Category — Sensational Sundays

The title pretty much sums it up.

The day started with a bit of sauce making.  Notice my little chef in training and his FABULOUS play dough meat balls! It way my way of keeping his eager hands out of the raw meat. Worked like a charm! We even “baked” his in the microwave (no heat of course) and pretended to eat them. ;~)

I did not go to the gym today BUT I worked my tail off, cleaning, moving furniture, organizing.  I love starting the New Year off right so I spent some time just taking care of nagging household chores.

I also got ready for a small get together I’m having tomorrow night.  I’m doing a bunch of finger foods, hummus, shrimp cocktail, baked chips & salsa, fresh veggies.  I love hosting because I’m in control.  I’ll post all my updated recipes and maybe my whole party spread on GreenLiteBites in the next couple of days.  

Now on to this snack attack.  I don’t know WHAT happened between 10 and 11PM but I just wanted something sweet. I couldn’t shake it so I splurged on some sour patch kids.  I probably ate too many but at least it was better then those gosh darn smidgens.

For those wondering, a smidgen is a local candy company’s evil joke of putting the most creamiest, glorious peanut butter in the most smooth, milky, silky chocolate you have ever tasted.  Thanks GOD the husband has almost knocked them off and I know I can get some guests to indulge tomorrow.  I know, I KNOW it’s bad but more for them is less for me and I’m cool with that!

No menu today, I didn’t really jot anything down so it would be from memory anyway.  Check back tomorrow as I post my New Years goals and I have a surprise on the 1st!  

Talk to you tomorrow!

Update:I CAVED and had a few smidgens right before bed. Man they are TOO good! I must get rid of them today! ;~P

Yes, yes, yes, I gained.  I knew I did. It wasn’t a surprise. However, I am NOT letting it get out of hand.  I took control today and I feel GREAT!

So great actually I’m going to cut this short.  My Sensational Sunday was jam packed with cooking turkey soup, going to the gym, grocery shopping, unpacking, putting up the Christmas tree, cooking a healthy dinner and updating the umpteen sites I now feel compelled to update. ;~)

I’m going to head to bed and get a good night sleep so I can do it all again tomorrow! I will also update my weight progress tomorrow but just so you know the official Weight Watchers weigh in was 146 not the 148.5 below.  That was just my morning scale reading.  But see how fickle our friend the scale could be.  That’s a difference if 2.5 pounds in 1/2 hour!  

UGH!

I am sitting here with that gross overstuffed feeling.  Why? Why? Why am I doing this to myself?  I’ve been totally out of control on the eating front since Thursday.  Whoever told me to throw away the Girl Scout cookies was TOTALLY right.

I made a commitment to stay true to the blog so here goes…

Last night I proceeded to eat an entire sleeve of thin mints.  That’s right, one half of the box! I wasn’t hungry and I wouldn’t called it mindless eating. It was conscious eating. I was totally aware of what I was doing. I just didn’t care. I wanted them.

As if that wasn’t enough tonight I ate an entire bag of baked chips. And I’m not talking the small 2 serving type bags.

These are only 2 examples of my overeating splurges. There were more.

What is wrong with me?

I seem to be in the bad pattern of starting each day off awesome and then totally falling apart by bedtime.

However, I am NOT letting this ruin my Sensation Sunday.  I still had an awesome day, got tons of things done, spent time with the family and got to the gym. 

The day started with a fresh double batch of Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins baked with the toddler.  I love the fact that he is showing interest in helping me cook again.  I give him a bowl with some flour and spices allowing him to mix along side me. SO MUCH FUN!

After breakfast, we, of course, danced around the house and cleaned up.  Then it was off to the gym for my date with the wall.  Even though I reached my goal, I know I need practice. And I was right, I couldn’t do it a second time.  I climbed my heart out but my muscles just gave.  I’m not worried, I’ll get it again.  It’s tough! But a workout I love to do.  Speaking of workouts, even though my eating is out of control I’ve been  hitting the gym hard.  I almost feel as though I’m trying to counteract all the bad eating with exercise. 

Getting back to my Sunday, after working out the toddler and I hit the grocery store for weekly supplies.  I bought the biggest Butternut squash EVER! There is enough squash for about 3-4 trays of Butternut Squash Fries plus I experimented today and made a Butternut Apple Pear soup.  I’ll post it later in the week when I have a bit more time.

Let’s see, other things on this Sensational Sunday worth mentioning….  The family went for a short walk after dinner.  We hit a local Barnes and Nobles for new books and now It’s about time to finish the laundry.  Ahhhh  good old Sundays. 

Back to the out of control eating thing, I know all I need is a good day on plan. I also know I haven’t been drinking enough water.  So tomorrow’s goals…

• 20 points
• More water, a lot more water
• Meals planned (off to do that now)
• More fruits and Veggies

I rambled, vented, confessed and chatted enough.  I’m off to plan.  Hope you had a great weekend! I’ll be back tomorrow to post my sucessful day on plan!

This sensational Sunday started a bit groggy.  Last night I went to a haunted farm with a friend and her daughter.  We didn’t get back until well after 1AM and, of course, the toddler was up bright eyed and busy tailed at 7AM. I made him breakfast and snapped out of it but it took every ounce of energy to get my butt out of bed!

I decided early to make a crock-pot meal for this beautiful October Sunday. So after breakfast I prepared everything for my Beef Stew with Orange Fall Veggies and Orzo. Honestly, it’s what I had so I went with it. It made the house smell delicious ALL day!

Then the toddler and I jammed out while folding the laundry.  It’s amazing how much the little guys want to help so I put him to work organizing the socks! It’s too darn cute!

After laundry and a bit of clean up I was off to the gym. To my surprise, the toddler wanted to come so we decided to go as a family.  The husband played Basketball, the toddler made some new friends and I hit the bike.  Afterwards, the wall was open so I gave it a shot.  The medium incline still kicks my butt but I nailed the easy.  I will make it up that medium wall. I will! I’m making a date with that wall every Sunday until I do it!

After the gym, we decided to go to lunch and hit a local pizza place.  I splurged a bit on pizza and mozzarella sticks.  To be honest, my eating has been a bit out of hand all weekend.  Not a total catastrophe but I’ve been treating myself to food more then I should.  You know, the “ohhh I’ve been so good that extra slice of pizza won’t kill me” or the “It’s just a bag of chips, I’ve worked out today” type of treats.  Now I’m not saying they are bad every once it awhile but 3 days in a row and I can feel it becoming a pattern.  So tomorrow, I’ll be back to counting and tracking.

After lunch it wasn’t only the toddler napping.  ;~) We spent the rest of Sunday pretty lazy, watching Nemo, eating stew and hanging out.  MAN I don’t want to go to work tomorrow!!

Way back when I mentioned the husband’s love of my homemade spaghetti sauce. I mean he really loves this stuff. Between the months of October and April if it’s the only thing I made it would be the only thing he ate, no complaints. It’s quit hysterical, and flattering, I think. :~)

Anyway, now that the weather broke and it finally feels like fall, I made a huge batch. It was awesome. The smell through the house got me in the mood to bake so I made some Halloween Brownie Bites (I’ll post the recipe tomorrow). I truly LOVE being home on the weekends and cooking. It’s just a great time spent with the toddler, who by the way, appreciated both the sauce and the brownies! Nothing is more satisfying for me then to see the toddler eating good healthy food.

Besides cooking, I hit the gym and had a great workout this morning. The toddler has his tumble bees class Saturday morning at the Y and I’ve been taking advantage of the free child care afterwards.

Other news….

I’ve been working on a new site and I hope to have it ready in the next month or two. Since the “big crash”, I’ve lost the ability to customize WeightWatchen as much as I want to. I also realized there are quite a few recipes up here and I think we need a better way to access them, no? Along with the new site, I will be revamping some of my older food ideas. I think my recipe writing skills are getting better and more detailed since I started. I’m learning! ;~)

Oh! and keep an eye out on my DietDetective blog. My new post about “scale angst” should be up there soon,

That’s my Saturday news. I do plan on making tomorrow a Sensational Sunday! We are traveling to a local corn maize for a day trip. Every year we go, and every year we walk for about 2 hours straight. I love workouts that aren’t workouts!

I’ll be back tomorrow with the brownie pictures and Monday with my daily menus.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

You thought I forgot didn’t you? Well, more then likely you forgot but I’ll humor myself. ;~)

A few weeks ago I wrote about a goal to make every Sunday Sensational. I wouldn’t say I’ve failed this goal but I didn’t attack it with the same vigor as that first week.

Today started rough with a grumpy toddler and a hung-over husband. By mid morning we decided to suck it up and take advantage of the 90-degree October day (what’s up with that?!?) by going to a local farm. We took a hayride, picked out pumpkins and I got to do one of my favorite things, peruse the produce (yes, yes I know I’m geek).

This all sounds fabulous BUT on our way out of the farm, our car battery died. It took us 15 minutes to get a jump and then I spend the rest of the afternoon hunting down a battery. So not fun.

To make it worse I didn’t eat anything after breakfast. By 4PM I was famished and I hopped on the husbands idea to get pizza. Why oh why?!? You know my pizza history and I should know by now this is a recipe for DISASTER

Overeating Disaster

Mix all ingredients at local pizza parlor and serve.

So why am I still claiming this Sunday Sensational because I’m not letting one meal control my mood and ruin my day. I still got a lot accomplished (I’ve updated my workout progress, weight progress and recipe photos) and I still had a great day!

So I’m throwing out the idea Sensational Sundays again and I will be back next Sunday with a full report! Feel free to join me and use my cheesy graphic. ;~)

I have a new goal.  A goal I hope to get you all to make with me.  A goal to make every Sunday… Sensational!

My first Sensational Sunday started with a bang! A little feel good closet clean up.  I decided to combat my Friday Pizza woes with a feel good clothing purge.  I went through all of my old jeans, wait, let me rephrase that to sound even better, all of my old “skinny jeans” and tried them on.  I would wear these jeans when feeling good and having a little success on my many weight loss journeys.  Jeans I strived to get back into with each weight loss attempt. Jeans I was keeping around because a small part of me didn’t really believe I became the size I am today.  Well I’m happy to say they are gone! I donated them and  said goodbye to that size.  I’m also happy to report that I tried on each pair and as I slipped baggy pair by baggy pair on I felt more and more empowered.  That’s an odd word but it’s true.  I threw away pair after pair of jeans that for the majority of my life I struggled to stay in or strived to get back into.  I threw them away because they are TOO BIG.  Saying that aloud makes it even more real even after trying them on and having them fall off. It truly was a surreal experience. Note: I kept one pair just for those days I don’t recognize how far I’ve come.

In addition to the great jean giveaway, I had a FABULOUS morning with the toddler.  We danced out to the fun punk sounds of the 5.6.7.8’s, made omelets and shared a can of tropical fruit for breakfast.  I love this age! He now pulls up a chair and puts the cheese in his own omelet. It’s just too cute!

Then it was off to the gym for me.  I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and the upper body circuit.  I feel great and can’t believe I’ve become a gym rat. You have NO idea how strange it is for me to say that.  

After the gym, I dropped off the jeans and hit the grocery store to stock up on healthy food for the week.  I came home, finished the laundry, cooked dinner, prepared my lunch for tomorrow and went for an hour long after dinner stroll with the family. It was GREAT! 

So why am I telling you all this. Well, I think motivation is contagious and I think we can start a movement, a movement to begin our weeks, ever week, with a sensational Sunday. If we take just a little time to recognize what we have, where we are, where we’ve been and where we want to be we can set the tone for the week.  I plan to do this every Sunday and I hope you will join me. 

So what do you say? Will you make every Sunday a Sensational Sunday?