July 29th, 2013

HELLOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Anyone out there?? I hope so because (shame on me) it's been forever since I posted. Now DON'T WORRY, I haven't given up on my weight loss goals and I have been still truckin along. Last time you heard from me I weighed 191 and was a dress size 14. Now I can say I am 185, a dress size 12 and lost a total of 42 pounds so far. :)

The reason I haven't posted in awhile is because I received a promotion at work! I am SO happy in my new position but have been so consumed with trying to balance it with a social life and working out that I had no time to post. People have been pointing out that I stopped posting and that made me realize that people looked forward to my posts and I might have helped them with my posts. People are still messaging me to help them with their goals and I love that! Keep asking away. Tonight I decided that I needed to get back to this even if for a short post.

My new job??

                          Wedding and Events Planner at a public golf club.

Shameless plug: If you or someone you know are getting married or having any sort of party, contact me! :)

Look how pretty it is:

Okay I'm done!! 

Let's cut to the chase.

Exercise of the day:

Has anyone ever heard of Man-Makers?

THEY ARE CRAZY.

At least that's what I thought until I tried them and realized that I could actually do them. It is a FULL BODY workout. Here it is: 

Some key points to think about while doing these. You are engaging your core while you are doing your plank rows so make sure you try not to twist as much as possible. It's hard, but while doing the plank rows, make sure you stay as straight as possible. It helps to keep your feet apart so they are even with your shoulders.

Also, squat as low as you can but don't go crazy. Act like there is an invisible chair. 

Everything else should be self explanatory. If you need help, let me know. 

I made up a routine for myself that I am loving right now.

3 rounds of:

Step One: The stair climber

Fat burner mode for 5 minutes on level 10. Don't put your hands on the equipment until you have to.
My usual amount of floors completed is 24.5. Try to get at least that.

Step Two: Rowing machine

2 sets of 200 meters

My usual is 46 seconds.

Make sure you engage your core. You want to hear the fan whipping like crazy. Use your arms and legs. When you get all the way back, lean back a little bit to work your abs.

Step Three: Crunching machine

3 sets of 20 crunches

4th set, do a crunch with my legs straight up in the air so my body is at a 90 degree angle. Put my arms on the opposite side of the arm lever and just push myself up into my knees.

This is a great workout, I love it!

I hope this post helps, let me know if you have any questions.

XOXO Amy

This week is all about TEAMWORK!

Hello friends!!

How is everyone doing this week? Staying on track? 

I will tell you I worked out 6 days in a row last week and still lived my social life. It felt good. I can definitely tell that I am at my plateau right now though. Those 6 days didn't help me lose and I was super hungry most of the time. I am doing better now though. Current weight: 191.

Just in case you were wondering, I asked my trainer why I was so hungry and what I should do about it. He said it sounded like I needed more healthy fats in my diet such as coconut oil, nuts, all natural peanut butter, avocado, etc. Just thought that was interesting and I wanted to share that with you in case it ever happens to you!

Here's a little fun story for ya and if you keep up to date with my Facebook posts you'll know it already. My boyfriend and I are going to a wedding next weekend and I wanted to get a new dress. This was my first time dress shopping since before I lost my 36 pounds. I dropped one whole dress size to fit into a size 14 very comfortably! I also fit into a size 12 but didn't want to push it because it was still a little snug. Felt good though, and I like the number 12 so I'm gunning for it. :)

As you know, I am alllllll about teamwork and I want to encourage it as much as possible through my blog posts. I want to encourage positivity in amongst you all and I want you all to encourage each other.

This is why I asked people to send me their favorite workouts and recipes. I only got a few responses but it was a perfect amount! So here we go, I am going to start off with-

Shannon M.
Shannon is one of my biggest supporters, definitely one of the biggest for my blog. She always gives me feedback and has an amazing cooking blog. I highly recommend it! http://shansthecollegecookbook.blogspot.com/

Yesterday she made Weight Watchers friendly General Tso and fried rice. UMMMM yes ma'am... I haven't tried it yet but better believe that I will be doing it in the near future! Here is the recipe:

Weight Watchers Chinese Food (General Tsos and Fried Rice)

Prep and cook time: 40 minutes total
Serving: This would serve about 4 people
Things I would different next time: The only thing I would do differently is I would add some chopped onions to the rice.
Recipe adapted from:    Rice Weight Watchers    Chicken: Food.com

Ingredients

Chicken

• 3/4 cups of reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons of canola oil
• 2 scallions chopped
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)

Rice

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 3 large egg whites
• 4 scallions chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 10 baby carrots chopped
• 3/4 cup of frozen peas (thawed)
• 2 cups of instant uncooked brown rice
•  2.5 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce 

Directions

Chicken

1. In a bowl add your chicken broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger.  Whisk together.

1. Heat your oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.  Add your scallions, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for two minutes.

1. Add your chicken and cook till your chicken is browned (about 10 minutes)
2. Whisk your sauce one more time and add to chicken. 
3. Cook till sauce thicken (about 2-3 minutes)

1. Place a lid to keep chicken warm, and begin your rice.

Rice

1. Place 2 cups of instant brown rice in a microwave safe bowl,and microwave according to directions.
2. In a large greased skillet add your egg whites and cook for about 3-5 minutes until fully cooked and scrambled. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Respray your skillet and add your scallions and garlic, saute for 2 minutes.
4. Add your carrots, and peas and saute for 5-10 minutes till carrots are tender.

1. Add your rice to the mixture and add your soy sauce.
2. Mix well and serve.

Final Product

Thanks Shannon! This looks amazing. :)
Next up: Devyn H.Devyn was one of my best friends in college. She is an amazing person on this same crazy weight loss journey as us. We keep each other in check and she updates me on her weight loss. And I update her whenever I have big news with my weight loss. She is doing FABULOUSLY!!Here is what she had to contribute and it is really great advice:

"New favorite comfort food....Butternut squash mixed with 1 Tablespoon of EVOO and a little cinnamon. So yummy and Healthy!

Also, when I'm craving TONS of pasta or something heavy. Grill Tofu, season with Italian seasonings. Use a little sauce and parm cheese, you don't even miss pasta!

Workouts...Get activity in while tricking your body! Run around a football field or any generic open area kicking a soccer ball, you're so focused on the ball that you forget your actively working! Great for the non-runners of the world. aka: me."

Thanks for the tips Devy!

Next up: Jeff B.

Jeff is a really motivating person, at the gym just about every day and has lost a crazy amount of weight as well! Take his advice, it works for him! 

"My favorite workout is getting lost in cardio with a filthy mix (rap, alternative, techno) and tennis is my place where I can leave this world for a while and compete."

So basically, if you hate working out or going to the gym: Find something you love and turn it into exercise. Jeff loves tennis and it is a GREAT weight loss opportunity. Like swimming? Great exercise. Have kids? Get them out of the house too! Go chase them around the park or go for a walk with them. Take the dog for a walk. Like to knit or read? Do these things on a stationary bike. Just KEEP MOVING.

Thanks Jeff!

A little tip from Amy R: If you can get to a kickboxing class do it! It's without a doubt the hardest class i take!

Adding onto what Amy is saying, any class that you can get involved in is going to be a good idea. It spices up your workout, you meet new people and you have fun!

I tried Zumba classes twice before and this last class was so much fun I can't wait to take it tomorrow! If you are bored with your normal workout routine or if you have plateaued, pick it up with something completely different! There are so many classes to choose from and most gyms offer free classes. I know mine does :) (LA Fitness).

Amy also shared with me this link: http://greatist.com/fitness/charitymiles-app-donates-every-step-you-take
I took a look at it and it is obviously a really great idea! I am going to look more into it to see if it is legit before I do it but how neat! :)

Thanks Amy for the ideas!

Susan L. posted this video as her favorite butt workout- 

It's great when you can do exercises at home. These are even things that you can do in between getting things done at home. You don't even have to do all these things right in a row if you don't have time. Keep moving people! 

Thanks Susan!

Now it's my turn.

I pretty much shared my favorite healthy recipes. My favorite one right now is Shannon's green pepper stuffed casserole. Mmm Mmm Mmm I just made it again the other day. One of my other favorites to make is ground turkey (97% lean) mixed with cabbage and carrots. Sauteed with a little bit of Lite EVOO, sea salt, pepper and garlic powder. SO GOOD.

I actually have one more recipe that I created myself and I don't think I posted this one before. 

Chicken Fajita Roll-ups

Boneless and skinless chicken breast (preferably the thinly cut) beat them down as flat as you can.

Mix fat free sour cream with salsa (as hot as you want it). Spread this mixture onto the chicken. Add some fat free cheddar.

Roll the chicken up and stab with a toothpick for holding purposes, put a little more of the mixture on top of the roll up, adding a little more salsa.

Bake in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees.

When the chicken only has 10 minutes left, sprinkle some more of the cheese on top!

*NOTE- i have put spinach in it as well. Next time i am going to try putting in sauteed onions and peppers :). The chicken is so creamy but the stuff you put into it doesn't add up to any points. Each slice of 4 oz. chicken is 4 points. So this whole roll up is only 4 points. :) I LOVE this recipe and proud that I came up with it (haha).

My favorite workout? Has anyone tried the sauna? Haha - all joking aside, I just tried that for the first time the other day and I was sweating like a pig. Felt good, haha.

Ok favorite workout...I don't really have one and I share with you guys a lot of my workouts and always will. So I will share with you an EASY one that I do when I'm just not feeling it. This can be done by anyone!

A minute and a half of step-ups onto 6 risers with my left leg.
A minute and a half of step-ups onto 6 risers with my right leg.
As many regular push-ups as I can possibly do (I'm always trying to beat my last record of 32).
Wall-sits for as long as I can possibly do (Always trying to beat my record of 1:27).
Plank for as long as I can possibly do (Always trying to beat my record of 2:17).

Believe it or not this gets me sweating. You're not doing all that much but it's challenging!

So this is all of the things that I received from my readers, I hope you learned a lot and developed some of your own ideas! If you have any more ideas please feel free to PM them to me and I will feature them in my next post. 

BTW, I tried the La Croix that I was telling you about. I tried this one, the cran-raspberry. 

It was OKAY. It would definitely be delish in an alcoholic blend but by itself it reminded me too much of club soda which I don't like. Gotta mix it with the alcohol I guess haha.

Another new product that I just tried last night is Weight Watchers ice cream!

I tried the chocolate chip cookie dough one. There wasn't enough cookie dough (when is there ever enough?) but it was really good. It is made with skim milk but it tasted just like regular ice cream! Giant had them on sale for $1 each! So keep your eye out. :)

I'm going to leave you with one more note from Noel M. He always has great motivational quotes.

"The only limit is the one you set for yourself. Keep pushing"

This is all I have for you for this edition of Baby Got Back...Into Shape! I hope you enjoyed and learned a little something! Good luck this week and remember: Keep moving!

Thanks guys, you inspire me! XOXO

Let's workout!

Hello wonderful people!

Welcome back to Baby Got Back...Into Shape! Thank you to all of my loyal followers that have read every blog so far. I appreciate it more than you know. I have gotten such a great response, people messaging me and asking me for advice and asking me to cover certain things. I love that I am your go-to girl in these situations. Please feel free to ask away!

Here is your weekly update on my weight loss. Last time I updated you, I was 187. This was after my stomach virus. Well I gained some of it back. I went up to 192. Right now I am 190. I can't wait to see those 180's again!!! My goal is still 180 by May 1st. Phew, it's coming soon but I know I can do this...no slacking and no excuses! My butt is in the gym every chance I get.

I also mentioned La Croix :

I just bought it today so I will let you know next time what I think! Sorry, I'm slacking. I bought the raspberry/cranberry mmmm sounds good!

Also, here is that WW pizza recipe that I promised. Just a warning, I haven't made this before but I thought you would be interested. And if you didn't like my mini pizza idea, you might like this better. Add any veggies you want for no extra points! (Except for olives, those are extra). Cut this into 6 pieces and it's 7 points a slice. This recipe has great reviews and people say they like this better than chain places.

	2 large uncooked onion(s), vidalia , thinly sliced
	12 oz pizza dough
	10 medium sun-dried tomatoes (without oil)
	3 oz hard cheese, Gorgonzola
	10 leaf/leaves fresh spinach, washed and dried
	1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

• Coat a large nonstick pan with cooking spray. Warm pan over medium heat. Add onions and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions brown and become very fragrant.
  
• Meanwhile, prepare pizza crust for baking according to package directions. Mince tomatoes and crumble cheese. Tear spinach into pieces. Preheat oven to 425°F.
  
• Spread caramelized onions on pizza crust and bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and add tomatoes, spinach and cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, about 3 more minutes. Season with freshly ground black pepper and serve.

I did however make this Cauliflower pizza crust pizza (it's amazing!!) http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=249048
Add any veggies on top. It did take me awhile to prep because of chopping the cauliflower. You can also puree it. 4 points per serving.




So today I am covering workouts! This is my first workout blog post and it's about time. I hope you all find it useful.

I'm just going to go over a few of the workout routines that I did this past week.

This first one is a core workout that I found on Pinterest:

50 crunches (since there are so many crunches in this workout and I get bored easily, I did a different type of crunch each time. For this one I just did a basic crunch.)

15 Push Ups - not girly push ups but if you have to to get through it, then go for it!

1 Min Plank - Feet wide enough apart to give you stability.

30 sec side plank- Even my trainer admits these are hard. Do 30 sec on each side. Free hand on hip or on top of your other hand for more stability. Yes, you are on the side of your foot at this point. It hurt my foot and my shoulder but in time will get easier.

1 minute bridge - Use this as your breathing point. This is a great relaxing catch up position.

15 Push ups
1 min plank
30 sec side plank
50 crunches - This set I did V-ups, my new favorite crunch. It really helps with that stubborn pooch.

1 min raised plank
2 min bridge
50 crunches - For this set, I did bicycle crunches

Obviously you want to try your best not to stop in between sets. And it is actually a very doable routine. My first time I did it I ran into having to stop because I had to look a couple things up. SO do yourself a favor, study this routine so that you know what you are doing. Get familiar with all of the exercises so you don't have to look them up. Take your "smart gadget" with you and have this blog up during your workout so that you know what to do with pictures and everything.

This next arm workout is something that I created on the spot and am very proud of. My heart was racing and my body was sweatin' but it is DOABLE!

5 rounds 

20 Dumbbell thrusts with a 12.5 lb weight (or whatever you need to use)

10 Plank rows on each side with a 10 lb weight (or whatever you need to use)

20 dips - You can use a bench like this girl is using, a chair or what I used - 6 risers.

Bear crawl - I did this exercise in a training room and luckily I was alone so I bear crawled from one side of the room to the other and back.

* IMPORTANT TIPS:

Rounds 2 and 4 - cut the reps in half if need be. I needed to because my 2nd set of dumbbell thrusters were impossible after 10 of them. I didn't want to just struggle through it so I cut them in half. You will work up to doing whole sets.

If you need to rest between sets, only rest for 10 seconds. You don't want your heart rate going down.

If you need to rest between rounds, only do so for 30 seconds. PUSH YOURSELF. I timed myself during my rests and committed to doing these times so you can too!!

After this routine, I did the stair master set for 80 steps per minute (bookin it!) for 10 minutes. I have to admit I had to take it down to 24 steps per minute twice for a minute each because I was really struggling there. I will definitely work on this!

The final workout is something that I made up today...It is kind of a full body workout emphasizing the arms at times. 

50 squats onto 6 risers - Just have the risers or a chair behind you. Tap them with you butt each time you go down.

40 Lateral Push-offs with 5 risers - I couldn't find a good picture (lol) but this is pretty much it. Minus the jump in the middle. You want to go back and forth on your riser with one leg staying on it the whole time. Back and forth counts as one push off. Try to go as fast as you can. You start to get into a groove and it feels good!

10 Plate swings - 25 lb weight (or whatever you need to use) - Grip the holes in the weight and just swing it from between your legs in a squat to over your head and repeat. 

30 lateral push offs

20 plate swings

20 lateral push offs

30 plate swings

10 lateral push offs

40 plate swings

Push yourself! Lately I have this overwhelming feeling of confidence in myself. I know I can do it and as much as my head tells me to stop pushing so hard, I don't listen to it. And guess what? I FINISH THE DAMN ROUTINE. I could have very easily quit. But where does quitting get me? 

All through college all I did was quit. Yo-yo diets all the time. I was comfortable with where I was in life. I didn't think I was that big. Well guess what, I was. And looking back my stomach problems were worse, I felt worse. I felt uncomfortable compared to what I feel like now. I was not comfortable in my clothes at all. 

Now that I am pushing myself, I am PROUD. I did this all by myself. Really. I did. I mean, I have the motivation that you all give me and the inspiration. But no one is there working out with me every time I go to the gym. No one is there for me when I decide what I am going to eat that day. No one is there to tell me not to eat something. Nine times out of ten they tell me to eat it. They say "Oh, one time isn't going to kill you." Well no, it won't and sure i'll eat something bad every now and then in little portions but I don't do it ALL the time like I used to. 

And this is the result:

The picture on the left was from about 2 weeks ago, the picture on the right was 3 years ago when I thought I was comfortable. This was my heaviest, 227 pounds. Let me tell you, there is nothing comfortable about your size 16 jeans digging into you and being in denial that you need to go up a size. I ended up just deciding to stick with all of my stretched out worn clothes because I didn't want to go up a size. 

Today I feel beautiful. I am only half way to my goal weight but imagine what I am going to feel like in days to come. This is not a diet. This is my lifestyle. I have come to the conclusion that when I tried to lose the weight in the past I wasn't ready. If you aren't ready to change your life, then DON'T. It will be such a frustrating and depressing thing to go through. Don't put yourself through that. I am ready now and I will be successful because I am ready. I won't gain this weight back. I'm in it too deep. If you are ready, join me. Start now because now you can be unstoppable. I am unstoppable. I am a warrior and I am doing this for ME.

You are my inspiration, thank you. XOXO

Eating Right on a Busy Schedule Part 2

After I posted my blog last night I got to thinking about some other awesome lunches that are worth mentioning. 

The first takes us back to the tuna...

Mini tuna melts

Pop some of those healthy English muffins in the toaster.

Spread some tuna salad on them (Using Kraft Fat Free Mayo) and stick 

into a toaster oven until the tuna is warm.

Sprinkle with some fat free cheese and cook until the cheese is melted.

English muffin = 3 points

Tuna = 3 points (if the whole can is used)

6 points for this yummy meal!

Mini pizzas

Along the same lines as the tuna melts, use the English muffin

Reduced fat marinara sauce

A little fat free cheese

Cook just like the tuna melts

Top with your favorite veggies! NO SAUSAGE OR PEPPERONI!

So I know I don't blog about things that I don't try first but I came across this and I must say that it sounds delicious. I'm going out tonight to buy some and I will let you know how it goes. 

It's all natural sparkling water with a nutrition label with all 0's! 

Their website gives you delicious concoctions that you can make with their 9 different flavors. They are also good for adding alcohol to!

http://www.lacroixwater.com/product/varieties/

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't stressed snacking throughout the day, as much as I wanted to. Make sure you are eating more than just your 3 meals a day! Little meals in between big meals are great! The little meals that I posted up top are great for this! Also the snacks that I posted in the last blog are perfect. Fruits, veggies, yogurt, Jell-O, they are all great snacks to have.

Whatever you do, don't let yourself get overly hungry. Once this happens, it's too late and you are going to be more inclined to eat more. I always eat dinner even if I'm not hungry. This just means I take smaller portions!

I think that is everything that I have now haha 

Thanks for coming back! XOXO

Eating right on a busy schedule

Hi Friends!
So first off I want to update you on my weight loss. You all know by now how open I am with it. As you read from my last blog post I had the stomach virus. Well I lost 9 pounds in a day from that. I know it's mostly water and everything and you gain back a few pounds but I took it extra slow with getting back into actually eating. I only gained back 2 pounds! So current weight:

187 pounds - I'm finally in the 180s!

Current weight loss from the start of my journey: 30 pounds

Current weight loss overall: 40 pounds

My Weight Watchers goal was set at 189.9 so I surpassed that...yayyy!

Next Weight Watchers goal I set for 179.

I still have 27 pounds left until I reach my ultimate goal but it feels so close!

I guess because I have been so far away from it for so long.

OKAY!

Time for the educational side of this...

                           This blog post is all about eating right when there just isn't enough time. Someone private messaged me about this and I thought it was very important to tackle as soon as I could. This is such a dilemma for most people. You all know you're busy. And you all know you make it an excuse to eat poorly. The fact of the matter is that some people have it easier than others.

I have it nice and easy because I have a desk job with access to a fridge and a microwave. Not everyone has this luxury.

Breakfast
So first I am going to start with breakfast. Everyone always says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Guess what? LISTEN TO THEM. I don't care if you are hungry or not. This meal should be your biggest of the day. My two favorite breakfasts?

Hot oatmeal

Egg white omelette

Now obviously I don't have time to make an egg white omelette in the morning before work so I usually take oatmeal. A packet of Quaker Oatmeal is just 4 points on WW. Use some skim milk (instead of water to make it a little creamy and definitely tastier) for an additional 1 point. Oatmeal keeps me full for HOURS. I'm not even kidding you. I won't be hungry at least until lunch at this point. Which is great in my opinion. If this isn't filling enough for you then please eat something else! Add some fruit into it or eat some fruit on the side. Maybe even some non-fat Greek yogurt. 

PLEASE be careful with Greek Yogurt. This may sound dumb but it is going to benefit all of us...I stood in the grocery store one day and compared all of the Greek yogurts. My favorite tasting is Oikos. I don't eat it anymore because it was the worst one out of all of them. The 2nd worst? The one that most people eat...Chobani. The one that was the absolute best nutritionally? Yoplait Greek 100 Calorie WW endorsed yogurt AND Light & Fit Greek yogurt. So choose your favorite! I personally go with Yoplait because it is much cheaper. HERE'S A HINT: Food companies will highlight alllllll of the good stuff and just because it says Greek on it, doesn't make it good for you. 

Don't believe me?? Here's my yogurt of choice:

Compared to Oikos:

 

I mean come on...The Yoplait is 2 points compared to Oikos at double that, 4 points!

Let's play smart people. Read your labels. That is A LOT of fat in that small cup. SCARY!

Okay I'm done my rant with Greek yogurt...

My egg white omelette:

I grab all of the veggies that I have and throw them in the same pan.

Usually consisting of:

Spinach

Red pepper

Onion

Mushrooms

Tomatoes

And non-fat cheese

After sauteing these items with a little bit of EXTRA VIRGIN LITE OLIVE OIL, I pour the egg whites (0 points) on top of them. I usually guesstimate about 3 times the serving size for egg whites. So i triple the nutrition facts, adding up to about 1 point for the whole omelette (veggies are 0 points and the cheese is such a little amount that it doesn't add up to anything).

Some other breakfast items that you can grab in a jiffy?

I try to stay away from bread products as much as possible. No English muffins, bagels, tortillas, pitas, NOTHING. Pitas and tortillas are made out to be really good but they are the hidden enemy. A lot of tortillas say low fat or low carb and they are still a lot of points! A lot of people also think that the sundried tomato or spinach wraps are better than the normal flour wraps because they are "veggie" based. Uh uh...they are usually worse than the flour ones because of the artificial veggie flavoring. A great tortilla that you can use is:

It is low carb, high fiber. <----This should be one of your favorite phrases when it comes to eating right. It's exactly what you need to lose weight!

Remember what I told you though...don't be fooled for the highlighted stuff, turn it over and look at everything...

Great calories, no sugars and good on protein!

We have a winner. :)

So in the morning you can make a great breakfast wrap.

Put a little bit of low-fat peanut butter, a little honey, sliced banana and strawberries and wrap it up in this wrap (toast it if you want) and you are good to go! This wrap is up for interpretation, you can use apples and cinnamon with honey if you want, etc. 

English muffins can work too as long as it's the light or high fiber ones. These are 3 points each and I usually put banana and peanut butter on them. But use them sparingly!

Lunch

So the night before work I like to sometimes saute veggies and reheat them for lunch. My favorite mixture is cabbage, baby carrots, mushrooms and onions seasoned with a little bit of EXTRA VIRGIN LITE OLIVE OIL, salt, pepper and garlic powder. They are so good reheated the next day and so easy to eat when I'm busy. Sometimes I throw some ground turkey in there and I have my complete meal...so yummy!

Another thing that you can eat that is quick and easy is a hard-boiled egg for protein. (This can be made the night before as well!) I like to put honey mustard on mine because without it it just tastes so dry to me. With it it tastes kind of like deviled eggs for no additional points! (Hard-boiled eggs are 2 points a piece). 

So I have discovered a new tuna product that I love and is great for you:

AWESOME.

The good-for-you food just keeps getting better!

It's about 3 points for the whole can. And I eat the whole can.

Mix this with a little Kraft Fat Free Mayo and put it on top of a garden salad. You don't need dressing. It's one of my favorites...mm mm mm!

For lunch or dinner you could also try a Smart-Ones microwaveable meal. These are WW endorsed and are delicious! (Except for the pizza, DON'T EAT THE PIZZA!)

One of my favorites...mmm. These are excellent after a work out!

Dinner

I'm not going to elaborate on dinner here because most people have time to eat dinner of some sort. A home cooked meal is always a better option and throughout me posting my blog posts I will be giving you some awesome dinner recipe ideas. Anything that I post will be tried by me and made sure they are up to good health standards. So tonight I tried +Shannon Murphy 's Green Pepper Stuffed Casserole. It was amazing. My whole family loved it and requested that I make it again sometime. Even my 5 year old niece loved it! So I want to share it with you. Shannon has an excellent cooking blog that you should check out! Click here to view it! Shannon sometimes even posts healthy recipes that you can try! Remember: Almost anything can be made healthy with some modifications. I decided to modify this recipe a little bit, you'll that in red.

These pictures are all Shannon's.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef (I used 97% fat free ground turkey from Redners')
• 2 medium green peppers (chopped) (I used 1 extra large green pepper because I couldn't find mediums)
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 3 garlic cloves (minced) (I used 1 garlic clove because I had never chopped garlic before and it was a pain in the A! Plus my sauce has garlic in it.)
• 2 teaspoons of sugar (I like my sauce on the sweeter side, you don't have to add sugar though) (I did not have to add sugar)
• 2 cups of brown rice (cooked)
• 1 24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce (I used Francisco Rinaldi Garlic and Basil flavoring) (I used Ragu  Robusto Sauteed Onion and Garlic) 
• 1.5 cups of (fat free) mozzarella cheese 

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook your ground beef in a large pan until browned, drain your meat
3. Place your ground beef back in pan and add your green peppers, onion powder, and garlic.
4. Cook on medium-low heat until your peppers are tender.

1. In an 8x8 casserole dish, stir together your rice, spaghetti sauce, and 3/4 cup of cheese.
2. Add your beef mixture  to the sauce and stir until everything is well combined.
3. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese begins to brown. (If you use the fat free cheese, the cheese WILL NOT brown!! Don't exceed 20 minutes. Fat free cheese just gets hard, take my advice on this).  

1. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
2. Enjoy!

Final Product

I added an oregano garnish on top after it finished cooking just for a little something extra :) Using my recommendations, cut your platter into 6 pieces and each piece is 8 points each! (These pieces can easily be cut in half for half the points.)

On a difficulty scale of 1-10 for preparation, I give it a 4. There is a decent amount involved but it is doable. P.s. I didn't have to drain the turkey because there was no leftover fat, :)

Great job, Shannon. Thanks for the recipe!

Extra yummy snacks

Fiber One Brownies

Fit and Active popcorn

Homemade smoothies made with nonfat Greek yogurt and flax seed
My favorite smoothie, 3 points per serving, you get 2 servings out of a bag and all you need to do is add skim milk and blend:

Musselman's All natural applesauce, an acquired taste but so worth it for the lack of points

Regular and pretzel goldfish - 4 points per serving, whole grain, 3 points per serving. And the serving sizes are big!
Veggie straws such as these, you can get at Costco...38 straws for 3 points! But be careful, not all brands are that good.

Triscuit minis - 3 points per serving. I don't like triscuits because they are so dry but these are awesome!
Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches - AMAZING!! And only 4 points. IT'S WORTH EVERY POINT!

Last few helpful hints
1.) Obviously you should be drinking a lot of water every day. The recommended amount is 8, 8 oz cups of water a day. The easiest way to make sure you drink all of your water is to do what I do. Buy yourself a tumbler. Do your math and figure out how many times you need to drink your tumbler in a day. I have a 16oz. tumbler. I need to drink it 5 times because I was to drink 10, 8oz cups of water a day.
Eliminate soda. An occasional diet soda is OK! It's also 0 points.
Eliminate fruit juice. It's all sugar. Sometimes I do need some apple juice. I only drink the serving size and add some water to it. Most juices are too sweet anyway! Obviously orange juice and tomato juice is the exception to this rule. Unfortunately for me, I don't like either.
If you need something else, try Crystal Light packets! =0 points. or Arnold Palmer packets! =0 points!


...just as good as the can.

2.) If you need to eat a sandwich or something with bread. Please tell me you will eat Sara Lee 45 Calories and Delightful. 1 POINT A SLICE! Most breads are 2 points a slice! Even Weight Watchers brand is 2 points a slice!! Go and buy this brand. It's also delicious and has oats which are always a good thing in moderation.

3.) Don't ever think that you can't treat yourself or cheat a little bit. A handful of M&M's is not going to kill you. You didn't put this weight on in one day, it isn't going to come off in a day. Don't deprive yourself because that will just lead to mass self destruction.

4.) Right along with the Greek yogurt deception...don't let other things fool you. Just because it is whole grain doesn't mean it's better for you. Auntie Anne's is a great example. My boyfriend was so excited that they came out with a whole grain pretzel. After some calculating I realized that they are almost just as bad as the regular...why wouldn't I eat the yummy regular one then? Regular pretzels are a whomping 9 points while whole grain pretzels are still 8 points.

Dough is dough people. It's never going to be good for you.


And the last thought of the day...

Don't forget to exercise :)



...yeah that's me.

Thanks friends, you're my inspiration xoxo