So. Randomness...

I have not been the best blogger lately, and I think that the extreme cold and negative driveway conditions have had a lot to do with that.  However, I am DONE harping on the ice slick that leads from our garage down to the street and my car because I am feeling hope that the weather starting Sunday will go a long way toward fixing things a bit.  There are two different days next week and the following week that are expected to have FIFTY DEGREE temperatures!!!  I may cry when that happens from sheer relief!

Anyway, I had some GREAT! NEWS! at my Weight Watchers weigh-in this week.  I lost two pounds, and I reached my 5% goal, which was 11.8 lbs. of weight loss!  And since this was my official ticker weigh-in, my ticker now reflects that I have lost fifty-one pounds officially, for real, amen!  In fact, this morning, my home weight was actually 1.5 lbs. less than that (thanks, clothes that I have to wear to my WW meeting), and I am feeling so thrilled by how well this is going!  As I posted on Twitter (you can follow me @MaryKC), I love the PointsPlus program and am thrilled with my experience as a Weight Watchers member!  This was the first meeting that I got "celebrated" at the meeting, and I am sure that I looked like such a dork because I could not stop grinning!  Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, I have never successfull lost this much weight (my old high was probably in the neighborhood of 35 pounds), and I feel amazing.  And I feel confident that this downward trend will continue!

One thing that I am really trying to do as I get further into this is to do a better job of "working the program."  Without going into detail, Weight Watchers has some "good health guidelines" that are supposed to be met everyday by those of us who are truly following the plan.  They include suggested amounts of different food group servings, suggestions of things to limit in your eating, fluid intake, multivitamin use, and other such things that lend themselves to a balanced diet.  I have traditionally been kind of bad at hitting all these guidelines.  I often forget to take my vitamins.  My diet is often deficient in fruits and veggies.  I sometimes have too much sodium.  However, I am now trying to really embrace every part of the PointsPlus program (and not just the PointsPlus values and tracking of food), and I feel like this will help me meet with continued success on the program.

Anyway, on to the next topic, which is oatmeal.  Thanks to some time spent on the Health & Fitness board on The Nest, I discovered a LOVE of steel cut oats sometime last year.  I use my small slow cooker to make four servings of steel cut oats (and I buy any kind from Bob's Red Mill to McCann's to bulk from the grocery store) at a time, putting one cup of oats in with three cups of water and letting it cook until most of the water has been absorbed (this takes several hours).  I then put it in a larger-sized plastic container and put it in the fridge to cool.  Once cooled, the oats are actually "slice-able," so I can cut a serving out of the container and reheat it in the microwave...two minutes gets it nice and warm and softened back up.  I usually eat the oats with a banana mixed in, along with a tablespoon of chia seeds and either brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey mixed in.  However, I am starting to crave some variety in my oats, so I am setting out on a journey to find other ways to enjoy them!

This morning was my first new way to enjoy my oats.  I mixed in with them 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam (from Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park...it's THE BEST!!!), along with 1/3 cup of dried cranberries.  YUM!  It was so good!  The tart cranberries and the sweetness of the jam mixed together to create a wonderful taste sensation!  I definitely will have them that way again.  Some of my favorite healthy bloggers share a lot of oatmeal posts, and they often include nut butters in their oats.  I tried this once and was not a fan, but I am planning to give it another try tomorrow.  And since the jelly was so good in my oats this morning, I am going to include jelly in tomorrow's version!

I was going to go to the gym today, but I just can't bring myself to scale my way back down the driveway for only that reason.  I have some things to do tomorrow that will get me out of the house, so instead, I am going to enjoy a day at home with my dog, my NOOK, my DVR, my iPad, and the internet.  I have a Yankee candle burning called "Beach Party," and it smells like sun tan lotion in my kitchen, which is making me very, very happy!  Make it a great day, everyone!