The Simple Life - Day Trippin to Ft. Desoto

Ft. Desoto is 2 hours away from our home in Winter Haven, FL.  I've lived in FL most of my life but I've never been there.  So, early this morning we went. 

We both loved the beach; what's not to love, right?  The fort?  Well, it's not so much a fort as a barricade.  It was totally not what I had expected.  I'm so glad the beach was spectacular because the fort was a real letdown.  We enjoyed the day and I would wholeheartedly recommend the beaches in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

The water is much calmer than on the opposite  coast.  There is still a very strong current though, so if you go there with children be aware.  The beach was clean and the crowd was very family friendly.  We had a great day.

The Simple Life - Salmon Cakes

This is the second time I've made this recently.  My husband loves these.  I make homemade tartar sauce to go with them.

2 Cans salmon, drained, bones picked out
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbl. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 medium onion, minced
Oil for frying

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Meanwhile, heat 1 cup oil in pan to medium heat.

Press patties and put several into hot oil.  Cook on each side for 5 minutes.  Drain on a paper towel.

The Simple Life - Breakthrough by Michael Grumley

Breakthrough is a sci-fi story where dolphins talk and aliens are hiding out at the bottom of the ocean.  What fun!  The main characters are endearing.  You want them to survive, win and end up together. 

John Clay works for the governmnt and Alison is a scientist.  These two are thrown together as the two story lines converge.  The two dolphins, Dirk and Sally are so cute and amazing that I worried all through the story that something might happen to them.

I enjoyed this story so much that as soon as I finished it I immediately bought the second book in the series, Leap, which I'm reading now.

I can't wait to see what new adventures lay ahead for this group.

The Simple Life - Food Prep for the Week

This week I'm eating chickpea loaf and mashed potatoes for lunch.  Here's my recipe:

3 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 carrots, shredded
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 Tbl. minced garlic
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tbl. tomato paste
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. liquid smoke
Sugar free bar-b-que sauce

Blend chick peas and vegetables.  Add all ingredients to large bowl and mix well.  Transfer to large casserole dish.  Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.  Cover with bar-b-que sauce and bake for another 30 minutes.  Cool and slice.

Along with the chickpea loaf I made vegan mashed potatoes.  These are so simple and are just as good as the ones with milk and butter:

1 bag of red potatoes, boiled
vegan butter
Unsweetened Coconut Milk

The Simple Life - Athletic Wear Around the House

When I'm not working I'm in athletic wear.  I want to be cute and stylish but above all else I want to be comfortable.  Luckily, there's so much cute sports wear in the stores it's easy. 

While I was in Walmart this morning buying groceries I saw these crazy bright leggings for $3.48 each.  No brainer and since my weight loss I got mediums instead of larges.  I briefly looked at the t-shirts in the women's section and quickly moved on.  Women's tees are never long enough on me to wear with leggings.  I'm too old and round to wear leggings like pants so long tops are a must.  So, I trotted myself over to the men's department to see what they had.  I love the men's tees because they are longer.  I picked out several if different solid colors that would go with the leggings and they were all less than $5 each.

 I had planned on wearing the white pair with a long tunic blouse.  Unfortunately, they are too thin so they will be strictly for around the house.

The Simple Life - 30 Pounds Later - Before/After Pics

This week I started hearing that little voice that starts when my resolve is failing.  It says, "you've lost enough weight, you look fine like you are, just eat what you want and enjoy life, not everyone is meant to be thin, you can't win this, you'll eventually go back to what you were eating and gain all the weight back." 
I've been fighting the same three or four pounds for the last month.  Up one pound, down one pound.  I'd get really excited and then I'd gain back the pound I'd just lost.  And when I looked at what I had eaten the week before I realized that it wasn't a food plan that I could live on for the long term. 

So, on Monday, instead of eating salad for breakfast I had a thick, hearty, filling vegetable soup.  It was actually store bought Campbell's Old Fashioned Vegetable soup.  One can is about 300 calories.  I put a can of green beans in a big bowl and poured the soup over that and then added a can of water.  It was at least four cups of soup.  For lunch every day I had home made vegetarian chili.  Some days I had it over greens and some days over rice.  For dinner every night I had fresh fruit.  I had tried this before; eating heavy for breakfast and lunch and very light for dinner several weeks ago.  I noticed that I was going to bed hungry and I abandoned it.  I don't like the feeling of hunger; it makes me feel anxious.

I know how to create a deficit so I went back to what I know will work.  Do I enjoy going to bed feeling a little empty?  No, but it works.  So, this week I'm down two pounds.  I have officially lost 30 pounds.  I started the year at 181 and now I'm 151.  I still have 10 pounds to go by the end of the year.  It's going to be a hard road.

To help with the continued loss I bought a weighted vest today.  I got it at Walmart for $38.  I'll start by adding just a couple of weights and slowly work my way up.  Now that I'm 30 pounds lighter it doesn't take as much energy during my workouts.  So, instead of working out longer, I'm going to work harder.  This will allow me to continue to burn calories without having to work out any longer than I am now.

So, that's where I am.  I'm thrilled.  I'll work the plan and hopefully the weight will continue to go down.