NASCAR

I had lost another pound last week and finally saw 167. Sadly, I don't think I am there any longer. Saturday we were wined and dined by Fed Ex at the Bristol Nascar Race. I swear all they did was feed us. While I didn't eat all of this stuff, this is what they had for us.

1PM Chicken Tenders, Fruit & Chips

3PM Hotdogs, Chicken Wings

6PM Ribs, Beef tips, scalloped potatoes, macaroni salad, rolls

7PM Apple carmel cheese cake

9PM Nachos, little wieners, and pretzels

All day: M&Ms, Peanuts, Open alcohol bar and unlimited soda/water

Um..that sums that up. I literally felt sick from eating when we left. Other than the day being a total diet sabotage; it was an amazing day and experience. Let me start this by saying that I am not a NASCAR fan, I have never watched a race on TV and have really had no interest in attending a race. Yet, Travis had gotten these tickets from Fed Ex and I knew that it would be a once in a life time experience and I am ALL ABOUT THOSE!

We arrived at Fed Ex at 12:30 and got on a coach bus which had a police escort to the race track. It was great. We went through all the traffic, every red light, and arrived in style. As soon as we got there we were greeted by golf carts that picked us up and took us up to the suite. When we arrived at the suite we were given a gift bag. It was filled with a large fed ex replica car and a small hot wheels style Bristol race track car. It also had a fed ex hat and drawstring backpack.

We had some lunch and then we were greeted by Cory. Cory was our personal escort. Only 6 of us there had VIP hot passes and he was our guide for the day. We got back on our golf cart and went down to the track. There we met the crew, saw the race car up close, walked the track and got an insiders view of the hauler. The hauler is not a typical semi. It has a small kitchen, a living room and tons of parts, pieces and technology. That is the one thing that I found so interesting. When you think of NASCAR the first thought is a bunch of rednecks but what I found is that the Fed Ex team has a team of engineers, scientists and business men to create what happens on race night.

Cory, our escort was in charge of marketing and had an MBA from Vanderbilt. One of the things he does is place the sponsor stickers on the car. I guess there is a big strategy to it. :)

After our tour we went back up to the suite where we met the driver, Denny Hamlin, and he talked to us about racing and his day. Inside the car it can get anywhere from 140-200 degrees. He autographed our cars and we got professional pics taken with him. About an hour later we met Coach Gibbs the owner of the racing team. He is a retired NFL coach and has won 3 superbowls and had the ring to prove it. He also talked about racing and did autographs and professional pics.

From there we took our private golf cart back to the track. We watched all the driver's introductions and then joined our driver at his car for the National Anthem. We were lined up by the driver and watched the fireworks and jets fly by. Then we were off to the pits. There we were given a set of earplugs and a large set of ear muff headphones. These headphones had several different channels where you could listen to the drivers talking to their teams and then we had a small handheld TV where you could watch the camera's that are inside the cars.

We watched the first 125 laps from the pits. I was sitting right next to the crew chief. Inside the pits was intense! Watching the race that close and seeing the pit stops really was incredible. It took them about 15 seconds to round the track and about 15 seconds to change 4 tires and fill the car up with gas. When the tires come off they are almost 200 degrees. We finished the race in the suite and enjoyed watching the close finish.

It was an amazing experience and a fun day. It also was one of the first times that me and Travis had that much time together. We left at 9am and actually didn't get home till about 2:30am. A big thanks to our two babysitters that made this all happen. We go on date nights but never have we had more than 12 hours of just the two of us. This was bitter sweet. While we totally enjoyed our selves and had a great time...I could only think the entire day about how much my little boy would have loved it. He is obsessed with cars and this would have been his dream day. Maybe when he gets a little older we will have to take him!

Down a Solid 2

Yay! All my hard work this week paid off. I weigh exactly 168.0. I'll take it! Hoping to be at 164 by the time we go to Idaho. 2 weeks exactly until we leave! Then the goal is to be 155 in time for Brooke's wedding (the exact amount that I weighed when I got married). I'll have 4 weeks to lose 9 pounds. It will be a challenge but I am pretty motivated. Hopefully I'll be able to try on my wedding dress and it will fit :)

The last couple weeks I had fluctuated between 170-173 so I am very happy with this number.

I have already called several family members in Idaho and planned for my success. My in-laws have a trail on their property and I have asked my mother-in-law to walk with me in the mornings. I had my niece look for a zumba class that all of us girls can go to once. I wanna do a hike while we are in Yellowstone and go on a couple bike rides. I am going to enjoy the flat, wide open spaces while we are there.

I am just praying for good weather. Summer came very late to Idaho this year so I hope that means that it will stick around for a while. It would be so nice to enjoy the outdoors and have great weather. I am hoping that it is even warm enough to get in some tubes and float the dry bed by my in-laws house. My goal for the trip is to STAY THE SAME! I don't expect to lose weight while on vacation but it would be great NOT to gain any either.

Tomorrow Tammye has planned a Weekend Warrior so it is a great way to start off the week!

Just another day

Today we are doing chores. Yesterday I did laundry and changed all our beds, today I need to vacuum and just pick up. We have been doing lots of home improvement projects and painting. We are getting our fence professionally sprayed but in order to save money we are pressure washing it ourselves. The other day Travis helped my grandpa install his new computer and in return my grandpa offered to come over with some hoses and his pressure washer and help Travis knock it out. It is a big fence and has to be washed inside and out. I will just watch the kids and make dinner for the guys. Tomorrow we are going to Splash Country as a reward.

I love Splash Country. It is so fun to watch your kids love something! Hudson loves playing in the wave pool, floating the lazy river and going on every slide that his height will allow. He is so brave and will go on just about anything. He has so much fun. It is only open until Labor Day so we are making good use of our pass going this week and next. I am going to pack a cooler filled with healthy snacks so that I can stay on track and save a nickel. It is a pretty good workout too. Almost all of the slides move strictly due to gravity which means that you have to climb stairs or a hill to get to the beginning.

My plan is to go workout tonight. I love Wednesday night workouts. It is the advanced group and while I wouldn't necessarily consider me advanced, I can hang and it is so motivating to be working with such a strong group of ladies. It is a 75-90 minute workout with weights and cardio. The men are starting to pressure wash until 2:30 though and workout is at 5:30; I know that they won't be done....maybe my neighbor can come watch the kids for a bit. Tomorrow night I have a CPR class. Life happens.

Yesterday I was at Walmart and I saw these really cute white pants for only $5. I love white pants and all of mine are WAY too big now. I went over to look for a size 12 and all they had were 8,10, 14, & 16. I tried on the 10s just too see how far I had. I pulled them on but boy were they tight. If I bent over, I'd probably rip them out. Guess what though?? I bought them anyway. In hopes that they will fit like a glove when I come to Boise. Give me a little extra motivation.

Goal for today....drink lots of water! I was good yesterday but didn't drink enough water.

Chicken Prosciutto Rollatini

This was the yummiest dinner. It looked so elegant and had so many wonderful flavors. It was really easy to make and was delicious. It was low carbohydrate only having a few bread crumbs and I served it with baked asparagus. I have been finding tons of fun recipes on Skinny Gina and this was one of them.

Chicken Prosciutto Rollatini

Chicken cutlets or you can fillet a breast in half

1 lemon

1 TBSP olive oil

1/2 C italian bread crumbs

1/4 C romano cheese or parmesan

Prosciutto

Mozzarella or Provolone Cheese

Red onion

Pepper

Rinse and dry your cutlets. Combine juice of one lemon with 1 TBSP of olive oil and set aside. Combine bread crumbs and parmesan together. Dip your cutlet into the lemon mixture and then into the breadcrumbs. Set on a clean surface such as a cutting board and put a small slice of prosciutto, a small slice of cheese and a chunk of onion in the middle. Roll up and put in baking dish with the seam side down. Sprinkle with black peper and spray with olive oil. Bake at 450 for 25 minutes. I couldn't find plain prosciutto but I found a little log of it with mozzarella in the deli. I just made thin slices of this and used it for my prosciutto and cheese.

Original found here

Back on the Straight & Narrow

Today was a perfect day when it comes to being on track. I made very wise choices, ate several times so I didn't get hungry and burned about 500 calories at my zufu class. It is really easy to make good choices when you are at home and you are prepared. I went back and looked at what I did in the beginning of my journey when I was successful. I put these ideas back in place. Today I made 6 snack baggies of carrots and divided out my ranch dressing in some little baby food tupperware, I counted out my almonds and bagged them. Having quick snacks is so important.

I am thinking about going to the Weight Watcher meetings. Some of my friends have had great success with this and it might just give me the accountability I am looking for. I know the statistics are better for success when you attend.

Things I ate today

Coffee w/ cream

Strawberry Yogurt

Apple with 1 TBSP Peanut Butter

Cheese Stick

1 fajita size low carb tortilla

low sodium turkey lunch meat

laughing cow cheese wedge

spinach & roasted red peppers

Nectarine

1/8 C Raw almonds

Chicken Prosciutto Rollatini

Baked Asparagus

Sugar free jell-o

Hi, I'm Cheryl...and I'm an addict

Oh...I love the white powder. I love the way it makes me feel....not cocaine, not meth...but flour and sugar. I seriously have a problem. I can't figure out why I can't find a good balance for my love of sugar. If I go totally carb free I don't seem to crave it but as soon as the powder touches my lips, I am sunk! I can't seem to stop myself. I can't just have one bite or a small taste. I keep coming back for more.

I tell myself, "don't do it" but then I do it anyway. That is why I think it truly is an addiction. The sad part is that I love to bake and cook. It is one of my favorite hobbies but I just can't have that stuff around. My kids have treats and snacks and I am continually catching myself eating goldfish, pretzels, fruit snacks, etc. I eat the crust off their PB&J sandwiches, I have a couple bites of the pancakes. It is all this crap that adds up and keeps me right where I am!

Any suggestions? I don't want to give it up entirely..because what kind of life is that? But how to reduce? That is the problem with food addiction. You don't have to have cigarettes to live, you don't have to gamble to live or drink alcohol to live. Technically you don't have to have sex to live but you know what you do have to have? FOOD! It's not like you can just give it up if you're addicted. Then again you don't have to refined sugar and flour to live. Just thinking out loud.

Dust of the Bicycle

Last night I decided to dust of the bicycle and go for a ride. Anyone that knows where we live or who has been to Tennessee knows that cycling is not easy here. There are lots and lots of hills even in the neighborhoods so it is never really just leisure riding. I left at 8:30 so I didn't have a lot of time. I didn't go far; I was only able to do about 2.5 miles before it started getting too dark. I did those in about 16 minutes and burned 100 calories. I figure it was better than nothing. It felt good to be outside and pumping my legs. Fall is a great time of year here so hopefully when the weather cools a little we will be able to go on some family bike rides. We have a trailer where we can pull the kids behind us.

When we are in Idaho, I am hoping to go on some rides and take advantage of their flat terrain.