'Tis Himself

Yesterday, we took a ride to the Yankee Candle Factory flagship store. Besides miles of candles, there's a year round Christmas shop decorated like a Bavarian village. That's my favorite place in the whole store. I love Christmas ornaments. As we were wandering through, Himself happened to spot a tree decorated with Irish ornaments. Well, I just couldn't resist. Here they are hanging on the year round wall tree of the girls' ornament pictures.

Wednesday Weigh-In

After a standing still last week, I lost two pounds this week! Today, walking on the treadmill increased to 30 minutes. I walked a few minutes over the 30 minute mark just so I could make a mile. Last week, I had tried ramping up my walking speed, but only ended up with a sore hip and knee. The knee pain was most likely caused by old, ill-fitting shoes. For me the 30 minute time frame each day is working well. I don't feel as if I'm spending my entire day exercising and if need be, I can break the walk time into two sessions. So for me, at this point, the important factor is just to move, not to break speed records.

One problem I encountered during this week, was the craving for sweets. I have a saber-sized, sweet tooth especially for cookies and chocolate. I also have no control when it comes to amounts. I can demolish a box of cookies by myself or half a bag of Hershey Kisses. It was hard watching the girls enjoy a Little Debbie brownie, but I didn't give in. Instead, I've been substituting the cookie urge with graham crackers. I bought some chocolate ones and also Teddy Grahams. Three graham cracker squares is equal to one bread serving. Teddy Grahams come in a bunch of flavors and one serving is a whopping 24 little bears. It's amazing how long a box of cookies will last when you eat just the recommended serving.

Underneath the Cool Whip label, I found a recipe for an "ice cream" sandwich. I made them yesterday to rave reviews. They taste naughty, but aren't too bad for you, if you plan for them.

Frozen Yogurt-wich

1/2 c. any flavor non-fat yogurt
1/2 c. thawed Cool Whip Lite (I used Sugar Free Cool Whip)
8 graham crackers, broken in half (16 squares)

1. Mix yogurt and Cool Whip until blended.
2. Spoon onto graham cracker and top with a second graham cracker. You will end up with 8 sandwiches. Place on a foiled, lined baking sheet.
3. Cover with foil and freeze for 2 hours or until frozen.

The exchange plan counts this as one bread.

A variation on this recipe:

Coolwich Delight

1 1/2 c. thawed, Cool Whip Sugar Free Whipped Topping
24 squares low fat graham crackers

Spread 2 T. whipped topping on each of 12 graham squares
Top with remaining graham squares to make 12 sandwiches
Place in single layer on baking sheet
Freeze 3 hours or until firm. Wrap individually in foil. Store in freezer up to 1 week

Lambie also sent me a Weight Watcher's Recipe for a dip for fruit.

1 cup Weight Watcher's yogurt mixed with 1/4 c. fat-free Cool Whip. The entire amount is worth 2 points. I'd count this as 1 milk exchange.

Do you have cravings? What do you do to get around them? Any other ideas for sweet, but good for you treats?

ATC Exchange

I'm participating in a new ATC exchange. The theme for this month was a free choice which I find more difficult than a set theme. What to do, what to do? Too many choices.

I'm not sure where the idea for this card came from, but it's close to being a self-portrait. Black bear is my animal totem and usually how I am first thing in the morning until I've had that first civilizing cup of tea.

The watercolor/plastic wrap background was done on Canson Mi Tientes and the clipart images were printed out, glued on and then a coat of Mod Podge. Before the caption was added, I proudly showed my card to The Eldest. She looked at the card, announced "I don't get it", and mumbled "The Emperor is naked." That puts the ego into perspective. The caption was added using Ziller's Glossy Black and a Gillotte 1068A

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

TCM is showing Goodbye, Mr. Chips starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson. It's a very sweet, sentimental movie of a shy school teacher at a boys' boarding school who finds love and overcomes his shyness. Robert Donat won the 1939 Oscar for Best Actor beating out Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. If you've never seen this film, tune in so you can be edumacated. I'm getting a box of Kleenex and a bag of popcorn ready.

TCM is showing the film at 8PM EDT. Check your local listing.

Seven

Seven things I love about my favorite season: Summer

1. The sunroom. I step into the sunroom and instantly I'm on vacation.

2. The hazy, hot, humid days.

3. The slower pace. No school or school activities to drive to and from.

4. Being able to wear tee shirts and shorts without freezing.

5. Playing on the laptop in the sunroom.

6. Taking a nap in the sunroom.

7. Watching thunderstorms and listening to the rain pelt the metal roof in the sunroom.

What's your favorite season?

500th Blog Post Contest and Giveaway

Author, Kaye Dacus, at Write Place, Write Time is sponsoring a contest to celebrate her up coming 500th blog post. There are lots of prizes including an autographed copy of Kaye's first book, Stand -In Groom and gift certificates from Amazon.com

The contest is easy to enter. All you have to do is visit Kaye's blog and post a comment at least 10 times from now until 31. July. How easy is that! Details of all the rules and how to win the Grand Prize can be found at Kaye's Contest Rules

Wednesday Weigh-In

A friend of mine has been changing her eating habits, exercising, and losing weight. That and while wearing a striped shirt and catching a good look at my reflection motivated me to join her. I looked like a beach ball with legs. Not a pretty sight.

After The Young One was born (almost 16 yrs ago), I joined Weight Watchers. I lost 25 pounds on the plan, and then got lazy and promptly gained it all back plus another 25 pounds. I decided I would follow that old Weight Watchers plan. I did well on it and liked the fact that I could eat real food inlcuding goodies as long as I planned for them. The plan was based on exchanges from the American Diabetes Association using the Food Pyramid. Portion control was the real key. All foods eaten to be weighed and measured. You also had to watch how many carbs, fruits, milk, meat, fats you ate. I also decided to cut out the sugar in my tea. Some days, I can drink 5 or 6 cups of tea. Add a heaping teaspoon, and that's a whopping amount of sugar each week. I did try Splenda. I found it sweeter than regular sugar so I've only been using half the amount I would normally dump in.

Two weeks ago, I made a spreadsheet. Using the healthy weight range tool at Weight Watchers, I found my goal weight. I dusted off the treadmill. I found a 10 week walking plan from the Mayo Clinic deisgned for the beginner. It called for walking for 15 minutes two times a week. Over the 10 weeks, you built up to walking 30 minutes a day for 5 days. That didn't sound too bad. I decided I could manage 15 minutes a day, every day.

So, after my first week on the plan, I lost two pounds. Sharing that excitment with my friend was a good motivator too. It's good to have a buddy to share ideas, tips, strategy and encouragement. We talked about setting small goals and celebrating little victories.

Week two, I followed my plan and increased my walking to 20 minutes. I'm not concerned about running 3 minute miles. I walk at a leisurely pace. The object is walking for the set time and moving.

Today was my weigh in day. I was disappointed to see the scale stand still at last week's weight. Ok, I didn't walk for two days, but I was certainly moving more than I had been before. I did snitch some Cheeze-Its, maybe 5 or 6, but I can easily eat an entire box in one sitting by myself. I did go out to lunch with a friend, but I didn't think my choice was all that bad. I had an unsweetened ice tea (I didn't add sugar or Splenda), an 8 oz flat iron steak, a baked sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, and a salad. No cheese and balsamic vinaigrette on the side. I didn't eat many croutons. Before I ate my meal, I cut the meat and potato in half, ate half, and saved the rest to be boxed up and brought home. I didn't order dessert. My friend came home with me. I had made a dessert from a Weight Watcher's recipe, given to me by my friend, Lambie, and it fit into my plan for the day.

Yogurt Pie (5 points for the entire pie if you're following the Weight Watchers Flex Points Plan!)

2, 6 oz. containers of Weight Watcher's Flavored Yogurt. (I used Key Lime)

1, 8 oz. tub of Fat Free Cool Whip, thawed (I found sugar-free Cool Whip)

Ready-made graham cracker crust pie shell

1. Mix together the yogurt and the Cool Whip.

2. Pour into the pie shell

3. Cover and freeze. (Apologies to BVMom because I didn't read the directions thoroughly and just chilled the pie in the fridge. It was good, but didn't have a lot of body to it. Thanks, BVMom for being a good guinea pig.)

Each slice is one point.

Frowning at the number on the scale, I wondered where I had gone wrong. I didn't drink as much water as all the weight plans suggest (8 glasses). I'm not a huge water drinker to begin with and find this the hardest thing to do. Guess there must be something to drinking all the water. I'll have to make an extra effort to do this.

Even though I was disappointed that I didn't drop another pound, on the bright side, I didn't gain any extra weight either.

So, if you're losing weight or have lost weight, what tips can you suggest for drinking all those 8, 8oz glasses of water?