Break the Cycle

Wow - long time since I posted.   You know what I've realized ?  I waste WAY TOO MUCH TIME, on Facebook.  Reading dumb stuff.  Really dumb stuff.  When I could be working or spending time with my kiddos  So, I started a new website - crewmomtoo.com It is an easy place for me to track this blog, my blog about my weightloss journey so far (down 34 pounds today, yeah me !!) and recipes that I am trying out.  I know I have a ton of recipes on here - need to move them slowly, but it's the end of the year, and that means tax time, so probably won't be until Jan or Feb next year. So stay tuned for more frequent updates !!  Deb

I can't begin to say how proud I am of my daughter.  She is #2 out of 4, so as one of the "middles" she could have easily been overlooked, but she's made a name for herself.  She's an amazing swimmer, more dedicated than most, has given up a lot of typical teenage stuff - like movies and sleepovers with friends, because she always had swim practice.   It paid off, and yesterday was her official signing day for Rider University.  Rider was a very smart choice on her part.  It is pretty close to where we live now, less than a 2 hour drive.   It is small, and she wanted a small university, but it is also Division I, meaning she can continue to train, and they were able to give her money towards her college years.  If she decides after a year or two of college that she wasn't meant for college, then she won't be left deeply in debt, but she is also able to get a great education at Rider, so she's happy with her choice. Here she...

Started my journey using a personal trainer yesterday morning.  I has been so easy to find excuses NOT to go to the gym.  But then my son joined the crew team.   Adam bagging Groceries June 2018 This is him last weekend bagging groceries for a weekend fundraiser.  He loves crew.  I love him.  I want to be around for a long time to bug him :)    Anyway, now that High School crew is over, he and one of his boat mates decided they were going to join the gym and work out.  I already belonged to the gym (but never went)   So his coach is also a trainer, and was willing to work with the boys, so the other parent and I spent the hour chatting while on the treadmill, and just like that, I fell in love with the gym again.  So after a couple of days watching the boys work out with their trainer, and me on a treadmill, I texted him and asked if he was willing to work with an out of shape, overweight parent, and here's the...

I recently started a new weight loss program.  Well, not really.  It is a lifestyle change.  Small, little changes that add up.  Focus more on whole foods.  Using natural sweeteners.  Anyway - I stumbled across a post from 2012 on this website and I wanted to remember the words, so I figured I'd share it here so I always had access to it. What You Do With Now It is not your fault. But it is your responsibility. The choices you have made have brought you to where you are now. And so have other factors that are completely beyond your control. There's nothing to be gained by blaming yourself for the way your life has unfolded. There's everything to be gained by actively taking full responsibility for the way your life proceeds. The route you traveled to this point no longer matters, for nothing can be done to change it. What truly matters is what you do with now. Life is always unpredictable, yet there's something you can count on. The more sincerely and...

While I LOVE summer, I do miss having a schedule and knowing where we'll be each day and what we'll be doing, and more importantly .... what's for dinner !! I use Plan To Eat to plan my meals as well as get my grocery list together.   Then I post it so the kids don't ask a gazillion times "What's for dinner tonight?" Some of these are new recipes, others are recipes I've adapted.   If something strikes me as outstandingly good this year, I'm going to try and make sure I have it either linked here, or I post the recipe.   This week I just signed up for AMAZON Fresh .... they will be delivering my groceries Monday morning (holiday weekend or I probably could have gotten sooner).   I saved $50 off my $150 order by using FRESH50 in the Promo Box.   I've heard some great things about the delivery service - so I'll give it a shot.  Prices of meat I thought were high, so I may have to hit the grocery store for anything I don...

My family loves shrimp.  Usually I prepare it with scampi, or something equally unhealthy.  This time I tried something new, and it was a hit.  I will certainly make this over again, it was good enough to serve when we have guests. I used 4 pounds of large shrimp, peeled and cleaned.  I buy the ones that are frozen and cleaned, but still have the tail on.  They are way cheaper than the ones that are totally cleaned, and it took me about 5 minutes to squeeze the tails off all 4 pounds once they were thawed.  I served this over plain white rice, it was a hit. Take your 4 pounds of cleaned shrimp and marinate in about 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of corn starch.  I put mine in the lemon juice first and gave it a good mix so all the shrimps were in contact with lemon juice, then sprinkled the flour and cornstarch on top and mixed again.  I mixed a few more times while it sat for 15 minutes or so -- while I prepped all the r...