 1st-21st and you HAVE to get everything done ahead of time. It's a great system, keeping you on track, one baby-step at a time.
While I'm not exactly following the Cruising Missions, I am baby-stepping my way through Christmas.
My sister and I do our baking together, and we've already planned what we're making, who's bringing which ingredients and supplies, and when we're making each recipe. This is our third year doing it, so we have it down to a science, I have a simple spreadsheet with recipe names across the top and ingredients down the side and the amounts of each ingredient per recipe in the middle with columns on the end for totals and initials (who's bringing what). We mostly make our same traditional goodies each year, so all I had to do this year was pull up last year's spreadsheet, do a 'save as' and make some minor tweaks. We're making 7 recipes, plus icing over 3 days together and we already did one day. We have fun and get it done, and THAT'S the Flylady way :D
I pulled out my Holiday Control Journal (a free printable from Flylady.net) and I have all my little notes from the last few years. I don't use it quite how Flylady set it up, but I do have everything together. I added a non-Christmas section, and that's where I have my sheet of paper that lists how many kids we had for Halloween each year, so I have a good idea of how much candy to pick up. I also have my Thanksgiving meal planners in there - one page checklists of what order to make each dish, how far ahead... Sound like a lot of work? Saving Dinner just posted theirs and you know it's gonna be fool-proof :D
So I'm starting to THINK about Christmas now, plan a bit here and there, I've picked up a few things already. I got all the stocking stuffers already - a friend of mine had a craft sale with all kinds of pretty and useful and yummy things :D A word of caution: If you're picking up gifts ahead of time and hiding them, be sure to either note where they are (put a reminder in your phone's calendar to ding at you on, say, December 12th, and then you can wrap the gifts and put them under the tree) or keep them all in the same place. I have a spot in my house that I usually hide DH's gifts, and he hasn't found it yet, not that he's been looking. So I know where things are, because they wouldn't be anywhere else :)
ANYWAYS, what was the rest of the title? Oh yes! 'Company and Carpet' right.
So I'm having overnight guests on Saturday. They said they'd get here around 8pm and they're visiting someone else on Sunday before they go home, so I'm figuring a snack Saturday night plus breakfast Sunday morning. I'm keeping it simple, but fancy at the same time. Old bananas were reduced drastically a while back and they called to me, so I brought them home and made two loaves of banana bread. We ate one, but I froze the other, so there's my Saturday night snack :D
Also, I wanted to do something fun for breakfast. I have a cookbook that was a fundraiser for the hospital I bought at a concert and recently I've been trying some of the recipes. And guess what?? The chocolate crepes recipe (which is sooo good - oh yeah, I'm making that today, too for post-night shift 'breakfast' - see my post on shifting) it says to make the batter 1-24 hours ahead of time! (I actually didn't notice that the first time I made it, and didn't care the second time... whatever) So I can make the batter and the whipped cream to go with it (I do Dream Whip: packet + milk + vanilla = DONE) sometime on Saturday before they arrive and then breakfast will be a snap!
Really, I've let the housework slide a bit too much, so having company coming is a great deadline to get myself into gear. And THEN once I've tidied everything up, it's so simple to maintain and I can have a stress free Christmas!
Carpet: My last post was all about how I'd finished painting DH's office. Well, the carpet guy is coming on Friday, so I need to tear the old carpet out (it's cheaper if I do it, once I get into it, I'll decide if it's worth the $35 savings :D it's probably easier than you think). So not only do I have to prepare for company, I have to make space for the carpet guy. But that ALSO means that we can start setting up DH's office :D and then my 'Joyous Snowball' will start rolling down the hill!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
First of all 'Christmas is coming' - not very difficult to comprehend. I know many of you are groaning: 'But it was just Halloween, gimme some time!' Please don't get upset, I agree with you! It drives me crazy that there's Christmas stuff in all the stores already and personally, I refuse to decorate one iota before December 1st.
But! NOW is the time to plan and prepare! Flylady's Holiday Cruising Missions are in full swing, and the organizing sites are bursting with time-saving ideas. What's a Holiday Cruising Mission? Well, simplest way to put it is Flylady sends out one mission per weekday, starting mid-October, and she helps us to baby-step our way through preparing for Christmas. There's a fun little game behind it where you're pretending you're going on a cruise December 1st-21st and you HAVE to get everything done ahead of time. It's a great system, keeping you on track, one baby-step at a time.
While I'm not exactly following the Cruising Missions, I am baby-stepping my way through Christmas.
My sister and I do our baking together, and we've already planned what we're making, who's bringing which ingredients and supplies, and when we're making each recipe. This is our third year doing it, so we have it down to a science, I have a simple spreadsheet with recipe names across the top and ingredients down the side and the amounts of each ingredient per recipe in the middle with columns on the end for totals and initials (who's bringing what). We mostly make our same traditional goodies each year, so all I had to do this year was pull up last year's spreadsheet, do a 'save as' and make some minor tweaks. We're making 7 recipes, plus icing over 3 days together and we already did one day. We have fun and get it done, and THAT'S the Flylady way :D
I pulled out my Holiday Control Journal (a free printable from Flylady.net) and I have all my little notes from the last few years. I don't use it quite how Flylady set it up, but I do have everything together. I added a non-Christmas section, and that's where I have my sheet of paper that lists how many kids we had for Halloween each year, so I have a good idea of how much candy to pick up. I also have my Thanksgiving meal planners in there - one page checklists of what order to make each dish, how far ahead... Sound like a lot of work? Saving Dinner just posted theirs and you know it's gonna be fool-proof :D
So I'm starting to THINK about Christmas now, plan a bit here and there, I've picked up a few things already. I got all the stocking stuffers already - a friend of mine had a craft sale with all kinds of pretty and useful and yummy things :D A word of caution: If you're picking up gifts ahead of time and hiding them, be sure to either note where they are (put a reminder in your phone's calendar to ding at you on, say, December 12th, and then you can wrap the gifts and put them under the tree) or keep them all in the same place. I have a spot in my house that I usually hide DH's gifts, and he hasn't found it yet, not that he's been looking. So I know where things are, because they wouldn't be anywhere else :)
ANYWAYS, what was the rest of the title? Oh yes! 'Company and Carpet' right.
So I'm having overnight guests on Saturday. They said they'd get here around 8pm and they're visiting someone else on Sunday before they go home, so I'm figuring a snack Saturday night plus breakfast Sunday morning. I'm keeping it simple, but fancy at the same time. Old bananas were reduced drastically a while back and they called to me, so I brought them home and made two loaves of banana bread. We ate one, but I froze the other, so there's my Saturday night snack :D
Also, I wanted to do something fun for breakfast. I have a cookbook that was a fundraiser for the hospital I bought at a concert and recently I've been trying some of the recipes. And guess what?? The chocolate crepes recipe (which is sooo good - oh yeah, I'm making that today, too for post-night shift 'breakfast' - see my post on shifting) it says to make the batter 1-24 hours ahead of time! (I actually didn't notice that the first time I made it, and didn't care the second time... whatever) So I can make the batter and the whipped cream to go with it (I do Dream Whip: packet + milk + vanilla = DONE) sometime on Saturday before they arrive and then breakfast will be a snap!
Really, I've let the housework slide a bit too much, so having company coming is a great deadline to get myself into gear. And THEN once I've tidied everything up, it's so simple to maintain and I can have a stress free Christmas!
Carpet: My last post was all about how I'd finished painting DH's office. Well, the carpet guy is coming on Friday, so I need to tear the old carpet out (it's cheaper if I do it, once I get into it, I'll decide if it's worth the $35 savings :D it's probably easier than you think). So not only do I have to prepare for company, I have to make space for the carpet guy. But that ALSO means that we can start setting up DH's office :D and then my 'Joyous Snowball' will start rolling down the hill!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Monday, October 24, 2011
A Joyous Snowball
Finally, Finally FINally DONE!! DH's office is 100% painted!! YAY!!! (Can you see me happy-dancing??)
That took WAY longer than I thought, mostly because it's RED and required 80 million coats! Whatever. It's done and it looks great!
When we're done this set of nights, I'll call 'Uncle Jimmy' and make an appointment to get the carpet installed. Still need to get DH to have a 'boy party' so they can haul the carpet from my parents' house to here... that's in the works. Almost happened on Thursday, but it was too rainy :( (My dad had bought this carpet for their bedroom and, of course, my Mom then decided she wanted hardwood instead... although I think she's just procrastinating clearing all the junk in their room, it's Hoarders-worthy in there).
After the carpet's in, I can install most of the baseboard - provided I pick up finishing nails... (I repainted the old trim, but a few small pieces broke...) And Dad said he'd be available in November for helping with the rest of the trim (that needs to be cut). But after I install *most* of the trim, we can put together DH's desk and chair, maybe the other three bookshelves that have been sitting in the way in the entryway...
Then DH can move into his office, which will clear out the spare bedroom downstairs, and the closet down there, plus there are two closets in the office (one is HUGE) and then I'll be able to get stuff out of my dressing room (luggage, extra pillows...) down into the spare bedroom, and THEN I can set up my dressing room nice-nice for scrapbooking and sewing!
And THEN I can spend some extra time from night shifts doing fun, crafty things :D
And in case you were wondering, yes, we DO have a ridiculous amount of space :) We're two people in a large bungalo with a finished basement.... 5 bedrooms altogether ;) It will be really nice to have use of the closets in DH's office, we have a lot of space, but not that much storage space, very little furniture... we're baby-stepping that :D
Can you tell I'm excited? :D
One thing at a time. This will be a big oppourtunity to declutter, especially for DH, but I'll try not to be too pushy :)
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
That took WAY longer than I thought, mostly because it's RED and required 80 million coats! Whatever. It's done and it looks great!
When we're done this set of nights, I'll call 'Uncle Jimmy' and make an appointment to get the carpet installed. Still need to get DH to have a 'boy party' so they can haul the carpet from my parents' house to here... that's in the works. Almost happened on Thursday, but it was too rainy :( (My dad had bought this carpet for their bedroom and, of course, my Mom then decided she wanted hardwood instead... although I think she's just procrastinating clearing all the junk in their room, it's Hoarders-worthy in there).
After the carpet's in, I can install most of the baseboard - provided I pick up finishing nails... (I repainted the old trim, but a few small pieces broke...) And Dad said he'd be available in November for helping with the rest of the trim (that needs to be cut). But after I install *most* of the trim, we can put together DH's desk and chair, maybe the other three bookshelves that have been sitting in the way in the entryway...
Then DH can move into his office, which will clear out the spare bedroom downstairs, and the closet down there, plus there are two closets in the office (one is HUGE) and then I'll be able to get stuff out of my dressing room (luggage, extra pillows...) down into the spare bedroom, and THEN I can set up my dressing room nice-nice for scrapbooking and sewing!
And THEN I can spend some extra time from night shifts doing fun, crafty things :D
And in case you were wondering, yes, we DO have a ridiculous amount of space :) We're two people in a large bungalo with a finished basement.... 5 bedrooms altogether ;) It will be really nice to have use of the closets in DH's office, we have a lot of space, but not that much storage space, very little furniture... we're baby-stepping that :D
Can you tell I'm excited? :D
One thing at a time. This will be a big oppourtunity to declutter, especially for DH, but I'll try not to be too pushy :)
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Workin' The Night Shift!
As I've mentioned before, DH works shift work and I change with him. We flip between days and nights (6:30-6:30, either way) with days off in between. It's challenging at times, but not too bad in our situation. (Young, without kids.)
A while back I received an email asking how I deal with the changes. And I'm finally getting around to answering her. :S
To start with, days are 'regular days' and we keep the 'normal' schedule and eating pattern. It's just a LONG day with a 12 hour shift. Nights is where we get tricksy. Instead of having breakfast-lunch-dinner like most people, when we're on nights we do breakfast-dinner-breakfast. Yep! Two breakfasts. The main reason for that is when DH gets home around 7am, we eat and go straight to bed, so we need something lighter.
Also, when we're on nights, DH is typically one dinner behind me. All that means is that if I'm cooking chicken on Monday, he's eating it on Tuesday. So I'm cooking dinner for me and putting some straight into a glass container for him to take to work. (Not crazy about microwaves, but at least I nixed the plastic.)
Being on shift has it's advantages. Living in Ontario, electricity is cheaper at night and on weekends (read: they jacked up the prices for when you actually WANT to use your stuff). So while I don't avoid using my appliances during the day, night shift and weekend shifts are when I do the laundry marathons and get all caught up so I can go back to the FLYlady way of one load a day.
Also, I love the summer heat, but DH... not so much (he likes warm, but not HOT). We don't have air conditioning, but I'm able to have the windows open from 2-6am and cool the house down (when I think of it, of course). I can only do an evening thing, but tend not to go out too much (I do LOVE that my grocery store is open until 10pm, so I can still do groceries on night shift, I just have to do it first after DH goes to work), so I have to do 'everything' on days so that's when I schedule time with my sister and friends and maybe do a little shopping.... But not every 'day'. :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
A while back I received an email asking how I deal with the changes. And I'm finally getting around to answering her. :S
To start with, days are 'regular days' and we keep the 'normal' schedule and eating pattern. It's just a LONG day with a 12 hour shift. Nights is where we get tricksy. Instead of having breakfast-lunch-dinner like most people, when we're on nights we do breakfast-dinner-breakfast. Yep! Two breakfasts. The main reason for that is when DH gets home around 7am, we eat and go straight to bed, so we need something lighter.
Also, when we're on nights, DH is typically one dinner behind me. All that means is that if I'm cooking chicken on Monday, he's eating it on Tuesday. So I'm cooking dinner for me and putting some straight into a glass container for him to take to work. (Not crazy about microwaves, but at least I nixed the plastic.)
Being on shift has it's advantages. Living in Ontario, electricity is cheaper at night and on weekends (read: they jacked up the prices for when you actually WANT to use your stuff). So while I don't avoid using my appliances during the day, night shift and weekend shifts are when I do the laundry marathons and get all caught up so I can go back to the FLYlady way of one load a day.
Also, I love the summer heat, but DH... not so much (he likes warm, but not HOT). We don't have air conditioning, but I'm able to have the windows open from 2-6am and cool the house down (when I think of it, of course). I can only do an evening thing, but tend not to go out too much (I do LOVE that my grocery store is open until 10pm, so I can still do groceries on night shift, I just have to do it first after DH goes to work), so I have to do 'everything' on days so that's when I schedule time with my sister and friends and maybe do a little shopping.... But not every 'day'. :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
I am NORMAL!!
I am NORMAL!!!! Yesterday, when I went on the wii my weight was in the normal BMI range!! 24.91! YAY!!
To give you perspecitive. Christmas 2009 when we got the wii, my BMI was at the very bottom of obese (30.15, the line is at 30) then I was in the top part of overweight for a while. (Came down a bit playing the games).
In January, when I started the Losing It With Leanne Challenge... Say you divide the overweight range into thirds, I was on the line for the top third (one third down from obese, two thirds up from normal). I attribute a lot of that to what I've learned about healthy foods from Saving Dinner. Losing It with Leanne brought me WAY down, to near the bottom of the overweight range and I hit Normal yesterday! :) I went up a bit today (0.2kg) but I'm still normal.
And the best part is, knowing what I've learned (about healthy food from Saving Dinner in general and about portion sizes and that I won't be hungry eating normal portions that I learned while doing Losing It With Leanne), I know I'm not going to go back up.
I'm not really trying to lose much more. Now I've bought a subscription to Missus Smarty Pants and am gonna dress this body nice! :)
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
To give you perspecitive. Christmas 2009 when we got the wii, my BMI was at the very bottom of obese (30.15, the line is at 30) then I was in the top part of overweight for a while. (Came down a bit playing the games).
In January, when I started the Losing It With Leanne Challenge... Say you divide the overweight range into thirds, I was on the line for the top third (one third down from obese, two thirds up from normal). I attribute a lot of that to what I've learned about healthy foods from Saving Dinner. Losing It with Leanne brought me WAY down, to near the bottom of the overweight range and I hit Normal yesterday! :) I went up a bit today (0.2kg) but I'm still normal.
And the best part is, knowing what I've learned (about healthy food from Saving Dinner in general and about portion sizes and that I won't be hungry eating normal portions that I learned while doing Losing It With Leanne), I know I'm not going to go back up.
I'm not really trying to lose much more. Now I've bought a subscription to Missus Smarty Pants and am gonna dress this body nice! :)
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Monday, February 28, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 46 - Mission Accomplished! (& Weigh in)
February 26, 2011
I DID it! YAY!!!! :D
I followed the Losing It With Leanne Plan for 46 days and I had a blast doing it! I didn't get around to the week 4 Plateau Buster, but I didn't really need it either. And the best thing is, that committing to this plan also got me moving more!
Weigh In:
Overall (since I started in January) I lost 4.45 kg (9.79 pounds) 2 1/4" off my waist, 1 1/2" off my hips, 2 3/4" off my thighs, and my BMI is now at 25.62 (started at 27.18).
I feel great. I more than beat my first goal by Feb 8th and I am almost at my second weight goal!
I am going to try and transition to three meals a day (instead of 3 meals plus 3 pre-meals). And I have a whole bunch of recipes I want to try now that I'm allowed.... BUT! I'm taking what I learned and running with it. I KNOW now that I don't need to eat a lot to be satisfied. I honestly would be perfectly happy if I never have that "I'm stuffed" feeling you get after, say, a turkey dinner, ever again!
I'm pretty happy with where I am now. I'm going to be making good choices, and I'm totally over fake foods... McDonalds, Kraft Dinner, Microwaveable meals from the freezer section.... Yeah, that's NOT FOOD!! I LOVE shopping 98% around the outside U of my grocery store. And while I'm probably going back to 2 pieces of bread on my sandwiches, I won't be having that everyday.
Thank you all for your well wishes and support. I've read your comments both here and on Facebook.
I just want to say one more time, this is a great plan, the uses REAL food, and you won't be hungry or get bored with it. It's fabulous..... I need to make more LWL bars! They are great!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
I DID it! YAY!!!! :D
I followed the Losing It With Leanne Plan for 46 days and I had a blast doing it! I didn't get around to the week 4 Plateau Buster, but I didn't really need it either. And the best thing is, that committing to this plan also got me moving more!
Weigh In:
Overall (since I started in January) I lost 4.45 kg (9.79 pounds) 2 1/4" off my waist, 1 1/2" off my hips, 2 3/4" off my thighs, and my BMI is now at 25.62 (started at 27.18).
I feel great. I more than beat my first goal by Feb 8th and I am almost at my second weight goal!
I am going to try and transition to three meals a day (instead of 3 meals plus 3 pre-meals). And I have a whole bunch of recipes I want to try now that I'm allowed.... BUT! I'm taking what I learned and running with it. I KNOW now that I don't need to eat a lot to be satisfied. I honestly would be perfectly happy if I never have that "I'm stuffed" feeling you get after, say, a turkey dinner, ever again!
I'm pretty happy with where I am now. I'm going to be making good choices, and I'm totally over fake foods... McDonalds, Kraft Dinner, Microwaveable meals from the freezer section.... Yeah, that's NOT FOOD!! I LOVE shopping 98% around the outside U of my grocery store. And while I'm probably going back to 2 pieces of bread on my sandwiches, I won't be having that everyday.
Thank you all for your well wishes and support. I've read your comments both here and on Facebook.
I just want to say one more time, this is a great plan, the uses REAL food, and you won't be hungry or get bored with it. It's fabulous..... I need to make more LWL bars! They are great!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 35 - Having FUN!!
February 15, 2011
Hey everyone!
I am having so much fun Losing It With Leanne! Week 3 is fabulous! Seriously, the LWL fiber bars are half a step down from cake, so yummy and healthy for you! I know it's winter, but I figured out a way around the cold smoothie..... make it early! Food can sit out for up to 2 hours before you have to worry about bacteria growth, so I can just make my breakfast smoothie while I'm having my pre-breakfast Kashi and have the smoothie later! Also, when I'm having part of the smoothie as a snack, I've been pouring the smoothie into 3 small glasses, having one, and sticking two in the fridge with a bit of plastic wrap over the top. Then I have some ready for next time; it separates a bit, but I just stir it up and I'm good to go.
I made the Buffalo chicken and the Mexican chicken from last week's Menu-Mailer and I'm going to make a variation of the Pork Marsala (I have pork broth that I made, so I'm going to sub that for the wine and have 'Pork Valsala' lol!) and the French Pepper Steak this week.
DH took me out for Valentines tonight (he had to work last night) I got all dolled up and I wore my red dress that I've never worn before. I've had it for a few years, and it was such a good deal (I think it was a $50 dress for $15) but it's a little spandexy and it shows off the belly, so I couldn't wear it for a long time. At the time I bought it I thought I'd work to get into it, so I picked it up.... good thing I don't do that often. But it was SOOOO nice to be able to wear it and feel pretty in it. :D I had the Angus Beef Skewar stir-fry. It was veggies and meat and white rice. I asked for no rice and double veggies. And it was a very good choice. There was a sauce on the veggies, but not a ton, so I wasn't worried about what was in it, it was delicious and the meat was a good portion size this time. (Last time I went out I ordered the meatloaf and it was 3 meal's worth....) Again, I was able to eat out, not think too hard, and not feel deprived.
I've been using my pedometer. I still have a ways to go depending on what I'm doing that day I've been doing 4300-8000 steps. My goal is to get up to 10 000 steps a day. My next trick is going to be to turn standing tasks into walking on the spot tasks. I tried bopping around (to music) and sidestepping while washing dishes, that works pretty well.
I've been on the wii most days. On even days I've been doing the my routine and the wii routines focusing on my core muscles, but doing a little bit with all my muscles. On odd days I've been warming up with the wii legs and hips routine and then bursting 30 seconds hard running, 1 minutes jogging or walking back and forth on the 10 minute free run and then a cool down with various stuff. Once I get going, I might use the 20 minute free run and do the on-and-off bursting for about 15 minutes and include the cool down in the last 5 minutes. The nice thing about the free run game is that you can change the channel and watch something.
I think I'm almost done my Challenge. But I'm going to continue with what I have learned. My next post will be my final weigh in for the challenge. I'm doing great and loving it! Thank you, Leanne!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Hey everyone!
I am having so much fun Losing It With Leanne! Week 3 is fabulous! Seriously, the LWL fiber bars are half a step down from cake, so yummy and healthy for you! I know it's winter, but I figured out a way around the cold smoothie..... make it early! Food can sit out for up to 2 hours before you have to worry about bacteria growth, so I can just make my breakfast smoothie while I'm having my pre-breakfast Kashi and have the smoothie later! Also, when I'm having part of the smoothie as a snack, I've been pouring the smoothie into 3 small glasses, having one, and sticking two in the fridge with a bit of plastic wrap over the top. Then I have some ready for next time; it separates a bit, but I just stir it up and I'm good to go.
I made the Buffalo chicken and the Mexican chicken from last week's Menu-Mailer and I'm going to make a variation of the Pork Marsala (I have pork broth that I made, so I'm going to sub that for the wine and have 'Pork Valsala' lol!) and the French Pepper Steak this week.
DH took me out for Valentines tonight (he had to work last night) I got all dolled up and I wore my red dress that I've never worn before. I've had it for a few years, and it was such a good deal (I think it was a $50 dress for $15) but it's a little spandexy and it shows off the belly, so I couldn't wear it for a long time. At the time I bought it I thought I'd work to get into it, so I picked it up.... good thing I don't do that often. But it was SOOOO nice to be able to wear it and feel pretty in it. :D I had the Angus Beef Skewar stir-fry. It was veggies and meat and white rice. I asked for no rice and double veggies. And it was a very good choice. There was a sauce on the veggies, but not a ton, so I wasn't worried about what was in it, it was delicious and the meat was a good portion size this time. (Last time I went out I ordered the meatloaf and it was 3 meal's worth....) Again, I was able to eat out, not think too hard, and not feel deprived.
I've been using my pedometer. I still have a ways to go depending on what I'm doing that day I've been doing 4300-8000 steps. My goal is to get up to 10 000 steps a day. My next trick is going to be to turn standing tasks into walking on the spot tasks. I tried bopping around (to music) and sidestepping while washing dishes, that works pretty well.
I've been on the wii most days. On even days I've been doing the my routine and the wii routines focusing on my core muscles, but doing a little bit with all my muscles. On odd days I've been warming up with the wii legs and hips routine and then bursting 30 seconds hard running, 1 minutes jogging or walking back and forth on the 10 minute free run and then a cool down with various stuff. Once I get going, I might use the 20 minute free run and do the on-and-off bursting for about 15 minutes and include the cool down in the last 5 minutes. The nice thing about the free run game is that you can change the channel and watch something.
I think I'm almost done my Challenge. But I'm going to continue with what I have learned. My next post will be my final weigh in for the challenge. I'm doing great and loving it! Thank you, Leanne!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 28 - I did it!! Weigh in
February 8, 2011
Hello all! Great news! I DID it! I not only met, my weight loss goal for the Losing It With Leanne challenge, I PASSED my goal!!! Go me!
My goal was to lose 3 kg (6.6 pounds) in 4 weeks and I've lost 3.55kg (7.81 pounds)!! YAY! :D I also did the full measuring so: I lost about 1 inch in my bust/chest measurements - which is probably more from the back and sides... I lost 7/8 of an inch on my waist, 1 inch on my thighs, 5/8 of an inch on my neck, and 1/2 inch on my upper arm. My BMI is down from the original 27.18 to 25.94 (difference of 1.24).
I never went totally 'off plan' but I wasn't exactly on plan for the whole 4 weeks either. I mostly stuck to the rules of week 1 with week 1 and 2's soup and I did SOME more soup with week 2, but not as much as I was supposed to (I was rationing it a bit because I didn't have any more lentils and I thought I would run out... should have just ran to the store).
I did well when I ate out, I made the best choices I could. When I went to my sister's I packed the whole LWL lunch and just heated up my soup there. (She would have made me tuna, but I didn't think ahead enough to ask if she had some...) When I went to a potluck dinner party I made sure what I brought was fairly 'safe' for me to have and I told myself that I could have a little bit of whatever, but just a little. I had ONE cube of pumpernickel with a reasonable amount of spinach dip on it for example, instead of several pieces of pumpernickel with as much dip as I could scoop up :D
I'm not quite done yet. I'm going to continue with week 3 and then back down slightly into more 'sustaining' weight than 'losing weight'. I talked about that last time.
I bought a pedometer, I think it will be good for me. My job is at the computer so I sit a LOT and even with getting on the wii most days, I still need to be moving more overall to make up for all my 'stationary time'. Tomorrow I'm going to wear it all day and see where I'm at, and then I'm going to make an effort to increase my steps to work my way up to averaging 10 000 steps a day. I've been fiddling with it tonight and it's pretty fun. It measures distance, steps, and calories burned, plus it has a clock AND it flips up so I can look at it without bending over funny or taking it off, and when you flip it up, the display flips over, so it's right-side up for the way you're looking at it. Not bad for $20.00 :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Hello all! Great news! I DID it! I not only met, my weight loss goal for the Losing It With Leanne challenge, I PASSED my goal!!! Go me!
My goal was to lose 3 kg (6.6 pounds) in 4 weeks and I've lost 3.55kg (7.81 pounds)!! YAY! :D I also did the full measuring so: I lost about 1 inch in my bust/chest measurements - which is probably more from the back and sides... I lost 7/8 of an inch on my waist, 1 inch on my thighs, 5/8 of an inch on my neck, and 1/2 inch on my upper arm. My BMI is down from the original 27.18 to 25.94 (difference of 1.24).
I never went totally 'off plan' but I wasn't exactly on plan for the whole 4 weeks either. I mostly stuck to the rules of week 1 with week 1 and 2's soup and I did SOME more soup with week 2, but not as much as I was supposed to (I was rationing it a bit because I didn't have any more lentils and I thought I would run out... should have just ran to the store).
I did well when I ate out, I made the best choices I could. When I went to my sister's I packed the whole LWL lunch and just heated up my soup there. (She would have made me tuna, but I didn't think ahead enough to ask if she had some...) When I went to a potluck dinner party I made sure what I brought was fairly 'safe' for me to have and I told myself that I could have a little bit of whatever, but just a little. I had ONE cube of pumpernickel with a reasonable amount of spinach dip on it for example, instead of several pieces of pumpernickel with as much dip as I could scoop up :D
I'm not quite done yet. I'm going to continue with week 3 and then back down slightly into more 'sustaining' weight than 'losing weight'. I talked about that last time.
I bought a pedometer, I think it will be good for me. My job is at the computer so I sit a LOT and even with getting on the wii most days, I still need to be moving more overall to make up for all my 'stationary time'. Tomorrow I'm going to wear it all day and see where I'm at, and then I'm going to make an effort to increase my steps to work my way up to averaging 10 000 steps a day. I've been fiddling with it tonight and it's pretty fun. It measures distance, steps, and calories burned, plus it has a clock AND it flips up so I can look at it without bending over funny or taking it off, and when you flip it up, the display flips over, so it's right-side up for the way you're looking at it. Not bad for $20.00 :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 27 - Pants
Have I mentioned I'm loving Losing It With Leanne? Because I really am. I'm doing well, I'm only hungry when I get too 'busy' to eat on time, and I'm learning so much!
Before I started this plan I was eating way too much. Most suppers I was having 1.5-2.5 servings! But now, I have learned so much about portion sizes and, most importantly, I have learned that I will not go hungry eating 'properly portioned' meals! That was an underlying fear in the back of my mind.
The best thing about Losing it With Leanne is that it teaches you a great way to eat AND cook for yourself with real food. This is a sustainable way to live! I think when I'm done, I'll probably go back to three meals a day with the random snack, and breakfast and lunch will be a LITTLE bigger, but not that much. I'll probably keep Kashi on hand for a guilt-free snack when I get hungry between meals. And I'll be cooking Saving Dinner recipes at least 80% of the time. I'm going to KEEP what I learned about portions and run with it!
So after all this, I bet you're wondering where the pants title came from - I'm getting there! :D The last time I bought pants was mid-July?? And I bought size 15 the time before was size 16 well, this week I broke out a pair of TWELVES my sister gave me, and I don't feel intimidated at all by the pair of elevens my friend has offered me :D
Had a dinner party with friends on Friday and I did pretty well. I did my best to bring safe foods for me. Not 'on-plan' but I definitely ate way less than I would have had before. I'm starting to switch my mentality from "look at what I can't have" to: "I can't believe people eat all this!" (That's mostly for amount of food, mind you.)
Thank you, Leanne! You teach me so much!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Before I started this plan I was eating way too much. Most suppers I was having 1.5-2.5 servings! But now, I have learned so much about portion sizes and, most importantly, I have learned that I will not go hungry eating 'properly portioned' meals! That was an underlying fear in the back of my mind.
The best thing about Losing it With Leanne is that it teaches you a great way to eat AND cook for yourself with real food. This is a sustainable way to live! I think when I'm done, I'll probably go back to three meals a day with the random snack, and breakfast and lunch will be a LITTLE bigger, but not that much. I'll probably keep Kashi on hand for a guilt-free snack when I get hungry between meals. And I'll be cooking Saving Dinner recipes at least 80% of the time. I'm going to KEEP what I learned about portions and run with it!
So after all this, I bet you're wondering where the pants title came from - I'm getting there! :D The last time I bought pants was mid-July?? And I bought size 15 the time before was size 16 well, this week I broke out a pair of TWELVES my sister gave me, and I don't feel intimidated at all by the pair of elevens my friend has offered me :D
Had a dinner party with friends on Friday and I did pretty well. I did my best to bring safe foods for me. Not 'on-plan' but I definitely ate way less than I would have had before. I'm starting to switch my mentality from "look at what I can't have" to: "I can't believe people eat all this!" (That's mostly for amount of food, mind you.)
Thank you, Leanne! You teach me so much!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 21 - Weigh in, Good Progress
February 1, 2011
I'm really having fun doing the Losing It With Leanne program! The food is great and varied, I'm not hungry, I'm getting good nutrients in, I'm moving, and I'm losing weight! But not just losing weight, I'm getting healthier and making good choices.
I've been getting busier and busier all the time, so I haven't posted much, and honestly, I have missed a few workouts, but! I'm not giving up and I'm doing well!
I got on the wii and I am making progress. My BMI is down to 26.43 (from original 27.18) and my weight is down 2.1kg total (4.62 pounds). I'm three weeks in and I'm approaching my goal of losing 3 kg (6.6 pounds) very well.
On the wii today, I set up the 'my routine' to use the yoga and strength training exercises that I do the most. I think there are 7 moves and it's about 11 minutes. This is going to be my warm up, and then I'll go on to other things. This week I'm going to try to do some of JJ Virgin's "bursting" a few times. We'll see how that goes :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
I'm really having fun doing the Losing It With Leanne program! The food is great and varied, I'm not hungry, I'm getting good nutrients in, I'm moving, and I'm losing weight! But not just losing weight, I'm getting healthier and making good choices.
I've been getting busier and busier all the time, so I haven't posted much, and honestly, I have missed a few workouts, but! I'm not giving up and I'm doing well!
I got on the wii and I am making progress. My BMI is down to 26.43 (from original 27.18) and my weight is down 2.1kg total (4.62 pounds). I'm three weeks in and I'm approaching my goal of losing 3 kg (6.6 pounds) very well.
On the wii today, I set up the 'my routine' to use the yoga and strength training exercises that I do the most. I think there are 7 moves and it's about 11 minutes. This is going to be my warm up, and then I'll go on to other things. This week I'm going to try to do some of JJ Virgin's "bursting" a few times. We'll see how that goes :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 14 - Still here!
January 25, 2011
Sorry about that! I am still here, really! :D You know how it is... life gets busy and all of a sudden you're way behind in your blog posts.
I'm still on the plan and having fun. I'm down about 4 pounds which is good for me. Slow and Steady, I like it! I kinda-sorta am on Losing It With Leanne Volume 2, but really it's a combination of weeks 1 and 2. I shared my lentil soup with DH and therefore finished it faster (plus I only made a half-batch because my crock cooker is little) so I'm still mostly snacking on the Kashi. I've been keeping my crock cooker busy with Dinner dishes, plus I've been busy and haven't made more soup yet, but I will make more tomorrow. It was pretty good, but I'm gonna try sauteing the onion and garlic before I start and it should be even better!
I've also been trying a new thing with the FLYlady motto Go for seven in 2011! There's a group of us FLYbabies on Facebook chatting and we came up with the idea of daily seven lists. Seven things that you want to do everyday - it's a spin on the FLYlady routines, as we aren't really good at that yet. My daily seven list is: Get dressed to shoes, Swish n Swipe, Devotions, One Load of Laundry (start to finish), Drink my water, Dishes, and Bless my Heart. If I get all seven done in one day I get a point, when I get seven points I give myself a small reward (I chose taking the time to scrapbook one layout) and when I get to 70 points I get $7 extra spending money for fun stuff. The points system is a little more complicated than that (I have other ways to earn points, too) so 70 isn't really that huge of a number for me. I've done six of seven today, and I'm off to do my seventh....right....now! :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Sorry about that! I am still here, really! :D You know how it is... life gets busy and all of a sudden you're way behind in your blog posts.
I'm still on the plan and having fun. I'm down about 4 pounds which is good for me. Slow and Steady, I like it! I kinda-sorta am on Losing It With Leanne Volume 2, but really it's a combination of weeks 1 and 2. I shared my lentil soup with DH and therefore finished it faster (plus I only made a half-batch because my crock cooker is little) so I'm still mostly snacking on the Kashi. I've been keeping my crock cooker busy with Dinner dishes, plus I've been busy and haven't made more soup yet, but I will make more tomorrow. It was pretty good, but I'm gonna try sauteing the onion and garlic before I start and it should be even better!
I've also been trying a new thing with the FLYlady motto Go for seven in 2011! There's a group of us FLYbabies on Facebook chatting and we came up with the idea of daily seven lists. Seven things that you want to do everyday - it's a spin on the FLYlady routines, as we aren't really good at that yet. My daily seven list is: Get dressed to shoes, Swish n Swipe, Devotions, One Load of Laundry (start to finish), Drink my water, Dishes, and Bless my Heart. If I get all seven done in one day I get a point, when I get seven points I give myself a small reward (I chose taking the time to scrapbook one layout) and when I get to 70 points I get $7 extra spending money for fun stuff. The points system is a little more complicated than that (I have other ways to earn points, too) so 70 isn't really that huge of a number for me. I've done six of seven today, and I'm off to do my seventh....right....now! :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 10 - Baking Cookies?!?!
January 21, 2011
I was out at my sister's all day, today. I packed some Kashi, my soup, and a tuna sandwich, so I had my mid-morning snack and lunch covered, but I should have packed two Kashi so I'd have one for my mid-afternoon snack - oops.
I'm not sure if you remember, but I've been a double-double girl for-ever, and today when I bought coffee I got just milk in mine, not a huge delight, but I survived.
It was a PA day, so my niece was home from school and she wanted to bake. (Ahh!!! ) We baked cookies and I used pretty good self-control. I only had a tiny piece of dough (way less than normal) and one cookie, and they are small cookies. Plus I didn't bring any home. I think that is a major victory, not a small failure. Seriously. On a 'normal day' I would have been sneaking bits of dough here and there the whole time plus I would have had 4-5 of the cookies there (they are small cookies, about 1 Tbsp of dough each...) and then maybe taken a bunch home for me and DH for the week. I think I did well.
No wii today, but keeping my nephew out of stuff is a full-time job ;)
Dinner was leftover meatloaf with steamed mixed veggies (lots for me) and DH had my restaurant garlic bread also. Have I mentioned that I'm loving making dinner for four the first night and then not making anything the next night? This should be my new plan!!
Oh! And I got all four bottles of water in! :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
I was out at my sister's all day, today. I packed some Kashi, my soup, and a tuna sandwich, so I had my mid-morning snack and lunch covered, but I should have packed two Kashi so I'd have one for my mid-afternoon snack - oops.
I'm not sure if you remember, but I've been a double-double girl for-ever, and today when I bought coffee I got just milk in mine, not a huge delight, but I survived.
It was a PA day, so my niece was home from school and she wanted to bake. (Ahh!!! ) We baked cookies and I used pretty good self-control. I only had a tiny piece of dough (way less than normal) and one cookie, and they are small cookies. Plus I didn't bring any home. I think that is a major victory, not a small failure. Seriously. On a 'normal day' I would have been sneaking bits of dough here and there the whole time plus I would have had 4-5 of the cookies there (they are small cookies, about 1 Tbsp of dough each...) and then maybe taken a bunch home for me and DH for the week. I think I did well.
No wii today, but keeping my nephew out of stuff is a full-time job ;)
Dinner was leftover meatloaf with steamed mixed veggies (lots for me) and DH had my restaurant garlic bread also. Have I mentioned that I'm loving making dinner for four the first night and then not making anything the next night? This should be my new plan!!
Oh! And I got all four bottles of water in! :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 9
January 20, 2011
Man, flipping your sleep schedule around not only messes with your sleep, but with your eating, too! I followed the plan, but I missed one snack. But that was because I went to bed too early ;) No worries. I'm doing well.
Made SouthWestern Crock Meatloaf. It was easy and delicious.
Went on the wii, still losing more, so that means it wasn't just a fluctuation. - When you don't go on around the same time of day, the wii fit tells you that your weight actually fluctuates up to 1kg (2.2 pounds) in a day due to various bodily processes... But! Anyway, two downs, means it wasn't just a random fluctuation, it's REAL :D
I tried some different routines to change it up a bit. Instead of playing my circuit of games, I did the posture, tummy, and figure routines that were already programmed in to target those muscles. Each was two yoga moves and a game as opposed to mostly all games like I had been doing. I still have my wii fit goal set at a 115 calorie flan per day. And I've been hitting it each time.
Going to be out all day tomorrow, I'll let you know how that turns out. :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Man, flipping your sleep schedule around not only messes with your sleep, but with your eating, too! I followed the plan, but I missed one snack. But that was because I went to bed too early ;) No worries. I'm doing well.
Made SouthWestern Crock Meatloaf. It was easy and delicious.
Went on the wii, still losing more, so that means it wasn't just a fluctuation. - When you don't go on around the same time of day, the wii fit tells you that your weight actually fluctuates up to 1kg (2.2 pounds) in a day due to various bodily processes... But! Anyway, two downs, means it wasn't just a random fluctuation, it's REAL :D
I tried some different routines to change it up a bit. Instead of playing my circuit of games, I did the posture, tummy, and figure routines that were already programmed in to target those muscles. Each was two yoga moves and a game as opposed to mostly all games like I had been doing. I still have my wii fit goal set at a 115 calorie flan per day. And I've been hitting it each time.
Going to be out all day tomorrow, I'll let you know how that turns out. :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Friday, January 21, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 8 - Restaurant victory!
January 19, 2011
Major victory today! I had supper in a restaurant AND stuck to the plan! One thing I've heard Leanne and JJ Virgin talk about is that when you go to a restaurant, you don't HAVE to order exactly what they have set up as the meal combinations - peruse the menu to see what they have in the kitchen and then order what you want to have! Good thing I was thinking about that, or when we were out last night and DH asked me if we could eat out and then pop by his parents' I probably would've said no.
Reality is, in most restaurants, you should be able to get a grilled chicken breast and salad, so there is always something for you to have when you eat out. I had a garden salad to start (I totally wasn't thinking and should have asked for non-iceberg, but that's OK), I had oil/vinegar for salad dressing on the side, they had a lemon-pepper grilled chicken meal that looked good and came with steamed vegetables, and I just asked for double vegetables instead of my potato-side. I made good choices, and I was rewarded. Everything was good and I didn't feel deprived, and we got to eat out and have a nice visit with my in-laws afterwards. (Now my meal actually came with TWO chicken breasts and garlic bread also, but I just brought the second breast and the garlic bread home. DH can have the garlic bread and the chicken is good, but there was too much.)
I was really busy, so didn't exercise and my water intake was a little low, but I'll get back on the horse tomorrow! :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Major victory today! I had supper in a restaurant AND stuck to the plan! One thing I've heard Leanne and JJ Virgin talk about is that when you go to a restaurant, you don't HAVE to order exactly what they have set up as the meal combinations - peruse the menu to see what they have in the kitchen and then order what you want to have! Good thing I was thinking about that, or when we were out last night and DH asked me if we could eat out and then pop by his parents' I probably would've said no.
Reality is, in most restaurants, you should be able to get a grilled chicken breast and salad, so there is always something for you to have when you eat out. I had a garden salad to start (I totally wasn't thinking and should have asked for non-iceberg, but that's OK), I had oil/vinegar for salad dressing on the side, they had a lemon-pepper grilled chicken meal that looked good and came with steamed vegetables, and I just asked for double vegetables instead of my potato-side. I made good choices, and I was rewarded. Everything was good and I didn't feel deprived, and we got to eat out and have a nice visit with my in-laws afterwards. (Now my meal actually came with TWO chicken breasts and garlic bread also, but I just brought the second breast and the garlic bread home. DH can have the garlic bread and the chicken is good, but there was too much.)
I was really busy, so didn't exercise and my water intake was a little low, but I'll get back on the horse tomorrow! :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 7 - Weigh In
January 18, 2011
OK! A whole week on the Losing it with Leanne plan, and I'm loving it! I feel good physically, I feel good about what I'm eating, I'm not hungry, and I don't have to think very hard when it comes time to eat! That can be a problem you know, you're a little hungry, you want a snack, you're looking in the pantry and the fridge, nothing looks good unless it's bad for you.... Well, LWL definitely solves that problem!
Weigh in! OK at the end of the day I quick went on the wii just to weigh (more shoveling, so I didn't need to exercise). And I'm down 0.6 of a kg (1 1/3 pounds) and my BMI is down to 26.96 from 27.18. Making progress, that's not too bad for a week. They say it's healthy to lose 1-2 pounds a week, so I'm happy with this. Plus, I'm really at a good place to start with, and I was eating good food mostly (with a few too many treats thrown in... but it was Christmas not that long ago). It's not like I was eating horribly and then lost 5 pounds of water-weight. That's different.
Eating was weird today. Since we're switching back to days, but are totally wiped from 12 hour shifts, we slept in and went to bed early, so I only had breakfast and lunch and two snacks, no supper and no third snack. But that's fine, I was awake for less time and not hungry. But I did drink my water very well! At the end of the day we were watching tv and every time the episode finished, I was getting up to go to the bathroom and re-fill my water bottle. :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
OK! A whole week on the Losing it with Leanne plan, and I'm loving it! I feel good physically, I feel good about what I'm eating, I'm not hungry, and I don't have to think very hard when it comes time to eat! That can be a problem you know, you're a little hungry, you want a snack, you're looking in the pantry and the fridge, nothing looks good unless it's bad for you.... Well, LWL definitely solves that problem!
Weigh in! OK at the end of the day I quick went on the wii just to weigh (more shoveling, so I didn't need to exercise). And I'm down 0.6 of a kg (1 1/3 pounds) and my BMI is down to 26.96 from 27.18. Making progress, that's not too bad for a week. They say it's healthy to lose 1-2 pounds a week, so I'm happy with this. Plus, I'm really at a good place to start with, and I was eating good food mostly (with a few too many treats thrown in... but it was Christmas not that long ago). It's not like I was eating horribly and then lost 5 pounds of water-weight. That's different.
Eating was weird today. Since we're switching back to days, but are totally wiped from 12 hour shifts, we slept in and went to bed early, so I only had breakfast and lunch and two snacks, no supper and no third snack. But that's fine, I was awake for less time and not hungry. But I did drink my water very well! At the end of the day we were watching tv and every time the episode finished, I was getting up to go to the bathroom and re-fill my water bottle. :D
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 6
January 17th, 2010
Last night shift! YAY!! Wait... that means I have to switch back to days... ouch, that's hard. Switching from days to nights is much easier. Oh well, I'll survive. :D
Let's see... I'm drinking my water! I finished my fourth bottle early and actually drank about a third of the 5th bottle! Wow. That was easy! Leftover shredded beef today...mmmm! Plus I finished the egg salad for lunch, maybe I'll switch to tuna tomorrow.
No wii-ing today again, but shoveling definitely counts as my exercise for the day! Plus I went to the grocery store. I'm not done the stuff I bought for my suppers, but I was out of milk (and you need milk on this plan) and both Kashi and chicken breasts were on sale so.... :D I was a very good girl and I didn't buy any more cream for my coffee even though I'm almost out. I'll switch to milk and see how that goes. Hey, if I can cut sugar out of my coffee, I can handle anything! ;) Because of night shift I got to the store an hour before closing, it was nice and quiet, but they were almost all out of chicken... I only got one club pack... and I was going to get three since they don't go on sale too often... oh well. Days off coming up, so maybe I can go again before the sale ends :D
I really like that I'm cooking 4 portions, then every other day, I don't have to cook! Even though I do like cooking, I'm pretty busy, so it's good.
I can't believe tomorrow is day 7 already! I'll have to do a weigh in and see how I'm doing. (Since I've been doing 'alternative exercising' I haven't weighed myself on the wii for a bit.) I know I do feel a lot better. I'm on a crazy schedule, and I had to get up at 11am (after going to bed at 7am) for a meeting. I was really surprised at how easy that was to do. I don't know if I could have pulled that off before. (And yes, I did go back to bed after the meeting.) It's the end of the day and I felt no side effects from that.
OK people, potty talk! If you don't want to hear about it, you can go read something else now ;) I just want to say that DH and I have only been switching between nights and days for a little over a month, and my body was rebelling. I had some constipation issues a couple of times already, but since starting the Losing It With Leanne plan, I haven't had any problems! In fact, I think I'm getting better quality out than I was before-before (when I was on a normal schedule, but not on the LWL plan). OK, I'm done. No worries, I won't do that often!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Last night shift! YAY!! Wait... that means I have to switch back to days... ouch, that's hard. Switching from days to nights is much easier. Oh well, I'll survive. :D
Let's see... I'm drinking my water! I finished my fourth bottle early and actually drank about a third of the 5th bottle! Wow. That was easy! Leftover shredded beef today...mmmm! Plus I finished the egg salad for lunch, maybe I'll switch to tuna tomorrow.
No wii-ing today again, but shoveling definitely counts as my exercise for the day! Plus I went to the grocery store. I'm not done the stuff I bought for my suppers, but I was out of milk (and you need milk on this plan) and both Kashi and chicken breasts were on sale so.... :D I was a very good girl and I didn't buy any more cream for my coffee even though I'm almost out. I'll switch to milk and see how that goes. Hey, if I can cut sugar out of my coffee, I can handle anything! ;) Because of night shift I got to the store an hour before closing, it was nice and quiet, but they were almost all out of chicken... I only got one club pack... and I was going to get three since they don't go on sale too often... oh well. Days off coming up, so maybe I can go again before the sale ends :D
I really like that I'm cooking 4 portions, then every other day, I don't have to cook! Even though I do like cooking, I'm pretty busy, so it's good.
I can't believe tomorrow is day 7 already! I'll have to do a weigh in and see how I'm doing. (Since I've been doing 'alternative exercising' I haven't weighed myself on the wii for a bit.) I know I do feel a lot better. I'm on a crazy schedule, and I had to get up at 11am (after going to bed at 7am) for a meeting. I was really surprised at how easy that was to do. I don't know if I could have pulled that off before. (And yes, I did go back to bed after the meeting.) It's the end of the day and I felt no side effects from that.
OK people, potty talk! If you don't want to hear about it, you can go read something else now ;) I just want to say that DH and I have only been switching between nights and days for a little over a month, and my body was rebelling. I had some constipation issues a couple of times already, but since starting the Losing It With Leanne plan, I haven't had any problems! In fact, I think I'm getting better quality out than I was before-before (when I was on a normal schedule, but not on the LWL plan). OK, I'm done. No worries, I won't do that often!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 5
I'm using that crock cooker!! On tonight's menu is shredded beef. MmmmMMMmmm!! Man, it was easy and delicious! I was a little wary because it called for soy sauce and I don't like soy sauce (and of course I forgot the tip to substitute Worcestershire sauce until I'd already put the soy sauce in, so I used both) but man, oh man! I never should have doubted Leanne! It was fabulous!! I'm eating great and I'm on a diet!! - Go figure!
I did my meat trick that I mentioned in Day 1 of the Challenge I had an almost 3 pound roast, but I only needed 2 pounds for this recipe, but later I'm going to be making another beef recipe that calls for 3/4 pounds, so I cut a little less than a third off the roast for the other recipe, trimmed the fat like I was supposed to and, since I was a 'gicky' anyway with touching all the raw meat and having a 'contaminated' knife and cutting board, I cut the extra third of the roast into the 1-inch cubes that that recipe calls for. When I'm ready for that one, I'll only have to dump the meat out of the bag, I won't even have to touch it! :D
OK, here's a Crock Cooker tip for you: Get your manual and look up this statistic for YOUR slow cooker! My crock cooker's temperature settings are such that 1 hour on high equals 2 hours on low. What does that mean? Well, I was running a little late and I put the roast on at 7, and I was going to need it for 12, but the recipe calls for 6 hours on low, but I only had 5 hours.... so, for one hour in the middle of cooking, I turned it up to high, then turned it back down to low to finish. Then I could take an hour off the timer, because that hour on high did twice the work! Now, unless you have a recipe that has times for low and high, you won't want to change the temperature for too long. This dish was 'designed' to be cooked on low, so if I had cooked it for 3 hours on high, it might not have turned out so nice... Just sayin'. So go look up what the stats are for your crock and the next time you get your cooker turned on a little late, you won't have to sweat it! (And if you don't know where your manual is, google it!)
I didn't do my wii exercises, but I did do another coat of paint in DH's office, and that totally counts.
Oh! I totally got my sides backwards this week. I should know better. You're supposed to cook your sides in the order they'll go bad, and I did it completely backwards! LOL. (Squash and Brussels sprouts last longer than lettuce and spinach.) Oh well. My Romaine is in pretty sad shape, but everything else is holding up OK. I'm gonna be having salads as my sides for the next bit though.
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
I did my meat trick that I mentioned in Day 1 of the Challenge I had an almost 3 pound roast, but I only needed 2 pounds for this recipe, but later I'm going to be making another beef recipe that calls for 3/4 pounds, so I cut a little less than a third off the roast for the other recipe, trimmed the fat like I was supposed to and, since I was a 'gicky' anyway with touching all the raw meat and having a 'contaminated' knife and cutting board, I cut the extra third of the roast into the 1-inch cubes that that recipe calls for. When I'm ready for that one, I'll only have to dump the meat out of the bag, I won't even have to touch it! :D
OK, here's a Crock Cooker tip for you: Get your manual and look up this statistic for YOUR slow cooker! My crock cooker's temperature settings are such that 1 hour on high equals 2 hours on low. What does that mean? Well, I was running a little late and I put the roast on at 7, and I was going to need it for 12, but the recipe calls for 6 hours on low, but I only had 5 hours.... so, for one hour in the middle of cooking, I turned it up to high, then turned it back down to low to finish. Then I could take an hour off the timer, because that hour on high did twice the work! Now, unless you have a recipe that has times for low and high, you won't want to change the temperature for too long. This dish was 'designed' to be cooked on low, so if I had cooked it for 3 hours on high, it might not have turned out so nice... Just sayin'. So go look up what the stats are for your crock and the next time you get your cooker turned on a little late, you won't have to sweat it! (And if you don't know where your manual is, google it!)
I didn't do my wii exercises, but I did do another coat of paint in DH's office, and that totally counts.
Oh! I totally got my sides backwards this week. I should know better. You're supposed to cook your sides in the order they'll go bad, and I did it completely backwards! LOL. (Squash and Brussels sprouts last longer than lettuce and spinach.) Oh well. My Romaine is in pretty sad shape, but everything else is holding up OK. I'm gonna be having salads as my sides for the next bit though.
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Monday, January 17, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 4
On nights I'm having lunch-supper-breakfast because we go to bed right after we eat at the end of our 'day' and I think that's working out well, although it's a little weird having the soup and my coffee at the same time, but that's just being silly. I should set the coffeemaker up the day before and have the coffee with my pre-breakfast.... Hey! I like that idea! I should do that.
Supper tonight was leftover Pork Diane mmm mmmm! DH likes it also, even with the Cilantro-Parsley mix up ;)
I've been OK with my water, drinking about 3 FLYlady (16 ounce) bottles a day but I really should be drinking 4 or more. Shouldn't take to much to pull that off, I just need to make the effort to drink it up! I have my bottle with me most of the time, that's a good start. Plus, me telling you is good motivation for trying harder!
You know what I realized today? The biggest part of my weight problem is portion sizes. Before I started this plan last week, most dinners I'd make close to 4 servings worth for 2 people and we didn't always have leftovers. What I'm discovering now while making myself follow the Losing It With Leanne plan I'm eating less, but I'm not hungry. I work for Leanne, so I know that a meat portion size is about the size of a deck of cards, I've heard her say it and read her writing it many times. But I never followed it. I think I was kind of afraid that if I ate 'normal' portion sizes all the time, it wouldn't be enough for me. But you know what? It is. I'm following the recipes and directions quite closely, and I'm splitting each meal into the correct number of serving sizes and just having one serving and I'm not hungry! Go me!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Supper tonight was leftover Pork Diane mmm mmmm! DH likes it also, even with the Cilantro-Parsley mix up ;)
I've been OK with my water, drinking about 3 FLYlady (16 ounce) bottles a day but I really should be drinking 4 or more. Shouldn't take to much to pull that off, I just need to make the effort to drink it up! I have my bottle with me most of the time, that's a good start. Plus, me telling you is good motivation for trying harder!
You know what I realized today? The biggest part of my weight problem is portion sizes. Before I started this plan last week, most dinners I'd make close to 4 servings worth for 2 people and we didn't always have leftovers. What I'm discovering now while making myself follow the Losing It With Leanne plan I'm eating less, but I'm not hungry. I work for Leanne, so I know that a meat portion size is about the size of a deck of cards, I've heard her say it and read her writing it many times. But I never followed it. I think I was kind of afraid that if I ate 'normal' portion sizes all the time, it wouldn't be enough for me. But you know what? It is. I'm following the recipes and directions quite closely, and I'm splitting each meal into the correct number of serving sizes and just having one serving and I'm not hungry! Go me!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 3
January 14, 2011
Seriously, if I'd known I was going to pick the egg salad so many days in a row, I would have just made one big batch! It's too funny! There are several lunch options and I keep picking the same thing, LOL! Oh well, it's good and I haven't had egg salad in a while. I don't know why DH and I both like it. I guess it's just that I don't remember to boil the eggs ahead... Maybe I will now.
My protein powder came in today! Man those are big containers (2 pounds each), but that's OK, I'll just put some in one of my zipplerware containers and call it good.
Made Pork Diane tonight. Do you know what's really funny? I'm prepping the veggies, and I realize I bought cilantro instead of parsley! The silly thing is that I wasn't even going to bother with the fresh parsley except that two of the recipes I picked called for it... oh well, they're just gonna be cilantro-y ;)
And I made steamed Brussels sprouts for the first time. You'd think I'd look it up since I didn't know what I was doing, but they turned out fine. Actually, they taste like cauliflower kinda. I really don't understand why some people dislike broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts so much, they taste pretty plain and it's easy to spice them up to a flavour you DO like! I tried the Saving Dinner way of having steamed Brussels sprouts with a little unsalted butter and nutmeg... not bad at all! I think I'll make it again someday, although DH only likes them raw, apparently.
It's interesting, all these foods that I've been meaning to try at some point, and he doesn't like them to start with. Oh well. At least he's nice about it. Even the other night when I made acorn squash, he ate most of it before telling me that it's not his favourite. But I did talk to him about it and we figure it's just that this stuff is kinda plain, and he's not opposed to trying, say, a squash dish even though he doesn't like squash by itself. I've made spaghetti squash before and that was fine, but it was loaded with butter and Parmesan and/or spaghetti sauce. And he's OK with cooked broccoli and cauliflower if they're in a frittata.
I think eating on the plan is better for me than what I was doing. With switching between nights and days, I sometimes get a little light-headed if I haven't eaten in a while. On the Losing It With Leanne plan, I have snacks scheduled in already, so I don't have to feel bad that I'm eating 'extra' and there's a plan of what to eat, so I'm not eating random stuff that may or may not be so good for me.
I've been doing my 'circuit' on the wii fit everyday. Depending on what games I play more than once it takes 20-30 minutes. I've been going over the 90 calorie goal of a 8 oz glass of coke, so I'm changed it to a 115 calorie piece of flan for tomorrow (I burned 120 tonight anyway).
I know I 've only been doing this for a few days, but it already kinda seems like a way of life. Mornings are so hectic and the tiny bowl of Kashi is great to have quickly right after I get dressed to shoes, and then I can get DH's lunch together and do what needs to be done first thing.
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Seriously, if I'd known I was going to pick the egg salad so many days in a row, I would have just made one big batch! It's too funny! There are several lunch options and I keep picking the same thing, LOL! Oh well, it's good and I haven't had egg salad in a while. I don't know why DH and I both like it. I guess it's just that I don't remember to boil the eggs ahead... Maybe I will now.
My protein powder came in today! Man those are big containers (2 pounds each), but that's OK, I'll just put some in one of my zipplerware containers and call it good.
Made Pork Diane tonight. Do you know what's really funny? I'm prepping the veggies, and I realize I bought cilantro instead of parsley! The silly thing is that I wasn't even going to bother with the fresh parsley except that two of the recipes I picked called for it... oh well, they're just gonna be cilantro-y ;)
And I made steamed Brussels sprouts for the first time. You'd think I'd look it up since I didn't know what I was doing, but they turned out fine. Actually, they taste like cauliflower kinda. I really don't understand why some people dislike broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts so much, they taste pretty plain and it's easy to spice them up to a flavour you DO like! I tried the Saving Dinner way of having steamed Brussels sprouts with a little unsalted butter and nutmeg... not bad at all! I think I'll make it again someday, although DH only likes them raw, apparently.
It's interesting, all these foods that I've been meaning to try at some point, and he doesn't like them to start with. Oh well. At least he's nice about it. Even the other night when I made acorn squash, he ate most of it before telling me that it's not his favourite. But I did talk to him about it and we figure it's just that this stuff is kinda plain, and he's not opposed to trying, say, a squash dish even though he doesn't like squash by itself. I've made spaghetti squash before and that was fine, but it was loaded with butter and Parmesan and/or spaghetti sauce. And he's OK with cooked broccoli and cauliflower if they're in a frittata.
I think eating on the plan is better for me than what I was doing. With switching between nights and days, I sometimes get a little light-headed if I haven't eaten in a while. On the Losing It With Leanne plan, I have snacks scheduled in already, so I don't have to feel bad that I'm eating 'extra' and there's a plan of what to eat, so I'm not eating random stuff that may or may not be so good for me.
I've been doing my 'circuit' on the wii fit everyday. Depending on what games I play more than once it takes 20-30 minutes. I've been going over the 90 calorie goal of a 8 oz glass of coke, so I'm changed it to a 115 calorie piece of flan for tomorrow (I burned 120 tonight anyway).
I know I 've only been doing this for a few days, but it already kinda seems like a way of life. Mornings are so hectic and the tiny bowl of Kashi is great to have quickly right after I get dressed to shoes, and then I can get DH's lunch together and do what needs to be done first thing.
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Friday, January 14, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 2
Jan 13th 2011
OK! So last night I got the soup together. It was pretty easy my only problem was that I discovered a little too late that it wasn't all going to fit in my little crock pot, so I just made a half batch, and I have extra veggies chopped up in my fridge. I think I'll just make another batch tomorrow or the next day and freeze potions :D It is good soup! I had it cooking overnight and had some with lunch today.
I'm doing pretty well with my coffee. I usually make about 3 mugs worth and have it double-double (that's two creams and two sugars for those of you who don't speak Canadian) but I've cut it back to just cream, and I'll probably try and switch over to milk soonish. The thing is, I don't mind the taste of coffee with cream and no sugar, I just never knew it. Plus I've been making less in the mornings, Just enough for two mugs or so.
I'm liking this plan, I'm not starving myself at all, I'm eating well. It's not the type of plan when you're hungry all the time, and the food tastes bad. Come on people, this is from Leanne, the food is GREAT!! And the best part is, it's all REAL food that you make yourself from regular, non-processed groceries. Yes, there is a shake with protein powder, but that's only one of several breakfast options, and everything else in the shakes is real food and as long as you get a good protein powder that isn't full of sugar, it's wonderful tasting and great for you!
I made enough of the apple chicken yesterday for two nights, so I'm having it again tonight, making it easy for myself.
Starting on night shift tomorrow, so that will be 'interesting'!!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you!
It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :)
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OK! So last night I got the soup together. It was pretty easy my only problem was that I discovered a little too late that it wasn't all going to fit in my little crock pot, so I just made a half batch, and I have extra veggies chopped up in my fridge. I think I'll just make another batch tomorrow or the next day and freeze potions :D It is good soup! I had it cooking overnight and had some with lunch today.
I'm doing pretty well with my coffee. I usually make about 3 mugs worth and have it double-double (that's two creams and two sugars for those of you who don't speak Canadian) but I've cut it back to just cream, and I'll probably try and switch over to milk soonish. The thing is, I don't mind the taste of coffee with cream and no sugar, I just never knew it. Plus I've been making less in the mornings, Just enough for two mugs or so.
I'm liking this plan, I'm not starving myself at all, I'm eating well. It's not the type of plan when you're hungry all the time, and the food tastes bad. Come on people, this is from Leanne, the food is GREAT!! And the best part is, it's all REAL food that you make yourself from regular, non-processed groceries. Yes, there is a shake with protein powder, but that's only one of several breakfast options, and everything else in the shakes is real food and as long as you get a good protein powder that isn't full of sugar, it's wonderful tasting and great for you!
I made enough of the apple chicken yesterday for two nights, so I'm having it again tonight, making it easy for myself.
Starting on night shift tomorrow, so that will be 'interesting'!!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you!
It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :)
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Thursday, January 13, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 1
Jan 12, 2011
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 1 :D
First of all, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while... I got a job at Saving Dinner of all places (after I was fawning all over them here) and I got busy, and distracted... Typical SHE ;)
So I'm back, and Saving Dinner is doing a Losing It With Leanne challenge right now! In fact, the whole staff is doing the challenge right along with everyone else!
So anyways. I ordered my protein powder a week ago, and it's not here yet, but I'm done waiting! (I'm in Canada, and I ordered from the States to get the specific one that Leanne recommended, so it's nobody's fault it's not here yet.)
Today, I sat down with my grocery list, Losing It With Leanne volume 1 (well, I have the whole thing printed off in my binder, but I'm starting at the beginning), and my Saving Dinner recipes that I already had printed out. I flipped through the Body Clutter menus that I had and picked dishes based on what sounded good and what meat I either had or was on sale. (That's how I usually shop, except I'm not always in the BC recipes.) I picked 6 recipes that look SOOO yummy even though they're good for me ;) and noted what I needed to get to make them (mostly produce, you'd be amazed at how little time I needed to spend in the middle of the store).
Sirloin tip roasts were on sale this week for half price, so I bought 3! You'll love this trick: they were on for $2.00 a pound and I had 2 beef recipes, one called for 2 pounds and the other for 3/4 pounds... So I looked for a roast that was as close to $5.75 as I could find :D Actually, I ended up buying three roasts and froze 2!
After I did my mains, I went through the rest of the daily eating plan and picked my options. There are 7 breakfast options in the LWL plan and 6 lunches, and I didn't want to buy for ALL of them at once, so I picked - again, based on what I had and what's good. Now I have most of the stuff for the breakfasts and stuff for 4 lunch options plus the soup! And I added some stuff to the list for my DH, he's not officially going on the plan with me, but I'm not cooking separate dinners for us. I jut told him that the recipes look good in and of themselves and he's fine with that. But I did get him 'regular' cereal and Black Forest ham for sandwiches, because he likes that.
That's the great part about the Losing It With Leanne plan, it's not all that different from regular eating, we just really need to make the healthier choices (low fat, not full fat dairy products, lots of veggies, less carbs (not no carbs, less carbs), and watch our portion sizes. It's more regimented for the people on the plan, but it's not the type of plan that turns you into a short order cook because your family "won't" eat it.
When my grocery list was done it was almost 50% produce, with a LOT of stuff around the outside of the store, and I only had to go down 4 centre aisles and that was for: Picante sauce, Kashi (and regular cereal for DH), bay leafs, tuna, white beans, and diced tomatoes. In my opinion, that's a pretty good list! And the best part was, I got to the cereal aisle and Kashi was ON SALE!! I love it when I'm going to buy something anyways and it's on sale! :D I really didn't spend any more than usual, especially considering how much nutrition was in my cart, plus I was buying 3 roasts instead of just the one I needed. So it cost about the same as normal with a little extra for all the meat, but that is normal :D
OK, so that's groceries... Got home, put everything away, had my 'mid-afternoon snack' of Kashi and then did all my measurements, then went downstairs and got on the wii fit to weigh myself. Today my BMI is 27.18 the wii wants me to aim for 22. It's a little high, but it has been slowly but surely coming down with me making good choices and learning by osmosis while working at Saving Dinner. I set my goal to lose 3 kg (6.6 pounds) in the 4 weeks of the main plan. I think that's doable. I've been slowly losing weight already, but now I'm going to be putting an effort into it!
I even did my circuit on the wii and burned a glass of coke and then some! (I have a list of about 8 of the activities that I 'always' do.) And I even hit a new high score in boxing, guess I'm not that rusty after all. I'm gonna plan to stay active through the duration of the Challenge, no easy task in the winter when you work from the computer ;) But I ran through my circuit today in 28 minutes, and I repeated some activities, so I should be OK. Plus, I'm committing to all of you and putting this our in cyberspace so I will be held accountable!
Dinner tonight from a past Body Clutter Menu-Mailer was Autumn Apple Chicken with acorn squash. What an easy and yummy recipe! I asked DH and he's all for us having it again someday (although apparently he's not a squash fan).
Hope to see you here more often as well as on the Losing It With Leanne facebook page!
Losing It With Leanne Challenge Day 1 :D
First of all, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while... I got a job at Saving Dinner of all places (after I was fawning all over them here) and I got busy, and distracted... Typical SHE ;)
So I'm back, and Saving Dinner is doing a Losing It With Leanne challenge right now! In fact, the whole staff is doing the challenge right along with everyone else!
So anyways. I ordered my protein powder a week ago, and it's not here yet, but I'm done waiting! (I'm in Canada, and I ordered from the States to get the specific one that Leanne recommended, so it's nobody's fault it's not here yet.)
Today, I sat down with my grocery list, Losing It With Leanne volume 1 (well, I have the whole thing printed off in my binder, but I'm starting at the beginning), and my Saving Dinner recipes that I already had printed out. I flipped through the Body Clutter menus that I had and picked dishes based on what sounded good and what meat I either had or was on sale. (That's how I usually shop, except I'm not always in the BC recipes.) I picked 6 recipes that look SOOO yummy even though they're good for me ;) and noted what I needed to get to make them (mostly produce, you'd be amazed at how little time I needed to spend in the middle of the store).
Sirloin tip roasts were on sale this week for half price, so I bought 3! You'll love this trick: they were on for $2.00 a pound and I had 2 beef recipes, one called for 2 pounds and the other for 3/4 pounds... So I looked for a roast that was as close to $5.75 as I could find :D Actually, I ended up buying three roasts and froze 2!
After I did my mains, I went through the rest of the daily eating plan and picked my options. There are 7 breakfast options in the LWL plan and 6 lunches, and I didn't want to buy for ALL of them at once, so I picked - again, based on what I had and what's good. Now I have most of the stuff for the breakfasts and stuff for 4 lunch options plus the soup! And I added some stuff to the list for my DH, he's not officially going on the plan with me, but I'm not cooking separate dinners for us. I jut told him that the recipes look good in and of themselves and he's fine with that. But I did get him 'regular' cereal and Black Forest ham for sandwiches, because he likes that.
That's the great part about the Losing It With Leanne plan, it's not all that different from regular eating, we just really need to make the healthier choices (low fat, not full fat dairy products, lots of veggies, less carbs (not no carbs, less carbs), and watch our portion sizes. It's more regimented for the people on the plan, but it's not the type of plan that turns you into a short order cook because your family "won't" eat it.
When my grocery list was done it was almost 50% produce, with a LOT of stuff around the outside of the store, and I only had to go down 4 centre aisles and that was for: Picante sauce, Kashi (and regular cereal for DH), bay leafs, tuna, white beans, and diced tomatoes. In my opinion, that's a pretty good list! And the best part was, I got to the cereal aisle and Kashi was ON SALE!! I love it when I'm going to buy something anyways and it's on sale! :D I really didn't spend any more than usual, especially considering how much nutrition was in my cart, plus I was buying 3 roasts instead of just the one I needed. So it cost about the same as normal with a little extra for all the meat, but that is normal :D
OK, so that's groceries... Got home, put everything away, had my 'mid-afternoon snack' of Kashi and then did all my measurements, then went downstairs and got on the wii fit to weigh myself. Today my BMI is 27.18 the wii wants me to aim for 22. It's a little high, but it has been slowly but surely coming down with me making good choices and learning by osmosis while working at Saving Dinner. I set my goal to lose 3 kg (6.6 pounds) in the 4 weeks of the main plan. I think that's doable. I've been slowly losing weight already, but now I'm going to be putting an effort into it!
I even did my circuit on the wii and burned a glass of coke and then some! (I have a list of about 8 of the activities that I 'always' do.) And I even hit a new high score in boxing, guess I'm not that rusty after all. I'm gonna plan to stay active through the duration of the Challenge, no easy task in the winter when you work from the computer ;) But I ran through my circuit today in 28 minutes, and I repeated some activities, so I should be OK. Plus, I'm committing to all of you and putting this our in cyberspace so I will be held accountable!
Dinner tonight from a past Body Clutter Menu-Mailer was Autumn Apple Chicken with acorn squash. What an easy and yummy recipe! I asked DH and he's all for us having it again someday (although apparently he's not a squash fan).
Hope to see you here more often as well as on the Losing It With Leanne facebook page!
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