10 Down...5 To Go!!

So...I've been at the 10 pound mark, gone on to 11 pounds, and am now holding at a disappointing 9 pound weight loss.  Weekends are bad, and I know that, but I'm REALLY eager to get to my goal of 15 pounds. 

I'm thinking that a "setback" is inevitable...I'm heading to New York City tomorrow for a workshop, and am NOT planning on watching what I eat.  I'm HOPING that some miraculous WILL POWER will magically kick in, but I'm sure whatever I can muster will fly out the window as soon as I pass my first NYC pizzeria...

Anyway...here's a photo of how it's going so far...me with my "earlier in the school year" school picture.  It is what it is...me setting up the shot in the bathroom mirror, and BARELY succeeding at not looking like Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings"...

I'm HOPING for a STUNNING shot from the Big Apple.  I'm ESPECIALLY hoping that it's taken BEFORE I find that previously mentioned pizzeria...

Here's hoping YOU are finding success with YOUR new year's resolutions too!!!

YUMMY!!!

I'm always looking for tasty recipes when I'm dieting, because I HATE foods that have no flavor, and I REFUSE to eat something gross...just because it's healthy/low fat/low calorie/good for you.

I found the following recipe on the Weight Watchers "boards" last year, and hadn't tried it until tonight.  It's AWESOME, and I'll FOR SURE be making it again...

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Laughing Cow Cheese

4- 4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pkg. deli sliced ham
4 Laughing Cow cheese wedges
1/2 pkg. Shake-n-Bake (I used half of one of the packages in a two bag box)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place each breast on wax paper and pound to 1/4 inch thick.  Take one Laughing Cow cheese wedge and wrap inside 2-3 slices ham.  Roll inside chicken and secure with toothpick.

Spray baking dish with PAM and place breast, edge side down, in dish.  Sprinkle with Shake-n-Bake.

Bake 40 minutes, until juices run clear.

4 servings = 5 points each

YUM!!!!!

Britain's Got Talent REALLY has Some (Talent)!!!

Wow!  Saw this on my friend Tena's blog...what a VOICE!!!!!

Sorry...can't figure out how to get rid of the ANNOYING commercial at the beginning...


Britain's Got Talent Andrew Johnston - Watch more Funny Videos

WTF??!!

Duane and I had our LAST meal at Maggiano's at Southdale Center today.  APPARENTLY, the mall raised the rent to an ASTRONOMICAL amount, and Maggiano's corporate office decided it wasn't worth it. 

So...no more AMAZING panko crusted zucchini planks with lemon garlic aioli.  No more UNBELIEVABLE lasagna with meat sauce.  No more...well...who knows...that's the only things we ever ordered there. 

Louis XIII, another upscale restaurant, closed a couple of years ago (probably for the same reason), and now Maggiano's is closing it's doors.  I guess it'll be a LITTLE more bearable, knowing that there aren't any good stores LEFT at Southdale Center worth shopping at anymore (and I've decided that a Southdale Center boycott is in order), but now our closest Maggiano's is in Chicago, or Milwaukee, or, perhaps, when we go to visit Peggy in Washington, D.C.  SO SAD!

We DID buy three lasagnas to freeze, for the coming months when we're suffering SEVERE Maggiano's withdrawal, but I don't think we'll EVER be able to duplicate those AWESOME zucchini planks (we're CERTIANLY going to try though...YUM!).

Cost Plus World Market closed it's three Twin Cities stores last year, now Maggiano's...if Trader Joes "closes shop", I MOVING!!!!

Hope YOUR favorite restaurant is alive and well.  Visit them soon, and often...because you never know...

Jeff's Elementary School Dictionary

Over the course of my fairly brief (10 years in June!) career as an elementary school media specialist, I've come up with several new words that, I think, should be placed in Webster's Dictionary (elementary version).  They are as follows:

BABBLEANCHE:  The phenomenon a teacher/librarian experiences when a single kindergartner starts to tell a story about their life, which is followed four seconds later by eleven or twelve OTHER kindergartners all telling THEIR stories at the exact same time.

WORRICANE:  When a teacher/librarian is awakened at three in the morning by some big worrisome concern (be it lesson plan, lack of budget, parent/teacher conference) which, much like a breeze that gets churned into gale force winds, leads to another worry...and another...and another....

and my NEW favorite...

SPAMMING THE LIBRARY: slang for "weeding the collection".  Just as spam e-mails get in the way of reading the ones we actually want to read, outdated and unpopular books surround the "good stuff" that students actually want.  By "spamming" the shelves, only the "good stuff" is left!

If I come up with any more, I'll pass them on.  Who knows...maybe the "dictionary people" are checking blogs for new entries...!!!!

Motivation

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

As ALWAYS, I've made several resolutions, that, so far, I've been able to keep up with.  They are the usual resolutions, of which you could probably go back to EVERY post on this blog in early January and read, and include "more exercise", "less food", "less wine", etc.

I'm happy to say that I've lost FIVE whole pounds since January 1st, and I think, due to everything that's happened with dad during the last two months, I may actually stick with it longer than a couple of weeks.

I had my cholesterol checked a few weeks back, and my TOTAL cholesterol is 297 (the "top" acceptable score is 199).  My triglycerides are good...which is good, but I definitely need to work on it.

Exercise is tricky right now, due to the sub-zero temperatures, and my aversion to treadmills.  I'm hoping the roads clear up enough with the coming thaw to make them "walkable"...but we'll see.  The "diet" is what I'm focusing on at this point.

I have a photo that I pull out when I need to get motivated to continue the diet...it's not very recent (graduation party after getting my master's degree in 2000), and I can't believe I'm actually going to post it here, but it's VERY motivational. 

Perhaps if I keep coming back and looking at this post, I'll stick with it, and do what I need to do to get this 20 pounds of excess BLUBBER off...

Ugh...

I actually have another motivational picture that might be nicer to look at....the motorcycle jacket I bought last week at Wilson's Leather.  It's a medium, and I can JUST wear it now, but, AFTER I get to my goal weight, it'll look SMASHING! It currently resides on my bedroom door, so that I have to pass it several times a day as a reminder.

         

...and...if all else fails...there are any NUMBER of photos of the perfect "after" that can be aspired to...

    

I WISH!!!!

Anyway...here's hoping YOU are sticking with your resolutions, and working to make YOU a better YOU!!!