Wrap it in lettuce!

When I started trying to lose weight I tried the Paleo diet. A friend of mine loved it and had such great success I figured it would be perfect for me! I tried for like 3 weeks and gave up. I needed my carbs. However the diet did give me a few habits that have stuck, one of those being ditching the bun. I cut out carbs where I can, not because I think they are evil or because I am gluten free, but simply because they are loaded with extra calories I don't need. It is amazing how many calories you can cut by getting rid of a bun, a taco shell, bread etc. I serve all hamburgers in our home bunless. I got a little resistance from the kids at first but they are used to it now. Last night I wrapped them in lettuce to give the kids a "bun" and it worked pretty well.

A few weeks back I tested out Lettuce Tacos on my kids and they loved them! I was so shocked, but they totally eat them every time. No more corn shells at this house!
And you can make a totally amazing sandwich without bread. The average piece of bread is between 80-110 calories sometimes more. two pieces and you already have 200 calories in you lunch and it's just useless carbs, sugar that will make you feel moody and crash. ( I love bread despite these qualities, I still eat it, I just eat WAY less of it.)
So wrap your sandwich in lettuce. 0 calories and you snuck in a veggie :)

*Another tip, dressings and mayo add more unnecessary calories. Try switching them out for avocado. Healthy fat and helps make the burger/sandwich less dry. *

It's Your Choice

I have been thinking about this post for a little while now, and I think it is super important. Aside from our excuses, what really gets in the way of us losing weight? What keeps us from succeeding and reaching our goals?

It's that bullsh$@& story we keep telling ourselves. It's that idea that we have of who we are and what we can accomplish. We all have an idea of who we are. This can act as a road block moving forward. We get stuck in story that we have created. We have decided that we can't. We simply aren't that kind of person.

Prior to losing weight I had many attempts and fails. Each time I would tell myself I can't do this. I am not this person. I am not active, I am not a health nut. I had defined myself as lazy, unmotivated, incapable. I saw pictures of fit women and I thought "well they are clearly everything I am not."

The truth all along was that I had the power to choose. I was the one who built those walls that defined me and I had the power at any moment to tear them down. That's the greatest part! You have the power within yourself to wake up and decide to be different. You don't have to keep living that same old story. You can be someone new! It's amazing really when you think about it.

Every day is a new opportunity to stop telling yourself you can't and decide you are the kind of person who CAN. Think about who you want to be and why, and then simply decide to be it! We all have stumbling blocks and change is not perfect, it takes time, and you will have set backs. But you can keep reminding yourself that this is not who you are anymore.

If you lacked motivation you would not get up everyday and do what you had to do. You would not be mom, you would not cook, or clean, or help kids with school work. You would not meet friends, or read books, or take showers. Simply getting up every day and living requires motivation, so see you have that trait!! You are capable, you succeed at things every single day. You are worth it. You are amazing, you are kind, you are beautiful. You are the author of this story. It is YOUR life, you decide who you are and who you are not. You have the power over you.

Break the walls, shatter the misconceptions and redefine yourself. It's a new day :)

Trying New Foods

This week we are trying several new foods in an attempt to add more fruits and veggies to our diet and get rid of as many carbs as possible.

Monday night was Spaghetti with Zoodles (Zucchini noodles). Huge hit with my husband, my son tolerated them Lexie had to be force fed.... They will be a staple so hopefully the kids get used to it!

6-8 zucchini noodled
Spaghetti sauce of your choice
16 meatballs

That's it! Super easy.

*Image from Google Search*

The kids do love dessert but we are trying to establish healthier habits there as well. For dessert we had Greek God Vanilla Honey Yogurt with pecans. My son LOVED it, my daughter not so much... 

Tuesday morning I tried my hand at flour less banana pancakes. Hit with everyone except my little girl.

*Image from Eugines Kitchen* 

Tuesday evening 93/7 hamburger patties with cauliflower rice I love the cauliflower rice, seriously I may never eat regular rice again. I mixed in some butter and salt... delicious! 

*Image from Google Search*

Dessert apple slices with peanut butter and chocolate chips! We skipped the granola and nuts. 

*Image from Google search*

Wednesday Morning Tuesday night I prepare eggs in muffin tins for the week. It's can be challenging when we have to get up so early to make something healthy, so this preparation makes breakfast simple. Just bag them up and re heat in the morning. I added a 10 oz glass of Naked Green Machine smoothie. 

9 eggs

1 cup spinach

1/2 cup diced bell peppers

1/2 Turkey Sausage link

*Image from Google Search*

Wednesday  Turkey Burgers (no bun) with Cucumber salad

Tomatoes diced

Cucumbers diced

Light Italian Dressing

Fresh Parsley (optional) 

*Image from Google Search*

Thursday meatballs and broccoli 

Friday My husband and I usually go out. Last two Friday's we had ModMarket roasted chicken, rosemary sweet potato mash, and arugala salad. 

Do it for the "Damn you got hot!"

Looking back at old pictures... the transformation is pretty insane. It's taken years to get here, to find the dedication and the motivation. It also takes effort, hard work, and continued motivation to stay here, but it has been so worth it. If you know someone struggling with their weight, or someone making the journey to a healthier happier them that might appreciate the blog please share it! This is possible, you can do this. It won't happen over night, it will take sweat and maybe some tears (sometimes I still cry and whine), but you CAN do it.

2005- 2014

2008- 2014

Did I make it look fun?? I'm sorry.

I love sharing my journey on Instagram and Facebook. I love inspiring people, and motivating people to make changes, but sometimes I think I make it look like it's all fun and wonderful and I love my diet, I love working out, I love healthy living. While that may be somewhat, sometimes true, here is a glimpse into my actual thoughts on the whole thing...

A day in the life…

Wake up, shower, get kids ready, make lunches, make sure kids are getting ready. Make breakfast, eat breakfast yell at kids for watching TV and not eating breakfast. Think about how great this omelet would be with some cheese. Drink water, can't forget the water. Pack up lunches, blow dry hair, tell kids to get shoes on, brush teeth, make coffee. Tell kids again to get shoes on. Make sure everyone has everything: gym bag-check, lunches-check, backbacks-check, purse, cell phone-checkcheck. COFFEE! ok- check.

Drop kids off at summer camp, head to work. Work a little, think about food, what will I make for dinner, God I don't want to work out today…. I think I'm hungry already. Drink more water. I have to pee. Eat snack, yogurt and nuts delicious! Finish coffee, keep working. It's almost time for lunch, I need to go to the gym… I don't want to go the gym, I HAVE to go! UGH... I don't want to get sweaty and gross and have to shower. It's such a freaking hassle. Now I am hungry again. Eat first? No, workout first. Grudgingly head to the gym. I want a doughnut. 

The gym is packed, everyone is a body builder, I am literally the most out of shape person here, *sigh*.  Start work out, not feeling motivated AT ALL. Forcing myself to push harder, work out harder, stop being so lazy. Sweating my ass off, why on earth don't these people believe in A/C?? Seriously I didn't even know you could sweat from there… gross.

Done! Thank goodness. Head to the shower. Finish the shower, still sweating. Lovely, why did I shower again? Get dressed for work AGAIN. Still sweating. This sucks. Back to work blast the A/C in the car. At my desk STARVING! Salad time. Still hungry, should I eat my snack now or wait, I know I will be super hungry later… ugh so hungry. Decide to go for the snack. Drink water. I'm going to float away. Some cake would be so great right now. 

Fading fast at my desk, 2:30pm. Time for more coffee. Feeling hungry again. I hate this diet. I hate it I hate it I hate it! Why am I doing this again?? I want a donut, or maybe some cake. Someone brought cookies to the office.. why? Drink more water, maybe it will fill me up.

5:00pm thank God! I can eat dinner! Pick up kids, talk about their day, think about dinner. Get home start dinner, measure things out, eat YAY! Listen to kids complain about dinner again. Tell them to eat it anyway. Listen to more whining about dinner.

Ok I almost made it today. I have almost stuck to the diet. I can do this… I can do this. I wish we had ice cream. 

Play with kids, get kids ready for bed. Yell at kids to hurry up in the shower. Get your clothes on, do you even know how to dry yourself off? Why is there water all over the floor? Why is there water on the ceiling? Seriously guys towels… hang them up. Why do we have to go through this every time?? Stop playing around, why is there toothpaste on the floor? You only brushed for two seconds, brush again. Seriously kid watch where you are peeing! It is supposed to go in the toilet.

Bed time stories, kisses, goodnight. Food prep for the next day, cut, measure, bag. Think about food, I am hungry again. Cookies?

Lay down check Facebook, I am so hungry. Think about food, complain to my husband. Pout. I hate this diet. I want some french fries. Sleep

Wake up do it all again.... can I get some cake?


I share this not to discourage but to remind you that I am right there with you. Some days I love it I feel great I feel energized, I can totally do this, and then other days all I can think about is the food I don't get to eat and how badly I DO NOT want to work out. This blog is about a real person, a real mom, a real woman who has fought her weight her whole life. This is real life people. I am in the trenches with you. YOU can do it! If I can... you totally can.

Week One Complete

My first week on 21day fix is complete. (I did not follow the plan this weekend.) This morning I woke up two pounds heavier than I was at the beginning of the week last week. Pretty disappointing. Despite the fact that I did not follow the plan over the weekend I shouldn't have gained weight. That doesn't make any sense. I am trying to think back on all the things I have read to come up with an answer. It's not two true pounds because I certainly didn't eat 7,000 calories over my maintain range. Maybe it's water weight, maybe it's muscle... I don't know. But after busting my ass all week and being hungry and grumpy and hating almost every minute that two pounds is like a slap in the face.

I can't be on a plan that isn't sustainable. If I follow the plan all week to lose and then on the weekend eat to maintain but I gain... something isn't right. I can't live on this plan 24/7 for the rest of my life. I know I can't maintain that. At some point I have to stop eating at a deficit and eat normally to maintain and I shouldn't put it all back on.

Now I am not saying that this plan doesn't work. My husband is also on the plan and he lost 3lbs the first week. It is working for him. However he has more to lose than I do, this is a drastic eating change for him. Plus everybody's body is different and responds differently.

This is not a huge change for me. This is a slight variation. I love using the cups as a guide. It is so helpful to see what I should and shouldn't be eating, and how much. I love that it is helping my husband, and the workouts are killer, I love the challenge. I recommend the program. I do.

With that being said I am going to tweek it. The week prior to starting this I lost 6lbs on my own. I am going to mimic that week. This week I will use the cups as a portion guide, and the plan as a serving guide, but I will be sticking to that calorie intake and that workout plan and see if it works.

One of my biggest issues this last week was the dressing servings. I was eating probably two a day, one on my salad and one in the afternoon on my veggies. This plan dropped me to one a day so then I had to choose, which meant I actually was choosing other foods over veggies. Cooked vegetables I love, and will eat plain, but raw veggies, I just can't. I need ranch. Broccoli is no fun raw and plain.

So, goal this week, eat around 1600-1750 calories everyday, workout 20 minutes cardio, 20 minutes weights 5 days this week. To put it in perspective the 21 day fix plan had me eating 1400 calories a day and working out. I honestly think this was simply too little for me. I think eating a few hundred more every day is really going to help.

If you are on the 21 day fix, don't give up!! If you are seeing results keep going. If you are not just make adjustments. I am not quitting, I am simply making changes to fit my body and my needs.

Salad, your new best friend

My favorite salads

Berry Bacon Goat Cheese

2-4 slices of bacon
1-2 cups of mixed greens
1/4 cup of goat cheese
1/4 cup strawberries
1/4 cup blueberries
2 TBS sliced almonds
2 TBS light raspberry vinaigrette

Shrimp Avocado no salad Salad

1/2 cup salad shrimp

1/3 cup chopped orange bell pepper

1/3 cup cucumber diced

1/3 cup sliced baby tomatoes

1/4 cup avocado

2 TBS light Italian dressing

Beef Brisket Chipotle Salad

1/2 cup beef brisket

1-2 cups spinach

1/3 cup sliced mushrooms

1/3 cup baby tomatoes

2 TBS Chipotle Ranch dressing