FINALLY!  The extra pounds that just wouldn’t go away finally dropped off and I hit a new low (1.69% loss for the week).  52.2 pounds gone since Jan.  My weekly average loss has decreased dramatically but slow and steady will win the race.

I’m still not exercising regularly.    It’s definitely something I need to work on, but with all the craziness going on lately, I’m doing the best I can.

I also made myself sit down and work on the meal plan for the next two weeks.  I sometimes get lazy and just forget to plan — and then it’s like I totally forget what I know how to make.  Is that silly or what?  It’s like I can’t think of how to make anything.  So I made a list of all the super easy “emergency” things my family likes — and I wrote out the ingredients so I’ll always have them on hand.  Then I made a general list of meals, a staples list, and made out a plan for two weeks.

And if anyone says “Ewwww!” they can make their own dinner!

No new foods this week — just working on getting my ducks in a row and firming up a meal plan and corresponding budget.

Argh, my worst stretch since starting this journey in January.  I gained again.  I guess I can’t call it “unfair” since I did slip…ONCE…but I know the bulk of the gain is tied to stress and poor sleep.  I’m staying the course and doing the best I can.  After slipping into the Lay’s chips the other night, I got right back on track and have been on plan since.  I’m still not exercising – I just haven’t found the time or the gumption yet. 

In the past, I would have fallen off the wagon by now.  I’d get discouraged and just quit.  If I’m going to gain anyway, I might as well enjoy it, right?  WRONG.  I know I’m doing the right thing and eventually I’ll see it on the scale.

After yesterday’s -.73% gain, the scale was back down 1.4 pounds this morning.  Still higher than my low but back down from that scary number.  I was almost in a new decade!  *whines*

My new food this week is a little bit weird.  Remember when I mentioned I was eating salads with protein, usually deli roast beef or cheese?  Well, I’m out of roast beef…but I have a ton of leftover meatloaf.  So, why not have a meatloaf salad?  It’s a little weird I guess but it tastes pretty good.  Since the meatloaf was made with 90% lean hamburger and oats instead of bread crumbs, I figure it’s not a bad protein option at all.

Onward and upward to a better week!!

As I feared in yesterday’s post, the scale is still up today, exactly the same weight I was last week.  However, I refuse to despair.  I’ve eaten on plan all week, making healthy choices despite my work stress.  I haven’t gobbled pizza OR chips.  I call that a win!

I haven’t been sleeping the greatest either, which contributes to a slowdown in weight loss.  All I can do is stay the course.  I know I’m doing the right things, and I should eventually be rewarded in the number category.  I should be exercising more — it’ll help with the stress and the weight factor.  I just haven’t taken the time, and I missed our weekend trek to the track thanks to much-needed rain.

New food this week:  at our favorite coffee house, they have a killer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  That Man likes to order it, and it’s all I can do to eat one or two bites because it’s so good, but also sooooo high in fat and calories.  Luckily Middle Monster likes it too, so one piece with three forks hitting it doesn’t last long.

Anyway, I decided to make a healthy version, very similar to Skinny Taste’s Pumpkin Cupcakes.  I used a carrot cake mix for the base with canned pumpkin, and then mixed more pumpkin with the cream cheese in the frosting.  Unfortunately I didn’t have reduced fat cream cheese, so mine were a little higher points but still much more diet friendly.

The kids loved the cupcakes, although not all of them liked the frosting.  Not a problem — I kept the frosting separate in the fridge, so I didn’t have to keep the whole cupcake in the fridge too.   I’d like to make a homemade cake base eventually that I can control even more, but this was a good start!