Speaking of weight loss...

Oh I wasn't?  Well, it comes after pie dontcha know?  Yummy pieeee.

Anyway.

I told Shannon I was going to make a chart for my fridge with all of my "rewards" for inspiration.  Blogger works too though.  Ouch.  Reinforcement strategies FTW.

First weight loss goal (in 11 lbs):

Miz Mooz

And, um, since I technically already purchased those... (they pinch my ankle the tiniest bit, which I'm hoping evaporates with that next 11 lbs) the next goal will be an anthro sweater of choice. (I'm rewarding myself at 10 lb increments). I suppose it will depend largely on what's still available, but here are several current ones I LURV:

Cute clothes.  The ultimate motivator.

 

Last, but certainly not lease...  Happiest of Birthday's to my best friend, my sister Desiree...

 

Thanksgiving Feast: Peanut Butter Pie

So my brother's girlfriend brought this crack to our Christmas dinner last year:

image credit: Allrecipes.com

The expression on my, my sister's, and my mother's faces at the first bite was... priceless (technically thinking of another word, but we're talking about my mother here.)

I knew I could never (never ever ever ever) make this unless it was for a GIANT FAMILY FOOD EXTRAVAGANZA. 

WITH WITNESSES.

But, you know, if you don't believe me, the recipe is linked up there below the photo.  Which I stole from All Recipes.  Then credited.  Fair Use, yo!

The recipe doesn't point out that the real killer is adding chopped Reese's cups to the top.  That's sort of a must-have. 

My problemo right now is... I've been thinking about it since the day after Halloween because PIE DAY is comin!  Mmmm....pieeee....

I've been doing "less (i.e. I can't yet do NO) sugar, fewer carbs" for about a month.  (Loosely doing the "Belly Fat Cure" plan, although I'm not religious about counting anything.  Down 9 lbs!)

I'm pretty sure peanut butter pie is the #1 pie of choice for low-carb recipe modification aficionados.  Or maybe #2 behind cheesecake.   

Substitutions that won't bring about an OMG!SUGAR! coma, mucho appreciated.  We can do this! 

...

Please?

ps for my Fringe crowd. 

PETER.  

You're breaking my heart.

I love you.

built by me. again.

You might remember this cute Built By Wendy Simplicity pattern from last summer, I had good luck with it in a woven (although it's technically for a knit). Simplicity 3692:


I'm thinking another woven, something light and airy. I have lots of cotton prints in stash that would love to be used up (so I can buy more...uh, more on that in a minute.) I also have a striped knit that would like to be that nautical version.

I also want to make this one up again. You'll remember I just did reconstructive surgery on a top (adding sleeves) here. (Hmmm. I never did show you the finished product did I? Will have to get on that asap.) Simplicity 3835:


Both of these patterns remind me of my beloved Japanese craft books. If only I didn't have to do such major alterations to these patterns (i.e. grade WAY UP) to make them work! (The ONLY reason I haven't ordered Machiko Kayaki's newest book.) They're mainly for inspiration.

And about that need for new fabric...The more I sew up my stash, the more my stash begs to be replenished. I've been trying to stick to "sales" and ebay or etsy. All of these cute finds are winging their way to me as we speak...

Jessica Levitt Timber - Apple:


Adover Ohh La La Paris Market:


Bernatex Happy Trails Cowboys:


Heather Ross Equestrian:


Heather Ross Frog Pond:


Erin McMorris (Free Spirit) Go Bicycle:


I am SO in love with the little gray bicycle fabric!!! Oh ok, I'm in love with all of them! As usual I only have a very vague idea of what they'll end up being in garment form, but that's half the fun.

Guess I better finish that stack of UFOs and take some pictures before they all get here, huh?

ps...Weight loss update...I'm at the halfway mark! Woohoo! I don't know how that happened. I fully expected to be stalled this week (again) but no! I lost! Just in time too. I was maybe a tad discouraged the past couple of weeks, and this has pushed me back into the eating better groove.

have a great Monday everyone!

ww mini-update.

I know I said I probably wouldn't be referring to my Weight Watcher's program again, but several of you sweet readers have emailed or posted comments on the blog! And I'm happy to share my thoughts after my first 10 days. If you're not interested, just skip this one and I'll be back with a sewing post asap! :)

I did lose between 2 and 5 lbs after my first week! Unfortunately I had a "scale" glitch during weigh-in weekend (of COURSE!) So I'm just claiming the smaller number because anything else would be water anyway.

I also found the whole plan surprisingly easy to follow. So easy I was wondering why I haven't been doing this all along?? Hmmm. Good question! The online tools are pretty cool. Here's a snapshot of the interface, where I enter my daily totals/meals.


You can track your activity, your water intake, dairy, healthy oils, veggies & fruits...just about anything you want! There's also a calculator for figuring points for foods that aren't in their database (although this thing is extensive! I've personally only run into a couple of foods that I had to enter manually.)

You can "favorite" foods so they're easier to find in your lists. Or if you're in a rut (hehe) you can look at the previous few days and enter foods from those days too. (I'm a whole grain 1/2 bagel person in the morning if I'm on the run!)

As for my own personal food choices...I pretty much eat whatever I want. The points system just makes you think twice (or three times) about portion sizes. I had garden veggie burgers & sweet potato fries with corn on the cob for dinner last night. The day before, we had pizza. Tonight, I made "mock KFC" mashed potato bowls. Yum. We had a baby shower after work today for some coworkers, so I had a small slice of cake and some mixed nuts. Guess what ? It all worked out fine!

You just have to put a little more thought into planning and even when you forget or something unexpected comes up (like truffles), WW allows you some extra banked points each week. So that day when you just HAVE to have Chinese takeout or a Dove bar...it's all going to be ok if you've been following the plan the rest of the week.

Some of my favorite foods right now...
*Smuckers All Natural Peanut Butter
*Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches
*Diet A&W Root Beer (seriously a great diet soda!)
*Orowheat Sandwich Thins (1 pt! yummy multigrain goodness)
*McCain Sweet Potato Crinkle Cut Fries
*Yoplait Light Cinnamon Bun yogurt. Wow, this one is good.

Ok, I'll try not to bore you with more details, but I might share other food favorites I discover along the way! I hope your week is going well! I'm not quite finished with my top, but hopefully today or tomorrow!

weight a minute...

We interrupt this vintage & sewing broadcast for an off-topic conversation!

Over below my archives section, you might notice a new little "ticker". (I couldn't find one online that fit in my sidebar dimensions so I made one myself!)

(Normally I wouldn't share something quite so personal, but we're all family right?)

I joined Weight Watchers this weekend! I'll be following the online program. Many of you have commented over the past few months on various projects that I had "lost weight" and that's true, last year I lost approximately 15 lbs. I didn't do anything rigid or structured, or really even planned (sorry. I know that stinks.) I substituted whole grains for white, gave up sugary sodas, eat more veggies.

As usually happens with this sort of thing, I have gained 5 lbs back though, and even the addition of an exercise bike this February hasn't really made a difference (oh, wait. I bet you're supposed to RIDE the bike!)

My two Kristines (here and here) have been keeping me motivated. It really helps to have a buddy I can email when I'm hungry! ha!

Just a note about WW...I've done it in the past, after I had my gorgeous daughter Lu, and was successful. I like that I have to figure it out on my own (still have to cook, pack a lunch, grocery shop). I'm not a fan of processed foods every day so things like protein shakes/bars/frozen dinners don't work very well for me. I'd rather have real food. Anyway, I like that I'm making new habits, not letting someone else tell me what/how much to eat.

My first goal is to lose 35 lbs. I probably won't be talking about it again (unless you just ask me something specific) but I thought I'd let all of you know because my garment sewing may change a little to allow for weight loss (i.e. I probably won't be making any fitted sheath dresses anytime soon!)

If you've read me for any length of time, you know that I'm a big proponent of LOVE THYSELF. Life is too short to be worried about something like weight or diets or pant size. I still believe that, that's still my motto. I'm still fabulous and beautiful, no matter how disgusting my jiggly parts are to thin-istas. Unfortunately I've been struggling with a couple of health issues since January that have me really thinking about quality of life, and my doctor thinks weight loss may be a positive combative change I could make.

I hope you'll wish me luck and if you need an "I'm starving/I hate that damn treadmill!" buddy, let me know! I'm probably available. ;)