Celebrate!

Celebrate 2014!!!  It's going to be a wonderful year!  Tickets to Israel are booked and I'm so excited.  I'd like to lose a few pounds before we go and I find I do that best if I write down every single bite that I eat....but I certainly do not like the cover or the colors of this little journal I found.

But my altered result below?   I could pick this up and look at it every single day!  This month at Backroom Babes, I'm teaching "pockets, tags and envelopes" so I decided that the front of the journal should be covered in just that.  Note, there's a clear acrylic cover open to the left (it just wouldn't photo) but it's there to protect my front page.

These tiny pockets are filled with my goals and thoughts for the year.  A great way to keep them tucked away, yet close to my daily journaling.

Tons of stickler glitter - not sure you can see it at all.

Here's a shot with all the tags, etc, pulled out.  I used Graphic 45s new paper - Sweet Sentiments.  I'm not so pleased with all the holiday sentiments, but I think I did a pretty good job of covering them up and making this a vintage journal.

And I love how the back cover came out!

This might be the fastest journal cover I've ever done!  Just about an hour.  Slide out the spiral binding, cut and adhere paper to the existing covers.  Cut the front acrylic cover.  Punch out all the tags and envelopes, adhere to the front cover.  Add stickler and let dry overnight.  Got up this morning and ran the spiral binding back through the end.  With all these new punch-out embellishments you really don't have to do a thing to create something this pretty!

Now....can I keep at it for the 120 days in this journal - writing down every bite I take all day long.  Hmmm.....maybe I should have done something a bit thicker!  :o)

and a partridge in a pear tree.....

oh dear, no, it's "and a snowflake in a fake tree!" LOLOL! So, I took all the paper snowflakes and hung them on my fake tree in the family room and added lights to it - oh what fun!!!





I have another fake tree in the entry way - I think I'll be cutting out paper snowflakes for the next month! The good thing....I can leave these up til it thaws next summer!!!

We went to dinner last night at the Melting Pot with friends. Yeah, sort of blowing Weight Watchers this week! But I forgot to post on Thursday that I lost another pound and Kerry maintained his weight loss. So together, we are now down 34 pounds! I am back to "being good" today. I think if we can just not gain for the next couple of weeks we will consider that a huge success!

Here's our best recipe this week: Sauteed Shrimp & Vermicelli

2 T butter ( I used "bet you can't believe"
1 pkg dry Italian dressing mix
1 # medium frozen shrimp, raw, peeled & deveined (let's make it easy!)
4 c cooked vermicelli (no fat or salt)

Melt butter in skillet, stir in dressing mix and add thawed shrimp. Saute 5 min. Put this over the pasta.

I honestly thought it would be too dry....but it's not! 7 points per cup - but trust me, a cup is more than enough - this only makes 4 cups!

Weigh-in Thursday

Down a pound and I haven't weighed since before we had Thanksgiving dinner - so I think that's amazing!

This week's recipe find was a total surprise as I just didn't think we would like the combination - but it turned out scrumptious! Again, from one of my WW cookbooks:

Skillet Sausage casserole - with my modifications.

1 6 oz pkg Uncle Bens long-grain & wild rice (microwave type)
1 link low fat sausage (I used Healthy Choice - spicy Italian) cut up in thin slices
8 oz pkg presliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 c chopped green onions
2 1/2 c water
2 sm chicken breasts, skinned, cut into cubes
1 pkg chicken noodle soup mix ( dry, like a pkg of Campbell's)

Cook the rice in the microwave and set aside

put sausage, chicken, mushrooms, onions in large skillet and cook til the meat is cooked. I chopped up the mushrooms as I cooked them. Why? I'm really not a huge mushroom fan, but if I can't see them, then I will eat them! LOL!!! Add everything else, bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occassionally. No need for any other seasonings.

Yumm!

The original recipe calls for cheese and doesn't use the chicken. But Kerry has developed an intolerance to cheese (I may die!) so I made the swap and it really turned out great. Sort of chicken-meets-sausage-meets-rice-meets-noodles medley. Oh! and just 5 points for 1 cup! We had leftovers the next day!

I truly don't mind experimenting when it comes to crafts.....but it scares me to death when I experiment with food! This one turned out great! We're trying 2 - 3 new recipes a week....so far, still only 1 flop!

Kerry is refusing to get on the scales today. Hmmmm......did he eat too much pumpkin pie last week? LOL!



Elaine & me, c early 1960s

Weight Loss update

4 weeks on Weight Watchers. Neither one of us lost any weight this week, but we didn't gain! And we were both able to stick to the plan. Even on Thanksgiving! Sure feels great to know we are eathing healthy!

This is the best pumpkin recipe ever. No crust, so it's more like pudding - and just so yummy!!!

8 oz fat free cool whip
15 oz Libbby's canned pumpkin
4 oz fat free sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 t cinnamon

Mix it all up (don't make the vanilla pudding, just pour the powder in with the rest). Mix well, Store in the refrigerator.

It's 1 point (not pound like I originally put here!) for 1 cup! You just can't beat that!

We tried 2 other new dishes this week and both of them were keepers! Sort of fun experimenting with foods. But I sure am doing a whole lot more cooking than I've done in a long time!

Diet update

2 weeks. Kerry has lost a total of 20 pounds and I'm down 12. It has not been easy and we continue to take it one day at a time.

I was born overweight! Just look at that double chin even back then! LOL!



Why am I posting our progress? I think it makes both of us a bit more accountable. I'm hoping it helps us stick with this. If you're joining us, feel free to post a comment and share your weight loss.

I see stamps!

I got tired of playing with alcohol inks and decided to work on the walls in our exercise room. They're done!!!

 

Got an old overhead projector on craigs list and printed out my prototype stamp images on transparency and projected them up on the wall.  OK, I don't like the "s" in the font on the top row and will hae to find a replacement letter for that.  But what a good way to preview stamps!  LOL!

Bigger snacks

Mean bigger slacks

In case you can't make out the phrase on the left.  I love that in the "chub" font!

and stealing the swoosh from Nike - think it will inspire us to move?

And I still think I need to somehow paint more "sweat" around Lucy.  She just doesn't look like she's working hard enough!


Who needs to buy "words on the walls" when you can paint anything you want? LOL!

OK - back to alcohol inks!

Weight Watchers Week 1

You know I'm going to have to do a separate post at the end of each week of our diet.  Kerry has done soooooo good!  And so have I!  We weighed this morning, and together, we have lost 19 pounds!  OK, so what if it's first week water weight?  I'm going to take it all!  LOL!

Today, we add 30 minutes of exercise of any kind every day. I decided to start slow. 10 minutes on the treadmill, 10 on the bike and 10 on the floor. My goal is to increase a little every week. But for now, I will just take it one day at a time.

Found a great new recipe this week that is just 5 points per cup and I want to share it because it's something we will fix from now on - it's that good!

3/4# sweet Italian  turkey sausage

cooking spray

1/2 c chopped green bell pepper

1/2 c chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

1 t dried oregano

1 t dried basil

1 19 oz can cannellini beans, drained

1 14.5 oz can dieced italian-styloe tomatoes, undrained

Coat large skillet with spray.  Sautee bell pepper, onion and garlic for 3 minutes.  Add sausage and cook 8 minutes, stirring to crumble.  Stir in oregano, basil, beans and tomatoes.  Reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes.  Should make 4 cups.  Better than I ever imagined! I'll try to remember to take photos of the dishes we experiment with!

We were all such skinny kids! The 4 of us girls and 2 of our cousins, Gary & Greg, c 1957.

Motivation

I find it so interesting the things that motivate me to do things. If I see a new line of paper that is green, orange or yellow, I just say "yuck" and walk away (well, most of the time!) But if it's turquoise, blue, copper, brown.....I'm buying every piece in the line and running home to create something with it.

A little over a year ago, I was motivated by the Artful Blogger magazine to set up a blog and write something every single day.

And our cruise has motivated me to set a new goal. I love everything about this photo of Kerry and I......



except that we are both overweight. And we cruised with the skinny girls!



so I'm motivated to take the weight off after 25 years of carrying it around. I don't know if I can do it, but I am going to try. And Kerry has agreed to do it with me. Today is the end of day 4 on Weight Watchers. We're doing the flex plan online and modifying it with 2 criteria. No desserts. No soda.

It's one day at a time here. OK, one meal at a time. No more eating out. I'm back to cooking for us. But I have 2 factors that are motivating me. First, we need to do this because he has diabetes. Second, we are talking about a cruise around Hawaii next fall - and I want to be one of the skinny sisters on that trip!



I'm going to tack that photo of the ship on my refrigerator! Motivation. A reason for doing something. Three rewards. My health. His health. A Hawaiian cruise!

Anyone want to join me?

It's time

When I did the diet journal class for San Diego, several people emailed and asked me for an online class. Well, I'm not set up to do that, but we can give it a go here!



Here's what you need:

White Out Collection, Frenzy - Burst (paper)
Moxxsie, thempark Word TP-567
Meri Meri Accents, 90-1417), Happy Camper (sticker)
Karen Foster 01256 Fitness mini charms
Jolee's SPJB459 Sweat
Jolee's SPJt169 Time Out
Bind it all
1" o ring
turquoise cardstock

You will need to study the photo of the journal cover to see where I cut the cover from. It's 5" wide and 7" tall. I used the Zutter corner 1/2" corner rounder to round all the corners.

Take the "time" from the time Out sticker an dplace it at the bottom. I used the "t" from "out". Yes, I like to alter my stickers!

The sweat sticker says "no pain" and "no gain" Take the "i" out of gain and replace it with the extra weight, then use the "i" and the "s" from "sweat" to create the word "it's". The towel works for the apostrophe.

Cut apart the people from the "happy camper" sticker. Place the jump rope from the sweat sticker above the hands up character to make it look like they are jumping.

Perfectly great stickers the way they were.....but so much more fun when you cut them all apart!

Do the same with words to create your own motivational thoughts:



Is the diet rollercoaster eating over yet? Just do it! Woohoo! Hang on!

the "eat" in eating is from the sweat sticker.

You can make yours say anything. All from the sheet of paper.

and on the back:



I know, what about the guts of the thing? Well, I used 120 weight cardstock from Walmart and cut it to 5"x7" and rounded the corners.

The first page is a start/goal place for measurements.
Then a "goals" page and 3 pages of charts to show weight loss. Next are pages for posting food intake, etc. It's like a mini diet book - not as expansive as the ones you buy in the store, but still, it works. Finally, lots of blank pages for journaling your thoughts as you start your journey whether it's a diet, exercise program, healthy living - I think this would work for just about anything! If you'd like the excel spreadsheet, just email me.

I turn 57 in just a few short days, so I've titled this project "It's time". Not sure what it's time for....but I just know, it's time!

Imagine the Joy!!!

Most days I need inspiration to meet my goals. And then there are those days when nothing helps. But on a rare occasion, I wake up and know just what I'm going to do! Yesterday was one of those days. Not only did I finish my Hope Flies necklace, I finished my diet journal.

YIKES!!! Did I just say "diet"??? That 4-letter word that no one likes to hear? Well...one of my goals for 2008 is to imagine the joy of being 20 pounds lighter. OK....not my goal weight...just 20 pounds off this year. I'm definitely a yo-yo dieter, bouncing up and down with my weight. I took off 20 pounds last year and if I can do the same this year...I'll be on the track to healthier living.

It seems I am most successful at this if I keep a journal of what I eat every day....and if I can get in 10,000 steps a day. So far this year, I am not doing so great. So I woke up inspired to take that old calendar from 2006 apart and use the elements from it that I love, adding more and adding stamps. The end result:



Most of this is Basic Gray paper, some papers I found in Paris in 2006, and a whole lot of Creative-Crystals These are hot-fix Swarovski crystals and I just cannot get enough of them. I adorned the lady's hat with them, put 6 coming down from the Star of David (for the 6 points in the star) and 2 on the sign "Celebrate Life". Below that are the words "Imagine the Joy"....what I will focus on thinking about each time I want a slice of cheesecake in 2008!

Down the right side....five hundred twentyfive thousand....the number of minutes in 2008....the amount of time I have to meet my goal. Diecut with Spellbinders Playful font, covered with Ranger's Glossy Accents. The stamps are all Rhonna Farrer by Autumn Leaves or Hero Arts Clear Designs. The 2 layer diecut "hat" in the upper left hand corner and the Star of DAvid are also Spellbinders dies.

The back of the journal is just a hodgepodge....but I think by layering stamps on top of old papers, I've come up with a journal that I can take anywhere. Inside....a diet journal I picked up at Borders....you know, nothing is safe when it gets into my hands!!!



Hmmm.....perhaps I should start carrying this with me to the restaurants we frequent. Think if I have to write it down before I eat it...it will slow me down?

If you are laughing about now...you know me well!!!