It's a beautiful Thursday...

...in the office with the windows open & the phones being quiet. Thank goodness.

I'm a walking zombie. Ok, well I'm waking up now, but it's almost 12. It's mostly because my body hurts still from last night. 465 calories gone. Woot!

Hubby and I went to the gym last night and we worked it out. It hurt so good.

Then we got home and I was determined to make a healthy filling dinner.

Italian Style Stuffed Zuccihini & Squash

1/2 lb ground turkey

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 tbs minced garlic

1 cup tomato sauce

1 zucchini

1 squash

shredded mozarella cheese

Italian seasoning to taste

Preheat the oven to 400degrees, lightly coat a baking pan with cooking spray. Cut zucchini and squash in half, length wise and hollow out with a spoon.

Brown turkey in a skillet (I used just a little bit of olive oil so it wouldn't stick), add onions, red peppers and garlic.

Then stuff the meat mixture into the zucchini & squash halves. Cover with tomato sauce & italian seasonings to taste. Bake for 20 minutes, or until zucchini/squash is soft. Sprinkle mozarella cheese on top and put back into the oven for 10 mins.

It was hubsand approved, and will definitely be reappearing on the menu at our house!

Tonight I will be attempting hot yoga for the first time. It shall be a sweaty and interesting experience. I'm excited yet very nervous! Have you ever tried hot yoga? Likes? Dislikes? Advice?

Ok, lunch break over. Time to go back to work. My thai chicken & veggies with brown rice was quite delicious though! Enjoy your sunny Thursday :)

Hump Day Blues

I have them. It's beautiful outside. I don't wanna be stuck at my desk anymore this week (too bad I have 2.5 days left this week).

Point blank: I'd rather be at home, with my husband. Relaxing. Getting errands done. Getting our vegetable garden ready for the summer.

Oh well. Such is life.

The good news is:

It's not alot, but it was enough to make me excited this morning. And it means on I'm on the right track!

This week has been slow but good so far. Still no soda!! and I've been a tracking fool. Everything. Even the japanese steakhouse (completely delicious) food from last night with my best friend.

I've been bringing my breakfast, lunch and snacks to work. And paying attention to what I'm eating on at night.

Today however, I forgot my lunch. At home. It wasn't even made. oops. So luckily, I keep a stash of frozen meals at work, in attempt to not eat out and to save money.



This was todays lunch. This is by far my favorite frozen meal. It's filling and tastes like something that you could get at a greasy chinese resturant, not from your freezer.

I also have a whole snack drawer at work. At my desk and in the fridge. Filled with nuts, fruits, yogurt, Special K bars, oatmeal and pop-corn. I've found that this helps me to not indulge at the 7-11 down the street (as often anyway).

 

On Monday, I made Dr. Oz's weight-orade. I brought it to work on Tuesday and drank half the daily serving size (then went out to dinner, you know how it goes from there). It's really delicious, and is a nice break from water. Recipe found here. I must remember this tomorrow at work!!

On Monday, we went to the gym and burned off 300 calories! woot!

Last night after the japanese steakhouse, I was in a food coma and went home and crashed.

Tonight I. WILL. GO. TO. THE. GYM.

How's your week being going? Tracking? Exercising?



WooHoo

I PASSED! (2 of 3 anyway, I have to wait for the writing sections score, stinkin' essays!)

I also got done a 6-hour test done in 2.5 hours. Woohoo. And did I mention that I passed?

Ok, ok, ok. On with the day.

So I got up this morning at 5:30 5:45am and left the house by 6:30. Too. Early. This morning I ate one of those delicious baked oatmeal pies (and tracked it).

I also took snacks with me since I figured I'd be gone for awhile and was going to have some time to kill. (I might've taken tooo many....oh well).

I ended up having an asian pear and a light string cheese. Yum!

Bonus: Everything's tracked. So far, so good.


Today for lunch I made my own verison of Noodles & Company Pasta Fresca.

yummm!

Whole Wheat Pasta (al dente style, one serving per package)
Chopped Veggies: Onions, Grape Tomatoes, Spinach, Red Bell Peppers, Asparagus
11 Medium Shrimp (I used frozen, cheaper & what I had)
3 tbs Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbs Olive Oil
1 tbs Honey
Italian Seasoning (to taste)
Parmasean Cheese (to taste)

While the pasta was cooking, I put the chopped veggies in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil and let them sautee up (still crunchy, but onions were transperant). I made sure the shrimp were dethawed (if using frozen), and then added them into the veggie mixture. I mixed balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey in a small bowl, added italian seasoning to taste, and poured onto the veggies & shrimp. Let simmer so the veggies and shrimp absorb the flavoring. Put the pasta in a bowl, veggies & shrimp on top, and then a sprinkle of cheese. Enjoy :)


I thought today was going to be a no-exercise-my-brain-hurts kinda day, but since I got done early, I text messaged hubby and let him know we'd be going on a bike ride around town.




We're cute <3

And we did. 32 mins in the wind. whew. 235 calories burned.

I'm glad that we got to go outside and enjoy the sunshine together!

Local farm

I use MyFitnessPal to track my food, exercise and water consumption. It's got almost any food you need, you can create "meals" and it connects from my phone to computer automatically. I need to be better at tracking my weight and measurements. So far I like it, its super user-friendly and the best part of all, it's free!

What do you use (if anything) to track foods/calories/exercises/etc?

Now it's time to clean up, and relax before going to hang out with the cutest-almost-3-year-old ever.

Tomorrow it Starts....

....tracking every morsel that goes into my mouth. Going to the gym atleast 5x/week.

Taking control of my diet and my life to become healthier.

(On a seperate note, tomorrow is also a big step in my career path (hopefully). I get to take a test for 6 hours. Joy. I actually feel pretty good about it, so hopefully it all goes well and I don't forget how to add or write. Wish me luck!)

I know I said that I'm going to be following the G.I. Diet, and I am to a certain extent, but more or less using it as a healthy guideline to foods, because somethings I just don't agree with.

Like, telling me I can't eat pineapple or mango. Thats not going to happen. It's fruit, and fruit is healthy (in moderation), and they are my favorite fruits, and when they are on sale, I will buy them and enjooyyyyy them!

So I'll eat my pineapple and mangoes and cut down on the bad stuff (aka sugary delicious sweets).

Today I got rid of a lot of junk food in the house, and made healthy treats. Most of which I copied from Pinterest.

I decided to make Individual Baked Oatmeal found here, they seem like they will be great to grab and go in the mornings, and easy to eat on the road!

I didn't have flaxseed meal, and already had sweetened applesauce so I didn't add Stevia (or anyform of sweetner). This recipe made about 30 individual oatmeal pies, so I kept some in the fridge to grab in the mornings and froze the rest.

I also added some toppings to them: walnuts & pecans, raisians and chocolate chips (I couldn't resist).

I can't wait to enjoy these with some hot tea in the mornings!

I also have a serious sweet tooth. So I saw that you can take yogurt and freeze little drops and it makes it into almost candy/ice cream like deliciousness. I used Dannon Light & Fit yogurt in blackberry, strawberry banana and vanilla. And so far so delicious.

These will be my afternoon snacks at work!

So tomorrow is the big test day, and I will be taking an oatmeal pie and some tea with me. I have 2 and half hours between two of the testing sections and I'm thinking I'll either walk around campus, it's at UMD, or go to Ikea and dream up my our future house. Maybe a little bit of both, walking and dreaming. Exercise + daydreaming is a good way to kill time and relax after 4 hours of testing in the morning!

This week I'm starting bikram yoga classes (Thank you Groupon!) with a co-worker. It's an hour and a half long, and hopefully I won't die.

Any helpful suggestions to do before hand? (I'm thinking drink alot of water!)

A good thing is that I havn't had a soda in about 3 weeks. This is the longest ever. We even went out to lunch today and I resisted the deliciousness of a diet coke. Ice cold.

Oh well. I will survive. Not having a diet coke never killed anyone, right?

Man o Man

So obviously it's been a while. A very long while.

Life got crazy. I went to Costa Rica. Picked up the boy. Came home together. Planned a wedding in a month. Got married. Now getting settled.

Kinda.

Now that it's March, it might be time to get back on plan.

I've been looking over various diets these past few days, and I need something that fits into life, and doesn't cost a ton of money.

I stumbled across a book that I had bought a few years back, skimmed and put in my (mother's) closet. It's called the G.I. Diet and it just lays things out really simple. It's about eating food that your body takes longer to process, so that way you feel fuller longer, and don't have to eat as much food.

Alot of the information is basic (low-sugar/fat, fat free, etc), lean meats, all veggies & fruits that you'd like, etc etc etc.

However, it just really reconfirmed that eating this way may take longer to lose weight, but it will stay off. It also explains why certain foods are better then others, and the best part no calorie counting. It's all about portions and feeling full, rather then counting anything!

So I'm going to start on Sunday. I have get some groceries and I'm OCD about starting plans in the middle of the week, sooo that leaves Sunday.

Since Lent started, I've not had one soda. Not diet. Not anything. Not even when eating out.

I feel alot better. I don't have the sugar surges or the caffine cravings, and the caffine withdrawl headaches have gone away. The other plus: drinking 5x more water is helping me feel better.

With the start of spring, I always want to start something new and healthy, and it seems that so far I'm sticking to it. Hubby and I have been going to the gym alot and have been avoiding eating out (other then datenights) to save money!

Here's to hoping it sticks!

Any new years spring resolutions for you?


I'll have more updates, and hopefully pictures to come as the days go on! :)

Whoooooa baby

...I'm rocking the post-exercise endorphines. It feels nicccccccccce!

Tonight I started Week 2m Day 1 of C25K and it felt so great! I then walked an extra 15 minutes with my friend and did some strength training.

Week 1 went really well, my knees hurt a little on Friday so it was nice to take Saturday and Sunday off and do different types of cardio/exercise.

So far, so good!

This past weekend was eventful! Friday night I just went to the gym, and came home and rested which is always needed!

Saturday I got up, made an omelet, went to the gym, got pedicures with my Mom for her birthday, went to a 1st birthday party, then went to an O's game and out in Baltimore.

*phew* Needless to say, I drank too much on Saturday and paid for it at weigh-in this morning. Lesson learned.

Sunday I recovered, came home and napped and then took my Momma to dinner for her birthday (I'm an awesome daughter...seriously).

I gained a pound. Lame. I'm determined to work that + 5 of its friends off this week. (Ok, maybe not that much, but it needs to happen).

Tonight after the gym I felt inspired to create. So I made dinner.

Mixed veggies, rice and Sesame shrimp. drooooool

(I know white rice is like a cardinal sin, but it took 5minutes and I only had 1/2 cup....I measured and everything!)

Anyway, the shrimp were delish!

Here's the recipe to the saucey-sauce!

1 cup soy sauce (best is low-sodium!)
2 tbs honey
Sesame seeds, groung ginger, cumin, and paprika to taste

Whisk ingredients in a bowl, pour over meat/veggies/whatever and enjoy! I added a little cornstarch & water to thicken it up a little.

So now, I earned all these extra points, I've gotten in all my good health guidelines (water, diary, veggies/fruits, oil, activity, multivitamin) and am just enjoying my low-calorie popsicle.

Plan for the Week:

1. Work out 4-5 days
2. LIMIT ALCOHOL
3. Track, Track, Track
4. Enjoy life

What are your health goals this week?

600 Calories

are gone. From working out. That's 3 nights so far this week.


And I've tracked everything I've eaten/drank/tried/nibbled/etc!


This is amazing progress!

Who doesn't feel like this sometimes!?!

Today I tracked everything, and with my extra points from working out, I am still under! And only went over my daily allowance by 2. 


Great improvement and it feels amazing!


Tonight I got to the gym 30 minutes before Zumba class, so I got changed and ready and hit the elliptical before class. Normally I'd want to sit on the couch. I felt inspired.


Tomorrow night is Week 1 Day 3 of Couch-2-5K and I can't wait! I've been looking up races lately and I'd love to do one before my wedding. I know I can, just got to stick to the program!


I'm on an exercise high right now and it feels so good to be treating my body nicely.

Where I'm heading...See you there!

The plan for the rest of the week and into the weekend is to:

• Keep Tracking Everything!
• Workout (Finish week 1 of C25k, and get in some exercise on Sat & Sun)
• Be conscious of snacks and drinking