2012 Spring Chicks Challenge ~ Official Introduction and Weigh-In

Good Morning, Friends! 

For those of you that are new here, let me start by introducing myself:

My name is Alison.  I'm a 41 year old, stay at home mom that struggles with food addiction.  I eat when I'm hungry, I eat when I'm not.  I eat when I'm bored, depressed, happy, sad.  I'm constantly snacking and making bad choices when it comes to food.  Because of this, I'm overweight, unhealthy and miserable. 

I've attempted to lose weight in the past, and only lasted a couple of weeks or even days.  I'm hoping that 2012 will be my year to get myself together and get fit!  The Spring "Chick" Challenge is just what I need to get me started in the right direction! 

In the wee hours of the morning, I posted my goals based on the guidelines of the challenge.  In that post, you can read about my goals for Non-Scale Victories, Exercise and Nutrition. 

After a few hours sleep, I got out of bed feeling positive and energized...  Wanting to face the scale and see just how many pounds I aim to lose during the challenge. 

Ultimately, I'd love to lose 66.6 lbs.  It would be impossible (not to mention unhealthy) to lose that amount of weight during the challenge.  So, I set a smaller goal for myself.  I hope to lose 21.6 lbs. by the end of the challenge.  Even that amount seems out of reach to me at the moment.  So, I'll just take it one pound at a time and be happy with the results, good or bad. 

I'll be tracking my progress over at My Fitness Pal.  My username is fitmomma613 if you want to follow along over there.  You can also find me on facebook here and here.  (If you want me to add you to my personal account, please message me that you are part of the challenge.)

Here's a before photo for those of you that like that sort of thing:

You can also see more photos and a slightly more detailed introduction by clicking the Weight Loss (2012) tab at the top of the page.  I'll also be linking challenge updates there, so they can be found easily in one spot. 

I think that's about it for this morning...time to eat something healthy for breakfast! 

Angel's Fantastic Frosting

Many years ago, I worked with a woman who loved to cook.  Sometimes she would bring in a big pot of soup for all of us to enjoy during our lunch hour, or she would make us sandwiches using her sandwich maker.  My favorite, though, were the sweets she would bring in for us to nibble on throughout the day. 

That was the first time I tried this tasty frosting recipe.  I've been calling it Fabulous Frosting, but looking at my notes, I realize it's called Fantastic Frosting.  Whatever the name, this 3-ingredient recipe is both delicious and simple to make! 

Angel's Fantastic Frosting

Ingredients: 

• 8 oz. tub Cool Whip
• small box instant pudding (any flavor)
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients until well combined. 
• Chill until thickened.
• Frost cake. 

Notes: 

• I'm not sure where this recipe originated, but I like to call it Angel's Fantastic Frosting since she introduced this to us so many years ago. 
• Store brand ingredients work great in this recipe, helping to keep cost down. 
• Angel usually used chocolate pudding in this recipe and it's soooo good!  I just made this frosting for cupcakes this weekend.  Since my nephew and Grace both don't care for chocolate (really, I don't know how she can be my daughter and NOT like chocolate!) I used vanilla pudding to flavor the frosting.  I'm looking forward to trying other flavors of the pudding in the future! 
• In addition to testing out other flavors, I also look forward to making a lighter version of this frosting using fat-free whipped topping, sugar-free pudding and skim milk.  I'm sure it will taste fantastic!  

Recently, my friend Lisa used this recipe to make frosting for her son's gluten free birthday cake.  She was blessed with kids that LOVE chocolate, so she was able to use the chocolate pudding to flavor her frosting! 

Don't you just love that cupcake cookie jar?  I got it from the clearance section at Kohl's last Valentine's Day!


This post has been linked to the following blog carnivals and linky parties: 

• Muffin (and cupcake) Monday
• Homemaker Monday
• Your Recipe, My Kitchen 
• Delicious Dishes
• Cupcake Tuesday
• Tea Party Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesdays
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Food on Fridays with Ann
• Foodie Friday
• Sweet Tooth Friday
• Food Friday
• Functional Friday
• I'm Lovin It
• Home and Family Friday

2012 Spring Chick Challenge ~ Guidelines and Goals (Weight Loss)

For the past month, I've been thinking about things I want to change in my life this year.  Every year, my resolutions are the same.  Every year, I want to do something about my weight.  Every year, I fail.  This year will be different.  I want to succeed.  I need to succeed. 

With that in mind, I was thrilled when I received an email from my buddy Nicole.  She just signed up for the 2012 Spring "Chick" Challenge and wanted me to join with her.  It's always easier to lose weight with a buddy! 

Photo credit:  Photo Bucket

I checked out the challenge and using the guidelines of the challenge, I set a few goals for myself: 
 
Commit to a Non-Scale Victory: 

• Energy.  At the end of this challenge (and during, too), I want to have more energy.  It's embarassing to become winded while dancing around the living room with my toddler before the song is even over. 

• Wedding rings.  I haven't been able to wear my wedding rings since the end of my pregnancy with Grace.  I'd love to lose enough weight to be able to put them back on my finger.

 

• Healthy Lifestyle.  I want to set a good example for my daughter and help her to make healthy choices when it comes to food and activity.  While she can be very active, she also has no problem sitting on the sofa all day watching TV while eating cookies or cupcakes.  I want that to change, but I need to lead by example.  How can I tell her to exercise and eat a banana instead of a donut while I'm munching on a Hershey bar? 

Commit to a set of nutrition parameters and track via My Fitness Pal:

• Calories.  I have not weighed in yet, so I have not decided on my daily calorie intake.  Once I've weighed in, I will decide on the amount of weight I want to lose during the challenge and using My Fitness Pal, I'll come up with my daily calories. 

• Water.  I have such a difficult time getting my water in, not only in challenges, but in daily life, too.  I always tend to reach for the diet soda instead of water.  During the colder months, I don't drink much of anything.  So, this is going to be a challenge in itself.  My goal is to drink at least six 8 ounce glasses per day. 

• Portion Control.  I'm starting this challenge on a tight budget.  For the first week or so, I won't be using low-fat or low-cal foods.  I'll simply be eating smaller portions and filling up on some raw vegetables. 

• Dairy.  I'd like to increase the amount of dairy I consume daily.  Skim milk and low-fat yogurt are always in my fridge.  But usually shoved to the back and almost always forgotten about until trash day. 

• Fruits and Vegetables.  I love fruits and veggies, but find it so much easier to grab a donut than it is to bend over to grab an orange out of the produce bin in the fridge.  As I  stated before, this needs to change not only for my own health, but for Grace as well. 

•  Limitations.  I'm going to be realistic here and admit that I will not be cutting out all junk-food and sweets.  I know myself and know 100% that if I cut out those things completely, I will fail.  I will limit myself to some treats here and there based on other food and exercise choices made that day. 

• Vitamins.  Like the milk and yogurt, vitamins are always in the house, I just fail to take them.  I can't give any real reason other than the fact that I'm lazy.  Sure, they make me a little queasy the first couple of weeks (I won't even mention the funny colors they turn my urine...yikes!) but once I'm used to them that goes away.  I just rarely get past that point, before I stop taking them.  This, too, needs to change.   

Commit to a set of exercise parameters: 

• Exercise.  I'm guessing this should be more than just getting off the sofa to grab a snack from the fridge during commercials, huh?  Well, I dusted off the exercise bike and plan on setting up the Wii Fit in the morning.  I'll be starting off slow, but my goal will be to exercise 15-30 minutes a day, at least 5 times a week. 

• Sleep.  It's no secret that I have horrible sleep habits.  I've always been a night-owl, but since Grace has been in my life, my days have gotten longer.  I stay up late, just to have some time to myself.  Time to watch non-kiddie shows or to work on my blog.  I need to work out a blogging schedule for myself so that I can get to bed early without neglecting my blog.  Better sleep habits will help me make better choices regarding food and exercise each day. 

In addition to the above guidelines, I will blog twice a week regarding the challenge and attempt to offer support to as many of the other participants of the challenge as I can.  Time is sometimes an issue, since I spend so much of my day with Grace, so I may not always fulfill this part of the challenge.  Please accept my apologies in advance...but know that I am here rooting for each and every one of us in hopes that we will all succeed in reaching our goals! 

Check back later today for my official weigh-in and introduction post! 

Happy New Year: 2012

It's a bit late in the day, but I wanted to be sure to wish you all a very Happy New Year! 

I planned on writing this post earlier today, but the day got away from me!  Already the new year is speeding by!  :) 

This morning, I got a start on one of my resolutions: 

• Getting Organized. 

I do believe it will take me all of 2012 to get this place organized, but I feel that I got a lot accomplished already this morning.  The fact that I can now walk around my bedroom without tripping on piles of clean laundry is proof that I'm moving in the right direction! 

Tomorrow, I start working on another of my 3 resolutions.  Check in tomorrow if you are interested in following my progress on my weight loss journey. 

Thanks so much to Nanalulu's Musings for sharing the vintage graphic used in this post.  Be sure to check out her blog for other FREE vintage New Year graphics.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of January 2nd

As I write this post on New Year's Eve, I'm finding it difficult to believe that the year is over already.  In some ways, it's been a really rough year and I'm somewhat happy to see it go.  I'm looking forward to some changes in the new year and I'm looking forward to getting started on following the resolutions I've set for myself.  Although, I'm not so sure how I'm going to feel about them come Monday morning! 

We spent way too much money in 2011.  This has to change.  We really have to start living a more frugal life.  I find that I go through spurts of frugality, I need to make this our way of life, rather than something we do to recover from a major spending spree! 

This morning, while Joe was keeping Grace occupied, I cleaned out the fridge and took inventory of the freezers in order to plan out this week's menu.  I'm planning on starting the year off with a very low grocery bill for the month!  And by the looks of the freezer, that won't be too difficult!  There's plenty of good food on hand to prepare some great meals this week....and even next week! 

Here's what I have planned for this week: 

• Saturday:  New Year's Eve.  Dinner with Friends.  I'm not sure what good food they've planned for us, it's my job to bring dessert.  I'm thinking of making a gooey butter cake and possibly some cupcakes...we'll see how productive I feel after I finish this post and get a shower!  (I ended up making both the Gooey Butter Cake and some Funfetti Cupcakes with Fantastic Frosting...links will be added soon.)

• Sunday:  New Year's Day.  Chicken Cutlets, Mashed Potatoes with Cauliflower, Corn.  After seeing that my buddy Nicole from Colie's Kitchen made fried chicken for the last time before she begins her diet on Monday, I decided that was a fabulous idea!  I rarely make fried chicken because it's so time consuming.  BUT, once I start a diet, it's always one of the first foods I want!  Since I'm beginning my diet along with Nicole on Monday, we'll be enjoying our fried chicken on Sunday night!  I'll pack any of the leftovers for Joe to take to work with him on Monday, so I'm not tempted to nibble. 

• Monday:  Chicken 'n' Dumplings.  Probably not the most diet-friendly meal to start off with.  But it's tasty and filling and goes well with my resolution to save money.  I've already made the broth, so this will be a very quick and easy meal.  For the weekend, I'll add some broth and vegetables to turn the Chicken 'n' Dumplings into the soup shown above.   

• Tuesday:  Breakfast for Dinner.  We have a couple dozen eggs left in the fridge.  Joe stocked up before Christmas, hoping to make a big breakfast each day of his Christmas vacation.  A few busy days sort of squashed those plans.  I'll start off my French Toast and bacon dinner with a bowl of non-fat vanilla yogurt and some fruit to help me keep my portions of the non-diet foods smaller. 

• Wednesday:  Tuna Noodle Casserole.  This is my stand-by meal for those weeks that we're wanting to skip the grocery store.  I almost always have the ingredients on hand.  We might have to pick up a box of elbow macaroni, though.  I think we used the last box when we had hamburger soup last week. 

• Thursday:  Spanish Chicken, rice, salad.  Several weeks ago, I saw a really good deal on bone-in chicken.  We picked up a couple big packs and stuck them right in the freezer!  This is my favorite recipe for bone-in chicken.  So easy and makes a lot! 

• Friday:  Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos, Sweet Potato Fries.  There's a small container of Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili in the freezer, the perfect amount to roll up in a few tortillas for a quick and oh-so-yummy dinner!  I have 2 big sweet potatoes in the potato bin, I'll slice them up and bake them in the oven....I've never done that before with sweet potatoes, so if you have any tips or suggestions, I'd love to hear them! 

• Saturday and Sunday:  Leftovers, Leftovers, Leftovers!  I'm sure by the end of the week, we'll have a wide selection of leftovers to choose from!  We'll just choose something from the fridge and pop it into the microwave!  So easy!  So frugal! 

If you're looking for more recipes or menu planning inspiration, follow me over to I'm an Organizing Junkie's weekly blog carnival, Menu Plan Monday.  Or, if you like what you see here, check out our past menu plans.