An apology...

Hi My Friends!

What a sun-shiny day in Kansas! Although we still have plenty of snow, the sun is trying its darndest to melt it away! Of course, it is melting, but because it reached a record 12 degrees today it turned to ice! Hmmmm.....I'm just holding tight until the 50 degree days next week;)

I hope you liked yesterday's post and it got you thinking about tracking your food and exercise! It got me thinking so much that I really want to take it to the next level and buy a Bodybugg! This monitors every single calorie you burn throughout the day and then you tell it what you ate and it tells you how much more/less to eat to gain or lose weight! Pretty nifty (the price tag is too!). Does anyone have experience with a Bodybugg? Any recommendations/advice/tips for a Bodybugg?

I tried a new breakfast recipe today (imagine that!): Passion Berry Overnight Chia Oats! Sounds interesting, huh?!?! I actually got the idea from The New Healthy blog, but cheated a little and only put 1 T. of chia seeds to make it 7 points instead of 8 points (I know, LAME-O! But 7 is where I draw the line for a breakfast!). So next time I would probably add a little less liquid since the chia seeds are supposed to soak the liquid up-I just didn't have enough seeds to sop it all up! It was still really good!

The night before, ready to sit in the fridge

In the morning, ready to eat! I added a little Splenda and thawed frozen strawberries.

I think I'm gonna start nuking my overnight oatmeal. I'm not really digging the cold oatmeal thing and I think heating it up would be just as tasty!

****

For the remainder of this post, I'd like to offer a big apology. An apology that is definitely warranted, because I closed my mind to her possibilities and just "assumed" she was out-dated. On the outside, she may not be "in the times" but she can definitely hold her own and has a lot to offer if you search! Who is this apology to? The fair city of BELOIT, KANSAS!

A major reason I started this blog was because I was tired of reading in my favorite blogs, "I went to Trader Joe's and just picked up some organic-this and fancy-schmancy that." I really had to skip over so much of my favorite reads because I just knew I would never be able to make these creative, healthy, WILD creations! I was, instead, stuck with hamburgers, corn on the cob, chicken wings, pizza and carbs! The life of the Midwest! BOY, was I wrong!

Lookie, Lookie what this gal found!

This is only a third of the massive selection of vitamins and minerals at our local drug store! They are sneaky and had these tucked away in the back, where you have to pass pretty picture frames, fancy lotions and jewelry (I usually don't get passed this stuff before my prescription is filled!). While looking closer, they had coconut oil (always an elusive ingredient to me, but many city health bloggers use this all the time) and flax seed oil! And don't forget good ole' protein powder! Goodness, I'm gonna have to look into this more!

Grocery Store Finds

Veggie Wash! I actually bought this at a fancy health food store in a town an hour away because I just KNEW my little town didn't care about washed produce. Once again, I'm humbled!

Fresh Herbs!

Really, I'm in heaven, right?!?! I asked a worker, "You don't have basil do you?" as I had a growly, pissed off look on my face because I knew what the answer was going to be and I'd have to use DRY....AGAIN while the fun city bloggers got to use fresh! As all of this was running through my head and I was starting on an internal mini-hiss fit she said "Yep, they are hanging right behind you!" Well, slap me silly and bite my tongue! I apologize again....

 Oat Bran and 5-Grain Cereal!

Gluten Free and soy flour (I don't use them, but still an impressive find!)

Hmmm, well this is really going to change my thinking! I CAN make fancy big-city blogger recipes after all! I CAN experiment with new and healthy food! All it takes is a little bit of digging and not to have an assuming attitude! Doesn't that make you wonder what's in your little town (if you live in a little town!)? Explore your town and let me know what you come up with? Are you surprised with anything you have found lately in your town? Have you ever asked your grocer to carry something specific?

Desserted Tip of the Day: Working out doesn't have to mean getting on your yoga pants and heading to the gym. You can get a great and fun workout just dancing around your house, cleaning the floors, SCOOPING SNOW (my driveway is available for a good workout!). Get creative and get sweating in new ways! I love popping in JustDance2 on Wii and dancing away! Now THAT'S a fun workout;)

What's your favorite non-traditional workout that you can work up a sweat to?



Track It

Hello Lovelies!

Today was NOT a beautiful day in Kansas! We have currently about 8 inches of snow (after it all melted yesterday) and we are set to gain a few more overnight! Yuck! The only thing keeping me sane is it is supposed to be in the 50's next week so it will all melt again! Be lucky you don't live in Kansas....and if you do, at least we're all in it together;)

I have a new smoothie concoction to share with you! A little recipe from Carrots n Cake called the Gingerbread Smoothie! The only ingredients in it are milk, vanilla protein powder, pear and cinnamon and ginger. The first time I tried this I omitted the protein powder and added pumpkin. I mean, what's more gingerbread-y then pumpkin? Apparently vanilla protein powder is! Don't mess with perfection,  peeps! For some reason this small-ingredient, fast-fix smoothie DOES taste like gingerbread! It's super delicious and healthy! 5 PointsPlus (sorry, my camera didn't take a great picture of this)

****

Since I'm following the Weight Watchers plan, I track my food everyday. When  I first started WW back in 2006, I was religous about it until I met my goal weight. I thought I knew everything, and let's face it, tracking EVERYTHING you eat is not really that fun! Low and behold, I gained most of my weight back! I'm not saying it's because I didn't track everything I ate, but it was a big contributor! So today, I'd like to talk a little bit about tracking your food intake!

We all have different eating goals-whether it's losing or gaining weight, gaining muscle, low carbs/high protein-WHATEVER! We can all gain some insight by tracking what we eat! At this point in time, I happen to write everything down in a 3-month WW tracking book.

This book lasts for 3 months (you probably figured that one out!) and has a place for the time I ate, if I was hungry, satisfied or full when I ate it, what I ate, the points and how many points I have left for the day after I ate. On the right hand page, it has a place for me to track my water intake (WW wants at least 6 glasses, although I go way over this), at least 5 fruits and veggies, 2 low fat or fat free dairy products, and 2 healthy fats/oils. It also has a place for my workout and how many points I gained back along with a "thoughts of the day" area. I've learned that writing down EVERYTHING, whether I just take 1 bite or eat the whole thing, really makes me aware of my fuel intake. Why didn't I lose weight this week? Well, I only had 3 fruits and veggies this day, and I remember I had a few my husband's french fries and didn't track anything. Hmmmm...you can find the culpret right away!

So what if you aren't on Weight Watchers, no problem! If you are into writing things down, try a Fitbook!

Source

These also last for 3 months and have everything you could ever want in them (even it's own cutie-pie pen)! These are small and can fit right in your purse (or man-bag!). This book focuses more on your workouts, but still has plenty of room for your food. You can track each strength training exercise you did for the day, weight and reps. You can track cardio and how hard your workout was. Write goals at the beginning of each week along with your weight and measurements if you are tracking them. The nice thing is that these books are fairly inexpensive (around $22) and you can keep them forever to track your progress while you reach your goals. I got one of these for Christmas and as soon as I'm done with my WW tracking book, I'm hitting this one up. I can't wait!

If you don't like the idea of physically writing everything down, maybe you can try the tech version? Go to calorieking.com, sparkpeople.com or livestrong.com to track online (calorieking you must pay to be a member of). I personally have used livestrong and sparkpeople and much prefer livestrong because of there extensive food gallery. (Lots of people love sparkpeople though-so to each their own!) Most things I eat I just type in "Light Laughing Cow cheese" and it comes right up with all of its stats! Easy-peasy! You can also track your weight, calorie goals, and water intake. Plus, it gives you the percentage of protein/fat/carbs that you've consumed for the day which is invaluable if you track your protein to carb ratio intake.

If you've never tracked your food intake before and are struggling with your fitness goals, I encourage you to try it for at least 1 week. I bet you will be really surprised at what you find out about yourself! Plus, you might start thinking of all those little "tastes" that go in your mouth that might be ruining your fitness goals!

Tell me about your experiences with tracking your food and exercises! Do you write things down or use a Web site/computer program? Do you find it useful or a waste of time?

Desserted Tip of the Day: Remember that brownie/cookie/cake/chips/cheeseball will be there tomorrow. You don't have to eat it all in one sitting! Everything in moderation, friends! (I have to remind myself of this everyday! Moderation is not my strong suite!)

Super Bowl Party

Howdy Folks!

I hope you had a great Monday (at least there is a whole 'nother week before you have another one, right!?!?!) I actually took a vacation day today! I've never had the day after the Super Bowl off and I had a few vacation days to burn, so I thought I would really enjoy myself this year and take a lazy day for myself!

Speaking of the Super Bowl.....GO PACK! What a great game, right!?!?! The commercials were great, the half time was great AND the game was close and exciting! The party I went to was a lot of fun also!

Jerrin and I as the Green Bay Packer Fans!

Me, B and Mark (we were at Mark's house). Mark was having a ton of fun here:)

We also did a little bit of betting...sshhhh, don't tell anyone! We each paid $1 for touchdown bets and also what the score would be at each quarter. Between B and I, we figured we made about $4 after what we paid-so nothing too big!

Shane won a few times and was EXCITED about it!

The food and drinks were, of course, plentiful and good! B and I brought potato skins from each of the two football teams geographical regions.

On the left: Green Bay Packers skins (veleeta cheese with spicy brats and little squirt of deli mustard.)

On the right: Pittsburg Steeler skins (sauteed onions and kielbasa sausage with sauerkraut and swiss cheese.)
Did you make any team-specific snacks for the Super Bowl?

We forgot to buy beer for the game and since you can't buy beer on Sunday in Kansas, we had to improvise.

We made Mean Green Drinks (melon liquer and diet 7UP)

I also came up with a concoction that I forgot to take a picture of, but it was hailed as the "Mandy" all night!

Equal parts of cranberry/strawberry juice, vodka, dragon berry vodka and Parrot Bay. Mmmmm, just a hint of coconut that made it tropical tasting (we can pretend, right?)!

What was your drink of choice for the Super Bowl?

It was a great night and I'm so glad a Midwestern team won FINALLY!!!

****

In other news....it's my good friend Carrie's one-year wedding anniversary! Last year at this time we were all in Nashville helping Carrie and Mike celebrate their wedding! It was a great time! We love you Carrie and Mike! Carrie is also the blogger at Nomad Reader and I encourage you to check her out!

Happy 1-year you crazy kids!

Desserted Tip of the Day: Having something nice to wear when working out can really BOOST your attitude when it comes to working out. It's surprising how a new tank or new yoga pants can make you want to work out, while a t-shirt and baggy sweat pants might deter you from it. And remember, discount stores like Wal-Mart really have a lot of cute workout clothes!

Clean-Out Saturday

Hello Lovelies!

Good morning! And welcome to a lovely Sunday morning (this is my Saturday since I took Monday off! So I might be a little more chipper than usual;)

Yesterday I didn't have time to get my blog up, but it was a very productive day! It started with Vanessa and I going to the gym to pump iron! We were bad asses!!!

After my workout, I was famished!

I made up a spinach salad with tuna salad (light mayo, Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic, hot sauce, mustard and relish) with some fat free cheese. I also ate a coconut haystack! Anyone try one of those yet???

I then proceeded to tackle some out-of-control closets in our house! We have a coat closet by the door and also a closet in the hallway between our bathroom and kitchen. I'm guessing that is the closet for towels and toiletries and such, but I need more room in my kitchen-so I made it a pantry...with some towels in it!

Of course I was zoned-in at the task at hand and I forgot to take a before/after picture! But I put all the cleaning supplies in the coat closet so they wouldn't be mixing with the pantry items in the other closet. I also put big kitchen gadgets (panini maker, griddle, angel food cake pan, etc) in the "pantry" for storage. A whole shelf is dedicated to dip mixes (I love dip!) that can be used for quick entertaining! I think it will be a lot more useful than before. But B is still determining his verdict. His initial reaction was "What did you do to my coat closet?" Ha, well, he'll get used to it-right?!?!?!

I did make a brilliant discovery though!

EARMUFFS!

I bought these at a girl's weekend a couple year's ago and proclaimed that I would be bringing earmuffs back in fashion! I guess that didn't happen! But now that I found them again, I'm totally gonna rock 'em:)

Another find?

Just how many stinkin' coozies we have!! I think we have around 50-seriously! For a two-person household! We love a cold beer/soda! The pile on the left is what I'm giving away at a garage sale-I might need to reevaulate that:)

After organizing and cleaning the house, I practiced a new Zumba song and did a few JustDance 2 moves! Still love that game!

B was at a basketball game all day and wasn't getting home until around 8, so I decided to make myself a big platter of Hungry Girl's buttnernut squash fries with chili and cheese on them!

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished product cause I was scarfin'! I love this meal when I feel like making something big and decadent but they are still well within calorie/point goals! It's super fantastic-I would highly recommend it!

Today B and I are heading off to church, then I'm rushing back to make potato skins (skin flavors from Pittsburg and Green Bay!) and heading over to a Super Bowl party at 1 to munch and have fun all day! I can't wait! I hope you have some great and fun plans for the big game! I love any excuse to have FUN! I'm sure I'll be back tomorrow with lots of crazy pictures:)

What is your favorite snack for the Super Bowl? What are you making for the big game? Do you have big plans for the day?

Desserted Tip of the Day: Try to shake up what you eat everyday. So many times people go on a diet and leave it within weeks because they are BORED! I find so much inspiration for food from blogs, cookbooks, friends, family and any health site-I'm always trying a new recipe! Shake it up and open possibilities to new types of food and ingredients!

Productively Lazy Friday

Good Evening!

Hope your Friday has been superb! I had a productively lazy Friday-is that an oxymoron? I like to think NOT!

The day started off with my normal work, but because of some comp time, I got off at 3. I had planned to go workout and run some errands, but for some reason the week caught up with me and I was TIRED! So I thought, NAP TIME!!!

I could live in this bed-seriously! I loooovveee my bed and my favorite time of day is when I can crawl back into it! WOW-that makes my life sound pretty uneventful;)

After I woke up, I ate some crackers and cheese and headed out to pick up my friend Vanessa and we headed to watch my hubby's bball game. And the rest of my night was spent baking and beautifying!

Baking was modifying a coconut macaroon recipe from Mara at her What's for Dinner blog. I didn't even actually mean to modify the recipe, it just happened. After mixing up half of the recipe, I realized I only had 1/2 a bag of coconut. Well, it calls for 2 bags of coconut-oops! I'm notoriously bad at reading recipes! I was going to half the recipe anyway, but I still needed something in place of some of that coconut I was missing...hmmmm, I finally decided on original Fiber One cereal. This cereal is magical! It can be used in so many different things (oatmeal, bread crumb coating, haystack cookies, cereal). I threw it in, hoping for the best.

Sorry for the shadow!

The mixture was really crumbly so I was worried they wouldn't "hold" together.

Out of the oven!

They are a tad delicate, but they held together just fine. Oh goodness! Kids, these are DIVINE! Really! I lowered the calories without taking any taste away! If you haven't had Fiber One cereal before, it's slightly sweet and of course, adds a little crunch to this cookie (plus fiber!).

Coconut Haystacks
(adapted from What's for Dinner)

1/2 of a 14 oz bag of sweetened coconut

2 cups of Fiber One cereal-Original

2 T. fat free sour cream

1/4 cup of egg whites (or egg beaters)

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of Splenda

1 tsp of vanilla flavoring

1 T. flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Pre-heat oven to 325*F. In a small bowl, mix the eggs, sugars, vanilla, flour and baking powder together and mix until well-combined and fairly creamy. Put the coconut and cereal in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sour cream and salt, and mix well. Pour the sugar and egg mixture over the coconut and mix well (when all the coconut and cereal is coated with the egg/sugar mixture.) Scoop onto a sprayed baking sheet in the desired size (I used 1 heaping teaspoon and made 24 cookies). The cookies will not spread. Bake 12-15 minutes until the tops are lightly browned and the bottoms are lightly caramelized. Allow to completely cool.

Yield 24 cookies at 2 PointsPlus each

****

After cookie making, I dyed my hair "pecan," whatever that means;)

Pretty!

After blogging, I plan on chilaxing with the hubs (they won the bball game;)!

What is the best bad for eats that you ever "made over?" Do you dye your hair at home or do it professionaly? What's your current hair color and your real hair color? I have mousey brown hair color in real life, and I usually dye it slightly red or dark brown-I'm going a little lighter this time!

Snack Attack!!!

Hey Friends!

So, as you can see, I missed my post yesterday! I have no good excuse except laziness! We all have those days-yesterday was mine;) I hope you all had a great day though!!!

My day of eats today was nothing special, however I do have to mention yesterday's breakfast!

Hungry Girl's Berry and Cream Oatmeal Pudding!

So yummy, this is another dessert-type breakfast that is super hearty and creamy! Try it today, peeps (or wait until breakfast-whatever floats your boat:)!

I also got in two killer Zumba workouts yesterday and today (only one sweaty pic-Sorry!)

And for dinner tonight? I might have polished this off....

Assorted Tastefully Simple dips with tortilla chips!

I DID save my calories throughout the day for this treat! Arguably not the healthiest of meals-but maybe one of the tastiest! Good news-they are out of my house now! Give me chips and dip anytime and I'm in heaven:) I think I like the act of dunking:)

****

For the last few weeks, I've been taking pictures of all my snacks. While I focus on meals and easy recipe ideas on this blog, I TRULY live for snacks! They really make my day and I am a creature of habit! So once I find a snack with low points and fills me up, I hold onto it for dear life! I think I have about four snacks throughout the day-two mid-morning and two in the afternoon. I know-I snack a lot! Small, low calorie snacks throughout the day keeps the metabolism humming along!

I love getting new snack ideas, so please share yours with me! This can be a learning experience for all involved!

Morning Snacks

Greek, or low fat/fat free plain yogurt, with berries and splenda.

That splenda really makes this treat worth it! This yogurt is bitter, so it needs a little sumpin'-sumpin' to make it delicious! (And no, the berries' sweetness is NOT enough!) I usually get Weight Watchers fat free plain yogurt because you can have a full cup of it for 2 pointsplus, while Greek yogurt is only 1/2 cup. I add in a 1/2 cup of frozen berries. At 10 am I set it on my desk and they are thawed and made a delicious juice for me by my 11 am snack!

Big honkin' apple!

Last week I bought a HUGE bag of apples, and of course I can't find what kind they are (Fuji or Gala-can't remember which one!), but they are THE BOMB! Super juicy and refreshing! I eat my apple straight up at work. Sometimes in the evening I'll cut one up and dip in PB2 or sprinkle with cinnamon for a dessert. It takes forever to eat (love QUANTITY!) so my snack time last longer;)

Low Fat String Cheese

In Weight Watchers, we have to get two low-fat/fat free dairy products in each day. Some days I go way over, but sometimes I'm searching for something cheesy to eat! Enter string cheese! I love this stuff! First, it's super fun to eat! I'm not one to just chomp down on it. I want to actually string it off  and twirl it around my tongue as I did as a kid! It's also filling and yummy!

Afternoon Snacks

Cocoa Roasted Almonds

If you haven't tried these yet, hurry and go get yourself some! They are soooo good! Just a slight dusting of cocoa on these healthy and filling morsels adds the perfect amount of sweet and indulgence to an otherwise boring snack! So great! 3 PointsPlus

Carrots and Dip

Usually this dip is hummus, sometimes it's black bean dip as pictured above, or sometimes I eat them plain. But they are an everyday staple in my afternoon snacks. Kinda boring, but....

Vitatop

And my very favorite snack: chocolately, peanut buttery, gooey, decadent, sinful snack, VITATOPS! These are by far my fav snack ever! They are literally like the top of a muffin (the best part!) There are a ton of different varieties (Triple Chocolate Chunk, Deep Chocolate, Chocolate Pomegranate, and pictured above: Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip). You can find them at Dillons in the freezer section. I don't live by a Dillons so I usually order them online. Hungry Girl has a deal with them a few times a year where you can order 24 of a variety pack at a discounted rate and with free shipping. I try to wait for those deals (its expensive to ship to Kansas!), but I'm down to only 2 left! EEEAAAACCKKK! 3 PointsPlus

Tell me what you snack on everyday? Do you have a favorite morning and afternoon snack that you look forward to everyday?

In other news.....

IT'S MY DAD'S BIRTHDAY!!!

He even coached a wrestling meet tonight and his team WON! Actually STOMPED THEM! Way to go, Dad! I think that's the best birthday present he could have received;)

Desserted Tip of the Day: Live everyday by the words of The Limousines "Internet Killed the Video Star."

Well I'm a horrible dancer. I aint' gonna lie.

But I'll be damned if that means I ain't gonna try.

So simple, but so bad ass! Live your life as if no one's watching! (By the way, this song is super duper!)

Do you have a favorite music lyric quote?

Goals of Studying

Welcome to February Everybody!
(It's that much closer to spring!)

Even though my husband got to stay cozied up in bed, I had to trudge out of my warmness at 7 am to get myself prettied up for work:( The court house and health dept, including many other businesses in town, were closed today because of the crazy weather we were having! But not my work-we were all dedicated and blew into our office today!

Of course, when the alarm clock rang, I knew I was having pancakes (or A pancake) for breakfast! Pancakes remind me of lazy Sunday mornings when you have time to make good, homemade pancakes with your family. So to have them on a random Tuesday morning felt really special!

It was another Biochemista recipe: Protein Pancake! And it was soooo delicious and easy! And this one big pancake kept me full for about three hours (no small feat!)

I didn't have small berries to put in the pancake (like blueberries or rasberries) so I defrosted my strawberries in the microwave and it developed a wonderful sweet juice to pour over the cake. That means less syrup (calories)! This was really heavenly-I'd love for you to try it! This packed two servings of fruit and was 6 Pointsplus.

I was afraid my Intervals class tonight was going to be a wash because of the weather. But I got new workout clothes in the mail and was so excited to work out in them:) New workout gear always makes me excited to keep working out! Anyway, I had four dedicated ladies there and we got in a GREAT workout!

I look like a grumpy bitch! Promise I'm not;)

Of course I forgot my camera so I couldn't capture my classmates in a sweaty pic! I'll get you next time, ladies!!!

****

I have something looming over my head.......

It's been on my mind for months now.....

I really need to do it but I keep procastinating......

I'm afraid I can't do it......

Studying and passing my ACE Group Exercise Instructor Certification!

Some of you out there may be thinking, "What's the big deal? Just study and take the stupid test!" Easy for you to say! I've cracked this book open a few times, highlighted sections, took the practice test at the end of a chapter-AND HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I JUST READ!

I take being a group exercise instructor very seriously! I research almost everyday on new exercises. I make sure I'm reaching all body groups/muscles in a class. I try to vary from hard to easy exercises. I try to monitor class participants to make sure they are using correct form or if they are struggling with something. I DO NOT, however, no the fundamentals of anatomy. I DO NOT know what certain cells do in certain muscles. I DO NOT know the names of every human bone and what it does. Does this make me a bad group exercise instructor? I think not. Now, it wouldn't hurt if I knew this stuff, but I'm just dragging my feet on learning it! Why? Because it's like reading Greek to me! I was never a biology/chemistry/math type of person. I was the English/geography/history buff! I DO NOT find science interesting (sorry, friends!)

Luckily for me, my supportive gym has given us all of the ACE certification training materials for free and will pay for my exam (pretty expensive!) but does not require us to be ACE certified. I would like to be ACE certified for my own benefit. Kind of challenge to myself. And more education is never a bad thing! But folks, I haven't been in school for years now, so studying (and studying my most hated subject!) is not coming back to me easily! Especially when my nails need painted.....;)

Well, here goes nothing.....
My goal: to take the test by the end of July (yes, it realistically takes that long to study and learn this material!)

If you are in the fitness field, are you certified in anything? Do you wish you had a certain certification? How do you feel about fitness professionals being certified?

Desserted Tip of the Day: Make small goals and treat yourself to non-food items when you reach them-like new work out clothes, downloading new songs for your iPod, going to a favorite show, or traveling! If you have a large amount of weight to lose or are preparing for a large race, making small, attainable goals can really keep you going and the whole, larger task doesn't seem so daunting!