Lets Just Drop It

Is my scale broken?

2012-01-28T13:38:00.000-08:00

I got on the scale just for the heck of it this morning. I know its not my weigh in day but I was just curious. It said 196. something. That can't be right. Thats almost another 4 lbs. I will know for sure on Wednesday. I did get a new toy.I'm very excited about it. I have had my juice plus complete a few times which I love because of the taste and because of how long it keeps me full, but it doesn't blend well with milk while using a spoon. So I've been putting it in a water bottle and shaking it or using the big blender to add blueberries. This morning I used it to make me a fast blueberry Juice plus shake and it was divine and super fast and east to clean up. 100% worth it.

Check it out------------->

2012-01-25T08:05:00.000-08:00

I weighed in this morning!! Down 4 lbs!!!! Finally some progress. I could actually say 5 lbs because I weighed myself last thursday too and I was at 205. Either way, I love seeing the difference. Jesús says I look thinner too. I measured my waist yesterday too, down an inch and a half! Woot!

A much needed update

2012-01-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

I've been needing to get my feelings out about this month so far. I have been using the spark people app on my phone to track my calories. It was telling me that I should be eating 1520 to 1870 calories a day. Wrong!!! So wrong. If you'll noticed on the side of my blog in my weigh in section, it seems that I have been yo-yoing for the past 3 weeks. I have to admit that it was getting me discouraged and for the last two weeks I have been less motivated and mad that this isn't any easier. I've been lessening my workouts and being less productive at home. A depression so to speak. It sucked. Then I talked to my brilliant friend Kelsie who does this stuff for a living. She said maybe I wasnt eating enough or that my calorie intake amount was off. She was so right. She taught me how to calculate the amount of calories I should be eating a day.

First take your weight, I'll use mine as a example, 204 (or thats what it was at the time I discovered this trick). Multiply your weight by 10 and then again by 7. So now I have 14280. Then if you want to lose 1 pound a week you subtract 3,500 and if you want to lose 2 pounds a week you subtract 7,000. I of course would rather lose 2 so I subtracted 7,000. Now I have 7280. Divide this number by 7 and this is the number of calories you should be eating if you want to lose 2 lbs a week without exercising. If you exercise then you need to add back in the calories that you burn off, so for example my total came out to be 1040 but today I burned 461 calories while running. So now I add the 461 to my daily total 1040 and I get 1501. I have not burned that many calories since I started this new lifestyle change and I was eating more calories than that everyday. No wonder it wasn't working. So this weekend when I wasn't running, I had to be super careful about what I ate because I hadn't burned any calories. 1040 really isn't a lot compared to what I had been eating. Since I figured this out I have felt ten times better!!! Its amazing what a change it made to eat less. I'm not starving all the time because my stomach is getting used to me eating less. My energy is amazing also. Two weeks ago I would be back in bed after my workout and shower and now I'm getting stuff done. Oh and do you want a healthy energizing snack after your workout? Juice Plus Complete! I love it!! I blend it with some blue berries and its divine. I love the flavor and how long it keeps me full. I had it for breakfast before church yesterday and it kept me full almost the full 3 hours. I started to feel hungry about 10 minutes before we got out.

There's a reason that we are supposed to take care of our bodies. There is a purpose to this. It helps us live a more productive and happy life. I'm not saying that you shouldn't love yourself, but I love myself being healthy and having energy and being able to keep up with my kids. So hopefully on Wednesday when I weigh myself there is payoff to my new discovery.

Another update!

2012-01-02T05:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have been trying to work out 5 days a week, 6 if I can. Last week was rough because it was after Christmas and before new years and both of my kids had to go to urgent care. I did however get in 4 days last week. I am back up to running 30 minutes straight and walking 5 minutes, except today I walked 10 and ran 30 with a 5 minute cool down. My goal is to burn as close to 300 calories a day as I can so that one of my meals is obsolete. And guess what I got for Christmas?!!!A Jack Lallane juicer!!! I was on THIS site the other day and I was reading how green juicing is becoming very popular. But the reason its becoming popular is because its good for you. Your basically just drinking your fruits and vegetables without cooking them so you are losing the nutrients that you need. So raw fruits and veggies every day. I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to look for one on craigslist and Christmas morning I opened up a brand new one!!
We have been juicing for 6 days now. We are replacing breakfast with green juice. So far we have made up our own recipes which have been pretty good, but there are recipes online. We were thinking about getting a book too.
So lets get down to it, we bought a scale. I know. Why on earth haven't we had a scale before? Well this is a weight watchers endorsed one. I wanted one that I knew would be closer to my weight rather than the cheapo ones that you can buy that change your weight every 10 minutes. So the last time I was weighed was the weekend before we moved to Texas and that was on the first. I weighed 206. Scary, I know. So last week on Wednesday morning I weighed myself and I am down 3lbs. So now I am at 203. Its a start. I am going to weigh myself every week on Wednesday. I think weighing myself on Mondays might be bad since weekends are rough with all the eating I do and not as much exercise other than cleaning and walking around. So for my weight tracker on the side I am thinking I will start over so I am not looking at the past and instead I am focusing on the future. 2012 will be my year.

Ok time for an update

2011-12-19T08:08:00.000-08:00

Its been a while but its time to update. I have gained back every pound I lost last year and since I had Elena. Sad, I know. But I am determined to get to my goal. We moved to Texas at the beginning of December and our apartment complex has a fitness center. So far I have gotten up all but 3 days since last Monday. I plan on going every morning except Sundays. I will have to work up to that this week and so far so good. I still need a scale. I'm thinking we'll get one next week or in January. I am also using my spark people app on my phone to make sure I'm not overeating and making sure I burn enough calories.

I have been pinning cute out fits on Pinterest so I can motivate myself. I even pictured myself in one of those outfits this morning and tried to run towards it on the treadmill. I know, weird but effective. I have also been pinning some inspiration. I'm thinking in a year I will be where I want to be. I don't want to give up. I want to be healthy.

I am also planning on ordering some Juice Plus Complete so I can have some shakes for meal replacements. I am also planning on starting my Juice Plus capsules order so I can be taking it daily and so my kids can get it. I'm excited about the future. Besides, shopping here in Texas is amazing and I want a piece of that action but I can't enjoy it until I drop like 5 sizes!! So I look forward to those days.

Chicken Salad first try

2011-08-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

So I attended a back to school lunch today with a few friends where we learned about healthy eating and foods to avoid and where we learned more about Juice Plus+. We were supposed to bring something to eat and the only thing I could think of was Chicken Salad but I have never made it before. I don't know why I wanted to make some so badly but I thought I would give it a try. Here's what I did:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
two stalks of celery chopped ( I like it small)
Half of large red onion chopped
12-15 red grapes chopped
Minced onion
dried sage
Olive oil low fat Mayo
In a large pot I added water enough to cover 4 chicken breasts, and I added maybe a tablespoon of Sage and two table spoons of dried minced onion. I didn't measure I just shook like crazy into the water. I added maybe a teaspoon or two of salt to the water. When water starts boiling add chicken breasts. Boil chicken for 10-12 minutes.
While chicken boils chop other ingredients.
when chicken is done, remove from water but do not dispose of water. Let chicken cool a little then cube into small pieces. Put chicken into a bowl and add other chopped ingredients. Add maybe 4 Tablespoons of Mayo or just enough to coat all ingredients after stirring. Add a small amount of the chicken broth from the pot into the mixture to make it moist to add more of that chicken flavor.
Cool in refrigerator or serve immediately(like I did because I ran out of time to cool it) Serve by itself or on whole wheat bread or rolls.
I really like it and I am usually not a fan of Chicken Salad.

Udate

2011-08-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

So school has started for my little kindergartner. I can't believe it. Since we are on a new schedule I have not had time for exercising, well I have but I haven't tried hard enough to fit it into my schedule. I do want to be walking in the morning before I have to pack a lunch and get the kids in the car for the school dropping off madness. Hopefully next week I will have it all figured out.

I have been trying to focus on nutrition lately. I'm trying not to buy crap because I know that if its in the house I'm gonna eat it. And since I snack all day long because I have no self control, I need to be snacking on things that won't pack on the lbs and are healthy for me. I have been taking Juice Plus+ capsules to make up for the fruit and veggies I don't get. If you don't know about Juice Plus+ then go here and check it out. Watch the video. A friend of mine sells it because she has done her own research on it. She and her family have been on it for 2 years and they feel great and they haven't been sick since they've taken it. Sounds like actually eating healthy is good for you. She has also taught me how to read nutrition labels what foods to avoid. I know that my shopping habits have changed because I want only good food in the house.

I will post the info from the handouts she has given me because I think that info is worth sharing. But check out Juice Plus+ it maybe what you're missing.

Bad week

2011-08-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

This really has been a bad week. I mean bad. I haven't done any exercise. I've been snacking like the world is ending. If I don't get up tomorrow morning and at least go for a walk/run then I'm going to lull into an exercising depression. I hate those because its so hard to come out of. My kids just will not sleep through the night lately and makes me so tired in the morning. I really need to push through this. I need to stop eating bad. I almost need to plan out what I'm going to eat through out the day in advance, maybe that would help. I haven't weighed myself since I started running again and I'm glad about it this week because I'm sure it would tear me down. I have to push tomorrow. No matter what.

Report for this week

2011-07-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well this week was a busy one because of Girls Camp. I wasn't due up to Girls Camp until Tuesday so I got up Monday morning and did my run which was 3.35 I think. At a better pace than I previously ran 3 miles too. Then that same day I did the work out group. Tuesday I left for Girls Camp and I think just being up there is good exercise because you have to set up stuff and walk everywhere because there is so much to do. Wednesday I walked through the meadow for a while to prepare a compass exercise and then had to do it twice with two different groups of girls. Thursday was the actual hike. It was so hard!! It was hard last year but this year I was carrying 30 extra lbs up the mountain. I was glad when I finished though. The total of the hike is almost 8 miles and in the heat of the afternoon it felt like 20. I've been told that hiking burns more calories because you are trying twice as hard because of the thin air. Since I have been back I have been reading some articles on hiking and apparently it's extremely good for you. It can do many good things for your body physically and mentally. Its been known to lessen depression. I think I need to do more hiking. Now I just need to find a hiking buddy.

Questions for Facebook friends

2011-07-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

This week I have declined in distance in my running. I ran 2.6 on Monday and 2.4 on Tuesday and today I ran 2.2. My excuses for not going very far on Monday and Tuesday were because of time. I woke up late because my two year old was up more than once the night before. For some reason that makes me drag in the morning. So I got up later than I had planned and needed to get home so my husband could get to work. Today was so hot and I was also very tired. I have been using Map my Run app on my phone when I run which tracks my time and route, so when I get home I can calculate my pace. I have never really been concerned about my pace but its interesting to look at. So as I've seen the different runs I have done this week, I noticed that that even though my distance has been shorter (not by much I guess) my pace has improved. So I kind of got excited that I was running faster but then I wondered, should I be excited? Should be running longer or faster? So I questioned my friends on facebook and this is what they said:

Pamela Nguyen I say faster because after a certain point in running you body stops burning calories but that's just my 2 cents lol
7 hours ago ·
Katy Allred Nichols Longer!
7 hours ago ·
Alison Randall Moreno This week I went from 2.6 to 2.4 to 2.2 but my pace has increased each time. My excuse for it being less today is because its frickin hot.
7 hours ago ·
Jeremiah Malich it all depends on what you're training for. Which reminds me, I'm going to do this. It looks awesome! you should think about it too. http://toughmudder.com/events/socal-2012/
SoCal 2012 | Tough Mudder
toughmudder.com
Tough Mudder SoCal Sat Feb 25 & Sun Feb 26, 2012, Vail Lake Resort Updates
7 hours ago · ·
Larissa Taylor You burn the same amount of calories if you walk three miles or run three miles... The difference is, the time you finish in. I say you're doing awesome regardless!
7 hours ago ·
Alison Randall Moreno I don't think I can do that Jeremiah, it says be running 5-7 miles 3-4 times a week and 6 pull ups. I can't even do one pull up. Maybe next year. That looks rough. Thanks Larissa!
7 hours ago ·
Jeremiah Malich yeah it does look really tough. The neat thing is that it is yearly and there are 2 in California each year. I was thinking about doing the Nor Cal on this Sept., but i think i would die so i'm going to push it back to the So Cal one in Feb.
6 hours ago ·
Alison Randall Moreno Yeah, I would definitely need to work more on my upper body strength. I'm working on it now but I don't think I would be there by this year.
6 hours ago ·
Jami McAllister Larsen Distance first - then increase speed
6 hours ago ·
Karrie Sorensen Bunting What jami said.
6 hours ago ·
Rick Watson I say, run longer and faster. That way you get the best of both and quit being a sissy :). I say this while sitting Eating doughnut and watch Dragon Ball Z.
6 hours ago ·
Alison Randall Moreno Nice Rick.
5 hours ago ·
Shelley Moreno Well if you increase your pace you burn more calories from fat, so if you go less distance but a faster pace it is actually better for you! There are three ways to burn more calories, increase distance, increase frequency, or increase pace.
4 hours ago ·
Paloma Rivera First, assess what your goals are and why you run.
3 hours ago ·
Alison Randall Moreno Mostly weight loss and health. Im not too concerned with how fast I go, however I don't want it to take all day to run 3 miles. I eventually want to be able to run a 10k.
3 hours ago ·
Paloma Rivera Go with distance and then work on speed.
3 hours ago ·
Julie Olson it all depends on your heart rate. you can find a target heart rate for fat burning calculator online and figure out where yours should be. if you don't hit it or go too high over it doesn't matter how fast or how long you run!
2 hours ago ·
Carlos Casamalhuapa Another way to think about it is by intensity. For weight loss, keeping your intensity at a moderate level for a longer period of time (e.g., distance running) will allow you to burn fat. Moving it to high intensity (e.g., running fast) will actually force you to burn sugar because not enough oxygen will be delivered to the fast, contracting muscle, and oxygen is required to burn fat but not sugar. To keep it simple, keeping a moderate level of intensity for a longer period of time will promote weight loss from the burning of fat. But that is not to say you shouldn't run fast. In fact, feel free to mix it up to your enjoyment. Just keep in mind your goals and remember that whatever you choose as an exercise should be fun! And if you get board, try another form of exercise.

So if you were ever wondering like I was this morning here are some ideas. The last one is from someone in Med-school. And the rest are runners, new to running and old pro's.

Dear Journal

2011-07-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

I like putting my thoughts on here because its better than just bottling them up inside and eventually quitting and regressing. I ran over 2.5 miles yesterday and 2.4 today. Thats actually what I was going for. I know that I can do over 3 miles but I haven't gotten up early enough to get out there and do it. Just as long as its over two miles, I'm okay. I've been exercising an hour and forty minutes to two hours which feels really good.
My diet this week has been better, I've been eating mostly veggies and fruit. I can already feel my body changing and its starting to feel a little bit like it did last summer. I kind of wish I had a scale to document it all. I could just go off measurements until we can get a scale.
Today while I ate lunch and fed my daughter lunch I watched extreme makeover weight loss edition. I love that show. I think it helps to push me because I am not as heavy as those people and look at all they can do! I should be able to push myself because I know I'm strong and I know I can accomplish this goal. So my goal is....(cue drumroll) I want to lose 50 lbs by my birthday November 16th. I will be 30 this year and as difficult as turning thirty will be, it will be excruciating if I'm 30 and looking the way I do. I want to be hot! I want to go shopping and actually enjoy it!
I've decided that a gym membership would be helpful. On the days I can't get out of the house without the kids, I can go to the gym and put them in the child care area and just have at it! I think my husband would benefit from it too. As soon as rafting is over, there will go all his exercise. I want him to have that option to exercise and I think he will. He's not one to waste something. So I'm feeling good, and as difficult as it is to push myself in the morning to get up and run, not walk, its so worth it and I need to remember how good I feel when I'm done. I need to imagine how good it will feel when I put on those dresses I bought last year when I lost the weight and they are too big!

So I went to this seminar...

2011-07-18T18:12:00.001-07:00

It was by this lady that sells Juice Plus+. I had never heard of it, but before she tried to sell the product, she brought up a lot of interesting things that I was unaware of. She had been diagnosed with diabetes and hyperglycemia when she was in her 20's I believe and after that she decided that she wanted to live a healthy life. She is now a vegetarian and takes Juice Plus+. She gave us a list called "10 Easy Steps-The Path to Health" and here they are:
1. Reverse the path to disease! Rebuild the nerve force by changing stress and strain components.
2. Detoxify the whole system; lymph, skin, lungs, bowel, kidneys, liver.
3. Eat for regeneration, introducing higher quality foods.
4. Eat close to nature, 75% + of unrefined, unfired plant based diet full of enzymes.
5. Alkalinize your system; avoid processed and refined acidic forming foods.
6. Support the body, mind, emotions and spirit with positive energy.
7. Take self-responsibility for noticing the feedback from your body.
8. Eat more fruits and vegetables in rainbow colors; whole grains, beans, raw nuts and seeds, sprouts, fresh juices, raw foods all high in fiber, enzymes, antioxidants, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals naturally!! Drink plenty of pure water! Choose organically grown and vine-ripened food
9. Exercise, relax, sleep well, meditate, pray....stay in balance!
10. Supplement your diet with Juice Plus+ whole food nutrition.
She talked a lot on stress and how that can mess with your body and cause strain physically and mentally. She said that the more stress in your life can cause a lowered nerve force which can lead to Defective waste elimination (gross I know but important for a healthy body) and when that happens you can have toxemia. Toxemia has many symptoms like headaches, insomnia, irritability, fluid retention, inflammation, constipation, bad breath and allergies. She said when we have these symptoms we go to the doctor or the pharmacy and we take pills or have surgery which doesn't fix the problem. We have to find ways to deal with our stress.
She talked about how an animal based diet closes arteries and a plant based diet opens arteries. Diet is the only cure for heart disease and when we have a better diet our bodies are naturally healthy. A plant based diet can strengthen your immune system.
She talked briefly on the Rainbow diet but there is a book called What color is your diet? I think I might want to check that one out.
(As you'll notice, these are just snippets of what she said, thats because I'm just putting on here what I got notes on.)
She talked about how positive energy changes your life.
You should eat close to nature such as fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, whole grains, legumes. Fresh produce is the best because cooking vegetables takes the nutrients out them. Those nutrients are what make your body work to the best of its ability. She showed us a lot of books by Humbart Santillo who I think is the creater of Juice Plus+ but I can't remember.
She pointed out that we should be eating 9-13 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, I know I'm not eating that.
Our diet should consist of 20-25% of Acid forming foods and 75-80% of Alkaline forming foods. I have never heard of this before. We need to test our body PH. You can look up a list of those foods online.
The darkest and deepest leafy greens and veggies. The more pixels the better. Eat as many as you can. You can't eat too many.
So these are the notes I took on the seminar. I'm definitely looking into this further because the things she said made sense. I want to do my own research and see what gives me more energy and makes my body work better. I have also heard of eating to your blood type. People with A type blood need more fruits and veggies for energy and O type blood individuals need more protein and need to keep their energy up. That will be tough for our family because my husband is O and I am A. He craves meet and I don't. I might need to start changing our menus around.
Read more on Juice Plus+ online because it seemed to be a good product giving you your serving of fruits and veggies in 4 pills a day 2 veggies and 2 fruits. I know that I do plan on going through my cupboards and cleaning out the processed foods and fatty things we have had stored in there secretly.

And I'm back!!!

2011-07-14T11:04:00.001-07:00

I got up this morning determined to run since I did take a break yesterday. However I did not take a break from exercising, I still did the work out group which was just painful because of how sore I am. So this morning I got up and decided to run the same route that I used run last year, and I really wanted to run the whole thing because that meant it would be 3 miles. Well I finished the route and then I went a little further! I ran 3.41 miles!! Thats how far I was running last year. And last year it took me a month to get that far! It only took me five days! I'm so excited. I felt so good when I finished. Last year I wasn't eating well and now I'm doing better, so combine that with running over 3 miles and I'll be losing weight in no time.

Tabs on exercising

2011-07-12T22:35:00.001-07:00

Today I ran 2.47 miles and did an hour of Body Pump at the gym. My body hurts all over. I might need a break tomorrow.

Slowly getting there

2011-07-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I walked a few laps then I ran a mile, the stadium is locked for stupid reasons but I'm determined to keep trying to use it. Today it was locked again so I came home and ran around the block and when I mapped it out I ran 1.67 miles. At that point I could have kept going but Jesús needed to leave for work and Elena was already awake. It was a nice cool 70 degrees which made it easier too. Lets see if I can keep it up tomorrow.

The running has begun!

2011-07-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

I went to the stadium today and ran 3 laps which is 3/4 of a mile. Kind of sad when I think that last year I was running over 4 miles. However, I need to not think about that and just focus on now. My very good friend Trish was with me to push me that last lap. It was tough because it was already 82 degrees at 6 in the morning. So we ran 3/4 of a mile and walked 1 and 1/4 mile then we did the stadium stairs for about 10 minutes. That was even more tough. My legs now feel like jelly but I came home and had a healthy breakfast which I am going to track on Spark People. Lets hope this is the beginning of something beautiful.

I've decided

2011-07-03T17:59:00.000-07:00

Its time to buy a scale. I have only weighed myself on the Wii and I'm not even sure its accurate but that was also quite awhile ago. I think seeing my actual weight will scare me into starting to run. Tomorrow is a holiday but that just means I can get started on Tuesday. Here's hoping I can get back to running 4 miles again. Also I've been thinking about buying a bike, thoughts?

So those recipes...

2011-07-03T14:39:00.001-07:00

Ok so I thought I would do these in the order of my favorites but I can't decide which one would be first so I'm just doing them in random order.

This is a Chipotle Turkey Burger. It wasn't a recipe we found anywhere, just something we came up with. We took 1 lb of ground turkey (not fat free, it bbq's too dry) then added an egg, maybe a cup and a half of fresh bread crumbs, maybe a third of a cup of dijon mustard, dried minced onion ( I add alot because it adds so much flavor) and some salt and pepper. We just bbq'd the patties on the grill and then my husband mixed a little adobo sauce with some mayo and we added a slice of provolone cheese and tomatoes. It was pretty dang good. I can't tell you what is on the shrimp because my husband created that rub but it was maybe some citrusy rub and then he bbq'd those too. Very tasty! Dont forget to use whole wheat buns!

If some one pointed a gun to my head and made me pick a favorite out of this list, the stuffed portobello mushrooms would be at the top of my list. So divine.
1 small yellow sweet pepper, cut in bite size strips
1 small red onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, coarsely shredded
1 carrot, coarsely shredded
1 stalk of celery thinly sliced (I did not use celery because I think its gross)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 to 3 TB of olive oil
1 TB snipped fresh basil
1 TB lemon juice
1 5 ounce package baby spinach
1/2 cup finely shredded bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
4 4 to 5 inch portobello mushroom caps stems and gills removed
4 slices provolone cheese
pre-heat oven to 425. Line 15x10 pan with foil. In a 12 inch skillet cook and stir sweet pepper, onion, zucchini, carrot, celery(yuck), garlic in olive oil on medium high heat for about 4 minutes. Stir in basil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Top with spinach and cover. Cook for 2 minutes then remove from heat. Stir in crumbs and half of the parmesan cheese. Set mixture aside. Arrange mushrooms on pan and top with a slice of provolone cheese. Divide the mixture onto each mushroom. Bake for 15 minutes then top with rest of parmesan cheese and cook for 2 more minutes. I'm telling you, divine.
This was probably not a favorite for my husband because he likes flashy meals and this was rather plain but I liked it. It calls for Fontina cheese which I could not find but maybe it adds a little oomph that my husband was looking for. I might try it with sundried tomatoes next time. You can find the recipe HERE.
This has been one of my favorite lunches. Its a BLT salad and its quick to make and even my two year old eats it like crazy. The dressing is my favorite part. You can find this recipe HERE.
This is something that I saw on the Eating Well website then I just let my husband run free with it. We took 1 lb ground turkey, 1 zucchini chopped, 1 can water chestnuts, chopped( I'm not sure if they come chopped, I think we always chop them) 1 can bamboo shoots chopped, 2 teaspoons powdered ginger, a few tablespoons of soy sauce and a few table spoons of Hoisin sauce (its our new favorite thing) salt and pepper to taste and maybe a little hot sauce if you want a kick. Cook the ground turkey then throw in everything else and cook until the zucchini is cooked all the way through. I hope I'm remembering everything on this recipe because I'm not the one who makes it, my talented husband does. You can slice some green onions as a little garnish and then wrap it all up in a lettuce leaf. We ate this for mothers day because my mom really liked it.
This last one was also a little made up magic. We called it southwest pizza. We made some pizza dough ( I suggest whole wheat pizza dough but my husband isn't a fan so we made white flour pizza dough) Then we topped it with a homemade pizza sauce with tomato sauce garlic powder and dried minced onion and some adobo sauce to taste to add that smokey kick. We topped that with black beans and corn and chopped onion and some Monterey jack cheese. Then when it came out of the oven we sliced some avocado and added it to the pizza. It was really good, not much to it though.
I have a few other recipes that I haven't taken pictures of or I can't remember what recipes they are but I have pictures of them. This is a good start though.

Dinner Recipes

2011-06-30T17:26:00.001-07:00

A have tried some new recipes but I haven't blogged them and I dont really have time but I wanted to get the pictures up so I could remember which ones I need the recipes for. So here is just a sneak peek at what we've been eating.

A new summer

2011-06-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

This summer will be like last summer but with some changes. I will of course be running again, as soon as I'm feeling better and I can get over to BC stadium, I will be exercising at the church with friends also so thats double the exercise. I will also be eating better which I didn't do very much last summer, my meals were healthy but in between I snacked like crazy. I'm going to have to figure out how to make sure I keep my eating to just healthy things and only for little meals about 6 times a day. Maybe a schedule and reward system? I'm aching to get out and run or at least walk for now. Hopefully soon.

Well I was on a roll

2011-04-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

I exercised for 4 days straight and even when I was running I rarely did it for days straight. But last week I didn't exercise at all because I was sick the whole week. At first it was light flu like symptoms and I did what was necessary and then got in bed. The end of the week was strange nausea and I tried to get up to work out at the church and I gave up after 10 minutes of trying to get ready. So last week sucked but I am determined to get right back up and keep going. I worked out this morning at the church and I'm sure I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

I would really like to start running again but the only thing I'm worried about is people and dogs. I'm nervous about who I am going to run into on the street. I really want to go back to BC stadium and run the track. Maybe I'll try that as soon as preschool is out.
I keep looking back at the times when I could have just kept on the right track I was on and I wouldn't be like how I am today. But I can't look at the past, the only thing I can change is now and what I continue to do. I need to get a scale, like yesterday.

Getting back to exercising

2011-03-30T16:13:00.000-07:00

Even though my eating is about the same, I have tried harder to work out. I started working out last Thursday with a group of friends and from now on we will be working out Tuesdays and Thursdays. It feels good to work out with others and one of them is an aerobics instructor and she is awesome. I know I'm not going to skip a workout knowing they are there. I also was feeling a little down a couple of weeks ago and Jesús and I agreed that we needed to try a new work out video. I got the Jillian Michaels Ultimate workout for Christmas but it didn't give me the workout I needed so we got this new one recommended by a good friend. I have used it twice this week, Monday and Wednesday, the days I'm on my own to work out and it gives me a great work out. You work with resistance bands and it has a heart monitor. It tells you how many calories you have burned and how long you've worked out. So far I'm loving the new Wii work out and I hope I can keep it up. If I work out on my own Monday Wednesday and Friday and go with friends on Tuesdays and Thursdays and maybe go for a jog Saturday mornings then I think I will be on my way.

Next up: work on eating

Disappointment

2011-03-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've been a little scared to get back to this blog lately. Mostly because I am depressed and disappointed in myself, because after all my hard work last summer, I am sure I have gained back all the weight, and I can barely run a full mile without wanting to drop dead. I eat non stop and I hate myself all the time because of it. I'm ashamed that I let all that hard work go right down the crapper. I'm too afraid to get back on a scale. I have no time to exercise. Even though I don't really buy fattening foods I eat everything I see. I got rid of all my fat clothes so now I have nothing to wear. When I finally get the guts to get back on a scale and post it maybe that will finally be me breaking through this barrier and my start back to a healthier me. Till then.....

Getting my run on

2010-08-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

I am finally up to 3.17 miles and it feels good. The heat is making it hard to run so this week has been a tough one with only one running day so far but it will be cooling down and I will be hitting the streets again. Wanna join me?

A few failures and a triumph

2010-08-13T20:29:00.001-07:00

I have been trying new recipes for a while but I hit a slump with some bad ones. They were really bland and needed something added to them. I plan on trying them again before I put them up. But tonight was a good one.It is called South Pacific Shrimp and you can find the recipe here. The only thing I did differently is instead of peppers I added some japanese hot sauce and still tasted very good. It actually reminded me of a meal that my sister brought back from Thailand for me. All the seasoning was packaged and all I had to do was buy coconut milk and chicken and some eggplant. We put it over rice, I prefer brown rice but we didnt have enough so we put it over white rice. Very good.

On the Running Front

2010-08-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

I ran 2.83 miles last week. My goal is 3 miles and I am so close. Unfortunately I got pretty sick this week and am still getting my strength back so I had not run since last Wednesday. Today my dear friend and cheerleader Trish got me to run two miles. It was hard since it had been over a week but I finished the two miles and now its time to get to 3. Hopefully by the end of next week. Run run run!

Finally I'm not overweight

2010-07-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

I weighed myself on the Wii this morning. I'm wondering how accurate it is. But I did it twice and it was only a few ounces off. So according to the Wii I am now 154 and I am no longer in the overweight category. I have been running at BC Stadium and I finally ran a mile last week. I also run/walk the stairs. I actually felt like I was gaining weight each week and I thought that couldn't be possible since I was exercising so much. I wasn't eating great but it wasn't extreme. I think I was just retaining water or something. I hiked somewhere around 11 miles in the mountains this week and hopefully that helped too. Hopefully I can keep this up and improve my eating and the rest of the weight will just melt off. I also need to work on toning. I registered for the Volkslauf so I have a goal I have to reach by Oct 2nd. I have to be able to run 3 miles. I also have to be strong enough to pull myself over those 10 ft. walls. We'll see.

One New and One Old

2010-06-17T14:19:00.001-07:00

Let me start with the old recipe. I have made this once before and we liked it but this time it was soooo much better because I made some changes. I got this recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cook book and you can get it here but I will tell you the changes I made.
First I made a whole wheat pizza crust instead of all white flour. You can get a recipe for whole wheat pizza crust anywhere. The Eating Well website has a good one. I cant remember which one I used but next time I will try one that only calls for whole wheat flour and no white flour. I also didnt use any meat, it was vegetarian. I made the crust then baked it for a few minutes. Then I took some black refried beans and heated them up in a pan with some fat free milk, maybe half a cup to soften them up and make them easier to spread. I spread the beans on the crust and then spread taco bell sauce over the beans and added the green chiles and cheese. I baked that for maybe 4 minutes then pulled it out and added the lettuce and tomatoes. I only used half of the dough so the crust was pretty thin but it was really good.

Next is the new recipe. These are called Spiced Apple Cider muffins. They were really good. It calls for maple syrup which I didn't have but they were fine with out it and even fewer calories from the missing sugar.
Here is the recipe

Spiced Apple Cider Muffins

Streusel:

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
4 teaspoons whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Muffins:

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup apple butter, such as Smucker's
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup apple cider
1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.

To prepare streusel: Mix brown sugar, whole-wheat flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in walnuts, if using.

To prepare muffins: Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.

Whisk egg and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in apple butter, syrup, cider, yogurt and oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they'll be quite full). Sprinkle with the streusel.

Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

I had a feeling...

2010-06-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last month when I weighed in I had a feeling the Wii was wrong. I need to buy a scale. So when I got on this morning it said I had lost 6.4 lbs but the weight was 168. So I think last month was way wrong. However I am in the 160's and I am still closer to my goal than I was a year ago.

Two new Breakfast Ideas

2010-05-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

This time I took pictures. Yesterday I made Hot Autumn Apple Oatmeal. It was really good. I didnt have bananas but it was good anyway.

Hot Autumn Apple Oatmeal

INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon butter
1/2 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
1/2 large banana, sliced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 cup skim milk
3 fresh raspberries (or blackberries)

PREPARATION

Heat butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add half of the amount of chopped apple, banana and cinnamon. Cook, stirring often, until apple softens, 3 to 4 minutes. Add oats, honey and milk. Bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to low and cook until oats are soft, about 1 minute. Top with berries and remaining apple and serve.

The skinny

351 calories per serving, 7.2 g fat (2.6 g saturated), 70.6 g carbs, 8.1 g fiber, 8.9 g protein

Then this morning I made a recipe for Breakfast cookies. They were really good too and the kids loved them. I didn't put walnuts in them but thats ok because I dont like them.

Cookies for Breakfast

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup (1 small jar) strained carrot baby food
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup bran cereal flakes
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup walnut pieces, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for 2 minutes, until fragrant and chopped

Directions

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Combine butter, oil and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed, scraping down sides if necessary, until sugars have dissolved and mixture is light in color, about 1 minute. Add egg, carrot puree and vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and beat an additional 30 seconds. Add oats, flakes, raisins and walnuts and mix over low speed just until incorporated. Dough will be slightly sticky and less cohesive than traditional cookie dough. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using between 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter, form a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, leaving about 3 inches between cookies. Wet hands and use palm of hand to flatten cookies until about 1/4-inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are fragrant but still soft. Let cookies cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tell me what you think!!

Not just dinner

2010-05-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

So what I have discovered on this road of weight loss is that you are not just supposed to eat healthy at dinner but ALL DAY! Unbelievable! So I have been on the look out for recipes for breakfast and lunch. I have a small collection of breakfast recipes that I am starting to try. First I tried scrambled eggs rancheros and I'm sure it would have been tasty if I hadnt burnt the eggs. The kids make me burn thing, I swear I'm not a bad cook. Here is the recipe:

Scrambled Eggs Rancheros

INGREDIENTS

2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons part-skim mozzarella
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon extra light olive oil
8 tablespoons tomato salsa
1 slice whole-wheat toast
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro (optional)

PREPARATION

Combine egg whites, whole egg, beans, cheese, onion, salt, pepper and paprika in a bowl. Warm oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add egg mixture and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook without stirring until eggs begin to set, 2 to 3 minutes. Top with salsa; cover and cook until egg is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer toast to a plate and top with eggs; garnish with cilantro, if desired.

The skinny

363 calories per serving, 12.7 g fat (3.7 g saturated), 37.7 g carbs, 7.4 g fiber, 25.2 g protein

This morning I tried Pumpkin Muesli which wasnt too bad. Next time I will try it with Vanilla yogurt instead of plain and I added some spices to the pumpkin puree like cinnamon and ground cloves. Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Muesli

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 sliced fresh strawberry
2 tablespoons slivered almonds

PREPARATION

Combine pumpkin and oats in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 20 seconds; set aside 10 minutes (so liquid will be absorbed). Mix yogurt, honey and zest in another bowl. Swirl in pumpkin mixture and top with berries and almonds.

The skinny

377 calories per serving, 8.5 g fat (1 g saturated), 66.8 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 12.4 g protein

Tell me what you think and any ideas you have to spice them up. I'll post more as I try them.

To my surprise

2010-05-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

I got on our Wii scale yesterday and I had lost 10.8 lbs between April and May!! I was in shock. I felt I was sort of out of the running for our weight loss competition when my brother came to town looking like a million bucks while I had just gained 5 lbs. I told him it wasn't fair that he can lose all this weight because he doesnt have kids and he can go running whenever he wants while I have to just wait until some one can watch them. He said he hadn't been exercising just eating smaller portions and the right foods. So I have tried my best this month to do that and now it paid off! I am more motivated than ever. I dont ever remember being in the 160's.

Turkey Black bean burgers

2010-05-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

I changed this recipe up a bit. We used to eat it with ground beef but last night I tried it with ground turkey and I thought it was awesome.
What you will need:
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 egg
1 can black beans
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn
one small bunch chopped cilantro
2/3 cups lime juice
2 tomatoes diced
chopped onion seasoning
salt and pepper
Italian seasoning mix

Directions: First I like to throw the peppers in the food processor because it brings out a lot of the liquid. After they are nice and chopped I put them on a paper towel to press out the rest of the liquid. The liquid in the peppers make the meat fall apart. When they are as dry as you can get them mix them together with the ground turkey meat, eggs, salt pepper, chopped onion seasoning, if you want to throw anything else in there like cumin or a little bit of cayenne or chili powder then go for it, it will only make it taste better. Mix together and form into patties. Turkey meat has to be a little thicker if you are going to BBQ or else it falls apart. Broil for 10 minutes or BBQ for....I'm not sure, the husband did that part. Next add the rest of the ingredients into a bowl and mix well creating your black bean topping. I buy whole wheat flat buns for less calories and my husband even toasts them. Put the turkey on the bun, top with turkey and black bean mixture and we even add avocado instead of cheese for some healthy fat. Enjoy!

Recipe from my book

2010-03-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

We tried some of the recipes from our new "Eat this not that" book and one of my favorites so far is the Turkey and Guac burgers. I think they were really yummy. Jesús barbecued the turkey patties and I made the guacamole. We are big fans of guacamole over here. Here is the finished product. All you need is some whole wheat buns, ground turkey, homemade guacamole and Sargento low fat swiss cheese. Good stuff.

New recipe and my new favorite book

2010-03-04T22:03:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, I snatched this recipe of my moms kitchen counter. My sister told me that it was a very good recipe. It is now my favorite recipe. It's called Chicken and Black Bean tostadas go here for the recipe. I changed it up a bit because I dont like radishes so instead I chopped up 2-3 tomatoes, and I made it tacos instead of tostadas. Doesn't that look tasty??? Good stuff, I promise. Now if you have not heard of it let me introduce you to my new favorite book. Its called "It This, Not That the Supermarket survival guide" I use it now for everything I buy. It tells you the best brands to buy of any product you can think of. I am thinking of buying some of the other books that are in the series. This book also offers some really good recipes we have tried two of them so far and they are very good and cheap! Its amazing how much weight you can loose just by eating healthier. I am also starting to do a little gardening so I think that will be a good way to get some exercising in. Jesus and I have talked about getting a treadmill so we can get exercise in even when we cant leave the house. If you want the recipes from this book without buying it let me know and I'll send you some.

How about a before and after

2010-02-10T15:06:00.001-08:00

This is from my heaviest to my lightest

Almost to 50

2010-02-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

So I weighed myself yesterday for my monthly check and to report for our family competition. I am down another 3.5 lbs and I am at 173. If I lose 3 more lbs I will have lost 50 lbs in all. I never thought I would see it but it motivates me even more. I have not been exercising but this just shows what a change in diet can do for your weight.

And back by request and at a perfect time I might add since St. Patricks day is just around the corner, my friend Julie requested the recipe for the Spinach Parmesan cakes. You can go here for the recipe. My advice maybe add some more garlic or change it up how you feel would make it more flavorful.
I also have a few new recipes I would like to add. One of my biggest problems lately is snacking. I am pretty cold but that might be because we keep the house at 65. If you're coming over bring a sweater! Well I keep snacking and mostly on junk. Not like hamburgers and fries and soda but the kids granola bars and fruit snacks that are full of sugar and high fructose corn syrup. So I was in desperate need to find some healthy filling snacks.
1. Probably my favorite is a new green herb hummus that we eat with whole wheat pita bread. You can go here for the recipe. I could eat it all day, but I won't because it fills me up.
2. little mini pizzas on whole wheat english muffins. Just put some veggies and homemade pizza sauce and light cheese.
3. For a drink I found this spiced iced tea. You can go here for the recipe. Obviously I didn't use alcohol and first I used mango herbal tea and that was ok then I used peach herbal tea and that was pretty tasty. I didnt use cloves with the peach tea and it was still really good.

I'm sure there is more but for now I cant remember. Exercise is not really going for me but I plan to start getting up early in the morning before everyone is up and either run or do a biggest loser video. I am feeling under the weather for now but as soon as I get my energy back I will have to start making it a habit. Even if I have to try to do it just for one week. Small steps.

I'm not sure how many people actually read this blog but I am grateful for those who do, I picture you at home pushing me forward. If you have any ideas for more snacks or meals please share, I love new ideas.

I have changed my goal

2010-01-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

I originally had my goal as 150 lbs but I am thinking that I would like to go for a little more. I am starting a competition with my Dad and brother Ben to hopefully get to our goal weights by the end of this year. The winner gets a weekend with their spouse in San Francisco. I want that. I also want something else but it wont come in the form of a vacation get away or a new wardrobe (although that would be nice), mine and Jesús' 10 year reunions are this year. His is in October and so that is my goal date. I want to look good for mine too but mostly I want him to have a hot wife on his arm. My new goal is to get to 140. I can do it, I've gotten this far. That means I have 36 lbs to go. There is plenty of time I just have to take every minute to remember what I want most. My weakness? Macaroni and cheese. When I ever I make it for the kids I have to taste it to make sure its stirred enough and then again to see if its too hot. Whatever is left after they are done, I finish it off, even when I have already had my lunch. I told my self today that I would not even taste it. I found myself scarfing it down out of habit! I have to stop. I have to. I worked out yesterday, and the kids just went down for a nap so I might go try and get in a workout now. That will make two days in a row. I will picture myself in a beautiful J Crew dress that I want badly and hopefully that will inspire me.

lightest ever

2010-01-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

I weighed myself today just to see and I am now at 176. That is the lightest I have weighed in probably 6 years. I had a couple of days when I went running but it has basically been eating better. Hopefully I can speed up this process.

I did it!

2009-12-23T12:48:00.000-08:00

I went walk/jogging for 3 miles today!! And I didnt die! It was incredible, it was really hard but at one point I said to myself "I can do this" once I got into my groove I felt like I could have run the whole thing, and then.......the bladder. Having kids has done awful things to my bladder and the muscles that keep me from embarrassing myself. I wish I would have thought of that before I left because I think I could have run the whole thing. In the end I think I ran at least half of it if not a little more. But now it won't be as scary the next time because I know what to expect. Wish me luck!!
P.S. Biggest loser was awesome last week or whenever the finale was, and last night where are they now was pretty good too. It got me motivated.

A little winter recipe

2009-12-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

I havent updated for a very good reason, I'm lazy. More like embarrassed that I havent exercised in something like 4 months. I know, bad me. I however havent done too bad on my eating habits. I have had a lot of bad days but I always make up for them with good days. I have done better the last few weeks but its not much good without exercise. I watched biggest loser finale last night and it inspired me to see the finalists at the end and how amazing they looked. I promise myself this season to limit my intake of sweets and donated goodies to a bare minimum and make sure my kids eat them to hike up their sugar levels to create holiday cheer and craziness. I will be sure to make sure they run circles around the house to work off all the extra calories and to brush extra hard. Now coming to my point, I have a really good soup recipe. It's almost like chili but not. Its called 3 bean soup and its pretty low fat.

Here is a picture of the final product. I added another can of chicken broth to make it more soupy and so did my mom. It makes plenty, for leftovers. (You might want to make it in a bigger pan than I did)

Just a quick update

2009-11-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

I have been terrified to weigh myself because I have not, NOT, been exercising. So I have had good and bad days of eating healthy but still I did not want to weigh myself. Today I took Patrick to the doctor and I was staring at the scale in the exam room and I decided to bite the bullet. Turns out I am two pounds lighter! Weird!! I'm not complaining, in fact now I am more determined to keep going. Hopefully I can make the effort during our big move.

New recipe ideas

2009-10-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have tried a couple of new things, I dont think I have kept track of them all but here are a few ideas. First, I am a new convert of Tabouleh and couscous. Its healthy and very tasty. It much more filling if you put it in a salad or a lettuce wrap.

Another thing I made the other night was Spinach and Parmesan cakes. I thought they were pretty good but Jesús felt maybe they needed a little something. I made some rice pilaf to go with them and I thought it was perfectly filling.

I loved how colorful they were. A perfect St. Patricks day dinner!
I also got on the scales yesterday and found I had bounced back to 183 which isnt too bad considering how badly I have been eating and not exercising. So now I plan to get back on track and drop those 33 lbs I still have to lose. After that, maybe a new goal? But first I need to tackle the task at hand.

I need to post, badly

2009-10-12T22:31:00.001-07:00

Okay, its been a tough couple of months. I started working out about 3 times a week and I was feeling much better about my progress. Unfortunately I got sick and so is everyone else in our house. My chest is so congested that I cant breath, if I start to get my heart rate up I cant seem get enough oxygen. So I have had about 3 weeks of absolutely no exercising besides cleaning and chasing kids. I hope I am getting better, I feel that its not nearly as bad as it was and my cough is almost all gone. Hopefully I can use this one more week to get all better and then next week I am going to start again. I know it will be difficult because I will have to go through being sore again but it will be worth it. My husband got the date for his 10 year reunion next year, so now I know my cut off line to be my hottest. I even have the dress I want to wear picked out in my sisters J.Crew catalog. I can do it. I just have to push it.

On my way!

2009-08-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

I have lost 2 lbs since last week. HOT DOG. I just have to keep exercising.

2009-08-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

I weighed myself this month and to my surprise I hadnt gained anything or lost anything. Good. At least I wasnt doing terribly bad. I however have been inspired by several things. I was watching the Bachelorette and I cant believe how stinkin skinny she is! Im so jealous because she can wear so much cute clothes. I think being over weight limits what I can wear and even if I find something cute and it fits, it looks like a tent. After losing so much weight that problem seems to be going away but I still see it in the old clothes I have. So I want to lose weight to not only be healthy but to wear cute clothes. Dont we all? Another thing is I have my ten year reunion coming up next year and I want to look hot. I have always wanted to buy a dress but with such a poochy stomach that just isnt possible. So I plan on losing weight so I can look hot at my ten year reunion and at my husbands ten year reunion. She should definitely have some arm candy. Last is my sister. She lives an extremely healthy life. And as a result she has a body that I envy. She has the occasional treat, but I bet it makes it so much worth it to know you have done so well you deserve such a tasty indulgence. Dont you think? Luckily she has let me work out with her the past two days and it is such a help to me to have her there to push me. I need that. I have some yummy meals I have made. One is Couscous with sundried tomatoes and feta cheese and artichoke hearts. I added eggplant but I probably wont do that next time.Really good with some steamed veggies on the side. Another thing was Fried green tomato BLT's. So good. I dont have a picture, probably because I ate it too fast but I highly recommend trying it out. Click here for the recipe.

Back on track

2009-07-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

So now that we are down one motorcycle, the only car left is mine and since Jesus cant drive, Im driving him to work. I wasnt too excited about this but it has given me a chance to get up early and exercise before the kids are up. Patrick woke up about 5 minutes after I did this morning which means I dont get to work out but I was at least able to stretch and lift weights a little bit. Hopefully I can continue to use this new development to my advantage. Our eating has gotten a lot better and I have collected a lot of good recipes to use. So wish us luck!!

With no time

2009-07-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

So having to take care of two kids and a damaged husband has been stressful and time consuming so eating healthy eating has been difficult to commit to and exercise has been put on the back burner until my schedule has thinned out a little. I will try my best to be as healthy as possible and now that its not as crazy as it was the first few days, I can cut out the fast food and soda and go back to making all of my meals (except for those ones that people have dropped by and will drop by. Those people are awesome!) However I wont be surprised if I dont do very well this month. Maybe with the husband home for a while, he can entertain the kids while I go walking or something. Cross your fingers!

Failure

2009-07-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

I got up really early this morning to work out, the first time in 28 days. I was excited to be up early and I turned on my Wii fit and it weighed me. I was so disappointed. I have gained weight. Yep, I messed up. I guess the breast feeding thing where I lose weight from eating healthy and breast feeding has come to an end. I have also been doing really bad at eating the last week. I have had a root beer float almost every day. How bad is that??!!! I was just asking for it. I had too much pasta and cheese and ate too much chocolate. So back to living life completely healthy and hopefully this is day one of many of getting up early and working out.

mmmmmmm

2009-06-30T10:18:00.001-07:00

I have been on a veggie kick which is a good thing. I have been making most of our dinners with vegetables and I have collected a few yummy recipes. I have one that I tried the other night that Jesús loved (which is usually my ultimate goal). The recipe was chicken and summer veggie tostadas, Jesús said that he loved it and I actually believed him this time. I changed it up a little to make it the way we like it. Click here for the recipe.

Woot!

2009-06-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am 4 days late on weighing myself. However Im down from 181 to 177!!!! Hooray!! I cant remember the last time I was in the 170's! Now if I can just get an exercise schedule maybe it would happen even faster. I cant seem to get up early and I cant seem to remember to do it while the kids are napping. Its hard when I get that time to myself, I would much rather sit down and relax rather than start moving around even more. Maybe I can start walking in the morning. I love walking in the morning and I miss my walking partner from two years ago. Katy, you should move over here! So I am still losing weight and I am not even exercising, other than chasing after kids all day, so all I needed to do was change my diet. Now that I am getting the healthy eating down my body is just naturally getting down to the weight it should. Yay!! Feeling healthy!

Its Almost that time again

2009-06-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

I've decided I will weigh myself monthly, I like to see big changes and thats the best bet. Once I am sure I am doing things correctly then I will start weekly. The last few weeks have been a little tough because of holidays and family has been in town and then last week we all got the stomach flu. Fun! Im pretty sure I lost few lbs the day I was sick because the only thing I ate was water and 4 crackers. I have been doing pretty good with eating healthy, its just the exercising that I cant seem to get on track. We have had some pretty good dinners. Jesús made Eggplant Parmesan the other night and it was really good. I made something yummy a couple nights ago. The original recipe was Asparagus and Shrimp Penne but I didnt want to buy shrimp so I made it a vegetarian meal. I cooked the Asparagus in some Garlic and herb salad dressing then added thin slices of red pepper, chopped artichoke hearts and fresh chopped spinach. I cooked 2 cups of Penne and then added it all together and added some mozerella cheese and let it melt. It was so dang good, the only problem was to only have one bowl.

I want to be a loser too!

2009-05-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

A Biggest Loser That is!! Yeah, I really enjoy watching that show. It gets me all inspired to eat better and be healthy. I guess a lot of people weren't really happy that Helen won but you know what, I love that she lost all the weight and I totally love Tara!! She looks so amazing and Mike!! Wow!!! Now he can enjoy life as a thin hot kid! Ok and when Jerry walked out I almost cried. I honestly started tearing up.

So thats good, just more motivation for me. The most difficult thing for me lately is getting on an exercise schedule. We have Wii fit so that makes it easier for me to do it at home and I have gotten a really good workout with it. Its not the same as going running and lifting weights and all that but it teaches Yoga, strength training, it has step aerobics and other kinds of calorie burning techniques. I am sore from doing hula hoop exercises yesterday. Ouch!! So my biggest goal is getting on a work out routine. I want to get up at 6:00 when Jesús gets up and go work out. That way I can get it done everyday without worrying about the kids.

My other problem is my chocolate craving, which was non-existant until after Elena was born. Now I have it all the time. I have found a way to indulge without feeling guilty.

Kashi makes some really good snack food. I have recently purchased some of their granola bars and they are really yummy. I had one today that was pumpkin pie, HOLY HEAVENS!!!! It was quite yummy. They also have chocolate and peanut butter and whole bunch of other kinds. Special K also makes really good snack bars that satisfy my sweet tooth.

Snacking can be a diet breaker so before you open that cupboard and find something that will make you weep like a little girl later as you stare at the numbers on the scale(I know, I've done that before), make sure the cupboard is only filled with healthy but yummy things. The only hard part then will be to only eat ONE!

The good and the bad

2009-05-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well we took a road trip to Disneyland and in retrospect I have discovered something else I need to work on. I still need to eat healthy even on road trips! We ate when we got to the hotel, pizza. But I think I did ok, I only had 2 pieces which is good portion control, but the fact that it was pizza makes me feel like I didnt do a very good job.

When we got into Disneyland I think I did well, for lunch instead of getting a burger or fried french fries I got a turkey sandwich on Focaccia bread and as a side, apples. We drank a lot of water that day, mostly because if we didnt we were going to pass out from the heat but I didnt buy any churros or chocolate covered anything.

On the way home we did stop at Jack-in-the-Box for dinner and I got a hamburger with fries. Not a good idea since I was going to be sitting in a car for the next two hours and not doing anything to work it off. I do feel better knowing that we were walking for most of the day and I was carrying a 16lb baby around the park.

I havent updated my recipe for the day because I wanted to post this recipe I got from epicurious.com. Its Penne with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and baby arugula. The only real fattening part about this meal is its made with a type of bacon and you are supposed to make it with heavy cream. I did use the bacon which in the future I probably wont which will make it a good vegitarian meal and I used whole milk instead of heavy cream. It was really yummy, and I dont think I have ever used arugula before. It was actually arugula and spinach mixed. I didnt use as much parmesean as it asked for and it was still really good. And there was enough left over for Jesús to take to work. I think this meal was a 4 Star meal!! Go HERE for the recipe.

A picture of the finished product

Tip for today:

I’ll Have a Small, Please

Never order anything larger than a “small.” This goes for sodas, movie theater popcorn,
ice cream cones, fries or anything else that is sized-up for sale. You may be surprised to find
that a small is just as satisfying as the “super” or “jumbo.” Try to eat slowly and savor the taste
and texture of every bite. An added benefit is that you’ll find yourself saving money as well as
calories.

Comments

2009-05-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

If you have tried to leave a comment, Im sorry for some reason it wasnt working. I have hopefully fixed the problem but email me if you have any further problems.

On another note, I received a great comment from Rachel Hansen. Veggies!! Eat everything with veggies. It will fill you up without the calories. Find a veggie you like and use that as a side for your meals. If you fill up on veggies than you won't eat so much of the unhealthy stuff.

P.S. Watching biggest loser is inspiring me even more!! Love that show!!

First Mistake

2009-05-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I did pretty well. Then dinner hit and it all went downhill. So I guess thats what I need to work on. Breakfast was good and healthy, Kashi makes really good natural food. I recently bought their Strawberry fields cereal and its natural and healthy and most important, it tastes good.

Lunch was a tasty black bean and chicken salad. My sister gave me this idea. Canned black beans and canned chicken (or fresh chicken if that sounds better) put a little bit of taco seasoning, and I like to add some salsa verde for a little kick and more flavor. Chop some lettuce and add a little(keyword- little) shredded jack cheese. Very tasty.

Another good lunch idea is the frozen Smart Ones meals. You know exactly the portion you're eating. My favorite is the Sante Fe rice and beans and its even better over lettuce. Yummy!

Then dinner hit and with Jesus being out of town I made the mistake of making fattening pasta and that means I made enough for two and practically ate enough for two. Bad plan. So I guess thats something I need to plan on, when Jesus is out of town I need to make sure I make smaller portions and probably no pasta. A portion is only 1/2 a cup so I ate way too much. Portion control is an important key to losing weight.

So I need to work on a few things but if I put them out there I will know what my mistakes are and I can fix them.

Maybe trying to measure out a few meals I will know just how much I should eat. So thats my new goal.

Welcome

2009-05-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

After staring in the mirror I came to a conclusion, I want to be healthy. It just so happens that I am overweight and I am dedicating this blog to the road to my transformation. My heaviest weight, not being pregnant, is 217. Not good. I am currently at 181 which is a weight I havent seen since 2004. I am not proud of posting this weight but its a reality that I am facing.

I am on track but the point is to stay on track. I am a busy wife and mother and making sure I live healthy is difficult when its easier to just stop at a fast food place to grab a quick bite to eat on the way to my next errand.

I will post recipes and exercise tips that work for me. We all know the way to healthy weight loss and it shouldnt come in a pill bottle. Sure a pill might get you to lose weight but it doesnt teach you how to live a healthy lifestyle to keep the weight off.

So visit here for tips and ideas and hopefully my progress will inspire someone.

Now go have a glass of water!!