Quick Workouts

The last few weeks I've been lazy at working out. These are my excuses...
My daughter was sick
Then I was sick
Then my back hurt.

Well I think my back started hurting because I was not being active enough. I've had sciatica issues on and off since 2004, since losing weight its been a lot better. I think it also helps that I'm much more active.

Anyways I started working out again on Saturday. Since I'm a (mostly) stay at home mom and my fiance works a lot I don't get to go to the gym. I mean I'm sure if I tried really hard I could figure out a way to go to the gym but I don't want to spend money on a sitter for KBeaner and I don't want to give up family time.  So since I don't go to the gym, and I'm not a runner, I use workout DVDs.

I'm lucky that I was given the Zumba DVDs as a present (I would have never bought them on my own, I'm too cheap). I also do  Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred, you can buy the individual DVDs for only $10 at Target. It gets really boring only doing a few different DVDs everyday though.

When I first started getting into working out again a friend of mine introduced me to Blogilates. A Pilates instructor, Cassey Ho, puts up different workouts onto Youtube (here is a direct link to her You Tube Channel) I love her videos because they aren't too long, challenging and most importantly fun! She has these fun song challenges my favorite is the Call Me Maybe Squat Challenge. The challenges are only as long as a song and like all her videos they are free. There is really no excuse not to workout, who cannot find 4 minutes here and 4 minutes there. If you do 5 of them a day that's 20 minutes of exercise! Even if you just do 4 minutes..that's 4 more minutes than you normally would have done!

I've only done the Blogilates videos and some from Live Strong Woman, but I'm sure there are tons of other workout programs that are available on YouTube.

I hope you check out some of those videos if you're feeling like you're in a workout rut or you're looking to start working out. They really helped me.

Banana Nut Oatmeal and weigh in

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Today is my weigh in day and I lost one pound! I'm very pumped for that one pound since the past couple weeks I have not been working out. Even though I have not been working out I have been tracking all the food I've eaten, even though I have been eating a lot (probably because I haven't been working out) I went way into my extra weekly points this past week. I did however work on getting my 5 cups of fruits and vegetables in every day. Most of the days I get in about 4 servings. I feel better when I eat more fruits and vegetables, so I am going to continue to work on getting all 5 servings a day!

Here is an easy and tasty way to get a serving of fruit in...

Banana Nut Oatmeal (inspired by Banana Nut Bread)

Ingredients
1/2 c  dried oatmeal
1 c water
1 banana (sliced)
1 tbsp almonds (or nut of choice)
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of ground ginger

Cook oatmeal as directed on package, then add your banana slices, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon and ground sugar. Stir well and Enjoy!

I love making my oatmeal this way, so fast,easy and fills me up! I like that I get a fruit serving in and some protein for only 5 points! I hope you enjoy your Banana Nut Oatmeal.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Products that Help with Weight Loss

There are a lot of products that can help with weight loss. I'm not talking diet pills and magic potions, but different tools to help you have a healthier lifestyle.

Here's a list of some my favorites that I use all the time (I've linked these to Amazon to give you an idea, but obviously any brand works)



Food Scale- I use my food scale all day long, it helps with getting the right portion and sometimes if you weigh out your food you get "more" than if you had measured it out!

Measuring Cups- kind of obvious but measuring cups make sure you are getting the correct portion of food.

Scale- Your scale doesn't have to be a fancy one, just one that you can use to weigh in each week so you can see how you're doing. Please don't obsessed with what your scale says, sometimes the best way to measure if you're losing is with how your clothes feel on you.

Salad Spinner- Seriously I love this thing! You can clean your lettuce with out having to wait forever for it to dry. I also find it stays fresh longer, which saves you money. Every couple days I clean up more lettuce so that when I want a salad I can just grab some quickly. I buy whole heads of romaine instead of those salad bags, its cheaper!



 



A Notebook- I track all of my points, my exercise, how much water I drink and how many fruits and vegetables in a notebook. It helps hold me accountable and keeps me on track.

 

 

Hope these help you as much as they help me. Tell me in the comments about your favorite products!

Weigh In Day!

Today is weigh in day. I'm still 168 lbs this week.

I'm very glad to have maintained this week! I had been mentally preparing myself for a gain.

I've had a nasty head cold this week which has made it hard to workout. My throat has been sore as well so its made it hard to say no to ice cream!! Thank goodness for Blue Bunny Sweet Expressions Ice Cream its made with Splenda and tastes so good!

Anyways I struggled this week, and went way into my weekly points, but I tracked and tracked and tracked all my food and drinks. Just another reminder to myself why I love Weight Watchers so much, you can eat what you want and as long as you keep track and stay with your points you can at least maintain if not lose!

Healthy Mexican Lasagna

I love recreating recipes to make them healthier but just as delicious. My mom has always made Mexican Lasagna, its layers of tortillas, ground beef with salsa, sour cream, refried beans and lots of cheese. It’s amazing!! I don’t even want to think of how many points it would be! It’s one of my favorites and when I was younger I would have my Mom make it for my birthday dinner almost every year.

I had seen on Pinterest  (if you're on pinterest you should follow me...if not you should join its addicting) to use cut up zucchini instead of noodles in traditional lasagna. That got me thinking, what if I did that instead of the tortillas in my mom’s Mexican lasagna?  So I tried it!

Instead of sour cream I used nonfat Greek yogurt, instead of refried beans I used kidney beans and I switched out the ground beef for ground turkey.  It came out phenomenal! Just as good and for a large portion only 6.5 points!!

Ingredients:
2 Zucchinis
1 can kidney beans (rinsed)
1 cup shredded reduced fat cheese
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1lb ground turkey meat
1 jar of salsa (I accidentally grabbed one that had corn and beans in it, normally I just use mild salsa)

First thinly slice your zucchini, either in circles, or in long strips, I’ve done both but it’s easier to do circles I think. 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly salt them and let them sit for about 10 minutes, after ten minutes use a paper towel to take off the extra moisture.

 Spread them out onto a greased cookie sheet, and place in the oven for about 10 minutes, the flip them over and cook for 10 more minutes. (I advise keeping an eye on them; mine had some darker spots to them).

While the zucchini is in the oven for the 2^nd time start cooking your ground turkey, I just used a large frying pan with no oil.

Once the ground turkey is cooked add your salsa, mix well.

At this time your zucchini should be done baking and slightly cooled. Cover the bottom of a 13x9 casserole dish with one layer of the sliced zucchini. (I forgot to take a picture of just the zucchini in the pan but just so you know its OK if they are not all touch each other)

Then add a layer of your turkey/salsa mixture (I use about half of each ingredient in each layer)

Then add a layer of beans,

Layer of nonfat Greek yogurt, this is wear it gets a little messy.

Add a layer of cheese.

Continue your layers until you get to the top or you are out of ingredients.

Bake your Healthy Mexican Lasagna in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Once it is done cooking let it sit so that some of the liquid is absorbed. I let this sit for about 15 minutes.

Cut into 6 portions.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

95lbs lost so far!

I am so excited I can’t even contain myself…

I weigh 168 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s 95 pounds since January 2010!

Since high school I’ve been around or over 190, my heaviest weight pre-pregnancy was 235 and my heaviest weight ever was 263 the day I gave birth to my daughter. This is the smallest I’ve been in my adult life, also the healthiest.

I am even more excited about this loss because I was at a wedding this weekend and I did indulge, but stayed within my points and weekly extra points (check out this post for some tips). I used a lot more weekly extra points then I normally do and I figured that I would maintain again this week.

I am so excited for everyone who is losing weight or struggling to lose weight to get to this point where they are so happy and excited with themselves. Losing this weight hasn’t just been about  the physical, yes I like my body more, but I feel that I am a happier more confident person. I want everyone to feel this good!


I am so thankful for all the support I have on my weight loss journey from my fiancé, family and friends. I don’t think I could have done this without them.

Tips for Staying on Track at an Event

Hey Everyone! Hope you had a wonderful weekend, I know I did!

This weekend my fiancé and I went to my friend’s wedding, it was so beautiful and the best wedding I’ve been to yet!  A lot of my girls from college were there, so it was the first time they had seen me since I’ve lost so much weight. Actually this is the first time they’ve seen me at 171lbs…ever! And I’ve known these girls since 2004!

It was so much fun to catch up with all of them. Also not going to lie, it was amazing to hear them all say how great I looked! Huge confidence builder, thanks girls!!

(It's blurry but this is a pic of me showing off my new dress before the wedding)

 

I was a little worried about how I would do points wise at the wedding. Before getting there I knew I would fill up during the day on a lot of veggies and fruit, and at the wedding I would try to have small portions.  I did really well and did not go that far into my extra weekly points. We danced the night away so that helped and of course was a ton of fun.

Tips for Staying on Track at an Event:

• Before the event try to stay low in points.
• But don’t let yourself be hungry, and then you’ll overeat at the event.
• Drink a ton of water.
• At the event try to eat more veggies and fruit.
• Try to remember what you’ve ate/drank during the event so you can track it later on.
• If you can get in some exercise before or after the event, or even during if there is dancing!
• Most importantly have fun, you don’t want to be so obsessed with what you’re eating that you don’t have fun at the event.  Yes you want to stay on track but you also want to enjoy yourself!
• If for some reason you feel like you didn't stay on track, don't beat yourself up. Accept that you did not do as well as you wanted, and learn from it, next time you will do better and move on. Don't let one slip up ruin your whole journey! 

At this wedding I didn’t eat the pasta, or the cake (which was beautiful), or had some of the chocolate fountain (talk about a test of my willpower!!) but I did have drinks and an amazing main course. You have to pick what is worth your points. For me I knew I wouldn’t be having anything sugary (since I don’t do more than 12g per serving) but I also knew it was my first wedding without my daughter in a long time and I was going to have some drinks (all with diet soda of course). All in all I am proud of how I stayed on track and had an amazing time with my friends!