Got That Chocolate Craving?

Do you crave chocolate? I know I do. There are a lot of people that really crave it all the time, but I mostly just need a chocolate fix during 'that time' of the month. Still, it's been something I've avoided since starting my new lifestyle here.

Yesterday I just needed it.

I decided to look while I was at the store and see if I couldn't come up with an alternative to the high calorie sugar packed chocolate foods. I've tried chocolate flavored Yoplait Whipped yogurts in the past. That doesn't do it for me. I'm not fond of the super whipped type of yogurt (tastes too much like fluffy air to me) and the actual taste of chocolate in those just isn't enough to satisfy my needs when I get hit with those cravings. Not too mention they are rather high in calories as yogurts go. Of course, actual candy is out. Even if you only eat the very very small amount you might be able to squeeze into a daily calorie allowance it's loaded with sugar. Same with cakes, cookies, and cereals that are chocolate flavored... so I wasn't sure what I was going to do about this need for chocolate until I was picking up some of the sugar free jello I usually get.

I make that a couple times a week as a desert and for ten calories a serving (you can eat the whole danged prepared package for only 40 calories if you really want) it's a good no sugar snack that tastes just sinful enough to make a sweet tooth happy. Up until yesterday I really had't looked at the puddings. I mean, puddings are just out, you know? But I happened to glance at them, longingly as I saw the chocolate box and realized the puddings too have a fat free/sugar free offering. Hum.. maybe. I read the back and made a quick consideration. One serving (4 to a box) is about 80 calories prepared with skim milk. Hey, that's not too bad. Really, it's even less than most light yogurts and it's CHOCOLATE.

Okay, I decided to pick up two boxes. When I got home, after having a nice dinner of steamed Tilipia (not sure if I spelled that right, but it's a DECLICOUS fish) and asparagus, I opened the package of pudding. I went to get the milk out of the fridge and as I stood there contemplating the idea of 80 calories for about a 1/2 cup of pudding I started to think (always dangerous I admit that)... if I made the pudding with water instead of milk it would only be 25 calories for the same amount (according to the package, unprepared chocolate pudding is 25 calories per serving). I put the milk back and decided to give the idea a try.

What could happen?

It would suck and I had wasted an 85 cent package of pudding.

I still had one package left to make it the right way. I poured 2 cups of cold water into a bowl and mixed in the pudding. Okay, it's NOT pudding. It gets a degree of thick, but it's more like soupy chocolate. It works for me! LOL It still tastes fine. Not as creamy, true, but it tastes like CHOCOLATE, and it's only 25 calories. I could eat two servings and still only be eating 50 calories and have a really really nice satisfying way to curb that chocolate craving when I need it. Heck I could really splurge and eat the whole thing for only 100 calories (the same as a light yoplait). I didn't though. I split the box (50 calories) and gave the other half to my son.

I am even thinking now of trying it using double the water for a chocolate drink next time. Sort of like the old 'yoohoo' you could buy (basically chocolate water) but much less calories per glass. So if you really crave chocolate and don't want a whole lot of calories, and better yet, no fat or sugar... give it a try. I am really happy with my little discovery.

Time Really Does Fly

So much is going on here at my place that time is just flying by. Old injuries from last fall/winter are healing well, although the back/hip one still gives me trouble, it's not nearly as bad as it had been. A recent fall threatened to re-injure my elbow (yes, yes, I'm a clutz, tripped on a palette unloading hay), and it hurt like it was going to be bad for a day, but then, thankfully went away. That would have sucked becasue that elbow injury last winter was horrible. My mother-in-law has cancer and is going through chemo. She lives an hour and a half away so I can't be of much help to her, but her two daughters that live up in the area don't do a thing at all, leaving all the errands, doctor's trips, and daily care of my MIL to my husband. Luckily he works up in that area so it's not like he has to go from here to there all the time, but it DOES mean he's not here hardly at all right now. It's been hard because this is one of THE most busy times on a farm--spring--new babies. As you can see in the picture, I've been busy, and things are 'jumpin' here with new babies arriving constantly. Doing all the chores, and kidding by myself has been difficult, but I keep telling myself 'this too shall pass', and it will. I'm getting close!!! I am only 9 pounds away from my second goal of 100 pounds lost. I'm WEARING JEANS... A couple weeks ago I was FINALLY able to fit back into a pair of jeans I hadn't been able to wear in over EIGHT years! Rummaging through my closet thurned up 2 more pair, and I haven't worn sweatpants since!!! Oh what a joy such a simple thing is, to be able to wear jeans again. I have also found I can fit into several pairs of dress pants that I hadn't been able to wear in years. So, suffice it to say that although it has been falling off slower than it did in the first few months (lost 75 pounds in 4 months at the start) it HAS been coming off, usually 1 - 2 pounds a week, which although I'd love to have kept up the pace of earlier, I'm thrilled with anyway, and actually know it's safer. I had gone through an almost 2 month plateau and didn't even have my cycle at the time (actually thought I might even be pregnant, went to the doctor and everything, lol--huge sigh of relief wasn't that, haha). The doctor did say that it was probably due to the huge/fast weight loss of those first four months, and that I should just keep doing what I was doing and it would start up again, but I should be more careful and try to take it slower. So I kept at it, and it did finally jump start again, and yes, on it's own gone slower, I'm still doing what I was before. You know though, back a month or so ago I would have complained a lot about going slower, but since I can fit into these jeans, and dress pants, and am daily finding other things I can once again wear, and I'm feeling GREAT about myself and the way things are--while I still want to get to my final goal--I'm fine with it going slowly. :)

Daily Workouts

Well, although Annie in my picture up there looks like it's her that gets the workout while she plays in my spare room (gotta love the bottle babies that pic is actually from last year when I had 4 --- yes 4 bottle babies in the house) it's really me who gets the work out with these guys. I didn't even bother with an excercise 'routine' today. I did feet. Trimming a goat's feet requires dexterity, strength, timing, and prayers that you won't cut off their entire hoof (or one of your fingers). Actually the ones I usually expect to give me trouble, and put my back out of commission were perfect angels today, and the ones that are usually no trouble at all decided to put on a rodeo on the grooming stand. I'm going to ache tomorrow in ways no exercise workout could possibly cause. Hey, for the record, farming is great exercise, anyone want a free 'spa' membership? All you have to do is muck out stalls, cart around 60# hay bales, fight off hungry goats with a loaded grain bucket, and tackle wiggly kids as they attempt to squirm out of your grasp while you try to do any number of fun things like tattooing (added bonus, you will look like you have green gloves on all week from the ink). Apply inside.

We're All Big Losers

Okay, before you get the wrong impression (lol) it's not a only lost one pound thread... I did my mid-week weigh in this morning, and after a few weeks 'stuck' at 255 I FINALLY broke that plateau and lost FOUR pounds!!!

Okay, so I'm sure you're asking what I'm belly-aching about, and what the 'one measly pound' title is all about: I'll tell you. I'm ONE POUND.. ONE MEASLY POUND away from my second goal (and half way point to final goal)! Why does it always seem to happen like that. My first goal was to lose 50 pounds... when I weighed in right before that, I was ONE pound away from it, and it took me all week to get rid of that last little pound so i could finally say I'd made my first goal, and lost 50 pounds.

Now here I am, straining to touch that 100 pound mark... it's been slow the last few months--winter, some injuries, etc, but I've been happily going on just feeling good about myself and how much better I feel, and how I can fit into clothes I hadn't been able to wear in years... but aaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhh when I weighed in this morning I was like, omg, I lost four pounds... but eek, why couldn't I have gotten that final pound so I could say YAY, I made my second goal, and I've lost ONE HUNDRED POUNDS!!!

Oh well, lol, next week. :) I read the article on here about the biggest loser and how we can learn lessons from the show. That is my all time favorite show, and I loved the points the article made. It's so true. I think that's why I love the show so much, it validates what I'm going through, and gives me strength seeing what they go through, and that it's not just 'me'. Just like this fabulous place, it helps to know that others stuggle with the same issues, and we can hold each other up through the good, the bad, and the ugly days, and cry and rejoice with each other over the highs and lows of our emotional and physical journies. So hugs to you all, and we're all great BIG LOSERS!!! :)

No Time To Blow My Diet

This day started out on a bad note and kept getting worse. First off, the other day I got a high speed Internet connection--yay--but my husband wasn't home to hook up the router and get his laptop on it. No problem, he bought a router while at work, and brought it home with him last night. First thing this morning we hooked it all up and----it didn't work.

So, several hours online with tech support from the Internet company trying to help us set up the router and laptop and---nothing. Now, through the years of computer operation, I've learned one thing, I'm sure the same lesson anyone who has dealt with any type of computer over the years has learned, they are a pain in the butt--but this was areal hair puller. So, the final idea the tech support had was return the router. Perhaps it was faulty.

Sigh. Okay, we returned the router.

While in the store at the checkout counter we hear an announcement for the personwith the Chevy Silverado license plate (something somthing something and a letter). I look at my hubby. Is that us? He shrugged. Neither of us knew the plate number of our truck because we'd only had it ONE MONTH.

There should be a law against anything bad happening to a brand new automoble. There had to be a hundred Chevy Silverado's out there. This is farm country, everyone owns trucks, and that is top choice around here. He looked at me and said, hope the truck didn't get hit. I gave him a wry, yeah right look, but something inside me said, you better go look. So I slid past him as he waited in line and walked out of the store.

Halfway down the parking aisle I saw it. Oh boy, he was NOT going to be happy. I headed back inside and went to the service desk. I said did you just page the owner of the Chevy Silverado, the lady said yes and motioned for a customer standing there who proceeded to proclaim she'd seen who hit our truck. Now of all the bad things, I have to say I'm very thankful that there are kind people still willing to help a stranger in this world. After all, so many people would have seen the accident and just said to themselves, wow, that sucks and kept going. The lady proceeded to give me the license plate number and make and color of the car that hit us. She said she saw them stop after they hit the truck, look at the damage, and then high-tail it out of there. So the cashier behind the service desk called the police, gave them all the info the nice witness got and they came out. While filling out the report, a call came over the radio. The officer answered and spoke a moment, then looked at us, asked us to move up to an empty area of the lot to wait for the person in the other vehicle. The cops had tracked her down and she was on her way back to the parking lot.

Anyway, okay, an hour delay later and we got back home, plugged in the new router--sigh--yep, you guessed it. Still didn't work. So, he brought his laptop into my office and hard plugged into the internet. That worked, but it sort of defeats the purpose of having a wireless laptop. And now, I'm having keyboard issues. No particular key, but any of them seem to occassionally skip as I type, and I have to constantly correct as I type. I'm not going to ask if it could get any worse. On an upnote--yes, I can find a silver lining in anything--

I sure couldn't 'blow' my diet today. I've been too busy running around, and trying to get things working to eat hardly anything.

I Had a Dream

I had to know this was coming. It's happened before on diets. Maybe I figured that since this isn't a 'diet' it's a lifestyle, and I've been doing it for three months now, that I might have 'dodged the bullet'... but no.

I had a dream last night.

A dream of Hostess Cupcakes, midnight snack raids, and all those delicious sales at the supermarket, you know the ones, Hostess products 2 boxes for five bucks, or whatever, lol. I woke up very early this morning, I went to bed kind of early last night, and I had to sit up on the edge of the bed and think for a moment... did I actually eat a cupcake? No that would be impossible unless I'd actually gotten up, got dressed, and drove 30 miles to the closes all night store because we don't have any of that stuff in the house. So no... whew... it was a dream.

Sleepy Diet

Something very few people really consider as an important aspect of their diet is sleep.

Most of us know that sleep is important to us health wise, but it's overlooked as something that effects our metabolism and ability to lose, or maintain weight. If you are not getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night, your body thinks you are in a famine and have to 'work harder, and longer' to find food.

Whenever your body thinks there is a famine related problem going on (and mentally telling yourself that's not the case does not trick it into believing you) it puts a halt on expending the body's fat reserves.

The effect: slow metabolism, no weight loss, and depending on what you're actually eating, possibly even weight gain.

Get your sleep, get healthy.

Fast Weight Loss Secret?

I got an idea for this post from the search engine words someone used to click on here. The words were

"Easiest way to lose weight over forty"

Okay, here's the simple, if not pleasant answer:

There is no EASY way to lose weight. All the promises and statements put out by pharmaceutical companies aside, it just doesn't work that way. Fact is, if you DO lose it 'easy' by taking drugs, or other means, it is probably going to come back.

Why?

The answer to that is simple too. YOU haven't changed a thing. You haven't learned, or re-trained your body to do things 'right'. So you go right back to the same old, same old, and the weight comes piling back on--usually, as it happens, with added friends (more pounds).

The myth, however, is that it's HARDER after forty.

No matter what the 'facts' presented, it just isn't really true. The body works much the same at 40, 50, and beyond as it ever did. It's just plain HARD to lose weight no matter what age. If that weren't true then there would be no 20 year olds with weight problems. No teens that weight over 300 pounds... etc...

If losing weight were easier for younger people, they wouldn't be in weight loss programs online or otherwise. They want to lose weight too, and their complaints are the same as any of us 'old foggies' are.

It's HARD to lose weight. What makes it hard is the fact that we have developed or learned bad habits through our lives, regardless of if it started in our youth, or as we got older, and now we have to retrain those processes to do it healthy.

It's HARD because it's NOT fast. We're an impatient bunch. Often we just say, the heck with it, when the pounds don't fly off and disappear in a week, or a month, or even two... not really fair to your body. It probably didn't get there in a week, or a month, or even two... it's a life long process, and it's not something you do and then stop doing once you reach a 'goal'. That's why 'diets' fail.

Diets are something you stop.

Well, if you stop, and go back to eating the way you did before you began the 'diet'... guess what--yep, it all comes back (with those pesky friends).

There is no easy, there is only healthy and fit, and learning a new lifestyle that works for you, and your body.

Novel's in Print

Okay, I know this isn't on the subject of weight loss but I'm excited about it anyway. My novels Hell's Own, and Big Money are now available in either print, or ebook versions!!!

Click on the cover of Hell's Own, or Big Money to visit their websites.

Or click here to visit the Hell's Own website

Click here to visit Big Money's website