Monitoring the Losses
Hi! I’m Courtney and I’m a habitual weigher. If I pass by a scale, I weigh myself. I know that if I weigh a certain weight at night, I can almost tell you to the decimal, what I will weigh the next morning.
Well, I’ve been on a weight loss journey for about 5 1/2 months and I’ve lost a little over 30 lbs. I’ve been monitoring this weight loss with a scale I have had for years, and all it did was tell me what I weigh. I found out there are scales that do so much more, so I had to kick up my monitoring a little by getting a new scale that does more stuff. I can look at my weight, my BMI and SOOO much more. It’s really cool because it talks to my phone, so I no longer have to even manually track my weight. I’ve used it for a few days now and I’m totally excited about it. The only thing I’ve noticed is that this scale weighs about a pound heavier. Until I get rid of the other scale, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be weighing myself on both of them every day! I know…it’s a little crazy, but that’s me!!
Scale: https://amzn.to/2FD7Yu1
Girls on the Run 5K
The Girls on the Run program is so empowering for young girls. This year I got to take my niece with me. I was amazed at how far she could run without stopping. I was the one who held her back!! We ran about 2.5 miles of it, then I had to take a break and run/walk the rest of the way.
I will have to say that being 30 lbs. lighter, really helped me with my running. I just started back at Orange Theory about two weeks ago, after I hit my goal weight, and really didn’t expect to be able to run as far as I did.
BTW, I got my cute Sherpa Sweater at my favorite boutique in Rowlett! Girlfriends is such a cute store! Definitely stop in if you are ever in Rowlett!! 
Wedding fun
We went to a beautiful wedding last night at Chandler’s Gardens in McKinney. It is a tree farm, as well as wedding venue. The beautiful trees served as a gorgeous backdrop to get married! I’d never been to a wedding reception in a tent, but it was very beautiful!!
Now that I’ve hit my goal weight, I was worried about fitting into any of my clothes. Luckily, I found this dress in my closet that fit ok and had sleeves. My husband had to keep his pants up with a really tight belt. First world problems, I know! But good ones to have when you’re over fifty!! 
Reunion outfit
I had so much fun at my 35th high school reunion! Everyone looked amazing!!And it was one of the best ones we have had over the years. I found the cutest leopard sweater at Little Tipsy Boutique in Rockwall. It has the cutest back with a strip of material across the back. I wish I would have gotten a photo of it, but they have one in the link. I also got these cute over the knees boots there that I could actually pull up. They didn’t say they were wide calved boots, but they had to have been! I got the jeans at Ross for like $15. I thought it was the perfect comfortable reunion outfit!
I almost made it to my goal weight in time for the reunion. I made it the week after. Now I have to decide whether or not to keep losing or move to the maintenance phase of the program!
Mock Dreamland Chicken
Going out to eat can be a little difficult when you are doing low carb! Luckily, I’ve found a restaurant that seems to “get” that!! We stumbled upon Becks as a low carb option when my dad wanted to go there for his birthday. When we went, we all got burgers, but we noticed someone eating chicken and vegetables. At the time, we weren’t doing low carb, but it stuck in the back of our minds. Fast forward a couple of months and we remembered Becks for a low carb meal. I got the Dreamland, which turned out to be delicious. I thought I would attempt to create the recipe at home:
Ingredients:
1 Sliced onion
Sliced mushrooms (I bought them pre-cut)
Olive Oil
Butter
Chicken
Worcestershire sauce
Lemon Pepper
Swiss Cheese
Hickory BBQ sauce
Directions:
Caramelize the onions and mushrooms in a pan. I put a teaspoon of olive oil and a tiny pat of butter in the pan to help caramelize it.
Cook the chicken any way you want, but I baked mine. I marinated mine with a little bit of lemon pepper and a little bit of Worcestershire sauce. Once the chicken is cooked through, put some swiss cheese on top of it and put it back in the oven for a minute or two or until the cheese starts to melt. 
Put the chicken on a plate and add the mushrooms/onion mix.
Cover the chicken, mushrooms, and onions with hickory BBQ sauce.
I thought my rendition of the Dreamland was just as good, if not better! Yea me!!
Born To Run
I am not a very good runner, but I kind of enjoy it. I’ve successfully completed Couch to 5K…several times. I usually quit running right after I get to 5K. This happens EVERY time I start running. My friend and I signed up for the Dallas Half Marathon, but about 3 weeks before the marathon, I quit running on a regular basis. I finished the Half Marathon, but it wasn’t pretty. By the 11th mile, I couldn’t even alternate running and walking and had to walk the last two miles. That’s ok. I still finished and I still got a medal. Of course I said I’d never do another one, but within 3 days, I was already planning to try again. This time I’m going to be in better shape!!
My friend found this work out on pinterest. I’m not sure where it originated, but since she did it, I had to, too!! I didn’t think I’d make it through the first time, but I did it!! Now I’ve done it twice!! I’m so proud!! I am hoping mixing it up like this will help me with my training for the Cowtown Half Marathon!! Maybe this will be the year that I actually lose some weight, too!!
Italian chicken salad
One thing I will tell you about a cruise is that you WILL gain weight. I had so much fun on the cruise, but I gained about 6 lbs. YIKES! I’d already gained about 15 since I moved back to Dallas, so 6 more is totally not acceptable to me!! PLUS, my 30 year reunion is in 2 more weeks. So, what is one to do in this situation? Get back on track. Start eating healthy.
I went to the book store and got a couple of South Beach Diet books. I’m not going to do the full diet. I don’t want anything that is restrictive, but they have some really good recipes in those books. I’ve already done grocery shopping and plan to eat my own cooking for lunch and dinner rather than eat a lean cuisine at lunch and go to a restaurant for dinner.
This one I kind of made up on my own, but it was really good!!
Baked Italian Chicken:
1 chicken breast
1/4 bottle of Zesty Italian Dressing Lite
Lemon pepper to taste
Put the chicken breast in a pan and cover it with the italian dressing, it doesn’t have to be all the way full of the dressing, just enough so there is a little at the bottom. Shake as much lemon pepper on top of the chicken as you like. Put in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour or until cooked thoroughly.
Salad:
50/50 Spring Mix
Zesty Italian Dressing, Lite
Mozzarella cheese
Baked italian dressing
(you can also add tomatoes, onions, etc on top)
Make a bed of lettuce. Put mozzarella cheese on top of the lettuce. Put chicken strips on top of the cheese. Cover with Italian Dressing.
You now have a healthy salad to eat that will fill you up!!
Chicken on the Inside Grill
I started my low carb diet this week. The key to being successful is being prepared. I planned out what I would eat this week and made all my lunches on Sunday. I went and bought a George Foreman Grill at Target so I could have grilled chicken. The thing I like best about the George Foreman Grill is that it is built on an angle, so all the fat drains to a little cup that you put at the bottom of the grill opening. So far I have made sausage and chicken on the grill. Both have tasted great! I’m happy to say that the diet seems to be working, too. I’ve already lost 4 lbs! I don’t think I’ll lose that kind of weight each week, but it’s good to get some of that summer weight off!!!
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken
Lemon Pepper
Apply lemon pepper on the chicken generously and put it on the George Foreman grill until cooked!
Fabulous after FIFTY 