Been a While!

I know, I know been a while since we talked.  I have been soooo busy!  Glad to say I have consistently been down on the scales each week since we talked last.  July 1 was the deadline for meeting my goal.  Did I make it you ask?  I did not, but was very close.  Actually I ended up losing 44.2 pounds which was 5.8 short of my goal.  Which is very close so I am pleased with my accomplishment.  I have set my new goal too.  By Christmas I plan to lose 37 more.  That would put my total at 81 pounds off.  I am asking myself to lose less in the same amount of time that I had to lose the 44 pounds so I should be able to reach this goal easily.  We hope!

I have been very busy.  Potty training is a pain in the butt and I hate it.  I am one of those people that doesn't like to do something that takes a lot of time.  I tend to be one of those instant gratification people.  Which is why diets never really worked well for me before.  Anyway, Emma has good days and bad.  Seems like we have a really good day, and then the next two days are horrible.  Like 1 step forward, 3 steps back.  Frustrating, but Emma is very intelligent and head strong so eventually she will get it.  I have decided to wait until Christmas to break her of her binky/pacifier.  With all this potty training, I want her to still be able to find her baby comfort somewhere.  I have already taken her baby bed and baby diapers away.  I don't want to throw her into big girlhood too quickly.

Okay, so above I told you I lost 44.2 pounds total.  I was yet again stuck on that plateau fluctuating with 1 pound or less losses for several weeks in a row.  But happily, last week I tried something different that broke it big time!  I started drinking hot green tea.  No sweetner, no cream just hot green tea.  Not just one cup, but three cups.  Every day I would drink my 1 cup of coffee with cream and sweetner, then I would heat up 3 cups of water and allow 3 bags of green tea to brew while I drank my coffee.  Afterwards, I would pour the tea into my 32 oz. thermos.  I drank on that up till noon.  After that was gone, I would finish off the day with 5 cups of regular good ol' fashioned water.  Last week when I stepped on the scales I had lost 3 1/2 pounds.  Already this week I have lost 2 pounds and I have 1 more day to go till weigh in.  I will most certainly lose more if I continue on this downward spiral.  I am losing a little each day.  So what they say about green tea is true!  I continue to stock up with green tea in my pantry.

I am going to share one of my favorite recipes with you.  I made this last night.  My daughter loves this and it is easy to make and freezes well.  We eat it with garlic texas toast.

Pasta Crab Casserole
Makes 8 servings at 9 points plus each

You need:
*8 oz. uncooked spiral pasta
*1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)
*2 8oz. packages of lump imitation crab meat (flaked works best)
*1/2 cup fat free sour cream
*2 tsp. salt
*1 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
*1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain pasta.  In a skillet over medium heat, mix the crab, sour cream, salt, margarine, and Italian Seasoning together.  I also add a dash of garlic powder.  Then add to the pasta and mix well.  Transfer to a 13x9 baking dish.   Sprinkle with the cheese on top.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes!  We eat this with a piece of garlic texas toast which comes out to be 4 more points plus points. 

The sweetness of the crab mixes with the savory flavors of the sour cream and garlic to create a dish a lot like scampi or fettucini.  It is soooo good.   Enjoy!

Have a great week y'all!