Author: julesfarm@yahoo.com

I am officially half way through the January Challenge, and I do feel so much better. I’ll be honest, coming to Dallas in the middle of this challenge of cutting so many things out of my diet, was an additional challenge. Typically, when Tess and I get together, I allow myself to be in my 20’s all over again. It’s even more fun in Dallas, because we hang out with her roomies and her friends and the weekend is just one big party! I love it! Knowing I was in the middle of this challenge, I think Tess kept the plans a little more low key. Thursday we did have dinner out at our usual place, and I ordered differently than I normally would (no cheese and no alcohol at the pizza joint), and last night we cooked at home and had friends over. I did participate in a champagne […]

One of the awesome benefits of my daughter working at Southwest Airlines, is not only does she get to fly for free, but so do mom and dad! One of the requirements for flying free is flying stand by. Part of flying stand by is being patient if you don’t get on the flight you were hoping to get on. So far, I’ve been super lucky and whether traveling alone, or traveling with Mike, we’ve made it onto every flight we’ve been on stand by for. Yesterday, Tess and I decided I should try to come out to Dallas a little earlier than we had originally planned, and then I didn’t end up making it onto that flight. So, I hung out at the airport for the next three hours. I was very content. I read my book, I pinned a few things on Pinterest. I enjoyed a little people […]

I’m not gonna sugar coat this and I’m not gonna lie. I kicked ass yesterday in the healthy living department. I ate some really great food. I drank a lot of water and decaf hot tea. I walked 3.4 miles outside and then I went to Jazzercise and had an awesome workout! Now I am off to Dallas! I’ll be blogging, counting points, exercising, drinking water, NOT DRINKING alcohol, cooking good stuff with my kiddo, and spending some quality time together! Okay….food. I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot yesterday using this recipe. So easy. Who knew? After the chicken cooked, I added a little chicken broth and a few potatoes and carrots. Dinner is served!!   I bought a bunch of these….     I feel like I cut into a lot of avocado’s that are not good! These have very few ingredients and they are 3 PointsPlus […]

I did not like having to admit that on day 12 of my Goals for 2015, I had gone 3 days without exercise. My goal is to go no more than 2 days without some sort of exercise. I let December jack with me pretty good as far as getting out of sync with any kind of schedule, and the cold temperatures are not helping things at all. I miss my outdoor walks and I just can’t seem to get excited about the treadmill. I moved it into my bedroom in November so I would have better TV viewing (DVR, On Demand) options. I have an iPad with Netflix that I could be watching. I have no excuses whatsoever, other than the fact that I am just lacking in exercise motivation, and I know this is bad. So, yesterday morning I met a friend for a 75 minute Yoga Stretch […]

Yesterday was super busy and filled with all sorts of accomplishments. I was out of the house early to run a bunch of errands, one of which included getting my oil changed. While waiting on my car, I always sit at the Starbucks that is next-door. I always order a Grande Nonfat Latte. Yesterday, I ordered a Tall black coffee. It was pretty darned good and a lot cheaper too! Mike is super excited about all of the money we are saving this month while I pass on the alcoholic beverages and nonfat lattes and he tries to cut out his Diet Coke-QuikTrip addiction. He’s on day 5. While we are excited about saving all sorts of cash on the beverages we are not consuming, it is my hope that we don’t both lose it and beat the crap out of each other. Keep your fingers crossed.  I spent the […]

  I love to cook and play in the kitchen, but most of the time I really don’t know what I am doing, and it’s an experiment. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it just doesn’t. Most of my “recipes” on my blog are simple combinations of foods that I think taste great together, and are Weight Watcher Point Friendly. They are “ideas” really. A lot of my “recipes” are links to other websites where people actually know what they are talking about.  I’ve been hooked on sweet potatoes for a while now, and I seem to be a fan of quinoa as well. I’ve had several different types of Veggie Burgers, Sweet Potato Burgers and Quinoa Burgers at restaurants, and I thought it would be nice to come up with a Point Friendly one that I could easily make at home. I’ve been playing with this recipe off and on […]

It was a great date day yesterday! Mike has become a huge workaholic and rarely takes a day off. After a good tongue lashing from me, he took the day off! 🙂 We went shopping for him for some desperately needed shoes and jeans. We ran a few errands. He had a few work related things on job sites to do, so I went with him (so he kinda sorta got away with a little work even after my tongue lashing) then we went to a movie (Unbroken, really good, but hard to watch) and then to dinner! I think this was the first time that we have eaten out since starting my January Challenge! I ordered a Blackened Salmon Salad, (it’s my “go to” meal when eating out) dressing on the side, completely forgetting to ask for no cheese, no croutons, no garlic toast! I picked off the croutons, […]

No time for chit chat today. Mike took the day off (literally a miracle) and we are spending the day together. I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!  For the month of January, I am not eating the following items. Gluten Dairy Red Meat Soy  Corn Sugar Artificial Sweetness Alcohol   Here are yesterday’s eats…. Breakfast Fruit, Toast with Almond Butter, Black Coffee 3 PPV   Lunch Chopped Salad (Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrots, Kale, Sunflower Seeds) Topped with Turkey Taco Meat and Salsa 8 PPV   Snack 1 C. Almond Milk, 1 Frozen Banana, 1 C. Frozen Cherrie Blend 1 PPV The color looks awful, but it tasted really good! It was super thick and it took a long time to drink, so all in all, a really satisfying snack!   Dinner 5 1/2 oz Salmon and 5 oz Sweet Potato 10 PPV      Weight Watcher’s Points Plus […]

I started off my Friday with my Weight Watcher Meeting. That place is really packed in January! It was a really good meeting for me and here’s why. This week we talked about Serving size and Portion size. As a long time WW member, it’s easy to get confident in your knowledge of a serving size, so you stop measuring and weighing, and you do a lot of estimating. After a period of time, it’s easy to allow those serving sizes to grow without realizing it, or maybe realizing it, but thinking it won’t matter much. In reality, eating larger portions over and over throughout the week means eating more points, and those extra, un accounted for points, can really add up! All of that being said, after a week of eating really healthy and cutting out all of the crap, I didn’t lose one pound. Do I feel better? […]

Jazzercise! I got to try something new yesterday! A friend of mine has done Jazzercise for as long as I can remember, and I’ve never tried it. She had a pass for a friend for One Free Month of Jazzercise, and offered it to me! I love to try new things, and I was needing some help getting motivated this month for some exercise, so the timing could not have been more perfect! I really liked it and I’m looking forward to having a variety of exercise for the month of January!   For the month of January, I am not eating the following items. Gluten Dairy Red Meat Soy  Corn Sugar Artificial Sweetness Alcohol   Here are yesterday’s eats….Um, I ate a lot.   Breakfast  Chocolate Banana Breakfast Quinoa 7 PPV Makes 2 Servings. One Serving = 6 PointsPlus. I suggest making this to eat the following day. I […]