Friday, January 10, 2014

Change of Plans

Last night I had planned to go to the gym and then try something new, Mediterranean spaghetti squash but that all changed because the fiance didn't end up not having to go to work. So I will give you one guess what we did...... THAI NIGHT! And if you have ever eaten Thai you know there is no working out after. So I will just have to catch up this weekend on my workouts. Then I was supposed to try out a new recipe so that I would have lunch for today but..... the fiance wanted to take me out for lunch today. So I don't have much to post about today but I would rather spend time with  him :)
 
We decided on California Dreaming for our lunch date.

I had the California Dreaming House Salad
Mixed Greens
ham
turkey
mixed cheese
toasted almonds
balsamic vinaigrette
I asked for no bacon and bread ( this cuts out a lot of calories)


Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
 
Day 11, Operation I'm getting marrrried!
Breakfast: Egg, spinach and feta omelet
Snack: 25 almonds
Lunch: house salad with low cal dressing
Snack: protein bar and edamame
Dinner: skip
 
Day 12 no soda
154 days till final goal and getting hitched
 
 

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Poll: Save the Date Ideas & My Obsessions of the Week

Now that the wedding is getting closer we want to send out Save the Dates. It is hard for me to make any type of decision so I thought I would have a fun little poll to see what you all thought!
Let me know which photo you think would be the best for our Save the Dates. Thanks blogger friends! 

#1

(not sure I could get the bf to do this but cute)

#2

(With lavender colored balloons)
 

#3

 (I would be holding lavender, it's my main flower for the wedding)

#4

(just simple and pretty)

#5

(in lavender and light grey)
 
I AM SO EXCITED!!!

My Obsessions of the Week

Edamame is just plain amazing. I eat it probably every day. It is a great snack or side for a meal. Or if you are like me, I eat the whole bag for a meal. Even is you do that it's only a little over 200 calories


Now for all of you that have a sweet tooth. These things are fantastic. I always keep a couple in my purse for when I get bored at work and think I am hungry.


Now I have been sharing Blue Diamond almonds a lot lately but I think I have found my new favorite flavor.
Salt n' vinegar!!
It is like I am eating chips but without all the bad fat!

 
 
I will be heading to the gym after work so I will share that and maybe a new recipe tomorrow.


Day 10, Operation I'm getting marrrried!
Breakfast: Spicy, cheesy egg casserole
Snack: 25 almonds and fruit
Lunch: Spicy, cheesy stuffed chicken and a cup of tomato soup
pre-workout- protein bar
Dinner: Thai night. Chicken with broccoli and cabbage, no rice
Day 11 no soda
155 days till final goal and getting hitched

 

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Where I Was/ Where I Am Now & Spicy Cheesy Stuffed Chicken

I have never really posted many before and now pictures because to be honest I was embarrassed of those pictures. Now that I have become more comfortable in my own skin it makes it a lot easier to share where I was this time last year. Baby steps right?
 
Now & Then
 
Now to a YUMMY new recipe!!
 
Spicy, Cheesy Stuffed Chicken 
 
What you will need
 Chicken breast
1 egg
fat free cream cheese
reduced fat sharp cheese
taco seasoning
enchilada sauce
jalapenos
 
 
 
Start by preheating your oven to 375'
 
Then chop up your jalapenos. (I don't use fresh because they always burn my hands)

 
Then for your mixture that you are going to stuff your chicken with mix ff cream cheese, handful of rf sharp cheddar cheese and chopped jalapenos

 
then mix.

 
Then stuff your chicken!

 
Once your chicken is stuffed, on a separate plate cover the outside of the chicken with taco seasoning.

 
Once chicken is ready, pop in the oven and let cook for about 30 mins. It depends on your oven. Just make sure it is fully cooked. I hear getting sick from uncooked chicken is no fun ha.

 
While your chicken is cooking, warm up you enchilada sauce.

 
When your chicken is finished top your stuffed chicken with the sauce.
 
THIS IS AMAZING!!

 
You will have leftover stuffing so I added eggs to the mixture
 
 
and made a spicy, cheesy egg casserole for my breakfasts!
Yum!

 

 

 
Now to my workout last night.
All I can say is WHEW! I can definitely tell that I haven't worked out a lot these past two months. This gives me more determination to get back to where I was because I can now see how fast I can lose it.
 
I did 1/2 of the strength training workout I shared yesterday and walked uphill on the treadmill for 10 mins. (45mins all together)
 
 

Day 9, Operation I'm getting marrrried!
Breakfast: Spicy, cheesy egg casserole
Snack: 25 almonds
Lunch: broccoli and cheese soup. (my low cal recipe)
pre-workout- protein bar
Dinner: turkey dog and edamame

Day 10 no soda
156 days till final goal and getting hitched


 

 Question for the day!!
What is your favorite thing to cook?

 

 
 
 

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

National Championship Game 2014, Reasons to Get Exercise Daily and My Fitness Mission

 
Last night was the big game. AUBURN VS. FSU!! I was super excited and looking for Auburn to pull off another miracle. My momma said God was on Auburn side this year. So I got everything I needed on this very cold night to watch the game. Fuzzy pj’s, a fuzzy blanket, fuzzy slippers, vanilla candles, and of course a big bowl of ice cream. A big bowl of ice-cream? Yes you heard me correctly.
 
I had no sugar added pecan ice cream. Then I got sugar free werther's originals and crunched them up and sprinkled them on top. Who said you couldn’t have a low calorie dessert.
 
 

Now I mentioned yesterday that today’s post is going to be all about fitness. The next thing I am going to share is 5 reasons it is important to get daily exercise.

1.       The number one reason to exercise is that it will keep you healthy.

2.       Another important reason to exercise daily is that it will help you to lose weight.

3.       Daily exercise will also help you to feel better.

4.       One of the benefits of daily exercise that most people don't think about is that it can really help you to sleep.

5.       Perhaps the best reason to exercise daily is that it is fun.
Now that I have changed my lifestyle I have learned how important it is to get some sort of daily exercise. Over the past year I have challenged myself with workouts and really started to enjoy them. But then November and December happened and let’s just say my workouts kind of died. The past 2 months I can tell that I haven’t had as much energy as I did when I was exercising regularly.  I would post about getting back to workouts but in the end I just didn’t. But now I know that to have the energy that I once had and feel great every day I have to get back to it. The reason I share my workouts is to keep me accountable. It makes me feel like if I don’t do it then I am not only lying to myself but to all of ya’ll. And what good does that do. So I will be sharing some great new workouts in the future and I would love if you would share some as well in the comments. We all struggle with getting to the gym so why not help each other out? I have been saying for weeks now that I want to run a half marathon. So......

This year I have decided my most important goal (well other than staying healthy) is to run a half marathon.  Does anyone want to join? Let me know if you find a good plan!
 
Also I wanted to share my strength training workout. This is an awesome workout that I found on Pintrest and I will definitely do it at least once a week.




All in all I am super excited about the year to come. After the best year of my life and becoming the person I have always tried so hard to be, I know that I can only improve. I hope you will all continue to follow my journey to a healthier, happier lifestyle. Keep me accountable, ask questions, and let me know your goals.






 
Day 8, Operation I'm getting marrrried!
Breakfast: 1 egg with salsa and fat free cottage cheese
Snack: 25 almonds
Lunch: broccoli and cheese soup. (my low cal recipe)
Snack: salmon salad
pre-workout- protein bar
Dinner: Spicy, Cheesy Stuffed Chicken
 
Day 9 no soda
157 days till final goal and getting hitched

 
Today's Questions
What are your goals for 2014?
Have you ever run a half marathon, what would be your advice?
Please leave your comments below, I'd love to read them :)

Monday, January 6, 2014

My Sundays and Healthy Salmon Salad Lettuce Wraps

This weekend was so relaxing. Just some good quality time with the fiancee is all I wanted. Now my Sunday afternoons and evenings are always my alone time. I lock myself in my house and do whatever I want to do with absolutely noone around. Usually it consists of cooking, painting my nails, doing a face mask, snuggling on the couch with Motor while watching Lifetime or Law and Order. This Sunday was no different. After church and lunch at a cute little French Cafe with the bf and his sister and her husband I went home and had the whole day to myself. It was wonderful. I started it off with of course turning it to the Law and Order Marathon and then got into my most comfortable clothes I could find. Then I started a big bowl of my homemade broccoli soup for my lunches for the week. I know I made it last week but this time I left out the turkey sausage and cottage cheese and added rotel tomatoes. After that I cleaned the house perfectly, well about as clean as I could get it. Afterwards I did my nails and toenails while snuggling with sweet Motor at the same time. After relaxing for a bit and fillling my brain with as much Law and Order as possible, I decided to try a new recipe. This is what I came up with.
 
What you will need
3 cans of pink Salmon (drained)
fat free cottage cheese
sweet honey mustard (not the dressing kind, actual mustard)
sun dried tomatoes
1 container of non fat greek yogurt
1/2 squeezed lemon
1 egg (not picture)

 
Start by draining your salmon and breaking it up in a large mixing bowl.

 
Chop up your sun dried tomatoes as small as you would like them and add.

 
Add 1/2 of the lemon (juice)

 
Add your container of greek yogurt, 2 heaping spoonfuls of fat free cottage cheese and sweet honey mustard. Then mix all together. As I was mixing I knew I was missing something...... But what was it?

 
A hard boiled egg. Duh Mel!

 
After the egg was finished I broke the egg into pieces (after I took the shell off of course),

 
and added it to the mixture. I then let refrigerate for about an hour.

 
Once it was chilled, I washed a couple of pieces of romaine lettuce and added the salmon salad.

 
It is so tasty and easy. This will be perfect for my afternoon snacks!
 
My post tomorrow will be all about fitness and my fitness goals. Make sure you check it out!!
 
Day 5, Operation I'm getting marrrried!
Breakfast: almonds ( I was on the go)
Snack: edamame with light soy sauce
Lunch: new broccoli, turkey sausage and cheese soup
Dinner: The fiance and I tried out Red Bowl (if you haven't figured out we love Asian food). I started out with lettuce wraps and for my main dish I had a spicy thai mango chicken dish with no rice. Later that night when I go home I had a small bowl no sugar added ice cream and almonds.

Day 6, Operation I'm getting marrrried!
Breakfast: 2 eggs with skim mozz cheese
Lunch: strawberry, feta and almond chicken salad with fat free sun dried tomato dressing. SO GOOD!
Dinner: The last of my broccoli, turkey sausage and cheese soup and one salmon salad lettuce wrap. Later that evening I had a small bowl of no sugar added ice cream.
 

Day 7, Operation I'm getting marrrried!
Breakfast: 2 eggs with skim mozz cheese
Snack: 25 almonds
Lunch: broccoli and cheese soup. (my low cal recipe)
Snack: 2 salmon salad lettuce wraps
Dinner: Grilled turkey dog wrapped in lettuce topping with mozz cheese and edamame with light  soy sauce. And later a small cup of no sugar added ice cream.

 
Day 8 no soda
158 days till final goal and getting hitched
 
 
What is your favorite thing to do during your alone time?
 
What is your favorite snack recipe?