Every Little Step

My Weight Watchers leader Linda emailed this to me yesterday. I was so busy that I did not have a chance to read it until just now. I hope that it can encourage you as much as it did me. We can get discouraged, because things are taking too long or we are losing too slowly. But every little step we take moves us closer and closer to our goal. Enjoy.

Look around at all the great accomplishments in your world. Each one, from the most simple to the most complex, was completed one step at a time.

An ambitious goal is nothing more than the joining together of many smaller goals. The small results may not seem like much, yet they are absolutely essential.

For it is upon those small results that the big results are built. And in that fact is a wonderful world of outstanding possibilities.

Do not back away from ambitious goals. Instead, look within them and break them down into small, easily manageable components.

Complex, massive success is nothing more than small, simple success carried out again and again with commitment and focus. As such, no goal is out of reach when you are willing to invest patience and persistence.

Choose your goals based not on how difficult you perceive them to be, but on how much they truly mean to you. When you're fully committed to every little step, anything can be yours. - Ralph Marston

Hungry Girl's Rockin' Poppin' Shrimp

Hungry Girl's Rockin' Poppin' Shrimp

Ingredients
3 oz. raw shrimp; pealed, deviened and cleaned
1/4 cup Egg Beaters, Original
1/2 cup Fiber One bran cereal
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour Egg Beaters into a bowl. Using a blender or food processor, grind Fiber One cereal to a breadcrumb-like consistency. Pour Fiber One crumbs into a plastic container that has an airtight lid (or into a plastic food storage bag). Add as much salt & pepper to Fiber One as you like. Next, prepare the shrimp by ensuring that they are as dry as possible (use a paper towel to soak up moisture). Place shrimp in dish with Egg Beaters and coat them thoroughly. Transfer shrimp to Fiber One container or bag and secure lid/ seal bag. Then shake until shrimp are well coated. Place shrimp on a baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Cook shrimp for 15 – 20 minutes (flipping them about halfway through), until outsides are crispy. Let ‘em cool; then serve 'em alone, with ketchup or with some cocktail sauce.


Serving Size: Entire recipe; Points: 3

Chicken and Rice

Chicken and Rice
By, My Mother in Law

Ingredients
1 cup broccoli
1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup onion
16 oz fat-free chicken broth
1 can canned condensed fat free cream of chicken soup
1 can canned condensed fat free cream of mushroom soup
3 breasts uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cup cooked white rice, cook rice

Instructions
Mix Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Chicken, and bolied chicken broth and bring to boil. Dice chicken after it has been boiled. Layer it on the bottom of a 9 X 13 casserole dish. Put rice over chicken. Pour soup mixture over rice and chicken. Add broccoli and onions. Mix all together to make sure the chicken broth has gotten everywhere. Top with cheese. Cooking Time: 20 min, Preheat Oven 350 degrees.

Servings: 8

PointsPlus+: 5
POINTS® Value: 5

For Recipe Review, click here.

My Moment with a Size 6

I did not get much of a Labor Day weekend, but I guess that's the way it is when you have to work on Monday. Even though I did not have a day off, my weekend was still eventful. I tried on and fit into a size 6!! I had noticed in the last week that my jeans were beginning to feel a bit baggy. Normally, I have to wait until Anna, my co-worker, tells me that my pants are too big and I need to get new ones. This time I figured it out all on my own.

I went to Wal-mart to go grocery shopping and I was determined to try on a size 6 jeans. I went and picked out the pair of jeans that seemed best for me. I took them into the dressing room, telling myself that if they did not fit that it was okay. Do you know what I am talking about? When it is something I try on, like these pants that they really want to get into I talk myself through it. I have to literally give myself a pep talk thinking, “you can do this”. I finally got the jeans on and just as I pulled them up over my hips I sucked in, just in case they were too tight. As I exhaled and my stomach relaxed I realize that they are not too tight, they fit like glove. How exciting!! I left the store with the jeans in hand, they are my size 6 milestone memento.

Throughout my weight loss journey I have thought a lot about numbers, how much I weigh, how much I want to weight, what size I am, what size I want to be. Numbers have been a big part of the process. In my mind a size 6 has always been the ideal size for me. If I could reach a size 6 I would really feel like I had made it! Well I can fit into a size 6 and it feels great!! I hope that you are encouraged. God is good and He can lead you to a victory in weight loss or other areas of your life just like He is doing with me.

Hungry Girl Supermarket List

Happy Friday!! I am so glad that this is the last day of the week. It has been a long and busy week, but that's okay.

I wanted to let you know that I added Hungry Girl's Supermarket List to the Low Point Foods tab. I think that this is extremely helpful to know what to buy and stock up on. This has helped me to learn of many other alternatives out there that I never consider, or took the time to find myself. You can visit the Hungy Girl website and download the list as a pdf, if you want to do that. Just click on this link, Hungry Girl Supermarket List.

Have a great weekend!

More Beautiful You

Last night at my Weight Watchers meeting we kicked off the Lose for Good campaign. During the meeting we were challenged to think about why we began weight watchers and how we feel we have changed since we started this journey. Many women, including myself, said that one major thing that has changed has been our self esteem.

Before my weight loss, I put myself down so much that I did not feel that I was worthy to be certain people's friends. I know it's sounds like junior high, but that's how I thought! I have come so far from that kind of thinking. It's not all better all the time, but I can see the change in my thinking.

In case you are someone who felt or feels just like I did, I wanted to share these lyrics with you. Everytime I hear this song I am reminded of what God thinks about me. I hope that you enjoy this song as much as I do.

"There Could Never Be a More Beautiful You" By, Jonny Diaz
Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine
Says she wants to look that way
But her hair isn’t straight her body isn’t fake
And she’s always felt overweight

Well little girl fourteen I wish that you could see
That beauty is within your heart
And you were made with such care your skin your body and your hair
Are perfect just the way they are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Defy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

Little girl twenty-one the things that you’ve already done
Anything to get ahead
And you say you’ve got a man but he’s got another plan
Only wants what you will do instead

Well little girl twenty-one you never thought that this would come
You starve yourself to play the part
But I can promise you there’s a man whose love is true
And he’ll treat you like the jewel you are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Defy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

So turn around you’re not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It’s not too late you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear they can all be washed away
By the one who’s strong can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light He will show you truth
And again you’ll see through the eyes of a little girl

There could never be a more beautiful you
Defy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you
There could never be, a more beautiful you.

75 Pounds Lost

Praise the Lord!! Last night I went to my Weight Watchers meeting. I weighed in and I learned that to date I have lost 75.4 pounds!! Talk about reaching a milestone!! Wow!! I received my 75 pound weight charm to add to my collection and my 5 pound sticker, at the meeting.

I was extremely overwhelmed by this achievement. I was almost in tears at my Weight Watchers meeting. God has done an amazing work in me changing my life both physically and spiritually. He deserves all the praise, without Him none of this would have been possible. I know that if it is His will for me to reach my goal then I will.

The other wonderful thing that happened yesterday was that I went running for the first time in a week and a half. I went running on 8.19.09 and really irritated my knee. Ever since then I have been trying to take it easy and rest as much as possible to help my knee recover. So with Jon by my side we ran 2 miles last night and my knee feels great!! I am so happy to be back out there running. I was suprise that I have missed it more then I thought I would. What can I say, I'm a runner!!