American Potato salad

1. 2 lbs potatoes chopped, cooked and cooled
2. 2 lg hard boiled eggs
3. 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
4. 1/2 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
5. 1/2 c fat free mayo
6. 1 1/2 tsp splenda
7. 3 tbl sweet relish
8. 1/2 tsp salt
9. 1/2 tsp pepper
10. 1/2 c chopped celery
11. 1/3 c chopped red onion

In a large bowl mash one egg yolk with vinegar till smooth. Then add yogurt and mayo and mix chop the other egg and throw in the rest and coat potatoes . Refrigerate over night

serves 8 3/4 cup servings at 2 points each!

Bacon Potato salad

1. 1 1/2 lbs chopped and cooked red potatoes with peel
2. 3 slices cooked and crumbled turkey bacon
3. 1/4 cup low fat mayo
4. 2 tb red wine vinegar
5. 2 tb parsley chopped
6. 1/2 tsp salt
7. 1/2 tsp pepper
8. 1/2 c scallions chopped

Toss together and refridgrate over night! serves 4 3/4 cup servings at 4 points each!

It's not about being THIN or SKINNY!

It really bugs me when people say how does it feel to be getting skinny or thin. Or doesn't skinny feel better than anything! How about how does it feel to be healthy? I want to be healthy not skinny! Skinny often isn't healthy. I want to feel good and I don't want to fit in someone elses mold they feel fits for me. I'm happy making good life choices and being active! I am happy that if I want a certain food I can have it. I'm happy in my life. If being thinner comes with good health than fine but I'm going the healthy route. The active route. There are many skinny unhealthy people in this world with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. I choose not to be one of those. So eating healthy and exercise is my way of fighting heart disease and diabetes and all those others.

enjoy the moment you're in and take time for yourself

A lot of mothers and others often only look forward to the future. We say stuff like oh when I'm thinner or when my kids are older or when we make more money. We tend to never just sit and relax and enjoy the present. Sure we may not be to our ultimate goal but part of our goal is to be happy in life. We as parents always put our children first and yes this is a good thing to some extent, but when do we get to enjoy? It's not selfish to take time for yourself. We need it! Do something each day to better yourself as a person and that you like. Plan certain times you are going to do that and don't let others take that time from you. When kids are hassling you during that time you say , " Lets talk about that at this time and set a certain time." That way they no your not ignoring their needs and will get to them. Let them know that at this time its mom or dads time and you will be happy to help or do or talk about whatever it is they are needing. Once you set those boundaries eventually they will know and leave you alone during this time. You can even do this with friends and spouses. It will be strange to them and sort of a struggle at first because they are not use to you doing this, but its important to do this for yourself. Also like your self now! Stop looking to the future find a out fit or something that makes you feel attractive at what ever weight you are now! Feeling good about yourself helps you to be more positive and treat your self better. Yes you may not want to be the size or weight you're at but you are working on it and that is something to feel good about. Give your self praise! Every week look for a positive thing you did that is going to help you towards your weight loss goal! One week I did pretty badly I didn't track my food intake and I missed a lot of work outs and I even indulged on more than one of those days. But I can say hey I worked out this week! Which is a improvement to where I was 2 years ago so Yay Me! I want to leave this Quote with you its my new favorite quote! Being overweight is HARD! Losing weight is HARD! Maintaining your weight is HARD! Pick your HARD.

Grilled Havarti and avacado sandwhiches

1. 2 tsp healthy balance butter made from olive oil
2. 8 slices french bread 1/4th inch thick
3. 2 -4 tb apricot perserves, to taste
4. 4 ounces harvarti cheese sliced
5. 1 large avacado sliced

1. Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat. butter four bread slices on one side only. Grill with butterd side down first. On clean side of all bread put perserves to taste on then layer harvarti and avacado and top with other peice and butter out side and grill until cheese is melted.

307 cal 4 fiber 19 grams healthy fat!

really yummy 8 points

Affermations

This may sound silly but honestly has helped me with traing my thoughts and thinking positive. If you listen to your minds inner dialog what is it saying? Are you constantly beating your self up? Maybe not even about weight loss maybe its about your parenting or your job. Stop and really listen to the things you say to your self. Now ask your self would you say these things to some one you loved? Would you tell them they are fat and ugly or are terrible parents or why would you eat that. Would you call them stupid. Would you tell them they were failures for having fries instead of a side salad? Most likely no you wouldn't. If your loved one was on a diet and slipped up you would immediately say its OK and start again keep going. so why is it that we tell ourselves these horrible things? We need to love ourselves. This part I feel has been probably the hardest part of my weight loss journey. Its human nature to turn towards the negative . So you have to make a conscious decision to change your minds eye of yourself. This is much easier said than done, but it can be done and after awhile it gets easier. So about a year ago I wrote on strips of papers what I wanted to be or how I wanted to view my self and i posted them on my bathroom mirror. They say stuff like, " You have a strong healthy body", "You can do it," " You are beautiful," " You are ready for today's work out," " one day at a time," " You feel great." Those are just some of them. I have some inspiring quotes as well. While this maybe cheesy to you it can do wonders on the way you view yourself. Then start to recognize when you are self bashing and quickly start the positive self talk. When I started running I noticed all my negative thoughts. I would run and immediately start to think this is hard and I'm in pain and I cant do this. That's when i really recognized it so I started talking back in my head. I would say I am strong. I can do this. I can run all day. Those thoughts made me keep running where as before i would give up because I was telling my self you can't. Again would you tell your child when they are doing something challenging they can't? No, you say you can your awesome. So start treating yourself the same way you treat the others you love. Because YOU CAN YOU ARE AWESOME!

So you want to be a runner?

My whole life I have never really enjoyed running but I have always wanted to be good at it. It seems so empowering! So Healthy! I wanted to be a runner. I ran alot while I was dating in college. Then I got engaged and all I wanted to do was be with him so there was no time for running lol. My wonderful fiance would bring me great meals like Wendy's and McDonald's everyday! Take me out to eat to Outback and have those famous Cheese fries with bacon dipped in ranch mmmm lol, but what he didn't know was that he would never gain a pound and I would gain some for him and me. What a sweety he was taking care of me making sure I ate. In fact in college my daily routine was a root beer for breakfast and a bake potato for lunch with BBQ sauce or ranch and I depended on going out on dates for dinner. It worked pretty well. Needless to say there were a lot of guys getting led on while i was just depending on them for a meal. I know very mean but I was young and stupid and I didn't want to waste my money of food. I had plenty of other things to spend it on like clothes! So I quit running and didn't really start running again until now. I walked off and on and did exercise videos but I was not a runner.
I started running at the gym of and on walking and running. I felt like I was probably going to keel over and die. In fact I would stop myself thinking my heart would literally explode if I kept running. I have a goal I want to run one marathon in my life. My sister Rachel let me in on this book that helped me and now I can run. I am a runner! So here's what you do if you to want to become a runner!

week one: walk at a moderate pace (17 -20 min/ mile) for 30 min 3 times a week
week two: walk at moderate pace (17-20 min/ mile) for 30 min 4 times a week
week three: Fast walking pace (13 - 16 min/ mile) for 30 min 3 times a week
week four: fast waling pace (13- 16 min/ mile) for 45 min 4 times a week
week five: Jog for 5 min and then walk 5 min at fast pace. repeat 2times 3 days
a week total time 30 min.
week six: Jog for 10 min and then walk 5 min fast pace. repeat once. 3days a
week. total time 30 min.
week seven: Jog for 15 min and then walk at a fast pace 5 min. repeat once. 4 days
a week. total time 40 min.
week eight: Jog 20 min then walk at fast pace 5 min. repeat once. 4 days a week.
total time 50 min.
week nine: Jog 25 min and walk at a fast pace 5 min. 4 days a week total time 30 min
week ten: Jog 30 min. 4 days a week total time 30 min.

Now you are moving and you can work on your pace! This is what helped me. This information was courtesy of the non runners marathon trainer. Happy running!

Grilled Ginger Chicken with Pineapple and Coconut Rice

1. 1 can 20 oz pineapple rings in juice


2. 2/3 c uncooked white rice


3. 1/2c unsweetened coconut (found in health food stores)


4. 4 boneless skinless chicken breast (1 lb)


5. 1 Tbl soy sauce


6. 1 tsp ground ginger

First drain juice from pineapple into measuring cup. Reserve 2 tbl of juice in another bowl. Then combined the remaining pineapple juice with enough water to equal 2 cups. Place rice and coconut in medium sauce pan and heat stirring until golden brown or lightly toasted. Add the water and juice mix to rice and bring to boil. Cover and let cook on low for about 15 min or until all liquid is absorbed. While rice is cooking combined the chicken , reserved juice, soy sauce and ginger in a bowl and toss well. Then grill or broil till chicken is cooked and place pineapple rings on grill. Then serve over the coconut rice.

I got this recipe from weight watchers. I added a Tbl of terriakye sauce and I used fresh ginger and grated about a teaspoon into the sauce. It was a big hit! My husband loved it and he is a picky picky eater! Its only 6 points and its really yummy! Serves 4

Excuses

We all have them. They help us to rationalize what we are doing to our bodies to make it easier to digest why we give up on ourselves. We all have reasons . I would say I gain weight easier than others. I have to work out harder than other people in order to lose weight or maintain. My hormones make me gain weight easily. I'm to tired or I'm tired all the time. Now I say SO WHAT!
Why all these reasons and excuses may be true and this may be the hand you were dealt. Your skinny friend maybe able to eat a whole large pizza and never gain a pound while you on the other hand might just look at it and gain two. The thing is what do you do with the hand you were dealt? Do you quickly fold or do you play the game? When you choose to play the game you learn ,you have fun , and you enjoy life. When you fold you sit on the sidelines watching others play being bored, beating up yourself, being unhappy and not living. So I choose to play.

100 reasons

In the beginning it can be very challenging to keep motivated. You have to decide where you want to go and what you want to achieve. In vision a happy you doing something that makes you happy. What do you look like? What are you wearing? Who are you with? What are you doing? Now keep that vision and decide what you have to do in order to get there. My weight watchers leader gave me some advice. She told me to write down 100 reasons I wanted to lose weight. The first 20 were easy. I wanted to look good but after that I had to really dig deep. It took me a while to find a hundred but I found them. Keep that list of reasons and break it out when you feel less motivated or get comfortable where you are if you are not at your goal. I look at those from time to time and say that's right I want this and it gives me a little extra umph to get through. Also having a support system is important. I'm not say go out and join weight watchers although I fully support weight watchers in what it has done for me but I am saying have some one you trust you can share your challenges with. Someone who wont judge you and understands. Some one you feel comfortable telling how much you weigh to and if you gain or lose. When you are accountable you tend to think twice about eating something you shouldn't. Being accountable does not mean your support person needs to make you feel badly about it. This person should never make you feel bad about your choices they are only there to be your support. They should know you will most likely beat yourself up over it and do not need anyone else doing so. I do hope you will not beat your self up over the choices you make but we all do. You will eventually learn to move on. I say yep I ate that but I'm either going to work out extra today or I'm just going to let it go and start back on track immediately. Not tomorrow or next week but immediately. Your support person should be your cheerleader when things go right and your shoulder when things go wrong. I know from personal experience that when I don't have a source of accountability and support I don't do well.

Have a great day and do one thing each day you can be proud of whether it be part of your weight loss goals or just in life.

A Beautiful Life

Love yourself.

Make peace with who you are

And where you are

At this moment in time.

Listen to your heart.

If you can't hear what it's saying

In this noisy world,

Make time for yourself.

Enjoy your own company.

Let your mind wander among the stars.

Try.

Take chances.

Make mistakes.

Life can be messy

and confusing at times.

But it's also full of surprises.

The next rock in your path

Might be a stepping-stone.

Be happy.

When you don't have what you want,

Want what you have.

Make do.

That's a well-kept secret of contentment.

There aren't any shortcuts to tomorrow.

You have to make your own way.

To know where you're going

Is only part of it.

You need to know where you've been, too.

And if you ever get lost, don't worry.

The people who love you will find you.

Count on it.

Life isn't days and years.

It's what you do with the time

And with all the goodness and grace

That's inside you.

Make a beautiful life.....

The kind of life you deserve.

A few tips that have helped me!

First off you need to have some sort of food journal whether it be the weight watchers one or a piece of paper and pin. Keep track of every thing you put in your mouth even water. This will let you know exactly what you are putting in your body! I would sometimes find myself thinking I have done this for a while now I can tally this in my mind. I often end up making catastrophic errors and it always shows on the scale when I don't journal my food intake. Second measure your portions. Sometimes I eyeball it and usually find out I ate a extra 1/2 portion. The portions tend to creep up on you again.
Second get moving you burn twice as many calories standing as you do sitting. So if you don't have a regular routine just make small goals. I don't recommend going out and working out four 2 to 4 hours your first day exercising. You wont be able to maintain that for long and the minute you don't follow through with that you will feel failure and want to give up. So make small goals that you can easily obtain and help build your confidence in yourself. Then you can bump those goals up a notch slowly. Never set your self up to fail. By saying in going to lose 4 pounds this week if you lose 3.5 you did not reach your goal even though that's a great number will still make you feel less happy with your self but if you say I'm going to walk 15 min every day for 5 days and then lose 3.5 you will be happy. Also never reward yourself with food. You are changing your lifestyle so there is no reason not to fit in a favorite food every once in a while. All you need to do is plan.
Planning is the key to success in all aspects of life. Plan a certain time you are going to work out. plan meals out plan ahead and have guilt free snacks in your car for when you are starving and on the road and passing a McDonald's. Plan what you are going to eat before you get to the restaurant to meet a friend that way you wont be tempted to just order the bacon burger with fries. Many restaurants have nutrition facts on there websites visit there before you leave the house.
Find ways to make your favorite food healthier like using fat free cheese or fat free cream of chicken soup.

chicken pesto with whole wheat pasta

So I made a twist on the original pesto sauce we are used to. To make it less fatty so the main thing is i used less olive oil and more flavor!

1. 12 0z whole wheat pasta cooked



2. 2 boneless skinless chicken breast cubed and cooked



3. 3/4 c parmsean cheese



4. 2 cups packed basil leaves



5. 3 tbl pine nuts



6. 2 tbl olive oil



7. 2 cloves garlic crushed



8. 1/4 tsp salt



9. 2 tbl water

In a food processor combined basil, oil, pine nuts, garlic, salt, water and blend. Then add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and puree. Toss with noodles and chicken over low heat top with remaing parmsean cheese and serve

serves 6 and is 7 points and is 366 calories 12 g fat 3 sat fat 5 g fiber 25 protien

even my kids loved this Thats what we had for dinner tonight!

mexican potatoe soup

1. 1 large bakeing potatoe peeled and cubed
2. 2 c fat free half and half
3. 1 cup corn kernels
4. 1/2 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
5. 2tsp minced jalapeno seeded and deveined
6. 1/2 cup water 1tsp chillie poweder
7. 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
8. 1 cup fresh chopped cilantro
9. salt and pepper to taste
10. tabasco to taste

In medium saucepan combine all ingredients except cilantro. simmer covers until potatoes are done about 15 to 20 min and cilantro and serve.

This is 3 points a 1 cup serving serves four

Park city stew

1. 1 pound lean beef stew meat
2. 5 med potatoes cubed
3. 5 carrots sliced
4. 1 bay leaf
5. 1 pkg dry onion soup mix (lipton)
6. 1 can cream of celery soup
7. 1 can cream of mushroom soup
8. 2 cans 8 oz of tomatoe soup

Combined in crock pot. Cook on low for 6 -8 hours or 4 to 5 on high stir occaionally

7 points serves six has 380 cal 5 grams fiber 7 fat

Crock pot chicken salsa

1. 4 boneless skinless chicken breast about 2 pounds
2. 1/2 pkg chicken taco seasoning
3. 1 c pace salsa
4. 1/4 c fat free sour cream
5. 1 can black beans

Spray crock pot with pam add chicken and seasoning top with sour cream and then salsa. layer in order. cook on low for 6 hrs shred with fork and serve over brown rice or chips or make a salad or burrito.

5 points a serving and it serves 6 if you leave out black beans its only 2 points a serving. I never wrote down the calories while cooking so I will have to do that the next time I make this.

Caribbean Taco Salad

1. 1 20 oz package Jennie O ground turkey extra lean
2. 1 pkg taco seasoning
3. 2 tbl water
4. 1 c mangos, chopped
5. 3/4 c chopped red bell pepper
6. 3 tbl chopped green onion
7. 3 tbl chopped cilantro
8. 1 tsp greated lime peel
9. 2 c spinach leaves

Taco shell

4 ( 8 to 10 inch) whole wheat

tortillas

1 tsp olive

Preheat oven to 425

Brush both sides of olive oil on tortilla shell and place on custard bowls and bake for 4 to 6 min or until golden brown.

Brown turkey add taco seasoning and water cook over low heat for 3 to 5 min.

In bowl stir together mango, red pepper, green onion, cilantro and lime.

put meat in shell and top with mango mix and enjoy.

This servers four people and is 6 points a serving. It has 305 calories 4 grams fat 37 grams protien 34 carbs and 9 grams fiber. I cant remeber where I got this recipe but I think I got it from the trainer Bob on the biggest loser during a show! But its really tasty!

Thin Crust whole wheat Pizza dough!

1. 
   
   2/3 c warm water


2. 
   
   2 tbl honey


3. 
   
   2 packets fast acting dry yeast


4. 
   
   2 1/2 c whole wheat flour


5. 
   
   4 tbl ground flax seeds


6. 
   
   1 tsp salt


7. 
   
   1 tbl cornmeal


8. 
   
   non-stick cooking spray

This make 2 thin crust's

Mix water, honey and dry yeast let sit for 5 to 10 min while you prepare flour. In seprate bowl mix flax seed, 2 cups of flour and salt. Then add the flour mix to the yeast mix using a spoon till it forms a ball. Then use hands and knead on a floured surface ( using remaining flour) for about 2 min. Spray a bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in oven loosely coverd with a cup of hot water. Let rise for 20 to 30 min. Seperate into 2 equal halfs and roll using dusted rolling pin thin sprinkle cornmeal on dough and flip dough on to pizza pan with cornmeal facing side down. Strech dough on to pan. I dough gets holes pinch them back together. Top with your favorite topping and bake.

Bake at 375 for 10 -15 min

I like to use fat free cheese like the weight watchers cheese. I also us the heart healthy traditional prego for the sauce or barbacue or a light ranch. Also some of our family favorite toppings are turkey pepperoni( though my husband thinks its the real pepperoni) Canadian bacon and pineapple of course and my favorite chicken, artichokes, mushrooms ,bell peppers and sundried tomatoes. This dough makes about 8 slices on each pizza and the serving size for the dough its self is 2 slices at 195 calories a slice 4 grams of fat and 6 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protien which make that 3 point per dough serving. Or if you use fat free cheese and any of the topping combos I have listed 2 points a slice give or take a point depending on how heavy you top them!

Hope you enjoy this is one of my kids favorite!

"The beginning of a life long Journey"

First off I want to start off saying thank you to my friends and family who have been very supportive. Also a special thanks to Jeannie Warner who has been on me to start this blog. I love you Jeannie and thanks for being such a great friend to me. My weight has gone up and down my entire life but I was never really over weight till after my first child. God bless the mothers a endless thankless job most of the time . I did the typical firt time mommy thing stayed in sweats most of the time and was lucky to get a chance to even get a shower in. I focused on making sure my baby looked cute and was well taken care of. Which is a good thing but there needs to be balance in all things. I got depressed off in on and I struggled with self loathing most my life never likeing what I saw in the mirror and not listening to people when they complimented me. I would often say thank you and laugh and some how put my self down. I remeber my mother telling me I was beautiful at a very younge age and saying what ever you have to say that your my mother. Sad thing is I truely believed that. So how does some one who basically hates them selves and treats them self that way get freed of that self hatred and retrain themselves to think more positively? It takes one small step at a time! It does not happen over night! I know you have heard this before but its true THERE IS NO MAGIC PILL and if you dont change the way you think you will most likely fail at every atempted of weightloss! I dont say that to sound mean its just the facts. Believe me I am one of those people who have tried numerous diets and lost some and gained more back. I was not motivated when I started this in January 2008. In fact I had told my self I had to lose 10 pounds before joining weight watchers because I was to humiliated to get on the scale. Which is funny to me you have to lose weight before joining weight watchers? In December 2007 I had reached a all time high and avoided going to family functions I didnt want to let people see me. I cried almost on a daily basis for a few weeks and then decided to go to a lap band seminar. I felt this was my last hope. I even told my husband I hope your ok with this because I will probably never lose wieght and will always be fat. In my head I was a failure. Some people made comments and even a some family about my weight which would send me into a spiriling downward depression where all I wanted to do was run to the fridge and cry and pitty myself. I kept telling myself how much I hated me how much I was disgusted with myself. Believe me I didnt need anyone to point out my weight I did it every day.
Even in highschool when I was not fat I would tell myself I was. I had hated myself for many years. I look back at pictures and laught and think gee I thought I was fat and ugly man I wish I could have enjoyed life more. There was even a point when I refused to get on a plane and visit family because I was afraid the stewartess would have to give me a extender. I kept saying I wanted to go to disneyland or a theme park but really didnt because I was scared they would tell me sorry you are to big you cant ride this ride or the safety restraints wouldnt fit. So here I was paralysed by my weight not living life and hating myself but I woke up on January 8th 2008 and threw clothes on and told my husband Im going to weight watchers. I didnt really want to go in fact I was not even motivated that it would work this time. I just thought I'll go and maybe something will change and maybe the motivation would come. I was so nervous that morning i remember even being tempted to turn around and forget about it. I kept saying you dont have to be embarrased you can just go home no one will ever even know. But for some reason I didnt. I went in to sign up and I was so scared. When the ladies there looked at me I thought for sure they are judging me. Thats what I had trained myself to think. I thought anyone who looked at me was looking at how fat I was but agian I pushed through got on the scale to see I was even heavier then I thought. Agian I started to self hate. I took the books they gave me and just followed the plan. I was kind of like a robot just doing the motions never really getting excited. the first week came I had only lost 2 pounds while thinner girls were losing 4 or 5 or even 7 pounds. The self pitty hit agian. I pushed through and did the motions another week again 1.5 pounds. I thought what on earth this stinks. Did it another week and 2 pounds again. This week i was not upset I decided it didnt matter I was going down and thats ok. I continued to go down and there were weeks that I didnt lose anything or even gained but I would quickly push out the negative thought and say its ok im on my way. I dont care how long it takes me anymore Im doing this for my health and me and thats all that matters. I have through the power of affirmations retrianed my brain to see more positively and this is a challenge I face everyday. The minute I can't comes in my brain I have a war with my thoughts and say oh yes I can and im strong and I can do it! So my posts are going to be about the struggles I have faced the ones I still face and how to get through them . I will also post my favorite recipes and new ones I make up. So for those of you embarking on a weight loss journey of your own just know YOU CAN DO THIS! I know you can I have and am still doing it. We fall we get back up and thats ok!