Not a lazy Monday

Well maybe at work my day felt like Zoe's. But tonight I'm pumped! I almost ate fast food for dinner but when in the car my alarm went off reminding me it's a workout night...I thought, how could I ruin that with fast food YUK! No way! so I came home, shoved aside the laziness and made a healthy stirfry dinner :) Whew! Good thing for my 530pm alarm!

I'm wearing my easy tones in the house and will be working out soon for 30 mins today. Monday's and Wednesday's are my easy workouts because they are also my nights I work in my home office. (my new schedule allows me time for everything! ;)

Also, bloggy friend suggested I take my body measurement to track my results of wearing the easy tones. So I will do that this week. Great suggestion!


MMM Vanilla Pudding! Last night I made vanilla pudding and enough for the whole week. A little snack to add to my strawberries to change it up a little bit. YUM!
How was your Monday!?

Fruits and a good book.

I know it's only Tuesday but I've been doing great following my eating plan and workout plan. Keeping calories under 1500 and I got workouts in yesterday and today so far, so I'm on track!

The number 1 key is to have enough healthy food and snacks in the house so when hungry I go for fruit, or cucumbers for energy! :)

I've been reading eat love pray. I'm only at the beginning of the book and the author talks about learning Italian in Italy. The book draws you in and you feel like you are there experiencing what she is talking about. So today I was inspired! I'm going to take Italian lessons!
My background is Italian, I can understand a little and speak a little but in no way can have a full conversation. I've always wanted to learn and I did when I was 16 and traveled to Italy for 2 months, but I never kept it up. So it's my time to re-learn! Once I feel comfortable with Italian I'll move on to Spanish! :)

Are there any languages you would love to learn?

100 Calorie snacks

Tuesday! and following my plan perfectly! 200 calories left and will be at 1450 cals for the day!

What's working for me:

*Source granola yogurt for breakfast. Really liking these :)

*4pm snack - I have half a sandwich (about 200 cals) to ensure I make it home to make dinner without starving and then over eating.

*Buying no junk food for the house, so if I want it, I'll need to go out and get it!! haha!

Items I snack on during the day under 100 calories:
Handful of melon
100 cal granola bars
Fuji Apple
carrots
strawberries
cucumbers

To make sure I don't "forget" to workout I put an alarm on my phone that rings on the days of my work outs reminding me to GO WORKOUT! And that I did after work today! :)

I was asked if I track my calories online, I actually track my calories on my Iphone App "My Fitness Pal" I really like this app. You can search for all foods and it will give you the calories for them. It also has the categories for Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks and saves what you put in.

....Now I just need that scale to move more! ha!

Lemon Crisp Pie, ugh oh!

Lemon Crisp Pie! = TORTURE! This delicious pie is in my fridge and taunting meee! I told the husband to make it disappear, but not to throw it away because that's such a waste! aahah! So he said he will eat a HUGE piece so there is less left ahahah!

Husband was off work today and sent me this pic of him working in the backyard.

I was so jealous being indoors all day at work, I love being home especially when the weather is sooooo nice!!

Tonight was a beautiful night so we ate dinner outdoors :). I wasn't feeling so good after work, I had really bad backaches. BUT I took some advil and all was good. Even got my work out in tonight :)


Pork chops with Veggie chili for dinner :)

Jamaica Trip is getting close!

Here are my bikini goals for the week :)

* Tea and 1 slice of toast for BF.
* Only 1 small coffee a day if needed
* 5 days a week of home cooking, include many "green" veggies.
* Drink lots of water everyday! A MUST!
* Tracking calories on Iphone "my fitness pal app" 1300-1500 Cals a day
* 3 bite rule on sweets
* 3 days a week basement work out: Ab Lounge and Gazelle 1 hour work outs
* No fast food! (no burgers, no fries, no pop!) :) Kicking this habit right on!

Health update: Tomorrow I'm going for an ultrasound to check up on my Ovarian Cyst. I really hope it's gone!! fingers crossed! :)

Did I say that I love my new schedule!

One tip I forgot to mention that really helps keep me on track, is an alarm on my Iphone. I set alarms for everyday for 530pm when I'm on my way from work, and this will remind me what is priority for the evening.

Tonight was my workout night. To make the most of my night I want to work out as soon as I get home. So on these days it's oven baked meals. Tonight I had Spicy oven baked chicken, with oven baked veggies lightly salted (I sorta over cooked them today, but they were still yummy!) and oven baked potatoes.

Workout, Dinner, Lunches were all done by 730pm and the rest of the night was for meee! I like this schedule :)

How could I forget to mention, my new evening snack! 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream (90 cals) and strawberries. Yum!


What are some of your favorite oven baked meals?

Plenty of fruits and veggies in my day

I had no coffee today! not one! and I felt great. A little on the slow side without the caffeine boost but it felt good to save those calories for other items!

I track my calories on my iphone (I fitness app) and the whole work day I ate 541 Calories! I was not hungry AT ALL. I even came home after work made dinner with nooo hunger pains! (and no crankiness ahah!)

I took advice from my friends on WW and fruits and veggies are allowed in endless amounts and a couple diet books I read, list some low GI fruits and veggies to munch on. Like Apples and melons.

This weeks day time menu will be:
Green Tea and half a whole grain bagel with a touch of peanut butter: 100 cals
Cucumber, cilantro, chickpeas, romaine lettuce with a tablespoon of balsamic dressing and tablespoon of low fat cottage cheese: 150 cals
1 tbsp of walnuts: 41 cals
1 cup of melons: 60 cals
fuji apple: 40 cals
4pm sandwich to get me through the drive home and making dinner: 150 cals
I drank 2 Green Tea's today and plenty of water. What I liked about today was that I also had a smaller dinner portion than I usually do. I think it was because I was well fueled the whole day. So I will follow this plan all week!

I will also add in a Nuplus Smoothie some days to get in those extra fruits and veggies! :)

Tonight's dinner was really good (not the greatest pic sorry) I made beef stirfry with asparagus, mushrooms, onions and peppers. I only had 2 spoons full of rice, and I was stuffed!


Weekly goals :)

* Tea and 1 slice of toast for BF.
* Only 1 small coffee a day if needed
* 5 days a week of home cooking, include many "green" veggies.
* Drink lots of water everyday! A MUST!
* Tracking calories on Iphone "my fitness pal app" 1300-1500 Cals a day
* 3 bite rule on sweets
* 3 days a week basement work out: Ab Lounge and Gazelle 1 hour work outs
* No fast food! (no burgers, no fries, no pop!) :) Kicking this habit right on!

No more 30Day Shred

This weekend was fun, Saturday we helped my mom paint her house and Sunday husband and I went shopping in the afternoon. While we were out we treated ourselves to a Honeydew Bubble Tea and Chinese pineapple sweet bread. YUM! But not part of my diet plan of course hahha!

I decided not to incorporate the 30 day shred in my work outs any more. The jumping up and down made me feel sick more than once and it hurts the knees! It's a great work out and works well in toning. But I rather do my Gazelle and Ab lounge. :)

Today for lunch I had 12 whole grain crackers with Veggies. I'm really liking this combo and I buy all different types of veggie packages for variety.

This week, is week 2 of the Nuplus shake and Calli Tea cleanse. So far so good , and nuplus shakes are so easy to make, love that!

Weekly goals :)

* 5 Days a week Nuplus Shake for BF - 1 slice of toast for mid-morning snack.
* Only 1 medium coffee a day
* 5 days a week of home cooking, include many "green" veggies.

* Drink lots of water everyday! A MUST!

* Tracking calories on Iphone "my fitness pal app)

* 3 bite rule on sweets

* 3 days a week basement work out/ or jogging. Weather is getting nice!

* No fast food! (no burgers, no fries, no pop!) :)
* 5 days a week Calli Cleansing Tea

Feeling Lighter

This week I have been doing really well with drinking my Nuplus shakes in the morning. I drink it for Breakfast then at 10am I have 1 slice of multi grain toast and at 12pm I have my lunch. I am actually finding it easier to eat smaller meals during the day, rather than larger meals.

One day this week I had veggies and multi grain crackers for lunch. I really liked it. So I will do this more times next week :) I buy the frozen veggie packages and they taste great. I'll buy them this weekend and post more about it then.

I have not lost any pounds but my clothes fit better and I feel lighter too. Works for me! :)

This is just a random picture but I bought this laptop thingy (not sure what it's called) But it's great for working on your laptop on your lap. I got it at Ikea for $5 very useful and I recommend it :)

Happy Friday!! I am really looking forward to the weekend. Me, My sister and Brother and our better half's are doing an extreme makeover on my moms dining room and living room. I love redecorating and I just know she is going to love what we do with it. I will take before and after pics! (I just hope my back pain goes away by then, I'm in lots of pain today :( no fun!)

New weekly goals

New weekly goals :)

* 5 Days a week Nuplus Shake for BF - 1 slice of toast for mid-morning snack.
* 5 days a week of home cooking, include many "green" veggies.

* Drink lots of water everyday! A MUST!

* Tracking calories on Iphone "my fitness pal app)

* 3 bite rule on sweets

* 3 days a week basement work out (1 day Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video 2 days Gazelle)

* No fast food! (no burgers, no fries, no pop!)
* 5 days a week Calli Cleansing Tea

Sunny @ thatextra20pounds sent me many different recipes with the Nuplus packages. Nuplus has 14 Chinese all natural fruits and vegetables in a packet. Yesterday I didn't have any of the ingredients to make the yummy berry shake in the pic above, so I mixed the Nuplus package with milk and a squirt of nesquik for a chocolate milk and it tasted great! :) In the top picture I blended frozen berries with milk,1 yogurt pkg and 1 Nuplus pkg to make a shake for tomorrows BF. Sunny's recipe does not include the yogurt, and I think I will listen and leave it out, it makes it a little too frothy, sorry Sunny, I never listen ahaha!! :)

30 day shred friends...

30 day shred friends. How are you liking it? So I've been doing it for 2 months now, for an average of twice a week. Some times only once a week. My issues: If I have anything in my tummy, the jumping around makes me sick! If I'm on one of those off days where energy is low, the up and down movements make me dizzy! Are you having these same issues? I've been slowly moving away from the DVD and doing other exercises. Let me know your thoughts :)


For tomorrows work day snack I added a lot of cucumbers, carrots and cantaloupe. :)

I'm really trying to get healthy on the inside. I started taking a multi vitamin and I have my B12 shots every Wednesday. I also ordered from a blogger friends store. I'm ordering a nuplus powder full of nutrients to make healthy shakes and a Tea called Calli Tea for cleansing. Read more on her Site here.

Let's get healthy! ;)

Had to buy the cupcakes :)

Food Update: My Breakfast and Lunches have been going well in terms of calories. I'm bringing more fruits and nuts to work to snack on and I'm not feeling that starved feeling when I leave work at 5pm which is good :)


Howeverrrr... I just HAD to buy cupcakes yesterday when I went grocery shopping, but I did good by sharing. I brought the cupcakes to my moms house yesterday and shared them, then today I had 1 but shared that 1 with my husband :) AND zoe got to my last bite so that was ok too ahhah!

I also bought 1% milk instead of the 2% since I have a new milk addiction.


Tonight we went out with friends to a Persian restaurant. I ordered a chicken breast kabob with rice. I only ate less than half the rice and shared my meat with my husband to keep my portions controlled :) See sharing is a good thing ahah!
So far so good and tomorrow is already Thursday :)

Hope you all have a great week!!

A new week...

Ahh just loved having this extra day off, I think every Monday should be a holiday :) heehee I can wish. We woke up late today, made breakfast at home, watched the Olympics and enjoyed fresh cut fruit... Wish everyday was as relaxing as today :)

The last couple weeks I did not follow my goals to a T, But I also did not do sooo bad. No weight gain so that is good :)

For dinner I made a delicious stir fry full of veggies and Shrimp.



Last week I skipped my SHRED workout. So I need to get back on track this week!

Here are my weekly goals :)

*5 days a week of home cooking, include many "green" veggies and carrots.

*Drink lots of water everyday! A MUST!

*Coffee - Only 1/2 cup in the morning only.

* 1300 - 1600 daily Calories intake (Tracking on Iphone "my fitness pal app)

*3 bite rule on sweets

*Eliminate "White"Carbs

* 3 days a week basement work out (Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video)

* 3 days a week 10000 steps on the pedometer

* loofah body scrub to enhance circulation :)

Hope you all have a great week!!!

Friday Finally!

This week I've been doing pretty good with my eating, with a few exceptions, but overall keeping within my calories. Something changed this week, I've been drinking so much milk! I hardly drink milk and I've been having 2 full cups a night! Since my new found love for milk I figure this weekend when I do groceries I'll buy 1% instead so I can save those calories.

I'm so happy it's Friday and we have Monday off for "Family Day" a long weekend is sooo needed! This week I've been so tired, I feel like a slug going through my days then when I get home I don't want to do anything. Sometimes I wonder how could I be so tired taking care of just meeee!hmm.

On another topic, today I stopped by Homesense and found this Cat piece. When I paid for it the cashier said "Oh finally the cat is gone, it was here for so long" LOL my husband looked at me with a "what a cat freak you are" look ... ugh I am... :)


And talking about cats, that little girl Zoe has been SOOOOO BAD lately! We have been so busy or just so tired we are not giving her the affection she use to. Every night she meows and jumps on things and running out the door every chance she gets and begging for food, all foods it's so weird she wants whatever we have, she thinks she's a dog ahah!. I know she is just looking for our attention so it makes me feel bad, but her meowssss they are turning into screams! Ok I exaggerated haha! She is still my cute furbaby I love her no matter what! :)

Happy Fridayyyyyyyy!

Veggies and Fruits oh my!

Grocery day! My main issue these days is getting very hungry during the day at work and not having enough snacks. Since I'm counting calories I'm also finding it hard to find low calorie snacks. BUT Fruits and veggies are the ones! So I stocked up!
I also bought almonds and seeds :)

Fresh cucumber with a pinch of salt is always refreshing too.

I'm starting this week off right! With a Lobster dinner at the end of the week, I'll be ready for that! :))

Weekly Goals, but not this week.

Since I was feeling down the past couple days my husband wanted to cheer me up for lunch today and picked me up for Sushi :) Yes Sushi makes me happy ahah!

I ordered a roll box at this new place and it was huge! We both shared our meals with each other so it worked out fine :) Strangely my appetite was off yesterday and today, could be because I was a little worried and occupied with "Googeling!"

I read sooo much information on Ovarian Cysts and I feel much better. Yesterday my back was hurting A LOT! and because I knew why, it made me focus on that pain even more, but today it doesn't hurt at all... (I wonder if it's gone!!) I hope I hope I hope!

Going back to the information I found, I read that diet can help eliminate/prevent cysts. So I made notes and changed up my weekly goals for next week. AND I will be hitting the book store tonight too. (I know, I get obsessed with things, I just hate change! and even more if it's with my body...Controlling? Maybe a little ahah!)

Weekly Goals:

*5 days a week of home cooking, include many "green" veggies and carrots.

*Drink lots of water everyday! A MUST!

*Coffee - Only 1/2 cup in the morning only.

* 1300 - 1600 daily Calories intake (Tracking on Iphone "my fitness pal app)

*3 bite rule on sweets

*Eliminate "White"Carbs

* 3 days a week basement work out (Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video)

* 3 days a week 10000 steps on the pedometer

* More sleep! I've been staying up late and waking up grumpy not good, for anyone ahah!

* loofah body scrub to enhance circulation :)

I also read that increasing Vitamin A and B's are very good so I think my B12 shot will have much more use than 1!

I always see things as a "sign" and I think I have been getting the hints to make some major changes, and changes to continue my life with. Our bodies speak to us and we must listen, or it gets mad and won't hide it for long.

So glad the weekend is almost here!!!

Weekly Goals

Don't forget to enter the GIVE AWAY ABOVE! You Have Until Friday!! :)

Last week I was having a hard time with my calorie reduction. I started feeling really down and tired. When I finally increased it at the end of the week, I felt more alive. SOO weird! I'm trying really hard to find that balance and today I feel like I'm on the right track. I'm still going to aim for 1300 calories a day, but allow for 1500 even 1600 when I need. Today I'm on track for 1300 and don't feel at all hungry.

I brought cantaloupe and carrots and clementines for snacks, instead of crackers and nuts that have higher calories.

Dinner I made Chicken Parmigiana with olives. YUM AND I still have calories left for a piece of Apple pie and glass of milk :)

The weekend was very mild so I was able to get a LONG walk in. I can't wait for spring to get my jogs/walks back on track.


Here are my weekly goals:

* 5 days a week of home cooking ;) (I'm doing really well with this goal)
* Limit carb intake at dinner.
* Limit Sweets, use 3 bite rule
* No FRENCH FRIES (yes, I still need a reminder for this
* Cut coffee as much as possible and replace with Green Tea (coffee has crept back in ugh!)
* 3 days a week basement work out (Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video)
* 3 days a week 10000 steps on the pedometer
* loofah body scrub to enhance circulation (my skin is becoming verrry soft :)

Snack time!

Love my weekends. I get to catch up on so many things. Today my husband and I cleaned the whole house and took down the Christmas tree, ran some errands and just spent some quality time together.

I cooked every meal at home today and it was great.

Watching my calories with my Iphone App, is amazing. I love seeing how many calories I'm taking in and it helps me choose foods that are less calories.

Tonight for dinner I made Beef with mushrooms and onions with zucchini and sweet potato fries. Water to drink and a Spinach Salad to eat first!


Tonight we decided to stay in and make it a movie night. We went for a ride to Starbucks for a Latte and rented some movies for the night. I had about 300 calories left for my daily intake and I wanted to snack but wanted to make sure I did not go over.

So I popped some Samosas in the oven, 50 cals each

And put out some pistachios. (Not too many, there are hidden calories in these little nuts)
What are some of your evening snacks??

(Just one last note. I was watching a cat show and Zoe was just as excited ahaha!)

2lbs down!

Today I am home - I'm not feeling too good so took the day off. Not as fun ha!

I did my weigh in today and I lost 2lbs! Whoohoo I have been closely watching my cals and I also only had a salad for dinner last night because I was already feeling under the weather. ( I think that helped)

So far my Breakfast and Lunches have been going really well for me.

Breakfast 235 Calories:
Spelt Flax Organic Bread 100 Cal
1/2 tablespoon peanut butter 45 cal
1 tablespoon of jam 30 cal

I started making my own coffee, adding 1 tbs of raw sugar 20 cals and 2 tbs of half and half cream 40 cals. (saving 55 cals from coffee shop coffee)

Lunch 200 Calories:

1 cup of plain brown rice. 170 Cals.
(I boiled lots of brown rice on Sunday to have for the whole week)

I also bought a bunch of packaged seasoned veggies. The one below is 50 cals for 1 cup. You can use 1 package for 2 lunches.

Put 1 cup of brown rice in a container top with 1/2 a package of the above veggies. You can add more seasoning like Tabasco or even lemon on the rice and add as many different veggies too if you want. The below pic I had added cilantro, tomato and garlic to my packaged veggies.

Snacks:
2 tbs of walnuts 82 Cals

2 Clementines 80 cals

9 baby carrots 35 cals

Also, going back to Breakfast. Since we started making our own coffee we bought cute cups and lids at a wholesale place and estimated about $12/month if we make our own coffee, compared to $65 sometimes more in buying coffee monthly.



Counting cals and money, so far so good!