Blogathon 2007

I know I haven't blogged here in FOREVER, but here goes anyways:

Blogathon 2007 is here.

The Blogathon is a collection of bloggers from around the world who stay up for 24 hours to blog for charity. Each on their own blog, each for their own charity. The date this year is Saturday, July 28 starting at 9:00 am EST and going until Sunday, July 29 at 9:00 am EST.

Participants in the Blogathon (like me) are sponsored by kind souls (like you) who support the blogger’s charity and give a few of your hard-earned dollars to a very worthwhile cause. All money pledged is paid directly to the charity. Neither the blogger nor the Blogathon gets a penny. At the successful completion of the Blogathon, sponsors receive an email telling them their blogger made it and providing the information on how to pay their pledge. It is done on the honor system so no one will hunt you down to make sure you pony up.

This is my fifth year. For the second year in a row, I am blogging for the Cleft Palate Foundation

Cleft Lip & Cleft Palate is the most common birth defect in the United States, affecting one out of every 594 newborns. That means over 6,800 babies are born each year with these conditions.
Cleft Palate Foundation operates the CLEFTLINE - 1-800-24-CLEFT - and produces free publications. The CLEFTLINE is an 800-toll free service providing information to callers about clefts and other craniofacial anomalies. Callers can request information about cleft palate/craniofacial teams and parent-patient support groups in their local region.

Now I ask you for two things.

First and most important, I ask you for your money. I have no shame. I’m looking you right in the eyes and sticking my hand out. Please sponsor me. Dig deep into your wallet and your heart and sponsor me. Sponsor the Cleft Palate Foundation and please know that no amount is too small!

Second, I ask for 5 minutes of your time. You must register to sponsor but it’s a quick and painless process with minimal info needed and it’s worth it for the end result. You can choose to remain anonymous if you so desire and I will only know that I received an anonymous pledge.

I can’t say thank you enough to anyone who sponsors me. My gratitude runs deep for you and I appreciate your generosity more than I can express.

Thank you.

Blog: Life is a Byte
Blogging for: Cleft Palate Foundation
Sponsor Me: Click Here

Motivation

May 17th, 1997 - My first "date" with my husband

I was probably around 200 lbs at the time. Those were the days!

Case of the Mondays

Ugh, between staying out on Friday night til 1:30 am and not getting to sleep last night til Midnight (IBS was HORRIBLE this weekend) - I'm EXHAUSTED!

Breakfast:
1 cup cheerios with 1 cup skim milk and 3 tsp sugar - 6 pts

Lunch:
Roast Beef & Swiss on Pumpernickel/Rye swirl bread with 1 tsp mayo and a ton of banana peppers - 8 pts
1 cup snow peas with 1/2 cup bell peppers, 1 tsp sesame seeds, and 1 tsp sesame oil - 3.5 pts

Dinner:
1 cup spaghetti with 1/2 cup Roasted Garlic and Carmelized Onion Sauce, and 3 turkey meatballs - 10.5 pts
1 piece Sweet Italian Bread - 3 pts

Snacks:
2 pieces Lemon Cake with Lemon Icing - 2 pts
1 cup coffee with 1/4 cup Vanilla Chai Spice creamer - 3.5 pts

Points Values Used: 33.5
Points Values Remaining: 3.5

Reality Check

I'm not a big fan of Dr. Phil, but this quote speaks VOLUMES to me. It's something I need to keep reminding myself.

Reality check: you can never, ever, use weight loss to solve problems that are not related to your weight. At your goal weight or not, you still have to live with yourself and deal with your problems. You will still have the same husband, the same job, the same kids, and the same life. Losing weight is not a cure for life. ~Phillip C. McGraw, The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom, 2003

WW - Week 1

Tonight was my 2nd WW meeting - Woot! I only lost 1 pound, but considering the fact that my period JUST started - I'm putting atleast another pound or 2 to water weight. Not bad :)

Has anyone else noticed all the 100-calorie snacks that are out these days? Recently, I've had:

• Quaker Mini Delights - Chocolatey Drizzle: picture mini rice cakes drizzled with CHOCOLATE - how could you not love them? They're actually 90 calories per pack, but still! (Also, props to them for using the world Chocolatey)
• Oreo Thin Crisps: Just like yummy little crispy Oreo cookies (without the filling)
• Jell-o Fat Free Tapioca Pudding: Yum!
• Keebler Right Bites Grasshopper Cookies: taste just like thin mints!
  
• Hershey's 100 Calorie Bar - Dark Chocolate: Heaven!

Of course, you can still over-indulge on these - but it helps me taking only 1 or 2 to work with me ;)

Breakfast:
2 packets of Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal - 6 pts

Lunch:
Leftover Turkey Sausage & Peppers (I think it was more like 1 1/2 servings this time) - 4.5 pts
1/4 loaf Sweet Italian Bread - 3 pts
1 bottle - Honest Tea - Kashmiri Chai - 0.5 pts

Dinner:
Turkey Burger with wheat roll, 1 slice cheddar cheese, and 2 pieces of turkey bacon - 9.5 pts
1 serving Ore-Ida Crinkley fries - 2 pts
1/4 cup Honey Mustard - 2 pts

Snacks:

1 serving Quaker Mini Caramel Rice Cakes - 1 pt
1 small (tiny) Oatmeal cookie - 1 pt
1 cup coffee with 1/4 cup Vanilla Chai Spice creamer - 3.5 pts
1 Hershey's 100-Calorie bar - Dark Chocolate - 2 pts

Points Values Used: 32.5
Points Values Remaining: 2.5

*DOH*

So, I've updated my blogger template, but it deleted all of my widgets!

I've got my fitroll back, but I'm trying to re-gather the list of all the wonderful blogs I like visiting. Let me know if I missed you!!!

Another *DOH* - nevermind - I forgot I used blogrolling ;)

I LOVE cooking!

So I tried my first recipe from my new cookbook and I'm VERY please - not only were the servings HUGE, but it was SO YUMMY and low enough in points that I ate it on some sweet italian bread :)

Breakfast:
1 cup cheerios with 1 cup skim milk and 3 tsp sugar - 6 pts

Lunch:
Roast Beef & Swiss on Pumpernickel/Rye swirl bread with 1 tsp mayo and a ton of banana peppers - 8 pts
1 serving Fresh Express Lite Caesar Salad - 2 pts

Dinner:
1 serving Turkey Sausage & Peppers - 3 pts
2 servings Sweet Italian Bread - 6 pts

Snacks:
1 serving Quaker Mini Caramel Rice Cakes - 1 pt
1 small (tiny) Oatmeal cookie - 1 pt
1 cup coffee with 1/4 cup Vanilla Chai Spice creamer

Total Points Used: 33.5 (3.5 pts left for a snack - WOO!)

Turkey Sausage & Peppers

Points value: 3
Servings: 4

3/4 lb Italian Turkey Sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup chicken broth (I used reduced sodium)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray; heat. Cook the sausage, stirring frequently, until no longer pink, 4-6 minutes. Add the bell peppers, onion, broth, garlic, red pepper, and oregano; cook, stirring frequently until most of the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the peppers are tender, 3-4 minutes.

Per serving (about 1 cup):
145 calories
5 grams fat (o grams trans fat)
2 grams fiber
15 grams protein

The ME update

So here's what I've been up to:

• Got a call from a woman at work whose name sounded familiar - turns out we were best friends when we were little! We have so much in common now, it's eerie. Woot!
• Because of my dear friend above, decided that I want to go back to school to eventually become a Speech Language Pathologist and work with a Cleft Palate - Craniofacial team :)
  
• James, erm, "coerced" me into getting Myspace and Facebook pages.
• I've seen some kick-ass bands in Chapel Hill.
• Got diagnosed with IBS - I have to get a colonoscopy in April- Ick!
  
• I had a root canal right after Christmas, and I've finally decided to say "Screw You!" to my dental phobia and finally get my teeth fixed this year.
• Oh yeah - because of my self-indulging, I hit my alltime high - 308. Bleah.

I started going to Weight Watchers meetings again last week - Woo! I think the meetings in addition to the E-tools will be REALLY helpful this time. I'm making plans and I got an awesome WW cookbook.

We'll see if it works this time around :)

And so I'm back - from outerspace!

Yep, that's right. I'm back.

My depression had been causing me issues for the past few months. I didn't have the desire to even try to lose weight, much less blog about it.

But now - I'm starting anew! James and I have joined Weight Watchers - going to meetings (Accountability!) every week.

The past three days, I've been below my target points range - Woo Hoo! Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of posting :)