Losing Weight and Eating Pumpkin Bread

I've decided to start pretending that it's "Autumn"...

It's too hot for me to really believe my charade,

but I play anyway because I'm ready to start eating pumpkin bread 

and burning "Autumn Leaves" candles in the living room.

So today, after celebrating a total of 2 pounds lost, 

I burned my lovely seasonal candle all afternoon.

Having been soothed by it's pleasing aroma for several hours,

while Little Man sauteed mushrooms, I made pumpkin bread...

Just kidding!

But he did love throwing the bag of mushrooms into a large (unheated)

saute pan, and using a wooden spoon to 

push the bag around the pan for a few minutes...

And I did make pumpkin bread.

Since Little Man practically took my fingers off devouring the still warm bread, I thought that tonight I would publish the recipe I used, my modified version from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook.

Oh, and if you'd like to be able to still eat pumpkin bread while losing weight, even if you've been sick all week (as I have, still dealing with laryngitis!) and not exercising, then send me an email so we can put you together an Herbalife nutrition program of your very own. I can even send you a Pumpkin Spice meal replacement shake that tastes like pumpkin pie filling!

"Pumpkin Bread"

Unsalted butter, room temperature, for pans

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1 -15 oz can pumpkin puree

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 2/3 cups buttermilk (or 1 2/3 cups milk with 2 tsp vinegar, allow to sit for several minutes)

• Preheat oven to 350F. Coat two loaf pans with butter; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt; set mixture aside. 
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the pumpkin and both sugars; mix on medium speed until well combined, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and oil; mix until incorporated, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl. With mixer on low, add the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour, until just combined.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans; smooth the tops with an offset spatula. Place the pans on a baking sheet. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until a knife inserted in the centers comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and cool completely. Bread can be kept at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, for up to 4 days.

Join the movement of moms.

Follow me on Instagram @happyfitnessmama, share photos of your healthy active decisions, and tag them #movementofmoms so that we can stay motivated!

Oh - and if you like this post, then go ahead and click on of the icons below to share it!

Disclaimer - Research shows that those people having a Formula 1 meal replacement shake twice daily as part of a healthy eating and exercise plan can reasonably expect to lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. And the average annual compensation provided by Herbalife to its distributors at the Supervisor position with a downline is approximately $5,800. I have chosen to consistently follow my Herbalife nutrition plan and work hard at running my business, which is the reason for my personal results.

Toddler Terrors

Toddlers seem to have no fear, 

yet they seem to have the unique ability to terrify their parents.

Consider, as evidence, several recollections from our week.

To your left, Exhibit A.

Here you see the very mildest of Little Man's adventures. Because of course if there is a box on the floor, he is supposed to stand on it.

He climbs everything. His favorite game is to crawl onto the couch,

give me a wicked grin,

and slide to the floor over the arm of the couch.

Little Man rarely walks.

He runs his chubby little legs down the hall, 

around the kitchen, 

into doors, and behind the house.

Speaking of which...

 Observe to your right, Exhibit B.

Little Man gave us our biggest scare yet by running out of the house. I have never seen him open our sliding glass door.

 He has never left the safety of our home without a parent's protection.

Until last week, when I took a brief bathroom break... Daddy was in the back splitting wood. When I emerged from the bathroom a short 90 seconds later, I knew something was wrong because Little Man wasn't greeting me in the hallway yelling,
 "Pah-tay, PAH-tee, pah-TAY...."

When I reached the living room, there was Little Man, on the other side of our sliding glass door, playing with Daddy. Not so scary, if I could have just believed that Daddy was the party responsible for Little Man's escape. But no. Daddy had observed as Little Man deftly slid open the door, stepped out, and ably closed the door behind himself. At least he has the manners to not let the cool air out of the house!

But now, it looks like I'm getting the stink eye 

for making Little Man sound like a rebel without a cause.

So I will close with this.

He makes me smile every day! From the moment we share our Herbalife shakes each morning, to the evening hour when he sucks down his Herbalife liquid vitamins and says, "Nigh Nigh", this healthy active toddler is my reason to conquer my fears and happily embrace the terrors of parenting!

Join the movement of moms.

Follow me on Instagram @happyfitnessmama, share photos of your healthy active decisions, and tag them #movementofmoms so that we can stay motivated!

Oh - and if you like this post, then go ahead and click on of the icons below to share it!

Disclaimer - Research shows that those people having a Formula 1 meal replacement shake twice daily as part of a healthy eating and exercise plan can reasonably expect to lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. And the average annual compensation provided by Herbalife to its distributors at the Supervisor position with a downline is approximately $5,800. I have chosen to consistently follow my Herbalife nutrition plan and work hard at running my business, which is the reason for my personal results.

The "Do It All" Mom

I have missed you this week!

Yes, I know that I never really "see" most of you, but I see your numbers appear on my Google stats,

and I feel like it means we are connecting....

This has been a week of illness in our home. 

Monday morning the three of us woke up snifflin' and sneezin'.

Tonight, we are going to bed still snifflin' and sneezin'...

Not at all what I expected this week.

All told, this has not been the summer that I expected.

When May was closing, we were still planning to welcome a new baby in December. 

I was certain that I could work at full capacity throughout the summer months, 

of course we would be healthy at least until flu season in the fall,

and my old neck injury was so nearly healed that I just knew it wouldn't bother me for years!

Well, the end of May brought a car accident, ensuring neck pain to accompany all movement...

The first of June God took our baby to heaven, bringing, with our sadness, various health problems...

Mid-summer brought strep throat, and now the standard, "I lub you" somehow doesn't sound right...

Some of you may have had easier summers,

 but many of you may have had similar or more difficult experiences...

Well, I'm declaring tonight that this summer is over.

I tend to brood over things... You know, let them overtake my mind and then,

pretty soon, change my habits.

Before I've really decided to become morose or despondent,

personal discipline slips and I'm just "not myself".

Now every difficult time deserves an appropriate period of adjustment,

but then it has to be done.

You have to decide to move on, to get better, to recover.

And then you need to arm yourself with the proper tools, put yourself in the right environment,

throw yourself in the arms of the Savior, and make the decision every night when you go to bed, and every next morning upon waking, that today will be pursued.

The real challenge for most moms, probably, is to not go overboard. 

                                               Today, in Barnes and Noble, I took thirty seconds to take pictures of the overwhelming platitudes available to moms for $5.98.

 I quickly ran from the bargain books section, escaping the marketing techniques geared at manipulating my desire to do everything, and as a statement of rebellion against the illusive "Do It All Mom", I sat down to write just a few things that are important to me, for our family, and for personal growth.

As in a recent post, I would simply encourage you to choose three or four priorities which can take your attention, without becoming overwhelming, and pursue excellence.

Join the movement of moms.

Follow me on Instagram @happyfitnessmama, share photos of your healthy active decisions, and tag them #movementofmoms so that we can stay motivated!

Oh - and if you like this post, then go ahead and click on of the icons below to share it!

Disclaimer - Research shows that those people having a Formula 1 meal replacement shake twice daily as part of a healthy eating and exercise plan can reasonably expect to lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. And the average annual compensation provided by Herbalife to its distributors at the Supervisor position with a downline is approximately $5,800. I have chosen to consistently follow my Herbalife nutrition plan and work hard at running my business, which is the reason for my personal results.

Progress Report

Seven days ago I committed to you that I was going to lose seven pounds.

Well, this morning I celebrated having lost 1.6 pounds!

Little Man has a shake for breakfast most days, along with toast or oatmeal, 

and I was enjoying some Prepare, Herbalife's pre-workout drink, to inspire me to exercise.

Now, let me be clear, I am no super woman.

I  could write an entire post about the various times and ways I varied from the program this week.

I think that I squeezed in some exercise 3 times in the whole week. 

There was definitely a bit of cookie consumption when we came home 

with the box of leftovers from Bible study.

BUT-

There are 3 things that I did without fail.

I had my Herbalife tea concentrate every morning.

I had two shakes for meal replacements every day.

I had my tablets (multivitamins, aloe, fiber, etc) 3 times every day.

That's it. Nothing fancy. And nothing perfect. 

Just nutritious, and consistent.

That's all Herbalife is. Nutrition. Based on consistency.

And now I'm 1/5 of the way to my goal!

Anyone else wanna join me?

Feel free to email me - funfitnutrition@gmail.com

Join the movement of moms.

Follow me on Instagram @happyfitnessmama, share photos of your healthy active kids or weight loss journey, and tag them #movementofmoms so that we can stay motivated!

Oh - and if you like this post, then go ahead and click on of the icons below to share it!

Disclaimer - Research shows that those people having a Formula 1 meal replacement shake twice daily as part of a healthy eating and exercise plan can reasonably expect to lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. And the average annual compensation provided by Herbalife to its distributors at the Supervisor position with a downline is approximately $5,800. I have chosen to consistently follow my Herbalife nutrition plan and work hard at running my business, which is the reason for my personal results.

Above Average

When I was a young girl, I never let myself settle for anything less than what I considered to be perfection.

Often, as you can imagine, this led to a fairly intense level of personal frustration.

When I was about eight years old, I was all set to perform in our school's talent show,

a chance to demonstrate my dedication to perfection...

Yeah, not so much.

I still know what dress I was wearing. It was the 90's, mind you, 

so the outfit was a slightly flouncy red dress with white polka-dots, white shoes, white tights...

Shiny black clarinet in hand, I walked out onto the stage.

With the piano accompanist giving me the nod, 

I set out to impress all in attendance with a mind-blowing performance of "The Entertainer".

Until...

I squeaked... Really, more like squawked...

After all of my practice and the hours of making sure this would be monumentally wonderful (as every eight year old dreams she really is when playing music, right?),

I had forgotten to keep my reed wet.

If you don't know much about woodwinds,

a dry reed is basically a death sentence to any sound resembling music.

So, that was it. My life was over. 

Crying, mortified, I walked off the stage, dry-reeded instrument in hand.

Now, thank God, I had a mother who did not have unrealistic expectations nor punishingly high standards.

What she did love was seeing me do what made me happy,

so after helping me calm down and wet my reed,

she also lovingly insisted that I go back, because she knew how thrilled I would be to be able to play that piece and finish well.

Having just the right expectations seems to make all the difference in life.

After twenty-two some odd years of demanding tedious excellence of myself,

I think that somehow I subconsciously decided to rebel, to find out what it was like to expect my activities and pursuits to be average. Trouble was, I still wanted above average results out of life.

I think that, maybe, most moms fall into one of those two categories.

We either expect waaaayyyy to much of ourselves and children,

("My Baby Can Read", anyone?),

or we rebel against the pressure and settle for,

"Well, at least I can read...", but then don't even bother to do that!

It's the dilemma of being faced with the need to lose 7 pounds...

There are those who say, "You recommend 2 shakes a day? Heck, I'll replace 3 meals a day with a shake and exercise for 2 hours!"

And then those who say, "Well, 7 pounds isn't so bad. Another cookie, anyone?"

I have met them, though, those mothers who do one or two above average activities a week, and enjoy the bit of a challenge they offer.

I'm inspired.

But perhaps the one who inspires me most is my Little Man.

Think about it. If he always settled for just what felt easy, he would never have learned to walk!

Last weekend, we went to the park and watched his face light up while swinging. 

Flying through the air could be terrifying, especially when your parent is in control and you don't really know what's coming next... But if he freaked out at every new thing, he would miss most of the fun of being a toddler. If he didn't work at learning, growing, and exploring, he would never have found out that he can eat with a fork, or run, or climb down steps...

So I'm adopting a new mindset.

I want to live with the idea that I can be as interested in life as my toddler is, and that if I am persistently curious and challenged, I will find the results I wanted all along, 

but with much more happiness along the way.

Join the movement of moms.

Follow me on Instagram @happyfitnessmama, share photos of your healthy active kids, and tag them #movementofmoms so that we can have another reason to smile!

Oh - and if you like this post, then go ahead and click on of the icons below to share it!

Disclaimer - Research shows that those people having a Formula 1 meal replacement shake twice daily as part of a healthy eating and exercise plan can reasonably expect to lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. And the average annual compensation provided by Herbalife to its distributors at the Supervisor position with a downline is approximately $5,800. I have chosen to consistently follow my Herbalife nutrition plan and work hard at running my business, which is the reason for my personal results.

UNCLE!!!!

Honestly, there are days when I just want to "say Uncle" and run for cover.

More like shout Uncle, and hide under the covers.

It's as though I forget that I am the adult in the house,

and let my toddler put me in an arm bar until I submit to his will.

Yesterday was just such a day, in part responsible for my absence online.

You probably don't want to know what I would have had to say last night...

But today, with some time to think, and this incredibly angelic face smiling cheerily at me all day,

giving the dutiful, "Yes, Mommy," whenever prompted, 

happily asking for seconds on his Herbalife shake,

and coming to me with his arms up asking for an "iss" (kiss), 

let's just say that I've regained some perspective and can look on the prior day's drama with a bit of humor.

As it happens, there is quite a bit of speculation as to the origin of 

the above cry of desperation.

You probably don't care to get online and do any research,

but since I was interested, I bet you are, too,

so let me summarize for you what Michael Quinion, of World Wide Words,

has for us on the subject of "say Uncle".

While some speculate that it comes from a Latin cry used by Roman children, there doesn't seem to be any explanation for why these ancient children needed help from their uncles in the first place...

Although I certainly cried uncle a few times while studying Latin,

I think there is a more interesting approach.

I wish, at this moment, that I was incredibly witty and could thereby craft an entertaining and lighthearted story for your amusement, revealing to you the long held secret of the first person to "say uncle".  I had a friend in elementary school who wrote a short story on the first person to "get the willies", and have secretly envied her skills in fiction for years now...

Alas, becoming a grown-up has placed even more limitations on my imagination, and all I can give you are the facts, such as Mr. Quinion describes them to be.

Apparently, our American idiom is actually drawn from a joke in a British periodical.

A young girl gives her uncle a parrot, promising that it's quite a verbal bird and will impress the uncle's friends. (In my opinion, if he needed a talking parrot to be impressive, perhaps he should have just spent his time becoming more interesting in his own right... but I digress).

One evening, with his friends, the man attempts, unsuccessfully, to get the bird to say, "Uncle," finally shouting at the uncooperative bird ,"Say UNCLE, say UNCLE," while wringing its neck and angrily throwing it into a pen with ten chickens.

Later, filled with remorse and guiltily approaching the pen to remove what he assumed would be the dead body of his niece's parrot, he was shocked to find nine dead chickens strewn about the pen, and the parrot standing over the remaining chicken, wringing its neck, shouting in monotone, "Say UNCLE, say UNCLE!"

...

So there you have it.

Who knew that the childish epithet shouted during arm wrestling matches could have such macabre origins?

And no, I did not say uncle. I finished the day, gave him a bath, and

"said bedtime".

Join the movement of moms.

Follow me on Instagram @happyfitnessmama, share photos of your healthy active kids, and tag them #movementofmoms so that we can have another reason to smile!

Oh - and if you like this post, then go ahead and click on of the icons below to share it!

Disclaimer - Research shows that those people having a Formula 1 meal replacement shake twice daily as part of a healthy eating and exercise plan can reasonably expect to lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. And the average annual compensation provided by Herbalife to its distributors at the Supervisor position with a downline is approximately $5,800. I have chosen to consistently follow my Herbalife nutrition plan and work hard at running my business, which is the reason for my personal results.

It starts tomorrow!

Alrighty, that was an amazingly yummy extended weekend!

As you can see, I wasn't particularly focused on rigid calorie control,

and while I had my Formula 1 Sport Chocolate shake every morning,

I did also manage to fully satiate my 

bacon cheeseburger and chocolate cravings... 

Today, as I tried to clean up the mess which was created by the three of us having been away from home for the weekend

(yes, you read that right... Being away led to a huge mess...),

I had my shake and tea, and a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats for a rushed lunch...

And a hurried dinner of the same cereal.

Sooooooooo...

I obviously have to get serious by tomorrow morning or it's gonna be 15, not 7, pounds that need to be lost!

So here's the plan -

Start every day with Herbalife Tea Concentrate, so so yummy and energizing!

Breakfast: Herbalife Formula 1 Sport shake with 2% milk and fruit, Herbalife tablets

Snack: Oatmeal with 1tsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp raisins

Lunch: Herbalife Formula 1 Sport shake with 2% milk and fruit, Herbalife tablets

Snack: Baby carrots and 1 egg

Dinner: Lean protein, veggies, whole grains 

That last one will be the toughie, being prepared with a healthy dinner for our family...

But I will prevail!

Do you want to join me?

Email me ASAP for your Herbalife nutrition program, funfitnutrition@gmail.com, let's do this together!

Oh, and to my reader in Poland (Google stats assures me that you read nearly every post...),

and any other country reading, I can send your programs there, no problem, 

Herbalife gives me the freedom to send products to over 90 countries.

Let's lose!

Join the movement of moms.

Follow me on Instagram @happyfitnessmama, share your healthy food choices, and tag them #movementofmoms so that we can motivate each other!

Oh - and if you like this post, then go ahead and click on of the icons below to share it!

Disclaimer - Research shows that those people having a Formula 1 meal replacement shake twice daily as part of a healthy eating and exercise plan can reasonably expect to lose 1/2 to 1 lb a week. And the average annual compensation provided by Herbalife to its distributors at the Supervisor position with a downline is approximately $5,800. I have chosen to consistently follow my Herbalife nutrition plan and work hard at running my business, which is the reason for my personal results.