Welcome back Mike!

Hey everybody -

Just a quick check in! Sorry I was MIA, I have not been feeling well and dealing with rolling headaches the last two days. I'm leaving at 6:00am tomorrow to go visit family for a week and a half, so I won't be around this week or next, but I will be thinking of you guys every day and try to check in!

It's going to be fairly impossible to log, but I have two simple goals when at home:

1) Eat clean (this means no processed food, no junk, smart choices, try to limit the treats - most of my family is obese and loves the treats)
2) Exercise as much as possible. My parents have a family membership to the Y, so I should be able to hit the gym at least a few times while I am home! Even if it's just on the elliptical, it'll be way better than doing nothing.

Love!

~Terri

Thanks but I wouldn't quite say that I'm back. ;)

Hope, would you like to make some easy goals for me?

Sure, Mike!!!
1) 8 glasses of water
2) 2 days of exercise
3) 2 RAKs

How's that? I went easy on ya cause you're starting late.

Ingredients:
6 teaspoons chili powder
5 teaspoons paprika
4 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dehydrated minced onion
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Optional
I also put in about 1/2 teaspoon of hot chili flakes. I like a little kick

(All the seasonings are standard no name packets I buy, nothing outlandishly expensive)

I put all ingredients in a plastic jar with a screw on lid, close the lid and shake the snot out of it :)

To use:

Cook the meat first, in the last few minutes I add about 1/2 cup frozen corn.
Drain, if it is especially greasy, I will also rinse it.

For a pound of meat I add 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning and 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water. Put it back on the heat and let the seasoning thicken/soak in/ and reduce. It will only take a few minutes.

I use whole wheat tortillas as taco shells, cause I hate the mess AND I can add more veggies to the taco.

I was used to your typical, Old El Paso type seasoning mix. My first impression of this was, wow! I can really taste the real flavours here. The lack of salt was secondary.

I have just reread this... I need to put in a disclaimer! I am used to giving cooking instructions to a generally disinterested teen, so lay them out pretty granular. I am not trying to insult anybody's cooking skills!

On a side note - and only those who have been extremely obese will understand this one - I am going to see Maleficent at the movies tonight! I will be ok, in an aisle seat on the outside. This is a victory for me! There have been many places I have wanted to go that I couldn't.

I really want to see this movie, I dunno why, but there is something intriguing about the character, and I am a bit more intrigued by the darker side than the happily ever after sap lol. I hope it is as good as I hope it is :)

Hi Bea. Lately when DH and I go to a movie we eat supper just before we go.
That way we can buy our tickets and stay out of the snack isle. It saves money and calories. I want to see that movie too. I will make that my reward if I lose weight on Friday. Enjoy the movie.
Group hug to you Debbie. I have been in the same situation.
Terri we will miss you.
I weighed myself this morning and no change since Friday. Have I caught the plateau big? I guess it is too soon to tell.

I won't be snacking... it amazes me, the culture that seems to suggest, one cannot sustain 1.5 - 2 hours without eating, or one that suggests, every trip out MUST be associated with food. The concession stand at the theatre is CRAZY expensive, and I don't even like popcorn! The rest of the stuff holds no appeal to me. I'm thinking a repeat taco night before we go. My daughter has been informed, the movie is on me, but I will not be supplying treats lol

Terri, I hope you feel better. Hope to hear for you soon.

Bea, that recipe looks great and I for one appreciate the explicit instructions (I must be a teenager at heart lol.) Thank you also for making me think about what people have to face and what they cannot enjoy (going to movies). So glad you could go. Let me know how the movie was. I also have to break the movie snack habit. I always eat popcorn and often something with sugar, which I rarely eat and always feel crappy after. I have gone to movies just to give myself permission to eat this crap I wouldn't otherwise eat. How does eating this help my enjoyment of the movie?

Mike, did I go too easy on ya? I didn't even mention diet lol... No fried chicken!!!! No Blizzards!!!

Goals:
1) stop the insanity! no more binge eating- started in with chips after dinner but stopped myself. ate too much dinner and a late night "snack" I could have and should have lived without.
2) walk/gym 3x min this week - longer walk than usual, no, too hot and muggy to walk, and didn't go to gym
3) 6 glasses water - y, ?
4) stretch daily -y, y
5) meditate -y, y
6) practice Spanish daily- si un poco, si y con Miguel jajaja
7) WORK comes first (have been slacking)- yes, YES gave up a play date with friend to work
8) keep gratitude journal - yes, yes
9) talk less/listen more - yes, yes
10) weigh myself only on Friday - yes, no tooo curious
11) toss out 3 papers or 3 items - yes, yes
12) no dairy, especially cheese - N, N

What is up with this appetite? You'd think I'd eat less in warm weather but I always eat more. Eating is out of control. Help me, Obi-wan!!!

I wanted to delete a few goals to make it more manageable but I added one. Cheese is a bad food for me and I can't seem to resist it but resist it I must.

And I am gaining weight.

Would that be 8oz glasses?