Starting the Day Off Right

For me, breakfast is essential.  If I don't eat enough protein I know I'm going to be a goner all day.  A breakfast full of carbs and I know without a doubt I will eat too much all day because it sets me up for increased hunger and an insatiable appetite.

So I started the day off right with egg whites scrambled with chopped broccoli and diced green pepper and zucchini and added some lean turkey sausage.  Super yummy and full of protein and veggies.

What's your favorite way to start the day?

Another Lunch

A lot of the same things I had for lunch yesterday, but I used a different lunch container to make it feel different.  I also swapped the tangerine from yesterday for mini heart shaped jello jigglers (sugar free of course) and I swapped the coleslaw from yesterday for mini kebabs with turkey pepperoni and jalapeno green olives.

Keeping food fun and exciting definitely makes eating healthy all the more enjoyable! :)

Leftover Easter Bento and Getting Back on Track

I've posted several times about my struggles to get back on track.  i have to say 20 pounds above where I started and I'm humbled by my inability to just get back on track which is often times easier said than done.  I'm working on small steps though and trying not to beat myself up.

My first step today (after exersizing this mormnng) was making a Bento style lunch for myself.  Taking extra time and care to prepare something for myself makes me enjoy my food more and feel better about what I eat but the last few months I've gotten out of the habit of doing it often from laziness, a desire to eat junk and stress.  But I'm starting fresh today.

So, I made myself a delicious Bento lunch with fresh fruit and Easter leftovers (ham from dinner, eggs we used to dye and leftover coleslaw from dinner).  i also added a small jalapeno olive just to round it out. :) 

Starting the Day off Right :)

My fresh selection of fruits and vegetables I juiced today.  Trying to start the day off right. :)

17 Day Diet FAIL

I am here to admit it.  1 1/2 days in The 17 Day Diet and I failed...or something like it.

The reason was not because of my will power but because the diet wasnt for me.  I dont usually fall for fad diets so I wanted to believe this wasnt one.  I wanted to lose weight quickly and got caught up.  But what I realized after trying to follow the diet and wanting to eat my own arm was that the diet isnt magic.  What its doing after adding up calories is putting you on a diet of less than 1000 calories.  I was starving and rebelled by eating half a cake the next day.  Thats on me of course, but the reality is those types of diets dont work.

So here I am, humbly returning to my normal way or healthful eating and admitting that the slow and steady way is the right way.

The 17 Day Diet

Drastic Times Call For Drastic Measures.

Yesterday I started day one of  The 17 Day Diet.  I'm not usually one for so called "fad diets", but the logic behind this makes a lot of sense.  The first 17 days are fairly restrictive in terms of carbs, but its all about detoxing which is great if you're carb sensitive like me.  It also specifies when to eat certain carbs which I'd never given much thought to but is pretty interesting in terms of metabolism and digestion and the way our body processes carbs and sugars. 

I'm only on day 2 but so far so good so we'll see.

And in honor of being completely honest with myself, here are my before photos.  Extra motivation to keep me sticking to my new eating plan in hopes of having after photos to compare them with.  I'm not happy with the way I look right now or the 20 something pounds I've let myself gain the last few months but the past is the past and all I can do is try to keep moving forward. 

Current Weight: 194.75 lbs (ouch thats bad)
Goal Weight: 160

Time to lose weight: 3 1/2 months (before my wedding!)

Product Review: Corazonas Oatmeal Squares

I will be the first to admit I'm a bar addict.  I adore all things that resemble cookies or bars, protein bars, granola bars, etc...  I will also be the first to admit that those types of products are NOT all created equal.  I've had more than my fair share of bland and tasteless bars.

But when I tried the Corazonas Oatmeal Squares I knew I just had to share.  They come in a variety of flavors including chocolate brownie & almonds, chocolate chip, cranberry flax, banana walnut and peanut butter.  I was lucky enough to try all the flavors at costco recently and have to say they were all incredibly delicious.

My top favorites are the cranberry flax and the chocolate chip, though it was definitely hard to pick favorites.  They're reminiscent of a very dense chewy cookie but not too sweet.  They're also quite substantial in size for the calories and would make a great meal replacement pared with some fruit or protein or even just a quick snack.

The nutritional stats vary slightly but just to give you an idea they all have under 200 calories, 5-6 grams of both protein and fiber and a bunch of vitamins and minerals to get you off to a great start.  They boast 0.8 grams of plant sterols to help lower bad cholesterol, no high fructose corn syrup, low in sodium, all natural and contain 13 grams of whole grains.

If you love oatmeal, granola bars, oatmeal cookies or anything similar then these are an absolutely must!

Swamp Juice!

So I've definitely still been waering and struggling and as much as I've always loved fruits and vegetables my taste buds are still too accustomed to refined sugar and carbs from the last few months.  So I decided to start today off with some Swamp Juice!

Ok its not really swamp juice but it sure looked like it. :)

I made fresh juice with my juicer using pear, apple, cucumber, pineapple, spinach and carrot.  It taste much better than it looks, I promise.