I'm done dieting!!!

I am so tired of dieting, only to gain all the weight I lost and more back again!! I am sick of it! I am tired of depriving myself of the stuff I love just to lose a pound here and there, but nothing significant! I have no motivation! Sure, I would LOVE to be thin, fit, hot, whatever... but unless you are going on some lose it quick(and gain it back just as quick) diet, you don't see enough of a difference in a short period of time to stay motivated to keep dieting...

So, I am done! I am no longer going to look for the quick fix...

Having said that, I do NEED to lose weight. I am NOT healthy. I don't like the way I look or feel. I don't WANT to be FAT anymore... so here is what I am going to do to make a "lifestyle change":

• Drink water - duh... this is a given. In order to do this, I will probably give up pop, but will not give up my coffee(which I don't drink every day) or iced tea(which I just drink sometimes...)
• Get some sort of exercise - probably just walking around taking pictures, but it is something!
• Smaller portions - I will still eat the food I love, I will just eat less of it.
• Slower eating - eat slower, take smaller bites, make myself feel full before I eat all my food!
• REWARD MYSELF - this is the biggy... I know the weight loss is a reward in and of itself, but I am thinking something more tangible would be more fitting!

Goals and Rewards:

10 lbs lost: Coffee at Starbucks(this means, until I lose 10 lbs, no Starbucks!! UGH! There is some motivation! lol)

20 lbs lost: $20 to spend at Archivers! Woot!

30 lbs lost: New pair of jeans - I will definitely need them!!

50 lbs lost: New lens kit from Lensbaby!

70 lbs lost: New hair cut, color, style, whatever I want! 

90 lbs lost and GOAL!: New clothes!! A whole lot of them! lol Maybe give myself a style makeover at this point!

Ok, so maybe this will help move me along in my weight loss!! I am starting at 210 lbs. I want to get down to 120 lbs. (I am 5'2" so no comments on how 120 is too thin... it's not...)

Blog-Cation

Sorry guys, I guess I went on a little Blog-Cation... I have just been so busy and I sit at my computer at work all day, and don't really want to sit at my computer at home all night... makes my butt hurt! LOL Anyway, I will try really hard to get better at blogging!

Last weekend we had a great time hosting some posing workshops at our photography studio. This weekend we are going on a photo walk of Weston Bend State Park and Weston, MO with our Kansas City photographers meetup group! It will be COLD but should be a lot of fun!:)

Let's see... what else... oh, I hate making goals for the year, because I always end up messing them all up! I am doing great on my Project 366... other than that, not so good! I will start doing better! I need to lose some weight, but I can't decide how I want to go about that! Also, I need to get back on budget... we eat out way too much, but we also buy groceries... why??? Do one or the other... not both, geez!! I think tonight we are going to have tacos and nachos with meat. Tomorrow night, who knows... see?? I need to get better at planning!

Also, I have Wednesdays off, but I have so much I have to pack into that day that I need Thursdays off just to recover from Wednesday! UGH!

Tuesday and Wednesday

So, I just found out the app from my phone does not always post my blogs posts when I write them on my phone... boo!! So, yesterday I was at work all day, then I made these Volcano Cookies, using the chocolate chip cookie dough recipe off the back of a bag of mini chocolate chips, and instead of Dove candy I used Hershey's nuggets... because they were cheaper. I also used whole wheat flour, and I discovered ALL of my brown sugar was hard as a rock, so I used regular sugar and some molasses to make my own. I made the dough in my Ninja blender... kept having to add more flour, so I need to find a good cookie dough recipe for the Ninja, because it did not work like it does on the infomercial! Also made strawberry/blueberry smoothies in the Ninja! I love my Ninja!

So, for dinner, we are going to have Baked Chicken Fingers with Chick-Fil-A sauce, Shelly's mac and cheese and I might make Rolo Cookies for dessert if I get really ambitious! I also think we will have fries since we have a ton of them in the freezer.

Baked Chicken Fingers:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

2T olive oil

1 c bread crumbs

2T grated Parmesan cheese

1t dried oregano

1t chili powder

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

Coat chicken with olive oil. Combine the rest and coat chicken strips with it... probably best to do this in a ziplock, like shake and bake!:) Bake 10 minutes at 400˚F, turn chicken and bake another 5-10 minutes. I am going to cook these in the toaster oven, since that is what I have... so I will adjust the cooking time as needed.

Had to cool them way longer than stated, but they are yummy! I used Italian bread crumbs in place of the spices. Also made Chick-Fil-A Sauce:

1 cup Ken's Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

2t smokey BBQ sauce - I used some Silver Dollar City stuff that was on sale

That's it, mix it up and enjoy! WOW!!

Menu Monday

Yesterday I had stamp club, which is always fun, but this time my friend Jane came with me! :) I'm so excited that she has joined, so we get to spend that time together every month. I made Valentine cards and a birthday card for Stephen. When I for home, we had chicken tacos and watched a movie with Xander, Mars Needs Moms. Cute movie and it was great to get to spend time with our little man. He is growing up way too fast :(
Ok, so menus for this week:
Monday: pizza
Tuesday: Sausage biscuits
Wednesday: I'd like to try a new recipe
Thursday: Pasta with meat and cheese
Friday: going out with family because Devin its going back to school Saturday
Weekend: we have photography workshops, so we will play it by ear
I'm about four rows away from finishing my crocheted cowl that I'm working on! I'm too tired to finish it tonight but will post a picture when
I'm done! :)

Saturday 01/07/2011

I don't think we did much shopping today... last night we went to Bath & Body Works and got our friend a birthday present, then we went out with her and our other friend to the comedy club(Stephen got free tickets! Woot!) That was fun! We also bought a shelf to put in our closet in the living room/kitchen to hold some small appliances. Since we do not have a stove or oven, we have a lot of small appliances! lol

Today, we had 2 photo shoots! We love our business and our clients, so it was a great day!:) We had lunch at Jack in the Box. We had never eaten at one until we went to San Diego last summer and we were so happy when they brought them back to KC!

I forgot to blog yesterday because I just didn't have any time! As soon as I got home from work, Stephen and I headed to the city for our night on the town lol If I had blogged, it would have been about crocheting, and I am currently working on a scarf that I plan to tear apart because I ended up using 2 yarns that didn't work well together, and the Crochet-a-long, which I need to finish, it is a rectangle shawl using the Soloman's Knot or the Love Knot. I also started a pattern called the Ocean Lace Cowl, and I learned the Shell Stitch and V-Stitch, so I made my goal this week for one new stitch each week!:) I also got a new pattern for extra long fingerless gloves, so I cannot wait to start on those!

I am hoping to actually finish something soon so I can post a picture!

Thursday AnyTHing Goes 01/05/2011

So, we bit the bullet and bought the Ninja blender system! We decided it would be a good investment, and now I am trying to scour up as many recipes to try as possible! We made the strawberry smoothies that are in the recipe book that comes with the machine, and they were soooo yummy!!

Here are some recipes I want to try out:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/321772-ninja-recipes-looking-for-some

Tonight I went to my crochet chat at RAKJPatterns and I won a free pattern!! I chose this one!
I don't win things very often, so I am super excited! And I love OWLS, so I am so excited to be able to make an owl tote!!:)

Going to go watch a movie with my sweetie!:)

Wednesday 01/04/2011

No Humpday How To today... I had about 8 loads of laundry to do and I still need to fold it all and put it away. Also working on a few photo CD's, so I have been super busy! I also decided to delete some non-essentials off my main hard drive so that it runs faster... I have filled up 3 large hard drives with pictures and various other stuff... I need to buy myself a new terabyte drive!!

Ok, so I got my hair cut!:) I LOVE it!:)

I am doing a good job of keeping up with my goals for 2012! My personal goals are as follows(because I know my chart seems a little crazy!):

• Project 366 - take a photo everyday. I am doing this with my phone, so I will actually DO it! The best camera is the one that is with you!;)
• Blog daily - yeah, this one is tougher, because I actually have to think of things to say!
• Bible 366 - I am using an app on my phone to read the entire bible in a year!
• School discussions 4x week(this has not started yet, but will at the end of the month, and this is a way to make myself participate in classes more!)
• Walk 3x a week.
• Lose 1 lb a week = 52 lbs in a year!
• Crochet 1 item a week... ok this is a little ambitious, so I might not actually FINISH something every week but I will be working on something every week!
• Learn 1 new crochet stitch a week... I guess until I run out of stitches!
• Make 1 card a week!

Then, I have business goals and family goals that are pretty much what I need to be doing!