Day 9... Toasted Parmesan Croutons

Day 9:
Weight- 184 (Either my weekend slacking or clothes, I'll go with clothes LOL)
Treadmill- 20 minutes, 1 mile and 65 calories burned.

This morning started off great!! Woke up, got the girls dressed and out the door and made it to the Y bright and early...after my treadmill routine, I wasn't feeling so well so I chose to skip my BF class.  A choice I already regret but I don't think I would've been very productive anyways with the way I was feeling. Just means tomorrow I will kick back into overdrive and make sure Wednesday I make it to BF again...

I had the best weekend in a long time!  I worked for the first time in about a year, and it was a blast.  Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful that I don't have to work at the moment, but it sure is nice making a dollar on my own. 

Luckily, I got to keep a huge load of BBQ!  I have enough chicken, brisket, and ribs to last us a month probably, so be ready to see alot of re purposing meals coming soon!!

This is something that I decided to try after watching my favorite cooking show "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" where he was making Chicharones de Queso!!! Basically, Crispy Cheese Skins!! This is what I came up with...

Toasted Parmesan Croutons

Ingredients:

1/8 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

That's it!!!

Heat a small skillet to medium/high heat and scatter cheese around the pan.  Once the cheese is melted and crispy around the edges, should take about 2 minutes, flip and cook another 2 minutes.  Lay over a rounded surface if you want to shape it or just lay flat on a paper towel to drain any grease. 

This was a great crouton to crunch up in a salad and would be great with a soup!!! In love with these things and since it uses such a small amount of cheese, each one was only about 35 calories :)

Happy Monday friends!!! Loveyoutoo

Day 8...Baked Flauta Recipe

Day 8:
Weight- 183...standing and not gaining, feeling great
Treadmill- 22 minutes, 1 mile, 80 calories burned
BF- 55 minutes, alot of work...

Today was a really good day!  All day yesterday I felt horrible because I didn't go to the gym, so I drug myself today and felt great!  This BF class is a killer but I am definitely not as sore today as I was on Wednesday so I am looking froward to getting stronger and stronger!!

Today was a very busy, crazy kind of day...Manuel got off work early and we went to grab a bite to eat at our favorite little Mexican place, La Casona.  I was not looking forward to this because 1) I am a sucker for chips and 2) cheese, grease and creamy, yummy goodness aren't usually words that fit into DIETS!!!  To my surprise, I found a very delicious, healthy meal that was only $8...

This Blackened Tilapia with steamed veggies and refried beans was so good!!

 It felt really great to find a good alternative at a typically unhealthy restaurant! With that being said, I have a great recipe I want to share!  These are the crispiest, tastiest, healthiest flautas ever!!!  I was skeptical at first but now I don't know why I ever fried these before!! And it takes me only about 10 minutes to put them together compared to the hour it used to take!!

Baked Chicken Flautas 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Homemade Chipotle Salsa ( I made earlier this week)

1 cup water

3 chicken cutlets, or 1 whole chicken breast

Quesadilla Cheese or whatever kind of cheese you like

10 Corn Tortillas

Cooking Spray (PAM)

In a medium skillet, place chicken, water and salsa and simmer until chicken is completely cooked and sauce has cooked down some.  Approx 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Chop Chicken into small pieces, small enough to fit into rolled flauta.

Preheat oven to 420 degrees F and spray a baking sheet with Pam.  Slice cheese if needed now.  Place 3-5 tortillas in microwave and heat for 30 seconds to soften for rolling.  If the tortillas are tearing, like mine did a little bit, heat them longer in the microwave..Scoop 1 tbsp chicken and cheese into tortilla and roll up, place the tortilla seam side down onto baking sheet.  Continue with the rest of the tortillas.  Spray the tops of the flautas with Pam and place in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes and flip the flautas over and bake for another 15 minutes or until brown enough for your liking...ENJOY!!!

Day 7! No Gym today :(

So I didn't get to the gym this morning....  I had a week's worth of laundry and I am still sore from yesterday.  So I figured one day won't hurt and I'll let my body rest for tomorrow when I go back to that so called BEGINNERS fitness class ...  Besides, after doing 10 loads of laundry, folding and putting them away, I feel I got all the workout I needed for today, ha ha.

I found this on Pinterest today and fell in love with it!!

Such a good reminder to stay on track!

So this week has been a crazy, busy, awesome week!!  Now I think I will rest of the day so I can work this weekend.

Have a great Thursday people!! Loveyoutoo
Meagan

Day 6!! Down 3 lbs in one week!! Salsa Recipe Included

Day six:
Weight- 184 lbs!!! That's 3 lbs down in 6 days!!! I am ECSTATIC that these improvements are actually doing something.  Hoping these changes continue on the same track!
Treadmill- 25 minutes, 1 mile, 75 calories burned
Beginner Fitness (BF)- 55 minutes of torture...

Today was brutal.  I knew I'd be taking this class at 9 so I took it easy on the treadmill...thank goodness, because  my body took a beating!  Muscles were twitching afterward!!  Its definitely a good thing but omg I was whipped by a 70 year old lady!!  I hope when I am at that age, I am still working toward good health.  

Whines: I am so sore it hurts to type this!! Who knew that those stretch bands are so rough!  The more I do, the more I will be able to do is my mentality so NO STOPPING IS ALLOWED!
Shines: I am still feeling really good about these changes that are coming!  I feel so much better and after a week, I have an overall better outlook on life.  I finally see what everyone talks about when it comes to working out and eating right and how it will change your life! 

Roasted Chipotle Salsa Recipe

1/2 can of chipotle sauce (whole chipotle peppers will work too or dried chipotles also)

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (whatever flavor you like)

6 cloves of garlic

1 jalapeno

1 onion sliced

Salt to taste

In a medium skillet heated to medium high, place whole jalapeno, garlic with skins still on and onion slices in pan.  Veggies will begin to roast right away, turn to roast all sides.  Once roasted to your liking, remove the jalapeno stem and place all veggies in a food processor (remove skins from garlic).  Pour canned tomatoes and chipotle sauce in and pulse until smooth salsa texture in achieved.  Add salt to taste and enjoy with tortilla chips. 

NOTE:  I have begun to substitute regular chips with plantain chips.  Not an exact match but still gives me yummy salsa and a CRUNCH!  Really worth a try if you re looking to save a few calories.

 

Day CINCO!!! Wonton Recipe

Day five:
Weight- 184 LBS  Finally down 2 lbs!!
Treadmill- 20 minutes, 1 mile and 95 calories burned
Elliptical- 10 minutes, .5 miles, 65 calories burned


Thank God for seaweed!!10 calories per sheet and full of all kinds of vitamins and minerals and fills the crunch craving I always seem to have.  So yay to super food!!

Tomorrow I hope to gain the confidence to join this beginner's fitness course.  Something in me wants so bad to do it but the fear of the unknown is still there...I will do it, just getting used to this new routine....and really afraid of looking like a big, fat, fool!

Oh well, moving on...

I had some friends over tonight and made dumplings...again...for like the 15th time in the past week, no joke... And they were a HUGE hit!  So simple to make and great to hide all those veggies that my family wont eat!!!

So here's how you can make your own little doughy pieces of goodness (and healthiness):

Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken Breasts (I used cutlets, but whatever kind of chicken is fine too)
1 tbsp Canola oil
2 cups fresh whole leaf baby spinach
1 zucchini chopped
1 onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1 cup baby carrots chopped (I'm sure any carrots would work)
4 cloves roasted garlic (I already had these roasted ahead of time but any chopped garlic would work)
Lite Soy sauce ( low sodium)
Lite Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 cup Canola oil to pan fry dumpling or prepare a steamer pot to steam dumplings
Wonton wrappers or egg roll wrappers (I use organic wontons but regular ones work too)
Cup of water to seal wontons
Steps:

• Put about 4 inches of water into a pot and bring to a boil.  Place chicken in (I drop it in frozen just because it eliminates the mess of raw chicken) and add 1 tbsp each of teriyaki and soy and boil for about 45 minutes or until cooked.  Roughly chop chicken and pulse in food processor until chicken is a crumbly texture.
• In a large skillet, add 1 tbsp oil and add chopped veggies (excepts spinach) and saute for about 10 minutes or until soft, add spinach, cook until just wilted. 
• Place all veggies into a food processor (I use a Ninja but whatever will work) and pulse to make small pieces to fit in wontons.
• Combine both veggie mixture and chicken mixture in a skillet and cook down for about 10 minutes, just to cook off some moisture, and season to taste.  I usually add a little more soy and teryaki to taste. Go easy on the salt since the sauces have high sodium contents.
• Prepare a clean surface to build your wontons.  Take 1 tsp (more or less depending on your wonton size) and place in center of wontons, wet the outer edge of wontons and fold over to seal. 
• Heat 1/4 cup oil in small skillet and place wontons in when hot.  It only takes about 1 minute per side to brown them.  Drain on paper towel lined plate.  As you fry, your oil will disappear, I like the last batch of wontons because they have a fried portion and a steamed portion because the pan wasn't as full. 
• If you steam, fill your steamer pot with 2-3 inches of water and bring to  a boil.  place steam rack in and line the bottom of the steamer rack with wontons, do not stack like tamales, they will stick together.  Steam for 10-12 minutes.  Pull out and let sit for 2 minutes before removing.  If you remove too soon, they will fall apart very easily. 
• ENJOY!

DAY 4!! New goal!!! LONG POST

Day four:
Weight- 186 LBS  STILL!!
Treadmill- 20 minutes, 1 mile and 95 calories burned
Elliptical-10 minutes, .6 miles, 70 calories burned

My first goal I have is a simple one.  No exact numbers to keep in mind or sizes...I want to be able to wear my WEDDING RINGS!!! I haven't been able to wear my custom made beauties in over a year without my finger nearly falling off!! I keep thinking of buying a new one that I can wear for now but that is such a lame thing to do instead of just losing the WEIGHT!!  Agree? So this is my first concrete goal.  Not too much, not too hard.  I hope LOL!

So today at the gym was great!  Got in a good 30 minutes of pretty good cardio.  Wednesday I want to start a beginner's fitness class that lasts 55 minutes.  I don't know if I can do that but I have to try! We went on a mini trip this weekend to Waco, (kinda a weird place) and I pretty much blew my diet all weekend!!  Sonic doesn't have salads and the Hilton room service is too enticing...but I am back on track and am determined to NOT let that happen again!! 

Today we went to the grocery store and 1/2 of my budget was spent in the produce or organic sections!!!  I have cut back our budget from $150-2$200 to $100/weekly.  Amazingly, we are eating better than ever and are actually spending LESS!! My goal is to get down to about $80/week with occasionally more for toiletry trips, but I am impressed so far with all around improvements...

I expanded what I started doing about my snacking issues with the use of some friends' advice...There is a mix of crunchy, salty, sweet, nutty and sour....something for any hankering!!

Here is what I came up with:

This trail mix is a combo I made from adding dried bananas to what Kroger calls "Women's Vitality mix", a mix of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, almonds, cranberries and cashews...Probably more in there somewhere but this is all I could pick out.  Delish and for small portions is really good!

My husband and I love cucumbers...sliced thinly and soaked in something.  He likes his in lime juice, I like mine in vinegar.  Good memories of growing up in the South come from this tangy dish. 

The girls love apples but I hate cutting them... These precut bags will come in handy!

This is my first time making or eating Kale chips...so good with parm cheese on them.  All those who know me, know I love to eat seaweed and have on occasion eaten a whole bag at a time.  This is very similar to that taste and the cheese just makes it that much better!

My grandmother used to make this...cauliflower with Italian dressing.  Such a refreshing, crunchy salad. 

I don't know how I ever lived without one of these!!!

My lunch today on my new yellow plate.  This will be my plate to limit my portions.  CUTE huh?

This is a mango pit remover but it worked great for apples too!! Greatest thing ever made!!

Have a great day friends!! Loveyoutoo

Meagan

DAY TRES!!!

Day THREE!!!


Day three:
Weight- 185 LBS  as long as I'm not going up is fine!
Treadmill- 10 minutes, .5 miles and 65 calories burned
Stationary bike- 12 minutes, 2 miles, 60 calories burned
Elliptical- 10 minutes, .6 miles, 65 calories burned

So today I added the elliptical machine into my new routine...I forgot how mean those things are to your body!!! No joke, this machine is a force to be reckoned with because I wanted to fall off of it because my balance is awful.  The treadmill alone makes me dizzy!!!  I am trying to target at least 30 minutes of constant movement a day, 60 max!  So today was the low side of that figure but as a beginner, my heart and legs can only take so much. 

Whines- Still having a hard time fighting off the urge to eat all the time.  Not nearly as bad, but I need to cut out my "1 chip wont hurt mentality" which turns into a few chips (or whatever it is I am craving at the time).  But overall I am doing 100% better on my eating so I am proud of myself!
Shines- I have been drinking between 2-3 bottles of water every day!!! I still had my diet coke this morning but the rest so far is water and I am very pleased with this!!!  A friend of ours once said to "drown your hunger with water" and surprisingly, it works!! every time I feel really hungry or just hankering for a snack, I drink water and I forget most of the time I was hungry!! I believe it will get easier the more it becomes a habit but I cannot wait until I am a new woman.  For myself, my kids and my husband.  I deserve to be healthy (Lord knows I don't need anything triggering illness!), my kids need an active mommy and my husband deserves his healthy (sexy) wife back!!!

Have a blessed weekend EVERYONE!!

Day TWO!

Day two:
Weight- 185 LBS  probably clothes made that lb!
Treadmill- 20 minutes, 1 mile and 105 calories burned
Stationary bike- 20 minutes, 2 miles, 65 calories burned

So today I realized really what it feels like to BURN!!  I wasn't able to keep up to yesterday's standard but either way, it was better than being stuck at home on my couch!!  I also finally got around to making premade snack baggies filled with homemade trail mix and snacks for the kids so 1) they will stop whining they cant get a snack or cant find one and 2) I have pre-portioned snacks for myself so my brain will see "empty" and think "full"!! YAY GO ME!

Whine: My whine to day would be that I am disappointed that I couldn't match yesterday's routine...hoping the longer I do it, the more I will be able to keep going... BABY STEPS RIGHT?! Also, COKE is a HUGE problem for me...I have cut back drastically but am still fighting having at least 1, sometimes 2 a day...again baby steps right?  I will get used to water eventually...I sure hope so!
Shine: I am starting to already notice how much more energy I have!! Surprisingly fast or I just chose to have no energy before...cant decide that answer yet.  But am impressed by my ability to do all things needed with stamina already.

DAY ONE of my REVOLUTION!!

Welcome everyone to my weight loss journey!  Things are off to a good start!

Day one:
Weight- 186 LBS  Devastating
Treadmill- 30 minutes, 1.1 miles and 135 calories burned
Stationary bike-30 minutes, 4 miles, 100 calories burned

Since today was my first day back at the Y in over a year, I decided to take it slow and steady.  I think today was the first time I have ever exercised productively!  Like actually sweating and huffing and puffing (could be be also that I am bigger than I have ever been...)
But anyways, it felt so good to get out and do something instead of my usual couch potato like ways of my past.  Today starts my revolution to a healthy ME!

Whines: I feel so freaking hungry!!!! I am trying to get my body used to running on less sugar and less snacks.  Goal this week, find some healthy, filling snacks that wont leave me feeling hungry.
Shines: I went for a walk with Daphne after lunch while she rode her bike.  As I sat watching my daily inspirational talk show, I realized something...Instead of just sitting here wasting time before I pick up Catherine, I could be doing something!!! Just like the show is trying to teach!!!! Um HELLO!!!! I'm happy we did that together!