Recipes!

As I go about my dieting I will post recipes of juices as I make them or find them. I decided my breakfast juice will be mu fruitier juice of the day. Today's breakfast juice was-

3 tomatoes
1 carrot
3 granny smith apples
2 "cups" of grapes

In this instance, a "cup" of grapes is a 16 oz plastic solo cup. That will generally be my "cup".

This gave me about 4 cups (real cups) of juice. This was enough to fill my juice bottle (an insulated sports straw bottle- holds between 2-3 cups, depending on how much/if I put ice) completely and left me about 1.5 cups to split between the girls.

I was going to completely skip dinners, but I don't think that will be healthy for me. Because I am not doing this as a fast to detox, and am instead doing it to lose weight, I think I will focus more on just eating a healthy dinner. Tonight, it is Meatless Monday! So I am thinking a nice, fresh pasta with tomato, a little carrot, and some basil.

Day 1.

Today I officially start the juice fast. I have decided to aim for a 10 day fast with nothing but raw fruit and veggie juice, however, if I feel too weak at the end of the day, I will have a light dinner.

So today is day 1. I will be taking official before photos at the gym tonight. I am back down to 200 lbs though, when I was up to 208 before, so I know the juice fasting helps a lot.

I cannot wait to see how this goes for me. I decided that I always fail at diets, and that I either do something drastic to kick start it, or I never do anything at all.

Three days

I made it 3 days on my modified juice diet before I totally binged. I got home from moms, I got bored, I got lonely, and I ate. A LOT. But I still have not had any soda, and I am drinking unsweet tea and water only, in addition to the juice.

I have decided not to beat myself up over this binge, and I am not giving up either. Back to the grind tomorrow. A fresh start first thing in the am. I can handle that.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

If you have not seen this documentary, I think you should.
It is pretty eye opening. It has me thinking about juicing.
I can't do a full juice fast because of the babies, but I can do a modified fast- fasting for breakfast and lunch and then eating a 75% raw dinner- raw fruits and veggies and nuts and the like.
I have to do SOMETHING. I cannot live like this any more.

I am depressed at this point.

That was sucky...

I broke my bath/shower bench today. I am ashamed I need a bath/shower bench, but today, it broke. I guess between the heat of the water and my weight it just, gave it up. Bummer.

I almost had a healthy dinner. And then I added cheese. And I don't mean a little cheese, I mean a lot.

Grumble. Fail.

New all time high

And I don't want to discuss it. When I am emotional, I eat.

Highs and Lows

Well, after hitting my all time high of 202, I am back down again. I hate this yo-yoing. I did a good job though of cutting out the soda and junk. That is what did it to me. I was just very lax on the junk and snacks. I am back down to 195 and oh so glad to be here.

Put down the brownie...

...and back away slowly.

I am having such a battle with food these days. I just want to devour everything in sight. I know I shouldn't. I eat even after I am full. When I was having lunch yesterday, I was eating and I got full, and I told myself I should stop. I told myself that I was full and I looked down and I still had some food, and I just... ate it anyway.
I have serious food issues.

Speaking of food, it is about time I start my grocery list. It is the end of the month. I really need to make some meal plans and stick to them, but it is so hard with as busy as we stay.
Excuses excuses, I know. I hear them as they are coming out of my mouth, but I just cannot... or will not change things. I want to, I just never stick to it. :(

So for this shopping trip- no soda. No snack cakes (that I like) and no brownies.

I am trying to get off the soda again. I just bought a huge bottle of no doze to handle the caffeine withdrawals. Those that say caffeine has no withdrawal effects have certainly never gotten a migraine when trying to come off it.

Oh look, peaches are on sale at Kroger.

All time high meets all time low

Ouch. I spent too much time at my Mom's house this week. All time high. Will be updating ticker to reflect this new all time high.
I never thought I would see this number when I am not pregnant. I am already depressed lately and this is not helping.
Of course, eating like this is a nasty spiral. I am feeling bad or upset and I eat. And then a few weeks later it shows on the scale and I get depressed so I eat more.
I have got to get a handle on my weight. I know I always say it and never do anything about it. But I have to, for my health.

SIGH. I guess I will write more later.

Damn bumpy roads

It is a long fall from that damn wagon. I am still alive. Working my Scentsy business and homeschooling and all that banana. Update soon!

Fell off the Wagon

The blogger wagon that is.

I am doing OKAY on the food front. I have not lost any more, and I might have gained a pound. I went to Scentsy Convention and ate a lot of junk, but I am getting back into the flow of it all. If I can get back into the gym flow it would be even better.

We did have a good trip. I learned a lot about how to grow my Scentsy business, and I am armed and ready to improve everything.

No more excuses. For anything.

Stormy Weather

Seriously, this being sick thing is getting old. I have had no voice all day, and my sinuses are HORRIBLE. I just want to stick my head in a blender (and watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion). I slept most of the day and just felt pretty miserable over all. Sorry these posts are so short but there really is not much to say when you can barely function.

Gale Force Winds

Boy, while I was under the weather yesterday, I am down right SICK today. I am almost glad though, that I got sick when hubby is gone and I cannot go to the gym. That way I don't have to feel guilty when I can't make it.

Even though I feel crummy, I have been working around the house, at least trying to keep my activity level up. Like I have said, it is better than sitting on my butt all day. So far I have cleaned the kitchen, cleaned out 1/4 of the pantrys (pantries?) and some of the cabinets. My goal tonight is to get all of the cabinets and pantries done. Time to weed out and get rid of stuff.

Under the weather

I am sick! Bummer. I have the same sinus crap that everyone else has. The babies are snotty, the kids were snotty but aren't now. Guess it is my turn. This really sucks. I hate sinus issues more than anything else on this earth.

Doug went out of town today for a day or two. That means no gym for me for a few days. Through Thursday evening at least. This means I must play some Just Dance to do SOMETHING. As long as I am not sitting on my butt for a week then I will be fine.

Wish this cold away for me, please!

Walking the Mall

I took all 6 kids to the mall today! We got out and met a friend of mine and her daughter. Kay now has a BFF, and they had such a good time together. I did not go to the gym, but I did get a little exercise by walking the loop at Katy Mills. It is about a mile but if you count the occasional kid chase, it was a decent workout. At least I wasn't sitting on my bum at home all day.

I will say that the kids did so much better than I expected. Chandler got a little upset at the start of the day, but settled down once he realized all the people around us weren't interacting WITH us, just AROUND us. Anthony and Mimi walked on their own for the first time. While they had a good time, maybe the mile long loop was a bit much for Anthony, although after we stopped for lunch, he got his strength back and was good to go the rest of the way. In fact, he was a little upset when we had to go.

I did bust on eating today and my stomach is pissed at me for it tonight. It is doing that weird cramping thing again so I am pretty sure I am having gallbladder issues. If I eat something greasy two days in a row, it gets really angry. While it sucks to be me tonight, it is good because it will help keep me away from greasy gross stuff.

I bought some yummy smelling peaches and plums at Walmart tonight. Cannot wait for breakfast to have some.

Rockin' it out!

So I made it to the gym 5/6 days. With all luck I will make it out there this evening. If I do not, I won't feel too bad because we have a playdate today at the mall with a friend of mine and her 9 year old daughter. I am sure that taking all 6 kids on a mall walk will be a pretty decent work out in and of its self.

I got up this morning and made myself some breakfast, since I am usually at the diner eating right now. I have taken a liking to the veggie omelet at 59 Diner. It was not the same without it but it is starting to get pretty expensive.

My weight is down more but I am thinking about not updating it for a day or two to make sure it sticks. Over all, I am so thrilled with how I am doing this time out. I am starting to really enjoy my time in the gym, and I am not changing my eating habits TOO much. In fact, I am eating more often, as I never ate breakfast. I am snacking less because I am just not as full as I was.
Can't complain.

Eating Healthier

I recently made the decision to start cooking again. I had to cast all laziness aside, make the other big people handle the babies and cook. Our wallet needed it, and so do our waistlines.

We have consumed WAY too much fast food the past year. It started when I had the morning sickness. My nausea was so bad that I could barely lift my head up. Hubby is not the best cook (insert southern- "bless his heart") so we ate a lot of take-out. From Taco Bell to Chili's to the occasional Olive Garden, we had it all. It got old REALLY quickly, and hubby gained about 15 lbs in the process.

After the morning sickness was gone, we discovered I was having twins and had high blood pressure again and had to stay off my feet and in bed most of the time, so the take-out trend continued. Then I had the babies, and was stuck in bed after, as recovery from the c-section was long and horrible. About this time, hubby decided to try his hand at cooking a little more and he did a great job most of the time.

I have recently gotten back into the swing of things like cleaning and cooking. (And exercising... don't forget exercising)
At first I was using the crock pot way too much, but now I am back in the kitchen more, cooking better and healthier meals.

You would think that buying more real food would save us a little bit of money, but unfortunately I am hung up on buying yummy things like fresh veggies and good cuts of meat, free range eggs and organic milk. This means my grocery bill is rather expensive at times. I found a great CSA that we bought a share into. Sometimes we do not use all of the awesome goodies, and I need to change that. I really suggest that those who have a local CSA take part. (Community supported agriculture- find one HERE). Our food comes from HomeSweetFarm. Amazing people and wonderful food!


My goal in the next few months is to stop buying as much prepackaged mixes and frozen food. Less chicken nuggets for Chan and more real chicken. Less powdered potatoes, more real, etc. Wish we luck on that one...

Farmers' Market

Sometimes I like to get up and go to the farmers market at LaCenterra. Kind of a yuppy part of town, but there is this bakery that sets up there called Sinfull Bakery. Now before someone gasps at me because this IS a weight-loss blog, their specialty is organic, vegan, gluten free, and sugar free products. I LOVE the vegan cookies. To me, I don't care the calorie count, because we eat them maybe once a month, and then they are so expensive, we never eat more than one per person. ($4.50 for 2 cookies).

I skipped out on the gym this morning, but instead loaded up all 6 kids and took them down to the farmers market. 30 minutes of getting ready, and 20 minutes getting them out of the car just to walk around for 30 minutes and eat a cookie, and then spend 20 minutes getting back in the car. :) That is a workout in its self.

As I enjoy the second half of my amazing cookie (we got cranberry orange, oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip), enjoy some pics of the day.

Food Food Food

I have been to the gym 4 days in a row. I am doing pretty good with that. I am sure my workouts could be a little longer but I am getting off my butt and am doing it more than once a week.

As far as food goes, I think I am doing much better by not snacking on everything and I am not eating near as large portions as I have been. I figure if I start slowly I might be more likely to stick with it vs. jumping in too fast and hard. For once I am trying to do this slowly.

That said, I weighed myself today and I am down about 5 lbs. HOORAY!!

Off to work on my Skinny Sister logo...

2 day streak!

I made it to the gym two days in a row!! It was not a long workout, but I kept my heart rate up so I know it counts! Every little bit counts. I did a little on the treadmill, 7 minutes on the elliptical, which is good for me, and then a few miles on the stationary bike in about 10 minutes.

Of course, today was my anniversary, and I blew all calories out the window and at a dinner from Olive Garden that was worth about 2500 calories!! YIKES! That was after I did so good on my breakfast. It was about 450 cals, and it was eggs and french toast!

On a side note, I am working on the most awesome little cartoon of myself, The Skinny Sister. :) Can't wait to show it off!

Good times!

So I made it to the gym yesterday! Hooray! I managed to do 2 miles on the treadmill in 40 minutes. Seems pretty slow but I have been out of the game for a while. I did the first mile pretty quick and then did the second slower but on an incline. It was a good workout but I need to get more done this morning. I usually go late at night but our sleep schedule is really messed up right now so going at about 5 am is better for me. I have time to grab some oatmeal or something, and then head in. I am determined to go again this morning.

As a note, I also remembered to get diet soda for my caffeine instead of regular. That will cut about half of my days calories tomorrow. Also, I would rather no comments on the hazards of artificial sweeteners. I have done my research and while I am not 100% comfortable with them, they are okay in my short term until I can get off of the caffeine.

I very well might make half a dozen posts on here a day, but I figure if it keeps me on track, all 3 of you reading this won't mind!

Wall of Shame

In my Facebook Group, Fat to Fit- Tracy's Weight Loss Challenge (more on that later) I have a photo album called "Wall of Shame." This is where we post the "before" pictures of our selves.
Only a few people have used it, but I think it helps me to see what I don't want to see. It makes me want to change it.
So here I am, posting my wall of shame pics here today.
Every month I plan on taking a pic even if I have not lost weight. Maybe it will remind me that I am doing this for a reason.

The Skinny Sister

I am Tracy.
I am 28.
I am a mother of 6.
I have brown hair.
I have brown eyes.
I have a wonderful husband.
I have a wonderful home.
I have an amazing family.
I have high blood pressure.
I am fat.
I am so fat, that if I do not do something about it, I will never see my 6 children grow up to be amazing adults, with brown hair, brown eyes, wonderful husbands/wives, wonderful homes, and amazing families.

I have 2 sisters. Both are heavier than me. Both try to lose weight. I am the smallest. By one pound. My sisters and I have always been competitive. I have decided to try to stay the skinny sister, and if I try to stay the skinny one, they may try to keep up with me, to beat me, so that I am NOT the skinny one. Either way, we are going to lose some weight. And we will all be better off for it.

Many times I try to blog. Most times I fail. I quit, just like I do a lot of things. Not today. Not this blog. Not this time.

To the gym, Batman. To the gym.