My Deliciously Healthy Memorial Day

Today I made chicken, fruit, and dessert shish kabobs for memorial day!
They were delish! I was able to escape memorial day, without hamburgers and ice cream cones!For the fruit shish kabobs, I used srawberries, watermelon, and blackberries (I had a sudden craving for oranges, and wish I had bought some to add to the mix).

Then, for the dessert shish kabobs, I dipped strawberries, and marshmallows (cut into 1/3) in dark chocolate (I dipped the strawberries, and marshmallows half way into the chocolate)! It started out with strawberries, marshmallows, and bananas, but I wasn't feeling the bananas, so I left them out.
They were yummy! :
On a side note: I think it would be cute to put strawberries, marshmallows, and blueberries on a skewer for 4th of July!

Later on in the evening, the hubs took me shopping to get some workout gear!
Why do I need workout gear you ask?

Because I got me one of these! :A gym membership to Bally Total Fitness!

I've wanted to join a gym for forever but didn't because, A. with my RA I thought I wouldn't be able to really do much there, and so I was worried it would be a waste of money. And B. because I was/am horrified to go!

Now, after losing 35+ pounds, my knees have been feeling a lot better! I think I may actually be able to incorporate working out, into my weight loss plan! That's so exciting and rewarding for me! I've come so far (a tear;)! I'm proud of myself for facing my fears, and taking the first step: Getting the membership! Tomorrow I'm going to take the second step, and actually go workout!

My original plan was to get a gym membership, just so I could use the pool to do laps. That's still my main plan, as I think it'll be a great workout, and easy on my joints. Although while I was taking the tour of the gym, I saw some workout machines that I may be able to do with my arthritis. That would be a great bonus, if I'm able to take advantage of those spiffy little things! ;D

I'm still pretty darn nervous for tomorrow, but I'm working though it...
I feel like I'm in 1st grade, and tomorrow's my first day of school, lol!

I'm mostly nervous to swim. I can swim, but I don't know how to do the professional kind of swimming. I feel like a complete armature, and I totally don't know what I'm doing! You get a free session with a personal trainer, so I'm wondering if I can ask them to teach me how to use swimming as a workout. I feel stupid asking for that. I'm going to try talking to someone about it tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get it all figured out soon.

I also did my weigh in, on this Memorial Day.
171.
That's a 1 pound loss. I did pretty darn good this week, so I'm kinda confused. I know that the further you get in your weight loss, it tends to slow down a little bit. That's why it made me nervous that my weight loss started out at about 2 pounds a week. I thought, "Oh great! What's it going to slow down to?!" I feel that after losing 36 pounds, my weight loss has slowed to 1 pound a week. Although thus far, I've had little to no exercise. I'm hoping working out will give me the boost I need, to get back to a 2+ pound loss each week!

Well, that's it for me!

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day!(Flickr)

**Workout Update!**

I just got back from the gym! I survived!
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Everyone didn't stop what they were doing to watch me enter the building, or pull up chairs to watch me workout, like I thought they would!
That's good ;D

I did 10 minutes on that thingy... what's it called? The elliptical?
And 10 minutes speed walking on the treadmill (well, at least speed walking for me)
I had planned to do more, but by the end of it, I seriously thought I was going to pass out! I have to take baby steps, to get to my goal... I'm not sure what that goal is, but I know it's more then 10 minutes on each machine, lol! I'd say for the first time working out in years, I did pretty good! It felt good to work up a sweat, and feel my heart racing!

I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

Deadlines and I, Don't get Along!

I knew I was thinking about something that was stressing me out, but I didn't know what it was. I sat down and really thought about what was on my mind. Suddenly, I got a flash of
Moose Creek.
Confused?

Every 5 years we have a family reunion. My Great Grandparent's children, and their families (on my Father's side), meet up and camp out near the ranch my Great Grandparents used to own (Moose Creek). I love going there, and I look forward to it every time!
I'm excited to see all my family (even the ones I don't really know), but I'm really excited to have my immediate family all together in one place (there's 8 of us kids, so it's rare that we're all together at the same time).

So why am I stressed out?
It's another deadline.

If you remember, the last time I had a deadline (my hubbies graduation), I sabotaged myself.

My family saw me at 120, before I got married. The next time they saw me, I was 180. And the last time they saw me in April of 2009, I was over 200 pounds:It felt horrible seeing my family, after gaining so much weight. I felt like instead of being excited to see me, and giving me a hug, they were more like, "Whoa! What. The. Heck. Happened to you?!" And that was totally understandable. I had changed dramatically. But the thought of it, still hurt.

I would of course try to lose weight, every time I was going to see my family. It would start out like this:
"Okay, I have 4 months. I can lose 40 pounds before I see them!"
I wouldn't go on a diet. It would turn into this:
"Okay, now I have 2 months. It's better then nothing. I could lose 20 maybe even 30 pounds before we leave!"
Again, I didn't go on a diet. My goals would get more and more unrealistic:
"Sigh. Alright, I have 1 month before we go. Maybe I can still lose 20 pounds?!"
Still not on a diet. It's time to take drastic measures:
"I have two weeks! I'm going to go on some crazy diet! I'm desperate! Hmm, maybe a cleansing diet! Okay, I'm not going to eat anything for 2 weeks, and I'm only going to drink lemonade!" (There's actually a diet like that!)
That would last for like, 2 hours, and I'd say this:
"I give up. I'm going fat. Hope they still love me!"

Before, every time I went on a diet, it was to meet a deadline.
This time was different. I didn't go on a diet because I was afraid of what people would think of me. I went on a diet because I wanted to be healthy. I went on a diet because I wanted to get pregnant, and have a baby. I went on a diet for me! There was no deadline in sight, and what do you know, I was finally successful! I lost weight, at a slow and steady pace, without a deadline stressing me out.

So when a "deadline" comes up, my old way of think comes out:
"Okay, I have 2 months! I can lose 20 pounds! I have to lose 20 pounds!"
My old way of thinking always led to failure. Therefore, I'm determined to fail. It's what I'm used to. I start to believe whole heartily that I can't do it!

This is the point I sabotage myself.
"I cant do it! I can't do it! I can't do it! Where's a donut?!!"
Can't beat em', join em'.

But this time is different.
I've already lost 35 pounds!
Even if I don't lose any more weight from here, I've already been more successful then I've ever been. I'm the thinnest my family has seen me since I got married! I would have killed to be 35 pounds lighter, the last time I saw my family!
(A pic from my last little photo shoot)
My solution to the deadline thing: Don't make it a deadline!
Continue what I'm doing. No pressure. Don't even think about it. If I only lose 5 pounds between now, and when we leave (2 months), then I will have lost 40 pounds! And that's awesome! Of course I want to lose more then 5 pounds in 2mo, but I'm just saying.
I know I can do this, because I am doing this!

How do you deal with deadlines? Do they help you, or harm you?

***

Yesterday's (although it's going to be like 1am by the time I post this, so it's not quite yesterday;) weigh in results had me at 172, for a 1 pound loss.

I'm frustrated with myself. I was really wanting to see 170 this week.
About half way through the week, was when I subconsciously started sabotaging myself.
Fortunately I took the time to figure it out, and hopefully everything will be better from here!

Aahhhh... A Breath Of Fresh Air!

Today was a good day.
The day wasn't wasted because I was tired and dizzy.
Today, the funk that I've been in, didn't take over.

This little funk of mine has been lingering around for a while now, and today, I felt hope that it was leaving for good!

Today was a breath of fresh air, and it felt so good!
Oh so good!

I woke up, and actually got out of my PJ's (I'm a stay at home wifey, if you didn't know:)
I showered, (AND I even shaved my legs!) and got ready.
I took the doggies out, fed them, and watered the plants.
I cleaned. I even mopped the floor!
I ran errands, and went grocery shopping. Have I ever told you how much I hate grocery shopping? If I could hire someone to do one thing for me, it would be to take care of the hole grocery shopping thing. I'd hand them my menu for the week, and the groceries would magically appear in my fridge. That my friends, would be awesome!

Our local grocery store, had a cart with avocados and bell peppers on sale. Right then and there, I decided we were having chicken fajitas for dinner!... And that I was going to make Deliciously Healthy guacamole to go with it!

What's that you say? You want in on the Deliciously Healthy Guacamole?!
Okay, I'll give it to you ;)

Here's What You Need:

1 can (15 to 19 ounces) white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime
1 jalapeño chile , seeded
1/4 cup coarsely chopped sweet onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted
2 plum tomatoes

This is What You Do:

~In a food processor with knife blade attached, puree beans and 1 1/2 tablespoon lime juice until smooth. Empty into a medium bowl.
~Place jalapeño, garlic, onion, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pulse until juicy and thick.
~Scoop avocado from peel into bowl with beans, and mash with fork until mixture is blended, with some chunks remaining.
~Cut each tomato in half. Squeeze halves to remove seeds and juice. Coarsely chop tomatoes. Stir tomato and onion mixture into avocado mixture until blended.

Then, just spread it on something yummy... or just eat it all by itself like me! ;)

Here's What I'm Thinking:

Serving size: 1/4 cup
Calories per serving: 70

***

Monday's are already cruddy enough, I don't know why I add to it, by weighing in on that day! ;)

Today's weigh in had me at 173
That's a 0 pound loss.

Truth is, I kinda deserve it. This past week was pretty much 50% good, and 50% bad.
I'm grateful I didn't gain anything... but, it's still disappointing. I wish I could rewind this pat week (or 2), but I can't. All I can do, is do better from here.

Today was a new start. I shook the funk off, and moved forward.

Today was a breath of fresh air, and it was just what I needed!

We had rose bushes planted in our backyard recently.
I thought I picked out peach roses, but they look pink to me. Now I wonder why I would have wanted peach? Pink is my favorite color after all :)
They make me smile when I look at them...

I'm Back!!

Did you miss me?! ;D

The first week I was away, I had decided to take a little break from the computer... sometimes you need to give your eyes a rest ;) Then, last week I slipped into a bit of a funk. I didn't have much energy, or motivation to do anything! I was tired, dizzy, hot, and my favorite thing to do was sleep!

I'm feeling much better, and this week I'm determined to
get back to my old self!

Despite being away from my little blog, I have managed to stick to my diet... for the most part ;) I had a few bad days over the past 2 weeks, but other then that, I've been good!

***

Time for the weigh ins!!
(I've had 2 since being away) :

Last Mondays weigh in had me at 174! Which had me at a 4 pound loss!
I had to weigh myself like 5 times to make sure the scale wasn't broken! I had just gotten off my period, so I think it was a post period loss.

Today's weigh in had me at 173! That's a
1 pound loss this week. It's not 4 like last week (I could get used to that;), but hey, it's a loss!

That means that since my last post (2 weeks ago), I've lost 5 pounds!! Yay me!
It also means that so far I've lost 33 pounds!
I'm only 7 pounds away from losing 40 pounds!
I'm so excited to reach that milestone!

So, that's a little bit of me lately.
I hope you have all been doing well!

I've set a few goals for myself this week, to help me get back to normal. One of my goals is to cook up a healthy storm, and try some new recipes! Hopefully I'll have some Deliciously Healthy goodness to share with you soon!

PS. I heart Duffy

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!

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!

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