Focus, Focus, Focus!

It's pretty easy to set new goals.  It becomes a bit more challenging when making the plans to implement them, and it becomes downright difficult to keep chipping away at the work needed to accomplish these goals over a long period of time.

The purpose of this post is for me to be reminded of how far I've come.  I'm perfectly fine if no one else reads it; it's for me.  It's my pat on the back.  It's my "Atta, Girl!"  It's my "Don't You DARE give up!" message to myself.

My timeline for the changes I've made so far:

• December 27, 2013:  Joined the gym.  Started with 2-3 days a week of weights and cardio.
• January 6, 2014:  Said good-bye to gluten.  This was not a weight loss attempt; this was a "let's see if my stomach will settle down" experiment...and it did!  Daily nausea, along with about 95% of the other worsening and new symptoms I was experiencing, went away.  Just like that...but in an effort to avoid gluten, I looked for things to take its place and ended up gaining a few pounds.
• March 6, 2014:  Went back to Weight Watchers.  Four years ago, I had lost 35 pounds on the plan, but over the last two, I gained back about 15.  I decided at this time in my life to give their Simply Filling Plan a try -- primarily whole foods, which works well with being gluten-free.  This also led me to my next step.....
• March 6, 2014:  Gave up my biggest addiction: Soda.  I allowed myself the points in my daily counts in case I wanted one at the end of the day.  By Day 3, I realized I wouldn't drink another Coke or Pepsi, because one sip pushes me back to drink it all day, every day.
• April 2014:  Kicked up my workouts to 4 days a week and started training to RUN a 5K.
• April 12, 2014:  Ran my first mile...EVER!
• May 26, 2014:  Ran my first 5K, with no breaks, no walking intervals...in 37 minutes.
• To date:  I've lost 23 lbs and several inches and am fitting into a size that I haven't worn since I was 20.

I still have a ways to go to be where I want to be, but I feel so much better.  However, I struggle.  I'm an emotional eater, and during times of high stress, I'm ready to throw it all away and just live for that second when I think some high calorie, large amounts of food will make me feel better.  They won't.  I know that, which is why I've set another goal:  Mud Run in one month.  

Plugging away.  One day at a time.  Sometimes it's hour by hour, but I'll get there.

Gluten-Free Indulgence

Since going gluten-free in January, I spent the first couple of months replacing my wheat with other flours and corn products.  In March, I decided to become more naturally gluten-free, since gluten-free products will not help you lose weight.  However, every now and then a craving pops up.

Here's the result of a sweet craving (the before pic):

I picked up this recipe from Fast and Simple Gluten-Free, and it hit the spot!

Chocolate-Chunk Skillet Cookie
Makes 4-6 servings.
If you're a fan of warm, gooey, fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies with oozy pools of chocolate, then this one's for you.  This one-pan favorite is best served topped with melty vanilla ice cream.  Grab some spoons and dig on in.

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
1-1/2 cups Kumquat's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend or gluten-free all-purpose flour [I used Andrea's.]
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter in an 8-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla until combined.  Add the egg or egg substitute and stir to combine.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until smooth.  Fold in the chocolate chunks.  Bake for 25 minutes or to desired degree of doneness.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

My notes: I removed the cookie from the oven...it was good and brown, but when I stuck a spoon in it, it appeared raw.  I decided to throw it back in the oven for another 5 minutes, which wasn't needed.  It's a gooey, cookie-doughy cookie.  Just let it set for a few minutes after you remove it from the oven, spoon it onto a plate or into a bowl, and top with ice cream if you want to cut some of the richness.  This is a rich cookie!!  A little goes a long way.  Easy peasy!

Repurposed Cards

After I lost my Grandma a few years ago, one of the strangest finds in her boxes was an envelope with all of my Valentine's cards from my class at school from probably first or second grade.  I must have taken them to her house to show her, and they somehow stayed there.  :)

It was fun to go through the cards and see the "signatures" of my former classmates, but admittedly I don't hold onto things unless they have a special meaning to me.  I decided to reuse the few that I really liked and were still in good shape.  Using some holiday patterned paper I already had on hand, along with my stash of cardstock, this is the outcome.

Fun, retro cards!!  I also think this could be a cute idea for using any leftover cards your kids have from their classroom parties.

More Scarves...

The rest of the birthday and Christmas scarves I made...

I think Jack was getting a little jealous of the yarn...

Christmas Projects

Yes, I survived the holidays and a week of snow days and am here to tell about it!!  I worked on a lot of projects over the last month or so...mostly scarves for Christmas and birthday presents. Since the kids had an extended Christmas break, I also managed to do some card making and scrapbooking.

I wanted to show off my school spirit scarves for my daughters and my niece.

For the first two, I used this pattern.  It's a fast one to make, and I think the ruffle look is cute!

The next one was something different for me, and I absolutely loved it.  Pattern is here.

The snow has melted for now, but I have plenty of projects in case we have another wave of cold and snow.

Sauerkraut Success!

My first batch of kraut took seven days to complete.  Considering how hot it got outside all of a sudden, which means the temp in my house got warmer, I kept watching it like a hawk to see if it would finish sooner.  Nope...on Day 7, the brine dropped as the recipe said it would.  

I have to say I love the taste...I'm not sure if it's because the cabbage was cut into larger chunks than what you buy in the store or what else it may be, but I like it.  I'm not too ashamed to admit that while I was cooking dinner tonight (and really wanted a little snack) that I enjoyed nibbling on sauerkraut to get my tangy, salty fix.

I prepped my second batch tonight after dinner.  :)

Fermentation?

For several weeks, I've been toying with the idea of trying my hand at making sauerkraut.  Fermented foods are supposed to be excellent for the old GI tract...and well, my gut needs all the help it can get to feel better.

I had a head of cabbage from my produce co-op pick-up that I needed to use, and after some more searching, I found a couple of recipes for making a small batch.  Between this site and this recipe from the More With Less Cookbook, I gave it a go.

From the different things I've read regarding making a small batch, the fermentation process will take 3-10 days.  This is Day One: