putting things into perspective.

This picture shows a one pound vs. five pound replica of fat.

When I look at this picture and the replicas its unbelievable that I've lost those five pounds of fat, seven times over, and that I'm slowly replacing some of it with muscle mass. Over the past seven months, I've lost those thirty-five pounds. Most days its hard for me to tell that I've lost any of the weight when I look at myself. But when I look at this picture, I know what I've done is incredible, and it helps me to move forward.

diet coke bbq chicken & pumpkin cheesecake

Tonight, I made two new things that I am super excited to share about.

For dinner, I made Diet Coke BBQ Chicken. It was very delicious and very easy.
It calls for 12oz of diet coke and 1 cup of ketchup per pound of chicken breasts. I then cooked it in my *brand new* crock pot for a few hours on high. The chicken came out very tender and very delicious. The only thing was that the sauce did not thicken  like regular BBQ sauce. But still so good.

I also made the No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake from SkinnyTaste. This was also another hit in my book. Here is a picture of the cheesecake after it had been setting in the fridge for a little while.

is it too early for my christmas list?

.... because here are some of my favorite things that are making the list this holiday season.

 

a food scale.

this giraffe pandora charm.

a blackberry torch.

 

 and these lovely earrings.

and it's thursday again ...

1. It's been a long few weeks that were out of control, but I am happy to be back on track. I also finally broke my plateau this week. I lost five pounds from where I was last week, and it brings me to a grand total of 35.2 pounds. That my friends, is a great feeling.

2. I haven't had any good deals lately. And last weekends coupon selection was not the finest. I was actually very disappointed. I am looking forward to this Sunday's paper in hopes for something useful for my shopping. Although, I am getting creative with what I have here and eating through some of it before returning to the store. The only stuff I have grabbed from the store is fresh produce. I will have to stockpile again soon, only if I can produce some good coupons!

CVS Trip

I'm so excited to share about the good deal that I got a CVS today!
I was able to purchase:
1 Brilliant Brunette Shampoo - $6 on sale with a $2 off coupon
1 Brilliant Brunette Conditioner - $6 on sale with a $2 off coupon
and then spend $10 on these products get $3 Extra Bucks
2 Quaker Instant Oats - 2/$5 with two $1 off coupons
and then spend $5 get $2 on these products and get the $2 in Extra Bucks
1 Advil Liquid Gel 20 ct - $4.49 with a coupon for FREE so I saved $4.49
And then I also had a $4 off a $20 purchase.

All for a grand total of $7.69 and I also received $5 back in Extra Care Bucks!

TOMS

After much research and reading about TOMS, I purchased my very first pair in the classic black canvas. I have to say I absolutely love them! They were the perfect addition as we are heading into "fall". They are also super comfortable, and the canvas stretches as you wear them (so I bought mine a little snug). I wore them to work tonight and they didn't make my feet hurt!

Here I am sporting the TOMS in a late night trip to 7-11 for some fountain diet coke!

I also was talking to a friend this week who bought her first pair of TOMS in the natural canvas color and then she decorated them. They are super cute and it was such a great idea! I have to ask her what she used to draw on them but it looked like an ultra fine permanent marker.

10 thoughts on whole living.

I found these ten thoughts on whole living in the October 2010 issues of Whole Living, and wanted to share them with you.

1. If you can successfully change one bad habit, you're likely to change another.
2. Don't assume you know what someone needs you to do. Ask.
3. Sometimes all it takes to get through a tough time is a single, powerful word.
4. Be courageous enough to listen for the truth.
5. When you shine a light on a negative thought, it loses its power.
6. While you can't shut out illness entirely, you can make your body a place where health thrives.
7. Do something that makes you sweat.
8. Embrace frayed edges, worn pages, and laugh lines. True beauty lies in imperfection.
9. Remind a loved one that she's not alone.
10. Learning to love requires as much openness as it does strength.

a trip to publix.

Yesterday morning, I made my way to Publix with the coupon binder and coffee in hand. I also had a list of things that I wanted to gather because of the sale price and because we were running out of them. My grand total today was a whopping $34.50. (Disclaimer: I do like to save money, and I do love my coupons, but there are somethings that I won't sacrifice for, and I'd pay the extra money to have what I do like versus buying things that I am not particularly fond of. Also, since I am trying to eat better I tend to put out the extra money towards the things that are better for me, versus buying what's the cheapest, on sale, or free.)

Anyways, here's what I got:
10 Cans of Progresso Soup - 2.29 a piece But they were BOGO and I had 2.50 off.
5 Fage (Fa-yeah) Greek Yogurts - 5/$6
2 Breakstone's Cottage Cheeses - 2.75 a piece and I 2 $1 off coupons
6 Lean Cuisines - 1.97-2.50 a piece and 2 $1 off coupons
4 Healthy Choice Meals - 2.39 a piece and I had a competitors coupon for B3G1 and a $1 off of 3 Meals
2 Luna Bars - .99 a piece with two $.50 off coupons
3 Pears and 1 onion - 2.50 (or so for both) plus I had a $1 off produce from a competitor.
and the DEAL OF THE DAY 2 Crystal Light 12q Packages - 4.69 a piece with 1.50 off Publix Coupon (times two) and $1 off Manufacturer coupon (times two). So this was actually a .31 cent money maker!

And added on top of that I a $5 off of $50 dollar purchase competitors coupon for additional savings!

a modge podge of things.

1. I spent this past weekend in Miami, visiting my brother. First time that I have ever visited the city, and it's quite the interesting place. The city is huge, and the traffic is bad. But overall it was nice to be able to spend some time with my brother and family. We visited the Vizcaya on Sunday morning, it's a very pretty place and really do suggest visiting if you are headed down that way.

2. Tonight, I'm cleaning out my closet. I have way to many clothes that are too big now, which is a great feeling, yet I am still in between sizes. But I am happy to rid of the things that are too big. Many of them are going to be donated because they are still in decent condition. I am happy to be almost fitting into clothes that I used to love.

3. I am hoping at Thursday's weigh-in, I'll finally have a drop. I haven't dropped anything in over three weeks and the Life Coach is getting frustrated with me (and I'm getting frustrated with me.)

4. I ordered Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD from Amazon, it should be here in the next couple of days. I think this will be a nice mix up to my normal work out routine. I read a lot of reviews on this, some positive and some negative. I'll keep you posted on how it is, but I definitely can't wait to get started.

5. I'm excited to share with you my great deals that I'm going to get tomorrow at Publix. I'm going to be thoroughly impressed with myself when I am done with my grocery shopping. So be on the look out for a post.

6. The weather here is turning into fall, and it's beautiful. I really enjoy being able to ride with the windows down and the air off. (Also, a great help to the gas mileage on the vehicle!) I really just hope it stays like this and doesn't go back to summer like temperatures.

- K-Dubb