Week 5

Week 5 – January 30 – February 5, 2012

1.     Shop once this week to keep my pantry stocked with healthy foods

2.     Stay between 3 and 6 on the hunger continuum and register my hunger and satiety level in my journal

3.     Maintain my food journal

4.     Drink 8 glasses of water a day

5.     ride my bike for 20 minutes at least 5 days a week and increase the resistance and note my rides in my journal.

6.     Squeeze some exercise into my daily routine.

7.     clean 1 drawer/cabinet/closet a week

8.     create and maintain an efficient laundry system.

9.     Eat 3 meals and 1 or 2 small snacks each day

10. Add stretching to my workout routine

11. Take a multivitamin each day – I am actually taking a multivitamin, a fish oil pill and a Llysine pill. (this is for cold sores so that I hopefully won’t get them too often)

12. be aware of my posture. Walk tall and with confidence!

13. Limit alcohol to one night a week and limit number of drinks to 2. Unless it is a margarita from Chavolos then the limit is 1.

14.  When going out to eat or at friends, chose food that is not fried and don’t graze around the food table.

Here are this weeks new steps-

15.  Replace bad fats with good fats.

16. Add one fun element this week. (going dancing, playing basketball, etc.) This can take the place of one of my bike rides.

17.  discover the benefits of yoga (once a week)

18.  clear the clutter from a mail pile, front door, etc and maintain a system to keep it clear.

3 ingredient pulled pork and Asian Slaw

For my new recipe last week I decided to try a recipe I found online for pulled pork that required only 3 ingredients. Pork loin, root beer and BBQ sauce. It was super easy and pretty tasty when it was done.By the way, its all done in the crock pot.  Click here for the original website for this recipe.
I used one pork loin about 2lbs and one 20oz bottle of root beer. I put the pork loin in the crock pot and poured the entire bottle of root beer over it. Cook on low for 7-8 hours. The original recipe said only 6 hours but mine was not easy to shred after 6 but perfect for a couple hours longer. Once it is shredded you can pour the BBQ sauce over the whole thing but I didn't do this. I prefer to measure out the sauce as I eat it. My portions are 3 oz of pork and 1-2 tablespoons of sauce. (One serving of sauce is 2 tablespoons.)
The second thing I made was Asian slaw with wasabi dressing. Click here for the original recipe. The slaw was not as good as I would have liked. I will have to try again with a little tweaking. I used premade slaw mix instead of making my own. For this recipe I used half the bag and added some red, yellow and orange bell peppers and some green onions. I topped it with Chinese noodles that  I had instead of sesame seeds and peanuts. I also halved the dressing amounts. It still made a lot of sauce. When it was all done I couldn't taste the wasabi and the sesame oil was too strong. I think if I make this again I will cut the oil even more and add more wasabi. If you try this recipe I would love to hear how it was and if you made any changes.

 Maybe next I should work on my food presentation for photos. LOL

Craft room

For a couple weeks now instead of focusing of cleaning out a drawer or closet each week I decided to clean my spare room. It really was a dumping ground of all the crap I either didn't want to throw away or didn't want to put away. It was easier to just put it on the desk and close the door. My sister and I went to Hobby Lobby and Target and I found tons of organizing boxes and bins and some fun accessories to decorate with. Target had a lot of stuff in the $1.00 aisle so that was a major score. For the "before" pictures you will have to scroll down several weeks and they are posted there. Here are my "after" pictures. I do want to paint something on one wall but not sure yet what that will be.

Do you like my little Christmas tree? I got it at Hobby Lobby for $1.60 on sale. Matched my color scheme perfectly. lol!

I love it! I can actually get in there and scan my photos or do some scrapbooking. Everything finally has a place and I know where to find it all.

Week 4 – January 23 – January 29, 2012- RECAP

I know when I started this journey I knew that slow and steady will get me where I want to be and allow me to maintain that loss. Knowing that doesn’t stop me though from wanting the weight to fall off fast. It is a program in my head that I don’t need. This week I almost lost 1 lb, .9 to be exact. I need to remember that I am doing great and my body is doing what it needs to do.

While I ride my bike I watch my recorded episodes of The Revolution. Yesterday the trainer Harley said something that really got me thinking. He said that when you are working for a weight loss goal don’t just focus on the end number or the end goal. Enjoy the journey. Each week or step you take toward your goal is one small goal to be proud of and rejoice in that. For me I asked myself these questions. Am I exercising more than I was last month? Am I making better food choices and writing it down in my food journal? Am I drinking all my water? Am I taking my vitamins? Yes! That’s the answer to all my questions. I am doing so much more and so much better than I was last month. I am proud of myself for sticking with this. I take each day, each moment at a time. If I eat something bad I just get back on track at the next meal. My past actions were to just give up the whole day and use that as an excuse to eat crap all day. No more. These small goals mean so much to me and I am forming a habit that will stick with me.

On Monday I started getting up 30 minutes earlier than usual so that I can get my workout in before work. When I would wait to do it in the evenings sometimes life got in the way and I wouldn’t do it. Now I have no excuse and it’s done in the morning. I am really enjoying working out in the morning too. It makes me feel great and my attitude is better because of it. It makes me excited for spring and summer when I can go out for a walk when the world is just waking up. It’s such a great time of day. I’ve discovered that I am definitely a morning person.

It has been 4 weeks since I started my journey. I measured and weighed myself on the first so that I would be able to track my inches lost as well. Here is how I have done these past four weeks.

January weight lost- 6.4 lbs

Inches lost- 6 total!! I lost 1 off my chest, ½ off each arm, 1 off my waist, 2 off my hips (yay!) and ½ off each thigh.

I am so happy with my progress so far!! Thinking of spring and shopping for new clothes really has me excited and keeps me going!!

One of the first posts I wrote were the reasons that I wanted to make a positive change to my health. When I wrote it I just wrote what came to my head. I didn’t edit it or change what I was thinking. Here is what I wrote-

• I want to wake up in the morning not feeling like I am 80 years old.
• I want to be able to walk or run around the block without having my lungs feel like they are about to explode.
• I want to be able to buy clothes from any store and not specialty plus size stores.
• I want to look into the mirror and not be disgusted by what I see.
• I want to feel energized though out the day and accomplish tasks around my house and not just sit on my couch.
• I want to walk into a room and not feel like the fattest person there.
• I want to meet a guy and not think that he is silently judging me for my weight.
• I don’t want to die of a heart attack.
• I want to be able to sit in a small chair with arms and not have to squeeze in to fit.
• I don’t want to turn 40 and feel like I did in my 30’s. 

It was pointed out to me that they are a little negative and I would have to agree. So here I am writing them again and this time they are a lot more positive.

·        I will wake up in the morning feeling fresh and revitalized and ready for the day

·        I will be able to walk and run whatever distance I choose and have no trouble completing it with ease.

·        I can go clothes shopping and look fabulous in whatever I try on

·        I have more energy throughout the day to get stuff done.

·        I will walk into a room with my head held high and full of confidence

·        I will have no trouble meeting and talking to guys. Just by looking at me they can see my confidence and they will want to meet me

·        I will live a full long happy life

·        I will comfortable in small tight places and there will be plenty of room to move around.

·         I will turn 40 a confidant, stylish and very happy woman!

What inspires and motivates you?

For the past 15 or so years I have been on the diet yo-yo train. I am pretty sure that if there are 100 diets out there I have tried at least 98 of them. Some worked, some didn’t but in the end I always gained the weight back. I never learned the maintenance part of the diet. That reason alone is why I am not on a “diet” now. I want to make a lifestyle change that will help me for the rest of my life. Not a diet that will change my life for a few months.

No matter what I try I am always looking for things that will inspire and motivate me. Whether it is something on TV, a book, a person or whatever. A few months ago my sister introduced me to Pinterest. I have mentioned this is several posts before but I really want to give props to this site for helping me in this journey. It may sound silly but it honestly has helped me in so many ways. For a while I was just pinning things I liked or things I wanted to do in my home but then one day I saw a pin of a simple exercise routine. I promptly created a new board called “things I should be doing for my health J”. I started pinning little motivational quotes and other exercises on that board but not doing them or even looking back at them. Then one day in December my sister and I got together because I wanted to get her help with a workout plan. I was remembering all the pins I posted and wanted to finally try some. She came over and gave me a small spiral notebook and in it she had put in some exercises and quotes for me to get started. From there I printed out all my Pinterest pins and put them in the book. For me this was such a great gift because I could have all this information with me to carry wherever I needed to go. It was easier than looking online for the information. I carry it with me everyday and I look through it all the time. Not only that but I am actually DOING the exercises! Now I am at a point that I have some great starter workouts and tons of quotes that keep me going. I don’t pin to that board as often but I am always looking for new things for inspiration and I know when I am ready to move into more difficult exercises that I can find what I am looking for.

Something else that I have discovered is a new show on daytime TV on ABC. It is called The Revolution. Now of course I work when it is on but luckily I have a DVR so I watch it when I want. Watching this show makes me feel like they made it just for me. I love absolutely everything about this show. It talks about weight loss, exercise, fashion, health, home and finances and it does it in a way that I can relate to. The fact that Ty Pennington is one of the hosts is a bonus as well! It just started on January 16^th and if you want to watch past episodes you can do that online. When I really started to incorporate exercise into my day I would ride my bike in the morning and do the strength training in the evening. I just recently changed my schedule so that I get up 30 minutes earlier so that I can do it all before I go to work. The best part is that I am able to watch this show while I workout. It is so motivating to see the transformations while I am transforming myself. I am actually excited to get up in the morning and workout. If you haven’t watched it I highly recommend it.

We live in a world full of heartache, war is an everyday thing and times are hard for everyone so I think it is wonderful that I can find a few small things to inspire and motivate me and make my day a little better. What inspires and motivates you?

Week 4 – January 23 – January 29, 2012

1.     Shop once this week to keep my pantry stocked with healthy foods

2.     Stay between 3 and 6 on the hunger continuum and register my hunger and satiety level in my journal

3.     Maintain my food journal

4.     Drink 8 glasses of water a day

5.     ride my bike for 20 minutes at least 5 days a week and increase the resistance and note my rides in my journal.

6.     Squeeze some exercise into my daily routine.

7.     clean 1 drawer/cabinet/closet a week (right now I am focusing on a whole room- will be several week process)

8.     create and maintain an efficient laundry system.

9.     Eat 3 meals and 1 or 2 small snacks each day

10. Add stretching to my workout routine

11. Take a multivitamin each day – I am actually taking a multivitamin, a fish oil pill and a Llysine pill. (this is for cold sores so that I hopefully won’t get them too often)

12. be aware of my posture. Walk tall and with confidence!

Because I have been taking my small steps from 2 different books sometimes the new steps for the week are ones I am already doing. This weeks steps were steps I am already incorporating into my life or ones that I have been doing for years so there was nothing really to post that was new. Because I don’t want to not add anything new I have come up with a couple steps learned from last weeks mistakes. Here they are -

13.  Limit alcohol to one night a week and limit number of drinks to 2. Unless it is a margarita from Chavolos then the limit is 1.

14.  When going out to eat or at friends, chose food that is not fried and don’t graze around the food table.

These might seem like silly steps to add but they are big steps for me. These two things are a huge contribution to my weight gain and just might be the hardest to change. I am committed to being healthy though and realize that I need to make these changes if I want to change. Which I do!

Week 3 – January 16 – January 22, 2012 - RECAP

1.     Shop once this week to keep my pantry stocked with healthy foods

2.     Stay between 3 and 6 on the hunger continuum and register my hunger and satiety level in my journal

3.     Maintain my food journal

4.     Drink 8 glasses of water a day

5.     ride my bike for 20 minutes at least 5 days a week and increase the resistance and note my rides in my journal.

6.     Squeeze some exercise into my daily routine.

7.     clean 1 drawer/cabinet/closet a week (right now I am focusing on a whole room- will be several week process)

8.     create and maintain an efficient laundry system.

9.     Eat 3 meals and 1 or 2 small snacks each day

10. Add stretching to my workout routine

11. Take a multivitamin each day – I am actually taking a multivitamin, a fish oil pill and a Llysine pill. (this is for cold sores so that I hopefully won’t get them too often)

12. be aware of my posture. Walk tall and with confidence!

This past week I did well for the most part. I did everything that I was supposed to do everyday with the exception of exercising every day. I forgot to do my beginner workout a couple days and did my Thursday workout on Saturday. This week I only lost .5 lbs. I was hoping for at least 1-2 lbs but a loss is a loss so I will take it. I did learn some things this past week and I will incorporate that into this weeks small steps.

On Wednesday night I decided to have a glass of wine with dinner. Well one glass turned into 2 and I ended up having 4 glasses of wine. Not four 5oz glasses, I filled the whole glass up to the top. Needless to say I felt like crap the next day. Because of that I didn’t work out at all on Thursday and made some food choices that I normally would not have made. It really made me realize that even though I like to have a drink every now and then I must do it in moderation. I hated feeling like that on Thursday and really have no desire to feel that way again.  I’ve tried for years to moderate my drinking but usually didn’t really care enough to give it much effort. Being drunk was better than dealing with the feelings I was trying to forget. Since a horrible drinking binge on Halloween and then last Thursday’s misstep I realize that I really do care and I am trying to make an effort to drink less. Not only will my body feel better but my mind as well. On Friday I went out to eat dinner with a friend and Sunday I went to watch football at another friend’s house. In the past I have used events like these as an excuse to eat what I want. The choices have been bad and last week was no exception. I ate chicken strips and French fries and for football, chips and dips. The one good choice I made was for football I brought my water bottle instead of the beer I would normally bring. I know that if I don’t allow myself a little bit of guilty food I will binge but I need to make sure that when I have the chance to make a better choice that I do it. Instead of the chicken strips and fries I could have chosen something else that was just as delicious and better for me. 

Chicken Gyro Sandwich

Sorry this is late getting posted. I was not 100% on my game last week but I will get to that in my next post for my weekly recap. Last week I made Chicken Gyro Sandwiches for my new weekly meal. Let me just tell you that they were so yummy!!! I love the traditional gyros but I am a little intimidated to try cooking lamb. Also the cost is a little high and chicken is healthier and I had it in my freezer. I originally found the recipe on foodgawker.com. Another great time sucking website next to pinterest.com. It will make you incredibly hunger but might also inspire you to try some new meals. For the original recipe here is the blog "the girl who ate everything. The original recipe says to either cook the chicken in a skillet or broil it. I used a skillet to cook mine. Next time I make these though I will cut the chicken into bite size pieces before I marinate and cook it. I found that the Greek yogurt marinate started to burn before the chicken was done and the smaller bite size pieces will allow the chicken to cook faster before it burns. I ended up cutting the chicken into pieces anyways to get them to fully cook. The end result was delicious! I also made the tzatziki sauce which is a definite must for this meal.

Just looking at that makes me want to make these again! I used some flat bread that I had in my freezer from my last trip to Trader Joe's but I am sure that a pita would be just as delicious. The whole recipe made 4 servings of chicken so I was able to bring these to work for lunch. I know that my side dish of french fries is not very healthy but that is just too bad. I only had one serving (per package instructions) and that is a good for me considering I used to eat twice that amount of fries (anything made from potatoes are my weakness). For my lunches though I just paired the sandwich with cooked veggies. I would definitely recommend that you try this recipe. It was super simple and super delicious!!

Week 3 – January 16 – January 22, 2012 -

Here is a complete list for weeks 1 and 2 that I am already doing.

1. Shop once this week to keep my pantry stocked with healthy foods
2. Stay between 3 and 6 on the hunger continuum and register my hunger and satiety level in my journal
3. Maintain my food journal
4. Drink 8 glasses of water a day
5. ride my bike for 20 minutes at least 5 days a week and increase the resistance and note my rides in my journal.
6. Squeeze some exercise into my daily routine.
7. clean 1 drawer/cabinet/closet a week (right now I am focusing on a whole room- will be several week process)
8. create and maintain an efficient laundry system.

Here are the additional steps that are added in for week 3-

9. Eat 3 meals and 1 or 2 small snacks each day
10. Add stretching to my workout routine
11. Take a multivitamin each day – I am actually taking a multivitamin, a fish oil pill and a Llysine pill. (this is for cold sores so that I hopefully won’t get them too often)
12. be aware of my posture. Walk tall and with confidence!

Week 2 – January 9 – January 15, 2012 - RECAP

First news- I lost 3.3 lbs this week!! That makes 5 lbs total. Not bad for 2 weeks of small steps.

1. Shop once this week to keep my pantry stocked with healthy foods
2. Stay between 3 and 6 on the hunger continuum and register my hunger and satiety level in my journal
1. The continuum is a scale from 1-10 starting with famished to stuffed until ill. 3 thru 6 are strong feelings of hunger to first signs of feeling full.
3. Maintain my food journal
4. ride my bike for 20 minutes at least 5 days a week and increase the resistance and note my rides in my journal.
5. Squeeze some exercise into my daily routine.
6. create and maintain an efficient laundry system.

Last week was basically adding some strength training exercises to my daily routine. I did very well adding these in except that I forgot to do my beginner exercises on Thursday and Friday. I just ended up doing them on Saturday and Sunday so that I could catch up. I have found that if I ride my bike in the AM before work and do the strength training after work that is perfect for me. I don’t feel like I have to spend tons of time exercising since it is broken out though the day. As for the laundry system that is really easy. It’s just me so I only have a few loads and I do those on Sunday. I continued to food journal, noting my exercising in there too and went shopping to re-stock the pantry. I have realized that having food staples in the house is making meal time much easier!

This week I was also supposed to continue clearing clutter. One drawer, dresser, closet, etc. Instead of doing one thing each week I started cleaning out one of my spare rooms. It has slowly turned into a room that I just dump stuff in that really doesn't have a place or that I don't feel like putting away. This will be a several week process but here are some pictures to see where I am starting. When I finish I will make sure to post those. 

Wish me luck! 

Homemade Ravioli

For Christmas my sister got the pasta attachments for her KitchenAid mixer and we have been wanting to make pasta so we decided to do that on Sunday. Instead of making plain pasta we made ravioli. We have made it in the past but the experience was not good. This time we were able to see what worked for us and what didn’t. You could say though that we got a little carried away with our fillings. We made 3 different kinds – Italian sausage, spinach and mushroom and butternut squash. We didn’t really follow a recipe for the fillings we just threw cheese and spices in until it tasted good. There was too much filling so we ended up making little lasagna cups with the Italian sausage filling. We also ended up having too much butternut squash filling so I froze most of that and will make soup out of it in a couple weeks. Here is our attempt….

Here we are making the dough. We made two batches total. 

The fillings- Italian sausage, butternut squash and spinach and mushroom

Here we are making the traditional shape for the ravioli with the butternut squash

We had two different cutters and this is what we ended up with.  We weren't very happy with the size or the amount  of dough waste. 

Lasagna cups! Italian sausage filling inside wonton cups, pasta sauce, topped with cheese and baked.

The finished product. Super Yummy!!!

We finally found a way to use all the dough with no waste. Cut squares, put some filling in the center, then roll into a "pillow" shape. Seal the edges with a little water, 

Our pillow shaped pasta. 

We didn't get as much stuffed pasta as we would have liked but we did figure out what to do next time to make the process much easier! We froze the pasta so that we can enjoy these yummy little morsels for the next couple months. 

I love these....

I've been thinking and this time it's a good thing!

For a couple weeks now I have been on the hunt for a decent treadmill that I can train on for the 5K run that I plan on doing in April. I have found some but they are either too pricey or not really good for my needs. I was talking to my mom the other day about one that a friend of mine has for sale. It is $200.00 and not used very much. Now of course depending on what kind it is and the condition I didn’t think this was all that bad of a price. I would be willing to spend that or even a little more for the right one. My mom on the other hand thought it was too much and thinks I can find one for less. Maybe so, maybe not. Anyway, she said something to me that really has me thinking since our talk. She said that she didn’t think it was a good idea to spend that much money on something I won’t use. Totally valid statement but that had me thinking. I am 37 (38 in one month) and I have said that this is the year that I will finally lose weight and be healthy for at least the last 10 years of my life. I have never followed though with my plans and I have always gone back to my bad eating and no exercise habits. I have spent countless amounts of money on diet books, diet plans, diet foods and the list goes on and on. So it is no wonder that my mom would think I would buy this treadmill and not use it. Don’t think my mom is not supportive by saying this. She is one of my biggest supporters and one of my best friends but I have never given anyone, including MYSELF, a reason to believe that I will actually do it and succeed. I have never envisioned myself at the end of my goal. Until now. It almost makes me cry because now I can actually see myself thinner and healthier. I can see myself running in my 5K and finishing it. I can see myself eating better and exercising. I can see myself wearing all those cute clothes I see in the stores. I can also see myself buying a treadmill and using it! 

Don't quit!

I found this on Pinterst this morning and thought it was perfect for my blog. It says it all!!

Exercise plan

If you know me then you know that I do not like to exercise. I will always find an excuse to not do it. I am finding out though after riding on my exercise bike for the last month that it really does make me feel better. As much as I would like to just jump right in with a hour long kick ass workout I know this won't work. Instead I have found a couple small plans to "get my feet wet" so-to-speak.

Level One Exercise Plan

There are 3 levels to this exercise plan. I will add the others as I get to them.

Monday-Friday Workout Plan

I will start out with these and see where they need to be tweaked and what needs to be added but for now this is a good place for me to start adding in exercises.

Week 2 – January 9 – January 15, 2012

This week I am adding new steps to my daily life.  These are in addition to the ones that I am already doing.

*Some of the steps that I am taking from the books I am altering to fit my lifestyle. For example, last week I was supposed to walk for 20 minutes 3 times a week but I chose to ride my elliptical bike. This week the books suggests that I increase the intensity of my walks but since I not walking I will adjust my bike ride sessions. There will be some other changes as well though out the 12 weeks. I am making it to fit me. Not making me fit it. I feel I will have more success this way.

1. Shop once this week to keep my pantry stocked with healthy foods
2. Stay between 3 and 6 on the hunger continuum and register my hunger and satiety level in my journal
1. The continuum is a scale from 1-10 starting with famished to stuffed until ill. 3 thru 6 are strong feelings of hunger to first signs of feeling full.
3. Maintain my food journal
4. ride my bike for 20 minutes at least 5 days a week and increase the resistance and note my rides in my journal.
5. Squeeze some exercise into my daily routine.
6. create and maintain an efficient laundry system.

Later I post the exercises that I will be doing. I am also on a hunt for a treadmill so that I can start training for my 5K. I found one in April that I would like to do. It is in Denver and I have some family and friends that I can do it with. 

I rocked my first week!!

My first week of starting my simple steps is over but that doesn’t mean that I stop doing them. I actually will add on to what I am already doing with a few new steps. First let me tell you how I did last week.

Week 1 – January 1- January 6, 2012 - recap

1. Drink 8 cups of water every day.
1. This was easy to do. I drink water all the time so getting my 8 cups in was a no brainer. Over the holidays I started drinking diet soda again. I was drinking a 320z every day. This past week I cut that out completely. I always feel better drinking water and I was saving my .98 cents a day not buying soda so it is win/win.

2. Take a 20 minute walk three times a week. *While the weather is so cold I am going to substitute the walking for 20 minutes on my stationary bike.
1. I actually rode my bike 5 times this past week. I have been riding it in the morning before work and it does wonders for my attitude during the day. I feel energized and refreshed every day that I did this.
3. Clean out a drawer, cabinet or closet each week.
1. I actually went on a little organizing spree on Saturday. I cleaned out my freezer and my spice cabinets. Here are the pictures –

I forgot to take a "before" shot of my freezer. This is some of the stuff I took out.

Here is some more

This is what  I threw away. It was freezer burned or I knew I would not eat it. 

"After" I found a shelf in my spare room that works perfectly. I can now see what  I have. 

a few months ago I consolidated my spices and threw some away but it was still hard to see what I had or to get to some of the stuff in there. 

I move the baking stuff to another cabinet and added another spice rack. Now I can be the cooking Goddess that  I have always dreamed of being. 

4. Start saving $1.00 a day
1. I saved at least .98 cents a day by not drinking any soda or going next door to the convenience store to buy snacks during my work day.  I also deposited $50.00 from my last paycheck into my saving. I am going to do this once a month instead of a daily thing. This will be in addition to the money that I already have transferred from each paycheck.
5. Stock my pantry with healthy foods
1. Did this last weekend. I am getting in the habit of writing down what I have used on my grocery list so that I can replenish it next time I go shopping.
6. Write down what I eat, when and how I feel
1. This is the hardest for me. I did weight watchers for a long time and journaling what I ate was a nightmare. I usually gave up after a couple days. I did complete this though! I wrote down all my food and drinks and if I was feeling something out of the ordinary or noticed something about my eating habit at that moment I wrote it down. I see some patterns that I need to work on such as the choices I make when I have some drinks or how I tend to graze when I am at my parents house whether I am hungry or not.
7. take 5 minutes each day to just relax and focus on my breathing
1. This is a no brainer as well for me. Since I am single with no kids finding time for me is not a problem.

I am very happy with last week and especially for the fact that I did everything I was supposed to do and it didn’t seem like a chore at all. It was something that I just incorporated into my day and did. I actually lost 1.7 lbs this week! I am very happy with that. I know that losing slow and steady and making these changes with benefit me so much more in the long run than if I were losing fast and not in a healthy way. 

Here's to week 2!!

Buffalo Chicken Tacos!!!!

Last night I made my new recipe of the week. I found the recipe via Pinterest. If you haven't discovered Pinterest yet you are missing out. It is one the best sites I have used in a long time. Thanks to my sister Amber for directing me to it. It is a virtual "pin board" where you can find anything you need. Crafts, home decor, fitness, food and drinks and the list goes on and on. It also allows you to "pin" from the Internet to your virtual boards so you have everything you want to keep in one handy spot. I will tell you now that it is a huge time suck but I love it none the less. 

Anyway, back to the recipe. The original recipe is from Mrs. Regueiro's Plate and it is for buffalo chicken tacos. I invited my sister, her boyfriend and a friend of mine to eat with me. They were so good that there are no leftovers which makes me kinda sad. They are so easy though that I can make them pretty much whenever I want. Since I live in a very small town with only a few restaurants (Mexican food and pizza only) it is important for me to make stuff at home when those cravings for certain food kicks in. Buffalo wings are definitely a craving I get every once in a while. If you don't like the idea of eating these tasty nuggets in a taco they are fabulous on their own. They would be great for a party appetizer or Super Bowl. 

The picture does not do this dish justice. You will have to make it for yourself and see. I made a few adjustments from the original recipe to suit my preferences. The recipe below is the original one. For my version of this I used flour tortillas instead of corn. I didn't have lettuce or the diced onions and cilantro so instead I had some blue cheese crumbles that we sprinkled on top along with the avocado, ranch dressing (homemade by the way!) and green onions. Yum!

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut into 1 inch pieces
⅓ cup flour
3 tablespoon cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
⅓ cup buffalo wing sauce (Frank’s Buffalo Wing) , plus extra for garnishment
1 Tablespoon olive oil
10 6-inch yellow corn tortillas
Toppings:
Shredded butter Lettuce
Diced onions mixed with cilantro
Avocado slices
Ranch dressing
Green onions, sliced thinly

Preparation:

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

In a large bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, cayenne, and garlic powder. Season the chicken pieces with pepper, then dredge in the flour mixture.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the Dutch oven and once it gets hot, add chicken and cook on both sides – about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Once the chicken is done, set it aside in a bowl and toss with ⅓ cup buffalo wing sauce.

Assemble 10 tacos, dividing the toppings evenly among each taco.

Yield: 5 servings, 2 tacos each.

Enjoy! We sure did!

So it begins... week 1

Happy New Year! It is finally 2012 and so begins my journey!

Today I am officially starting my small changes and simple steps. Each week new things are added to the ones I am already doing from the week before and it is to establish these things as habit.  Since these are 2 different books that I am following some things may be similar or I am already doing it from a previous week in the other book.  Below are the action summaries-

Week 1 – January 1- January 6, 2012

1. Drink 8 cups of water every day.
2. Take a 20 minute walk three times a week. (While the weather is so cold I am going to substitute the walking for 20 minutes on my stationary bike.)
3. Clean out a drawer, cabinet or closet each week.
4. Start saving $1.00 a day
5. Stock my pantry with healthy foods
6. Write down what I eat, when and how I feel
7. take 5 minutes each day to just relax and focus on my breathing

  

Sounds easy enough! This past weekend I went to the store and stocked up on healthy pantry items. Made a menu for meals and stocked up on those items as well. Today I am also making one new item for dinner. Chicken Tortilla Soup in a crockpot. I will let you know how that goes….

*** 1/3/12   Made the Chicken Tortilla Soup last night. It was good not great but will probably not make it again so I won't bother posting the recipe. I am on a quest though to find one as good as my local Mexican food place. Once I do you will be the first to know.