Falling in-love with fall: A recipe + a 21 day challenge update.

This weekend, fall took my breath away.
The leaves on our street have all turned gold and red. For me, heaven was: sitting on the porch, in the perfect weather, and soaking in the beauty of fall.

But then I realized cookies would make that moment even more perfect.
So, I made these:
Oatmeal Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies:

What you need:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 6 tbsp canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet organic chocolate chips
  

What you're gonna do:

• Preheat oven to 350°; line two baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with organic cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice and cinnamon.
  
• In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed.
• Add the egg to the butter and sugar mixture, followed by the pumpkin and vanilla extract.
• Working by hand, stir in the dry mix until just combined and no streaks of flour remain; stir in the pecans, and chocolate chips.
• Drop 1 tablespoon of the dough at a time onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until cookies become light brown at the edges.
• Cool on baking sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Makes 32 cookies, 1 tbsp each.

They're the perfect fall cookie. Hearty, crunchy, chewy, chocolaty and of course, pumpkiny.*Note: I made these cookies on a night that I was having some girls from church over, so that they would eat the majority of them ;) I only had two of these delicious cookies.

***

21 Day Challenge Update:
I was supposed to start my 21 day challenge last week. But, I ended up being sick all week. At first I was going to keep going with the challenge, even though I was sick. My eating was great (It helped that my apatite was completely gone;), but then I remembered that working out everyday was apart of the challenge. I definitely had not been doing that while I was sick. So, I decided to start it after I had gotten better.

My first official day of the 21 day challenge was last Wednesday the 12th.So far I have 5 little hearts!
What's your little piece of fall heaven?

Love is my new fuel.

I came across this story on facebook:

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption read: "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way: "Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness. They entertain like crazy with dolphins, and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia. They sing incredibly well, and sometimes are even on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defends and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because they suffer from split personality: woman or fish? They would have no sex life and could not bear children. Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad. Besides, what man wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale. At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, so it spreads all over our bodies. We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated. Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

I love this. Being skinny doesn't equate to being beautiful; and being overweight absolutely does not equate to being ugly.

Even though I didn't know it, I was beautiful at 206 pounds (my husband even told me so).

I keep telling myself that I will be beautiful when I am at my goal weight, of 120 pounds. I've subconsciously told myself that until then, I do not deserve beauty. Nor do I deserve to love myself. I have to tell myself every. single. day. that I hate the way I look. I tell myself that I have to loath what I've done to my body, and that I'm not good enough at the weight I am. I use hating myself to motivate me to get to 120 pounds.

No wonder why it has been a struggle to get there.I cannot look after something that I hate.
And using hate to fuel my motivation to lose weight, makes no sense at all.

From now, through to the finish line, and beyond, I am going to love every stretch mark, and every fat dimple. I am going to love every single pound that shows up on that scale. All of these things made me wiser. They have made me who I am. They are apart of ME. I am going to love myself so freakin' much, that I want to take care of this beautiful body I have been given.

Love is my new fuel.

My 21 day challange

This little quote got me to thinkin'I don't think I've had 21 straight days of good, healthy behavior since starting this weight loss journey over a year ago. It's always a good day, followed by an, 'Eh" day. Or a good week as far as eating goes, but the gym was nowhere insight.

Taking a month long vaca from my diet screwed me up a little more then I thought it would. My head is all out of whack. I've allowed lots of little cheats in my diet, thinking they won't add up. I've been telling myself I can eat 2 brownie squares and drink a can of soda, and still lose weight. And we all know that isn't true. You are what you eat, and if you keep eating the same things, you will always weigh the same. Plain and simple.

I need to whip my butt back into shape (quite literally). I need to get disciplined, focused, and stay consistent. I need to stop allowing myself little cheats in my diet, and do this.

So, I'm taking a 21 day challenge:

• 21 days of eating healthy. No junk. Cut back on sugar. and NO LITTLE CHEATS.
• 21 days of doing at least some form of exercise.
  
• 21 days of drinking at least 64oz of water.
  
• 21 days of tracking my food and meal planning.

21 days of discipline and 100% dedication = Life long healthy habits.
That sounds so refreshing to me right about now.

To help me get started on my 21 day challenge, I bought a (huge) calendar/planner for my fridge.Everyday I'm going to track my food/meal plan, and write down my goals for the day (going to the gym, drinking all my water, etc) on this calendar. At the end of each day, during the 21 days, I get a sticker if I've had a day full of healthy habits, and I've crossed everything off for the day.21 days to a new me!
Day 1 is tomorrow!

Are you up for the challenge?

Do I want this, or that?

I've been struggling a little to get back on track, after my diet vacation.

Why is this so hard sometimes?

I mean, it's not rocket science.

Do I want a body like this:
Or do I want a hamburger?

Do I want to finally feel comfortable in a bathing suit:
Or would I rather have a pizza instead?

Do I want to have a jaw line like Jen Anniston's:
Or does a brownie sound better?

Do I want to go on a date with my husband to the cheesecake factory,
Or actually look sexy for him?:
Do I want to be able to wear skinny jeans:
Or have Chinese takeout?

Do I want Oreo's more then I want a butt like this?:Heck no!

It's not all that hard, when I look at it that way.

I want to be a sexy, fashionable girl, that has a jaw line, and a firm bootay, on the beach.
And I want it WAY more then I want all that unhealthy goodness.

Nobody said it was easy, but man
it's going to be worth it!

What would you take over a cheeseburger?

What in this picture, does not belong?

I was doing good, until I got to the checkout line.

But then I added a (king size) Reese's to my healthy odds and ends.

I can usually resist the loads of candy, that are on BOTH SIDES of the checkout lane. But sometimes something just comes over me, and I grab something.

Sometimes Little Debbie gets me too.She's like, "Hey Brittany! Is that you?! Girl, I haven't seen you since that one time you ate a whole box of oatmeal creme pies all by yourself, while watching that one chick flick. What was the name of that movie? UGH, that's gonna bug me. Watch, I'll remember it after you've walked away. Any who, lets hang out! Come on, it'll be fun!"

And I'm like, "What the hey. Get in my cart girl!"

But then other times I'm able to walk on by, and pretend she isn't calling my name. Even though it's slightly awkward.

I guess you win some and lose some.

I did share my Reese's with the hubs. That's gotta count for something.

Are you able to resist the checkout line candy?

Fall is in the air- :DH Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Donuts

I'm starting to feel the crispness of fall in the air. The leaves haven't begun to change, but I know it's just around the corner. And I'm all excited about it.

Today I wanted to put out the welcome matt, for fall to arrive.

There's no better way to do that, then to fill your house with the aroma of pumpkin. So, I baked these,
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Donuts.Using this donut mold I bought at Micheal's. With a 40% off coupon. Double score.
Fried donuts are so last year.

What you need:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup, plus 2tbs packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbs melted smart balance spread
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or whole-wheat flour)
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbs dark chocolate chips, plus more to top donuts with
  
• 1/4 cup powder sugar for dusting.
• Cooking spray

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Spray donut molds with cooking spray.
  
• Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl.
• Mix together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
  
• stir in chocolate chips.
• Pour batter into a pipping bag, or a large ziplock bag, and cut off the tip of the bag. Squeeze mixture into molds.
  
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool on a cooling rack, and lightly dust with powdered sugar.

I was too lazy to tally up the calories. I blame the weather ;) But hey, they're baked, not fried, so you really can't go wrong. You can also make mini donuts, which was what I intended to do, but I could only find the full sized donut mold.

See you soon, Fall. We're going to have so much fun this year.

Have you started to feel fall where you live?
Are you all excited about it?! ;)

Life is back to normal :)

I never knew how much I appreciated "normal".

We had Casey's funeral on August 5th, in California.

(Me with all my siblings and my Dad)It was therapeutic to see family, and to have closure to this tragedy.



On the way up from California, we spent a couple days at the Belagio in Las Vegas, to celebrate our anniversary (a little early).When we got back home, we visited with my Brother-in-Law, who was in town...

Then we celebrated our actual anniversary...And then we spent the week with my nephew, Caleb, who came up to visit after his father's funeral.

Busy. Busy. Busy.



This past week I've finally felt like life has slowly returned to normal.

I've cooked, and cleaned, and simply laid in bed and watched TV. Because I could.



During the past (crazy) month, I took a vaca from my diet. It was kinda annoying to me that amidst all the craziness of finding my brother, and making funeral arrangements, I was still obsessed with calories, and losing weight. I mean, seriously? I had just lost my brother, and the majority of my thoughts were still on, "I wonder how many calories are really in that donut?" I just wanted to take a break from it all. There is more to life then just calories and pant sizes.



And when I say vaca, I mean like no healthy thoughts entered my mind. I wasn't even trying to have the "balance" that I believe so strongly in.



Since Monday, I have been slowly trying to work in things like fruits and veggies...and things of the non-fried variety. Oh and water. Hello water! My body seriously did miss you. I still need to get my chunky butt back to the gym, and I am still horrified to step on the scale. I'm guessing I gained a good 10 pounds during my month long vaca.



It is good to be back to my :Deliciously Healthy life, and to bloggin' all about it.



THANK YOU for all of your support!

I heart you more then chocolate.