To achieve your dreams remember your A,B,C's

This is something my grandma gave me years ago in a birthday card. It is hanging on my mirror so that I remember this great advice. 

(the ones in bold my Grandma had highlighted)

To achieve our dreams remember your A,B,C’s

Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits

Believe in yourself

Consider things from every angle

Don’t give up and don’t give in

Enjoy life today,  yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come

Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches

Give more than you planned to

Hang on to your dreams

Ignore those who try to discourage you

Just do it

Keep trying no matter how hard it seems, it will get easier

Love yourself first and for most

Make it happen

Never lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal

Open your eyes and see things as they really are

Practice makes perfect

Quitters never win and winner never quit

Rea, study and learn about everything important in your life

Stop procrastinating

Take control of your own destiny

Understand yourself in order to better understand other

Visualize it

Want it more than anything

Xcellerate your efforts

You are unique of all God’s creations, nothing can replace you

Zero in on your target and go for it. 

Here is my grandma last August at her 90th birthday. I love this lady!

Colorado!

Every once in a while I get tired of the same old thing day after day and want to move as far away for here as possible. I long for the excitement of city life and all the things there are to do and see that we don't have. Even though I want a bit more I have to admit that where I live now is one of the most beautiful places on earth and that I am very lucky to be able to live here. Below are some picture that my sister and I have taken that prove my point. 

This is my view on my drive to work. I wish I had one in the summer because it is truly breathtaking. 

View outside my back door (if you look over the houses. haha)

My sister took this. It is above Mancos. 

Above Mancos

Above Mancos

On Junction Creek road. Feels like the top of the world

Above Vallecito Lake. Those trees are remains of the fire several years ago. 

Red Mountain Pass- beginning of color changing

My friends ranch

at the ranch- One of my favorite pictures

Who could forget the snow! Yes that is my house behind all that snow.  

Hope you enjoyed these!!

Week 9

Week 9?!?! It has been 9 weeks already and I have to say that I feel so great! I am doing and trying new things all the time and I wake up each day with a little bit more energy and zest. I really can't wait for the spring and summer to do so much stuff. I want to go hiking, plant a veggie garden and clean up and fix my yard. I want to do a lot more than that but that is a good start. Here are the new steps for the week. Let me also say that I don't do everything on this list every week but I do the majority of them each week and switch some one week and do others the next week. The main point is doing something everyday to better my health.

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. 

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

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

19.  Add core exercises and crunches to my workout routine at least 3 times a week.

20.  Start reading the ingredient list on the back of food labels. Watch out for additives and sodium especially.

21. Eat slower, savoring the food and truly enjoying the meal.

22. start a gratitude journal or explore journaling in general.

23. limit processed food and go for whole grains and whole foods.

Here is what is going on for week 9.

24. eat fish at least 2 times a week. – This is gonna be hard. I like fish but trying to make it so that it is not bland will be a little difficult. I better get out my cookbooks.

25. Do not eat after 8 o’clock at night

26. Try some more challenging strength training moves.

Asparagus Fries

I'm trying to get out of a rut of eating the same foods the same way all the time. I have branched out this week and bought some veggies that I normally don't eat but I also bought some I love. Asparagus is one I love. I could eat it at least twice a week. It makes me sad when it is no longer in season but I try to eat as much as I can when it is in season. I found a recipe that looked really good and it satisfied my veggies that I need to eat with my love of fried food. Of course this is not fried and it doesn't need to be. It was delicious! Click here for the original recipe. I omitted the zest of lemon since all I had was bottled lemon juice and I also omitted the red pepper flakes. I actually forgot to put it in by mistake. Next time I will not forget. I bet it would be even that much better. I also did not make the Aioli sauce. I'm sure it is good but I just didn't want to add those extra calories on.

Asparagus Fries

• 1 bunch of asparagus, washed, ends trimmed 
• 1 egg (I used 1/4 cup of eggbeaters) 
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with baking spray. (I use stoneware to cook everything so I skipped lining the pan)
2. Combine egg, dijon and lemon juice in a shallow bowl, whisk together.
3. Combine breadcrumbs, salt & pepper in a dish and mix together.
4. Coat asparagus first in egg mixture and then in breadcrumb mixture. Line up on baking sheet.
5. Bake for 15 minutes until breadcrumbs have turned golden brown and asparagus still has some “bite” left to it.
6. Serve warm out of the oven.

They won't be completely coated in panko which is good because you will have more of the asparagus taste than just breading taste. You get a nice mix of both. 

Enjoy!

I killed it this week!!!!!

Let me start out by letting you know that I have moved my weigh in/recap day to Friday. I did this for a couple of reasons. The main one being that Monday seems to get bogged down with a lot of blog posts and I want to spread them throughout the week. The other reason is that weighing in on Friday allows me to have a little more relaxing weekend. I have spent the last several weekends worrying about what I'm eating, whether I exercised enough, etc, etc. in order to get a number on the scale that I want. I think it might be part of my issue for the last several weeks of not going anywhere with my weight. However it does not mean that I can just fall off the wagon and eat like a pig all weekend and not exercise because I have a whole week to work it off. I've done that in the past and it got me nowhere. I know that I need to continue my process on the weekends as well. It's just a more relaxed process. Sometimes I don't eat breakfast because I got up late or I don't eat 5 times a day. We will see how this works for me in the next couple weeks.

Now I am so happy to report that I lost a whopping 3.7 lbs this week!!!! I was so happy when I saw that this morning I almost cried. I have been really stepping up my cardio this week and obviously it has paid off. That makes my total loss so far 9.4 lbs! I have also adjusted my eating plan a little bit.

As you know I am training to run in the 5k in April. I have done that training twice this week. I also make sure that the days that I don't train I ride my bike. Sometimes this week I rode my bike and jogged in the same day. That is a first for me. :) Yesterday I was planning on jogging again but the wind and cold was so bad that I was having doubts. My friend Pam randomly texted me about the new Crossfit place in town and wondered if I wanted to try it. I decided at that moment that I would go check it out and if they had a class I would do that instead of my jogging. OMG it was an ass kicker! It was a really good workout. Probably the best I have had in a long time and my lungs were feeling it. I finished last in the class but the awesome thing was that I finished. I didn't give up.

As far as my diet is going I have replaced one snack with a whey protein drink and bought more variety of fruits and vegetables. I bought purple and orange cauliflower! I can't wait to make something awesome with that. I'm also switching from coffee to green tea. I don't put sugar in my coffee but I do use fat free half and half. I didn't really think it was so bad until I was checking out the calories. It is 20 calories for 1 tablespoon. Not a whole lot but I usually have 3 tablespoons a day. That is 60 calories a day which ends up being 420 calories a week! That is a lot of calories for something that I can easily replace with 0 calories. It's small changes like this that will help my diet and my body in the long run.

Let the training begin!

If you have been following this blog from the start you will know that one of my goals this year is to run (not walk) in a 5K. I haven't run since I was in junior high. Since I am now 38 that is a really really long time ago. I asked several friends if they knew of any to try. My friend Steve told me about one that is in April called the Cherry Creek Sneak. Steve is actually the one that inspired me to run in a race in the first place. Last year he started training and since then he has lost a lot of weight and run in many races. On Friday I signed up for this. It is April 29th in Denver. Steve and his wife Mary are going to do the race. My sister has signed up and I hope my friend Pam will join as well. I'm going to try to get others to join too. The more the merrier!

To start training for this I downloaded a couch to 5K training program for my iphone. On Saturday I did my first training. I am very proud to say that I jogged! The program is great. It starts out with several minutes of walking to warm up them switches from jogging to walking slowing building up to just running. It has a time clock on it and will prompt when to walk and when to jog. You can also program songs to play. I really enjoyed it. I jogged for the whole time I was supposed to and didn't stop even though my lungs were burning!

I haven't found a treadmill yet but now that the weather is getting nicer I think I will be able to train outside. I am still on the lookout for a treadmill but I am not going to let that stop me from training. I also bought some new running shoes and workout gear. I'm ready to go!

Week 8

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. 

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

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

19.  Add core exercises and crunches to my workout routine at least 3 times a week.

20.  Start reading the ingredient list on the back of food labels. Watch out for additives and sodium especially.

New steps for week 8 –

21. Eat slower, savoring the food and truly enjoying the meal.

22. start a gratitude journal or explore journaling in general.

23. limit processed food and go for whole grains and whole foods.

  

Does the number on the scale matter?

I'm really starting to get discouraged with my weight loss or as it happens, the lack of weight loss. I have been losing and gaining the same pound for the last 3 weeks. I'm not sure what is going on. I think what I need to do is focus a little more on my eating plan. I thought that I have been eating well and have been watching my portions. I do have at least one meal a week that is not too good but I would think that wouldn't affect my weight like this. Maybe it is. When I make something at home I always swap out the full fat/high calorie items for lower fat/calorie items and I have been doing some sort of exercise every day. I'm not sure what it is but I will fix it! I will check out some websites for some foods that boost weight loss or some new menu ideas.  I have read numerous articles about not fixating on the number but how I feel and how my clothes feel. I do feel great and my clothes are fitting better. It is just really hard when that number is not moving. It is something I can see that the work I am doing is making progress. I also think I need a little more patience. I keep saying this but it's true- it didn't get put on in a hurry and it won't come off in a hurry. Does anyone have any ideas for me???

Pizza Lasagna

I had some pizza toppings left over and decided to make something a little different. I thought about making lasagna cups but decided in the end to make a flat lasagna. I didn’t have any ricotta cheese so I decided to experiment using some greek yogurt that I had. Any toppings would be great in this. Below is what I had on hand.

Pizza Lasagna

8 whole wheat lasagna noodles

½ cup greek yogurt

2 cups low fat mozzarella cheese + ¼ cup additional for top of lasagna

¼ cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 small jar pizza sauce

1 shallot- sliced thin

1 can mushrooms (can use fresh but canned was all I had)

Turkey pepperoni

Sundried tomatoes- cut into bite sized bits

Preheat oven to 375

Cook the noodles until they are al dente. Strain and let cool. In a small bowl mix the yogurt, Italian seasonings, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The consistency will be sort of a paste texture. In a small deep dish baker (mine was about 8") or small pan spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom then add a single layer of lasagna noodles. I cut the noodles in half to fit better in my baker. Add some more sauce, a third of the cheese mixture and a third of the toppings. The cheese might be a little hard to spread with a spoon. I just used my hands to break little pieces and sprinkle over the sauce. Continue the noodle, cheese, sauce and toppings in three layers. Once all the layers are done sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup cheese on top and put in oven. Cook until cheese is melted and lasagna is cooked through. I cooked it for about 30 minutes.

I was able to get 6 servings out of this. They are small servings but they will freeze well and I plan on eating them with a fresh salad or veggies for lunches.

This is the first layer

All the layers just going into the oven

The finished product

one serving (this is a teacup plate just to get an idea of size. They are small portions) - I cut each serving out and put in a  plastic container and froze them. This way I have dinner or lunch when I don't have time to cook

Something new to motivate you...

Today while I was looking at pintrest I found a pin for a website that sends out daily email challenges for you to do. I thought that was such a great idea so I signed up. You can invite your Facebook friends so you can experience changes together and you get points and awards and some other little things. I'm not much into the points and such as much as the idea of having my friends involved with me.  "The Daily Challenge is a social well-being experience that gives you the opportunity to positively impact your life every day by doing simple daily challenges and sharing the experience with your personal connections" -(per the daily challenge website) The website can be found here.Today's challenge was to write down a personal mantra or motto and put it up in a visible spot. This is what I wrote-

Keep up the good work! You can do it! You can do anything you put your mind to!


I'm excited for this since it is just something small and easy that I can do each day. I like that they come by email and if you haven't marked "done" once you have completed the task they send you a reminder email later in the day. Just another small thing to help make a difference in my lifestyle!

Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki

Since my experiment to try a new recipe each week, this is the best I have made yet. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and also added steamed broccoli and green beans as well. Next time I make this I will also add more veggies just to amp it up even more. I got 6 servings out of this recipe and served it on rice.
Here is the link for the original recipe. Below is how I made it.

CROCK POT TERIYAKI CHICKEN

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 1/2 teaspoons cold water
1-2 lbs steamed vegetables
Hot cooked long grain rice

Place chicken in a 4 qt. slow cooker.  In a large bowl, combine the sugar, soy sauce, cider vinegar, ginger, garlic and pepper.  Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender.  Remove chicken and shred or cut into bite sizes pieces. Transfer to a serving platter and keep warm.  Skim fat from cooking liquid.  Place liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Combine cornstarch and water until smooth.  Gradually stir into liquid and stir until sauce is thickened. In the meantime, steam the veggies until tender. Once the sauce is thickened, toss in the chicken and the veggies and stir until everything is coated.  Serve with and rice and top with sesame seeds.

This is when I decided to add the veggies. There seemed to be too much sauce. 

Here it is with just broccoli. I added the green beans when I ate it for another meal. 

Finished product. Doesn't it look yummy?!?!

Enjoy!!

Week 7 and week 6 recap

Well another week has passed and I really didn’t want to blog today. I am disappointed to say that I gained half a pound. This past week was my birthday and I celebrated for 2 days. I didn’t work out and I didn’t pay any attention to my diet. I’m trying not to beat myself up about it. I need to figure out how to enjoy these moments in life with moderation and not use them as an excuse to just eat and drink whatever is put in front of my face. I have good intentions going into the events but they all fly out the window. I’ve always used food and drink as a social outlet. Trying to erase these past habits is really one the hardest things for me to do. I need to just remember to take each day as it comes. Don’t beat myself up and do better the next time. Sometimes that is a lot easier said than done.

Here are the new steps for week 7 that I will be adding to what I am already doing. The full list is in a previous post. 

-          Add core exercises and crunches to my workout routine at least 3 times a week.

-          Start reading the ingredient list on the back of food labels. Watch out for additives and sodium especially.

Week 6 (and week 5 RECAP)

Week 5 was really a hard week for me. For some reason I started to get a little depressed on Monday and it lasted for a couple days.  I really had no reason to be depressed that I could think of but I didn't let it stop me from doing my workouts. I had also decided to take some time off from work. It has been about a year and a half since I took more than one extra day off so it was a much needed break. Looking back it was probably needing this time off that was making me depressed. Anyway, I didn't go anywhere I just decided to have a staycation. It was awesome. Snowdown was happening so I packed up some clothes and went to stay at my parents house and partake in some of the festivities. During this time (Thursday to Monday) I didn't follow my regime and got off track. I ate and drank whatever I wanted and didn't do my daily bike rides or exercises. Luckily I did walk around quite a bit on Friday and did some heavy cleaning on Monday so I did get some movement in. Needless to say last week was bust. I didn't gain and I didn't lose. I guess that is a positive thing. I am back on track now and ready to start kicking ass again.
I am noticing small changes to my body and the way my clothes are fitting. Yay!

Week 6 - 
This week I am not going to be adding any new steps. This is for two reasons. One reason is that I didn't do any of the steps from week 5 and the other reason is that the new steps in my books are ones that I have already been doing. I am noticing as the weeks progress the steps in one book will be ones that I am doing from the other book. This week also marks the half way point for my 12 week program.
Here is a recap of the steps so far. I think I will print out several copies and keep them all over my house so that they are always on my mind and I don't forget to do something.

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. 

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. 

It was really hard to get on here and tell you that I didn't do good last week and that I didn't do the things I was supposed to do. That is the great thing about this blog, the accountability. 

Baked Southwestern Eggrolls with Avocado dip

I didn't count my roasting veggies as my new recipe of the week. That would be pretty lame even for me. This week I decided to make something new for Super Bowl. Baked Southwestern eggrolls with avocado dip. They were really delicious and since they were baked a lot healthier than fried. I used the wonton wrappers for this since the Super Bowl is kind of a food grazing activity. It was a lot easier to eat than big eggrolls. When I was done making them there was some filling left which I thought that if heated in the oven would we a good dip on its own. For the avocado dip I didn't have buttermilk so I just used fat free half and half. Its only 3 tablespoons and I didn't think it made that big of a difference. It was still good. Next time I just might use only Greek yogurt and no mayo.
Here is the link for the original recipe.

Enjoy!

Roasting Vegetables

Sorry this is late getting posted but I took 5 days off (more on that later) and I don't have Internet at home. I am working towards getting it so my posts will be more frequent.
For a while now on Pinterest and Foodgawker I have seen a lot of posts about roasting veggies instead of steaming or sauteing them. I really haven't roasted anything except potatoes so I thought I would give it a try. I can not believe how delicious they turn out! The flavor that roasting brings out is something you can't get with spices. The week I roasted green beans and baby portabello mushrooms that I covered in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then I did some peppers and onions only in olive oil. Both times I did this I only used about 1.5 tablespoons of oil but you could probably do less. I don't know how much of the veggies I had but it filled a gallon size plastic bag. I got two veggie servings out of each roasting.

Put the veggies, oil and vinegar in a gallon zip
lock bag

Mix it all together so its all well covered

spread out on a baking sheet making sure not to crowd the pan

I don't know how long I cooked them. Just watch them. I may have cooked them a little long but they were nice and crispy!

I sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on them when they were done. 

Enjoy!