Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Grocery Shopping and healthy choices!


Last night I did some grocery shopping and added some new items to my list. One of which is Goat Milk, never tried it... I read about Goat Milk being easier to digest and how it does not cause bloating as cows milk does for some people (such as myself). I will let you know how that tastes in my Special K cereal tonight!

Some other items I bought is Spinach, I love Spinach salads and it's full of nutrients! AND i got some laughing cow cheese spread for my melba toast snacks, yum!

Below are BANANAS I bought lots yesterday since Ive been eating 1 banana for BF every day with green tea. Some how this keeps me going until lunch time, I don't mind that ;)


Ok, so the whole grocery trip was pretty good, I stayed OUT of the cookie aisle and bought more fruits and veggies and even a whole chicken to throw in my slow cooker (love that!)

But then... I saw these in the frozen aisle. Only 100 cals right! I know just because it says 100cals doesn't mean it's better, but I guess it is sorta like the better choice. I never tried these but I'll let you know how they taste once I get my hands on one ;)




Overall, I was really happy with my groceries, I shopped slowly and after dinner (so I was not hungry) I looked at my options and came out with much more healthier choices! YUM Can't wait for lunch and dinner today! Oh and for my 100cal dessert!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Hump day flop!


It was the apple pie that messed up an overall pretty good week of eating healthy! We had visitors over last night so I decided to put a apple pie in the oven. YUM it was good, I had 2 pieces! I tried to get the guests to eat as much of it as they could so I would not have leftovers.

My week other than the pie has been good. I had an amazing workout on Tuesday and hitting the gym today as well!

I bought some yogurt to help with my sugar craving, haven't noticed if it helps yet as I did eat apple pie yesterday! ;)

Also, started to cut out some carbs from my meals and have more veggies and protein. It's working well so far.

So far my dinners have been:
Chicken legs in the oven served with salad and a 1/2 a baked potato with veggies!
Slow cooked whole chicken served with salad and veggies.
Lean Ground Beef stuffed peppers.
And tonight I will be making RedCurry beef with veggies minus the rice!

Some of my meals are made in my slow cooker. I absolutely love the slow cooker. You can make healthy meals in it and have your dinner cooking throughout the day ready for you after work! love it!

My favorite recipe is the stuffed peppers, so easy to make and 1 pepper is filling!

Here is the recipe for my famous stuffed peppers!

1 Package of lean ground beef or turkey.
1 package of flavored rice mix
1 teaspoon salt and/or other seasonings (I like to use Mrs Dash no salt seasoning)
Chopped up onions (I also add cilantro)
(I love spicy food so i drizzle some of my favorite hot sauce on top)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
Cut the tops of the peppers, clean them out.
Stuff meat mixture in the peppers and place in slow cooker.

Cook 4 Hours High or 8 Hours Low.

YUM!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Back on Track...or not..


Trying to get back on track! But was I ever really on any sort of track ha! Who am I kidding. I have no will power, although I do try, I do give up oh so easy!

My goal this week is to make Breakfast, lunch and dinner at home all week! At least when I eat at home I eat much less calories than at restaurants or on the go to fatty fast food places. Another weakness I need to control is my sweet intake. So I bought Cinnamon Special K cereal and hope to eat a small bowl of this when I crave sweets. (and save me from hitting a bakery for a sugar fix!)

I read an article today about making bets with friends can help shed pounds. I got this idea from a fellow blogger a while back and my friends and I have a $300 weight loss challenge going on for 2 months. End date May 1st, my weightloss total so far .... ZERO lol! I don't think that really motivated me that much. We'll see what I can pull off the last 2 weeks.

I added some items to my diet.
I currently take 1 tablespoon of Greens Plus in the morning before BF (to help balance ph levels)
I also started taking Lecithin Granules 1 tablespoon in the afternoon (lowers cholesterol and heard it helps burn fat!)
I don't eat that much fish, Love fish but have no clue how to cook it so I also take Premium brand of Fish oil pills daily at lunch ;)

As for exercise, I know it needs to be kicked up a lot of notches but I am trying to get my jogs in at least twice a week! Although it should be a minimum 3 times as my doctor expresses to me when I see her. (My doctor is very blunt and will not hesitate to tell me I need to lose weight!)

Rainy Monday Morning but off to a good start!

If anyone has some yummy recipe suggestions, let me know!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Our Guardian Angels

This weekend one of my Aunts passed away. She was in the hospital for a couple months from a stroke well a couple strokes. Things didn't get better and she passed away on Good friday ;(.
(My Aunt is the wife of my uncle my dads brother)
My dad passed away 6 years ago at the age of 46 this was devastating for the whole family. My dads family is large, he was the youngest so all his brothers and sisters are much 10-30 years older than he was. The family is heartbroken once again with the loss of my sweet aunt. So as I was thinking about people passed and family now I was getting overwhelmed with sadness. The way it was when we were kids is changing so much. I guess this is life. We need to remember to Cherish the memories of those that passed and never forget what they were here to teach us.

I'm going to list some of the people that recently passed and write some things I remember about them. You should try and do the same with people you knew. Sometimes it takes the smallest changes we can instill to make us even better people.

My dear Aunt
- Very caring
-Always happy to see her family
- Ready and willing to help
-Great listener
- Good Hearted
-wise
What I'll never forget - a happy welcoming face.

My Daddy
-Never judgmental
-good hearted
-Funny
-always smiling
-Social
-lived life in the moment
-loving

What I'll never forget- Joking around smiling and laughing.

My Grandfather
- loved to share his stories
-wise man
-always a do it yourself kinda man
-best friends with our dog
-strict and old fashion
-took care of his family

What I'll never forget- His smile.

I see them all as my guardian angels watching over us ;)

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

April Snow!

Snow in April! What happened to spring!!! I took this pic this morning and all day its been cold and snowy!

On the weekend my husband and I drove to Connecticut to visit a friend in New Haven. 10 hour drive! We had a good time ;)


Road trips are not good when trying to watch weight. I ate just about every fast food food in side! So starting yesterday I need to get back on track! We have 1 month till the weight loss challenge is over and I have not lost any weight!

Today I decided to make cabbage soup. Loaded with veggies I made enough to last me all week. After the weekend of eating bad food I need to replenish with veggies ;)


I made my cabbage soup in the crockpot.
  • 1 organic green cabbage
  • 2 zucchinis
  • 1 Can of red kidney beans
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Mrs Dash salt free seasoning
  • Hot sauce for some spike
  • 12 ounces V-8 Vegetable Juice
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 package French Onion Soup
  • 1/2 cup finely sliced carrots
Combine all in crockpot High 4 hours or Low 8 hours
The good thing with this soup you can add any veggies you like, celery is good in here as well I just forgot to buy it, and you can add whatever seasonings you like.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

SOLD!

The past couple of weeks have just been sooo heckteck! Selling our home happened wayyy to fast, I guess that is a good thing, especially in today's market.

So all is good now and house sold for a price we were happy with. Now the next step, getting approved for a slightly higher mortgage. This gives me uneasy feelings and we are still waiting for the banks call. I am really really bad with stress. I feel like my chest is closing in on me at times with anxiety! whaaa!

I'm trying to be positive and using the "secret" styles lol, repeating that I already have the new house etc I hope this works!!! Cross your fingers for me!

So on the weekend we did go out on a house hunt. Many homes are overpriced! But we did see a few that we liked. The funny thing is, we are looking for many of the same qualities that our current home has (without the age heehee, our current home is 100 years old!) we like open areas like parks near by, currently we face a park and we love it especially in the summer. I love lots of windows and naural light, (i neeed the earths energy daily!) I guess you can say we love nature but we also love city, so lets see if we can combine the two in our next home here in Toronto.

4 years ago we moved into our current home from our parents house so all we had when we moved in where luggages of clothes, now on this next move we have a house full of furniture! and tons of mail coming in lol. If you have any tips for a stress free move, I'll be glad to hear em!

Have a great day and hope no one got fooled badly today! Happy April Fools day!!!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Stress!


Oh how I wish some days I could just be as relaxed as Zoe, lounging around so care free.

Last couple weeks I've been a little stressed out selling the house, renovating, relationship issues, financial issues ugh! and it is not helping add anything good to my weightloss challenge. 1 month to go and so far zero lbs lost. I am an emotional eater which is just horrible and I don't even know how to control it. When the gitters are here I rush for the chocolate the cookies the anything sweeet. Which is not good as the sugar can add to those gitters! I'm feeling really sluggish too and just need to snap out of this. So I'm tying to use some techniques Ive heard of before. (trying)

Deep breathes; breathe in, hold for 5 secs and release do this 5 times when getting those gittery feelings.
Laugh: really hard to stay focused on the bad stuff when smiling and laughing
Affirmations: repeat good stuff to myself every chance I get!

What are some of your ways of dealing with stress, let me know, I could use all the help I neeed! ;)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

New Book

The UltraMind Solution how to fix your broken brain... This book has information on how to get rid of so called diseases of the mind such as depression, ADD, compulsive disorder, bipolar etc etc by changing our food intake and possible environmental toxins. I just started reading it and so far so good but I am still at the beginning where it is just discussing examples of medications not being able to cure what they are said to be curing. Covering the problem not curing it. Did you know that "antidepressent" type drugs are top 2 of the most prescribed meds! Wow This book states that with taking care of your body and brain you can get Brain healthy without use of these drugs.

I'm not one to drastically change my ways like eat nothing but organic foods, I just wouldn't know what to do or where to start... But I can make some changes and choose some foods that are better than others with the proper guidance. I'm hoping this book will help with that, finding "Brain foods" etc. So far I read that Omega 3 is definitely needed for Brain health. So I'll write that down on my list. It also says refined Sugars are the worst for Brain health. Ok I know we allll know this, but really how can you totally get away from all sugar, I just dont see this ever happening, ever!... I will continue to read and maybe this book will offer much more to the insight of Brain health along with many nutritous changes we can all adapt to easily.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Spring is almost here!


SPRING! Weather is much much nicer these days. Today we are up to 10 degrees C, doesn't sound that warm I know, but oh it is the warmest since a long cold -30 winter!... Feeling the warm air and the sun shining just brings smiles on peoples faces. Many people are out and enjoying the warm day walking and playing in the park. This week is march break and I live in front of the park ;) lots of people out and about! Spring officially starts on Friday but its giving us a taste of whats to come ;)

Beautiful Monday and Beautiful start to the week! Hope you all have a great week!

FYI McDonalds big mac is 220 less calories than a BK whopper w/cheese. I just found that out. Luckily for me tho I'm off fast food as of today so this wont matter to me ;)

Friday, March 13, 2009

My Kitty ;)

I believe she was the culprit for the missing fishies...
She just needs to watch the water run, but kinda like a creeper watching when I'm taking a shower, need to close the door to keep her out LOL

This my kitty Zoe. She's a ragdoll cat and has the most amazing personality. She is very active and loves being around us. Her goofy personality always make me laugh and always makes me smile. She's very talkative as well and lets you know when she wants attention or of she is not too happy about something. (like the reno's we are currently doing, she does not like a messy house and meows at night letting us know that lol)

The best thing about Zoe is that she loves attention and loves to be pet and held. Walking in the door being greeted by Zoe waiting for a belly rub is the best and always sends positive energy in the air. What's better than that when having a crumby day.

Today I'm here just sitting on the computer and being around the unconditional love being sent from Zoe is what I like best :)