Big Booty Betty

The day started like everyday does. Wake, weigh, start coffee. I wasn’t in the mood for breakfast food and I really wanted a savory meal so the coffee held me over until lunch.

Here is what I had:

BETTY’S BLACK BEAN QUICKIE

1/2 C. Organic/Fat-Free Black Beans

1/2 C. Veg.All Cajun Mixed Vegetables

2 TBS. Homemade Habanero Salsa

1 TSP. Cumin

1 TSP.  Chili Powder

1 Light cinnamon sprinkle ( sounds nuts, but try it)!

A Dash of Kosher Salt

Mix all together and cook on medium heat for 5-7 mins. When veggies are soft, mash them with the back of a spoon.

Serve on corn tortilla. Add whatever veggies you want. I added a 50/50 mixture of lettuce and cabbage (for crunch). It was only 3.5 WW Points for half a serving of bean mixture & 2 tortillas. Impressive, no?

Today the heat index was 110*F. Holy cow! But after living here for six years, I have learned to deal. It was the first day I thought of swimming as a workout rather than fun. I almost didn’t go because I hate working out! I found out that there is a 30% chance of rain in the forecast for tomorrow, and two days without the pool would make me a  hot mess. This left me with no other choice but to suck it up.

As you can clearly see, I just fooled around today. Lord knows what in the world I was doing in that pool! But I loved it. It ended up being exactly what I needed.

After recreation, I needed a sweet fix. On to the fruit store! I did great with spending!  Only 13 dollars for an entire box of fruit & veggies. Some of you ladies have been posting about your love for watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. MMMMM. Sounded good to me.

Snack!

My weight was down .2 lbs again!!! I am getting way too spoiled with the ease of it all. But I don’t want to start thinking that this loss will stop b/c I don’t want to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. So I’ll bite my tongue and embrace a new me with opened arms.

Thanks for living through a portion of my day with me,

- <3BB Betty 

Motivational Quotes:

“Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”-M. Twain

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”  -Unknown

“One way to get thin is to re-establish a purpose in life.” -Cyril Connolly

Hello ladies,

Hope everyone is reaching their weight loss goals and doing their own version of the “around the scale boogie” !

I’ll just jump right into the blog entry because it is very late, and I may fall asleep at any moment.

Today was a very busy day with progress, discovery and weight loss. Like a sushi roll of goodness. All the things I like wrapped up together.

My breakfast was shared with Brian. We sat at the table for about an hour and just talked. It is amazing how the two of us are so much alike. The usual topics came up. School, art, …food (my favorite topic of all time). I was so happy that he got into an art show in Dallas because he has been pretty down on himself recently.

PROGRESS: After letting the food settle, it was time for a swim. An hour of straight laps, with only a few mini-breaks to catch my breath. I used the Texas heat to not only to dry off, but to get a tan. My skin is the perfect golden now, hair sun-kissed, now I just need the swimmer’s body!

From this point forward it was (in this particular order):  errands, cleaning house, painting some furniture, and final touches on art show.

DISCOVERY: My busy day came to a complete foodgasmic (my new word for food orgasm) pause when I was introduced to SkinnyCow Fudge Bars. Wait! Before you wonder what planet I come from for not trying these glorious chocolate bricks-on-a-stick before today, there are two things you should know.

1) I had heard of them before today.

2) I recently became a vegetarian from being a vegan for several years

 Tra-la-la and so it goes, i indulged not once or twice but on THREE bars. I am kind of worried that I am reintroducing a whole range of foods into my diet while I am on a diet. So exciting, and even more tempting.

WEIGHT LOSS: .2 lbs again! This swimming is helping me shed off this fat faster than I could have ever thought.

Lost 3 lbs. in ten days, no complaints here. Can I reach five by Saturday? I can do ANYTHING.
SO CAN YOU!

Getting it done in the sun,
<3 BB Betty

To compensate for my terrible eating behavior last night, I made a healthy tofu stir-fry for tonights dinner.  WWPV=7 per rice bowl sized serving!!!

 Putting in my mouth made me as happy as Christmas morning.

Jolly as ever, <3Betty

I have no earthly idea how it happened but i lost two, i repeat, two pounds from yesterday. This finding came as a shock to me mainly because yesterday I ate carbs galore. I mean, that is literally all i had.

Plus my celebratory drinking led me to stay up a bit later than i usually would have, and of course my diet inhibitions were down. 

My biggest weakness was staring me straight in the face when i opened the refrigerator door while happily buzzed.  Creamy, soft, perfectly seasoned mashed…potatoes (Ugh!…just look away). A whole bowl of them (I took a sample). They were going to go bad if I didn’t act. Disappointment.

  It was over as quickly as it started. I gave in to the whole freaking bowl.

But as stated earlier, I know better than that. I don’t expect to lose two lbs. every time I inhale a bowl of potatoes. This was my lucky break. So I will do everything in my power to keep pre-made indulgent snacks out of my sight. As the saying goes : Out of sight, out of mind.  Somehow, I don’t think this method will work well for me. After all, I could always envision food in my head. My goodness, as I type this I am salivating over an imaginary cake.

 This is going to be tougher than I thought. 

Spud Lover, -BB Betty

YES! YES! & OH YEAH! Were the sounds I made as I danced on the bathroom scale this morning. Down another .2 lbs for the third day in a row! After the scale boogie, I walked proudly over to my Special K Berries box and dug right in.

This heightened feeling caves when I recall what has to be done today. For the past few days I have been working on my art show. The show isn’t until the beginning of July, but deadline for all my work is in less than a week. The art making process is decent. The worst part is building the frames from scratch, and that is currently what I am doing. Not too mention, these photographs are 40″ long. Over-sized building of things leaves an achy, achy me.

The aches will be well worth it when I see my show hanging in the gallery. Who knows? Perhaps something will sell. It would be nice, but in the time of recession, fine art is difficult to sell. I may need a backup plan.

This might work:

On second thought…I’ll keep trying to sell.

One of the best parts of having an opening is getting to play dress-up. I like to wear a hip-hugging dress or curl my hair (or both). It just makes me feel sexy, hence leaving me with sheer confidence & positive thoughts. One of the things I like least about art openings is the free food and wine bars. It is just too tempting. I’ll have to make sure to save extra points for this occasion.

UPDATE:Lots of starches today, and drinking a Crystal Light margarita as i type (will post recipe soon). Not the best diet day. But not over my WW points either. Got my show done with the exception of wall hangers on the back of each frame. That is the easy part. Freedom…yes!

Happy day/night to all!

<3 BB Betty… with a glass of booze :/

First and foremost, I’d like to take the time to share a pic of my wonderful dog, on her 5th birthday. Luna, or as I like to call her “Loony Bin” , is a charming, intelligent, feisty little thing. We wouldn’t have it any other way. She is seen here enjoying the plate of healthy treats we gave her! Can’t you tell?

 While little miss Lulu got to gorge on food today, I had to restrict myself. That terrible food voice was haunting me. You know the one. Most women have it and it comes at the most inconvenient times. When it chimes in, it is really powerful…”Ccchhoocccoooooolaaattteee”. I spent most of the day trying to ignore it. But how do you make the chocolate monster stop?

I discovered that all my tastebuds needed was something (anything) sweet. Instead of a candy bar, I treated myself to a TCBY small 96% fat free vanilla yogurt topped with berries. If you have not tried one yet, and need a sweet summertime fix, this is the way to go. The WW point values are just fall-out-of-your-seat stunning. As you can see:                                                                    

Regular Soft-Serve Frozen Yogurt (96% fat free):

Kiddie Cup (2.75 oz)= 2 points
Small Cup (5 oz)= 4 points
Regular Cup (7 oz)= 6 points
Large Cup (9 oz)= 8 points  

The portions are plentiful, so you’ll get more than you expect.

TCBY also has sugar-free yogurt options that are 1-2 less points. To me, one more point for sugar is a steal. So it is happily taken!

My weight is down .2 lbs today, and I am happy to see that for the first week, in a long while, the scale is moving consistently in the proper direction. Ever since the back injury, I have been scared to incorporate a routine that involves too much bending. After all, it isn’t like my herniation can reverse itself to heal.

 One thing that I am not afraid to try is swimming. The physical therapist actually liked the idea of this as my main workout because 70-80% body weight and pressure is taken off of my core muscles.

Funny how things work out, right? Because having to swim has forced me to be in a swimsuit in public. That was the largest step, really. Getting out there. Now that have, I find it to be a liberating experience. As a matter of fact, I want to wear my swimsuit everywhere!!!

   MOTTO TO LIVE BY: DON’T KNOCK IT UNTIL YOU ROCK IT!

Born again Swimsuit Fan, BB BETTY

                      [Image via premierfamilychiropractic.com]

As soon as I was on top of the world…some things happened. Here is a quick breakdown:

- Started at 200 lbs and got down to 175

- Got deep into yoga practice

- Had a great job

- Accepted into grad school

-Was feeling & looking great

THEN

- My grandmother passed away

- Started getting back pain, rushed to ER

-Couldn’t move out of bed for 2 months due to two herniated disks

-Lost my great job

-Missed most of my first semester of grad school…sigh.

BUT…I AM BACK (with a bad back), and feeling ready for life again. I know I have to put in extra effort to keep going due to my physical condition. But I am willing to do it. Ready to go. Done feeling sorry for myself.

Here is where I stand with weight. Having not been as physically active during these hard times, I only gained five lbs.

Ticker reset, please:

Please join me with my second attempt to lose weight for a new healthy start!

Once again<3, -BB Betty 

These workouts (at first) seemed very trivial to me considering that they were “as seen as on tv”. But in all honesty, these dvd’s are the only thing that has kept me moving. They have been so fun considering the moves that are taught: things like “ride the pony….now the english pony”. Kind of silly but, I have never been so active in my life!
Tonight, I did some dancing and was so flexible and stong! These workouts have created a playtime rather than a ” let’s get serious” program. Never have I been motivated to move like this in years.

With my job today came some great news: an all expense paid trip to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. This trip will be a great mini-vacation . I want to wear a bikini, but my stretchmarks prevent it . Tomorrow, at this time, I will be looking at my new (one-piece) in a mirror. Wishing that I looked better…

But I feel lucky. Despite my body…

Wish me luck.

Kisses and weight loss wishes,
BIG BOOTY BETTY

I have this friend who has last resorted to B-12 w/ fat burners. This would typically be fine, but it seems like she is always in competition with me. Once I started looking better and losing weight (the natural way), she wants to lose it faster (as I thought she would want to).

Sigh.

Slowly but steady.