The Graceful Skinny

A homeschool mom of one sharing my thoughts, curriculum reviews, organization techniques, and planning ideas with others in the homeschool community.

Vegetables at Breakfast? December 9, 2010

In last week’s post I told you about the ins and outs of my diet. Like a lot of you, when I first started the diet I thought that my instructions to eat a veggie at every meal including breakfast was a strange one.

A few days into my diet it dawned on me that people eat spinach and egg quiche for breakfast all the time.  That is when I decided to try adding spinach to my breakfast.

The result was a wonderful Spinach and Egg Muffin  that is tasty at home but is also easy to grab and go with.  This is how I make it:

Ingredients and Supplies:

 

~ Large Handful of Spinach

~  1 Egg

~1 English Muffin

~Cooking Spray ( I like to use Olive Oil Cooking Spray. Its a little healthier for you!)

~ Small amount of Margrine

 

 

 

 

 

Step One:

Spinach Cooking

Spray a very light coating of cooking spray in your pan and turn your burner on to medium- medium high heat.

Put in your spinach.

{Note: I know this looks like a lot of spinach for one person, but Spinach cooks down significantly!}

 

Step Two:

Spinach Cooking breakfast

When your spinach looks like this go ahead and put your English muffin in the toaster.

 

Step Three:

Spinach Cooking Breakfast

When the Spinach is done cooking shape it into a circle and form a small divot in the middle, as seen above.

 

Step 4:

Spinach Eggs Cooking Breakfast

Crack the egg right into the middle and sprinkle a tiny pinch of salt now.

{I like to use kosher salt. You can use less and get more flavor out of it!}

Let the egg cook for a few seconds.

 

Step 5:

Spinach eggs cooking breakfast

Use your spatula to gently break up the egg yolk.

 

Step 6:

Spinach eggs cooking Breakfast

Gently fold and flip the spinach and eggs. Taking care to Shape your patty as you go.

 

Step 7:

Spinach Eggs Cooking Breakfast

Make sure to mash down on the spinach and eggs as you are forming your patty. This ensures that all of the raw egg gets cooked.

 

Step 8:

Spinach eggs cooking Breakfast

Once the egg is cooked through remove pan from heat.

 

Step 9:

Spinach Eggs Cooking Breakfast

Pull your English muffin from the toaster and lightly butter it.

Slide your spinach and egg patty on to the muffin and fold back over.

 

Finished Product:

Cooking Breakfast diet wholesome

 

Enjoy! Just make sure that you get a fruit to go with that on the side!



 

Weekly Update: Getting ready for Christmas! December 3, 2010

 

 

I did pretty well this week.  Although I do have to admit, I was pretty darn bad about working out. I kept meaning to but time just keeps slipping away. I plan on getting one in tomorrow. No excuse on Saturday (yet). But I am pretty proud of myself. The stockings are hung and I have finally de-Scroogified my husband after all these years. And to think, all it took was finding his train from his youth and getting him to set it up around the tree.  It was a rare and special treat to see that boyhood wonder on his face.

So with one or two last gifts to get and wrap,  I am starting to get my living room back. The cleaning and organizing is almost done!  I think the husband and I are going to reserve this weekend for relaxing and us time.  We certainly need it. We have been running around too much, though I do smell a dreaded costco trip in tomorrow’s horizon. (Shudder the thought!)

So the results from this week? I have to say that my progress as of late has been slowing slightly, however I did reach another 5 pounds mark this week. And I am very close to another. As a matter of fact, I have another small victory that my treasured red Christmas top that I couldn’t wear last year is now officially ready to be worn to my many Christmas gatherings this year! So Yay for that! As for the fabulous job weight wise this week, I am pleased to announce the following results!

  • This Week: 5.1 pounds down!
  • Total weight loss: 28.3 pounds down!!!


I do have a slight bummer, there is a pair of jeans that I have been working to and now that they fit, I don’t like them anymore! They are too short. Boo!  Ah well, they won’t fit for long anyways. A bonus, I am apparently a large now. I had to return all of the extra larges I bought last week at the black Friday sales! I always like that! Now if I could just finish dropping down a size in my jeans. I am still at that annoying place where the sizes 16s fit but are getting really loose and are starting to look sloppy. I can’t even look at the 14s yet. Maybe in another week or two.

Oh, and my secret weapon for Thanksgiving Day? I wore my Spanks to dinner. Helps with the sliming and they don’t allow for extra expansion and over eating at the table! And I originally just put them on because my pants were fresh from the dryer.  Who knew that Spanks were so useful!

 

Its the Little things that get you! December 2, 2010

 

 

 

So I have been a busy beaver this morning updating my medical records in preparation for my doctor’s appointment next week. ( I am going in to my Gynecologist to get a second opinion on the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) In flipping through my records I found a chart with my Vitals history on it from last year.  I am proud to say that I am 15.4 pounds lighter then I was at Christmas last year!!!

 

I had a hunch that I might be getting there but it’s still nice to see the results in numbers like that!

 

I’ll be back tomorrow with the weekly update to go more in-depth with how my week has gone but I just had to share that small victory. Gotta celebrate the small things right?



 

Weekly Update: I totally Rocked this week! November 26, 2010

So this week’s update is just a quick one. My two Thanksgiving dinners went well. Everybody loved my attempts at Apple Pie and were very impressed.  The most amazing thing about the week though is the fact that not only did I loose but I lost a whole 1.3 pounds this week!!!! 0.7lbs just yesterday alone! Thats right folks! I LOST weight on Thanksgiving having ate 2 Thanksgiving dinners. I guess my portion control strategy works! I even got a few second helpings.

 

So Totals:

 

This Week: 1.3 pounds down!!!!!

Total: 24.5 pounds down!

 

Not too shabby if I do say so myself!

 

Weekly Update: Well How’s About That? November 19, 2010

 

 

Well the scale surprised me yet again this week. I had the full intentions of working out a few times this week along with finally getting the closet re-org. done, but then reality hit and it just hasn’t happened yet.

 

I have been fighting off a cold all week. I only got one good work out in this week. And that clothing sort? Yeah, it’s the project that just won’t get done.

 

I’m pretty sure my thyroid has been doing its crazy dance this week. I go in on Monday back to the doctor for a check on my thyroid. I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say on my progress with my weight loss.

 

So with all that has been going on this week and with my weight yo-yoing back and forth like a spastic two year old on a sugar rush I have to say that I was anticipating a gain this week.

 

Imagine my shock and surprise when I hoped on to the scale and found out that I have hit another baby milestone! This morning I crossed over a line that I better not cross back over unless I am about to pop out a kid.  This morning I say good-bye to the 220’s forever!

 

It really is amazing to see how far I have come in such a short amount of time.  I only wish that my pants could reflect better the change. I am still only down one size and not all 16s fit yet. But then, that goes back to yesterday’s post doesn’t it? My pant size doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I am getting healthy.

 

So now to the results for the week:

 

  • This Week: 1.1 pounds down!
  • Total Weight Lost so far: 23.2 pounds!!!!

Not too shabby if you ask me! Especially when you factor in that I wasn’t expecting any results when I hopped on to the scale this morning.  So dear friends and readers how have you done?

 

The baby steps will get you down the tracks of Life! November 4, 2010

Filed under: Revalations along the way — The Graceful Skinny @ 5:47 pm
Tags: , , , , , ,

Standing at the starting line, staring out across the vast distance with your finish line just barely within your sight, that is if it’s in your sight at all, can be a terrifying experience.  If you are anything like me, you often find yourself at that line scratching your head so lost you don’t know where to begin.

I have found in my experiences that the best thing to do in these situations is to call in the guard so to speak.  Find that person who can stand by your side with the right knowledge to point you in the right direction. Find what you need so you can recognize the end result.

Once you have the finish line clearly drawn break that down in to much smaller check points.  For instance, I have been told by my doctors that my total weight loss needs to be in the range of 70-90 pounds.  If that is all I focused on I would get overwhelmed quickly. Instead I focused on smaller goals. 20 pound check points. By focusing just on the 20 pounds, I feel more encouraged that the goal is within my grasp.

The most important part is to always remember that life’s hardest challenges are best dealt with in large groups. You need to surround yourself with cheerleaders who know what you are going through and can walk alongside you.  These are the people who can cheer you on through the good times and bad. They pick you up off the floor when you feel you have nothing left, and they are the first ones to celebrate when you make progress.

One last thing, never forget to laugh. There will be moments in life where everything has gone kaput at the same time.  In these times you have only two choices; let the stress overwhelm you and drive you towards defeat, or take a moment and find the humor in the moment and laugh at it. Did you know that the bible says the words “do not worry” at least fifteen times? It goes on to mention the command “do not fret” at least another four.  Call me crazy, but I get the feeling that God is trying to remind us that he has things under his control.  So next time life gets you down, throw away the worry and just laugh. God is always there to help to see you through any situation.

Dealing with any overwhelming task can be difficult, be it conquering that disorganized closet, getting a resume complete, or losing 90 pounds. You just have to remember, everybody starts by crawling, and that crawling can get you surprisingly far! The baby steps might take a bit longer, but we stay on track and reach the end all the same.