Busy busy busy...

Hey all! So much has been going on, but in short: I moved in with my sister. My sister is on an abstinent diet: no white flour or sugar. I've been cooking abstinent meals and desserts for her. So, I've been recently developing some awesome recipes. I will probably write a cookbook(s)with my sister and try to get it published. I will share a few recipes with you all on here for you all to enjoy. I've been experimenting with desserts more because I have such a sweet tooth. I've had a lot of fun.

I'll be back on my diet completely probably this next week. I've been slowly trying to ease back into it. It's especially hard because I'm 30 min away so lunch is a difficult meal to plan for. I don't get home in time for lunch anymore. Thought, I'm back into my exercises almost fully now (i especially had to get back into it because my insurance gave me only 24 visits for physical therapy. so, that ended already. i'm now responsible for continuing my exercises and continuing prevention)

I will try to write some more stuff on here whenever I get time.

Healthy eatings!

Breakfast Smoothie: PBB (Peanut Butter Banana)

It's healthy, delicious, simple, easy, NO SUGAR ADDED, protein...what else do you want?

PBB (Peanut Butter Banana) Smoothie
1 banana
1 c crushed ice
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c milk
1 tblsp Smuckers Natural creamy peanut butter (big in peanut butter taste!)

This recipe can be modified to your taste buds. They might like more banana or more peanut butter. It's tasty enough to drink, but it's not too sugary. Especially since there is no added sugars. :)

Have fun! Healthy wishes to you all!

Healthy Choice Bananas Foster

MMMMmmmm! Yup, Bananas Foster is actually going to be my first new recipe. We all know of the original recipe...warm, luscious, creamy...but I have just recently (literally, the last 10 minutes) have brilliantly (if I say so myself) come up with a faux Bananas Foster. A HEALTHY Bananas Foster.

Okay Okay, so the ridiculous deliciousness might not be there, but it's darn close, close enough. The closest to Bananas Foster that you will get for less the calories. The calories for a regular bananas foster depends on what recipe you use, but they can hike up to 500+ calories. Mine, well is probably in the 100s. You can't exactly count the calories because of the use of 1 out of the 3 separate food items given in a healthy choice meal.




Healthy Choice Bananas Foster Recipe
1 hot apple dessert (from many of the H.C. meals sold. mine came directly from the
chicken parmesan meal)
1 tsp of vanilla
2 tblsp of milk
1 sliced banana

Easy-as-pie recipe! Can make in minutes! I know it's simple, but it's quite delicious.

Have a great day and make healthy choices!

It's back!

School is back in session and so that means back on my diet and exercise routine. I'm in physical therapy now for my back and am now back into my studies. I'm working on some recipes: recipes inspired by my sister and also some original recipes. I will definitely be posting them on here once I've perfected them so that you may try them if desired! They will all be healthier and delicious of course.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week! God Bless!

My Back

I screwed up my back about two weeks ago and was unable to do anything for a while. Luckily, I'm better now and can finally start to do more things. I'm back to stretching and exercising because it will help heal my back. I'm not back on my diet. I will probably start that back up again when school starts.

I will not be posting that much anymore unless there is something that really needs to be said. I will be spending some time with my sister-in-law to help her start her own Catholic blog. Will keep you all posted! God Bless you all in your journey to healthier life.

Thin City...Here I Come!

Hope you all are doing well. Things have been...well...they've just been. I do know one thing that hasn't been doing well...my blog and that is because I haven't had anything to comment about my dieting or exercising (because I haven't been doing it). I'm back on the regular dieting and exercise routine officially today. The good news is that my weight hasn't been suffering because of this time of absent dieting. I've actually managed to lose some weight within this time (about two pounds within the last month or two). That's great, but it's not as fast as my diet and exercise routine could be shedding off. So, I'm ready to go back on it again.

I'm still seeing success, just slowly, but still...I can see the results in my clothes. Which is a lot of fun! :) I am ALMOST able to officially add some new pairs of pants and shorts to the list of new-clothes-I-can-fit-back-into-and-can-wear-now. I just need another 3-5 more pounds to be able to check off those clothing items. I'm excited to see my success soar, now that I am back on the road to thin city.

A bad idea in many ways

Melted cheese on apple pie? Does that sound good to you?

It sure doesn't to me, but my father and brother both like their apple pie in that way. My mother baked some apple pie for Father's Day and we of course had some leftovers. I caught my brother eating some apple pie with cheese and my nose wrinkled at the sight of it. Gross...

Also, don't forget the fact that apple pie is fattening. But, then add cheese? Yikes!

Yay! New clothes!

No, I didn't go shopping. I just can fit back into some of the pants that have been sitting in my closet since Freshman year. :) It feels great!

And no, I haven't been consciously dieting and exercising, yet I'm still doing okay apparently. :) So, all is well. I will probably get back to diet and exercising soon...when my summer class ends.

Hope you all are surviving this super hot summer!! Stay hydrated and cool!

Pink Skirt

So, I was to dress up yesterday for a Baccalaureate. I wanted to wear something I haven't worn in a while. I caught sight of my pale pink pencil skirt and remembered that I couldn't fit in it months prior. I thought, "Well, can't wear that because it doesn't fit." But then, as I thought about it, I thought I ought to try it on and see how much progress I've made.

It fit! Completely! Zipped all the way up! I was so excited. I knew that I tried on that skirt at the beginning of my weight loss journey and it did not fit. I couldn't believe it! This is the first major difference I see in my weight. It felt fantastic. I would like to wear the skirt every day. But, I can't. There aren't enough reasons to dress up randomly, for everyday life.

So, I am excited and can't wait to see more changes. I exercised yesterday (like a good girl) for the first time in about 2 weeks. And I am exercising as soon as I finish this post.

My grades were good enough to give me an overall gpa of 3.0 so I have the grades to get my scholarship back (if they will give it back to me) and there are plenty of things to be excited about this summer. Things are going pretty well right now. :)

Exciting Events:
Visiting an old friend, Cheyne (been months)- Today! :)
Hanging with muh sista- Today! :)
Friends graduating- This week and next!
Harry Potter Island Grand Opening- June 18
Eclipse, Twilight Movie 3- June 30
Steubenville Catholic Conference- July 16-18

Kashi CrUnCh!

Kashi Crunch! Delicious! Crunchy! Healthy!

Walmart Special

Weight Watchers yogurts are delicious and cheap right now. 50 cents!

Amaretto Cheesecake, Cherry Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie, and more. 6 oz cups (quite a bit!!) for 50 cents!

Don't forget to add a banana and top it off with Kashi Crunch Cereal!

Thrifty Specialty Produce

Awesome new SUPER CHEAP store!

From US1, to Palm Bay Road, past the blinking lights, on the right in a small strip mall across from Meineke. Called...what else? Thrifty Specialty Produce.

Cheap spices, meats, vegetables, and more!

Go check it out and save some mula on some rockin items.

Weight Update

Lost another pound! Still haven't been exercising, but I'm still losing. I'm losing weight slower than if I were to exercise, but at least it's still coming off. So, this is good. Just have to keep going! Will get back to my regular exercise routine once school is over. After these darn exams!

I'll be swimming too. That will be fun! I can add that to my exercising routine.

Kashi Cereal and Weight Update

My new love...Kashi cereal!

This super crunchy cereal is especially good with yogurt and bananas.

Weight Update: Still losing...slowly, but surely. I've lost another 2 pounds. Things have been stressful and haven't gotten back into my regular exercise routine due to the last weeks of school. All will go back to normal after these last two crazy weeks.

Have a great week everyone!

Weight Update

I haven't blogged in a while and that's simply because nothing has happened lately. Until now. I've lost two more pounds! Finally! Well, I shouldn't complain because I know I haven't been exercising. That's been my problem. I hope to get back to exercising this week. I'm on a good roll. 12 pounds so far. 2 months. :) My mom is starting to lose weight as well. She's not on the same diet, but who cares. She's losing! That's all that matters.

Things are little stressful right now because I have only three weeks left of this semester. Exams are coming up. Lots to do. Though I know I will survive!

Mmm...Pudding

Just thought I would let you know that vanilla pudding and Kashi TLC Honey Almond Crunch bars go well together. :) Very very good dessert!! Crunchy and creamy. :))

I bid you all good health! I'm still on my way down. Still on the battle.

Have a good week!

Healthy Choice Spokesperson

You know, I really enjoy those HC commercials, but I was actually the spokesperson for HC yesterday. Yes, that's right! I was the spokesperson.

(Check out the commercials here: www.spokespersonwanted.com)

Okay okay...so I wasn't the spokesperson, but I almost wish I was. I was at Walmart yesterday selecting some of my favorite HC meals and these two young women walked up to the area and starting looking around. I heard them start talking about HC and then once they saw me, they started asking me questions! I was able to really convince them to start buying HC. I told them about the good balance of protein, fiber, calories, percentage of food, price, etc. The girls were extremely interested and thanked me for talking to them. I walked away feeling proud of my knowledge and secretly thought, "I could be the darn spokesperson!"

Once I've lost all this extra weight maybe I will contact HC and let them know that they helped me lose weight. MAYBE something might come out of it. I might end up writing a small book about my journey through weight loss with HC. :) They'd like that! Good/easy/cheap advertisement for me and for them. ;)

Good Friday

So, I was hanging with my brother and sister-in-law last night. We watched the Passion of the Christ and had ourselves good conversations. Because it was a Friday and still Lent, we were hungry and decided to stay up until midnight. What did we do during the first hour of Holy Saturday? EAT! Hahaha! We went to Denny's and had ourselves a good time and ate some good food (no, not on the diet). The interesting part was that Denny's was PACKED! I don't know why! Were they all Christian and decided to celebrate as well? Fat chance. But, Denny's was hoppin! LOL!

Did it bother me that I was off my diet? No. Plenty reasons why I allowed it.

The Last Supper...Super Sized?

I recently found some interesting articles featuring new studies of The Last Supper. What do you think? Go ahead and comment!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8580146.stm

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/last-supper-depictions-track-rise-of-super-size-meals/19410622

Kirstie Alley's Big Life

I was interested in her new show and hoped that it would be good. She did not disappoint! I found her hilarious, but truly honest.

Dr. Norris sums it all up for me. I agree with what he said about the show.

"My wife saw Kirstie Alley on a talk show last week, which inspired her to record her new A&E series, "Kirstie Alley's Big Life." I planned to avoid it!

But the other night, while she was watching it, I was so tired; all I could do was plop in front of the TV. I'm embarrassed to say, but I actually liked that show.

Fearing it was just another exploitative reality trash TV show, I have to admit, I was skeptical. But Kirstie Alley is truly funny. Her life with over-the-top posh house, over a hundred animals, fawning staff, the "chubby buddy" and interviews with potential coaches was really amusing.

Sure, she's planning to launch a line of weight loss products and clothes. Oh my. Yes, it's the kind of thing - that fat on TV melodrama - but I find the actress/comedienne really authentic and truly entertaining. If I were her, I'd do the same thing. After all, aren't we all trying to make something out of our predicaments? Something positive, and make a living doing it?

Does her new series do anything for all of us who struggle with overeating and weight loss? Yes, I think Alley's admissions of why she is fat, and how much she weighs, and how she shares her true feelings (disgust, pain, embarrassment, false hopes) and then does her best to do something, may be inspiring.

Ultimately, I relate to Kirstie Alley. She's one of us."

Dr. Norris Chumley
http://blog.beliefnet.com/drnorrischumleysatisfiedlife/2010/03/kirstie-alleys-big-life.html


If you haven't watched the show, you should. I found it entertaining, yet enlightening.

Also, I really enjoy reading Dr. Norris's writings on Beliefnet.com. You should check him out and look around on the site. I have subscribed to their emails and so far, have been reading everything they have been sending me. It's a cool site.

New Recipe! Healthy Choice Tortillas

I have a new recipe! It's fantastic!

For effective results in most of the meals I make: Cook up frozen vegetables often and then place them in your fridge. When you find you want to use a cup or two, just take it out and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes. I use a cup of vegetables in almost anything I eat. This will save time instead of cooking up a cup of veggies in the microwave every time you want some.


HEALTHY CHOICE TORTILLAS

Serves: 2 people
Servings: 2 tortillas
Calories per person: 350-373 (Depends on what u add, how much, or what u don't add)
Cook Time: Under 10 minutes

Ingredients: 1 Healthy Choice Spicy Caribbean Chicken Select Entree- 310 Calories
1 Cup of cut lettuce- 0 Calories
1 Tablespoon of sour creme- 59 Calories
4 Corn Tortillas- 60 Calories each
1/2 cup of frozen vegetables of your choice- 45 Calories

To Make for 2: Cook the H.C. meal fully, follow the directions on the box (4 minutes in the micro). Next, quickly microwave the frozen vegetables in a small bowl (just to add some more substance in the meal. Up to 3 minutes in the microwave or longer in a pan). Then, mix the Spicy Caribbean Chicken with the lettuce, sour creme, and vegetables. After that, spray the corn tortillas with spray olive oil or real olive oil and either heat in a pan or in the microwave (2 minutes in the micro or longer in a pan). Last, just pile on the goods and enjoy.

To Make for 1: Just use only half of the filling for the meal, use 2 tortillas, and save the rest. For the other meal, you simply take out the rest of the filling, heat it up, and eat with 2 more tortillas. Quick, Easy, and Done. You have two meals down.

Note: This meal isn't that spicy. It's actually pretty sweet because of the pineapple in the frozen entree. So, if you want some heat then
you will have to add two tablespoons of salsa or some hot sauce.

Just Keep Going!

This is the first week I haven't lost anything. I expected it to happen at least once and I expected it to happen this week because I know I wasn't being good with the exercise. Sucks, but I can only keep moving on and trying. It sucks so much that I will work hard to be really good this week. I know the numbers don't matter. I know they don't matter as much as the changes occurring in my body, but I am still going to try lowering my weight anyways.

I'm going to get back to studying. I just figured I would say my thoughts after this morning's disappointing weigh in. It's my fault. I won't let it happen again.

Time

I have no time to do anything, but school stuff for the next month. My professors decided to be insane and assign a billion assignments and tests in the end of the semester. Oh well...I am still keeping up with the diet and exercise. All is pretty okay with it. I just have to stick to it. Nothing much happening.

Tomorrow morning is weigh in. I hope I lost something. I know I haven't been to good with the exercise bit and the diet as been difficult lately just because of time and scheduling. I know I haven't completely blown the diet. I have still restricted myself. Still haven't counted my calories. It's been a week or so. I am going to count them this week and make sure I'm still doing okay. This will be just a check-in, a test. To make sure I'm on track.

Hope you all have a great Monday! (I know I won't. Psychology test. Ick! And two other tests this week to study for. I told you, crazy crazy month.)

Weight Update

I'm on my fourth week and have lost 7-8 pounds. :) I'm getting there! Slowly, but surely. If I don't keep up with this diet and exercise routine then how can I expect to eventually get to the stopping point, to the end, to reach my goal? Besides, there really isn't an end to it. There never will. This is a routine that you should keep up for the rest of your life. You hear fitness people say it all the time, "a change in your habits."

Lazy?...

I'd hate to say that I am being lazy because I don't think I am. I just don't think I need to count the calories on caloriecount.com anymore. I have a very good idea of what I should be having (especially since I have practically the same thing everyday). I want to keep up with the website, but it does take a good amount of time. I need to get back to doing it. I just can't be so obsessed by it. I need to do it for a good base, but not get obsessive. Besides, it's basically the weekends that throw me off. I need to figure something out. The problem is that I don't wake up for breakfast. I wake up between 8-10. I should be eating at least by 730. Usually when I wake up later than I want, I either skip the extra snack that I missed and just go straight to lunch and just readjust. Anyways...I am probably not making sense. This was just random musing.

Wii Fit Plus Toys

So I bought some Wii Fit Toys. I bought glow in the dark covers for the wiimote, nunchuck, and the board. Those I like! I also bought a holder for the wii console that not only looks impressive with it's colors that light up (to tell you that it's charging/on), but it cools off the console and charges the wiimote.

The other toy that I bought that I liked is the step board for the wii board. This is so you can step up on the board and get more of a workout. And then wrist and ankle weights to bump up the workout.

The toys that I do not like and am very disappointed in:

boxing gloves (the wii mote and nunchuck has to be bare for you to put them into the gloves. you can't have a protective rubber casing while in the gloves)

wii dumbells (they are only 2 pounds each! that is puny! i need at least 5 pounds. they work, but they are just puny.)

wireless nunchuck device (i'm not sure if it works yet, it might just be me. at the beginning i think it was working, but now it's not. i think it's me though. i think i am the problem. yet again though, can't have a casing on the nunchuck to put it into the wireless device. you can try stuffing it in like i do, but just don't break it)

Pumpkin Squash Ravioli and Lobster Ravioli

I just had the pumpkin squash ravioli and i thought it would be a really exciting dish to have. It was. I was right...but it wasn't that good. It was like you took canned pumpkin pie filling and stuffed it into ravioli. Sounds good? Yea well...I didn't care for it. It was sweet. I didn't like that it was sweet. The sauce was butter sage sauce. It was sweet. I didn't like it. The sweet did not mix well with vegetables at all. I won't be getting this again.

Again, another disappointing ravioli. I had the lobster ravioli last Friday because of Lent and it was gross. I was trying to not throw up while eating it. Fish and pasta just don't mix for me. The extreme smell and taste of fishy lobster made me sick. My mom even tried it and she didn't really like it. As long as I had a nice spoon of the marinara sauce then I wouldn't throw up. Another ravioli I will not be getting again. Yikes!

I Confess My Everlasting Love

I have fallen in love! :) :)

I really really love the Gingersnap Peach Crisp. I have only found it in two Healthy Choice meals so far. It is so delicious! It's got a nice spice and the peaches are smooth. The fact that it's a warm silky dessert down your throat (on a cold day) is extremely delightful.

Try it!

Calculations

I do not have calculations for the past few days because this weekend was ridiculous. That's okay. Things like that happen. If you just can't get to the computer then there is nothing you can do about it. This is going to happen. Once you can get back to your regular schedule then just make sure you get back on track. I was still following the diet pretty well I just wasn't documenting. It bothered me, but there wasn't much I could do about it. It's life. Now I am back to documenting and exercising (yes, I wasn't even getting my usual exercise routine in). Oh well...things are back to normal. This is good though, now I will be better informed on how to deal with issues away from the normal schedule.

A Little Break

I unfortunately don't have food records or any other records from the past three days. I had a hard weekend and had no time to spend on calculating. Everything is back to normal and I am back on schedule. I am back to calculating and back to my regular exercise routine.

Oh, and I received most of the Wii Fit Plus accessories I ordered already. :) Yay! So now I can get the most out of my workouts.

Also, just to let you know, Kashi and Healthy Choice have many offers for members (free samples and coupons, etc) so sign up!

All Caught Up!

Congrats!

You are all caught up with the entries that I have already written. Now, you get to read the entries as I write them, my current writings. Enjoy!

Cheating

Originally written on
Feb 23 2010 08:06

I don't feel like I'm on a diet. I don't feel like cheating and I don't think I ever will because I already feel like I'm cheating with this diet. It's so easy and DELICIOUS! It always feels like I'm cheating, but I'm not. Therefore, giving myself a small treat every once in a while to congratulate myself on doing well on the diet is not necessary. I get that everyday with my coffee, meals, cheese sticks, fruit, etc. These are fun foods for me and they are my treats. I don't need a donut or piece of pie. I get dessert everyday and I get pasta. I don't need to cheat to deal with this diet. I am perfectly content with the foods I eat everyday.

FAILED!

Originally written on
Feb 21 2010 20:14

Okay, so I didn't really fail today, but it was rough.

First off, I did not wake up early enough to have breakfast. I still had breakfast, snack, and lunch but all of them were off schedule. The whole day was screwed up!

I did not have 2nd snack because I forgot to bring the snack to Church. So I was starving!! I only had 900 something calories before I left for Church. That's nothing! I realized when I got home (very late...740) that I was 800+ calories away from 1800 cal goal. Geez...well, my dad cooked one of his famously caloric mac and cheese meals so I just had some of that and decided that those calories were going to eat up most of the 800 calories that I needed. (my dad cooks VERY fattening and caloric meals. mac and cheese and garlic bread.)

I didn't even want to find out just how many calories I had. It didn't matter because I knew I wasn't going to go over 800 calories. So on my food meter I just said "Dad's Meal for Dinner= 700 cal." I didn't know how many calories were really in the meal I had, but I didn't care. Like I said, It didn't matter. I knew it was a lot and it wasn't going to be more than 800.

Still needed a snack at 930 because I was starving for so many hours without my snack that even after the super caloric dinner I was still hungry. I knew I could handle the calories and even if not, I didn't care...today was such a screwed up day anyways. What I decided to have for my evening snack was 1 pumpkin bar like usual, but also a banana. I was about 300 calories over the limit, but it was close enough and I would at least not be hungry anymore.

There will be hard days and days when you don't do so well, but the key is to not let it get you down and do better the next day. I do not want to cheat on this diet and I don't refer to days like these days that I cheated. Cheating to me I think is more like totally forgetting about the diet and having that donut that you know you can't have or just consciously not doing the best you can. Do the best you can! You will have hard days, but do not let them get you down and do not give up. Do not just forget about the diet. Try your best, but don't kill yourself when you aren't perfect.

I think what I will have to do to resolve these off-days is to actually wake up for breakfast. Yes, that's right, no more sleeping in. Go to bed on time and wake up early to have your breakfast so you can eat your meals and snacks on regular schedule.

What A Hard Day...Food Wise

Originally written on
Feb 19 2010 21:38


I was struggling all day. All I wanted had something to do with meat. It was ridiculous! Of course, even after what I thought would have been a very caloric dinner, I still was trying to suck up some calories! I would rather be under the limit and have a small snack than have something huge a few hours before bed and have my full limit.

I scavenged all the products I could think of to try to get the last 200 calories.

Checked:

tuna- 50 cal

peanut butter- 2 tbsp 180 cal!

crackers- 5 of them are 60

oatmeal- it alone for half a c is 150 cal but then you add stuff! yikes! forget it!

etc

Just nothing together was a good combination. Nothing would have made for a good snack. I could have had two tbsp of peanut butter and I would have been close to the eat meter mark, but that's not a good snack now is it?

So, then I just decided on my usual pumpkin spice flax bar...and jello. :) Jello has only 40 cal- Sugar Free and Low Calorie gelatine. Maybe the exercising has something to do with my hunger? Or maybe that dinner really wasn't satisfying enough.

Geez...

Originally written on
Feb 19 2010 13:29


I was heating up the pan getting ready to cook the fish. Tilapia has 98 calories for just 4 ounces!!! Heck no I'm not wasting calories on that! I would want two fishes because they are so small. I can have a cup of coffee for less cal than that!

Besides, I couldn't think of a second side to have with it. All rice that we have is freaking loaded with calories. Only 1 cup of cooked white rice is 190 cal! I would need vegetables too so it all would add up to being pretty large in calories. I will just have to plan better next Friday. I am having some freakin stuffed pasta! (either as a H.C. meal or one of the bags we have that is SUPER great in the caloric range. will talk later about those bags of pastas)

The Truth About Coffee And Me

Originally written on
Feb 19 2010 10:25



W A R N I N G! BRUTAL HONESTY HERE! DO NOT READ IF MENTION OF HUMAN AND BODILY FUNCTIONING BOTHER YOU! BUT LET ME JUST SAY THAT WE ARE ALL HUMAN AND WE ALL WERE BUILT THE SAME WAY.










The reason why I did not drink Coffee is because it gave me gas. It made me go to the bathroom, made me shake, made me feel crummy all day, etc. The side effects were not worth it. I do have to admit that the first day of this diet gave me a lot of gas and made me go to the bathroom a lot because my body wasn't used to all of the fiber. Now, everything is in better control and I just make sure that I do go to the bathroom more often.

I used to only go to the bathroom at home. I went once or twice in the morning before I left to go anywhere and then never really went to the bathroom during the day if I was out. Then I would have come home and gone to the bathroom maybe once more and that was it. Now I find myself needing the bathroom a couple of times a day. I think that is more healthy and it shows that I am eating healthier and drinking more because my body is quickly getting rid of the food I ate.

I, for some reason, just hated going to the bathroom and especially when I was out from home. Yes, it is sort of a waste of time (my sister says), but it's just annoying just how often humans REALLY need to go. I just ignored it and tried not to drink anything so that I wouldn't have to go if I was away from home. I know it wasn't good for me and that's why I stopped. Now I make sure that I drink and just get over the fact that I will have to actually be aware of where bathrooms are when I am out.

So, I am happy my body is getting used to the fiber and Coffee. I do not know if my body will handle more than one cup of Coffee and day. I should try it. It used to make me shake. I do not think it was because of the caffeine because soda did not do that to me. I can't even understand why Coffee made me go to the bathroom much less why it made me shake. I am making good progress though. I am able to have one cup of Coffee a day without my bladder going haywire and without me shaking.

Even though Coffee is only 61 calories, I don't even know if I would want to add another cup of 61 calories to my food meter. If I got non-caffeinated Coffee, then at the end of the day I could have another cup of Coffee if I needed an extra 61 calories. I don't know if I want more than a cup of Coffee a day though. I don't think I like Coffee THAT much.

Iced Coffee Versus Hot Coffee

Originally written on
Feb 19 2010 10:12


There is something so comforting about hot Coffee during the winter time. Yet, I would not want any during the summer time. And living in Florida means there are more hot days than cold (unfortunately).

As I just heated up my cup of Coffee in the microwave I was thinking about what I could do for summertime if I needed extra calories or just wanted something fun to drink. Naturally I would not want something hot...iced coffee came to mind. I think I would just ice it. The problem is...I don't want it to dilute. I will try to find those weird cubes that don't disolve but keep your drink cold. I don't honestly think it will work, but I will try.

I think the first step to making iced coffee would be to make the cup of coffee as you normally would then either stick in the fridge or freezer to cool it down or make the coffee ahead of time and take it out when you want to drink it. It will be cold so you might not need ice, but it COULD be gross.

Or! You could just make the coffee and put some stinkin ice in. Just deal with it being diluted. What you could do is make it less caloric by filling the glass with ice and pouring in the coffee to fill the glass. Because there will be a lot of ice, you will actually be getting less coffee. Less coffee less calories. If you do it this way your coffee gets cold quicker because there is more ice and less coffee. I don't usually finish my full cup of coffee anyways. It's very rare. Although, your coffee may be diluted much quicker because of the amount of ice.

So you will just have to decide which one of these ways will work for you. Try all of them and see what you like.

Hot coffee- for me, the best cup of coffee I have ever had and still make this way is through my Keurig Coffee Maker. I fill the little cup all the way with my super ground coffee. I push the big cup (? how many cups is it again?) and the coffee comes like magic. It's quick, easy, and delicious. Then, I add my half cup of 2% milk with 2 SnLs. THAT...is the best cup of coffee. *Slurp!* *Mmmm...* It's really quite simple. It IS magic and it IS science.

The Real Calories Of Coffee

Originally written on
Feb 19 2010 09:52

(Here starts my many entries featuring COFFEE. Yes, apparently it's a big deal.)


I do not think that coffee as it's self has any calories, but the things you add is what adds the calories to coffee. I add 2 Sweet and Lows (which have no calories) and I add half of a cup of 2% milk which is 61 calories. So really, coffee...for me...is only 61 calories. That is less than a beef and bean burrito. Not bad as a snack choice, depending on what type of food item I am looking for. Although, coffee fills me up more than the burrito. Also, it makes me feel warm and it's sweet and it...for some reason...makes me feel good. I have always liked the idea of drinking coffee and coffee is seen as such a necessity to people for getting things done. It makes me feel like I am about to get some work done or at least should get some work done. Coffee is synonymous with writers. I have always wanted to be more of a coffee drinker because I think it would make me feel like writing, like a better writing, make me write more. It for some reason makes me feel intelligent. It's the smart drink! lol.

I will never get fancy coffee again because my 61 cal coffee is good enough for me. If I go out somewhere and want coffee I have to really be careful. I have to make sure it comes to me black and then I add the sugar and milk. I might be able to handle fat free milk if offered with a regular cup or iced coffee. But! I must bring my own sweet and low just in case they don't have any. If I am at a restaurant then they will have sweet and low. If I go to starbucks or some other fancy place, then I will have to bring SnL just to be sure.

Lemon Pepper Fish and Wii Fit Plus

Originally written on
Feb 19 2010 08:33


The fish was actually good. It wasn't soggy and the breading wasn't grossly soggy either. The flavor was good. The rice needed something with it, but it was fine paired with the flavor of the fish. This might work for breakfast.

Tried Wii Fit Plus. It gets you moving, but the only problem is that you have to play it for at least an hour for some good results. Not a bad idea. I would rather play Wii Fit Plus than go to the gym. Oh, and it's going to be easy to add my exercising progress here on the website. Wii Fit Plus always gives you how long you exercised and even how many calories burned! So all I need to do is type in that info and it's on my activity log.

Will continue to journal about Wii Fit exercises as I go along.

Long Day...

Originally written on
Feb 18 2010 21:42


So I worked 7 hours at Laura's today finishing cleaning up on and around her porch. It was a hard day. It was a good exercise though. I was more than happy to do it for her, but the shoveling and removing those bastard thorn bushes for 2+ hours sure made me tired. I am glad I got most of the patio done. It was getting annoying. It felt like nothing was getting done. So I'm glad I finally got something done for her. Now I feel better. Now her porch is almost done. :)

I ate my first snack a little late, but I ate lunch on time. My second snack was around 5. I still ate dinner at 7. I was a little under the eat meter so I decided to have chocolate milk with my pumpkin bar. I needed a little something. I also changed the coffee on my food meter. Originally the french vanilla coffee with 2% milk and 2 sugars was only 10 calories. I figured that was wrong because I put at least half a cup of milk in my coffee.

I did some research on coffee. My Gevalia French Vanilla Coffee has no calories. I don't know why that it is. But the half cup of 2% milk adds the calories. Sweet and Low sugar has no calories so all the calories just come from milk. So, if I end up having coffee and you just see a half cup of milk written down under breakfast you know that I had coffee. If you see anything more than half a cup you can assume I'm having just a glass of milk (unless ovaltine is shown).

I needed some calories to get me closer to my eat meter. I didn't want to go eating a whole bunch of stuff at 9pm because I still want to keep it snack--smaller than a snack. But today I needed a few extra calories so I decided to half two cups of 2% milk with 2 tbsp of ovaltine and a pumpkin bar. That got me close enough and the snack isn't too big or full of other bad stuff that I don't want in the evening (fat, carbs, blah blah).

I am tired, but not tired enough to play some Wii Fit! Yes, I got it today. So I guess I will have to start exercising and figuring out how to plug it in on the calorie count website (yes, they count exercising too. you should check out the side. it's freakin awesome!).

Tomorrow is my first Friday of Lent. I guess I will have to make a quick stop at Walmart to get something to eat for the day. I will have to really plan for Fridays now. I am going to pick up one H.C. fish meal to try it for breakfast and probably cook a real lunch--tilapia and vegetables. Snacks will stay the same. Dinner will be OLL's bread and soup. That will probably have a good amount of calories (although, it's going to be hard to calculate because I won't know what's in it. I can do the best I can though.)

After the soup and bread dinner, I will probably have to come home and eat some vegetables and a piece of fish to round out the meal. I will cook these at lunch.

Things To Pay Attention To

Originally written on
Feb 17 2010 21:10

I want to be as precise as possible and getting all the vitamins and nutrition that I need in a day in order to be the healthiest I can be. So I need to pay attention to the amount of water I drink and how much I should be drinking, all of the nutritional parts of each food item and not just pay attention to the fat and carbs and such, all the vitamins and nutrition I need in a day and how much I am actually getting, and of course the cost of the diet. I need to research and pay attention to this stuff. Need to work on this. I haven't done enough research to count these stuff nor do I have the time right now, but in about a week or two I will start working on these things. For right now, what I am doing is good enough. I want to be better and I will be. I just need time and I need to do the research. Just...not right now. It's not incredibly necessary right now.

Also...

Originally written on
Feb 17 2010 20:49

Yes, lots to say today...sorry (I am posting a LOT on my blog right now because I need to catch you up with what's already been written. Started my blog days after I started writing in my journal on caloriecount.com. I am not writing anything new until I catch you all up with what I have already written. Sorry!)

But, today starts Lent. We are not supposed to eat meat on Fridays...yikes! That's going to be a toughie. There is one fish meal from H.C. and I will try that, but since I can't have meat all day...ONE fish meal is not going to be enough variety. I will have to have their pastas and such. I am definitely going to have to plan well for Fridays. Good thing I am off of school on Fridays so I can take more time to make my meals. I will be able to spend more time on my meals and make them not only abstained from meat, but also enough of a variety.

And! We are supposed to fast on certain days of the Easter Season, but because of my diet I can not. I have discussed it and thought about it quite a bit. This diet IS my Lenten journey and my promise. This is my way of preparing and I can not back out of this diet in any way because I am not only bettering my health, but I am better preparing my body for more of a sacred and healthier body for Jesus. Jesus is inside me when I take the Eucharist so I need to not only prepare my soul, but also my body. I am a temple for the Lord. My body should be a fit place to hold Him! And I am not only doing this for me and God, but also for others. If this diet works out for me then I could inspire others. I COULD change other people's lives!

I could change my family's life. That is the biggest goal of mine. We all have weight problems. I want to keep them around as long as possible. Yes everyone is slowly dying day by day, but my family is dying faster! They are unhealthy and they won't last as long as they could because of their weight. I want to change that! I want to procrastinate the day of their death as much as possible. I want to help give them a long, happy, and healthy life. This diet could be the answer to my prayers! If I don't do the diet now and wait until after Lent, then maybe I will never do it. "Now or never." Besides, since they are dying faster than most people, time is definitely more precious. I make sure to love them and spend time with them, but I want to help them get more healthy. Of course I just want them to be happy, but most of them are not so maybe working towards a healthier life will make them more happy. I love them and just want them to understand what I have learned.

So, I am not going to worry about the fasting but I will definitely try abstaining from meat. Also, I am going to pray and go to Mass twice to make up for my non-fasting. I want to more prepare for Easter since it is the most important time of the years for Christians.

Are You Joking?!

Originally written on
Feb 17 2010 20:27

Okay, so I came home after Mass STARVING! I ate my snack at 4 and waited to eat dinner after Mass. I did not get home until 730 so I ate around 745. I was hungry and I knew I needed a good amount of calories so I added a bean burrito. I had a beef and bean burrito, banquet meal (I already grew tired of H.C. Salisbury Steak. That's the only H.C. meal we have left. I had already had a H. C. S. S. for lunch and did not want it again. I want variety people!) and about a cup and a half of carrots. I was actually afraid that I was going to go over my cal meter.

But I didn't! Even after I added the bit of sour creme I had with my burrito! So, I wondered...is it better to be as close to your cal count or is it better to be a bit under? My mother said that 40 cal under is okay. So, I should probably be as close as possible. I was thinking at that time "Okay. hahahaha! I can add something. I can eat something else. Yes! Mwuahahaha!" I liked the idea. So I added a pumpkin bar (thought I was going to not need it--both not being hungry and the fact that I thought I was going to be over the cal count) and it brought my cal meter to 1780. So this way I am only 20 cal away from my daily calorie goal.

Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed the Banquet meal. It was small and needed another minute in the microwave (it does not only take the 3 minutes the box says it should take). It was a great meal though. It was only 290 calories, but you needed to also add vegetables. Not a bad plan. I have been thinking about trying to branch out into other H.C. and Kashi products. They both have frozen entrees. The only problem is that you might need to add more meat/protein or vegetables with it. It's not a bad idea though because the entrees look so good! It won't be as quick as the full H.C. meals, but it's more variety. So I would like to branch out.

Ash Wednesday

Originally written on
Feb 17 2010 14:15

Today is Ash Wednesday. The start of Lent. My Lenten promise is to stay on this diet and never cheat (duh! that was an easy decision. can't think of a better promise.) Today we are supposed to fast, but I can't due to the diet. So instead, I will pray. Although, I still ended up a bit more hungry today than usual. Maybe it's my head messing with me...telling me that I should be fasting...my guilt kicking in.

It could also be the fact that my breakfast was lacking...substance...I guess. The meat sauce wasn't as bad as some of the others, but the "vegetables" were nothing. They were green and red peppers with cauliflower. I hate cauliflower and I didn't like the pairing of the peppers with the cauliflower. It was like eating straight peppers. I just did not enjoy the vegetables.

I am hungry and tired...sucks...

Fajita Steak

Originally written on
Feb 16 2010 22:05

It was okay. The rice and corn were good, but the meat sauce was funky just like the pot roast. I don't know what the sauce is, but I'm not terribly fond of it. The desserts are always a treat though! I think I am just going to steer away from the beef. I will have Salisbury steak, but that's it. The sauces are just funky.

Today

Originally written on
Feb 16 2010 21:53

Today was all out of sorts since I was working at Laura's and did not bring a meal with me. So, I had a meal at breakfast with coffee, then on the way to Laura's I had a cheese stick and banana with half of a mocha bar. Then around 130 I had another cheese stick, applesauce, and the other half of the bar. Since I did not have a full lunch, I decided to have a meal once I got home around 330. So I had a meal at 4, then I ate mom's dinner at 6 (I knew I wasn't going to meet my calorie count without another meal--dinner--and I knew that I needed another real meal since I already ate my two snacks for the day and only had 2 meals.) Then I came home around 830. I had one pumpkin bar and very small amount of chocolate (I did not add it to my food plan because the amount was obsolete.)

I am EXACTLY spot on with my calorie count. That makes me feel good. I thought I was going to be under the limit because of the weird schedule and no meal for lunch at Laura's. I'm excited about this plan and can't wait to start exercising so I can have even more results. I feel good now, but I will feel even more awesome once I start doing wii fit.

Audrey came over today for dinner and I was glad she spent time with us and had a good meal. She said that if my new diet plan works for me then she is going to try it. This gives me more of an incentive to actually be successful. This gives me more encouragement to do this plan right and not fail. If I succeed then I might be able to get Audrey to lose weight...heck! If I really succeed then I can get my whole family to lose weight on this diet! That would be a miracle! My prayers would be answered.

I didn't get to do any homework (didn't really have any), but I wasn't able to get ahead in my classwork because I was talking to Tiffany all Monday. It was okay. I just wished I could have bailed out on the conversation earlier so I could have gotten some work done. Oh well...not the end of the world. I should get some work done tomorrow. Besides, I have the weekend. So far, nothing planned.

Beef Pot Roast

Originally written on
Feb 16 2010 08:45

I did not enjoy the Beef Pot Roast. I thought it was gross. My coffee was perfect though!

Turkey Breast and Salisbury Steak

Originally written on
Feb 15 2010 08:38

I fully enjoyed the turkey breast and the Salisbury steak tasted great. The steak meal was easy to take for lunch and there was no soggy problems. I WAS hungry around 9pm after dinner so I guess a 3rd snack will be needed. I wasn't sure if I were going to be hungry after dinner and need a snack, but I guess I will. I have decided to have only half a pumpkin pie bar and water for the 3rd snack. The 3rd snack will be smaller because I will be going to bed shortly after the 3rd snack.

I stayed right on track. I was about 200 calories off from my 1800 calorie goal. This was a great start to the diet! I feel great! The meal plan works very well with my school schedule.

My Diet Information

I am on a Healthy Choice and Kashi Diet.

I am all about healthy and keeping to the number of calories I should be having.

I am all about having all of the vitamins and nutrition I need in a day.

My goal is to have lost 40 pounds by November 2010.

Starting date for diet: February 15 2010.

40 pounds in 10 months.

40 pounds in 40 weeks.

40 pounds in 280 days.

1-2 pounds lost in a week without exercise.

The first week of starting the diet were without concentrated exercise.

My exercise routine will mainly consist of playing Wii Fit Plus.

Starting date for exercise: February 22 2010.

Daily Calorie goal of 1800. I am trying to get to it as close as possible.




THE FOOD PLAN:

-I eat a Healthy Choice meal for breakfast and maybe a cup of Coffee.

-Then at 1030 I have my snack: Sorrento Cheese Stick and Kashi Dark Mocha Almond Bar.

-For lunch, three hours later, I have the Salisbury Steak meal from H.C.

-Another snack around 4: Sorrento Cheese Stick and a piece of fruit

-Dinner is around 630, I either have what my mother cooks or I have another meal.

-A smaller snack around 9 completes the day: one TLC Pumpkin Spice Flax Bar with water
(unless I need a few extra calories to hit my calorie limit...then I add a cup
or two of chocolate milk)

*The goal is to eat about every three hours. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are larger than the three snacks. The last snack/third snack/evening snack should be even smaller than the other snacks. That's why I chose one small bar and water or milk.




THE EXERCISE PLAN:

-Wii Fit Plus. It gives me the number of calories I burned and how long I worked out.

-This information I type in on caloriecount.com.




KEEPING TRACK:

-Caloriecount.com This is the best site out there for tracking calories in every way. They make it easy and sort of fun...in a way.

How To Keep Up With My Blog

You can bookmark my blog and be able to quickly get to this page when you want to read it without having to memorize the address.

You can memorize the address.

I am working on a way to make this easily obtainable through facebook (Although, I do NOT want EVERYONE to be able to read my blog. I want only certain people. I am working on this feature.)

I WILL post E V E R Y D A Y so make sure you check in E V E R Y D A Y. :)

Get a google/blogger account and "follow" me!

Isn't A Healthy Lifestyle Tempting?

W E L C O M E!

Go ahead and treat yourself! Give in to the good temptation!

This blog isn't just for me but for family and friends to read about my progress on my diet. I write in a journal on caloriecount.com and I realized that I write A LOT on there. I figured that my family would love to read what I am writing and so I decided to transfer those writings over to a blog so that they can read them.

Enjoy! And happy health!