Sunday, December 7, 2008

Getting back on track II...

Good morning! Today is the first day since I've been back from thanksgiving that I stepped on the scale (and followed the same routine that I usually do for weighing myself). I have had a terrible, TERRIBLE week and I have no excuse except for my own laziness and lack of self-discipline. I was afraid to step on the scale for fear of what it might say, however, that fear was unfounded. Although I ate like crap all week I was at 304.5 today. Granted, it's 2.5 pounds higher than my weight the morning I left for home but I thought it would be SO much higher. I am trying to get myself back on track like Jenny but this weekend was a little hard for me. My dad and step mom had their Christmas this weekend and I didn't realize how much missing it was going to affect me. While we may not always see eye-to-eye I do love them very much and the whole family was there but me. As soon as I was on the phone with my dad last night I was in tears. Now, Leann you might not believe me as I have written in this blog at least twice before that I called home in tears, but I swear to God that I'm not really a mushy/crying type of girl...not that there's anything wrong with it but it's just not me. I was better by the time that we ended the call but I was in a slightly depressed mood the rest of the evening. This is not good when one is trying to not be an emotional eater. BLAH!

Anyway, I am doing much better today. First, it is sunny and I haven't seen the sun since before my miserable drive back to Michigan. Second, all of my Christmas presents are wrapped and my mom's memory/scrapbook is 99% complete...I still don't like the page I did for my brother so I might redo it. Third, last, and most importantly, I get to come home again in 16 days!!!!

Now onto Jenny's question. There are 3 things that I find very difficult to behave around--

1. Almond bark pretzels, especially if they're the thin pretzels. I think it's that whole sweet and salty thing.

2. My homemade caramel corn. It is amazing! Well, I think it's amazing. It's a combination of the best aspects of my mom and step-mom's caramel corns. My mom's caramel recipe poured over puff corn instead of regular pop-corn! It is divine!

3. Chocolate covered cherries...and no, I'm not talking about the Queen Anne's Cherries that you get in the store. I am talking about my step-mom's homemade cherries. They are quite possibly the greatest thing I have ever put in my mouth. I always eat way too many at the family Christmas (which I don't have the worry about this year, which as far as losing weight goes is a good thing) and then she makes goodie trays for us each year and puts 3 on there.

I am going to try my damnedest (don't know if that's actually a word) to behave myself around these goodies this holiday season. The cherries are a self-limiting threat as there will only be three. I simply will not make any pretzels and hope that my mom doesn't either. There will be a handful of them on my goodie tray from Shirley so I'll get to indulge a little there. The caramel corn is the bigger issue. I'm making a big batch of it now and will probably make one more before I head for home. It's inexpensive and a great gift idea for co-workers and the like. I just have to keep it out of sight once it's made. I will keep a small bag of it out for me and try your idea Jenny, marking a date that it has to last until. It worked well with the chocolates I bought 3 weeks ago (which I marked with today's date and I still have 2 left!) so I'll see if it works with baked goods as well. As for your homemade fudge issue Jenny, I have never had that problem. Even now with my heightened sweet tooth, I still cannot eat fudge. It is just too rich for me. Shirley always puts way more fudge on our trays than anything else. It's good but it's bad. It's good because I never eat it but I feel bad that she goes to the work to make it for us.

Well, sorry about the long really random blog entry today. I hope that the Christmas spirit touches us all and lifts our moods. I am getting back to work and still hoping to reach my goal of 300 by new years! My shoulder is back to 100%, I think...at least there are no stabbing pains with instant headaches anymore so I'm going to not only get back to eating well but I'll also be adding exercise back in! Good luck with your week ladies!

3 comments:

project.100.gone said...

I must partake in your caramel corn some time. Sorry about how you felt in regards to missing your Dad's Christmas. I miss being young and focused on Santa. Dealing with adult matters and emotions isn't always fun around the holidays. Your homemade cherries made me think of homemade peanut butter balls. No one in my family makes them (praise Jesus) but I really enjoy them. Someone in Michael's family used to maek them in the past. Part of me is tempted to try and make them myself but nah.

On a separate note, I'm excited about seeing you later in the month. Hopefully for New Years Eve. We are going to a "Walk Thru Bethlehem" today at a church and the Kinesiology Christmas Party is tonight. The holiday is coming way too fast.

project.100.gone said...

Oh, my step-mom makes the peanut butter balls too! She is nothing if not a gifted baker/candy-maker! By the way, your plans sound really nice. I should check out some of the local churches and see if they have anything special planned. I love all of the fun stuff churches do this time of year!

LeAnn said...

Don't worry, I won't judge you for teary phone calls. We all have some breaking points. I have a feeling that I will have a teary moment around Christmas as I am spending it with my boyfriend's family in Indianapolis rather than with my family. I believe it's the first Christmas I spent away from home so it'll be hard. A teary phone call might be in order.

Changing subjects, the almond bark pretzels are one of my holiday loves too. Places like Hyvee have them and I know my grandma makes them. Irresistible. I don't think I'll be around them at all though so that'll help. Plus I am poor so I won't be buying them. The cornflake wreaths Jenny mentioned is another treat I usually over-indulge in. Popcorn balls too. Hopefully I will be too busy to overeat.

Well as you know I have finals stuff going on so I better get working on that. Papers, papers, papers - I'd rather take a test. Anyway, have a good week.

P.S. The date idea/trick is way smart. I'm going to try it.