Wednesday, August 31, 2011

First day of school & Day 3 of Paleo

Wow!!! What emotions this morning. Nicolas the big 4th grader and Elizabeth is in the 1st grade! It's amazing to see just how quick they are both growing up! Nic was up at the crack of dawn and ready to go. Ellie woke up earlier then normal this morning as well. They were both dressed and ready to go before it was even time to go out the door! Ellie has had her outfit picked out for the first day of school for about a week now. Nic on the other had, was working on his this morning. He's always like that though!
So, when it was time to get going to school, we walked there. In all the years past I have let the kids walked to school, I have never been one to go walk with them. But in the last 2 days I have walked to and from the school 3 times now. It doesn't even bother me to do that!!! It's totally amazing to me the things that I can do with the kids, and things that don't even bother me to do with the kids. Walking to and from school is one of those things that is so much fun now. It's just under a 1/2 mile to the school, so about .9 miles round. Walk that 2 times a day and I have 1 3/4 miles in!

Lately, I have been looking through my different cooking magazines. I get all sorts of them... Food Network, Every Day, Fine Cooking, All you and Taste of Home. I started thinking to myself as I'm flipping through these, "How can I make these Paleo friendly and still love to eat them?" Well, there has been a couple I have come across and decided I'm going to try them out! One that I found was a Mini Fritatta! You cook it in a muffin tin. Instead of a doughy crust, you use sliced ham as a 'cup', so here are the ingredients:

12 slices of Ham/Prosciutto which ever you prefer
1 tbsp olive oil
1 sm potato (I'm going to use sweet potato)
1 sm onion finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper diced
Salt
8 eggs
6 tbsp milk (of course, I'll use some unsweetened almond milk)

Preheat oven to 375*. Place slices of ham into the muffin tins to form the 'bowl'. Chop up potato into 1/4 inch slice cubes. Heat up oil and cook the potato for 5-7 minutes. Add in onion and bell pepper. Season with salt. Once these items are cooked, divide into 'ham cups' equally. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk and 1/4 tsp salt. Pour into cups over the potato mixture. Cook for 15 minutes or until eggs are cooked through.

I'll let you know how this turns out! Sounds awesome and a great little breakfast or brunch meal! I have been really enjoying the whole Paleo lifestyle and haven't had any problems so far! Charissa was right about one thing though! When I jumped into the Paleo with both feet like I did, I would see the weight just start to come off, but come off in a healthy way! This morning I weighed in at 270.2! That's a total loss of 28.8 pounds!! I'm so excited! I'm pulling clothes out of my closet I haven't worn in years, stuff I purposely bought to small so I could work to get into it and never did! It's been a great journey and there is more to come!

Till next time!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Here we go! Paleo bound....

My good friend, Charissa, has me going and has been for 2 months now. I've been head strong in losing weight and succeeding!! Most of the time when I diet or try and lose weight, I'm at it for a week or 2 maybe a month at the most. My most favorite diet when I was younger was that 7 day diet where you can lose 10-17 pounds in a week. Seemed like a quick and easy fix for me! Well, not anymore! I've learned my lesson and I'm now enjoying my 'diet' adventure. :)

As of this morning I"m down 26.4 pounds! I have been doing this now for 2 months and 2 days as of today! That's 63 days that I have been eating a certain way and I feel great. I have energy. I enjoy going out for my walk. I enjoy eating. I love to good. It's been AWESOME! And it's not affecting anyone in my house! It's amazing!

For those of you that know me, know I love, love, LOVE to cook! I am in the kitchen every day eating so why not make a fantastic meal to go with it? And to find out that with everything that Charissa has given me to this point, I've basically been eating with this new Paleo lifestyle. Now, to just cut out the little bit that needs to be....

So starting tomorrow, I am on a new challenge and I KNOW I can do this!
1. Eat real foods: Meat, eggs, veggies, nuts, seeds, fruit, healthy oils.
     -this means foods that are fresh and have little to no ingredients, and if they do have a 'little' bit of
      ingredients, they need to be pronounceable words..... (I have already been doing this about 80%
      of the time!!)
2. Do not eat grains: This is anything with bread, rice, pasta, corn (yes corn!) oatmeal.
     -I haven't eaten bread, pasta or oatmeal in months. Rice isn't going to be hard to cut out. But corn?
      Ok, I love me some corn on the cob, but I guess that is something that I don't have to have on a
      regular basis from here on out!
3. Don not eat legumes: This includes beans of any kinds, lentils and peanuts.
     -This is so easy, because I already don't eat these things! Including peanut butter. I just don't
      eat it!
4. Do not eat dairy: This includes butter, cheeses, yogurt and milk.
     -Wow! This is the hard one for me! Now, you're thinking milk? The milk I haven't drank in 2
      months. I have gone to Almond Milk, which is way better anyways! So, that one is done. Now,
      butter, well, for the most part I dont' use it, but every once in awhile I use it to cook with. So,
      that will be out. Now for cheese and yogurt. Some of my favorite things! Oh, how I am going to
      miss it! Oh how I'm going to crave it at first, but I know giving these up will be for the better in
      the long run!
5. Do not eat sugars of any kind, real or artificial: If I have to sweeten something up I can us a LITTLE
   bit of honey, syrup, or agave nectar.
     -No Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, etc....Don't use these anyway, so it's all good!
6. Do not eat processed foods: This includes energy bars, dairy-free creamers, etc.
     -I'm going to have to just start reading labels and making sure things are what I can eat. Shouldn't
      be to hard. I cook and eat everything at home and I'm already trying to do eliminate those things
      anyway!
7. Do not drink alcohol, in any form.
     - Well, every once in a while I have a small glass of wine, so this shouldn't be a huge issue. I already
      cut out the beer that I used to drink, and hard alcohol, just don't like it the way I used to when I was
      younger.

So, my next step to myself while I go head first into the full Paleo lifestyle. Start finding recipes that are 'Paleo' appropriate. I'm sure there have got to be some of those out there! And then I can start making those, and start posting those on my blog! :)

I am also ready to tell all those that have been following my blog about my 'numbers'. This has been something that I have not been wanting to share, but now that I am on the right track and doing all these wonderful lifestyle and eating changes, I feel comfortable enough to share. So, here it goes! :)

When I realized I needed to do something about my weight was when I stepped on the scale and saw this number flash before my eyes. That number was 299! I realized I had gained so much weight for whatever reason, it doesn't matter. It just matters is that is what happened! That is when I realized I had to do something. I talked to Charissa and started on this road to success! My ultimate goal (as of right now) is to get down to 175. So, that is where the 124 pounds to lose came into effect. I might change that though as I get closer to it, but for now, that is the goal. I am currently down to 272.6!!! I am so close to the 260's that I can feel it! I haven't seen the 260's since before my son was born and that was over 9 years ago! It's been just amazing how far I've already come! I can see my goal, I know I can do this!

Till next time!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Back from Denver!

Oh and what a great trip it was! I am back home and have a ton of things to do before school starts and of course a ton of things to do after school starts. Kids have all their school supplies, now to get the backpacks packed and ready for the first day of school on Wednesday! I think it's going to be a great year for both of them. I can't believe they are going into the 4th and 1st grade! Amazing.

On the weight loss note..

Monday I start a new phase of my Paleo 'Diet'. Although it's not really a diet, it's more of a nutritional life change. I have done quite a bit of it so far and for the most part and have cut a lot of things out. But now I have to cut more out and add more! :) It has been great so far! I have another bench mark that I have reached! As of this morning, I have lost 26 pounds! That means that I am only 98 pounds away from my goal! I'm out of that 100+ bracket and that feels wonderful!

What have I been doing? Eating right!!!! So many fruits and veggies all the time! If I'm hungry and want a snack I go look for fruits and veggies. Dinner = meat, breakfast = eggs & bacon, all that sort of things! I feel awesome and can't wait to make it even lower. My next goal is to get to 75 pounds left to lose! I KNOW I can do this!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

I have had an amazing week!! I’ve still done my walks every day, but I’ve been able to do them on my moms treadmill! Which means, I can do them anytime of the day that I want to! I’ve been walking with my C25K app. I have dropped the ball and haven’t been using it every week, so I started all over this week and just last night, finished my first week of the app. Hopefully I’ll be able to start week 2 tomorrow!

Yesterday my mom, the kids and I went to the mall. We walk down one side and up the other on both levels. Stopping at all the stores the kids wanted to see and go into and the stores mom and I wanted to see. What mall trip isn’t complete without a trip to the food court? Of course the kids got hungry and we had to stop and eat. Nic had a hot dog and chips at DQ and Ellie wanted a slice of pizza. So, after picking up Nic’s food Ellie, mom and I went to the Italian Kitchen. Ellie got a slice of pizza, mom got a slice of pizza and I had the best Stromboli! Oh, it was so good! One of the best Stromboli's I've had in a long, long time!

Needless to say, I thought I'd be way out of my weight loss program. However, I wasn't hungry for dinner and just snacked a little on some trail mix and had some chai tea we picked up at a little tea shop in the mall. Went on my walk on the treadmill, showered and to bed I went. I woke up this morning and went down to weigh myself and guess what?

I am down 23.8 pounds!!! That means that I am 100.2 pounds to go till I am at my goal weight!!! Woo hoo! 20% there! I can't believe this! After a plateau for over 2 weeks, I've started losing weight again! And I've been able to get clothes here in Denver that are 2X and not 3X because that's what is starting to fit!! How exciting!!! Woo hoo!

So tonight for dinner, I am going to make my bourbon chicken breasts, onion sweet potatoes, and asparagus. All some yummy things!

Till next time!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Vacation in Denver

I'm visiting my mom and step dad in Denver. (Well, actually Westminster but close enough). The kids having been having a ball with all the activities that we've been doing with them. So, far we have gone to the North Pole with my brother, Paul, his wife, Tawny and my 2 nephews Mason and Reese.
We've also gone to the Butterfly pavilion, that we do every year so the kids can hold 'Rosie' the tarantula and of course see all the gorgeous butterflies.
Then today we went to the Aquarium where the kids love the sharks and sting rays!

One thing that I was scared of was not being able to stick to my weight loss plan while I was here, but you know something, it's been good!! My mom is so supportive of me losing weight and she will help in anyway that she can! So, since I have been here, we have eaten some great meals of chicken, ahi tuna and done enough walking and swimming for me not to have to go on my 30 minute 1.5 mile walk each day!

I have been on a plateau for just over 2 weeks now. Haven't been able to lose any weight, but I haven't gained any either. I've been at a nice level (20 pounds). Well, after I went down and weighed myself this morning, I found that I am now down 21.2 pounds!!! Woo hoo!! I think my plateau is over! Maybe I won't have another one for 20 more pounds! I can only hope! I know have just 102.8 pounds till I hit my goal!

Till next time!


Monday, August 8, 2011

Back on track

I had a fabulous family reunion this weekend. Great family and great food!! After losing 20 pounds, I figured I was able to splurge a bit and eat some of this great food that everyone was bringing and making! So, I did... do I regret... absolutely not! Should I have held back? OK, maybe a little bit... but, I'm not upset and I probably would do it again (just with a little more restraint). I did gain 3 pounds back. It was so hard to lose and so easy to put back on! I forgot that part about losing weight and not watching things!

About the food that I so much enjoyed! My brother and sister in law went down and dug up pounds and pounds of clams and oysters. Oh, and once they were cooked, were they ever wonderful to eat. The oysters where deep fried (big bad no no for me) once I had one, I had another and another and so on. I haven't had pasta in over 2 months now and there were some fabulous pasta dishes there! Cake? Oh ya, we had birthdays and guess what? German chocolate cake was there to celebrate and so was I! It was fresh and so wonderful! And the desserts that were made! Wow, is all I can say.

Of course, once all the early birds left and it was the 'younger' of the crowd, we pulled out the wine coolers, beer and I had to make mojito's (hey, I did use diet 7-up!!)! Add a few of those and along with the food and there you have splurged beyond belief!

So, after all the awesome food and great pancakes for breakfast, I am back on track today. Back to the basics...Nothing but my cup of black coffee this morning and water all day! Making sure that if I want to snack, I'm snacking on fresh fruits and veggies!

I went out to the garden this morning and pick 3 fresh green bell peppers and a beautiful large head of broccoli! I can't wait to cut into these and enjoy them. I think I am going to make some broccoli salad for this week and just snack on my peppers. And we saw a butternut squash and an already nice sized watermelon! I can't wait for the tomatoes to turn also!

So, now to lose those 3 pounds that came back and continue with my weight loss and nutritional life style change journey!

Till next time!