A Little Peek and Diet Challenge

Here's a little peek into what I'll be working on this week. I'm supposed to have the quilt top made by Thursday to show to my Quilt Guild for a June workshop that I am teaching.

I'm such a procrastinator.

Well, not really (maybe a little bit). Sometimes other things get in the way of sewing such as getting ready for a garage sale, spring cleaning, and gettting the house ready to be appraised for refinancing. The good thing about doing all of that hard work is that my house is clean, which means my sewing room is clean, and now I can go play with my little butterflies and not have that little voice in my head yelling at me again like I told you about here.

Now for the diet challenge. Everything is going well. I've been getting lots of exercise cleaning, moving things around, going up and down the stairs a million times a day, and everything else that goes into getting rid of things. I'm in between sizes which means that the clothes that did fit me are too big and the new ones I try on are a little too small. So, I'm looking a little baggy these days and having to sew darts in my waistbands. Do you know how long it has been since I've sewn a dart?

Now, on to the exciting stuff. All of you Weight Watcher fans are really going to love this, and those of you that aren't on Weight Watchers, well , you're gonna love it, too! Remember how I told you that when I think I'm hungry, but I'm not really sure, I chew gum? It really does help, but one night, while my hubby and I were at the book store, I was looking for a diet cookbook. I was chewing gum and my stomach was growling really loud. I was looking at books then all of the sudden I spotted a diet cookbook called Hungry Girl. I said to myself, "Hey! That's me!!!" So I grabbed the book off the shelf, sat down in one of their comfortable chairs, and was blown away by what I was reading.


The photos of the recipes looked really great, and, although it's not Weight Watchers endorsed, it is Weight Watcher friendly (the author Lisa Lillien has worked with Weight Watchers on some of their recipes, so she knows what she's talking about when it comes to "points".)

I cooked some of the recipes for my family and so far they have loved everything I have cooked. Amazing!!! Usually things taste blah or they don't look remotely anything like the receipe book photos. This isn't so with Hungry Girl.

And, here's the best part. Well there's several "best parts". Can you tell I'm excited??!! Even though the Weight Watcher points aren't in the book, you can go to her website and find the points value of each of the recipes. She even has photos of each recipe on her website, too! She also has a daily e-mail that she sends out with recipes and fun facts about new food products that are diet friendly. What I love about all of it is that she educates you on how to cook healthy. And she even teaches you on how to eat healthy when you go out to dinner. Afterall, it's those fun things in life (eating lunch with my quilting friends after the Guild meeting or when we're at each others houses for our sewing group, birthdays, or just going out to dinner with my family) that have been a big part of me gaining the 20 or so pounds that I have gained. I won't count the hours I spend quilting or blogging. Nope....not going to. That has probably saved me from going bonkers. Besides that, I can't eat and blog/quilt at the same time!

A few weeks ago Lisa came out with another book called Hungry Girl's 200 under 200. It's 200 recipes under 200 calories. Again, the recipes are easy to make, and my family likes them, too.
If you want to know more, click here. It's a video of Lisa, the author, on Good Morning America talking about the new book.

The next few days I'll be sewing little butterflies and organizing my garage sale for this weekend. Wish me luck in finishing the top by Wednesday night! Good luck to all of you in the diet challenge!

Amanda