Dear Jennifer Hudson (Week 16)

Dear Jennifer Hudson,

I had another successful week of weight loss. This morning at my WW meeting, I was down another 3.6 pounds...for a total of 33 pounds since the beginning of the year! :0)

This week I continued doing my stepmom's "Insanity" workouts.

The bad news: I really don't like doing it. It is such hard work. I'd rather be doing anything else but that...a.k.a. lying on the couch. ;0)

The good news: After doing each exercise routine once, my body is no longer sore as I am going through the routines a 2nd time. AND, my body is totally responding to these workouts!...I feel so silly saying this since I've only been doing "Insanity" for a little over a week, but every morning when I wake up and look in the mirror, it appears as though my body is physically changing (for the better) every.single.day. My stomach is smaller...my back seems more toned...and when I flex my arms, I've got buds of biceps showing up! :-0

The good definitely outweighs the bad, which is why I am continuing to do the exercises.

The other thing that is super cool, is that I now fit into all of my old "skinny clothes" that I had back when I lost a bunch of weight before I got pregnant with Beatrice. This was me in my favorite skinny dress several years ago...



And this is me rocking the same dress now...well, not now, but this weekend ;0)...



I have waited SO long to be able to wear this dress again, and it was SO fun to try it on and have it actually fit. :0)

The thing that I think is crazy, is that when I wore that dress several years ago, I was 20 pounds lighter than I am now??? I have heard people say for years that "muscle weighs more than fat", and while I have even uttered those same words to several friends to make them feel better about their lack of weight loss on any given week, I haven't really thought that same rule applies to myself when the scale doesn't budge. (I am way harder on myself.) But, I'm thinking I need to give myself a bit more credit these days. When I lost the weight before, I was doing some aerobic exercise daily, and some running (a max of 3 miles at a time). And while that was totally fine, and proved to be successful for weight loss, my degree of fitness is radically different this time around. If I was just comparing a 5 pound difference, I would maybe blame it on something else...hormonal?...I've had another child since then?...I'm older?...my body has changed??? And while all of those things might be true to some degree, I am not talking about 5 pounds...or even 10 pounds...a 20 pound difference is insane...and a large enough margin to make me consider that there might be some considerable muscle in this current body of mine. ;0)

Ok, enough about that.

I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed some DELICIOUS WW recipes this week! The first one came out of one of my WW "Weekly" magazines...Creamy Broccoli Soup...



It was SO good! I had originally planned to buy a French baguette to serve with it, but I didn't want to be stuck with left over bread for me to carelessly munch on after the soup was consumed. But while shopping at Trader Joes, I discovered a bag of beautiful garlic cheese croutons that I thought would be perfect for the soup! The soup was only 4 points, and the croutons only added 1 more point. EXCELLENT dinner option that the whole family enjoyed! :0)

And then later in the week, out of my WW cookbook, I made Turkey Sausage and Warm Potato Salad...



Again, this one was SUPER good, everyone loved it, and it was only 6 points for the whole meal!

Every night when I go to the gym, my favorite thing to watch is the Food Network. Nothing distracts me better from a grueling run, than Paula Dean and her delicious (fatty) food! Mmmmmmmm! I always have big plans (in my head) of making that...and that...and then that! One day last week she made this humongous, and most incredible looking dutch apple pancake. And even though I didn't go anywhere near her particular recipe, it did inspire me to dress up my Saturday morning pancakes for my family! I cut up fresh apples, and tossed them with a little sugar and cinnamon, and then I chopped up some pecans I had. After the pancakes had cooked a bit, I spooned some of the apples and nuts on the pancakes...



Add some real maple syrup, a dash of powdered sugar, and oh.my.word!



I received 3 thumbs up! :0)





I had 1 regular pancake, and 1 apple-dressed pancake, and even with syrup, I had only consumed 5 points. :0)

And lastly, this week, I went out to dinner with some family and friends. Because I was enjoying the fruits of my labor (weight loss), I was super motivated to not binge just because I was going out...rare, I know, lol. I used WW and Biggest Loser techniques, and I ordered a grilled chicken salad...I made sure that the chicken hadn't been grilled using butter, AND I asked for my dressing on the side. "Good girl."



And even though we weren't celebrating anything, and even though none of us had ordered it, our waitress just decided to surprise us with a dessert to share!



It just killed me! Even when we have the strength to resist dessert...to not pay for a dessert...Satan will just give it to you, HAHAHA! I had a single bite...and then promptly put a piece of gum in my mouth!

But don't worry, that sundae was shown some love. :0)...



So that's it for me J Hud.

I saw your performance on American Idol last week, and you looked SO good! You are such an inspiration on this journey through weight loss. :0)

Your Biggest Fan,
Elizabeth