Time off

 1,200 calorie Diet

Since I am taking two months off from the IUI Fun, I have decided to get my weight back in check. I am back on my 1,200 calorie diet and have since lost 10lbs! I have a month left and hopefully I can make my goal of 10 more pounds!

It still amazing me how many more steps a day I take now that I’m not chained to a desk! It was a struggle to get 10,000 steps a day while working a desk job. I would take breaks to walk 3 flights of steps, walk to the farthest bathroom when needed and use my lunch time to walk around the block. Most days I barely got in the minimal 10,000 steps a day. Now that I am home I am far exceeding this goal! Office work was truly killing me—physically, mentally and emotionally.

MRI of 2015

My first annual MRI, marking 3 years since my last tumor, is next week. Of course, I am doing the usual second guessing every ache and pain. Grr!! I, like most with these tumors, live with pain every day. My pain is caused by my active lifestyle but because of nerve damage and muscle loss, I cannot tell where or why.  Meaning I can’t tell if it is deep pain, muscle pain, sciatic nerve pain and so on. I usually don’t think much about it, until close to my MRI appointment.

Easter is this weekend—can you believe it!

I planned the Easter Lunch Menu, sent out request to each family as to what they should bring and have been aggressively cleaning house to prepare. A Family Gathering and Spring Cleaning in one month keeps me motivated! I would take cleaning my house over a good day at the office any day!

Renovations

The list of Renovations for 2015 has been created and work will soon start! Can you believe we have lived here since October 2008, it is amazing to look back at all the work we have done.

Inside work to be done:

Putting in a standard washer/dryer complete with shelf behind and an antique mirror above! We will also be closing in the staircase to upstairs to help with the cooling of the space in the summer. I am hopeful we can also put a turn at the top of the stairs to open up the landing a little more. (plus add a custom baby gate because almost 2 year old Eli Joseph does not respect gravity.) The rest is just upkeep/management.

                                                         

                                                               Outside work:

We are taking out the circle drive we put in years ago—it is not functioning well and in the winter completely useless. Instead we are connecting our driveway to the in-laws driveway making a large circle. By doing this we can also fix the drainage/sloping issue which is causing flooding in the garage when it rains. The garages will also be getting siding—a project we started last year—with some paint on the doors and new lighting, they should come out looking amazing!

We also decided to move the kid play area to the empty space where the pool use to be. It is already landscaped around and with the addition of some well-placed trees for shade it should be a wonderful place to play! (with lots of sand to dig in too, which is what Keaton Michael and Ivy have been using the space for!)

In the side yard, where the play area is currently located, we are putting the hammock and hammock chair—I have been trying to find a place for them since we moved in!

So excited for all the changes! 

Now for some Low Calorie Casseroles!

 

Taco Casserole

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 Serves: 6—473 calories each

Ingredients

·         2 ounces Tortilla Chips (about 24), plus additional for serving

·         1 Tbs Chili Oil (or olive oil and red pepper flakes)

·         1 Onion, chopped

·         2 cloves Garlic, minced

·         1 pound Ground Chicken

·         2 Tbs Taco Seasoning

·         1 can Black Beans, drained

·         1 cup Hot Salsa

·         1 cup shredded Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese

·         Optional: Other toppings such as jalepenios, olives, etc.

Preparation

1.    Heat oven to 350.

2.    Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic and sautee until soft. Add meat and taco seasoning. Cook, breaking up meat with a spatula, for about 5 minutes. Add beans and salsa. Mix well and continue to cook until salsa thickens.

3.    Line the bottom of a large baking dish with tortilla chips, pressing down on them lightly to break them into bite-sized pieces. Spread the meat and bean mixture over the chips and top with cheese. Add sliced jalepenos or other toppings that you ant to be cooked. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and gooey.

4.    Scoop up with additional chips if desired.

 

 

 

 

 

 Cheeseburger Casserole

Servings: 9 • Size: about 1 cup
Calories: 261

ingredients

• 2 cups (6 oz) uncooked rotini pasta (use brown rice pasta for GF)
• 2 tsp oil
• 1 1/2 cups onions, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 lb lean ground beef (95% lean)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 28 oz diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 2 cups reduced fat grated cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped dill pickles

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta dente and drain well.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the beef and cook until browned, season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomato paste, and then add the tomatoes and mustard. Let the mix bubble gently until it is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Toss the meat mix with the pasta and spread it into the prepared dish. Top with the cheddar and bake until cheese is melted, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped pickles over top and serve. Makes about 9 cups. 3.2.1336

A month into our Lifestyle Change—

The results are in: Duste has lost 14lbs and I have lost 16! I have also lost 1” around my boobs, 1.5” around my butt and 4”around my waist!

After announcing my results on Facebook several have asked that I explain my plain of attack, so here it is:

  

We have stuck to a 1,200 calorie a day diet and have only been drinking water and 3 classes of diet green tea a day! I am averaging 88oz of water a day. This from a non-water drinker, I have amazed myself!

So with a 1,200 calorie diet this allows you three 300calorie meals and two 100 calorie snacks. If you do nothing all day this is what it will look like. However, with exercising and just walking you get a few more back to play with.

 

My day:

 In the morning, after I take my thyroid pill but before I eat breakfast, I drink 2 glasses of water. I do this while I am doing my hair and makeup. A trick I have learned is every time I switch from one task to the other I take one or two big gulps. By the time I am done I have drank my two glasses!

 For breakfast I eat around 240 calories during the week, I try to get closer to 300 on the weekends. During the week I have instant oatmeal with cut up banana and I drink my first class of Lipton Diet Green Tea.

                        Two days a week I go see a personal trainer for 30 minutes of core, strength and cardo fun! 
                        I do this before I go to work.

 

Once at work I typically only eat one 100 calorie snack on my late day and maybe two (one in the morning before lunch and one a few hrs before I leave work) on my early days. My snacks consist of Quaker Cheddar crisp or Multi grain Fiber Crisp, nuts and raisins, whole grain Pringles, Kellogg’s Popcorn Chips or Cracker chips, Triskets with string cheese or some grapes.  

 

At lunch I have a homemade meal of around 300 calories and two glasses of Diet Green Tea.

                               A few hrs on the weekend we make our lunches for the next week. Our favorites are:

 Blackened Chicken Salad—1 cup of Spring Salad Mix with less than 1/3 cup of 2% shredded cheese, a little cucumber, mushrooms, maybe onions and 3oz of boneless skinless chicken breast cooked with blackened seasoning. I top it with less than a tablespoon of reg. ranch dressing. Yum and only 200 calories
 

Black Beans and Rice—1/2 cup Uncle Bens Brown Rice cooked, ¼ cup black beans drained and rinsed, mexi corn, onion, bell pepper and turkey bacon—around 1.5 pieces. Mix it together and enjoy for only 220 calories!

Smothered Chicken—3ozs boneless skinless chicken breast with sautéed onions and mushrooms. Cover the chicken with a slice of cheese and tablespoon rinsed black beans. Only 300 calories!

 (sorry no picture)

Once 5:00 comes I head home and make dinner! With this meal we either have water or Soda Stream Grape Coolaid—8oz for 35 calories. One of our favorite dinner meals is:

Turkey Meatloaf—1lb ground turkey, oatmeal and egg, 1/4can meatloaf fixings tomato mix, onions, and bell peppers. Cook in oven, when done top with another ¼ cup of meat loaf fixings! Each 3oz slice is 206 calories. We had this with roasted Veggies!

 

Roasted Veggies—broccoli tops, sliced carrot sticks put in freezer bag with a tablespoon or so of Olive oil and a clove of garlic—shake. Place in a single layer on baking sheet and bake on 450 for 20 minutes—stirring once.  1 cup is 100 calories!


 

On the days I do not have personal training I work out with the Wii Active for 30mins (4xs a week) after dinner. One these days I eat some low calorie protean an hr or so after I work out. Like, string cheese, spoon of Peanut Butter or Fiber One Cereal—one cup of cereal and ½ cup of milk. (always read on packaging what a portion size is)

We typically have one hr of TV time and book reading in bed on the week days.

 Friday is my free day—no work out and get to eat out! I prepare for this by eating a lower calorie lunch and might skip any snacks when I don’t feel hungry. You can eat out almost anywhere with some planning. First choices should be the places with low calorie meal options—Chili’s and Applebee’s in my town. That takes the planning and figuring out of it for you. Duste and I share one of these meals and we can have a dessert shooter if we want. We can also choose to have a pop but most of the time we have a 4^th glass of green tea. (Bringing a packet of green tea mix and getting a class of water) All the other restaurants will take some research. You can get online and look up their nutritional information or you could use you’re My Fitness Pal app on your phone—sometimes it takes both. Once you know what meal you want based on how many calories you have, then head out! Typically Duste and I share a meal, it’s cheaper and because of our shrinking stomachs the portion size is about right. The hardest thing is to learn to eat until you are full not until the plate is empty.

 We also make sure we get lots of sleep—because this helps with weight loss, maintaining a healthy body and because of the “virus” I have. Duste averages 7hrs of sleep and I get anywhere from 9-10hrs.

I would like to also touch more on the importance of drinking water, remember this is coming from a girl who NEVER drank water before. It has the power to do so much good for your body, it is amazing. My skin is now clear—something I have been battling since I was a teenager and have been going to the Dr for as long, using every pill under the sun. My teeth are in the best shape ever! Typically I get my teeth clean and have multiple cavities, for years now. Not this time and they are whiter without using strips! Plus, there is the added benefit of having my body cleaned out from the insides out. Water flushes out all the toxins! Drinking Water—it’s an amazingly beautiful but simple thing!

 

 The tools I use to help me are just two things—My Fitness Pal on my phone and FitBit that I wear. I have these two synced so I just have to put information into one—on my phone. My Fitness Pal helps calculate how many calories I am eating and my FitBit helps calculate how many I am burning—it is a great partnership!

I hope this helped make the task of counting calories and eating healthier seem more do-able! You only get one body; you have to take care of it! Once you start counting calories and watching portion sizes you will see how much we are over eating as a nation—it is scary. Oh and as a side note—both pop and fast food are the devil! Ha!