Switch it up

Whew, grainiacs....that's all I can say-- Whew!!!!  Rev. Hubby's staff party is behind us and now I can relax get started on that paper that's due and oh yeah, Christmas shopping. 

I think I'd like to switch things up next year.  First of all, I'm hoping the staff party can be in say....November or January!  Why a Christmas Staff party?  Why not a Thanksgiving Staff Party (we are so thankful for you!) or an It's a New Year Staff party (we had a great last year, let's have a wonderful new year!).  The possibilities are endless and I don't think I'm being a bah humbug by suggesting this.  We get so busy during this season that we miss why we are celebrating-- it's just running from one thing to another.  Maybe this is the tired Strawberry talking and perhaps I'll feel differently next year, but I'd like to mark it on my calendar and remember this. 

Happy Strawberry.  (thank you, Bing images!)

Speaking of remembering, I have a wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright calendar up on my wall.  I'm off to mark this thought in my November.

And speaking of switching things up: I'm eating a hamburger patty for breakfast and plan to have an omelet for lunch.  I'm back on my NO GRAINS for December and January.  I'm marking that on my calendar too!  Last night one of our guests had stopped off at Whataburger and picked up a hamburger patty sans bun.  He has celiac disease and cannot have any gluten....none....and so he brings his own for fear some form of gluten has touched the food.  If you aren't being careful, your floured hands might brush against the "gluten-free" meat you are cooking.  It is just easier for him to bring his own than take a chance.  It is a given.  If he comes, he is eating his food.  That got me thinking; if this big strong man can sit comfortably and eat his patty without a bun, I sure can refrain from eating sugary, grain-filled, scrumptious, chocolatey, gooey (I better stop) foods and not feel funny about it.  I'll just tell people it gives me the runs.  Nothing embarrassing about that, right?  LOL  Well, just shy of confessing that lie, I can abstain and just say "I don't feel like eating that today."  I don't know why I get embarrassed to admit I'm dieting.  Maybe it's the failure factor and when if (see?!) it doesn't happen, I won't have to endure the "I knew it" feelings.  What a game I play with myself.  So hold me accountable, Grainiacs; I'm counting on you!

Happy Friday.  I'll keep you posted on my strawberry switchin' it up ideas.  I know you are sitting on pins and needles just waiting to hear..... 

Hello?  

Anybody out there?

and the busier keep on....

Believe it or not, I have another party tonight at Home, Crap, Home.  Here we go again stuffing things in nooks and crannies so the house looks immaculate....just don't open a door or cabinet!

I keep saying "one day," don't I?  I think it is my mantra.  It will be carved on my tombstone....ONE DAY!!!

So today I'll be organizing and getting ready for the staff party tonight.  We've been here for a year so most know me pretty well.  Maybe I'm getting to the stage of my life where I just don't care what people think about the house.  Or, maybe I'm just not feeling it!  LOL  remember that phrase?  Call it what you will, it's just procrastination.

Yesterday I was talking with a grainiac complaining how I complain about losing weight but I'm not really doing anything about it. I complain about the house, but let's face it, other things are just more fun.  "That bag of chips and dip is calling my name."  "Why clean the house too soon before the party, it will just get dirty again."  Excuses, excuses.  Procrastination with a capital P.  I am going to embrace my inner self....that includes Moana.  I will love me for me.  Instead of working on so many changes at once, I'll change one thing (I really think I've said this before!!!  ;) )).  Hold me accountable, Grainiacs.  Don't let me slip. I'm counting on you!

Open Sesame!

Confession: I forgot to take pictures.  I'm falling down on the job, I know!

Sunday, Rev. Hubby and I hosted a Holiday Open House at the manse.  I baked and baked and posted all the cookies and bars and goodies I made the other day, remember?  Well, guess what?  There are so many parties happening and events going on, that my kitchen bar is still full of cookies and goodies!!!  About 35 people came (we have about 300 coming to church) and those 35 people didn't eat much!!!  Ahhhhhh.  Hahahaha...I'm not upset about the number of people who attended; I hear our church has not had an event like this for several years so they aren't used to coming.  On a more sinister note: I thought people would come just to see what the house looked like! (Am I the only curious one in this church?)  Bless them; they weren't snoopy.  Darn them; I have all this chocolate still in my house!!!!! Family: guess what you are getting for Christmas; yes, homemade goodies!

Every morning I walk out to my kitchen and there loaded on the counter tops are all those left-over goodies...reminding me: eat me!  Yesterday I packed some up and loaded them into the freezer.  At Boy's scout meeting, they celebrated the season and so I dished up a tasty tray for him to take.  Gotta love the boy scouts....they eat!  I think one or two morsels came back home.

Tis the season for eating and loving and giving.  Have a blessed day, Grainiacs, and feel free to come on over.  I have coffee and goodies (I guess that's not a great thing to post since this is about my weight loss journey  or should I say "roller coaster?").

Soaring High

The Eagle has landed in the strawberry patch-- the Eagle Scout, that is.  Boy has completed all his requirements and has jumped through every hoop and has now joined the ranks with all the other Eagle Boy Scouts.  What a relief!  He turns 18 in 10 days and all the badges, meetings, and reviews needed to be completed BEFORE that blessed day.  Unfortunately the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and procrastination is his middle name (as well as his mother and his father!) so it was looking pretty "iffy" about getting it all done before the deadline.  Now that it is completed, he is feeling pretty good.  He is singing and laughing more.

I know the feeling.  I have my soaring days and I have my "can't get my bottom off the ground" days too.  Sometimes they are on the same day.  Isn't it funny how life is like a roller coaster?  You can't have those highs 24-7....well you can, but most likely you are popping or smoking something!

Several days ago, Jelly Bean responded to one of my posts.  It was so uplifting and apropos for all of our journeys, I thought I'd share it with you (with her permission, of course): 

(She heard or thought about a John Denver's song "Almost Heaven" as she writes) Think about driving down the road and watching the scenery pass you by (if you stare at it long enough you will need Dramamine to settle a big case of Motion Sickness!). If that happens you will truly miss what miracles are happening around you, at the exact moment that God gives them to you.  The flowers that you painted show the glories of God's handiwork as the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening.  God has given you a wonderful gift, that is the gift that is opened every morning, you never know what is inside but it is wrapped in the warmth of a warm fall breeze, the kiss of a raindrop that falls on your face, the smell of a hot apple pie fresh out of the oven.  Looking back is OK, but looking ahead is even better.  God promises us today, living life for Him each day, starting each brand new day, looking toward the sunrise, and feeling the warmth of His love everyday, What-ifs, are good, but What wills are even better.

What a beautiful sentiment this glorious day.  Thank you, Jelly Bean and thank you, Grainiacs.  Advent blessings to you.

P.S. Just had a great visit with Peaches.  Why do those visits go by so fast, though?

What's that smell?

Hello, Grainiacs!  I'm alive although I feel like I've been buried alive.  I have been swamped with activities and stuff and quite frankly this blog got pushed to the back burner and straight out the door.  Rev Hubby and I are having an open house on Sunday so it's been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, and baking, baking, baking this week.

What does a girl on a "diet"do?  Why bake cookies, bars, and fudge, of course!!!  I mean, really!  Who wants to go to an open house at Christmastime where they are serving raw veggies and Atkins shakes???

I pulled out all my church cookbooks and made cookies using cake mixes (so easy!), fudge with sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips, pretzels with melted peppermint flavored hershey kisses and m&ms.  All I have to say is "people better show up to this open house!!!!"

Kitchen tidy and clean-- check.

I have enjoyed entertaining 2 grainiacs this past season...unfortunately one would never know a certain Strawberry was writing about her dieting journey!!!  Monday is a new week, right?  This girl is definitely feeling blessed and her heart is full.  I love my family and friends.

Advent blessings, grainiacs.  Let's enjoy the season without gaining 50 pounds, though!  Take your advice, Strawberry; take your advice!

Black (and Blue) Friday

I just don't get the appeal of waking up at dark-thirty to fight the crowds and sometimes individuals to save a buck!  Some laugh at those youtube videos of people fighting over a coveted hand towel but I find it appalling.  What a sad testimony to an already affluent society fighting over a TV set.  On the news today a story broke about people waiting in line for DAYS to be first in line at a particular store.  The store (who?  the owners?  the employees? the report didn't say) decided to bless the last people in line with a few items.  The people in front were angry.  Well yeah, you gave up a whole week of your life to camp out in front of a store to purchase....what? A TV (probably own one).  A computer? (yep, probably have one of those too or two or three).  What price do you put on your life...  that week you just sat in front of Best Buy? 

 I was up at 5 a.m. this morning!  But it was to get away from Hubby who was sneezing and blowing his nose.  (I am baffled how my personality tests always mark me as nurturing???)  I do not want to get sick!!  So, yeah, I was up and at 'em and in the kitchen gulping down the generic Airborne tablets in hopes that whatever is ailing Hubby had not been passed on to me!  Unfortunately I believe I did catch it!  sniff sniff 

How was your Thanksgiving, Grainiacs?  I hope blessed.  Yesterday the Strawberry patch was buzzing with people and food and football.  We had WAY TOO MUCH food-- maybe we were hoping the football teams would stop by and eat a bite?  Why do we go crazy on Thanksgiving and make (and eat) every starchy veggie and pie available?  When did this tradition start?  I have so much in left-overs...things I really don't want left over!!!  One pumpkin pie?  No, how about 2.  Pecan pie? Got it.  Chess pie? Yep, two slices.  Lots of left over sweet potato casserole with marshmallow topping?  Yes!  A full pan of moist, moist, moist cornbread.  YES!!!!!  aaaaahhhhhhhhh  I'm surrounded by starch and pies.  Help me.....I'm drowning in a sea of fat.

Christmas is right around the corner.  The family will be back.  I will not....not.....not....not....not make this much food again.  I think I got caught up in the recipe moment.  I will not....not...not...oh you know....I won't do it again.  Holidays are for family and in my case, for laughter.

Enjoy!

Saw this on Facebook!

 
And found this on FB too!

I'm really hoping this is a photo-shopped picture!!!

Bite Me!

Kitzilla has an attitude--and it is not of a gratuitous nature!  She has a motto; yes, you've guessed it with a little help from this post title.  Does that wench care that I feed her every morning? Provide shelter, warmth, sustenance?  Oh no, it's an attack and a growl before she receives her morning coffee.  I think I posted once about trying to change my attitude in the morning.  I'm too lazy right now to look it up; just take my word, I think I remember posting about it!  Some people wake up smiling and saying "Good morning, God!" and others, like Kitzilla, wake up barking "BITE ME!"

I, on the other hand, woke up with a feeling of accomplishment and ready to take on my today.  What's with the Strawberry transformation?  I took control.

First, I cancelled online subscriptions that had been weighing me down.  Draining (of sorts) my credit card each month...okay, they were a mere drop in the bucket of debt but hey, I wasn't using them like I should and due to the fact that they were automatically taken out each month and I didn't have to think about it and re-evaluate it each month, Yes!!! It was a drain on the credit card.  It goes under the category of "mindless stuff Strawberry does."  Like mindless eating; mindless TV watching; mindless everything!  How much better to have a plan.

So getting back to yesterday: I had a plan.  I wrote it done.  First off the list was cancelling online subscriptions (oooh, I'm having a feeling of déjà vu).  Second was my cleaning list.

You might not be able to read my list, but please notice ALL the crossed off markings!  I crossed everything off that list!!! Whoo hoo!!

Front entryway: done!

family room?  oh yeah

Cosmos says "bite me" too!  

My list contained doable things.  I did not add clean up bookshelves.  That is a monstrous task that I didn't have time to do along with all the other items on my Tuesday list.  I can look beyond the messy bookshelves and smile knowing my floors and carpets and tabletops are clean and shiny and that is good enough for me right now.  After Thanksgiving I'll worry about the bookshelves and organizing them....they ARE dusted, though!

So how about you?  Any projects that seem so daunting that you aren't doing them?  Try making a doable list.  Start with cancelling those things that you aren't using right now but plan to in ______ fill in the blank here.  Any time in the present?  Future?  If you aren't taking advantage of that deal, it is no longer a deal.  Save that money now.

As for me, I have my Wednesday list waiting patiently.  

Happy Thanksgiving, Grainiacs.  May your attitude be one of gratitude this season.

Blessings, Strawberry

It's Friday

I have to keep reminding myself what day it is today.  Yesterday I had a couple of brain farts.  It wouldn't have been so bad except I was so public about it.  Someone posted a picture on Facebook about Christmas being on a Wednesday so I reposted and wished everyone a Happy Hump Day.  My daughter nearly had a heart attack thinking "It's only Wednesday???"  She is REALLY looking forward to the weekend.  I can relate; we are (after all) related!

It should say "Hey, Mike...Mike, guess what day...."

Who'da guessed Hump Day would be so popular?  See what kind of effect marketing has on us????  Speaking of marketing, I have taken to turning down the volume or muting the TV during commercials and going elsewhere while they are on.  I get the munchies, the "I've gotta have that" attitude when I see a commercial or two.  The computer really isn't any better.  I've noticed recently the pop-up advertisements next to my "free" mail provider.  Would you believe they are items I've purchased or companies that I've purchased from???  And you say "big brother" isn't watching you!  HA...oh, yes, I call my computer "big brother."  I don't buy into the conspiracy theory or any of that; otherwise, these terror monster would have no means or way to cause terror on innocent people.  Red flags would be signaling all over the board....like these pesky commercials luring us to buy that snack cake, just one bite of Dove chocolate and all your problems will disappear.  Sure they will, straight to your butt where you can't see them.

So in honor of Friday....yes, Strawberry, it's Friday...try to remember that....I present another pic I found on Fb today.  For all you working outside the home Grainiacs, this is for you...

not sure who to credit with this masterpiece, but Jimmy C as Ace Ventura is classic!

Happy......Friday, Grainiacs.  Enjoy the blessings of the day (whatever day it is!).

Darn that Bed Ruffle

I found a great TV show yesterday (well, great for me).  It's called Clean House; it's another reality show but in order to be on this show, you have to live in the LA area (Moana says NO FAIR!!!).  Helpers come to your home and basically clear out the clutter, then have a huge garage sale selling said clutter and consequently use the money to redecorate the house.  I was inspired to get up and get moving!

Vacuum- check
old pictures stored- check
getting card making stuff together for tonight's card making group--  a-l-m-o-s-t a check!

washing a king size bed ruffle with loads of ruffles- check

needing to iron that damn king size bed ruffle-  sniff sniff.....yes.... check.

I will never wash this bed ruffle again OR it is going on the bed all ruffly and un-ironed!

Thank God It's Friday, Grainiacs!!!  Have a wonderful weekend.

Almost Heaven

Don't know why but I'm channeling John Denver today.  I say I don't know why but I think it has something to do with all the 1970's pictures being uploaded on FB.  Galeana and Mexico Trip 1975; Mexico Trip 1977.  A friend is cleaning through all his slides and posting them for all the world (Hubby keeps tagging unknown people with the same name as our youth friends!) to see.  It is fun going down memory lane and quite frankly it doesn't seem that long ago that we went on those trips.  But looking at us in the 1970s and seeing our recent profile pictures tells me IT WAS THAT long ago.

Do I have regrets?
Is there some secret dream I still need to do?
Do I have a hidden agenda suppressed deep down in my soul?

I've got some soul searching to do.  I've truly enjoyed my happy-go-lucky life but is that why I was put on the earth? To entertain myself?  To possibly entertain others?

In the meantime, ...I mean,... it will take a while for me to sort through all these questions; it is Strawberry we are talking about (with a lot of Moana!), I will continue to sing my John Denver songs and decorate and clean my "almost heaven" here in the valley.

First job, make Thanksgiving curtains.

It needs something more.  Maybe to be longer!  LOL

doodling thoughts

Happy Friday, Grainiacs!!!  It's a doodlin' kind of day for me.  Yesterday we had a wonderful event at the church.  There weren't many cars; there were NOT many trick or trickers but it was wonderful simply because we got it started.  Next year we might do a little more or we might have the same cars and the same trick or treaters but we got off our duffs and started something we had been talking about.

Yesterday I had a great day eating and tracking....until.....nightfall.  And then the witches and werewolves in me came out to play.  All day I had been proactive with planning my meals.  I cooked and ate BEFORE starvation mode (well, my starvation mode mentality) set in.  You know that time when you think you might be hungry and you get sidetracked doing something else.  Then your stomach starts to growl and you think "Okay, I have to eat; what do I want?"  To the point where you are scrambling for the car keys and heading out for the nearest junk food place.  Funny thing is: dropping the car keys and looking in the fridge and cooking takes just the same amount of time (or less!).  For me, it is the actual movement towards the car and driving to the place that settles my starvation mode self.  So yesterday I was so proactive till that dang twilight time.  I got busy.  Boy had piano lessons and needed stuff (he is a procrastinator too) before class.  Then I had to decorate the car for our church event.  Then drop Boy off at school and then.....you see.  I was busily running around so I forgot that dinner time was fast approaching.  I continued running till we were back home and then the hunger pangs hit.....HARD!  Hubby and Boy ran over to nearest fast food and well, you know the rest. nom nom nom

During lunch when I was happily fed and feeling good I doodled and doodled and my picture was just a colorful doodle bug!  I call it "oodles of doodles."  It's looking like today will be a doodlin' kind of day too.

Happy Friday, Grainiacs!!!

Strawberry says "Everyone needs a doodle day!"

Excuses, excuses, excuses....

Doesn't it seem the busier we get, the more the excuses roll out of our mouths?  Or is it just me?  I know I stand alone in most things.  Yesterday I found myself apologizing for things I wanted to do but ultimately did not do.  My friends helped make excuses for me-- you are so busy, you have too many irons in the fire, etc etc.  I appreciate their support but let's face it, if we want to do something, we will make time to do that something!  Like eating healthier or exercising or getting the stupid laundry out of the dryer and putting it away!  I love to procrastinate.  I think we can undo these types of negative habits.  It takes time.  It takes commitment.  It takes courage to stand up to ourselves and say "You are a lazy SOB; now stop it!!"  Okay, maybe we shouldn't call ourselves names- after all, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.  

My picture today has my wildflowers turning away from the sunshine.  I am in constant conflict with myself.  I want a clean house.  I want to lose weight.  I want to play (well, I have that one down pat!).  I want to create.  I want to sit on my butt and watch TV.

A clean house means getting up off my duff and moving.  I want to lose weight and if I combine house cleaning with exercising to lose weight, I've taken care of two things with one activity.  I will resume creating in the evenings when I sit to watch my shows.  My grandmother NEVER watch TV during the day.  She completed (or started) her work in the daytime.  It wasn't until her twilight years that she began watching daytime reality TV.  She'd sit in her front room and watch the neighborhood comings and goings.  I do believe the creators of reality TV had grandmothers just like mine!

Stop and Smell

Fall is in the air and zoom zoom....it is whooshing by!  Do all my posts begin this way?  Is it just me?  I can't believe how fast life is moving.  One day my obit will say: she never cleaned the house and never lost the weight!  But hopefully it will say: she enjoyed life, family, and friends.  My priorities are in the right place, but I really want to clean the house and lose some weight.

Today I will tackle the family room.  Oh, have I mentioned- I cleaned up and de-cluttered the dining room and formal living room and they are STILL clean and de-cluttered!!!  Whoo hoo.  Of course I've closed the doors and haven't let any animals in there, but hey, come on over and we can sit in a clean/ de-cluttered room.  Have I mentioned "clean" AND "de-cluttered?"  Okay, I'll stop. But this is huge for me....like keeping off 15 pounds for over a year.

I would like to share with you my newest passion: water coloring.  It is not perfect (like me), but it is whimsical and colorful (very much like me!).  I now enjoy coloring outside the lines.  As a child, I was encouraged to color within the lines.  The teacher would even tell us what color went where.  Bring out the watercolors and start a journal. Buy a children's easel and sing and paint.  Do what you love and do it often...unless it is eating ice cream; and then do that in moderation!

Happy Tuesday, Grainiacs.

Pay no attention to that rolling dust bunny coming after you!

I'm enjoying my new artistic self.  I painted a flower yesterday and scanned it and made a card.  That made me happy!  Unfortunately I'm not getting much done around the house and that makes me sad. I just hate any kind of housecleaning!  There are too many fun things to do and people to see to worry about dust bunnies and clean sheets!  My philosophy seems to goes along with that mentality that says I want to lose weight and I want it off tomorrow!!  Preferably today, but I know THAT'S not reality, but tomorrow, yeah, I should be able to drop 25 pounds by tomorrow!  That silly Moana.  She is so ridiculous!!!

Well, off to Fiber Arts class.  Moana has already opened the door and is tapping her feet.  Can't keep her waiting!

Remarks from a grainiac

I love receiving feedback from you all.  It lets me know you are out there and I don't feel quite so lonely!  After reading my "scentsy" post, Grainiaunt responded.  She is spot on and I thought her thoughts needed to be shared.

Read your posting today and you are so right on with your remarks.  Our other senses are so powerful and the ad folks know it all too well.  Walk into a bakery and walk out without buying anything.  Not bloody likely, is it?  (she has many friends across the pond!)

Go to Macy's and walk through the shoe department or the scent department.  I, for one am overwhelmed by the urge to buy, buy, buy. (me too, and I usually do!!!)

Hear beautiful music and I want the CD or DVD so I can hear it again and again at will. (I'm so glad there is such a program as spotify.)

I used to say I could look at good food and break out in fat.  (Strawberry firmly believes this can and does happen!)  My right brain tells me that's ridiculous and I know it's right. (I beg to differ)  But the left brain tells me I deserve it for being so good for X number of days.  (My left brain's name is Moana!)

Mexican food was meant to be enjoyed. (¡Olé!)
However, probably not every day or even every other day. (Unless you live in Mexico!)  Right brain could enjoy it three times daily for at least three days a week.  I'm just saying.... (I understand; it's called "moderation" and I'm trying to add it to my vocabulary.)

I've been better lately.  I really have and I've lost weight. (CONGRATULATIONS!!!!) This is better for my balance and for the aches and pains of walking around in too round a body. Just chattering on and on. (I like chattering!) Deep down, we know most of our faults all too well, but we're pretty good at ignoring it at will. (Again, I blame Moana)

Like the little engine that could, I keep telling myself, "I think I can, I think I can!"

Keep on keeping on, Strawberry.  The first step is admitting we have a problem....

Hello, my name is Strawberry and I am a food-a-holic and a "I don't want to exercise"-a-holic. 

Deadly to your health

As the holiday season moves closer, many of my FB friends (and daughter!) have been posting decadent looking photos and recipes of the most ooey, gooey gain 100 pounds just looking at these desserts.  I confess: I start salivating and tasting and smelling them the minute I see them.  How can this be?  How do our senses play with us like that?  Advertisers know this trick.  Just watch a commercial about any kind of food or shoes and tell me you don't want one!!!  Perfumers understand the magic of smells and odors.  I have a plastic box that belonged to my great grandmother.  I swear I'm transported back to my childhood and being in her presence every time I open that little box.  There is something mystifying about our senses.  We must guard them against evil (aka that ooey, gooey concoction that is calling out our names).

This past weekend I succumbed to my Moana senses and got the "I wants."  It was easy.  I was visiting with a friend and there was a party and laughter and my horrible thinking of "just this one time."  Guess what?  That one time, turned into one more time the next day and then one more time the next.  Thankfully, I did not undo all the good I did the week and a half before but by looking at my tracking, I'm on the road to destruction if I don't detour and get off this vicious autobahn.

Today is Monday and a new week.  Time to take charge.  vrooom  vroooooooom!!!

P.S.  Happy Birthday, Jelly Bean!!!  Have a beautiful day and  safe trip back to NY.  Hopefully you remembered to read my blog so you'll see this!

Day 8- Put your salad on

Sorry for the boring titles but it helps me keep track of where I am.  This morning I searched high and low for my camera.  I took pictures in the kitchen and didn't put the camera back where I got it.  Problem is I don't really have a special place for the camera.  I keep doing this to myself.  As a matter of fact, it dawned on me that if I live for another 20-25 years, I'm not going to know where a damn thing is in this house!  Not to worry, we live in a manse and in another 20-25 years, we won't be here!  I've always said when we retire we'd live in a motor home and travel around visiting kids and grand-kids and national parks (maybe they'll be open by that time!).  So I'll need to really cut down on stuff; thankfully I have 20-25 years to use up and give away stuff (God willing!).

On a less cluttered note, I stepped on WW's Kaaaa and I'm down 1.8 pounds!  Whoo hoo.  One week gone and 1.8 pounds gone.  Keep it up, Strawberry.

Here's another random thought-- I'm all over the place today!!!  I've been on the search for the best drive-through salad.  I'll focus on 2 salads today.  Let's see...lettuce....tomatoes....carrots....cucumbers....cheese....onions.....grilled chicken.  Look at these two salads.  One from Stars Drive-In and the other from Jack in the Box.

Stars on top/ Jack in the Box on bottom

Makes you hungry for a salad, right?

The lower one from Jack in the Box has beautiful colors, don't you think?  Stars has iceberg lettuce.  Jack has shredded carrots and purple onions and grape tomatoes.  Stars grilled chicken looks bigger, but that isn't always the case.  Hubby likes the hard-boiled eggs in the Stars salad and no onions.  In looking at these salads, I choose Jack's but I'll have hard-boiled eggs on hand to add to Jack's salads.

I'll keep you posted for more salads.  In the meantime, write me and tell me if you've found a great drive- through salad.  That's the key....quick and fast and healthy.

And on the seventh day

And on the seventh day, she weighed.  Today is WW weigh in day and I'm a bit giddy.  I know that sounds strange, but I really want to see if their Kaaa went down like my Kaaa did.  Cross your Grainiac fingers please.  

I went to my Fiber Arts class yesterday.  We've accepted a challenge: come up with a Christmas theme and decorate a cloth napkin.  We are to think outside the box.  Someone mentioned a santa sitting on the toilet clipping his toenails.  Ah... yeah,.... that would ruin my appetite for sure!!!

Now to get that image out of your head, I have a new one.  I bought a new mug in celebration of being (somewhat) good.  (P.S. I haven't had any mozzarella sticks since that revelation.)  Besides being a good Strawberry, the colors on this mug speak to me.  They say:  Make coffee in me!   Such a smart mug.  How did it know that my Keurig only produces enough coffee to fill 3/4ths of my present mug?  This mug makes 2 cups of coffee possible.  No more drinking some down and adding more.  

Now that's a coffee mug (in your best Groucho Marx voice)

One cup...  two cups....orange cup....and blue cup.  I love these colors!  So fiesta.

and there is my tracker...by the first thing I go to in the kitchen. Instant reminder!

Welcome to Cafe Strawberry!

What a glorious day.

Hope your day is glorious too.

Day 6: Dang this football season!

I'm staying up too late; I need my "beauty sleep."  I've watched football all weekend long.  You'd think I was practicing to be a sports announcer.  Not only did I sit on my butt yelling at the TV and rooting my teams to victory (important one: Hook 'Em, Horns!), but I nervously sat eating peanuts.  Peanuts cannot come into my house. PERIOD.  I've made it my "go to" snack when I should be snacking on apples or celery or....anything else that's crunchy!  Not peanuts!!

I stepped on Kaaaa (the scale, I know, I haven't mentioned him in a while) this morning and I'm down 5 pounds.  In WW terms that would mostly likely be attributed to water weight loss that first week of dieting.  Just for kicks I decided to "try on" a pair of jeans that I couldn't button up several months ago.  They fit.  I didn't even have to lie down on the bed and button them; remember those days in high school when we'd pour into our clothing and still look good?  If I tried that today I wouldn't have just a muffin top, I'd have the whole industrial size muffin batch of dough exuding up and over my pants and down past my knees.

I'm on my way to our local art league.  They offer a fiber arts class which sounds like fun.  The good news is I'll have another project to do and I won't (hopefully) succumb to nighttime eating.  Peanuts, beware! Your days are numbered.

Anyone else out there dieting changing their eating habits one day at a time?  I'd like to hear from you.  Do you have your own "peanut fetish" that you are trying to kick?  Tell me about it; I'm listening.  Oh good grief, I really need to stop watching nighttime Frazier reruns and get some sleep!

5 and counting

Day 5 and no sodas, no sugar, and no nighttime eating.  3 days of no starches... dang those tempting Sonic mozzarella sticks!!! Almost a perfect week!

Interesting details of this Diet of No's.

• not tempted by sugary items now.  I made a batch of brownies for the pre-school class.  I knew they weren't going to eat them all so I left the rest for the church potluck; I wasn't even tempted to BLT (bite, lick, or taste).

•  not tempted by sodas.  I have not had a diet cola nor do I crave one.  I think I've gone cold turkey on this one so many times that my body just expects it.

•  the nighttime eating is not really an issue.  I've munched on a few peanuts while watching football but have not eaten a whole bag of popcorn like I had been doing pre- "No" Diet!

• now that I'm more aware of hidden starches, I'm more aware of hidden starches!!  I will not be tricked again by you tasty yummy sticks of cheese (and coating).

In addition to consuming my vitamins and lemon water (which I haven't done consistently), I have to consistently track my food.  I found an old WW tracker and noticed I do a great job of tracking on Day 1 and 2.  By Day 3 I've written down my breakfast, but that is it.  Nada on Day 4-7.  Can you believe I have habitually tracked for 2 days and petered out by the third?  I was amazed and that is why I need to track.  Sometimes we get into habits that we don't even know are habits.  I'm still amazed that this has been my M.O. for months (and probably years).

Mindless eating...mindless activities. This is why I am here.  I appreciate this blog.  I am truly taking a good look at things.  Thanks for being on the journey with me, Grainiacs.

Day 4

There once was a girl named Strawberry.

Who fought with her weight something scary.

But she resolved on day four

To keep it up and lose more

And be closer to goal by February!

So I have to confess....today I realized my brag about no starches on day 2 and day 3...well, sort of, um... wasn't true.  I don't know what I was thinking!  For some reason I only thought about the cheese in those Sonic mozzarella sticks and didn't even consider for a minute that the coating around the protein packed cheese was s-t-a-r-c-h!!!!  So there you have it.  

BUT today honestly NO STaRcHeS have passed down my throat!  Honest!   

This morning at Bible Study someone brought pumpkin spice muffins.  You want to talk temptation????  At this time of year anything with pumpkin and spice in the title has me salivating and panting for more.  I filled up my cup of coffee and didn't even look to the left where the muffins were positioned in that yummy plate of a pumpkin patch!

Rockin' this crown

Kiss day 3 Goodbye...

Kiss Day Three Goodbye,

The sweetness (oh wait! I did not partake of the stuff)

and the sorrow (Farewell to Finn on Glee...sniff sniff).

 Wish me luck, the same to you (How's it going, Grainiacs?).

But I can't regret

what I did for fun, how I got in this shape (it is what it is...now move on!).

Look my mouth is dry (no sugar, no starches, no sodas)

That gift of chocolate is going to Boy.

Gone

a few pounds are gone.

But the food choices are never gone

as I travel down the aisle!

 I must remember how I got to this place.

Kiss Day 3 Goodbye.

Apologies to A Chorus Line.

Day three----- yipee---- has come and gone and nope….no soft drinks- of any kind, no sugars (not even craving them), and NO starches have passed down this gullet.  I'm still lacking energy but I really think it is the "not feeling well" although some on Atkins have complained that the first week was h-e-double hockey sticks!  I hope to report with lots of energy next week.  And next week Strawberry will be entertaining a guest.  Guess I better drum up some energy to clean out that junk guest room!