Yay Me!

Well, I'm back at the points system again and it seems to still be working. I did a weigh in last week and lost 3lbs. I'm very proud of myself for that. However this week I decided not to go to the meeting and weigh in because I was very naughty over the weekend. You see, we went camping and it's not easy to stick to a diet of any kind while camping. Think about it, spider dogs, roasted marshmallows, smores, hamburgers etc...So I decided to avoid the disappointment and stay home tonight. I did, however, go for a walk. Took me a whole hour. I feel great after that walk. 

Now since I don't really have too much to report I thought I would share one of my favourite breakfast items as of late. Hope you enjoy!

Elisa's Omelet

2 eggs beaten with a few table spoons of water

veggies of choice

shredded cheese

2 tsp olive oil

Saute veggies in olive oil, I use green peppers, red onion and mushrooms most times. Remove from pan and set aside. Pour egg & water mixture into pan and cook until top isn't raw anymore. Add veggies to one side of eggs and add cheese at this time. Flip other side of egg over the veggies and cheese. Cook until cheese is melted. Remove from pan to plate and enjoy with a cup of coffee or orange juice.

-Elisa

Let's try this again

So, I told you all before that I'm going on a diet.  Well due some tragic events in my life the past few months, the whole diet things hasn't been working out for me.  So, I will be officially starting Weight Watchers tomorrow night.  Now hopefully this will be a good thing and not a "oh crap! what have a I gotten myself into?" kinda thing.

So, today I went to the doctor to get my blood pressure checked and thankfully I don't need medication for it (it's kinda high for my age group and the doc has been following me for a bit now), however the doctor wants me to watch my sodium intake.  So, now I have a bigger challenge ahead of me besides losing weight, I have to read every friggin label I have in my cupboard to see the sodium content. Oy!

So, I will do my best to keep you all up to date on this.  And also, sorry I haven't blogged in a while.

-ElizaSpring

What would I have done without her?

My mother-in-law was always a little overbearing, pushy even. I always complained to my husband about her. She would come to my house and do my laundry and say “You know if you would do a couple loads a day it wouldn't pile up on you”. That would send me over the edge most times. But, I never wanted her to leave, I was always happy to see her and glad that she was there. I enjoyed hearing some of her stories about where she worked (Neonatal ICU nurse for 20 years) and appreciated the advice she would give me, especially when I became a new mother.

When Geoff finally asked me to marry him, she was so happy for us. She was always very helpful with the wedding plans and gave advice. She helped me find someone to do the flowers and she went with me to help pick out the wedding dress. Now keep in mind, after seeing all that she has done, I lost my mom to cancer several years before my wedding AND that she never had a daughter to do all this stuff with. So, even though I didn't have my own mother to do those things with, I had Judy.

The day that we told her we were expecting our first child her face was glowing more than mine! Then she said “well I'll see if Dr. Sanderson will follow your pregnancy, and I'll talk to Dr. Paras about taking care of the baby”. Yet again, she became the mother that I longed to share all these exciting times with. She took care of everything. From helping paint the baby's room to putting the goop in my new baby boys eyes and signing his paperwork, she was there. Then along came my baby girl and yet again, she was so helpful and always doing things to make this an easier time for me...and Geoff.

For years Geoff and I tried to get her to come camping with us, but to no avail. She would say “when I was a Girl Guide we had to sleep in tents with no floors and cook alphaghetti from the can. I'd rather sleep in a bed at a hotel and be comfortable.” Just last year while we were camping at Great Bear campground, she made an effort to come camping, sort of. She spent the day with us, swimming & having a BBQ, but I couldn't convince her to spend the night. I was very proud of her for doing that much.

Oh how she loved Christmas, she had so many decorations that she could have decorated six houses. It didn't end at Christmas either, she would decorate for every occasion. And cook for them too. I loved her pineapple whip and carrot cake (which was banned from her place of work because it brought hectic days with it). I remember her making the candy for her candy apples at Halloween. They were so tasty.

Before she left this world, I promised her that I would take care of Geoff and the kids for her. Those are some big shoes to fill now. I just hope that I can do as good a job as she did.

I will sign off now because my tears are blurring my vision.

-Elisa

It just seems impossible

Eating right has never been so hard as it has been the past week and half or so. We have been running back and forth from Salisbury to Saint John. There just isn't time to eat healthy.

We have a family member in the hospital right now and trying to get a healthy meal at the Saint John Regional Hospital cafeteria shouldn't be too hard. Or so I thought. Now I know they have salads and stuff like that but when you smell the deep fryer and see the fries, oh man I go week. It's just so easy to grab a coffee and a muffin and get back to the family member. It has to be quick and easy.

On the plus side though, after having ate the fries I felt horrible. It's like my body was saying “what the heck is the matter with you? How could you feed me that stuff?” I (and my body) were not happy campers.

So, I've been doing my very best to get my salads back into me and get back on the straight path to healthy living and eating.

I haven't done a weigh in because I know it won't be pretty. So, next week I will hopefully be able to give better news and positive results.

-Elisa

I cheat!

I hate dieting. I've never been very successful with it, as the title goes, I'm sure you know why. The thought of being told “you can't have that!” pisses me off. Drives me nuts to be honest. It's food, I should be allowed to have it if I want it. And as much of it as I want. And that is why I cheat.

However; I finally understand that it's not that I can't have it, I just need to make sure I don't over do it. That's not going to be easy for me, at all! But now that I'm getting older, and I'm not ashamed to say that my 40^th birthday is only two years away, I really do need to practice self control with my food. I have set a goal for myself. On my 40^th birthday, I will have reached and maintained my goal weight. I'm also not ashamed to say that my goal weight is 150 lbs. I want to be able to go and buy a little black dress and feel good in it, confident even.

Now that I've said what my goal weight is, I'm holding myself accountable to you. You, the person reading this blog. To my friends and family who, I hope, are reading this blog. You and a few very close friends (Joanne & Kim) are my support system (and my husband too). This is a very big step for me. I'm letting you into my life, not to judge me, not to tell me “Don't eat that doughnut!”, but to help me and encourage me. To say “cut the doughnut into four pieces and only eat one piece”.

Now, having said all of this, I will tell you what I plan to do to remove the extra weight and become healthy. I am going to be following a points system, I won't say what system it is, however I'm sure you can all figure it out because it's a world wide system. I do believe Duchess Sarah Ferguson is a member of this system. I am going to write at least once a week, I'll give a weigh in, give my thoughts and feelings on the whole thing etc.

What I want, no what I need from all of you are your comments. Positive or negative it doesn't matter to me, just try to be kind. The other thing is I will need your prayers. Please, don't let me be a cheater, because cheaters never win.

-Elisa

PS: Just so you know, even though I've cheated on this point system I have lost a total of five pounds in the past month or so.

A little history on me

I was adopted.  I was first taken from my biologicals (that's what I will refer to them as from now on, it's just easier) when I was six months old and from that time I was placed into 21 different foster homes by the time I was three.  My parents got me when I was three and my adoption was final when I was six.

Now the stories that I've heard have been some what horrifying, to say the least.  Such as, I was pushed down a flight of stairs and that is how I dislocated my left hip (I now have problems with my left hip, x-rays show that the ball is wide and flat instead of round).  Stories of neglect and abuse.  Now I don't know what's true and what isn't so I refuse to place blame or make judgments (that's not my call).

One of the stories that I've been told was about how the female biological loved her dogs more than her children (there were four of us in total).  She fed her dogs and took care of them, she loved them.  When my mom and dad got me they say that I was so malnourished they could count all my ribs from a short distance away.  They also say that I used to go to the fridge, open the door and just stare into it for a few minutes.  When asked what I was doing I would just say "just making sure it isn't all gone" or something along those lines.

Here I am, 34 years later.  I'm over weight and I have issues with food.  I have a six year old daughter that isn't fat, but she's solid as a rock (and sneaks candy and food).  I have my fears for her.

I have been eating healthier, making better food choices in hopes to shed a few pounds and be an example to my children.  The next few blogs will be about my struggle and my journey with food.

-Elisa

Rain Rain Go Away...

Well, as you can see by looking out my window, it was a rainy day today.  A bit of a bummer for sure, but it was nice too.  We got to hang out at home in our PJ's, and we haven't done that in a long time.  And I do love hangin out in my jammers.

Well, we made the best of it.  We started our day with a nice pot of coffee, some toast, some cereal, some eggs.  Over all, a nice classic breakfast.

Then I did some Facebooking and Geoff played his game (Civilization 5) and the kids watched some TV.  Eventually Geoff went in for his shower and the kids and I did some colouring.  I love to colour!  It's very relaxing I think.  Anyway, after the colouring and the shower (oh and Anna's bath), John made us lunch.  It was a tasty lunch of plain pasta with butter, salt, pepper and Mrs. Dash.  Yes it was a boring lunch but you have to remember, he's eight and just learning to cook things for us.

So, after lunch we made our way downstairs to watch a movie.  We decided on Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers.  We let the kids watch The Fellowship of the Ring a few weeks ago and they both really enjoyed it.  So, naturally we decided on the second installment.  John really liked it, Anna...not so much.  She got bored with it and decided to come up stairs and rest on the couch and watch something she liked.

So, while the kids were watching shows I made supper.  We were having some guests over so I thought I should make something special.  Something comforting on a rainy day.  I decided on a roast beef dinner with potatoes, carrots, corn and gravy.  Doesn't get much more comforting than that, eh?

Well, with supper done, the kids went to play, me and my bud Joanne sat at the table and chatted and Geoff (my bitch) and Troy (Joanne's bitch) went to Toys R Us for some Christmas shopping.

So, over all I have to say.  I had a really good rainy day.  So, rain rain go away and come again another day, please.

-ElizaSpring