Daniel Plan TTTC...Day 3 and Day 4

The turkey meatloaf on day 2 was not bad. Forgot when I menu planned about the bread I usually put in meatloaf. So I guess technically I actually made flavored meat and not meatloaf. We made broccoli and cauliflower as sides. Meg and I took a quick 1-mile walk in the neighborhood. Go us.

Day 3

Thursday I stayed in bed 15 minutes longer than I should have and paid greatly for that poor choice. Dinner yesterday beef stew (I'm used the purple potatoes...nothing like spooning up gray potatoes!!!) that I put in the crockpot since it was Daniel Plan night and I wanted to workout after work. The girls had also had about enough with the breakfast smoothies so I’d told them I'd make eggs and bacon. I put the turkey bacon in the oven while I started chopping vegetables. So there I am in the kitchen, checking out the clock, chopping vegetables, keeping one eye on the turkey bacon in the oven and realizing that I still need to pack my gym clothes AND my lunch and that there is no time to make eggs. I'm about to start in on a MAJOR pity party when Meg stumbled into the kitchen and said, "Bacon!" grabbed a piece and then stumbled into the bathroom. Johanna then popped around the corner with a surprised look on her face and said, "Mom! You made bacon! How sweet!" ... so I started giggling and instantly my attitude totally changed. I still had to pack my gym clothes and my lunch but then I was doing it with a chuckle. I let the girls know that I didn't have time for eggs, grab a banana for my breakfast and out the door I went.

Surprisingly, after I ate my banana and a handful of almonds I wasn’t hungry until almost 1 pm! I had a wonky moment with my salad at lunch when a piece of lettuce got caught on the edge of my bowl and when it sprung free, it splurted a drop of balsamic vinaigrette into my eye! Not pleasant!

I did bring my clothes with me but once I found out Meg was going to go home, I chose to instead of working out, going to the church and doing some much needed cleaning and organizing of the SKC room.

The second session for the Daniel Plan group study went well. Thirteen of us plus Johanna and Gloria in the other room. Lots of laughs and sharing, which I love. I know I need to work on eating according to the Daniel Plate and I need to be more determined at carrying out my exercise plan.

 

Day 3

Breakfast: banana

Mid-morning snack: almonds

Lunch: mixed green salad with grilled chicken, sunflower seeds and homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Dinner: Beef stew

 

Day 4

Breakfast: Smoothie (1/2 cup water blended with big handful of kale and spinach, scoop of protein powder, cup of raspberries/strawberries/blueberries/blackberries, banana, almond milk)

Lunch: Beef stew

Dinner: Dr. Hyman’s Walnut-Basil Pesto Chicken. Not sure about the veggies. Zucchini or asparagus.

The re-start of the same adventure...Daniel Plan TTTC

Here I go…AGAIN. I’m going through the Daniel Plan group study for my third time. The first time I blogged about it, it was just the Daniel Plan. Second time was Daniel Plan Part Deux. This adventure I shall name Daniel Plan TTTC (third time’s the charm).

It’s not that the Daniel Plan doesn’t work. It does. But it doesn’t work if you don’t do it. I do fairly well during the study time and 40 days of eating but afterward, when I don’t have the boundaries set up, that’s when the yucky eating sneaks in. So having a plan for keeping on the Plan after the boundaries of the group study and 40 days are over is what’s going to make it or break it for me.

We met for the first of the six group studies last Thursday. We had 8 people show up and I had emails from people who forgot, had a bad day, didn’t want to get out in the yucky, cold, drizzly mess that was last Thursday. I think we’ll have 12-14 people involved, which will make for some lively discussions.

My family started our 40 days yesterday. I needed time to get the pantry in order and to grocery shop and time had just passed me by in the weeks leading up to the first session. Meg and I worked a miracle at the house and threw away a LOT of expired stuff and bagged up a lot of non-DP (not Daniel Plan okay) foods to take to the church to give away. Let’s just say that after 1.5 days of the detox (first 10 days are no gluten, no dairy, no sugar, no caffeine on top of the regular whole foods/no processed/no artificial sweetener foods Daniel Plan thing), I’m over it. Sorry. That’s a pretty cruddy attitude but I am. At the very least I’m ready to not be on the detox because this girl is HUNGRY!! I know that I’m not doing well with eating according to the Daniel Plan Plate (50% non-starchy vegetables, 25% lean protein, 25% starchy veggie/whole grain and a low-glycemic fruit) and that’s probably my biggest problem and the reason why I’m so blasted hungry. So I’ll work on that and see if that helps keep me full.

Day 1

Breakfast: Smoothie: raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, banana, a couple handfuls of spinach/kale, a cup of coconut water, scoop of protein powder.

Mid-morning snack: almonds

Lunch: salad of mixed greens with grilled chicken, homemade balsamic vinaigrette

Dinner: Salsa chicken (chicken breast baked with homemade taco seasoning and salsa) and corn (no non-starchy veggie…bad!)

Snack: air-popped popcorn

Exercise: Week 4, Day 1 of Couch to 5K plan. 5min warmup walk, 3 min jog, 90 sec recovery walk, 5 min jog, 2.5 min recovery walk, 3 min jog, 90 sec recovery walk, 5 min jog, 5 min cooldown walk.

Day 2

Breakfast: Smoothie: Jamba Juice Green Fusion smoothie mix (and, dang it, I didn’t read the ingredients this morning and just found out that it has stinkin’ sugar in it! So much for the shortcut!) with coconut water, protein powder and 1 T of Chia seed

Mid-morning snack: organic mixed nuts

Lunch: Turkey wraps (turkey wrapped in romaine lettuce with some mustard), apple

Dinner: Meatloaf made with ground turkey, broccoli and not sure what else

Exercise: not sure

 

How long until I can eat my lunch?

Catch-up

I’ve been pretty quiet on the Daniel Plan front, haven’t I? I’ve kind of been quiet on all fronts. I

"If you can't say something nice, don't say nuthin' at all!"

learned from Thumper that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. And frankly, I haven’t had a lot to say nice. Well, that’s a lie. I can always find something nice to say…although I don’t always say it. It’s just that there has been so much that it’s been shadowing everything. But I’m determined to not let it anymore. I've said more before but I'm not going to here. I'm walking the Thumper Road and since I can't say something nice, I'm not saying nuthin' at all!

Anyhow, back to the Daniel Plan. Tonight is the last meeting. Yep, we made it through the entire study. Kenny’s lost almost 20 lbs (stinker) and I’ve lost anywhere from 5-10 lbs…depends on if the scale decides to like me that day. I am very proud of myself for getting through the entire six week study. Kenny’s and my 40 days of eating the Daniel Plan way ends next Friday since we got such a late start due to not beginning until after we took Lorie back to school. Kenny is so happy with his weight loss and with how he feels that we’ll pretty much stick to the Daniel Plan way of eating as a normal way of life (at least that’s the plan. It was the plan when I did it back in January but the nasty foods crept right back in).

Meg in uniform

We are firmly into marching band season. We have a little more than 2 weeks until our first

competition. It’s very exciting. We haven’t used the props yet, but hope to get them on the field at the next game which is the week after next.

I’m still trying to work out what my job is and what it isn’t. It’s kind of frustrating sometimes but I do really like the people I work with and am happy that I can dress up and not find myself crawling around on a teacher’s floor trying to re-hook some piece of electronics that someone unplugged.

Pretty boring stuff, to be honest.

I will take some time to hype an audiobook I just listened to, “Unglued” by Lysa Terkeurst was really well done. I could totally relate to this woman and if she lived anywhere near me, I would want to be her best friend because she totally gets me! I laughed, I cried (a little), I was struck speechless a LOT. I think I’m going to purchase the paper book of hers so I can highlight and write some notes. I’m also going to look her up and get another one or more of her books. She’s part of the proverbs31 woman website, so I’m going to have to give that another whirl. I’d stumbled across the website a couple years ago. I don’t remember why I haven’t been more engaged with it.

And last, but certainly not least, Jo has her driver's permit. She conned me into letting her drive home from Walmart the other day. My fingers have finally unclenched themselves from the claw form they were in, but there are permanent fingernail grooves in the handle of my car. Poor thing.

She's actually not a bad driver for an absolute beginner. But there's just something about being in a car with your 15-year old at the wheel and your heart being in your throat that makes you want to go berzerko!!

Daniel Plan, part deux-days 8-12

Yowzers! How did all this time go by without me checking in? Today was my easy week, too! I have no excuse! Anyhow I’m still sitting at 181.2 so that’s disappointing…

Anyhow, I’m tired still. I tried walking a mile last night and taking a bath with lavender scented Epsom salts…but still woke up at 3am and tossed and turned the rest of the night.

Foodwise, we did really good. The 10-day detox was done yesterday. We enjoyed spaghetti for dinner. I think we’ll still be watching how much dairy and gluten we put in our bodies to help keep us on track.

I don’t remember what exactly I had for breakfast (smoothies every day) or lunch (usually leftovers) but I did manage to write down what dinner was each night:

Monday: turkey burgers, broccoli/cauliflower mix

Tuesday: Baked chicken with either green beans (Kenny) or brown rice with broccoli/carrots

Wednesday: veggie stew

Thursday: Whole-wheat spaghetti with sauce made from tomato paste, olive oil, garlic and spices, 5-grain rolls, corn and (for me) broccoli slaw with vinaigrette dressing

Tonight the big football game between county rivals (one school I work for and the other school my kids attend). I have about 30 minutes after I get home to walk the dogs, change, throw down some food and then get back in the car to head to the kids’ school to help load equipment before buses leave. I’ll get a lot of exercise from loading and unloading instruments so I’m not going to do any formal exercises.

This week, the Daniel Plan Essential we are focusing on in: Fitness. So we’ve studied: Faith, Food, and now, Fitness. This is one this that tends to mess me up. I can handle the food pretty well. The fitness part gets me every time. I did come home from the study and after the sunset (it’s 95 and MUGGY here in Georgia right now) Meg and I walked to the front of the subdivision, which is one mile. I’ve tried to either stand at my desk or walk around more during the day, since I’m so sedentary at work.

I’m actually trying to set up a time for me and two friends to meet at the gym and work out tomorrow and maybe in the future. And I’ve made plans to do Zumba on Tuesday with friends (at a gym) and Thursday with DVDs after the Bible study.

Go me! (Especially if I go through with it!)

Daniel Plan, part deux-day 3

Headaches abound! I feel like I am one big headache and stuffy headed person. I’m taking my Zyrtec and nosespray as usual so I’m assuming that this is either the toxins coming out or that I’ve caught a cold. Kenny feels crummy, too, which also could just be the toxins or that we’ve caught the same cold since we spent all weekend together in the car. I’m still a day behind on blogging so this is about yesterday/day 3. Maybe I’ll catch up at some point and blog at night about my day…and maybe I won’t. Depends on how saucy I get to feeling.

The Daniel Plan group is great. Emails flying and encouragement coming left, right, and center. Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Yesterday was one of those Cinderella days for me. I was feeling low because I’m still not an integral part of the team at work and although I have a nice little office with my name over the door, I still feel like I’m unnecessary. Since the girls had band practice until 6, I had to deal with the dogs. I felt mega-guilty about leaving them in the pen while I swept and mopped because they’d been crated up all day with no human companionship (coming off of a whole 3 months with someone there almost all day/every day). But the floors needed some attention and I HAVE to get this house on a routine…for my own sanity. I did my & Kenny’s laundry and changed my sheets on Monday (and some dish towels), Jo’s laundry on Tuesday, and yesterday finished up the delicates while I swept and mopped the family room, kitchen/dining/entry way, and my bedroom. I need to scrub down my bathroom today (yuck). Besides just needing to do it for sanitary reasons, I want to start taking Epsom salt baths at night to calm and draw out more toxins. Plus I’m having a hard time getting my quiet time in. I’m the children’s leader, leading a Bible study and a mom…I gotta have my Bible time!!!

Last night I also went by Kroger’s because everyone at Daniel Plan raved about their organic/gluten-free section. I was actually a bit confused. I do appreciate that they have everything grouped together but I still could not find cheap tahini!! I broke down and bought some though. I’m such a schmuck. J

After I got the house stuff done that I needed to get done, I realized that I didn’t have time to work on Sandra’s flyer anymore. Luckily she won’t need it until next Tuesday. I needed to get dinner ready. One of my favorite recipes from the Daniel Plan book is Dr. Hymans Walnut/BasilPesto Chicken. Unfortunately, I got popped by some grapeseed oil and burnt the snot out of two of my toes and in between them. Hurt like anything! Dingaling didn’t think about the fact that I had aloe with lidocaine in my cabinet. I just put cold water on it and griped about it until I got home and Kenny was saying I needed to put something on it.

Today’s meals: banana/peanut butter smoothie with protein scoop for breakfast, lunch-hummus/carrots and an apple, snack: raw cashews, dinner: walnut/basil pesto chicken with broccoli/cauliflower. Water: 114 oz


Exercise: none. My toes hurt too badly to stuff into tennis shoes. But I figured since I'd sweated up a storm with the sweeping/mopping, I hadn't been totally sedentary!!

Starting weight: 184.8

Day 2 weight: 184.4

Day 3 weight: 184.2

Daniel Plan, part deux-Day 2

Day 2 was hard, I’m not gonna lie. I woke up with a headache and not feeling like I slept enough. But I had a plan for the day: Work, dishes/laundry, salsa chicken, work on Sandra’s flyer and print out Band minutes, band meeting, home.

So the day pretty much went like that except I didn’t feel like unloading the dishes, so that didn’t get done. And the printer decided it was going to be offline no matter what I did, so I had to leave earlier than I’d planned to go by the church to print out the Band minutes, which meant I had to finish Sandra’s flyer later. I also didn’t get to eat dinner since I ran out of time. The Band meeting was kind of irritating because all the stuff we went over, I’d already heard in the planning meeting and the budget meeting. So when we started over for the people who didn’t realize that the meeting started at 6:30 instead of 7, well, I was on edge.

I got home and took the dogs on a walk out to the front of the subdivision (1 mile…go me), I really need to remember to put their harnesses on since they have no idea how to walk well on a leash and I don’t have the time to teach them.

I did sit down and finish Sandra’s flyer and looked over my lesson for tonight before I went to sleep.

I didn’t eat dinner because by the time I got settled after the meeting, it was almost 9. I wasn’t hungry and I didn’t want to eat that late…so I didn’t.

Oh, and I looked it up and Ezekial bread does have wheat and gluten, now it’s organic gluten and sprouted wheat so if you’re gonna screw up with your gluten, that’s the way to go. But I still beat myself up a little for not eating right the VERY FIRST DAY!!! And the second time I did this!!! Ack!

Today’s meals: Strawberry/banana smoothie with almond milk and chia seeds for breakfast, organic raw cashews and spinach/kale chips (checked…gluten free) for snack at work, quinoa salad for lunch, hummus and carrots for snack at home, and 96 oz of water. I made “Salsa chicken” (chicken breasts baked with homemade taco season and salsa) for dinner but didn’t eat it.

Starting weight: 184.8

Day 2 weight: 184.4

 

Disappointing, but with the thyroid issue and just having ate right and walked one mile for one day, guess I might be expecting too much? I have to say that emails to my hubby, friends and Daniel Plan peeps have turned my frown upside down!

Here we go again!

Daniel Plan, part deux!

Yep, I'm a glutton for punishment. Today is day 1 of the plan for me and Kenny. The first Bible study session was last Thursday. However, since we left Friday after work to make the drive to D.C. we figured the better choice would be to start today (Monday). I took the day off so it wasn't too horrible. Tomorrow I'll have to deal with work, too. Ugh. I think I may have boo-booed, though, because I didn't even think about it and had some Ezekial bread. I think it's okay on the 30 days but not the 10 day detox. I'll have to check that out. :(

Days 1-10 are the detox: no dairy, no gluten, no sugar, no processed foods, no caffeine

How I ate:
Breakfast: Smoothie made with banana, blueberries, almond milk, protein powder, and chia seed.
Mid-morning snack: Hummus with carrots
Lunch: Turkey sandwich, Dijon mustard
Dinner: Baked chicken breast, brown Jasmine rice, green beans
Water: 80 oz.

Exercise: I shopped and did a lot of laundry and housework (I even weeded a bit!!) during the day. Jo and I took the dogs on a 1-mile walk!!

Gonna do a banana & strawberry smoothie tomorrow, a quinoa salad for lunch, probably some more hummus and carrots for a snack. Dinner....if I get up in time, I think I'll put some beef stew in the crockpot. I have a band booster meeting tomorrow night so I gotta do something easy or fast.

Day 1 down, 39 to go!

Daniel Plan...day 40

Well, I'm a bit embarrassed. This didn't go as planned, that's for sure. I ended up only losing 8lbs. I know that this program could have really made some changes in me and how I view food and exercise, but, if I'm being honest, didn't give it the chance it deserved.

The food part I think I came to an understanding with. I understand so much better the absolute yuck that I was putting in my body on a daily (and sometimes, hourly) basis so if I look at it in that light, it was truly worth it.

It also gave Meg and I something to work on together, so that was a good thing, too.

However, our small group study bombed. We are too busy. We only met two times in the past 6 weeks because of how busy we all are. Meg and I tried to continue it, but that was kind of hard. I could have pushed the situation (and probably should have since I'm the parent) but I didn't want her to resent the Bible study.

I did have the journal but only filled it out one time, I think.

And exercise. Hmmm... I can't really say anything because I'm not. Exercising, I mean.

Today is not a good day to actually be review this because I'm already battle some depression that comes with a visit from Aunt Flo. Add in a situation where I feel mentally and spiritually beat up and some being under the weather physically because of the heavy pollen count and you have one majorly grumpy, whiney, ready-to-cry-at-any-moment Tracy.

I'm going to step back, review what I did right and what I could have done better and then look at my calendar and pencil in a time to try this again. Maybe this time I'll join a Facebook or online group. I don't know. Maybe I'll just not do anything.

See? Whiney-butt!

Daniel Plan...day 27

Okay, so the Bible study is ending up to be a bust because we are all so busy with it being ball season. We'd planned to meet on Sundays after lunch but the church keeps planning things to do and we have to spend SOME time with our families!

Kim, Barbie and I did the first lesson ourselves as Jo and Meg were doing the scavenger hunt. The next lesson we all did together. The next lesson, Kim and Barbie forgot all about it. This next week is when we'll be going to the Fly Over Jerusalem thingy at Fernbank so we won't meet then either. Meg and I sat down (finally) to go over the first lesson that she missed and then the next day we did the lesson 3. I'm thinking I'll just let Kim and Barbie borrow the DVD and check it out for themselves. I don't know.

ANYWHOOOOO, lesson 1 is on Faith, lesson 2 is on Food and lesson 3 is on Fitness. Fitness is my problem child. Yes, I really wanted to dump Johanna out the car door so I could go to town on her Zaxby's fries last night (obviously, the child Daniel Plan's according to a different drummer). Yes, I'm finding it difficult to not snack on my normal snacky foods. Yes, I am busy thinking of what I'm going to eat on April 10 (April 9th is the last day of our 40 day Daniel Plan adventure). However, I'm getting by. Fitness? Not so much.

I think what really gets me is that a couple years ago I'd "got" it. I don't feel like I ever craved exercise or ever really wanted to do it, but I'd gotten in the habit and gotten over the part where the excuses on why not to do it made more of an impression. So as soon as the DVD was over, I put on my walking shoes and popped in my gal, Leslie Sansone and did one mile with Walking Away the Pounds. Then I was reminded just how out of shape I was. Two years ago, I could do all 5 miles on the DVD. Now, I can barely get to a mile. BUT, it's a mile I wouldn't have done otherwise! I didn't exercise yesterday as I'd planned because I was able to talk myself out of it. But I'm not letting that set me back and I'm planning on doing the mile as soon as I get home.

Foodwise, nothing new to see. Still mostly doing smoothies or ezekial bread with almond butter or peanut butter for breakfast, sandwich or leftovers for lunch. I had a salad for dinner last night. The night before I made the Walnut Pesto Chicken (yum!) and the night before that I made spaghetti using whole wheat pasta and the sauce with turkey meat and tomato paste/olive oil/garlic/spaghetti water. Tonight I'm making a version of one of my co-worker's recipes. It's a wild rice soup. It is COLD in Georgia (nice winter we're having this spring, I tell ya!). I didn't have an onion and didn't have the 10 cups of chicken broth it called for, because apparently I can't read a recipe well when I make out my grocery list. I need to stop by the grocery for some bananas for our smoothies, the ezekial bread that isn't disgusting (I prefer the one in the blue wrapper and accidentally bought the original in the orange wrapper...yuck), and the ingredients for Jo's (well, Pampered Chef's) salsa so she can make some fresh salsa for me.

I finally saw some downward movement in the scale again. Not sure how long it will last but I'm going to take it. I started this adventure at 185.2 lbs and today my scale read 177.2 lbs so that's 8 lbs. Course I've been down this road before so I'm not holding my breath. It would be sweet to lose 10-15 lbs total while doing this. I know I can't go back to eating the way I was and I know I need to get on the exercise train before this is over. I've got less than 2 wks to get myself motivated. Lord? I need you! I can't do this one on my own!

Daniel Plan...day 24

First of all, don't freak out. I know in my other Daniel Plan posts I've listed what I've ate. However, it's been 11 days since my last DP post and I wouldn't have the foggiest on what I ate for the last week and a half.

We're getting to the part where this has all gotten a bit old. I've learned some good lessons about the junk I chose to "nourish" my body with in the past and, hopefully,  have established some better habits. But I'm ready to eat like a normal person again. And, I gotta say it, NO, my tastebuds did NOT change in a week, two weeks or even three weeks. I don't crave sweets or chips or fries or fatty food. But if I want to have a burger and fries, then, doggone it, I want to have a burger and fries and not sit with a salad in front of me acting like it's the best thing I've had in my life.

Yes, since you've asked, I'm a little bitter about this. I counted on my body kicking in and my tastebuds doing their job. I counted on my body reacting to the healthy food I'm eating by shedding the extra fat and leaving me feeling healthy and happy. But if I'm going to continue to not sleep, not lose weight and feel like a slug? Then give me some Zaxby's French fries, STAT!

I've still only lost 5 or so pounds. I started at 185.4 ( I think...it may have been 185.6 or even 185.2) and I jump around from 180 to 178.4. So depressing. Oh, and I had an episode with some pressure in my heart area that we kinda figured was either gas or stress. So I'm walking around burping for all I'm worth and trying to figure out how to de-stress my life a bit. Can't quit the jobs, can't stop being a mom, can't get Dayannah to get a clue, can't stop being a wife, can't stop people from wanting me to do stuff... I wanted to join back up at Body Tech, but who has the time? If I can't find the time to take a walk in the neighborhood, then how am I going to find time to go to the gym? Really! REALLY!!

I guess the best thing to do is to work on my inner dialogue because, frankly, looking back at what I just wrote is not only depressing but horribly whiney, too. I also need to make friends with my calendar a bit more. I know if I can stop procrastinating and use my calendar to better plan my time and to help me keep track of stuff, that I'll not be such a whack-job!

Hopefully, better things are coming if I can just get myself together and stop trying to "wing it."

Daniel Plan...Day 13

So glad that we started on the 1st. It makes it MUCH easier to remember what day I'm on!

It's one of those "blah" days, which followed a "blah-er" day. My get up and go is so far away, I'm not sure how it will ever come back.

As for Daniel Plan, we're off the detox part (no gluten, no caffeine, no sugars, no dairy). I'm still trying to be careful and only eat gluten in one meal and not going overboard on the dairy. Now, while I'm enjoying (surprisingly) trying new things, I gotta say that everything takes such a long time! Meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, clean up...they all require a heck of a lot more work than I usually put in and that just does not gel with my lifestyle. Anyhow, time to look back at the meals I've had:

Day 10's dinner was beef chunks in the balsamic vinaigrette we like to make now. Didn't turn out so good. I don't think I picked the right kind of beef as it was super tough. Guess I need to do some research on that. We also sliced the zucchini into coins instead of spears...and that didn't go over too good. I really think my oven is whackadoodle. I need to get that looked at now that we are cooking more.

Day 11 I made the regular blueberry/banana/flax smoothie for breakfast, had celery with peanut butter/apple/and something else but I can't remember for lunch. I grocery shopped after school and got my beloved wheat bread (hooray). Jo had her first home lacrosse game so after putting groceries up, I headed to the high school and for a treat since 1) it was her first home lacrosse game and 2) it got over at 7 and there was no time between getting home and leaving to make dinner, we went to Wendy's. I got my favorite apple, chicken, pecan salad. Meg did, too, but she didn't like it. Poor baby. She was so looking forward to getting off the detox. Jo went totally rogue and ate off Plan and relished it.

Day 12, again my regular smoothie for breakfast. For lunch I mixed Greek yogurt with tuna and stuffed it and romaine lettuce in a small oat/flax/wheat pita pocket. I had carrots and brought an apple which I didn't eat. Dinner was chicken that I'd put in the crockpot with salsa and left on low all day. I made the gluten-free corn tortilla crisps from the book (not bad) and had some corn with it. I put a dollop of Greek yogurt on it in place of my normal sour cream. We failed in that we didn't include a non-starchy vegetable. :(

Today I finally made Dr. Hyman's whole food smoothie, with one exception...I didn't have pumpkin seeds. It's a combo of blueberries, banana, a little almond milk and some water with chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, brazil nuts, almond butter and pumpkin seeds. It blended up okay but the recipe said that it served 3. It didn't make much more than the amount I normally drink for my breakfast smoothie. I should have listened. That drink is dense. It's also...earthy. The blueberries and banana don't do much to add any flavor, that's for sure. It's also, well, chewy. BUT, I drank about a third of the cup and couldn't handle anymore...I was full and satisfied. It's 9:30 and I'm still okay and not doing what I usually do, looking at the clock to see how long it will be until lunch! I'll make this again...but this time only take a third so I don't waste it. Lunch is natural peanut butter (9 g protein in 2 tbs of sugarless peanut butter) on one slice of whole wheat bread, carrots and a banana. Dinner tonight is supposed to be spaghtetti squash, turkey meatballs and the sauce I make from tomato paste that's so nummy, steamed fresh green beans and sliced apples. Tomorrow night we are making turkey burgers and Paula Deen's healthier macaroni and cheese from the recipe she put together for Dr. Oz. So excited about "real" comfort food!

Oh, and weight-wise, on day 11, it went down .2 lbs, day 12 stayed the same and this morning I was down .8 lbs. I also told my Bible study buddies that I was going to try to be more active this week and wanted them to hold me accountable. Monday I did 6 EMS laps (450 steps each) and a mile in the neighborhood, Tuesday nothing, yesterday I only got in 2 EMS laps but did a mile in the neighborhood in the blustering wind (seriously, I was being bounced around out there). I'm planning to get in a mile when I get home today, too. Go me! I'm definitely exceeding what I did last week...which was NOTHING!!!

Daniel Plan...Day 10

It’s day 10 of the Daniel Plan and I’m having a hard time. For 8 straight days the scale went down…sometimes no more than .2 lbs but .2 lbs down is still .2 lbs not on my body, right? Well, yesterday and today my weight is back up. I know I should base my self-worth on my weight and in my head, I’m mentally smacking myself for even giving into this feeling, but…I’m trying to be honest with myself and I honestly feel like a failure.

So, trying to be honest AND logical about the whole deal, I know I didn’t drink enough water this weekend and I know that yesterday’s meal at Don Tellos was a total bust. But to know that I would eat nasty, awful, bad/bad/bad/bad/bad stuff all the time and my weight would s-l-o-w-l-y creep up and then I have two days where I don’t drink water and have ONE bad meal and I pork on almost 2 pounds? The bad angel is screaming at me “give up.” I’m not going to because my good angel also has a chorus with the names of Kim and Barbie telling me to hang in there. All the same…

So during yesterday’s Bible study, we took on the Essential of Food. So timely because we were all feeling pretty badly about lunch. I also need to keep my eye on the Fitness Essential because I’m not doing well with that at all. And that frustrates me to no end. Yesterday, my brother-in-law posted a picture of my sisters and I from two summers ago on Facebook. That’s when I’d lost almost 30 lbs and was walking 2-3 miles a day and loving (well, putting up with) exercise. You would think it would spur me on to trying to be better, but it doesn’t. I’m sitting here trying not to cry because I’m so frustrated with myself.

So what’s the best thing to do when you are feeling down? Help someone else and find something to make you smile. I just came back from helping someone and that did nothing for me. (I’m such a putz.)  Laughter next: I’m trying to remember the Bible study yesterday and Kim’s little sweetie grunting out her BM. Jo was sitting next to her and suddenly blurted out, “It that smell all Gloria?!” So much for teaching my child manners and the fine art of subtlety. The room dissolved into laughter, we paused the Bible study DVD, Kim took the baby to change her and Jo went to find some Lysol. As Meg, Barbie and I are sitting around giggling about what took place, the next thing you know, Kim’s in the doorway. I don’t even listen to what she’s saying because she’s got Gloria with her feet in one hand and raised up and her other hand holding the baby up. We can see that she’s oozed out one of the legholes. Then she turns and walks in the other room. I’m dying laughing and remember other instances of baby blow-outs I’ve experienced when Barbie says, “I think she needs to some help.” (which is what Kim had said, but I was too busy laughing to process.) Off we go to the rescue. That child had it all over. We laughed until we cried. I still dissolve into giggles when I think about Kim coming to the door with Gloria hanging upside down (and Gloria with the biggest grin on her face).

And that reminds me why I’m doing this thing with my girls and with my friends. Because they can make me laugh and bring me out of the doldrums even when they aren’t around!

And, to top it all off, Kenny’s taking the dogs out for their morning walk for another week for me!!! Score!

So now that I’m back to my happier self, let me report in on Day 7’s dinner and Day 8 & Day 9 (if I can remember that far!)

Day 7’s Chicken Walnut Pesto dinner was fabulous! I mean, really nummy. I will make that again in a heartbeat. We had brown rice and roasted yellow squash for the sides.

Day 8 I made a blueberry/banana/flax seed smoothie for breakfast and had leftover Chicken Walnut Pesto and sides for lunch. For dinner we went to Applebees and I ordered the grilled Oriental Salad without the crunchy noodles. I asked for the oriental vinaigrette on the side and good thing because that thing wasn’t clear…it was opague and when I tasted it, lots of sugar there! I enjoyed the salad anyhow.

Day 9 I made another blueberry/banana smoothie (didn’t do the flax seed cuz I didn’t want to burp my way through church). Here’s where it fell apart. We went to Don Tellos for lunch and we convinced ourselves that the corn tortilla chips and salsa were okay to eat. And then I bulldozed my way through a couple baskets of it. I ordered Nachos Grande without the cheese or sour cream. Then we went to Bible study and we all agreed that the chips were probably not Daniel Plan okay. We were all feeling sluggish and guilty (except, perhaps, Johanna. I think she was okay with the slip.) So…oops! Anyhow, I was so full that I didn’t eat any dinner except munch on some nuts.

Day 10 started out with no ripe bananas so I made a tropical smoothie with some frozen pineapple, strawberry, mango fruit, coconut milk and protein powder. It was okay. It was kind of flavorless, to tell the truth. I think it suffered for not having the banana. Anyhow, since I need to stock up on groceries but waited since TODAY’S THE LAST DAY OF THE DETOX!!!, I have a weird lunch. I have leftover yellow squash and rice, some blackberries, and celery with natural peanut butter (9 g of protein in 2 tbs, no sugar). Tonight I’m going to marinate beef chunks in the balsamic vinaigrette and sauté them, and more brown rice and roast more zucchini. Gotta do it quick when I get home because I have a meeting at 5:30 and one following it at 6:30. Gack! Hoping to have enough leftovers for Meg, Jo and I for Tuesday lunch!!

Also, I’m down 5 lbs and my waist dropped a half inch over the past 10 days.

Daniel Plan...Day 7

Still the hardest thing for me with this is the lunches. I keep thinking I’m making enough to feed everyone and have leftovers for lunch, but the gentlemen in my life are watching their portion control, so there’s usually nothing left. You can only have romaine and turkey wraps so many times. So far, I’ve had them once. And that was enough.

Wait, I think actually the hardest part is having to shop all the time. I feel like all I do is plan to go to the store. I have to be better at menu planning, I’m thinking.

So the last time I blogged about DP (oooo…makes me miss my Dr. Pepper’s), it was Day 5 and I had no idea what to make for dinner. I fell back on my failsafe and made broiled chicken with brown rice and green beans.



Nummy, non-roasted,
non-salted trail mix.
But the cranberries
have sugar. :(

Yesterday, I made a banana, blueberry, and flax seed smoothie for breakfast. I found this awesome, super, fantastic trail mix that I thought was going to work out for snacking at work between meals.
But I was wrong. It is lovely, but I didn’t follow my own rules and read the ingredients. There’s cane sugar with the cranberries. I can eat it moderately once I’m off the detox part, but not now. So sad.

Any ways, lunch was natural peanut butter with carrot sticks and an apple. Kind went skimpy on that one. Dinner was nummy. It was rainy, cold, and windy yesterday afternoon. Nothing hits the spot when it’s rainy, cold, and windy like beef stew. The recipe from the DP book is for the crockpot so I just tweaked it for the stove. They call for red-skinned or purple potatoes. I found a bag of “celebration potatoes” that had red-skinned, white-skinned and purple potatoes. Those purple potatoes are purple all the way through. But when they are stewed, they lose the pretty purple and just kinda look rotten so I had to be sure to give a disclaimer as the family was scooping their portions.

Jo is enjoying the air-popped popcorn. Think she’d enjoy it more with a bit of butter. J Last night she asked me if I’d cheated on the Detox yet and, since I found out about the cane sugar TODAY, I said that I hadn’t and she changed the subject. Now that I know about the cane sugar, I’m a cheater. And so sad.

This morning I weighed myself and I am .2 lbs from being down 6 lbs so far. “.2 lbs” you say? Yep, I’ve got a scale that measure in .2 lbs increments so I take or leave them as the case may be. Big Kenny’s already dropped 5 lbs and he’s not even doing the Detox, he’s just trying to make better food choices.

Today’s breakfast was the Quinoa Breakfast Bake from the DP book's recipes. I had such high hopes because after making the quinoa, you add a couple eggs and some cinnamon and get to put some nut butter (I chose almond butter) on top. It wasn't very tasty. I thought being able to chew on something after all the mornings of glugging smoothies was going to make a big difference, but it didn't. The best part of the deal was the almond butter! Lunch is leftover chicken breast, spinach salad, balsamic dressing, and an apple. Tonight I’m making the “Chicken Walnut Pesto” from the DP book. I’m wracking my brain to find a different word than “pesto” cuz there ain’t no way my man is eating “pesto.” That’s a fact!

Still not doing so hot on the exercise front. I’ve only taken one lap here at school today. I’ve got to get myself together and get my rear in gear!! I’ve done it before, I need to do it again!

Daniel Plan...Day 5

Last night I went to my daughters’ high school band concerts. As with every other staged performance I’ve ever gone to within the school system, again I was floored by the people that talk the entire way through the concert. I felt like asking them if I should talk to the band director and get them to not play so loudly so as to not interrupt their conversation! I sincerely don’t understand why some people even come to a performance if they aren’t going to be a good audience member. It just really irks. But at least I had a full belly. Otherwise I may have had to say something.

Monday night Jo found a recipe for a dressing that she liked (the one from the Daniel Plan book is too lemony for her and Meg). I used some of it on my salad yesterday and the whole time I ate I kept thinking that it would be GREAT on some chicken. And I was right. On my way home I stopped by Publix to get some stuff I’d forgotten (3^rd grocery trip this week, Kenny’s gonna FREAK!) and picked up some chicken cutlets. Meg made up some more of the dressing and sautéed the chicken. We steamed some asparagus and made some brown rice for the sides. Little Kenny gave it two thumbs up and Big Kenny finished it off so I’m guessing we can make this again! Unfortunately with it being so good, that meant that there was none for Jo, Meg and/or I to bring for lunch. Sad face.

This morning I had another strawberry/banana smoothie, but this time with no mishaps when I made it. I made sure the bottom of the blender jar was on nice and tight. I added some flax seed thinking to add some protein and some bulk and maybe I wouldn’t be too hungry by 9 am. I was wrong. I was still hungry and now had flax seeds stuck in my teeth. The DP allows for some snacks so I need to bring some almonds or carrots/celery with me to munch on between meals.

Lunch was leftover quinoa, raw spinach and some of the lemony dressing. I’m still hungry. Someone brought in orange creamsicle-scented soap for the ladies’ room so I’m walking around with my hands pressed to my nose. That’s not creepy at ALL!

I didn’t get much exercise except for walking around school yesterday. I purposefully didn’t “group” my errands or tasks to be close together and forced myself to go to a room and then go back to my office to update Helpdesk. Not very efficient, but it made me move so much more! I’ve only taken one EMS loop today. I did intend on doing one loop per hour but that hasn’t happened yet.

What we’ll eat tonight, I don’t know because I haven’t planned it yet. Guess I need to get on that. It’s a church night so I need to find something quick-cooking.

In the meantime, Kenny’s been taking the dogs out on their early morning run for me all week. It has been so nice. Next week I’m going to have to get up 20 minutes earlier just to get everything done plus take care of the dogs. And we lose an hour this weekend! Fabulous!

The start of something new...almost

This is actually the freakout BEFORE the start of something new. I’m a nervous wreck. In full disclosure, I’m munching on a fun-size Twix from a Valentine baggie I found on my desk this morning. What am I so nervous about? Well, the Daniel Plan. We’re going to do it. Me, in all my “wisdom” bought the book and read it and then opened my big mouth to my family. Kenny is wavering but Meagan is all for it. I’m making Jo do it. She’s not happy but not as stinky about it as I thought. Course, we haven’t even started yet. Then, to make matters worse, I invited a couple friends along for the ride. AND THEY SAID YES! We will start the eating part on March 1^st and end on April 9^th (40 days). We are going to do the Bible Study together and meet on Sundays to watch the DVD and go over the study part together. Oh. My. Word. What have I done?

Now, I can see what I look like in the mirror and I know what the scale and what the tape measure says, so it’s not like this is NOT needed. I also know how badly I feel and am 99.99999999% sure it has a lot to do with the junk that I put in my body.

In the meantime, I’m not doing myself any favors with how I’m eating (I finished off the fun-size Twixs and am mowing my way through the SweetTarts). I’m too cheap not to try to eat up the junk that I’ve already purchased that’s in my house. We’re going to start working this week on the kitchen. We’ll pull everything that is not Daniel Plan friendly and put in a box and then stuff that is not Daniel Plan Detox-worthy (10 days of no sugar, no processed food, no dairy, no gluten and no…I’m missing something)

In the meantime, I’m getting back on my water. For awhile there I was drinking half my weight in ounces every day but with all the snow/ice days, I got myself off track. Plus, now that I’m back at work, I’m planning on doing a school loop once an hour. I already screwed that up for today as I didn’t do a loop at 8 or 10, but I did get in one at 9 and just did my one for the 11 o’clock hour. Not sure how I’ll do that with the other school…I’ll have to figure that one out. But one of the things that the trainer from the Daniel Plan Rally video Meg and I watched said was for people with sedentary jobs to get up once an hour and do something. I’m thinking at the other school since I have an office with no way of people seeing in (unlike my office where I am now…totally open to anyone and also a cut-through the teachers get from the back hall to the media center), maybe I can do push-ups/sit-ups/that sort of thing. That’s a thought.

Anyhow back to what I started on. I’m a nervous wreck. It’s a whole new way of eating. Plus, I really don’t want to screw it up. I guess it’s actually a good thing that I do have the girls and my friends along for the ride. They’ll give me the additional impetus to actually see this through.

I hope.

Oh, what a day!

I'm still sick, but I think I'm on the other side of the mountain. I gathered up the energy to go to the movies with the girls so I didn't disappoint. I  hate the number of times I've screwed up something because I was sick. We went to see, "Frozen." Cute movie and so sweet that the love part of the movie was the bond between sisters. Aw! Lorie took us out to Don Tellos which was strange since I'm not very hungry and I can't taste much. :)

We came home and I stayed out in the living room with the girls instead of holing up in my room. I tried to make Forgotten Chicken but put it in the crockpot on low like a moron since I only had 4 hours before dinner. Guess what? The chicken wasn't done so I had to put it in the oven which dried it out. Ah well, the rest of them liked it.

I bought "The Daniel Plan" and oh, my, Kenny is never going to go for that! I'm not sure I'm up for it, to be honest. I know in my mind that eating clean is better for me but is a whole lot of thinking to do in order to eat stuff I don't like and don't wanna learn to like. Maybe I can do it for 40 days like the book touts. If I do, I'll wait until Kenny and Lorie go back to school. In the meantime, I can at least pay attention more to what I'm eating. Guess I should not push Meg to finish making those cookies and desserts I bought the stuff for!

I also found www.aslobcomesclean.com . I wish I could remember where but I don't. Maybe via Bloggy Moms? That sounds about right. I posted a comment on her Facebook page which Anne saw and the next thing ya know, she's joined and posted a comment, too! I love my sisters. I did manage to declutter a couple things: one of the junk drawers in the kitchen (the small one), my drawers and cabinet under the sink in the bathroom and my nightstand drawer. Yeah me!

So here's my goals for this next week: 1) get healthy already! 2) add 15 minutes of exercise (even just walking in place in front of the tube) every day, 3) wash face and brush teeth each night (I know, I should already do that but I'm a slob, okay?!), 4) take vitamins every day. So, #1 is kind of up to You Know Who but I'm drinking my water and laying low as much as possible. House-wise I'd like to get the cabinets and appliances in the kitchen wiped down, get the Christmas stuff put up, and get the girls hallway painted.

Maybe putting it in print will help keep me accountable. Not betting on it, though. I know me too well.