Today's meals and exercise

      BREAKFAST:  243 calories total

Oatmeal with blueberries and peanut butter

and two links of Jimmy Dean turkey sausage

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 of dry old fashioned oats (150 calories)

1/4 cup simply organic (Fred Myers) frozen blue berries (27 calories)

1 table spoon of PB2 powdered peanut butter (22.5 calories) 

2 Jimmy Dean turkey sausage links (43.33 calories)

This is PB2.  It's powdered peanut butter.  I love it. I bought it Wal-Mart for about 5 bucks.  

It has 85% less fat than regular peanut butter.

You take 2 table spoons of the peanut powder and mix 1 tablespoon water to make creamy peanut butter.

For 2 table spoons of powder it's only 45 calories.  That's a huge difference compared to 190 calories for 2 tablespoons of regular peanut butter.

DIRECTIONS FOR BREAKFAST:

Place try oats in a microwave safe bowl

then add 1 tablespoon of the PB2 peanut butter powder

cover with water and microwave on high for one minute

Add your berries

While your oatmeal is cooking heat two of the turkey sausages in a pan over medium heat.

After breakfast I do a workout.

Today's' workout was two different cardio videos totaling 50 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Ido-il3uI-20 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUS8FUZdGVw- 30 minutes

MID MORNING SNACK: 56 calories total

ONE 2 1/2 diameter red delicious apple 

LUNCH:  calories 204 total

2 cups of Progresso light beef pot roast soup (180 calories)

and 2/3 cups steamed  integrity farms organic broccoli florets (24 calories)  

CARAMEL ICED COFFEE: (45 calories)

INGREDIENTS :

12 ounces brewed coffee (2 calories)

1/2 cup nonfat milk (40-45 calories)

sugar free caramel syrup from torani(0 calories)

Torani makes several sugar free flavors which are very good.

 and ice

DIRECTIONS:

in a large coffee mug add ice

brew coffee and pour over ice

add 1/2 cup nonfat milk

add syrup to taste.

*For tonight's dinner I had a large taco salad

It was my brother's girlfriends birthday so my mom made a taco salad with tofu (no shell)

Sorry I don't have recipe or picture for this one.

Tonight's dinner: Asian inspired grilled chicken, veggies, and brown rice stir fry

      Eating healthy doesn't have to take a long time or involve a lot of prep work.  Many nights of the week I make one skillet or one pot meals.  I also like to get some help from the store every now and again by buying  frozen veggies and meat.

Tonight's meal was a quick Asian inspired stir fry (359 calories total)

INGREDIENTS:

3 ounces Tyson grilled ready frozen chicken breast strips (100 calories)

1/2 cup instant brown rice (150 calories)

1 cup frozen organic broccoli florets ( 48 calories)

2/3 cup organic rainbow chard (30 calories)

1/3 cup chopped yellow onion (15 calories)

1/2 cup large chopped vine ripe tomato (11 calories)

1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce (15 calories)

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth (5 calories)

salt to taste

peeper to taste

garlic powder to taste

Directions:

*In a medium to large skillet over medium heat place the frozen grilled chicken

cook until warm

*Then add the chopped onion and cook until the onion is tender crisp

*then add the broccoli, tomato, and chard

this is when I add my spices

*when the veggies are still a little crisp I add the chicken broth and teriyaki sauce

*bring the chicken broth to a boil and add the rice

Turn heat to medium low and simmer the rice for 5 minutes or until tender

*when the  rice is tender place everything in a bowl and enjoy

the app I love and that has helped me stay on track

I LOVE this app.

You can do it from your smart phone or directly from your computer (the app is free on your smart phone)
myfitnesspall

It counts calories for you
it adds in calories burned from exercise
has thousands of different restaurants and meals
you can create your own meals and calories
you can loo up almost any food imaginable
you can use the quick bar code scanner to add calories

It's one of the tools I use daily to help me stay on track.

Last night's meal

Here is last nights dinner. ( 420 calories)

Ingredients:
Turkey burger (lean ground turkey 160 calories for 4 ounces)
Worcestershire  sauce (to taste) no calories
garlic powder to taste (no cals)
ground sage to taste (no cals)
salt and pepper to taste (no cals)
1/4 cup yellow onion grated into the turkey burger (11 calories)
1/2 large sweet potato (81 calories)
green bell peppers and cauliflower saute  1/2 a whole bell pepper  and 1 cup fresh cauliflower cut up (37 calories)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (120 calories)
1/2 vine ripe tomato sliced (11 calories)

Directions:
in a mixing bowl place ground turkey
add Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground sage
grate in about 1/4 cup of onion directly into the meat
mix all together
form into a burger patty and set aside

Take a large sweet potato and poke with a for about four times to make vent holes
place in microwave for about 10 minutes or until for tender
 cut in half and save the other half for another meal.

In a small to medium skillet get 1 tablespoon of olive oil hot over medium heat
cut up 1/2 a green bell pepper into strips
cut up 1 cup of a fresh cauliflower into florets

place the peppers and cauliflower into he pan with the hot olive oil
i added salt and pepper to the veggies.
Saute the veggies until tender crisp

in the mean time add your burger to a dry hot pan over medium heat
cook burger until completely done in the middle

Slice up 1/2 of a vine ripe tomato and and salt and pepper

place all the components of the meal on plate and enjoy

my first post

     Hello everyone!  This is my first blog about my new healthy lifestyle as a healthy mama.  About 6 months ago I started eathig healthy and exercising to lose weight.  After several years of being over weight I wanted to change that.  I started out with a goal of 20 pounds to lose.

        A tool I found that helped me was an app called "my fitnesspal."  I use it daily to add all my food I eat, my exercise,a and keep track of my calories.  It's a great app and I encourage people who are trying to loose weight to get it.  It really helped me stay on track.
      Another element to my success in loosing weight has been finding healthy meals that actually taste good.  I had to become very creative and be willing to try food I may have not tried in the past.  My tastes have really changed over the last 6 months.  I have learned more about cooking at home and have grown to love cooking. 

      Along with cooking healthy meals, I have given up fast food, junk food, and soda.  I mainly eat lean meat, veggies, fruit, whole grains, Nonfat plain Greek yogurt,  nonfat milk, some cheeses, and eggs. I also love sweet potatoes and brown rice. I try to refrain from sugar unless it's natural from fruits and veggies. On occasion I will have a sweet but not very often.

      I have learned that even eating healthy you have to keep portion in mind. The main idea and success behind weight loss is calories in and calories out. You must burn more calories than you consume.

   The third component in my wight loss success is exercising. I have heard many people say that exercising is boring.  I say that if you find the right exercise it can be very fun.  Exercising is something I look forward to each day.  It's my time all to myself for 30- 60 minutes a day. I love exercise videos grom youtube and running. I'm now up to four miles in 40 minutes or less.

Since I started this journey over 6 months ago I have a lot catching up to do on here.

      

Here is what I looked like 6 months ago and what I look like now.  I have lost about 38 pounds total.

TODAY'S BREAKFAST: 307 CALORIES

Ingredients:

One Eggo toaster waffle (85 calories)

One whole egg (70 calories)

3 large egg whites (51 calories)

 1/2 cupGreat value mixed frozen berries ( 35 calories)

100 % pure corn startch (10 calories)

one 2 1/2 diameter red delicious apple (56 calories)

DIRECTIONS: 

-Combined three egg whites with one whole egg in a small mixing bowl.  Add salt and pepper and mix all together. set aside

-In a small to medium sauce pan add your frozen mixed berries. turn heat to medium.  Then add 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil

I added a little stevia to sweeten it. (if your not into Stevia you can substitute for honey or agave.  it will add more calories)

Then add 1 teaspoon corn starch and mix until combined

bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low and let simmer until it's all saucy and has thickened up.

-While the berries are cooking place your eggs in a pan on medium heat with a  light spray of cooking spray.

Cook until one side is done then flip.

-Place your waffle in the toaster.

Once your waffle is done put your warm berry compote on top.

TODAY WORKOUT: 51 minutes total

I did two different cardio kickboxing videos. I didn't have the resistance band for the first workout so I used two 5 pound hand weights instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdKlPG2bsk(30 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciOeavTJo1A (21 minutes)

MY LUNCH:  264 calories total (sorry no picture)

I had a large salad and green beans on the side

Ingredients:

2 cups of 50/50  salad mix (20 calories)

1/4 of a large avocado(58 calories)

Great Value deli sliced rotisserie seasoned chicken breast (50 calories for 4 slices)

 1 Fresh select carrot form Green Giant (30 calories)

2 tablespoons garlic hummus dressing from Girards (60 calories)

1 cup frozen cut green beans

Directions:

place lettuce in a large bowl

add diced avocado

add sliced carrot

add chopped deli meat

 add dressing

 and toss.

in a microwave safe bowl add green beans (frozen)

put in microwave one minute at a time until steamed up

I added salt, pepper, and garlic powder to my green beans.

SNACK: 95 calories

Ingredients: 

 1/2 La Tortilla Factory low carb whole wheat high fiber tortilla ( 40 calories)

 2 teaspoons of Winco natural peanut butter from the bulk food isle.  With no oil (55 calories)

Directions: 

take a tortilla and split it in half

add two teaspoons of the peanut butter on it.

I will post my dinner later tonight