A Hard Habit to Break

I threw a mini child tantrum this evening when I broke out the tape measure and decided to take my measurements. They were obviously not as good as I thought that they were going to be ;-) But then my husband reminded me that "damn it Cindy, don't give up! It's not worth all of the hard work that you have been doing just because you are disappointed in numbers." Of course he's right but don't tell him that. So, I started reading from a great website online. It's for people who struggle with addictions, any addictions. The site gives AMAZING information on how to deal with life's ups and downs. The website is www.smartrecovery.org After re-reading some great articles, I am reminded that habits are hard to break and that it takes time to actually break them. I have heard for many years that it takes 14 or 21 days to break a habit. I believe that it takes closer to a year. Changing habits takes a lot of practice. If it was so easy, there would be less overweight people, alcoholics, drug addicts, and so on. In all honesty, to change a habit you have to force yourself to act differently than you feel.

3 miles and counting

Whew! I finally completed a 3 mile run/jog (can't fully call it a run since I did jog at a pace of 4.3 mph for about 12 minutes). But hey, I did it! I can remember being jealous of people in high school, ok it started in middle school, who could run. Why didn't I just think about training so that I could be able to run. Oh, that's right I was too busy smoking cigarettes and not running. Even last year when I went out to the Tobacco Trail I would see people running and I wish that I could do that. So when I began exercising in August 2011, I did a light run and was proud of myself to make it through a Britney Spears song. Yes, I said Britney. But I wasn't consistent and kind of gave up on running and went to the elliptical. A friend of mine introduced me to the couch to 5k app. It started out slow and has increased over the weeks. I have been stuck on week 7, 25 minutes of running. Yesterday however I decided to just try it after reading a blog about a young lady who weighed 349 lbs and was doing the couch to 5k and lost a bit of weight. She said that she was stuck on week 7 as well but she did a 5k anyways in 59 minutes. I HAD to try and I accomplished. It felt GREAT to do something that I didn't think that I could ever do.

Healthy Amish Friendship Bread

Because I am eating less calories, regular Amish friendship bread was not cutting it. I had started the starter with the children in my class and decided as I was filling my bag with sugar to just cut the sugar in half. It's not as sweet but I think it's DELICIOUS!

Recipe for starter:

1 package of yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup 1% or skim milk

Mix warm water and yeast together in a plastic or glass bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Cover loosely and let sit on counter. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. DO NOT USE ANY METAL. Let sit for 5 days.

On the 5th day add 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup 1% or skim milk, 1/2 cup sugar. Stir with a wooden or plastic spoon. And let sit for 5 more days.


On 10th day add 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup 1% or skim milk, 1/2 cup sugar. Stir with a wooden or plastic spoon.

Take 3 1 cup servings out and place them into a bowl or a zip lock baggie. Give "friends" this batter.

Use the remaining batter (1 cup) and add the following ingredients and mix well.
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk
3 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla

In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 - (3.5 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

If you want you can always double or triple this recipe and only give the batter to 1 or 2 people :-)

Sweet and Sour Chicken With Brown Rice

I MISS Chinese food. I LOVE it all, especially buffets but I know that eating it will only cause me to gain weight. I haven't ate Chinese food in over 6 months and I needed something new to do with chicken tenders. It was delicious and filling.

Ingredients


1.5 lbs. chicken tenders
1 yellow onion
1/2 bag frozen sugar snap peas
1 bag fresh shredded carrots
1 jar Kikoman sweet and sour sauce
1tbs. sesame oil
1 packet stir fry seasoning
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 bags of boil in bag brown rice


Directions

Add 1 tbs. of sesame oil to large skillet and place on medium-high heat. Cut chicken into bite sized chunks and place in skillet. Cook for 6 minutes. Add sugar snap peas, onion, carrots, 2 tbs. soy sauce, and stir fry seasoning. Cover and simmer on medium for 20 minutes. Boil bags of rice according to directions on box. After the chicken and vegetables have simmered add bottle of sweet and sour sauce. Let simmer for another 5 minutes. Place rice on plate and top with sweet and sour chicken. YUM!

5 Servings
Calories: 400 per cup (includes 1 cup of rice)

Healthy Egg, Bacon, and Cheese Fritatta

We have 3 dozen eggs and I HAD to use some up so I decided to make a healthy version of the fritatta. Now you can mix this recipe up and add veggies, different breakfast meats, steak, or whatever your heart desires. I LOVE bacon so I used bacon!

Ingredients

2 whole eggs
8 egg whites
8 slices of center cut bacon (or whatever you want to put in it)
1/2 cup of 2% cheese (any kind) but I used Mexican 4 cheese
Pam (or store brand oil spray)

Directions

Break whole eggs into bowl. Separate egg whites from yolk and add to bowl and whisk together. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add eggs into a round or square baking dish. Cook bacon and crumble into eggs. Add 1/2 cup cheese to mixture.  Place in oven and cook for 35 minutes. ENJOY. I like to add salsa to mine.

Makes 2 large servings

Calories: 320
Fat: 16.6g

Weigh In Week 1 FPG Weight Loss Challenge

Whew, what a week! I worked hard at the gym and stayed close to my daily calorie intake of 1183. I got on that scale this morning and was very disappointed when I GAINED .9 lbs! But, I reminded myself that it didn't take 5 months to put all of this weight on and that patience and practice are key in losing weight. Then when I found out that some of the ladies in the challenge lost close to 10 lbs in one week, that got to me. In the entire 5 months that I have been changing old habits, I NEVER lost that much weight in one week. I felt lousy :-( But again, I am reminding myself of what a great job I am doing by the amount of weight I have lost already and hopefully I inspire people to change their eating habits too.

Chicken, Rice, Kidney Bean, and Corn Scramble

I just made this tonight because I had no idea what I was going to make with chicken breasts. I was happy to have these ingredients in the house. (I LOVE Hispanic food and ALWAYS have these ingredients :-) It was very delicious and I had to stop myself from having too much!


 Ingredients:

1lb. chicken breast
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 boil in bag brown rice (any brand)
3/4 cup 2% Mexican shredded cheese
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons garlic salt
Pam or other oil spray

~ Spray pan with Pam or other non-stick spray. Set heat on medium high. Using scissors, cut chicken into bite sized pieces and add to pan. Add seasonings to chicken. Fill a separate pot with water and cook rice according to directions on box or bag. When chicken is done cooking, add corn, beans, and enchilada sauce, reduce heat to medium-low. When rice is done cooking, drain water and add rice to chicken  mixture. Add cheese on top and put lid on pan until cheese is melted. YUM!

Calories: 260 per cup
Fat:7 1/2

New Year Weight Loss Challenge at FPG Day 2

I am very excited that I have managed to pull together another amazing weight loss challenge at work. It started yesterday and will run for 8 weeks. There are 17 people that are participating! I am so proud of everyone willing to lose weight and/or become healthier for the new year. Changing eating habits and losing weight is difficult but it's worth it in the end. I was able to get some really great prizes for the 8 week period from many great companies that were willing to donate for our cause. I am beyond grateful for their generosity.

I have been continually losing weight since September and have not deviated from my lower calorie intake that often. (there have been days that I could not stop putting food into my mouth) My 8 week goal is to lose 25lbs. That would bring me from 182 lbs. to 157 lbs. I don't know if I will be able to accomplish this goal because that's more weight than I have been able to do in 2 months but I'm going to give it a try! Even if I don't accomplish this goal, I will be happy just being able to lose weight.

I have however not worked out as much as I would like to. The holidays, vacation, getting sick, and spending time with my husband have slowed it down but I hope that next week I can begin doing my 5-6 day routine. We'll see how it goes next week.

Stay tuned for more weight loss challenge info!

Chicken Coop

I really can't take ANY credit for building this chicken coop, it was all my husband and a good friend of ours, Scott. They worked so hard building this! Plus, it was my husband's idea to build it this way. We used to have a large dog house that they all huddled in so I'm pretty sure they are much happier now in this house. He just built the chicken boxes about 2 1/2 weeks ago and the hens are laying eggs like crazy although we have always had a bounty of eggs every day!

Bacon, Mushroom, and Provolone Egg White Omelet

Since we have 10 hens, we have A LOT of fresh eggs which is totally awesome! I LOVE omelets but since I started dieting, I had to cut out calories so instead of using whole eggs, I just use the whites. This is a very filling recipe that packs a lot of protein to keep you feeling full for awhile. Plus it is low in calories which makes it even better!

Recipe:

5 egg whites
3 slices center cut bacon (any brand will do but I use whatever is on sale)
1 cup chopped mushrooms 
1.5 slices of Sargentos 2% provolone cheese (I also do pepper jack, mozzarella, or colby... make sure it's 2%)

Separate yolk from whites in a bowl. Spray a non-stick pan with Pam or other cooking spray. In another small pan, cook 3 bacon slices until crisp. Pour egg whites into the pan and cook on medium-high heat until they are not runny. With a turner, flip the egg over and fill with bacon, mushrooms, and cheese. Turn down to low and cover with lid until cheese is melted. ENJOY!

Calories: 225
Fat: 9.35g