Senin, 26 April 2010

Period Talk, Baby Talk, and My Weigh In.... :)

It's been a rough 3 weeks. I've been all out of whack, and pretty confused:

Around April 5th, I was all excited to see a little glimpse of Aunt Flow, and I was certain she was making an appearance. I had extremely light spotting (it wasn't even enough to call spotting... most people probably wouldn't have even noticed it, but me, being obsessed with the subject, and always checking to see if I got my monthly gift like an excited child on Christmas morning, I did spot it;). It didn't even last for a whole 2 days. What did last, were all the symptoms, minus the actual period.

For the past 3 weeks, I've been:
Tired, hungry, thirsty (way thirsty), crampy, emotional, gassy (shhh! I've been blaming it on the dog) and my bubbies have been ultra sensitive! Like ultra X 2.

It was all rather confusing.
Was I having a 3 week long period, minus the bleeding?
Could I be pregnant?Nope.

The digital pregnancy test was cheaper then the kind I normally buy (I'm sure I alone have made the pregnancy test people rich)
I stood in the pregnancy isle, (feeling like the entire store had stopped to look at me buying a pregnancy test), wondering if I should pay more, to have the less abrupt answer....

I can handle, one line or two, a plus or a negative. The digital pregnancy test on the other hand, is a little more... rude! It's either, "Pregnant", or "NOT Pregnant" In plain english.
Can't it say, "I'm sorry, you're not pregnant YET, but it'll happen :)"
I guess that would be hard to fit onto that little screen, huh?

Then, to make myself feel even more stupid, my period came the day after taking the test. Awesome.

I'm still a little confused, as I thought I had a period like 21 days ago (is that what they call a 21 day cycle???), and I'm not sure why I've had period symptoms ever since, but Aunt Flow is definitely here (and this time it's brutal. I need me some midol).

I still get very excited, when I have a period on my own. It just doesn't get old :) This month (maybe even twice this month?) my body did what it was supposed to! I feel like I'm curing myself of my PCOS, by simply living a Deliciously Healthy lifestyle! Since living healthy, I've had 4 periods!! Like totally all on my own! That makes me so happy!

Why does this make me happy?
Because May=The "official" start of trying to have a family!
AHHH! That gives me all sorts of butterflies!

With PCOS, you don't produce enough hormones to produce an egg.
No ovulation=no period
.
Before, when I'd only have 1 or 2 periods a year, it meant I only ovulated 1-2 times a year. Kinda scary when you're wanting to start a family. Since living Deliciously Healthy, I've had
4 periods in 6 months!
Period=Ovulation
!
Which is totally awesome news when you're about to start trying to get pregnant, in like a couple weeks!

I'm going to stay on my diet, until I get pregnant. After I get pregnant, my plan is to continue to eat healthy, so I can have a Deliciously Healthy pregnancy. I'm going to ask my fertility specialist if it's okay to be on a diet when trying to get pregnant. I don't think being on a diet is doing anything harmful to my body, that would prevent me from getting pregnant. I think being on a diet makes me healthier. I've also heard of lots of people getting pregnant while trying to lose weight... but I'm going to ask just to make sure.

I would like to be between 150-170 when I get pregnant.

What am I today? 178. Boo! I blame it on Thumbalina (my dog). Okay, okay... I blame it on Aunt Flow? How about my husband for taking me out on a date, and insisting that I order dessert? I mean the man would not give up! Whatever it is, or who's ever fault it is (mine. What?! Did I say that?), it needs to change. I have like what, 3 weeks to lose 8 pounds? That way if I get pregnant next month (Typing that caused massive butterflies. But who gets pregnant the first month of trying?), I'll be within my goal weight range.

I need to bump it up a notch or 2!

I'm going to cut out my little extra snacking, between snackings, and I'm going to get moving! My goal is to walk for 15-20 minutes (depending on my knees), twice a day. Hopefully that will give me the little extra boost I need!

This is all rather exciting!

Senin, 19 April 2010

Tis The Season For Strawberries!

This past week, our local grocery store, had Strawberries on sale, for 10 for 10!

It was such a beautiful sign, that Winter is finally over!

I headed over to the strawberry stand, and picked out 10 beautiful cartons of strawberries!

Hmmm. What to do with 10 cartons of strawberries?

First, my husband and I and ate almost an entire carton of strawberries, all by themselves! Gosh, they are so good!
After our little strawberry feast, I froze 3 of them, to make yummy strawberry smoothies later! Can't wait for that goodness!

The next day, I met up with two of my friends, Betsy and Jill, so Jill could teach us how to make strawberry freezer jam! I was blown away at how easy it was!To make one batch, you need 45 strawberries, which for me, was 3 cartons.

First, you put about 15 strawberries at a time into a blender, and pulse until it's a chunky/smooth consistency. Then you pour all your blended strawberries into a bowl. In another bowl, mix sugar, and fruit pectin together. Then just add that to your strawberries, mix for 3 minutes (stirring constantly), pour into 4 containers, and then put them into the freezer! You can keep them in the freezer for up to a year, and it lasts in the fridge for up to 3 weeks!(When you buy the pectin, it has the directions on the back. I bought Ball no cook freezer jam fruit pectin, and these were the instructions they had on the back (in a little more detail of course;) If you buy another kind of pectin, the instructions may be different)

It's easier then it sounds...and it sounds pretty easy!
It's so easy, a cave man can do it! ;)

And seriously, it's the BEST strawberry jam, I've ever had! It tastes so....fresh! Having an english muffin with jam on it, has become a must every morning with my breakfast!It's also very economical!
I used 3 strawberry cartons, which were $1 each, and then I just had to buy the fruit pectin which was $1.50. So for 4 jars of strawberry jam, I spent $4.50!! Dude!

So, if strawberries go on sale where you live, you simply have to make some strawberry freezer jam! K?

The next thing I made with my strawberries, was a strawberry and spinach salad! :I got 1 bag of spinach, about 1/2 a cup of cubed mozzarella, a handful of sliced almonds, and 1 carton of sliced strawberries.

I got the idea to make strawberry dressing from another blog I read.
In a blender, I put in 5 large strawberries cut in half, fresh lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon,
drizzled agave nectar, added a dash of salt, and blended it all together, until it was nice and smooth!

I poured it over my salad, mixed everything together, and dug in! It was so light and fresh, and absolutely yummy!

Strawberries + mozzarella= HEAVEN!!
I had 2 cartons left.
So what did I do?
I dipped em in chocolate of course!I chopped up some semi-sweet chocolate, put it in a bowl, and put it in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time, until it was melted.

I was a little worried about using semi-sweet, since dark chocolate is the only kind of chocolate I don't like. I discovered that dark chocolate with strawberries is the exception! I also only dipped half the strawberry in chocolate to save on calories, but it also made it so the dark chocolate didn't overpower the strawberry.

I put them in the fridge, so I could have a perfect chocolaty, and deliciously healthy, quick snack, whenever I wanted!!

If you have some strawberries and chocolate left over, you should make Ellie Krieger's strawberry and chocolate stuffed french toast! Can you say, yum?!

I heart strawberries...

***

Today was weigh in day!

Today, I'm at 178!!

I already knew I had hit the 178 mark on Friday, when I weighed in for Tammy's weight loss challenge, so I wasn't that surprised this morning. BUT, I'm very excited to be 178!! I made it past my 180 mark (woo hoo), and I lost 2 pounds this week! Yay me!

Selasa, 13 April 2010

The Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookie Showdown!

My friend and I got together, to come up with the ultimate, Deliciously Healthy, peanut butter cookies!

After some trial and error, a lot of math, and creative thinking, we got it!

Naturally Peanut Butter Cookies!If you can believe it, I've never actually had peanut butter cookies...or at least not that I can remember. I was loyal to the classic, chocolate chip cookie.

So, after we had made the winning batch of low-fat peanut butter cookies, my friend told me that I couldn't really know if our recipe compared to the original, until I actually tried the original (fattening) version.

Now, what you have to know about my friend, is that she is like, the peanut butter cookie queen! She LOVES them!

Her point made sense, so with a nod of my head, she went into her kitchen, and pulled out all the ingredients to make HER recipe. The recipe that she loved (That's key to remember;)

She got kinda giddy as she pulled out the ingredients. I could tell she was excited to make/dig into her favorite peanut butter cookies!

Her recipe, called for 1/2 a cup of butter, and 1/2 a cup of peanut butter. Along with some other changes.

When they were done baking, we sat down to do our taste test.

My friend went back and forth, between the original peanut butter cookie, and our naturally PB cookie. Finally she looked up, with an almost confused look on her face, and said "You know, there really isn't that big of a difference"
The fact that the naturally PB cookie, satisfied her just as much as her favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, was a sweet victory for me!

Another thing she said, that was music to my ears, was that she felt she could serve these cookies to guests, and they totally wouldn't know that they were low-fat!

After our taste test, we put a naturally peanut butter cookie, and her original peanut butter cookie, on a napkin, and let them sit for a little while:Can you see the difference between the grease mark left by the original peanut butter cookie, and our naturally peanut butter cookie?
That's insane. And kinda gross.

When I came home, I had my husband do a taste test, not telling him that one was healthy, and one wasn't. He took a bite of the the original, took a sip of milk, and then took a bite of the healthy peanut butter cookie. No joke, he lifted up the hand with the unhealthy cookie in it, and said, "This one's gross!" He then proceeded to eat almost all the naturally peanut butter cookies! I only have one left!
Guess I'm going to have to make another batch!

So the verdict? Our recipe has 75% less peanut butter, and 50% less butter, and it's pretty much the same yummy, peanut buttery cookie!!
And in mine, and my husband's opinion, it's the better cookie!

Don't believe me?
Try it for yourself!

Naturally Peanut Butter Cookies:

This is What you Need:

  • 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup oatmeal flour (Pour oatmeal into a blender, and pulse until it's a fine consistency)
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of Skippy Natural peanut butter. (My friend introduced me to this PB, and it's seriously good! The only ingredients are: Roasted peanuts, sugar, palm oil, and salt!)
  • 1/4 cup dry-roasted salted peanuts chopped coarse
**Note: I think the natural PB is what makes this recipe taste so... good! I definitely recommend using an all natural PB.

This is What You Do:

  • Pre-heat to 350.
  • Whisk flour, oatmeal flour, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl and set aside.
  • Whisk butter, egg, and vanilla extract into large bowl. Then stir in brown sugar, peanut butter, and chopped peanuts. Stir until smooth.
  • Stir in flour mixture and combine.
  • Roll level tablespoons of dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 1/2 inches apart on sheet.
  • Bake cookies one cookie sheet at a time for 11-13 minutes or until edges are golden brown and centers are set.
  • Cool for 5 minutes
Enjoy!!

Here's what I'm thinking:
Calories: 90
for 1 yummy cookie

***

On a side note, My weigh in was yesterday. My lack of a post yesterday, pretty much explains how I feel about it. I was 180, which means I didn't lose any weight this week.

When I've gone on a diet in the past, I always stopped at the 180 mark. For some reason, whenever I'd get to this point, I'd choose the cheese pizza, over the salad....

So, this leads me to believe that I've hit a plateau. My body is used to me giving up at this point, and it hasn't been past this point in a while.

The nice thing about this is, I know that this is going to be the time I get past the 180 mark!! I'm going to make a few changes to shake things up a bit, and I will get into the 170's! I just have to get past this little plateau first ;D

Rabu, 07 April 2010

Today was a Good Day

Today, something seemed to be in the air. Spring?... Whatever it is, it has me in a joyful mood!

Today, I had the perfect lunch, and I just had to share it with you!

While my father-in-law was here, he went on and on about how good a grape and tuna fish sandwich was! As Joe and I gave him funny looks, he would say, "Don't diss it, before you try it!" He had actually bought all the stuff to make it, but we never got around to it. So, today as I was raiding the fridge and pantry, trying to find something for lunch that hit the spot, I couldn't get my father-in-law's voice out of my head.

"What the heck Brittany. You only live once." I told myself.

So, out came the whole wheat bread, the canned tuna (in water), the low-fat mayo (gross. If I had low-fat plain yogurt I would have used that. I just used a tiny tiny bit), the already chopped onion I had left over from tacos, and the grapes.

I chopped up the grapes, mixed everything together, and put together my sandwich. I gave myself an extra side of grapes, then let out a sigh, "Here goes nothing." I took a bite.
"Oh my gosh! This is so good!" Light bulb moment: "This is blog worthy!"
I rushed to grab the camera, took a couple pics, and sat down to enjoy my YUMMY
Grape and Tuna Fish Sandwich
!!"Don't diss it, before you try it!" ;D
Seriously. It's pretty darn good folks. The grapes add the perfect sweetness!
Calories:
About 220, not including the extra side of grapes.


After lunch, and some cleaning around the house, I finally sat down to see how everybody was doing in blogland.
I clicked on over to CBG blog, and saw that she was hosting a
photo comparison challenge! You take a picture of yourself today, and compare it to a picture of you at your heaviest. Then you compliment yourself on the changes you've made!!

It's hard to compliment myself, or to even see the difference between me at 206, and me at 180. Sometimes I convince myself that I'm exactly the same. This challenge was a great way to help me see the progress I've made, and give myself a pat on the back!!

Here it goes! :

Before picture:
(February 2007)This isn't actually me at my heaviest. I was about 190-195 (my heaviest was 206). This was either right before or soon after I found out I had low thyroid, and got put on low thyroid meds. And it's before I found out I had PCOS. It's pretty weird that I'm only about 10 pounds lighter now, then I was in these pictures. Back then I was bloated, and my hormones were all out of whack. This was a very painful time for me. I gained 50lbs in 1 year. I didn't know what the heck was going on. All I knew, was I was fat, unhappy, and embarrassed. I refused to meet new people, and to be honest, I didn't go out of the house much. I never wanted a picture taken of me. The only reason I have these pictures, is because it was valentines day, and my husband insisted on getting a picture of his beautiful wife, on v-day. I love my husband so much for loving me during that time, and still telling me I was beautiful each and every day. Gosh I'm lucky.

Today's Picture:I see quite a big physical change. My chubby cheeks aren't so chubby. I don't have as much acne now (glad that's gone!). And I have a bit more of a jawline!!

But the true changes I see, go way past my physical appearance.
For one, I'm posing for the camera, and I was actually having a fun little photo shoot (in my bathroom;). I actually feel pretty enough to snap away with the camera! I feel worthy enough to be apart of the world (although I'm realizing now that I was always worthy...).

Looking at my before pictures, reminds me of all the struggles, heartache, and confusion I had back then.

Today I'm happy.
I can see it in these pictures, and I can feel it.
I'm taking charge of my life, and my health. I'm no longer confused, and feel like I have no control over what the heck my body is doing. I'm in control. I'm on one of the most wonderful journeys. Everyday I wake up, I know I'm getting closer and closer to my happy ending, and that fills my heart with excitement, and hope, each and every day. Two things I did not have, in my before picture!
Today, I'm :Deliciously Healthy! And man it feels good!!

Senin, 05 April 2010

Woo Hoo!

I'm feeling a little sick today (Boo!), but I wanted to share a few things I have to celebrate!

First of all, we had a great, Deliciously Healthy Easter! WOO HOO! I hope you all did too!!

Secondarily, we had a great time visiting with my father-in-law!
As soon as he walked in the door, I announced that I was eating healthy! LOL! My husband laughed at me. I felt like I needed to just get it out there, without realizing how completely random it was! He was respectful, and supportive of the fact. While grocery shopping together, he would point out things that were healthy, and things that I should stay away from. It was kinda funny.

I ate really well when we were at home. When we went out to eat (3 times) I did pretty good sometimes, and not so good other times. But I think that's okay. The times I didn't do so well, I would try my best to make up for it at home, by eating REALLY healthy the next day.

I'd say it was a pretty successful week! I'm glad my father-in-law was able to come visit. I totally didn't need to stress about working in my diet while he was here, the way I did! I learned that you can enjoy visitors, and still eat healthy! Phew!

Another woo hoo, goes to my hubby! He graduated with his bachelors degree. He received high honors, with a 3.9 GPA!! WOO HOO! Is it bad of me to take a tiny bit of credit for that? Who do you think helped him study? MOI! ;D
Joking aside, I'm REALLY PROUD of him!!

I had wanted to wear my goal dress to my hubbies graduation, but I can't quite fit into it yet. That meant that I had to go dress shopping...I was seriously dreading it! The last time I tried dress shopping, I was 206, and it was a very depressing experience. I was expecting it to be much the same this time, forgetting that I was 25 pounds lighter!! It wasn't painful at all! It was quick, and easy, and no tears were shed in the fitting room. I walked out with this dress (in a large!):
My next big woo hoo, goes to my favorite Aunt, Aunt Flow! She is making an appearance this month!.... I'm pretty sure at least.

Hmm, how do I put this? I've seen glimpses of her, but she's not 100% here yet. You get me?
My poor blog readers have to read about me, and my period all the time. Sorry guys ;D

Last month, I was really upset that "it" didn't show up. Every day I would cross my fingers, hoping I'd have a period, but the month of March ended without a cycle. It was a huge let down for me. I just wanted my body to work the way it's supposed to, 2 months in a row. I had given up that I was going to have one for the month of April, May or June. I had convinced myself that having one in February was just a fluke. So, I'm pleasantly surprised, and proud of myself (in a funny way) that aunt flow came all on her own this month!! Since eating healthy, I've gone from having a period 1-2 times a year, to having one in November, February, and April!! WOO HOO!!

My last woo hoo, goes to my weigh in this morning. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to see, but I'm very happy with it.
My weigh in had me at 180! That means that in the week I had company over, and started my period, I still managed to lose 1 pound!! WOO HOO!

Even though I have a headache, and am not feeling so hot, I'm very happy, and pretty proud of myself today, as I reflect on everything there is to celebrate!!

***

Wondering what the heck to do with all your hard boiled Easter eggs?Eating Well, has the answer for you!

Kamis, 01 April 2010

My Deliciously Healthy Easter Menu

It's almost Easter!
Can you believe it?!

Sadly, my father-in-law isn't going to be here for Easter. My husband and I learned the hard way that you should really look at the calendar, before booking a flight! For some reason, flights going out April 4th, were $100 cheaper...so we decided to be cheap. It wasn't until a couple weeks later that we realized we were making my poor Father-in-law spend his Easter in an airport! I still feel really bad... So, we're going to try and make up for it, by doing some Easter festivities on Saturday. We're going to go to the Butterfly Pavilion, eat a Deliciously Healthy Easter dinner, and paint Easter eggs!

This is our Easter Menu:

Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas & Spring Herbs
Glazed Mini Carrots
Smashed Potatoes with Sour Cream and Chives
And
Carrot Cupcakes for dessert!

There's only going to be 3 of us, so I think this should be enough. There are so many mouthwatering healthy recipes out there, I wish I could make more!

Recipes like these! :

Savory Peach Chicken

Minted Peas and Rice with Feta
Roasted Spring Vegetables with Arugula Pesto

Meringue-Topped Strawberries & Rhubarb

Raspberry Fool
YUM!!
These are definitely on my list of things to make this Spring!!

If you don't hear from me before Easter (hopefully you will. I mean you should, but just in case...;) I hope you all have a great Easter!!