Author: julesfarm@yahoo.com

I recently had some family members over for breakfast on a Sunday morning. I tried to make things that were point friendly, flavorful, and a bit of a variety. I made fat free mini cranberry/orange muffins to snack on with coffee upon arrival. I didn’t have Sweet and Low for the coffee, I had Truvia, and I no longer buy fat free half and half. I had lots of fresh fruit. I made reduced fat Pillsbury biscuits. I put out strawberry Jam and honey for the biscuits. I made a large skillet scramble that included eggs, bacon pieces, turkey sausage, potatoes and onions all topped with cheddar cheese. My 18 year old niece turned up her nose at the muffins. She only likes chocolate chip. She doesn’t like fruit. She didn’t seem real excited about my menu. I told her she could open the pantry and help herself. She asked […]

I saw the saddest, little, mangled bird sitting on my BBQ. He looked like he had been attacked! No feathers to speak of. He looked scared and lost. While I was watering the flowers on the deck, it was just looking at me. I was a little concerned he might be scared from his apparent attack and fly at my head or something trying to defend himself from anything that frightened him. So I kept my eye on the little guy, feeling bad for him and afraid of him all at the same time. I came inside and watched out the window, waiting for his attacker to return. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but something! That’s for sure. Then the attacker appeared……he sat beside him on the BBQ. He hopped along the handle of the BBQ, closer, and closer, and closer, until all of a sudden […]

These are the first things out of my mouth if someone wakes me up from a nap, or before I’m ready to get up in the morning….. Most nights, I could sleep through a thunderstorm without a problem. If I do wake up during a storm, I assume if it’s really dangerous, Mike will wake me up, right? Well, he kinda thinks I’ll do the same thing for him. So if a storm comes in the middle of the night, and we are supposed to go to the basement, we’re screwed. Because I often sleep so deep, I hate to nap. I get to sleeping really deep, then I wake up startled, not knowing where I am, what day it is, am I late for something? Then I’m baffled why I was even asleep! So this morning when the alarm went off at 5:30 am, for the third Wednesday in […]

I woke up HUNGRY! I decided to just have some coffee to start, so I could really think about what I wanted to eat for breakfast……..yes, I had four cups while pondering my eats and completing my morning task. You think I wasn’t wired after all that? That’s right…..I had some Vanilla, a little Butter Toffee, Caribou and my all time favorite? Donut House Cinnamon Roll! Well, now I am bouncing around the house. I had 1/4 C Kashi (1 PPV), the last cubes of the fabulously creamy Havarti (2 PPV), the last of the Cheddar Soy Chips (3 PPV) AND the last of the Turkey Skillet Lasagna (3 PPV)! It all tasted great, but I didn’t sit down and actually enjoyed any of it. Looks like fruits and veggies the rest of the day! This was my snack around noon….grapefruit….(should I cut down on the coffee?) Then I ate […]

I ran on the treadmill for a mere 20 minutes on Sunday. I really was crunched for time, but wanted to get at least a little cardio in before Father’s Day got started. I had things to do, places to go, and people to see! I don’t like to run, and I really should refer to Sunday’s cardio as more of a jog, but getting my heart rate up was the goal, and I achieved that. I get a little panicky when I run, and I believe it has to do with childhood memories of running in gym class, then unexpectedly having asthma attacks with no inhaler available. I have learned to try to take my mind off of the breathing and running and focus on my body and my muscles, and what the cardio is doing for my heart and overall health. Sometimes I count weird things. Like how […]

The best way to keep within your points at a family function? Host it! I really like to have the family over and cook. I also like to keep the menu point friendly, but in a way that nobody feels they are eating light. I just want everyone to enjoy the meal, and of course I want everyone to feel satisfied! Sidenote: I can make a gazzillion bazzillion excuses to not exercise. Company arriving at my house at 9:30 am sounds like a really good reason to not exercise. When would I have time? How can I exercise, AND shower, and cook? But I am feeling pretty good about the Bootcamp thing and I really want it to pay off in the end. We go to class three days a week, and then do cardio on our own three days a week. I knew if I didn’t get it in […]

I wish my butt looked like it felt from Bootcamp. Do you know that feeling when you have just finished lifting weights and your whole body feels a little bulky? I love that feeling! Then you look in the mirror and see you just look like you? That parts a bummer. Today my legs and butt are killing me from all the squats in Bootcamp yesterday morning, but this tells me I did them right. I just wish my butt looked as tight as it feels right now! 🙂 Yesterday’s Eats… Before Bootcamp……..Greek yogurt and fruit. After Bootcamp (I was starving!), so I had some more protein… Egg whites, cheese…… Lunch was a salad with a little chicken, feta, tomatoes…..and one talespoon of my Tzatziki . I could eat this stuff on Toast! (actually, that sounds gross) afternoon snack….. These are tiny, but tasty. 1 PPV And then later…….a few […]

I was browsing Pinterest looking for something different, yet healthy, yet EASY for dinner. I came across a recipe for skillet lasagna. I love lasagna and was intrigued by the whole “skillet” meal, because I also like a one dish meal! When I went to check it out, I couldn’t find it, so referred to my buddy Google, and of course found several options. None were as easy as I hoped, so I combined a few things from a few of the recipes that I found, and came up with my own. Success, and only 7 PPV per serving! 1 lb ground turkey, 93% lean.1 chopped onion2 jars marinara, or spaghetti sauce, or whatever you like best6 whole grain lasagna noddles, broken into bite size pieces (cool, huh?)1 C. Low fat cottage cheese2 egg whites1/4 grated Parmesan cheeseShredded mozzarella (1/4 to 1/2 C) I love this Ragu. It’s Light Tomato […]

After my “No Weigh-In” WW meeting, and the boost in motivation I needed, I headed to Hy-Vee to stock up on fruits and veggies for the week. I like to stroll through the Health Food section too, just to check if there is anything new I think I need to try. Yesterday, I found these….Soy Chips, Cheddar Cheese. 17 of them are 3 PPV. They remind me of a rice cake and they were pretty tasty! And I found these……they were both on sale, so I had to try them! These are also soy chips, but these are Cinnamon Streusel. 10 of these are 3 PPV. I loved these. Crispy and sweet! Great mid morning snack, but you have to be able to stop at 10, and that was hard. Yesterdays exercise included mowing the lawn (I love the new mower, but I did stick with a push mower, vs. […]

Today’s blog is a pretty good example of why I titled my blog…… “The Weight of My Weight” The stress of “Losing Weight” is something I have lived with for as long as I can remember. Even at my lowest weight, when I feel so much better, I know I’m not done, and the road is longer. I don’t remember a day that I didn’t get out of bed and my weight wasn’t my first thought when my feet hit the floor. My weight is on my mind when dressing, when cooking, when shopping, when vacationing, when meal planning, when exercising, when eating. Hopefully one day that will change. I certainly live a happy life, and I think my personality has allowed me to be able to put those thoughts to the side throughout the day and truly live. I know I am a naturally happy person that likes to […]