Weight Loss Wednesday

Hello lovelies!

I'm back from my blogging hiatus. It's been a whirlwind since November, and I'm finally beginning to feel back on my feet again.

Since it is Wednesday, I figured there is no better way to restart my blogging engine than to discuss something that has become a central part of my life in the last month - weight loss.

Throughout interview season (Nov - Jan), I was out of town every week, being wined and dined in different cities. Of course, I wasn't working out either. I gained 10 pounds.

Now, I have been going to Weight Watchers meetings for months now (since August, to be exact). I have paid my dues and sat in meetings, inspired by the people around me, but then I would get home and decide that food tasted too darn good to give it up. About a month ago, I decided that enough was enough, and I was going to try my best to get the L.B.s off for good.

In the past month, I have lost 5.2 pounds!!

I have honestly never been so successful at TRYING to lose weight. It feels like a huge accomplishment to me, and I look forward to seeing what the scale will read every week.

The first step I took was changing my relationship food. Ever since we started dating, Patrick and I have considered eating out our entertainment. If we are bored, we go out to eat. That was the first thing that had to change. We now try and limit our eating out to 1 night a week. And I'm so proud that I can now go into a restaurant and make a responsible decision. For example, the week of Valentine's Day, we ate out 4 times, and I still lost 1.4 pounds. Success!

Another important change was tracking my food. I use the Weight Watchers app to track all of my intake for the day, and that has made me more aware of how much I am eating throughout the day.

In addition, I started planning my meals and grocery shopping for the week on Saturday or Sunday. I use 2 handy notepads from Anthropologie. One that says what we will eat for the week, and one that has a supermarket checklist.

I have started making healthier choices in regard to what we are cooking. I usually try and avoid carbohydrates in the evening, as they tend to make me feel bloated and not lose weight. We have been using a lot of Skinnytaste, CookingLight, and Weight Watchers recipes.

Last night, we had the most delicious Asian Porkchops EVER! They were from the CookingLight Fresh Food Superfast cookbook. (I can't begin to tell you how great this cookbook is - if you love CookingLight, but hate to be in the kitchen longer than 1 hr, this is the cookbook for you)

Sweet and Spicy Chili Pork Chops
Cooking spray                                                            
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops       
1 tbsp brown sugar                                                     
2 tbsp lower sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp chile paste with garlic (sambal oelek)
1 tbsp hoisin sauce                                
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup diagnollay sliced green onions

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork; cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove pan from heat; let pork stand 30 secs.
2. While pork cooks, combine brown sugar and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Add sauce to pork, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Turn pork over in sauce to coat. Sprinkle with green onions.
Yield: 4 servings
Weight Watchers Points Plus value: 7      Calories: 251


Crunchy Asian Vegetable Salad
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage                         
1 cup sugar snap peas, halved crosswise                       
1 cup matchstick-cut peeled cucumber                    
1/2 cup matchstick-cut carrots                                  
1/3 cup light sesame-ginger dressing (such as Newman's Own)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

1. Place first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl, tossing to coat. Divide salad among 4 plates; sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds.
Yield: 4 servings
Weight Watchers Points Plus value: 2    Calories: 78

Be warned - the pork is spicy. If you prefer less heat, use less sambal oelek. But seriously, this stuff is gooood. I hope you try it! :)

-Alicia

New Years Resolutions

In 2012, I resolve to:

1. Change my relationship with food, and ultimately lose 30 lbs.
2. Workout at least 5 times a week for 2 months. Hopefully it will stick by then!
3. Think more about others, and less about myself.
4. Go to church more often and work on my relationship with God. I want my son to know God!
5. Keep a shiny sink and declutter (a la Flylady).
6. Have more date-nights and spend more time working on my relationship with Patrick.

Happy New Year!

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Merry Christmas from Us!

Dec's New Toy

I've been out of town since Sunday. Patrick sent me this today. :)

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8 Month Checkup

Declan had his 8 month well-child checkup today at 8.5 months.

He weighs 19.5 lbs (50%) and 29.5 in (90%). He still has a big head (95%)! Hehehe.
When he was a teeny tiny, he was a little chunk, but now he is tall and skinny.

He is eating 3 meals a day + 24-30 oz of formula a day. We are integrating more and more people food every day, such as cheese quesadillas, eggs, chicken, ground turkey. 

He is CONSTANTLY on the move. Crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. He is my little wild man! I have a feeling he will be walking before we even know it!

Sleep is not going so well right now. He is difficult to put down because he has started getting separation anxiety. He cries as soon as we walk out of the room. :( When we hold him, he wants to get down and crawl around. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he cries until he gets a bottle. Our pediatrician told us to let. him. cry. So we are gonna try that!

He still loves his baths. We have not really had a "bedtime ritual" up to this point, so we are going to start working on that. My plan is to have a bath at 7, followed by a bottle, brushing his teeth (5+3 more coming in!!!!), reading a book, and putting him in his bed.

He is becoming more and more verbal everyday. He says "ma ma ma ma ma" when he is upset or really tired.  He has also started "copying" a certain noise he does.

And the best thing ever - he's giving kisses! Melts. My. Heart. He opens his mouth really wide and leans in to your face. It is the most precious thing EVER!

Baby Declan,

 You are the most amazing little man. You have such a cute personality, and I can definitely see that you are going to give me a run for my money. Please forgive me for letting you cry in your crib. Know that it is hard for me, but I know that it is best for you and our family. I love you so so much, and I am always here for you! I can't wait to see how you continue to change in the next 3 months. Your next appointment at the doctor will be your 1 year appointment. I can't even believe it!! 

I love you to the moon and back!

Momma

Thankful

It's 6:30 in the morning, and I'm up feeding my son a bottle. With this, comes a lot of time to think.
Today, I can only think about for what I am so thankful.

Last year I was so thankful to be pregnant. This year I am infinitely more thankful to be blessed with my little Declan. His fiery personality, and all. It's amazing how I continue to love him more and more every day.

I am always thankful for Patrick, but this year more than usual. He truly carries half the load (and a lot of times, more) in taking care of Decs. Being parents has changed both of us. Mostly in a good way. But we are still working on getting to know the new us. There have certainly been ups and downs, but I continue to love him unconditionally. I always say this, but I can't imagine this life without him.

I am also thankful for my supportive friends and family. Without them, we never could have done this, and Declan would still be a twinkle in my eye.

So, for what are you thankful?

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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An Update

It makes me sad that it has been so long since my last post. When I first started this ole' bloggy, it was with the intention of documenting our life, not only for my friends far away, but also as a way for us to look back from the future. And now I'm disappointed that I have been unable to keep it up. Life just gets in the way sometimes, ya know?

That being said, a lot has happened since my last post.

My child turns 8 months old in 5 days. 8 months old! I can't even believe it. He has turned in to the sweetest little man - with quite the temper, of course - and I just love him to pieces! 

He now has 3 teeth, all on the bottom. I keep worrying, "what if he doesn't have any teeth on top?" My mom tells me I worry about the weirdest things. Hehehehe.

Declan started officially crawling in Disney World. Oh wait, you didn't know we went to Disney World? Ooops! I had a research project to present in Orlando in October, so we decided to make a family trip out of it. See?

And here is my little peanut crawling around at home:

Don't worry, he didn't have a stroke. That's just a new face he's doing these days.

I just returned from a 24 hour trip to North Carolina. No pictures of that, as I was busy interviewing and touring the hospitals. That's right...I'm interviewing for residency. It's crazy stressful, but crazy fun. I have 9 interviews scheduled from now until January. All over the country. From Colorado to North Carolina. Pray for me.

And here's my little pumpkin, with a pumpkin:

And what does a 7 month old do when surrounded by a pile of leaves?

Well, he eats them of course.

Declan was a dinosaur for Halloween. The most precious, green with irridescent scales, dinosaur in the world. Mommy didn't take any pictures. She's still trying to convince Daddy to dress him up again and take some pictures. So hopefully you will see some soon! ;)

So that's all I've got for now. Hopefully you will hear from me again sooner than later!