The Gwen Benton Diet

Well after trying every diet under the sun and not being able to stick to any of them for long term, I decided to develop my own plan.  It may be crazy but the only way to find out if it will work is to try. So here is my plan:

1) use a notebook book to plan all of my meals out for several weeks

2) eat 4 to 5 times a day so I don't get really hungry and pigout

3) track my weight daily so that I might be able to pinpoint what is causing fluctuation (like to little water, wrong carbs, etc).

4) track daily calories using the Lose it app

5) track daily exercise 

6) track daily activities
7) take my vitamins daily

 When I began my weight loss journey over a year ago, I weighed in at 159.  I then lost 34 pounds over several months.  Sadly, I did not make a life style change and I gained every bit of the weight back.  That is so sad to say.  This time, I began at 159 and did the Shred diet which got me down to 147.  I then starting spiraling out of control with my eating and ended back at 153.  This is when I began my new journey to change my life.  When I started this post two weeks ago, I weighed in at 153.  Today, two weeks later, I have lost 4 lbs.  It is slow weight loss but it is also a life style change and I am doing well.

I know that I am not alone in my struggle to keep the weight off and I will pray for those who are struggling with this addiction to eating.  

Valentine's Day with My Man

I am not big on Valentine's day but I love my boys!! These two monkey's went to hang out with Grandma and Pa so Jeff and I could go on a date.

We went with my best friend and her husband to the Top of the Rock. 

It was absolutely beautiful views.  

This is the outdoor eating section of one of the restaurants up there. 

There were beautiful views of the lake. We also went to see a movie (I cant even remember the title but it was awful).  

Out in the middle of all the amazing views, there sits a chapel.  I imagine weddings take place here and I also imagine that the price is quite hefty.  All in all, it was a wonderful relaxing day.  

Valentine's Day with boys

What a great Valentine's Day with my boys.  We made treats for our friends at schools and the boys loved them.

These were quite easy.  I simply used the following ingredients:

• melting chocolate
• large marshmallows
• sprinkles
• cake pop sticks (found these over by the craft section)

Directions:

• Melt chocolate (I do this in the microwave and stir every 30 seconds or so to keep it from burning)
• Put Stick in marshmallow
• Dip marshmallow in chocolate and tap gently on the side of the bowl to get excess chocolate off
• Wait a minute or two and then sprinkle each one with sprinkles (you can dip if it works best for you)
• Place on wax paper and wait till chocolate firms up.  I then stored in the refrigerator.  

Evan loved eating the chocolate off. 

Luke loved eating all of it!

Luke's classmates loved their party and had more than enough junk to eat.  

The best part of the day was when Luke willingly gave up one of his balloons to another child in another class because they did not have anything.  This boy has such a loving heart.