One Minute Writer on the Road

This Autumn, what do you wish would fall?

My weight. Wishing isn't going to get me very far though, nor is dreaming or planning. I need to be doing and I finally feel like I am. Quite some time ago I was all gun-ho about my weight loss. I lost a bunch of pounds and was very happy with myself. Then I plateaued and I stopped losing weight and starting gaining instead. More time passed where I said I was watching my weight and trying to lose it and eating well and blah blah blah, but really I was making excuses and doing enough that I felt deprived of good food and very guilty when I ate it, but not nearly enough to actually be losing weight at a decent rate.

This is the first time in quite some time that I feel the passion and drive to lose weight like I did way back when I first started. I think this is what has been missing the last little while - not the will power or the ability, but the passion.

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Tasty Tuesday: Apple/Pear Cream Cheese Pie

Though by the sounds of this recipe, you would think it was a special treat, unhealthy kind of recipe - but in reality it isn't nearly as bad as the alternatives. This recipe has been adapted to use light foods and as little margarine/butter as possible.

First things first, the ingredients.- pre-made, frozen pie crusts. The Deep Dish kind work the best as the pie is a crumble top sort and therefore you can make two of them with one box of shells.
- light cream cheese (1 package)
- white sugar (1/2 cup, 1/4 cup, 1/4 cup)
- apples (at least 6)
- pears (about 3)
- brown sugar (1/4 cup, 1/4 cup)
- cinnamon (to taste)
- quick cooking oats (1 1/3 cup)
- flour (3-4 Tbsp)
- margarine (1/4 cup)

Take the pie crusts out of the package so that they can defrost.
Put the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl and mix them together until creamy and smooth (best done with an electric hand mixer).
Divide the cream cheese mixture evenly in the two pie shells and using a spatula, spread it along the bottom of the crust.Peel and core the pears and apples and chop into small pieces. Place them in a large mixing bowl and add the 1/4 cup of white sugar, 1/4 cup of brown sugar and cinnamon (to taste). Mix this until the fruit is evenly covered.
Place half of the mixture over each of the pies, ensuring not to 'stir up' the cream cheese layer too much.
Place the oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar and 3-4 Tbsp flour in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
Melt the margarine/butter in the microwave then add to the oat mixture and mix until a crumb is formed.
Divide evenly over the pies and press into place.Cook in an oven preheated to 300 Celsius for 30-45 minutes or until pie crust and crumble top are browned. Allow pie to cool and then serve. Note: This pie is best served cold. A few hours in the fridge will take it from great to amazing!

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Tasty Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday will be a new bi-weekly feature here on Road to a Better Me. I am hoping, as previously mentioned, that regular features will increase my activity here as it has on my other blogs.
Every other Tuesday I will post a Recipe with photos of my latest attempt to make the food. Most of the time the recipes will be healthy in nature, but every once in a while I will post a special treat.

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November Update

I have been trying to get more exercise in, but so far have been failing. That being said, I have had multiple days with increased walking (highly increased), but I haven't worked out until I broke a sweat or anything like that.
My food intake has been through the roof this past week, but before that I was doing really well. Dave and I had bought some healthier food and I was starting to make lunches the night before for work. I am going to work on a few meals today to get back on track with that as it is a relatively easy thing to do and helps out so much.
I have also been trying to think of ways to make this blog more active. I want to post here on a more regular basis, but really how often do you want to read posts where I say that I am not exercising as much as I want to but am getting better with my food (that is the general idea of all of my posts isn't it?). I was thinking along the lines of a feature as that seems to be working wonderfully on my other blogs - I just haven't decided what the feature is going to be just yet. If you have any ideas, let me know please.

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October > September

Overall October was better than September was in terms of my weight loss attempts. Though I don't think I lost much, I definitely feel like I have gotten back on track. I am eating properly and starting to track my food intake again. I have increased my exercise, though have no set routine just yet. I definitely have things to work on this month but feel better now than I did a month ago and that is definitely a plus. Dave and I are going grocery shopping tonight to once again pick up some healthier foods. My main goal this month is to get in a decent workout at least once a week.

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Choosing2Lose

For the past 3 years I have been a member of a weight loss forum. I have mentioned it before here and to friends, but never given the name. I am completely open with my weight there as those women are literally in the same boat as me. As of today, the forum has closed. I am sad to have lost such a great resource, though to be honest, in the last few months I had not been using it to its full potential. I have met many great ladies through the site and luckily have found the majority of them on Facebook and other forums and will therefore be able to stay in touch with them. I wish to thank Mandy, the creator of C2L, for all the hard work she did on the site and let her know, once again, that I completely understand her reasoning for shutting the site down. Goodbye Choosing2Lose.

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