What Kind of Adventures Are You Headed on This Summer?

Well here we are one of the most exciting times of the year: SUM SUM SUM SUMMER TIME!!! The time when cookouts and time spent with family and friends abound! Vacations and staycations are on the calendars! This summer for me is a little... OK a LOT slower for me than last summer! Last summer was 6 straight weeks on the road!This summer...not so much travel. Traveling can be a hazard to your eating habits! There are the infamous fast food stops because a sit down place takes up to much time and we just have to get there like yesterday! Can I challenge to you make wise choices in your stops along the way? A couple of our favorite places to stop on our journeys are Chick Fil A and Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel always has a WIDE variety of choices and plenty of veggies to choose from. Chick Fil A offers a great grilled chicken sandwich and a wonderful fresh fruit option for your side instead of fries (although..I do splurge at times and get the fries) When you make stops at rest areas make sure you give your body a break as well as your bladder! Take a little bit of time and walk around. There are times that we will "race" back to the car with the kids. It gives your body a little bit of movement after riding for so long in the car! Make sure that the hotels that you are staying in have a pool and a fitness room! The pool is a great way to get some wonderful low impact exercise in!! I love to get in the pool and do water walking, swim some laps. If you happen to have a noodle...those are great to do crunches with and a wide variety of exercises with. Every summer the girls in my family go on a vacation together. When we arrive at our condo, there are a few of us that will look and see if the complex that we are staying at has a water aerobics group. We have at times been the youngest ones there...but really enjoy getting our exercise in!!! This year, I plan on taking my exercise DVD's, hand weights, and yoga mat with me and exercise first thing in the mornings. Make sure to get your water in as well! That will help keep you hydrated! Do your best to get some exercise in and make wise choices with your food so that you can either maintain or surprise yourself and loose weight on vacation! Just remember...it is OK to splurge every so often while on vacation...but not EVERY meal EVERY day! Have a wonderful summer...Take care of yourself..because you are the only you there is! Keep on keeping on!

Routine Maintenance Along the Way!

Every one knows (or at least I hope that everyone knows) when driving a vehicle, you have to perform routine maintenance on your vehicle to make sure that it is running in proper order! The same goes for your body as well! That means going and having regularly scheduled checkups/physicals etc. Well I have started the annual checkups and have heard that all of the lifestyle changes that I am making are really making a difference! Recently I went for my yearly vision test. I told my eye doctor that my newer glasses just hadn't been working right and that I could see better out of glasses that were a few years old. She ran all of the tests and was excited to tell me that my vision had improved! That is something that NEVER happens with me! My eyesight has progressively gotten worse over the years to where we were going to have to consider bi-focal lenses soon. I wasn't too happy about that thought. So I was able to go back to a prescription from like 3-4 years ago which was amazing to me! Today I went for my annual mammogram. One of the ladies in the room asked if there had been any changes in my weight in the last year. The other lady in the room, Susan, smiled when I said yes. Because Susan has seen a majority of my transformation to getting healthy because she has been assisting with my mammograms the last three years. I was able to talk with them about how much better I'm feeling and how much weight that I had lost etc. It was the most enjoyable visit (if a mammogram can be enjoyable :o) )that I had! As I was leaving, the lady told me that I was truly an inspiration to her and that I was just an inspiration. That was hard for me to hear because this was the Breast Cancer Center and I see people there that are battling breast cancer every time that I am there. She then told me to keep on going and continue to keep getting healthy! No matter if you are just thinking about trying to get healthy or you have been, like me, on this journey for several years, make sure that you are having regular doctor visits. That is a huge indicator and such an exciting thing to see as numbers that were once border line high or high dropping down into the normal ranges! Make sure you are taking care of yourself! You are the only you there is and this world would be lonely without you! Keep on keeping on!

Delicious Oreo Cheesecake

OK...so now I have a working computer...makes like a little easier!!! For meals sometimes, I like to encourage my children to take part in helping plan and prepare what we will be eating. My middle son (14) LOVES to cook and help in the kitchen was very eager to jump on the Easter dinner bandwagon!! He wanted to make the dessert!! So this is the recipe that he used. He had gotten this recipe from a fellow student at his school doing a "How To" speech in English. I did ask him ways that he could modify the ingredients to make it a bit more healthy! So he was up for the challenge!!!

2 cups Cool-Whip Free
1 package of Jell-0 Oreo pudding mix
1 bar of fat free cream cheese
2 cups of skim milk
12 individual graham cracker mini tart pans

Mix cool whip and cream cheese in a blender. Add whole box of pudding and milk to the blender. Blend ingredients in blender until desired look. Pour mixture in to pie crusts. Place in refrigerator for at least an hour.

For those that are doing Weight Watchers= 5 points plus

Enjoy!!!!

What makes you want to keep going?

What makes you want to keep going when you want to stop? This question was asked to me this Friday by my Weight Watcher leader Vicki. I had hit another milestone along this journey: 70 pounds gone!!

I had to think about it...because everyone else's question that had a weight loss was "What is your favorite snack?" I could answer that question easy!!! But I have several....celery with laughing cow cheese, apples and peanut butter, apples and laughing cow cheese and celery with peanut butter....to name a few!

My answer: Because I finally realized I'm worth it! And if I don't take care of me...there won't be a me to take care of. Over the years I have and will always be my children's biggest cheerleader! Now they are becoming mine! I am now stepping out of my comfort zone and no longer hiding behind the weight and doing things I thought I would NEVER do!! Like train for a 1/2 marathon in November!!!

Then the thoughts kept coming through out Friday and today! What has kept me from giving up when there have been several times that I have wanted to throw in the towel?

Family medical history: diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer etc...I don't want to be another one from my family added to that list! I want to be healthy!

I also want to accomplish a big goal and get back to normal "Healthy" weight for me!

I want to be here on this earth living a productive life enjoying it with my amazing family and friends that God has so richly blessed me with for as long as God allows me to be. I don't want to cut that short because I want to load up on all kinds of junk because I like it. Don't get me wrong...I still eat some sweets but nearly not as much as I used to.


I have also gotten out of my comfort zone and started doing things that I haven't done in YEARS!! I now go ice skating with Hope! I love it and it is a fun way to get some exercise in and quite a few laughs!!!

I have now started jogging more..not running...but jogging and really enjoying it!

I have more energy throughout the day..but I also know when I'm done and yes..some days...I am getting ready to go to sleep at 8:30 at night! But it truly does help!

I catch myself fussing at myself on the treadmill when I really want to stop...but I say..(sometimes out loud if I'm home alone) it is not time to stop...you keep going because you are going to finish this! You didn't start out to quit!!! Now finish up! Maybe I watch too much Biggest Loser or something!! LOL..But I don't have the swear words in there...I might make myself cry if I did!

So if you are wanting to make those changes in your life...don't wait until tomorrow...which is another blog for another time...but it is late and I need my sleep...because all good athletes need their rest...and yes....even though I still have a way to go in my weight loss journey...I am still an athlete!!!

So good night, get your rest, drink your water and get to moving!!!

A Sweet Spot Along the Way!!

Found a wonderful list full of a variety of cupcakes!!!

The main ingredient: Angel Food Cake!!!!

1 box (1 step) angel food cake

Mix the angel food cake mix and desired flavor ingredients together and beat by hand until blended. Pour into a greased cupcake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Lemon: 1 cup plus 3 Tablespoons water, 2 Tablespoons lemon juice and 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

Orange Citrus: 1 cup water, 1/4 cup orange juice and 2 teaspoons grated orange peel

Cherry: 1 (20 ounce) can light cherry pie filling

Black Forest: 1 (20 ounce can light cherry pie filling and 1/2 cup cocoa.

Cotton Candy: 1 (3.4 ounce) box sugar free flavored gelatin, any flavor, and 1 1/4 cup water.

Margarita: 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime rind.

Pineapple: 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice.

Pina Colada: 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, 1 tablespoon coconut extract and (1 tablespoon rum extract, if desired)

Pumpkin: 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin, 3/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice.

Spice Cake: 1 1/4 cups water, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.



If you are doing Weight Watchers:
Serving size 12
WW Points 3 (that means you can have 2 cupcakes!)

We have only tried the Cotton Candy ones...but are excited to try more!!!

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Here is the new recipe that we tried for dinner today!!!! My son said that it was a keeper!!

I found it on the website: www.skinnytaste.com That is an awesome website to find great healthy recipes!!!

Enjoy!

1 onion, chopped
1 16 oz can black beans
1 16 oz can kidney beans
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package frozen corn kernels
2 14.5 oz cans of rotel tomatoes
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
24 oz skinless chicken breasts
chili peppers chopped (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in . Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream. The cheese and sour cream will change the Calorie counts

Serving size: 1 1/4 cups Calories: 203.7 Fat: 1.4g Carbs: 33.3 g Fiber 10.0 g Protein 16.9 g Weight Watchers Points Plus: 5

Evaluating The Progress Along The Way!

So here we are 10 days into the new year!!! How is it going so far? Have you already fallen off the resolution wagon? Are you on target with the goals that you have set for yourself?

One goal that I have for the year is to not get into a food rut! When food gets boring, I tend to look to not so healthy choices for myself. So I have started looking for different websites that are healthy options!!! One that I really like so far and have found some really good recipes on is www.skinnytaste.com

They have a lot of recipes to choose from. We haven't found a bad one yet that we have tried! We have several coming up the next several days and weeks to come that we are going to try.

How's the exercise going? Try your best to move at least 15 minutes a day. The more you do that you will be able to increase your time exercising and in my own experience I have noticed that I have more energy! Even if it is walking in place during commercials you will almost get 15 minutes during a 30 minute show on television! I have also noticed that by the time bed time rolls around I am not wanting to stay up and piddle around on the computer or watch TV. My body tells me it is time to call it a day...if it is 8:30 or 10:00.

One thing to remember is that you have to have a plan!!! As Sir Winston Churchill said "He who fails to plan is planning to fail." Get a plan a follow through! Let 2012 be the year of change for the better!!!

Keep on keeping on!!!