Smells like fall

I woke up this morning and opened the windows. To my delight, it totally felt like fall outside. I LOVE fall. The weather has been gorgeous lately, and it makes me in such a happy mood. I decided to make Pumpkin Oats for breakfast and eat it from my leaf bowl.

It tasted like pumpkin pie. You can find a trillion recipes for oats like this online, but here is how I made it this morning:
28 g. oats (about 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup skim milk (I would have used almond milk, but I'm trying to save money, so we don't have any)
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
10 g. raisins
dash of salt
dash of maple extract
a whole lotta cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp)
dash of pumpkin pie spice (about 1/8 tsp)
1/3 cup canned pumpkin

Combine all (except pumpkin) in a small pot on the stove and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer while stirring for a couple of minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and heat through.
Calories: 215  Fat: 2 g. Fiber: 7 g. Carbs: 46 g. Protein: 9 g.

I was trying to keep the calorie count down, but if you have some to spare, then I would double the raisins and add chopped walnuts. Yum!

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Last night, the boys were playing outside when I saw Eli limping home, crying. I brought him in the house and he said his feet hurt so badly that he couldn't walk. This scared me, because Eli would sell his soul to be able to stay outside for one more hour--he NEVER comes home until I threaten to punish him for not listening to me. He was barefoot, and carrying his socks and shoes. When I got him inside, I looked at his feet, and they looked TERRIBLE.

They were extremely pale (almost white) and they looked extremely waterlogged. I felt his shoes, and they were dry. His feet felt dry, too. But the only way to describe them was that they looked waterlogged.  I was afraid he somehow got a chemical burn or something, so I took him in the bathtub and washed his feet. I was debating whether I should take him to the ER because I'd never seen anything like it. I figured I'd put lotion on them and dry cotton socks to see if that helped before I took him in. Almost immediately, they started to look better.

This picture is after I started taking care of them, so it doesn't show the extent to how bad it was... but it gives you an idea:

See how the color is so pale? And this was AFTER I worked on them a bit.

His skin was hard and dry, and the wrinkles wouldn't smooth out

Eli is only 5 years old, so his feet aren't supposed to look like this! But his socks were wet, so I think that he actually did get waterlogged. This morning, they were back to normal. I know it's a weird thing to freak out about, but I'd truly never seen anything like that before.

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I had a dream last night about Weight Watchers, and it kind of made me want to try an experiment. Just for a week or so, I would weigh and measure everything I eat like normal, but I would write down the calories, the WW Points, and the PointsPlus values... just to see how it all compares. Either that, or count calories for a week, count Points for a week, and count PointsPlus for a week and do the comparison that way. I even got out my WW materials--and then I saw something that made me realize yet another reason that I dislike the program.

On the back of one of the booklets, there is a section that applauds a member for earning a "Bravo" sticker. This one particular member earned her sticker because of the following:

"At a restaurant, I ate my salad, waited for the breadsticks to get cold, and then sampled one-third of a breadstick and was satisfied!"

Are you fucking serious?!  She earns a "Bravo" sticker for letting breadsticks get cold so they wouldn't taste good?  Eating a third of a cold breadstick does NOT sound like fun (or success!) to me. Why not work a whole, WARM breadstick into your plan, count it, and enjoy it?!!

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I'm really in the mood to bake something with pumpkin right now. Anyone have a GOOD pumpkin bread recipe that doesn't have a trillion calories per slice? Oh, and that does NOT contain Splenda or any other artificial sweeteners. And no, 1/24th of a loaf is NOT considered a "slice" in my book. I get about 10 slices per loaf ;)

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A very long day

Yesterday started at 6:30 in the morning. Jerry set the alarm clock for us to get up and get out the door by 7:30 for his softball tournament. I'd never gone to his tournaments in the past years, so I was actually pretty excited to go yesterday. On Friday, I apparently picked out the wrong color of pink shorts for Jerry, so we ended up going to Dunham's to buy the right color--his team color was a pastel pink and I was picturing hot pink.

I took a quick shower and ended up wearing very little pink. I wore a pink bra with a gray see-through-ish top, jean shorts, and I put hot pink laces in my shoes. We headed out at 7:30, and on the way there, Jerry wanted to stop and buy doughnuts for everyone. I got a whole grain bagel, because contrary to what you may believe, I'm not a big doughnut fan.

Jerry's team was a co-ed team called Chix N Stix, and his first game was at 10:00. However, the "Misfits" team had a few people that didn't show up, so they asked Jerry to fill in, and he played with them at 9:00. That team cracked me up! They were super laid back and were solely out there to have fun (unlike most of the other teams). Most of them were still drunk from staying at a hotel the night before, and they continued drinking in the parking lot at the tournament. Anyway, it was super fun to watch them play. Jerry told me it'd be a quick game, and he was right. The Misfits were mercied pretty quickly.

Then it was time for Jerry's team to play. I took a couple of pictures beforehand:

Chix N Stix (Everyone got a kick out of Jerry's shorts)

Jerry's team won their game, and then we had like 3 hours before they had to play again. We went to the parking lot to hang out with the Misfits. We realized that we didn't have any cozies for the beer cans (to be discreet) so Jerry and I drove around forever looking for some. After going to about 7 different places, we finally found some at Aco.

We hung out in the parking lot, having a couple of beers and eating the lunch that was catered.  The teams played again, and the Misfits were out of the tournament (after two losses, you're out). They stayed to watch the other teams and just have fun. Jerry's team was doing really well.

By mid-afternoon, I decided to just hang out with the Misfits instead of going to Jerry's game. Some of them suggested to play a game on an empty field just for fun (bringing beverages and playing "opposites"--batting left if you normally bat right, etc). I was just going to watch, but by this point, I decided to try out hitting a few balls. WAY out of my comfort zone--I haven't played softball since 7th grade!

I bat right handed, and no way was I going to try it lefty. I actually did really well--I hit everything that was pitched to me and the guys were commenting "How come you're not playing instead of Jerry?!"  ;)  It kind of made me want to think about playing next year, but I don't know.

After that, I was in a really good happy mood. I went and watched Jerry's game again, and spent the rest of the afternoon like this:

And like this:

During the FINAL final game (Jerry's team had made it to the end) there was lightening, so the umpire called off the game for 30 minutes. Then it got really windy and the tornado siren went off. We all sat in our cars while the storm came through. It was pouring rain and super windy. The umpires ended up canceling the games, and since the other team was in the lead, they ended up being the "champions" which I thought was stupid.

After that, it was about 8:00, and everyone went to Buffalo Wild Wings after getting permission to use the company credit card for dinner and drinks there. Dinner was a lot of fun! There were 30 of us and we sat outside, despite the weather. It had stopped raining. I really enjoyed getting to know Jerry's co-workers and their wives/girlfriends.

It was a super fun, albeit LONG, day.  Back to the norm this week!

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Are you a sports fan? I HATE sports--you'll never find me watching sports on TV or checking scores or anything like that. But watching Jerry's softball league is super fun for some reason!

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Pink shorts

Tomorrow is Jerry's softball tournament, and he sent me on a mission today--to find pink shorts. For him. He's going to be on a co-ed team tomorrow, and their team colors are pink and black. Their team name is "Chicks & Sticks" which I think is funny, but their first choice was rejected: Racks & Sacks.  Hahaha, I love that one.  I went to some garage sales this morning and found the perfect shorts, but they were too big :(  They were Victoria's Secret pink shorts with "LOVE PINK" on the butt. Obviously they were women's shorts, but they were probably the largest size VS carries--maybe 2X or 3X? Nothing at the thrift store either, so I had to settle for Wal-Mart (and I've mentioned before that I hate to buy *new* new clothes). I bought a pair there, so hopefully they fit him ;)  It was kind of interesting to see the looks I got when I held up pink shorts (in the ladies section) and asked my kids, "Do you think these will fit Daddy?"

I've been trying to put together a pink and black outfit for me to wear as well, but I'm having problems coming up with something. I can't wear shorts unless they are knee length (because of my loose thigh skin). I was thinking maybe I'll just wear jean shorts and a pink top and pink knee high socks. I don't know, I'll come up with something I'm sure.

My whole schedule feels so "off" this week because of the kids going to Vacation Bible School again. This time they are going from 6-8 pm, and normally we eat dinner when Jerry gets home at 6:30 pm. So I haven't really been cooking this week. Instead, we have something simple like cereal or PB&J for dinner and I take them to the church. I can't wait to get back to normal next week.  I'll try to get back to writing regularly too, along with my food logs.

Facebook just reminded me that my anniversary with Jerry is on August 16th. Does anyone remember the big "Northeast Blackout of 2003"?  Well, that was my wedding weekend. I was making wedding favors on Thursday afternoon when the power went out. We waited for it to be restored, thinking it was just a little glitch, but we learned it wasn't just local. My rehearsal was on Thursday night, and we had planned on having a nice rehearsal dinner at a local restaurant. Instead, we were sweating to death in the church for the rehearsal (no air conditioning!) and then we went to my parents' house and cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the charcoal grill. When the power was still out on Friday, I cried. A lot of weddings were canceled that weekend, and I was sure that my wedding was going to suck--no music, no food, no AIR CONDITIONING in August?! Thankfully, the power was restored on Friday night, and my wedding went off without a hitch on Saturday :)

August 16, 2003

It rained on my wedding day... but held off just long enough to take pics at my parents house!

So anyway, our 8th anniversary is on Tuesday. We have no big plans.

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If you are married, how long have you been married? Do you celebrate anniversaries? Jerry and I never really have done anything to celebrate, but I think we may do something big on our 10-year.

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Gorgeous day

When I woke up yesterday and stepped outside for a minute, I was shocked at how perfect the weather was! I put on jeans and a sweatshirt and sat outside on the porch for a long time while the kids rode their bikes on our street all morning, and then I took them for a longer bike ride. That's why I didn't write a blog yesterday. I really didn't have much to say anyway.

The kids both had doctor's appointments for physicals in the afternoon. They were SO HYPER. I was kind of embarrassed that I had "those" kind of kids, running all over the place and making all kinds of noise. But they're 5 & 7 years old--and BOYS, at that--so that's what boys do, right?  They each needed a vaccination, and they took it like little champs. So after their appointment, I took them to a frozen custard place to redeem coupons for free cones.

When I got home, I had to do my scheduled 4-miler. Since it was so gorgeous outside, I kept thinking how perfect it would be for a run. However, I had no one to watch my kids, so I had to settle for the dreadmill :(  Since it was an "easy" run on the schedule, I decided to set the speed on 5.6 mph (a 10:43/mi pace) and NOT TOUCH IT the entire time. See, normally when I do the dreadmill, I want to get it over with as fast as possible, so I start at about 6.5 mph and then keep increasing it until by the end, I'm at about 7.5 or 8.0. I'll finish 3 miles in about 25-26 minutes. Needless to say, it's exhausting! And of course I'm miserable the whole time.

So by setting the speed at 5.6 (and leaving it there), I truly felt like it was an "easy" run and I actually didn't *hate* the 4-mile run! I wore my Garmin just to keep track of my heart rate, and it stayed in the right zone for an easy run. When my kids asked me questions, I wasn't barking out answers--I was able to speak in sentences. If I go slow and easy like I'm supposed to on the easy runs, I honestly don't mind the dreadmill all that much!

After my run, I quickly showered and got ready to go to Jerry's softball game. I dropped the kids off at Vacation Bible School and then went to the game. His games are always fun, but yesterday the guys were really going at it with their making fun of each other, and I was cracking up the whole time. At one point, I was talking to the girlfriend of one of the players, and the guys all started yelling "Heads up!" which scares the shit out of me when I hear it. I noticed that they were looking my way, and when I looked up, I saw the softball way up in the air coming straight down to where I was sitting. I covered my head and cringed (yes, I should have moved, but I was frozen). The ball came right down on the arm of my chair, but didn't hit me.

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I've been meaning to post this Baked Ziti recipe for a while, so I'm finally getting around to it. Don't be fooled by the lack of ingredients in this--it's SO GOOD. I was trying to imitate the baked ziti at Sbarro's. When I was a teenager, I loved Sbarro's baked ziti at the mall. So this is what I came up with. Trust me, I tried adding all kinds of Italian herbs and spices and different cheeses and all that... but I always come back to this recipe. My kids even clean their plates when I make this.

Baked Ziti

8 oz. (dry) ziti or penne pasta (I wouldn't recommend whole wheat pasta here)
1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1 (15 oz) can plain tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350. In a 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish, combine the ricotta, 3/4 of the tomato sauce, and all of the parmesan cheese. When the pasta is done cooking, add it to the dish and stir well to combine everything. Top with the rest of the tomato sauce and spread it around. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes, until hot.
Makes 4 servings. Nutrition info per serving (using Smart Taste pasta):

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What is your "perfect weather" day?  I love love love sweatshirt-and-jeans-type weather. Fall in Michigan is the perfect time of year for me--the colors are gorgeous, the temperature is in the 50-60's, and it just SMELLS like fall.

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My happy pace

So yesterday I tried out the new heart rate zone by the Karvonen formula, and I was MUCH happier with it. I didn't have to struggle to go slower. Running at about a 10:30/mi pace kept my heart rate in the middle of the "easy run" zone (average of 151 bpm). I'm actually kind of excited to try a tempo run or interval run just to see how hard it is to get my heart rate up to par.

By the way, I really hope that I didn't offend anyone by talking about how SLOW my pace was on my last couple of runs. I meant "slow" in comparison to ME. When I wasn't really watching my heart rate, my pace was usually about a 9:00/mi--sometimes faster, sometimes a little slower. So deliberately trying to run a 13:00/mi felt really really slow. But if I compare myself to an elite runner, a 9:00/mi pace is excruciatingly slow. So when I talk about being "fast" or "slow" on my runs, I'm only talking fast or slow in comparison to ME. So please don't be offended if I say that 11:00/mi (or whatever pace) is slow. That might be really fast for someone that is used to running a 13:00/mi pace!

Today starts Week 2 of counting calories again. I made it through the whole week without bingeing or anything. When I REALLY set my mind to something, I just DO IT. I don't make excuses, I don't bargain, I don't justify, I don't let anyone or anything stop me. I focus 100% on my goal and I don't look any direction but forward. (That's what I'm talking about when I say I "put my blinders on").

Food log for yesterday:
Breakfast- cold chocolate peanut butter oats and coffee (271)
Lunch- waffle with Barney Butter + coconut butter and a plum (278)
Dinner- homemade pizza with feta (yum!) (362)
Snacks- carrots with peanut butter, Larabar, fudgesicle (533)
TOTAL CALORIES: 1444

I was hungry all day yesterday. I did a 4-mile run in the morning, then I went to Lowe's to buy some stuff for our yard. When I got home, I worked on the yard and landscaping for a while. Last night, the kids were at Vacation Bible School, and Jerry and I decided to go for a bike ride by ourselves. We just circled the 4 neighborhoods on the peninsula at a leisurely pace, and it was SO nice. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor because I wasn't expecting a "real" workout, but I wore the Garmin just to see how far we'd gone. Lots of exercise :)

Recap of the week:

I've been eating a lot of nut butter lately, and you can certainly tell by the amount of fat I've eaten this week. I never worry about eating too much fat though, because (most of) the fat I eat comes from healthy sources. This week, I've been trying to feed my cravings so that I don't want to binge. I've been wanting peanut butter like crazy, so that's what I've been eating.

Exercise this week:

Today is a rest day, so I'm hoping to get my house cleaned and then catch up on e-mail. Jerry has a softball game tonight that I'm going to go to--without the kids! It's so much easier to go when I don't have them with me. Of course, there is going to be Pizza Hut again--but I won't have any.

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What is your favorite leisure activity?  I had so much fun riding bikes with my husband last night, and we both would like to do it more often. It's so much more fun when you do it for fun rather than exercise, and not focus on speed, calories burned, etc. Now if only I could truly enjoy RUNNING like that... ;)

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TUTORIAL: How to Make Homemade Coconut Butter

I adore coconut butter! I tried buying this at the store, and it's not nearly as good as homemade--the jars in the store have coconut oil added to them, so it gets hard as a rock and you have to melt it to spread it. Making it this way, it stays much softer and spreadable. It also has much more flavor!

This tastes delicious on banana bread or zucchini bread, drizzled on oatmeal or granola bars, or even spread on warm toast.

The only ingredient for the regular coconut butter is two bags (5 oz each) of unsweetened coconut. To make chocolate coconut butter, then you'll need a little unsweetened cocoa powder.

Put it in the food processor

Let it rip on high for a few minutes, then scrape down the sides

Let it go on high again, and this is what it will look like after about 10 minutes total

Another 5-10 minutes, and it will be smooth like this. Done! 

You can leave it as-is, or add some cocoa powder (I added about 3 Tbsp.)

Blend it just long enough for the chocolate to get thoroughly mixed in

The nutritional info on this is the same as the package of coconut you use. Since there are no added ingredients, just use the info from the package. Keep in mind that the measurement may change (one tablespoon of shredded coconut does not equal one tablespoon of coconut butter); but the GRAMS will stay the same (15 grams of shredded coconut=15 grams of coconut butter).

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What a workout!

So as I mentioned yesterday, I decided to mow the lawn while Jerry was at work. I picked up the kids' toys in the yard and then wrestled the lawn mower out of the shed. I filled it with gasoline and primed it, and then had a hard time starting it. Finally, I realized that I had to hold the lever down WHILE pulling the starter, and it started right up.

I was sweating within seconds. It doesn't seem like it would be a tough workout, but it is! Everyone else that lives around here uses a riding mower, but we don't have one, so we have to use the push mower. Anyway, I was determined to do a good job, so I spent a long time maneuvering the stupid thing around the kids swing set, eyesore trampoline, etc. I must say, it looked pretty good when I was done! And according to Sparkpeople, I burned 388 calories. I believe it.

I think I was sweatier after mowing the lawn than I was from the super humid run the day before.

Anyway, I was super proud of my accomplishment (haha) and so I took a picture to send to Jerry's phone. I don't know if I expected applause, or fireworks and music, or a trophy, or what... but all he said was, "Oh good, it's supposed to storm later." 

Well then. That'll be the last time I tackle one of YOUR chores, Grateful.

I went inside and made a delicious lunch of pasta with oil, garlic, peas, and parmesan cheese:

If you saute garlic in oil, you could pretty much put it on ANYTHING and it would taste good. I like this combo much better than a tomato sauce.

I went grocery shopping last night, and spent $93 for the week (budget was $100). My kids are obsessed with ramen noodles for lunch, so I grabbed a pretty full box of them off the shelf and put it in the cart. A full box has 24, and this box had 20. So when I went to check out, the cashier scanned the box (charging me for 24). The bagger told her that it wasn't full, so she would have to cancel it and scan them all by hand. Are you freaking kidding me?! I had grabbed the box because it was convenient, didn't take up as much space as throwing a bunch of bags of ramen noodles in the cart, AND because I figured I could tell her I had 20, so she could just scan one and type in the quantity. But she manually scanned each one and passed it to the bagger, who put them in BAGS instead of in the original box.  If I had known she was going to do that, I would have just grabbed a full box. They're like 18 cents each or something.

So anyways, my food log for yesterday:
Breakfast-chocolate peanut butter oats, coffee (271)
Lunch- pasta with peas (367)
Dinner- kielbasa & corn hash (423)
Snacks- carrots and peanut butter; Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia!!! (453)
TOTAL CALORIES: 1514
Exercise: 75 minutes with the lawn mower (and yes, I'm counting that as cross-training--I'm SO SORE today!)

Oh yes, I did. I bought Ben & Jerry's when I went grocery shopping. I just bought a single-serve cup for each me and Jerry. I got Cherry Garcia and he got the fudge brownie one. I forgot just how good Cherry Garcia is--it seriously tasted like HEAVEN last night. Totally worth 220 calories.

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Favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor?  Mine is definitely the Cherry Garcia. Normally I go for anything with chocolate and peanut butter (that's my favorite Haagen Dazs flavor) but the Cherry Garcia is seriously orgasmic! The Chubby Hubby is really good too--that has chocolate-covered peanut butter-filled pretzels in peanut butter ice cream. Sorry, I probably shouldn't be talking about this. Drool.

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Snail's pace

Yesterday was my "long run", and I once again, decided to follow the guidelines for heart rate training--trying to keep my heart rate between 65-75% of the maximum. For me, that meant 124-143 beats per minute. I sat on my porch for a few minutes prior to the run to see what my resting heart rate was. Per usual, it was <60 bpm.

Resting heart rate

I began running, if you can even call it running, as slowly as possible. Within about 1/4 mile, my heart rate was up to 143 bpm. I was basically shuffling along, feeling ridiculous. Normally, I inhale for 2 steps, and then exhale for 2 steps. During this run, I was inhaling every 5-6 steps! I know the point of it is that it's supposed to be an "EASY run" but I didn't feel like I was working out at all. 

However, when I was done, I certainly LOOKED like I had worked out! It was a sunny 80 degrees and extremely humid, so I looked like this when I was done:

You can barely see the dry spots on the bottom of my shirt

I tried to get a picture where you could see just how sweat-drenched my shirt was. I was completely soaked. When I got home, I read some more about heart rate training and learned about a different formula for calculating your target, called the Karvonen formula. This takes your resting heart rate into consideration, and is supposed to me more accurate. The 65-75% range for me went to 145-158 bpm. Yay! I'm going to switch it up and use that as a guide tomorrow and see how it goes. My heart rate is usually about 158-162 on my runs, so I'll just have to go a little slower, rather than sloth-like. 

These are MY numbers... yours will probably be different

 I laughed when I put my workout into Sparkpeople, because you have to click on an approximate pace... the highest it goes up to is 12:00/mi. Well, my pace was way more than that! 13:06 to be exact! 

When I saw that total time, I thought, "Seriously?! I could have been done with this run 15 minutes ago!" Oh well, at least it helped me to realize how far I've come since I started running at 190ish pounds.

And yes, I realize that this is the most boring topic I could possibly blog about, so from now on, I will definitely keep the heart rate talk to a minimum.

I think the hardest part about running so slowly was coming across other people. I kept wanting to explain why I was going so slow. Lame, right? Whenever I'm running and I come across someone, I automatically tend to run faster, to feel "cooler" or something. Does anyone else do that?

The boys were at my parents house ALL DAY yesterday, and they spent the night last night. I had the house to myself all day, because Jerry was at work. I wish I could say I totally took advantage of it, but all I did was my run and then read a bunch of crap about heart rate training online, and watch a couple of shows on TV. 

Today I'm ready to be productive. I think I'll work on the landscaping some more and then maybe mow the lawn. I've only mowed the lawn twice in my entire life. I think it's a "man's job", so it's Jerry's chore :)  Jerry generally gets the shaft when it comes to chores--he does the things I really don't want to do because they're gross. Cleaning out the litter box, cleaning the toilets, taking out the garbage, etc. I guess you could say I'm a little spoiled. A housewife that doesn't clean toilets? Really, Katie? 

Okay, so my food log for yesterday:

Breakfast- cold chocolate peanut butter oats and coffee (271)

Lunch- waffle with Barney Butter and coconut butter; grapes (336)

Dinner- 2 eggs, toast, cereal with milk (530)

Snacks- pretzels; carrots with peanut butter (341)

TOTAL CALORIES:  1478

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Are there any chores you pass off to your partner because you don't want to do them? The two I hate the most are the litter box and toilets.

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My near heart attack

Shortly after we started dating in 1999

I'm so glad that you all enjoyed Jerry's post! I think the comments boosted his ego a little, however ;)  Jarmaine asked how Jerry and I met. I was a junior in high school, and I was writing a story for the school newspaper about stereotypes of other schools in our county. I drove to some of the other schools to interview students. I told the secretary in the office "I just need a random selection of students--maybe an athlete, a class clown, top of the class, etc."  Well, apparently, she took that literally, because Jerry was the class clown at his school (it was his senior year). She selected him as one of the students for me to interview, and I really liked him :)  But we didn't get together then.

It wasn't until about 8 months later, when I was kind of seeing a guy from Jerry's school, that I saw Jerry again. I was at this other guy's house for a get-together, and Jerry was there (apparently the two of them were friends and I didn't know it). We exchanged phone numbers and went out the next day. And we've been together ever since--over 12 years now.

So, on to my near heart-attack...

I was pulling weeds from our landscaping yesterday, because we need to put down some new mulch. I hate doing this, because I'm terrified of spiders, so I was a little on-edge and jumpy. See this plant? (no fucking clue what it's called, I don't "do" gardening or plants or flowers or any of that!)

Take a close look. See anything unusual?  Yeah, I didn't either. So I'm pulling out random weeds around it, and as my hand was right next to it, suddenly a raccoon LEAPED out from the depths of Hell underneath the plant and attacked my hand! Okay, I lied. It wasn't a raccoon, but it was MY CAT who LOOKS like a raccoon. I had no idea that she was even outside, and there was no movement from the stupid plant until she made her move. Here, I'll zoom for you...

Now do you see?  So when she jumped on my hand, I seriously screamed loud enough that the people in Africa must have heard me. Then it took a second to register that it was Estelle, and not some wild animal. She dove back into the plant and did it again (now that I was expecting it, it was kind of funny). I even told Eli to pull out a weed and Estelle attacked him, too. He thought it was hilarious.

She does kind of look like a scary wild animal, though, right?

Calorie counting is still going good. I've not gotten on the scale yet--I'm going to wait until August 19th, and then hopefully weigh just once a month on the 19th after that. I kind of like being scale-free, because I don't worry so much about sodium, or eating heavier foods (which affect the next day's weigh in). As long as I keep my blinders on, I should see good progress after a month.

Food log...

Breakfast- Cinnamon Raisin Granola with milk and coffee (275)
Lunch- waffle with Barney Butter and coconut butter; grapes (298)
Dinner- homemade breakfast pizza; grapes (419)
Snacks- carrots w/ peanut butter; Cinnamon Raisin Granola with milk (483)
TOTAL CALORIES: 1475

The Barney Butter + coconut butter combo on my waffle for lunch was INCREDIBLE. And the breakfast pizza was amazing!

I'll post how I made it, but you could obviously change up the veggies and meat to your liking.

Breakfast Pizza
1/2 recipe of whole wheat pizza crust (see that recipe below)
1 pkg frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and squeezed dry
3/4 cup of 2% cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. chopped green bell pepper
6 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled (I used the Hormel Black Label bacon that is 70 cals for 4 slices)
onion powder, salt, and black pepper to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp of each)

Spray a pie plate with cooking spray and sprinkle a little flour around the bottom. Spread the dough out along the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pie plate (adding flour if necessary to keep it from sticking). Spread the broccoli out on the crust, and top that with 1/2 cup of the cheese. Sprinkle the bacon and peppers on top of that. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, milk, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the whole thing, and then top with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until eggs are just set (it took 35 minutes for me). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving for Breakfast Pizza:

Breakfast Pizza nutrition

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup hot water
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. yeast (one packet)

Combine in a bowl until a ball forms and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 15-20 minutes. [To make pizza (not the breakfast pizza shown above), spread out dough on a pizza pan and bake at 475 for about 5-8 minutes. Then top with your toppings, and bake again until cheese is bubbly and toppings are done.]

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Have you ever been scared half to death like I was with Estelle? I've had lots of moments like those, but the moment with Estelle yesterday was definitely the loudest I've ever screamed.

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Guest post by my husband

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to lose half my followers after this post. One thing I learned quickly about Jerry is that you should never take him seriously!  My apologies...  ;)

Well... here by popular demand, it's me- Mr. Slim Katie.You all know how awesome my wife is (as evidenced by people on the internet telling her that EVERY DAY). It's undeniable. You know how a typical day in her life goes. Do you know mine? How about my struggles? I have them too. Here is my typical day:

I get up at 4:00 AM. You read correctly--AM. I get ready for work. Give the wife a kiss goodbye, even though she's still in bed. Usually she says she loves me (groggily) and my response is always, 'I love you more'. (Corny, I know). I make a cup of coffee and try my best to stay awake. This is where it gets super hard for me. I sit on the couch for the next hour playing video games or watching TV, trying to wake up a little more, but really just staring off into space. I like to get up early so I can make sure I get all my crap together before work so I'm not rushing at the last minute to gather it all up before I leave.

So naturally, 5:20 rolls around (the time I have to leave) and I realize, "Shit, my lunch isn't packed." Never fails. The rest of the day is pretty boring. I get off work at 6:00 PM and hurry to get home. Katie always has dinner ready (and portioned out into a single serving, so I can't be heavy handed) and I can't wait to eat. I know dinner is going to be good, because the kids' bowls are half-empty, which means they actually ate some of it. Eat, take a shower, grab a beer, and then I catch up with The Lovely Wife. That's the day. Everyday.

Just like Katie, people ask me questions when they find out about her weight loss (and mine as well, although I definitely play second-fiddle to Katie). Here are a few FAQ's, plus the questions you asked...

1. Do you have a lisp?
Yeth, I have a lithp. How did you know? Jerry insisted on putting this question in here, but I said it was stupid... none of my readers know that he actually DOES, in fact, have a lisp. Our friends like to tease him about it, and I guess he considers it part of his personality.

2. Is it hard being 'Mr. Slim Katie'?
It can be--she's very intimidating. Don't be fooled by her kindness in blogging. She beats me when I don't clean out the litter box before work or give her foot massages before bed. Just kidding. No, silly, it's not hard. Not at all. I have a sexy wife, what else could I ask for? Life is good.

3. Do you ever wonder if she's going to leave you after losing the weight?
Every husband's nightmare. No, I don't worry. I think the key is, we were happy before and I never gave her a reason to leave. So, what's changed? We're just happier I think.

4. Is the sex better?
Yes. We've got a couple videos online if you want to check them out. Here's the link

5. How did you lose the weight?
Truthfully? I'm lazy. Really lazy. She does all the cooking and I do all the eating. I eat what she puts in front of me. I think that's typical of a husband, isn't it? It's a struggle every day though. When I go to work, people always bring in all kinds of food like donuts and cake. Pies and cookies. Fast food. So, everyday I go to work saying I'm not going to eat all kinds of crap. I usually don't, but sometimes I forget to pack my willpower in the morning (along with my lunch) and my day is screwed. I don't really exercise. I didn't do the 48-Hour Miracle Diet (but there IS a bottle of it in our pantry... ask Katie about that!). No gastric bypass. Just Katie. She's how I lost the weight. She was, and is, really motivating.

6. Are you a keeper?
Yes, michellechristine and Poison, I am a keeper.

7. Can we see some before and after pics of you?
Absolutely. One thing you should know about me is that I'm not shy. So, these are for you, ladies.

I even had the stereotypical stain on my shirt

Yes, that would be my sister-in-law's bikini bottom

8. How were you motivated to lose weight? (a.k.a. How can I get my husband to lose weight with me?)
In all honesty, I don't know. I saw a couple pics of me that made me look like a thumb. I had no chin. Sagging man-boobs. Helluva gut. I felt really sluggish. I want to be here for my kids. I want to be able to run around with them and play. I know a couple of guys at work that have horrible obesity related health issues, such as diabetes and sleep apnea. I didn't want to be one of those people. I also realized that I CAN'T AFFORD TO BE FAT. Our food spending was astronomical (one binge could cost $25 or more).

On top of that, my employer has rolled out new health care requirements. Smokers and obese employees/spouses will be required to pay an extra $20 a week for insurance.That mean that if you or your spouse have a BMI over 30, you would be required to pay $20 extra a week. If BOTH of you have an issue, then it's $40 a week. Great motivation, huh? I am so happy that I lost the weight. I feel better, I look better, and I saved a TON of money on my car health insurance.

9. What was the biggest change in your lifestyle?
Before, we used to go on diets for a couple days and then fail miserably. The downfall would come from something like cookies or chips that we thought we could keep in the house. WRONG! Katie decided enough was enough and cleaned out the pantry of all the bad stuff and filled it with healthy stuff. No more bad stuff to sabotage us. Since she does the grocery shopping and the cooking, I didn't really have a choice.

Did I miss anything? Oh, yeah. I did.

10. How is life, REALLY, with pretty and slim Katie?
PERFECT. I know that life isn't a fairytale. It's not a Lifetime movie (unless there is a movie where the husband gets murdered by the wife because he forgot to clean out the litter box before work!). It is what you make it. We definitely have our ups and downs. We have fun. We're Simpletons. We like to play cards or board games. We laugh and cry at the stupidest crap sometimes but that's what makes us 'us'. We truly enjoy each others company. We finish each others sentences. So, I can't think of anyone else I would rather spend my life with than her. She's special.


So, how was it for my first blog? Any more questions?

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Oh, and as Katie usually does, I'll post a question for you: How many of you clicked on the link in FAQ #4?

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So there you go, friends. Some random guy who hacked into my blogger account My husband. In all his glory. Let's leave the blogging to his better half, shall we? ;)

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