Well, it has been a long time! Now that my Maddie is here along with the New year, it's time for me to get back to my Healthy Living. I stayed pretty healthy through my pregnancy but towards the end my sweet tooth was getting the best of me. Anyway, here I am ready to shed some pounds and get back to my "healthier" lifestyle. Hopefully this will hold me accountable like it did last year. My goal is to loose 15 pounds. I gained 35 during my pregnancy and lost the first 20 quickly, but these last 15 aren't dropping and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the crazy amounts of Christmas cookies I had...

So here we go... Wish me luck!

Here is a new recipe that Chris and I tried last night. It is soooo good!

Healthy Stuffed Peppers

6 bell peppers
1lb ground turkey
1 squash
1/4 of an onion
1 red pepper
1 cup of mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
1 can of pasta sauce (check the back for lowest calories)

Set oven to 350 and wrap bell peppers in foil and bake for 10-15 minutes. Set aside once done. Brown turkey and set aside. In a separate pan saute all chopped vegetables until soft. Drain turkey and mix in vegetables and pasta sauce.Fill peppers with the mix and top with a low fat mozzarella. Bake for 10-15 minutes and you're all done!!

224 calories per serving.

We actually just did two bell peppers and have the mix leftover so we are going to cook whole wheat pasta and use it as a meat sauce. But it you have a big family you could add go ahead and do the 6 peppers. We paired this with red bliss potatoes and a light caesar salad. The entire meal was 560 calories.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great Christmas with your family. Chris and I enjoyed ours very much! There were tons of laughs, food and football!

So for my last blog for this year I decided to share some of my favorite things. Hope you find it helpful and make sure to try some of these out!

These are a few of my favorite things..

Veggie Straws- These are a great substitute to French Fries. I eat these when we cook turkey burgers or when you only have time to throw together a quick sandwich. They are low in calories and a great snack!
Crystal Light Fiber- I have fallen in love with Crystal light drink packets. But especially with the fiber ones. It has a great flavor and making sure you have enough fiber in your diet is so important! But it's not always easy to know. Just drink 1-2 of these and you will notice a difference!
Greek Yogurt- I LOVE sour cream and love to cook with it- I now use this as a substitute and it's great! It is very similar in flavor and with a fraction of the calories. I also love the flavored kind as well. They make a great afternoon snack.
Fiber One Snack Bars- Sweet tooth anyone? This is the perfect snack for when you are craving a candy bar! It only has 90 calories and also packs in the fiber that your body needs. You can't go wrong with these..but remember...only have one!
Turkey Bacon- I am a sucker for bacon! What I love about turkey bacon is you can have two pieces and not feel bad about having them. The flavor to me is actually better than regular bacon. And it's only 70 calories for two pieces.
Egg Whites- First of all they are lower and calories and second of all...They are so much easier to cook. You just pour them into the pan and you are good to go!

Jillian Michael's Yoga 30 day shred video's- These videos are for all of you who say you don’t have time to work out… You have no excuse now. These videos are only 30 minutes long and have different levels. She has different videos out there as well. Pick one up and get ready to see results!!

Myfitnesspal.com- I can not stress enough on how much this website changed my life! If you are serious about losing weight you need to sign up for this now. It is completely free and completely worth it. This website and phone app will show you just how many calories you are really consuming. It is simple and easy to count your calories when you have an app like  this. I have lost 35 pounds and my family and friends around me have lost over 150 pounds. IT WORKS!

There are so many other "favorite things" but this is all I have for now....I will try and add more as I think of them.

With the New Year coming up start thinking of lifestyle changes you are going to make. I already have mine... I'm going to join a running club for 2012 and push myself to get back into my running routine that I loved so much. I wish you all a Happy & Healthy New Year!

-Heather

A Sweet Treat!

Like many of you... I am addicted to Pinterest! I love finding so many healthy and unhealthy recipes! I found one on there and did a little tweaking. It's not necessarily "healthy" but it is a low calorie sweet treat!

Spiced White Chocolate Chip Pastries

Reduced Fat Croissant Rolls
Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows
White Chocolate Chips

So Simple... Are you ready??


Separate the triangles and put 2 marshmallows in each croissant and about a teaspoon of the white chocolate chips. Roll the croissants up and stick them in the oven! (I made sure that the inside ingredients were wrapped up tightly so they wouldn't bake out as easily)  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes(Depending on oven)

I made one batch and left them in for a little too long so some of the inside mix baked out. The second batch I pulled out right in time for some mouth watering desserts! Chris loved these! They are about 120 calories per croissant. Not too bad! I had two and didn't feel guilty for consuming only 240 calories for a yummy dessert! You could also switch the ingredients around and try regular marshmallows with chocolate chips or the chocolate marshmallows with white chocolate chips.

These would be a great treat over Thanksgiving! Give it a try!!

Before and After



I



Chris and I celebrated our 1 year Wedding Anniversary last month. We went to OKC for the weekend and had such a great time reliving all of our wedding memories. When going through the pictures we were both in shock about how much has changed physically and mentally. We decided to do anniversary pictures because of the physical changes we have made. I thought I'd post some of our wedding and anniversary pictures! I can remember the feeling I had at the time of our wedding. When it came to my weight I wasn't satisfied. I did lose 20 pounds before the wedding, which was rewarding. But it still wasn't where I wanted to be. I truly thought that I'd be at 150 for the rest of my life. I didn't feel like my body would lose anymore. I would make excuses like... That's what happens when you get older or my thyroid must be off. I always gave an excuse and didn't hold myself responsible. It's nice to finally feel in control of my weight and know that I'm the ONLY one who can control my weight. It's a great feeling now! My thoughts on food and exercise aren't like they used to be either. I had a love hate relationship with them both. Now I can eat without constantly doubting my decisions and exercise has become something I enjoy and not a chore. Life has changed in great ways! I love seeing our transformation in these pictures! It keeps me motivated to continue on our new healthy lifestyle!

Here are a few of my favorite recipes! I have had people ask me what I cook for dinner so I'm going to be adding a few as I have time. I have a few recipes in some of my earlier blogs as well. If you have a dish that you love but it too high in calories let me know and I'll try and recreate it to be healthier! Hope you enjoy. Also, I rarely use measuring cups or spoons so some of the measurements are a guess! So make any adjustments that you like to suit your taste buds :)

Mushroom and Dijon Chicken

1  Chicken Breast(fillet for two pieces)

Half of an onion

Half of a red pepper

Half a carton of mushrooms

1 teaspoon of Mustard

Low calorie shredded cheese(pick the best they have at the store)

Place chicken on low heat in a cooking pan with no calorie cooking spray (yes, they have this in most grocery stores) I season with salt and pepper but feel free to change it up with any of your favorite seasonings. Chop the onion and red pepper. Place the pepper, onion and mushrooms in a separate pan with a tablespoon of the lowest calorie butter(I think mine is “promise” brand-check the labels on all butter and make the best pick) Let this sauté for about 5 minutes or until soft. Once chicken is cooked put a teaspoon of mustard or low cal honey mustard on the chicken and spread over the top. Then place the a scoop of the sauté mix on the chicken. Top with a tbsp of cheese. Place the top on the pan and let the cheese melt.

I pair this with red bliss potatoes and veggies. You can buy the Birdseye freezer kind or make your own. To make your own cut red bliss potatoes in quarters and put in a pot to boil. Once soft drain water and add garlic seasoning to taste and I can’t believe it’s not butter spray.

**The chicken is about 200 calories a piece.

Chicken Stroganoff(Also, tastes similar to a Marsala sauce)

1-Chicken Breast (Fillet the breast for two pieces)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

½ carton of mushrooms

½ red onion

1 tsp garlic

3-4  dash of hot sauce(I use Pete’s Hot Sauce)

1 tsp parsley

½ bag of wheat egg noodles or any kind of wheat pasta

Cook chicken until done.(season as you like)Once cooked remove from pan and set aside. In the same dish put 1 tsp of low cal butter and sauté the chopped onion mushroom and garlic. Once sautéed add the can of cream of mushroom, hot sauce and ½ cup of Greek yogurt. Mix together add ¼ cup of skim milk to thin out the sauce. Cut chicken into strips and place in the sauce. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Bring water to a boil and cook pasta per directions on box. Serve the chicken and sauce over your choice of pasta.

 We like to cook green beans as a side with this dish.

This makes around 4-5 servings

**This is around 300 calories a serving

Weight Watchers Taco Chili (Crock pot)

This is  a weight watchers recipe and is DELICIOUS!!

2 pieces of chicken

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of black beans

1 can of corn

1 can of tomato paste

1 can of tomatoes with diced chilies

1 onion

1 package of taco seasoning

Place all items except chicken into your Crock pot on low. Make sure to drain the corn and kidney beans. Mix together and place Chicken on top. Let this cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Once cooked take chicken out and shred. Place chicken back in a Crock pot and mix together.

This is the EASIEST dinner to make and tastes sooooo good! Only 200 calories a serving and there are 6 servings for this dish. This is a must try!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Tis' the season for this girl to eat every kind of pumpkin food there is!! This recipe is so easy, there is no way you can mess it up! It only has 3 ingredients and it's a healthy alternative. I originally found this recipe on a website and it called for 1 box of devils food cake mix and a can of pumpkin filling. You simply mix the two together and they are the most moist chocolate muffins ever! There is no pumpkin flavor at all. The pumpkin simply takes place of the oil and eggs. 

However, Candice inspired me when she told me she bought the Spice cake mix! I had to try it out. My other motivation for this recipe is my weakness for Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Muffins. They are soooo good and should be if they have more than 600 calories in them!! I was devastated when I found out this horrible news :( But I no longer have to crave those because these muffins only have 181 calories!! Try them out... I know you'll love them!!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins (181 calories)

1 Box of Spice Cake Mix
1 can of Pumpkin Filling
1/2 tsp of Pumpkin Spice

Set oven to 350. Mix ingredients together. You may feel the need to add water or milk, but you will not need it. The consistency is a little thick but it turns out perfect. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray or use cupcake liners. Scoop mixture evenly among 12 cupcakes. Bake for 20 minutes or until light brown. You can stick a toothpick or knife in them to see if they are done. If the toothpick comes out clean you are good to go!

When making the chocolate muffins mix the devils food cake mix and pumpkin filling and
cook the same way.

I did it!!!

Well last week I accomplished my goal...30 pounds lost since moving to Oklahoma! Whoo hooo!! (A total of 50 pounds since reaching my highest weight about two years ago) When I first started this blog I was a little nervous to share these goals because it showed my weakness...FOOD! But at the end of this journey I am proud of my accomplishments and not afraid to to tell people! I've gone from a size 10 to a size 4 and have gained so much knowledge on how to live a healthy lifestyle. Although I say the journey has ended, I know that this is only the beginning.

Don't forget...go check out www.myfitnesspal.com It's the main reason I was able to lose the weight!! It's a great tool to help you get started on your weight loss goals!