Meals 4 Wheels!

Meals 4 Wheels!

10/12/08 through 10/31/08

We are live! Yes we are!

I'm so excited to finally get this project off the ground. It's been a long time in the making.

The button in our sidebar is now clickable and will take you straight to Meals 4 Wheels. We will be taking orders through October 31st. I'll leave this post up top during that time so it can easily be found.

We've also set up a support group for all those who purchase the cookbook. Once you've purchased a book your are more than welcome to go ahead and join. You can either go to the actual sight and request membership or I can send you an invitation. The group sight can be found at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Meals4Wheels/

If you have any questions please direct them to Meals4Wheels@yahoo.com and someone will get back with you shortly.

We would be ever so greatful if all our friends new and old out there would help spread the word with us. You can do so by placing our Meals 4 Wheels button on your website or blog by just copying and pasting the code into your blog or website. You can find the CODE at the bottom of the Meals 4 Wheels page.

If you need any help at all with the code just toss us an email using the email above.

I will also be adding a link shortly to a flyer that we will be handing out locally as well as putting in places of business. We would love for you to pass these out as well. Just save it to your computer and print out as many as you'd like.

Think about that for just one second.

A nationwide/Worldwide flyer distribution. Wow! I don't think I've ever heard of that being done.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to all of Jophies caregivers, local friends as well as our online friends for being so supportive of this project. Your love, caring and support for Jophie is unmeasureable. We could not have completed this without you. We love you all and are forever grateful for any part you may have had in it!

We have one more request and that is to please pray for this project to be successful. Each and every portion of this project has been a labor of love fueled only by one small boy. One small boy who is loved by so many and in great need.

All our love

Trina and Jophie

Tales from the Scales

Well here I am again. Posting that is :0)
I've actually been here all along since way back in May when I first began. Over the last few weeks my time has been quite limited as my little boy has been hospitalized several times. I'm really sorry I haven't been more supportive but quite honestly my time has been consumed with just keeping him alive.

For the past 2 weeks things have settled a bit. Granted his schedule is still very demanding but through it all I've managed to keep my eyes forward focasing on my goals. During his hospital stays I wasn't able to excercise like I normally do however, I still managed to lose rather than gain. Not huge amounts like when I was excercising but, a loss is a loss and I'll take that any day! :0)

I'm so thankful that I've been able to make it back to they Y and begin swimming once again. Just after 2 days I can already see a difference. I began this little journey on May 22 and to date I have lost 55 pounds and lots of inches. I have been taking pictures along the way but I'm not ready to share those just yet. I still have a long ways to go but I'm still going strong! I'm praying Jophie will remain well enough for me to continue on with what I've grown so accustomed to doing. Not only is swimming my most favorite thing to do but its one of the best excercises not to mention it has become my only reprieve from the stress of dealing with a medically fragile, chronically ill child. I can't even express how much better I feel when I'm able to get just that little 2 hour break.

My hope is that I will be able to pick back up following along and posting on Wednesdays. We big beautiful women do seem to do better in packs afterall! :0)

Good Luck everyone! I wish you a very successful week ahead! :0)

Fit For Life Friday........Week 8

I'm a bit late on posting but, I'm here! Bad storms went through Thursday and I had no electric till Friday.

This week has been a bit slow....Well to be more exact I've been moving mighty slooooooow. I've been a bit under the weather for a few days plus my body was screaming for a little break from swimming.

I swim for 1 1/2 to 2 hours every day and in that time I can generally finish 300 laps in the first 90 minutes then I'll cool down the last half hour. Naturally I'm tired when I finish but for the last 4-5 days I kept noticing I was more tired than normal and was really struggling to just get 100 laps.

So.....for the last 2 days I have given myself a little break to let my body recoup and rest! I honestly think my iron was low. I was absolutely freezing/tired/sleepy/fuzzy brained. I started thinking back through the last couple weeks and you know what I realized?? I hadn't eaten hardly ANY red meat. ACK! I'm a HUGE carnivore so for me this in unheard of! It seems though that the meats I was eating were so lean and very low in iron. Needless to say this chicky made herself one big HONKIN meat loaf! Modified and healthy of course! :0)

Today I'm feeling a bit better and was able to swim about 30 minutes getting in 100 laps! Yay! I am still freezing and still pooooped but I do see an improvement. I guess the moral to this story would be......

EAT MORE RED MEAT! :0)

As far as my weight I'm still hovering between that 1-2 pound mark just shy of losing 50 pounds. No worries though! I really needed to let my body rest a bit and even with losing 2 days of excercise I still maintained......Well actually I lost a few tenths but I'm just going to keep it at a loss of 48 pounds and hit my 50 pound mark hopefully next week!

My tip for this week! Well you knew I'd have one right?????

TIP: Speakin of meat:

You can pretty much have any kind of meat you would like HOWEVER......

You need to buy the leanest cuts possible and watch the fat grams. On the back of just about every food product there is a nutritional guide with all kinds of important info.......

This is from the back of my boneless/skinless chicken breast package. As you can see its only 1 gram of fat per serving.

OK thats really good but what your not told is the best TIP EVER!

Right over from the TOTAL FAT you will see a % amount. On this particular package its 2%. You need to always check that percentage. Even if the package says 90% lean you still need to check.

You are looking for 6% OR less. Thats it! You will be amazed how many meats you can have! Now I have found some packages boasting 98% lean but they will have a high % of fat. That just means the bulk of that meat has been mixed with more fatty meat than lean meat which is NOT good and quite frankly I think its a bit deceiving of them to pull that over on us.

So all you gotta remember is 6% or less and you'll be just fine!

I hope everyone has a great week!

May Day Weight Loss Challenge---Week 14

This is getting a bit confusing as my actual weigh in day is on Fridays but, I'll do my best to keep this straight. Since my last Tuesday post I have lost 3.4 pounds. This Friday I expect that to change as this would really only put me at mid-week in my loss so to speak.

So, that gives me a total of 48.4 pounds lost leaving me only 1.6 before I reach that 50 pound mark! Of course I have many more pounds to lose but, theres just something about hitting that 50 pound mark.....Dontcha think?

For all those who have been asking what I eat.....I've taken my favorite foods/recipes and I've modified to make them healthy so, there are a ton of yummo foods that I'm eating!

I have however in the past week shared 2 of those YUMMO recipes that might interest your tummies! :0)

One here and one here

Enjoy!

Good luck this upcoming week everyone!

Fit For Life Friday........Week 7

I"m just now jumping on board with Fit For Life but have been trudging right along since May with Tales from the Scales. Hey I figure the more people I have to be accountable to the straighter the line I'll walk! :0)

My loss for this week is 4 pounds bringing my total weight loss since May to 48 pounds! Ahhhhh! I can just smell that 50 pound mark. Maybe next week? We shall see! :0)

TIP: Portions and Serving Sizes

One thing I've struggled with was giving up the wonderful foods that I like. I always ask myself this...

"Can I eat this way for the rest of my life?"

If your answer is NO then you probably won't. This will eventually revert back to that vicious cycle of rollercoster weight gain/loss ultimately leading to a big FAT failure.

First off you MUST....Let me repeat that one more time.

You MUST control your portions.

Once you've conqured that you are well on your way to a big FAT errrrrr SKINNY success! :0)

So what I've done is take my MOST favorite foods. Gosh is that even correct English?? Oh well I'm not here for an English lesson! Anyway, make a list of your favorite foods/dishes and then MODIFY! You can still have what you want just make it healthier and I promise if you get really creative you will not suffer one bit in the taste area.

Now I'm not saying you can't have a sloppy cheeseburger or a dripping oeeey gooooey cheesy pizza. Heavens NO! I would just die if I could never pass my favorites (unmodified of course) through this pie hole of mine. hehe

What I am saying is save those items for a special treat or reward. Once you get to your goal weight you will be better able to enjoy those things in moderation but for now.......

LIMIT them and....

MODIFY!

OK so what I'm thinking is I need to give you an example of something I've modified and LOVE. I wonder....Are you in the mood for Savory or Desert? Hmmmm....

Lets start small...

Home-made Potato Salad

Ingredients:

1. Potatos (Adjust this according to how many you are feeding....I generally use no less than 12 because I like to eat on it for days plus I like having it on hand when guests arrive for a cookout)
2. Fat Free Miracle Whip
3. Mustard
4. Light or Fat Free Sour Cream
5. Bread and Butter Pickles
6. Pickle Juice
7. Onion
8. Salt
9. Pepper
10. Garlic Powder
11. Splenda

Serving Size: (Remember portions here not the whole bowl! LOL

1 cup is generally just right for me.

Dice up your potatos and then boil them till they are fork tender. Drain and rinse your potatos to get rid of the starch. Salt(I use Morton Lite Salt), Pepper, Garlic Powder(I like LOTS of garlic). Onion(I LOVE onion so I dice up one big one and use the whole thing) But, you should certainly add all these to your taste.

OK I'm one of those cooks who rarely measures so this is a guestimate on amounts. Mustard(1/4 cup), Fat Free Miracle Whip(1 cup), Fat Free or Light Sour Cream(1 cup), Bread and Butter Pickles(I use only about 6 chips then dice them into very small bits so they go throughout the P. Salad) and a Splash of Pickle Juice. Stir all this together then taste. You might need to add more Mustard or Miracle Whip depending on your taste. I go for really creamy! Last, you'll want to add some splenda. (I'd say start with about 2 TBS. then taste it. I generally add about 4 TBS. BUT, its' easier to add than take away! ;0)

I use sugar alot in my cooking but because of a recent diagnosis of glucose intolerance I've had to MODIFY! Your certainly welcome to use regular sugar however, it does contain calories and kinda defeats the purpose here. Besides, the splenda is TDF!

And if you think I'd let that potato salad be all lonely ah well then you don't know me well yet! I'm a HUGE carnivore and that potato salad is generally lying alongside some oooooeyy gooooey dripping sticky ribs or BBQ chicken all on the grill......

MODIFIED and HEALTHY of course..... ;0)

Just wait till I tell you bout my home-made ice cream made with splenda! Holy Cow!

We'll save those for another day. :0)

Enjoy and Good Luck!

May Day Weight Loss Challenge---Week 13

OK I've been such a slacker about posting for this challenge. No worries though. I'm still hard at it! I had a doctors appointment yesterday and the scales were once again nice to me. My loss for the last 4 weeks is 7 pounds. I'm averaging around 2 pounds per week which is exactly my plan. :0)

I began this "new lifestyle change" late April/First of May and my total loss has now reached 45. Thats nearly 50 pounds! Holy cow! I can't believe it myself.

My goals are to stay on the same path, continue creating new and yummy recipes, SWIM/SWIM/SWIM AND, reach that 50 pound mark! If things remain as is I should hit that in about a month or so. My goal weight is still way off but this is a good start. Can't wait to reach that 50 pound loss!

Good Luck everyone!

Walking in his SONshine

May Day Weight Loss Challenge---Week 3

Well my scales are WONKY! I know I've lost weight and my best quess is around 3 pounds maybe? Ugh I just hate these scales. By counting the little black dashes I'm able to keep track of pounds sort of but as far as poundage I just have no clue. I used to think they were off by about 5-7 pounds but according to the scales at my doctors office, they are "waaaaaay off"
I have another doctors appointment next Monday and I'll know for sure then but, for now I'll just watch the little black lines.

I guess my next venture will be to find some decent scales. I'm still tossing up digital verses your standard dial. The digital I have heard are pretty accurate and are probably the best choice however, those dial scales are affordable and the best part you can lean a little this way or that and VOIILA! Lost a pound! LOL
I'm only joking even though you "really can" do that. :0)

Now I'm off to try and burn a few more calories to top off this day!

Good luck everyone!

May Day Weight Loss Challenge---Week 2

I actually started a few weeks ago but am just now officially beginning on week 2 of this challenge. Last friday I had a doctors appointment and had lost 2 pounds. As of this week I've lost another 3 bringing my total loss for the two weeks to 5 pounds. Yay! It's a start!

I generally hit the Y and swim 1-3 times per week depending on how Jophie feels. Mondays I have more time and get the bulk of my weekly workout then but, I've pulled a hamstring somehow and had to miss yesterday. The swimming I have found to not only relieve TONS of my stress but also has become my only reprieve from my daily commitments to Jophie. I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining because I'm not. I love Jophie more than anything and would not trade one second of what I do for him. He is my life and my breath. I just need that little bit of a break from his demanding schedule to refuel so I can face each days challenges refreshed for him.

My plan this week is to continue as is and try to hit the pool at the Y at least once this week. Two if I'm lucky. My goals remains the same to lose 150 pounds. It's a lofty goal but I have to do this not only for myself but for Jophie. With the 5 I have lost in the last 2 weeks that only leaves 145. Now doesn't that look better already? :0)

Good luck everyone!