Falling Off the Dieting Wagon...Not Me....

No, I didn't fall off the dieting wagon yesterday - I jumped! Not only did I jump, but I ran around a bit this morning before crawling back on. And, boy, it was delicious and easy!

My parents and I took a trip to OKC yesterday for a laptop to replace my defunct one. Well, what was intended to be a morning errand turned happily into a site-seeing trip around the city that took all day. The only problem with this was that I had only been well behaved enough to pack my meals and snacks for the morning. I managed to get a stop at a grocery store for a 100 calorie snack, but by the time 3 PM came around I was ready for the my meal...except I didn't remember what I was supposed to be eating. By the time we made it back home, I had missed one meal and it was time for the next one. That was just too much!

Taco Bueno and I were destined for a date. I didn't eat all of my Mucho Nachos and I added guacamole (which is green so it must be healthy, right?) but it filled me up for both missed meals. I even decided against my nighttime snack. Surely, it all evened out right?

I'm pretty excited! Tomorrow is weigh in day and since I forgot to check on my measurements last time, I will record those as well. The only thing that will disappoint me this week is if I have gained weight. Since I was within 25 pounds of my target weight, the book said that I might not lose any weight or at the most maybe 5 pounds. I am kinda thinking this was the practice week in that case.

Not only is it about time to weigh in, but next week I get lasagna AND spaghetti with meatballs. Though I got more solid meals this week, those sound much better than plain veggies and chicken.

Do you have any great low cal/fat veggie recipes (with great flavor)? Please post them here! I need new ideas for veggies.

Bumps in the Road (Week 1: Day 5)

Anyone that has had an infant, I'm sure, can relate - feedings every couple hours make scheduling the rest of you daily life insane! How exactly do I make it to the gym for a 45 minute workout when between gathering and eating the food leaves a much shorter time between meals and snacks. Plus, I have this aversion to vomiting on the gym equipment the food I last ate. I feel like I am constantly stuffing food in! Half the time I am not eating as much as it suggests, but I try to eat something to keep me on track.

Can't believe I am saying this, but I am actually kind of looking forward to next week where I remove a "solid" meal for another smoothie style meal. It will mean less prep and is something that can be eaten on the go much easier.

Motivation is still there though! I got out my spring/summer clothes with the hope that the 70°F weather was around to stay. It was painful to realize that out of the clothing I have in 4 different sizes that I have worn recently, the biggest ones are very snug and will be horribly uncomfortable if my waist, thigh, and hip sizes increase any more. Ugh!

Good news: Not really feeling hungry or deprived (and excited about my grilled cheese breakfast tomorrow!!)

Bad news: I feel like to do this right I need to be confined to my apartment for the next 5 weeks. Oh, and I am drinking so much water and other liquids that I am pretty sure that I have the consistency of a water balloon!

*Extra note: I am hoping to replace the defunct laptop soon which will improve the quality of my posts.

2 Days Conquered...Well, Sort Of...

So I got up a little later than I, and apparently Dr. Smith, planned which caused a shift in my meal schedule. I spent all day trying to compensate for the missed time. Not so easy. I made very good choices about not eating the Taco Bell offered to me though so I think today was a success.

I also didn't manage to get to the gym, but surely helping Mom's friend move counts, right? Yeah, probably not, but I will make it tomorrow! Promise!

Oh, and though I didn't get the name changed, trust me - it's on its way! Just didn't work on the computer today.

42 Days to a Trimmer Me?

So my pants have teamed up against me and have turned into part boa constrictors! It is very much like the poem by Shel Silverstein where he describes being eaten by a boa constrictor and not liking it very much. They make it up to my thighs and then really sink their teeth (disguised as buttons and zippers) into my waist.
Ok, ok, so maybe it really is that I have gotten a little lax on what I am eating and how much I am exercising. I have tried to get back into going to the gym, but my recliner has an amazing grip on me!
Well, I am ready to tame the wild beasts battling against me! I am trying the Shred Revolutionary Diet by Dr. Ian Smith. The promise emblazoned the front of the book states that following the plan outlined in the book will enable me to lose 4 inches and 2 sizes. I anticipate that perhaps that 4 inches is around my waist which is perfect, but I don't know that I read any clarification on that. As long as the 4 inches doesn't come from my height...I don't think I could go back to not being able to reach items on the top shelf at the grocery store again.
So today was day one. I followed the meal plan pretty well, only missing a snack. Is it horrible that I missed 100 calories of sweetness. I am guessing that was an ok maneuver, especially since I got my doses of veggies and fruits covered. We had prepped the food for this week yesterday, which was a great so that I didn't have to do all the prep work before each meal! The food was good and stuff I would eat more often if it was ready!
I also went to Planet Fitness to begin my workout routine. I recorded my weight and even took "before" pictures. Feeling pretty good, but tired for the day. The tired could also be attributed to the other laborious work during the day.
I appreciate any and all encouragement in this endeavor. I am going to do my best to keep you updated on my progress.

Chipotle Poppers

I don't know about you, but I used to think that crescent rolls were designed for breakfast, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Oh, and who could forget the infamous crescent dogs?

I have since learned differently! They are great for making all sorts of snacks and appetizers! One of my new discoveries was Chipotle Poppers. I modified a jalapeño poppers recipe that I had found on Pinterest to fit the ingredients I had on hand. 

I had just finished my apple chili creation when I discovered that I had extra chipotle puree that was just begging to be put in a dish. Up until that point in time, I had planned on actually making the jalapeño poppers exactly as they were described. Now an idea brewed in my head. Why not swap out the jalapeño for chipotle? What a great idea, I thought to myself! (Note that I said "thought" not "said" - don't want to seem crazy.) And was I right! GREAT idea!

Here is the recipe so you can see for yourself. (I plan on making these again soon so you'll get a picture too.)

Ingredients:

1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce pureed in the food processor

1 can of crescent rolls (Honestly, you may want to get two or three. You'll have enough sauce.)

1 package of cream cheese

1 package of microwavable bacon cooked until crisp (Optional, but delicious!)

Steps for yumminess:

1. Puree chipotle peppers in food processor and cook bacon until crisp if you have not already done these steps.

2. After unrolling the crescent roll, cut each crescent in half.

3. Place a piece of cream cheese, a small spoonful of puree, and an inch size piece of bacon on each piece of crescent.

4. Seal the crescent dough around the other ingredients to seal in the goodness.

5. Now, bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes. - OR - Use my new love, the NuWave Oven. I use it in combination with, well, any cooking apparatus that is oven safe and fits, but one of my favorites is the now retired small pizza stone from Pampered Chef. I found that their small bar pan would work now. When used in combination, it only takes 8 to 10 minutes to cook. Best part is that the NuWave doesn't require any heat up time so I'm pretty sure it is a more energy efficient substitute.

The friends that taste-tested them all seemed to think they were as fabulous as I did. Try them for yourself and then tell me what you think!

Spicy Apple Chili

So, when I talked about this with friends, I got to see all sorts of expressions on their faces! Most people have a really have a hard time envisioning chili and apples in the same meal, let alone in the same bite. But I had found a recipe by Rachael Ray, and I wanted to give it a try.

Let me tell you what I learned:
1. I can only follow a recipe so far and then I become a "chef" (or so I seem to believe), adding a little something here, changing up a little something there.
2. Convincing people to taste apple chili can be challenging.
3. Getting the chili back after they have tasted it is even harder.
4.  Maybe I am not so bad at this "chef" thing.
Well, as you probably have gathered, I only used the recipe as a guideline and then I started out on my own.  Quite a few people wanted the recipe and with the weather as cold as it is, it is the perfect time to make this!

Spicy Apple Chili
Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (or you can make it with turkey)
1 can of spinach drained
1 can of canary beans drained
1 can of fire roasted Tex-Mex tomatoes
1 Tbsp of tomato paste
1 Tbsp chipotle in adobo paste (Take a can of chipotle in adobo sauce and puree it in a food processor for this ingredient. You can freeze the rest to use later or use some now for delicious Chipotle Poppers that I will talk about in the next edition!)
1 to 1 1/2 apples chopped (I used Fuji apples.)
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of apple cider (give or take)
1 Tbsp EVOO
Here you have to play it by taste:
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Cumin
Smoked Sea Salt

And the complicated part:
Add all of these ingredients to a 5 quart or so slow cooker, mix it up, and let it do it's magic for about 8 hours. Top with shredded cheese of your choosing, pepita or sunflower seeds, and most importantly some fresh chopped apple. It is awesome!

Introducing You to Me

Hello! Like quite a few single gals these days, I am having to make sure my money is stretching for all it is worth. One of my biggest budget-busters is eating out or grabbing drive through on the way home from work. I love using dinner time as a time to catch up with friends, too! Unfortunately, all of these mean money disappearing quickly. I decided if I was going to follow Dave Ramsey's $0 budgeting and still have money to do anything else in the month, then I was going to have to cut back on food expenses.

Most people reading this probably assume that I might need to reassign some of that money to a gym membership if all I am doing is eating, but though I could use a few extra workouts, it isn't that I am overindulging in food. It really has been that I am allowing poor planning, exhaustion, and quite honestly fear prevent me from saving money in this area.

To get things moving in the right direction, I first set up my budget like everyone should do and then I stared at it thinking how hungry and bored I was going to be all month. After I got my wits about me again, I started figuring out how I could survive. Then I met Pinterest and I was in love! if you don't have an account, let me know and I will send you entrance into the wonderful addiction. I started repinning recipes and tips on home repairs. I could see that if I wasn't careful, it was going to be like so many things on the web where people end up getting overwhelmed and many items never get any follow up. Between trying to stick to my budget and these new recipes and DIY ideas, I had to start trying the tips. However, I couldn't help but put my own flair into the recipes and tips that I tried.

All this to say, here I am going to share my flair with you.

Have a good evening and a great Thanksgiving!