Weekly Weight Check In

Hey fellow bloggers
So I weighed myself today and woot woot! Clocked in at 264.9 Oh yeah! 4.5 lbs gone. Sayonara I will NOT miss you! LOL

And I have not really kept with the 6WBMO this week. I have been eating smaller meals several times a day and I do start my morning with a bowl of oatmeal flavored only with a drizzle of raw honey.

Other than that, I have been super busy only 4 weeks left of the semester and I am soo ready for a break. Next semester I've decided to add on another class so I will be even busier! But also that much closer to my goal. ;)
For Thanksgiving, we are all getting together as a family to go to my 91yr old grandmother's house. My mom is preparing the turkey. My little sister is going to learn how to make green bean casserole and I will be doing a fruit salad and houre'derves. My grandmother insists on doing the sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mixed vegetables, and dessert... I think that is WAY too much for her to do but I'll get there early so I can help her out(and take over!) LOL Bless her though, she is such a sweetie!

Easiest Corn Casserole on the Planet

Okay so I made this the other week for a church pot bless and it was just the biggest hit. I had people asking for the recipe too! So I figured I would share this recipe with my online friends.

Easiest Corn Casserole

1 can kernal corn
1 can cream corn
1 8oz container of sour cream
1 package of corn muffin mix
1 stick of butter, melted

Mix everything and add into a casserole dish. Bake for about 55-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Variations:
You can add some chives and onions if you want a little bit of a crunchy bite
I usually will spray my casserole dish with a little Non-stick cooking spray so it comes out nicer
I've also topped with cheese before but because of the butter, sour cream, and creamed corn it always has a lovely creaminess to it and thus cheese is not needed

See I told you it was easy! Enjoy!

Eb's Play

I went to my little sisters play tonight called the Happy Scarecrow. It was a dinner theatre and all the kids in theatre arts prepared the food themselves. So we had a spaghetti dinner with salad and toast. Then for dessert we had choices of a variety of things. The craziest most disgusting desert was what at first appeared to be strawberry pull apart bread...not something I had seen before but not too crazy. Well when you bite into it you discover something quite different. They took the usual cinnamon pull apart bread and somehow misread the ingredients because instead of cinnamon sugar it was filled with RED HOTS!!! Eww. I had to spit it out! lol Other than that, I didn't find anything inedible so for that I am thankful...but definitely not something I would eat again!

Elizabeth played the evil scarehuman. Which was what the crows use to scare the humans away much like a scarecrow is used to scare the crows. lol I was so proud of her she was excellent! I hope in the future she will continue doing plays I could tell she was having so much fun!

I have more photos on my parents camera but that her holding an H20 bomb(a play on the atomic bomb) because she plans on killing all the people in the world. Her costume sorta reminded me of a bird... a sinester bird though! ;)

Lypsyl, I'm a believer!

Okay so just in case you don't know this. Lypsyl is by far the BEST lip balm I have ever encountered. I first found it at Wal-mart about a year ago, but they stopped carrying it! It is however at most drugstores for about the same price. I love, love, love it! And honestly I don't see how I could ever go back to Blistex, Carmex, Burt's Bees, or Chapstick! It is just that good!

Intense Protection LypMoisturizer™ Long-lasting, deep-penetrating moisture helps keep your lips soft, supple, kissable. With ultra-rich, organic shea butter, pure vitamins A and E, coconut oil. Made with pure Swedish beeswax. Not tested on animals! And it also has a slight hint of mint but never, ever burns your lips like other balms can. The best part by far is that it is all natural. :)

Oh, and it has a little bee to keep track of how much balm you have left so when the bee gets to the end time for another one! lol

High Expectations of Myself

Hello bloggers,

I know its been almost a week since I checked in with ya'll. I started the diet or "new lifestyle" on last saturday. I was able to stay on plan okay until Monday. I know! I feel so bad! I wasn't able to keep my promise to myself for more than a couple of days! Isn't it awful! And then I stayed off of here because I felt soo bad about it...been beating myself up this entire week. You might be asking yourself how this happened well let me tell you!

Monday started out fine, I packed enough food to stay POP( saying they use in the Provida forums means Perfectly on Plan) and even woke up earlier that day to do so. See my plan suggests that I eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I was already having some trouble with that because between mid-morning snack and lunch is an extremely busy time for me. It is the children's work time and let's just say it is near impossible to pull myself away to use the restroom let alone eat food in front of them without causing a frenzy. So, my solution was to wake up earlier so that way I can have my mid-morning snack when we go outside (and yes, I did just stuff some food down my gullet and vamonos to join the other teacher lol)

The problem started shortly after lunch when I went off to do my schooling. I was in government and had just eaten my mid-afternoon snack not even 30 minutes prior when I started getting light-headed and had such STOMACH PAINS! I was soo hungry and did not have anymore food with me! Nor would that be on plan for another hour and a half! I know your thinking geez! this girl eats so much food that she can't man up for a measly hour or so...and that's cool because honestly that's what I was thinking of myself! I was in disbelief how bad my stomach hurt. I finished my government class and rushed home to open up a container of POP turkey meatballs(which turned out to be DELICIOUS!) and like a 3 yr old with candy started popping them in and swallowing. After about 10 minutes the headache faded, the dizziness went away, and my stomach felt fine. I, however, was in disbelief for a few more hours. Oh, and P.S I am NOT a diabetic or have any health issues other than a cold here and there.

I had no clue what had happened to me and the only thing I can surmise is that I am exerting too much energy to only be eating the portion size I'm eating. See, it was fine during the weekend when I was at home studying but working with kids can take a little more energy and I wasn't compensating for that. This event did scare me though something fierce...and the rest of this week I have not been on plan. I have been eating differently and I have been eating breakfast too! I find that sodium plays a big part in my old eating habits and so now I watch for that.
As far as food goes everything has tasted alright I watch plenty of cooking shows so I've picked up on how to cook with flavor from natural sources and stay away from the highly processed foods.

All in all, it has definitely been an interesting week maybe not necessarily on how well I stayed on course but learning about how I react in certain situations and the discourse that follows... I have some areas I need to work on. Even with all that has happened I did still manage to lose 2lbs this week...Not alot but hey! progress is progress and what I've learned thus far has been invaluable!

So there's the nitty gritty and I promise from here on out to not avoid you when I'm not perfectly on plan..or perfectly on my plan! ;)

Sorry, almost forgot for those interested!

POP Turkey Meatballs:
I took one pound of lean ground turkey added 2 egg whites, shallots( Which if you aren't cooking with shallots you should! they are not super expensive and add a GREAT flavor) minced garlic, Quaker oats, Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning to top it off.

Mixed it all in a bowl and formed into balls.
Then in my skillet I added some No Salt Added Organic Chicken Stock just enough to cover the bottom of my skillet and heated that up.
Once it was hot I added in my meatballs and cooked on high to get a lovely brown coloring and carmelization.

Being that this was my first time cooking meatballs I did have a little trouble getting that perfectly round shape and ended up slightly overcooking them! lol

But even then they still had some awesome flavor and the oatmeal added a little something extra too!
So, all in all, not a bad off the top of my head recipe.

But like I said I did overcook them so no pictures to go with this ha ha ha

Recieved Package Today

I got my package today in the mail. Opened it up and watched the DVD. It took me a couple of hours to assemble everything but the DVD was extremely helpful. I think the hardest part out of the whole thing was the body blueprint part. I had trouble deciding which body I was and then how to customize it best. Putting together the binder also took some time but once I finished it I just felt soo accomplished. LOL I'm still planning to start November 1st. That will give me time to use the rest of my current off-plan groceries so that way I have no temptations. Then on either Saturday or Sunday I will devise my budget and buy as many foods accordingly and hopefully I will come out straight because I really don't want to start the diet off already cutting corners...that would not be good.

Sherlock Holmes has to be one of my favorite fictional characters. I was saddened by the movie with Robert Downey jr. They don't portray Holmes well at all! I did like the part at the beginning where Holmes was shooting bullets into the walls to make the initials V.R that tells me that they at least watched the old time movies with Basil Rathbone. I absolutely abhor the interpretations of the other characters! I think probably the closest in character is that of Lestrade. Which I rather know him when he played "Pancks" in Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. Now, that is a movie that was spot on!

Anyways, I've got to go study for a algebra and philosophy test!

So caio for now!

Candy Corn Recipes

Hey Bloggers,

So I got a halloween gift today from some of my parents at work today. It was really sweet of them to do that and it was filled with candy. Plus a HUGE bag of candy corn so I am trying to find some recipes where candy corn is the main ingredient. I haven't been able to find too much just yet so I might just have to get creative. I know that whatever I end up making and sticking in the teachers' lounge(did I spell that right?) but I really want to shy away from the general candy corn popcorn balls. Anybody have any recipes they want to share?

Other than that I called customer service today because I was informed that I would get an e-mail when the product was shipped. Well I noticed the other day that my credit card was charged but I have not recieved an e-mail. So I called. They were super nice and resent the e-mail and also informed me that it should be there no later than the 28th! So I plan to start the actual diet on November 1st which is a Monday and so I will prep for the week on Sunday. Woot-Woot!

My Kids

Since I am a teacher you will hear me talk about "my kids" from time to time. I have 22 of them plus some from other classes too. I started working at the school I am now at, as just a substitute. Then they offered me an afterschool position which I took in a heartbeat! That first year, I just did the elementary- aged kids and it was alright but my heart still belonged to the little ones. So I was so blessed when they asked me if I could move from elementary to enrichment! Enrichment is the noontime program we have for the 4 and 5 yr olds who are not napping. I worked that for another year along with enrichment after school. Which is ages 3-6. I absolutely loved it! I got to know all the kids and for some of them I was the one constant in their lives and to me that is the icing on the cake. This year much to the dismay of some of my "kiddos" I moved on to the morning classes as an assistant teacher. Careerwise, it was a huge step up especially since I'm one of the youngest ones there and also do not have a degree yet. I love it though despite all of its challenges. And I'm learning alot right along side with the children. Who I am noticing that I am starting to win some of these new kids over as well.

I still have my enrichment and afterschool kids come running up to me in the hallways...afterall it is a BIG adjustment for them too! The other day I had probably one of the most precious conversations that really hit home with why I do what I do.

A 5 yr old approached me in the hallway and said "Ms. Abby I don't like Enrichment anymore!" I asked her Why not? Was she not getting along with her friends? Did she get in trouble in there? You know just the usual probing questions to get to the heart of the matter. :) And she paused for a minute and said "No, I don't like Enrichment because you're not in there." Talk about a break-my-heart "Aww" moment! I've thought from time to time just quitting the morning classes and going back to Enrichment but I know I made the wise choice...but every single one of them are still in my prayers.

It's the little things in life, that at the end of the day...matter the most.

Sneaky Additives and a cold... :(

I am learning that it can take some time for the product to actually get here, despite shipping the express method. I keep checking my bank account hoping that the money has been withdrawn but that's still a no-go. Oh well I suppose I will have to practice some patience...which is hard! I did have to go to the grocery store yesterday to buy more cold meds and while I was there I looked at some of the foods I currently eat. Foods that are healthy, low in calories and sugar... But was so surprised at the sodium content in these foods! Oh my goodness, I have probably been consuming about 1500 mgs of sodium a day. And because of my body type it is actually causing harm to my body! I was shocked. I'm really hoping that this new method of eating will be able to correct this!

Back to the cold though. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm on Claritin D, Mucinex, and Chloraseptic Spray for my sore throat and I'm still getting worse. The latest being that one of my ears is plugged. Like when you are in an airplane and it just pops. Except it won't pop and its been about 2 days now. I hope I won't have to see a doctor... And the sad part is that I will be the lead teacher for Thursday and Friday and I can barely talk! Needless to say, it will be a very interesting week and right now I'm not looking forward to it!

The Type

Wow, so I took the online body type test yesterday. It had about 20 or so questions and was pretty easy. But I had to keep wondering Hmm, what if I somehow fill this out wrong and it puts me on the wrong plan! No worries though I finished and it gave me my body type and it was SPOT ON. I couldn't believe HOW accurate it was. It's like it was able to explain everything about me to a T with just those 20 questions. And Oh, the questions I had been asking myself for years...this test was able to tell me exactly why! Which was so cool for me! I'm super psyched and cannot wait to start!

I'm a Body Type A: and here's what the actual results had to say

As a Body Type A, you have the slowest metabolism of any of the other body types. The rate of your metabolism is the primary consideration in how your body gains or loses weight. Often a Type A has struggled their entire lives to keep their weight down with no success. The good news is: On this plan you can finally stop "dieting," stop starving yourself and start using food to speed up your metabolism. And, here is the best part: typically, Body Type A's see faster and greater results than any of the other body types. Once you start eating according to your Custom Eating Plan, you'll begin to increase your metabolic rate and start losing pounds and inches faster than you ever thought possible.

Day 0: The Order

Hi Fellow Bloggers,

My name is Abby. I'm 22 yrs old, brown hair, hazel eyes, 5'9 and I weigh approximately 270lbs. Last night, I took a leap and ordered the 6 Week Full Body Makeover.

I've always struggled with my weight since I was a baby. I think I just sort of started off on the wrong foot. When I was born I weighed 10lbs 7oz. I've asked myself over the years "Man, what was my mom feeding me?!" but she was overweight too! Not that I blame her. She is still my hero especially since I was her 4th kid out of 5 and that takes guts and ALOT of patience :) The statement however that obese parents have a higher chance of making obese children I do believe that is accurate and perhaps that is what happened with me. When I was a kid, I wasn't really taught much about right food choices because at that critical time where I would have learned that stuff my dear mother was diagnosed with cancer after the birth of my little sister. I was 7 yrs old. Life for the next few years was like a whirlwind and honestly I don't remember much. I just sort of blended in to the background. My dad did the best he could he worked all day and spent all night with my mom and somehow taking care of 5 kids. My brothers picked up on the majority of the day-to- day tasks even simple things like cooking dinner. I was one of the guys and the portion size of my meals were like the boys way too large and the wrong foods. So I developed eating habits like a male. Meat and potatoes and sweets. To top that all off I also had problems with my feet, a slow metabolism, and low immune system. Combine all that and you have a recipe for disaster or in my case being overweight.

My mom passed away the summer I was going into 5th grade. Dad did eventually end up getting remarried and the woman he married(and is still married to) was super nice and started helping me to lose weight by reducing my portion size and lots and lots of salads. I did lose weight and kept it off for a year or so but then when I started eating normal portions(NOT huge like before just normal) I noticed the weight started climbing back up not only that but I was approaching puberty and my body was undergoing chemical changes. I slowly started gaining weight back. Fast forward to my junior year in high school. I got depressed and started gaining weight rapidly. My parents took me to all sorts of doctors and had a bunch of tests run on me but they all came back with I was fine. It wasn't until I started seeing a counselor who quickly saw that I was depressed and was able to explain the chemical side to things. See apparently if your depressed you will either A. Lose weight or B. Gain weight I was without a doubt a B. My body thought it was in survival mode and everything I ate it held on to and turned to fat because the chemicals were telling my body that I was starving it. I gained over 100lbs in a little under a year.

It's been about 4 years since then and I have gone on numerous diets since then and still have not managed to lose much weight.

Now, I'm not making excuses. I'm simply trying to give you a little background. Because its not like I'm just lazy and not trying to do something. I am trying but what I'm trying just isn't working. This diet seems different because it doesn't just have one surefire way to lose weight... it has several! People are different and the fact that this diet realizes that gives me hope!