Was Someone Looking for Me?

Good morning!

Was anyone missing me?  By now, many of my readers may have just assumed I fell off the face of the Earth!  Well let me tell you, for a while there I felt like I did.

Often, doesn’t it seem that we walk thru life with the best laid intentions, for weight loss, to clean up that cluttered corner in our house, to stay better connected with friends.  The reality for all of us humans is there’s a pesky thing called LIFE that gets in the way.  I know personally, last year, with my mom going through a series of health scares, I found myself in a situation where I had a lot of stress on my shoulders.  Rather than using sensible coping, what seemed to soothe me was food.

So me and food, food and me…it’s an ongoing love affair.  I mean I’m from Wisconsin, where not using cheese and butter in 96% of your meal is kind of a sin!  What I didn’t love, however, was that my jeans began causing a muffin top, well let’s face it, the fat under my jeans was just bubbling up into that muffin top, sitting there like an open can of Pillsbury biscuits.  Shorts and tops from the previous summer seemed to have clearly shrunken in the “bad closet air”.  So as I continued to comfort myself with food, it continued to make me more uncomfortable!

Yes, I understand that sounds crazy, but it’s true, and I’m realizing it’s a cycle.  You feel stressed, so you eat, and I’m not talking about eating kale and lean meats either.  Then you gain weight, which is upsetting, so what seems to be the solution?  Nooo silly, if diet or working out was my answer I wouldn’t be back here re-losing this weight!  Yeah, my answer was more bad food.

Clearly, that only compounded the problem.  Being diagnosed with Graves Disease last year, aka a hyperactive thyroid, I continued my reckless eating, and what had once been burned off by my over-functioning thyroid began to settle in for a nice visit.  I got to the point this fall that I didn’t even want to go shopping, and I felt terrible about myself.  I finally said enough is enough, I refuse to go up another size and undo all the hard work I did to lose in the first place!  I know the steps, I CAN do this, I just had to decide I WOULD do this!

So three weeks ago tomorrow, I reopened my handy Weight Watchers app.  I ever soooo gently got on the scale, cursed it for a minute, then accepted the reality I had caused.  I fool-proofed the house by banishing all the badness and making friends with the veggie, fruity, fiber-filled and lean items in my grocery store.  Last week I was down 9.6lbs!  There are many, many, maaany (lol ok I’m dramatic) more pounds to go, but I feel that with my village behind me, there’s no way I can’t make it.

So after this quick hello and catch up for those who aren’t familiar, I will once again begin sharing my recipe, food and fitness ideas and tricks, thoughts on it all, what I feel works, and what didn’t hit the mark for me.  This time around I’m working to make my diet feel as “normal” in my eyes as possible, and thus far I haven’t once felt deprived.  So let’s get started once again on this journey together, because you can start over as MANY time as you like, it’s your life!  Thank you all for your support, I promise to keep it as fun, informative, and interesting as possible!

**Oh and photo cred to our pup Rufus.  Caught him waking up from a nap, and that’s how I feel, reawakened and ready to make this happen!  So I felt it was fitting for this post, and let’s face it, he’s just cute, so I couldn’t resist!  😉

Love and Blessings, now go be great today!!

 

The “Skinny” on Chicken and Dumplings

“Comfort Food”

This can be such a dangerous expression.  Think about comfort food, and I’d pretty much guarantee that anything which pops into your head is far from a pile of carrot sticks or a fresh green salad. 

No, COMFORT Foods are named for a reason.  They’re soothing to the soul, remind us of our childhood in most cases, but it’s rare that the foods we’ve all come to know for their warm, fuzzy inducing properties are actually GOOD for us. 

Dieters, in my opinion, need comfort more than anyone.  I mean shoot, we’re stuck here in this new, uncharted world of healthiness.  Surrounded by cold, hard vegetables, it can get real cold and lonely.  Ok, I’m being overly dramatic.  But anyone who plugs through the diet weeks begins to eventually crave, besides the fast food, just the good old home cooking that always made us feel so great.

This thought is what prompted me to try a light version of chicken and dumplings  There’s something about just hearing chicken and dumplings that makes my mouth water.  I’ve made a delicious high fat version before, but pretty much thought that this treat had to be packed away in a closet with my potato chips and waffle maker.  I perked up when I saw the recipe on the Weight Watchers site, and I got all the ingredients to give it a try.

I have to say, although I was intrigued by some of the ingredients (i.e. cornmeal and apple juice) I kept an open mind, and was pleasantly surprised.  I added a few little extra seasoning kicks, which I will share in the recipe that follows, but their recipe as is made for a yummy, warm dish.    On a cold fall or winter day, this will fill up your whole family, and as my husband did, may have them asking you “Are you SURE this is a diet meal?”  Happy cooking!  🙂

Chesty Rating: 5