Summer!

Hello all! Well I made it through finals and through my X-ray registry- yahooo! Now its time to get summer -started for real :) My mom got a new puppy, her name is Chew-Becca, she keeps me from sleeping in too late so I can get my morning workout in

She also keeps me moving all day! My challenge this summer will be to keep up with good eating and learning to balance that with some fun :) The last few weeks have kinda screwed up my system so I'm going back to no-sweets (except of course my weekend coffee) for awhile to see if I can get back down to goal weight. I'll keep you posted on that.

I have however completed my first competitive 5K race and got 10th in my age group! I also ran 8.21 miles last week, another first! Just trying to keep making goals and then smashing them.

Another goal this summer to help my mom find her own workout routine that is satisfying and effective without taking too much time and leaving her so sore the next day she can't do anything. We're starting it off nice and slow just like I did :)

This weeks dish is Thai Chicken Curry, I made it up in a crockpot and then served it over rice. A total of 8 points with a 1/2 cup of rice. Very delicious and satisfying! Here's the recipe:

Quick Thai Chicken and Vegetable Curry Recipe

Quick Info:

 Servings 4

Nutritional Info (Per serving):

Calories: 252, Saturated Fat: 4g, Sodium: 357mg, Dietary Fiber: 3g, Total Fat: 8g, Carbs: 14g, Cholesterol: 67mg, Protein: 31g Carb Choices: 1 

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

2 teaspoon oil, canola

1 medium pepper(s), red, bell, cut into 1-to-2 inch long juillienne strips

1 medium onion(s), halved and sliced

1 clove(s) garlic, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, fresh, minced

1 1/2 teaspoon curry paste, red, 1-2 teaspoons, or to taste

1 pounds chicken, breast, boneless, skinless, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 cup(s) broth, chicken, less sodium

1 cup(s) coconut milk, light

1 tablespoon fish sauce, or reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar, brown, light

1 1/2 cup(s) cauliflower, florets

2 cup(s) spinach, baby

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 medium lime(s), cut into wedges

Something I'd like to hear from you all about is if you have any experience with exercising post tailbone injury? I did something to mine because for the past few months I can't sit very long without it hurting really bad. I'm trying to not put direct pressure on it but it's hard to do ab exercises without that... So let me know!

Hope you all are doing well in your journeys to My Kind of Healthy! I shall try to post more often as the summer gets underway :)

New Things

Happy Friday everyone!!
 So last weekend I watched a few documentaries on Netflix about dieting and eating clean and all that... It inspired me to 1) look more closely at what's actually in my food and 2) to try going Sweet-free for a week. Sweets are my achilles heel, and also are the least natural, most processed foods currently in my diet so I wanted to see what all would happen if I took them out. BOOM down 2 more pounds, and that's with less exercise than last week but quadruple the results! I also noticed that my belly is flatter and I am fuller.
  Protein, fat, and carbs are all necessary for satiety; so by restricting those I wasn't doing my body any favors and felt more deprived than anything. This week I chose almonds and cottage cheese with applesauce as my snacks, the almonds are much higher in point value but they are so fulfilling and helped me to feel fuller.
 My recommendation, try a week or so like I did and reduce the processed foods, especially sweets in your life :)

Recipes I used this week were: healthy chicken taquitoes, and the healthy hash scramble!
This weekend I have my local Relay for Life so I won't be able to eat very well, but I have packed some healthy snacks like apple slices, carrot sticks, banana pb2 wraps and a subway. I am on the committee as well as being a team captain so I will be there for about 19 hours O.O looonnngggg day! But I will be getting plenty of exercise walking, and it should be a good time, the Survivors lap and Luminaria ceremony always get to me...

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! I'll check back in with you all later :)

Crazy happenings...

Hello everyone!
First of all I'd like to extend my deepest sympathies to anyone affected by the Boston Marathon bombs and the Texas fertilizer plant explosions. This week has been a dark one for our country and I hope that the particulars can be resolved soon. I would challenge you all to dedicate your runs or other workout to Pray for Boston and share them.
  Well, I finally made it back down to my goal weight yay! It took more effort this time, at least it felt like it, and I think part of that is because I have more muscle and less fat so dropping weight is harder. So to those of you in the same boat just keep at it!!! I also suggest switching it up, sometimes it can help jumpstart the process. Now comes the daunting task of learning to maintain this weight. I think that as long as I keep exercising at least 3x a week and eat wisely, at my point limit rather than below, I should be able to maintain and maybe even lose a little more fairly easily. The real trick will come when I go home for the summer... But I've been charged with the task of helping my mom get into a healthy routine and I'm addicted to exercising, so hopefully it won't be as hard!
  Something that I've always had an issue with is stress/boredom eating... Recently there's been a lot of stress in my life so I really needed to find a healthy way of dealing with this. I started taking walks or running at time s of the day when the cravings are at their worst; this makes me less hungry and feel much happier :) You really are only a run or a workout away from a better mood!
  I've promised my family and friends that I would accept a +/- 4lb mentality and I hope to be able to stick to it. This is to allow for menstruation weight fluxes and the occasional splurge. I suggest everyone coming to the end of their journey develop a similar strategy to make life livable and not a constant weight struggle.
  Recipes I've tried this week:
     -6pt Taco Salad
            1/2 cup fresh spinach
            1 cup romaine lettuce
             cucumber
             1/2 bell pepper
              2 chives
              1 roma tomatoe
            1/2 c 97% lean ground turkey cooked in taco seasoning and salsa
             1/8 c fat free cheddar cheese
             6-8 Baked Tositoes Scoops crumbled over the top
             2 tbps Fat-free Thousand Island dressing

            1pt Banana Bread

              0pt Banana Ice cream!

                  frozen bananas in the blender with unsweetened cocoa and or low-fat peanut butter/ pb2

                      

I'm going to try some Skinny Chicken Taquitos this week, I'll let you all know how it goes :) Other than that I'm just trying to keep up with school and studying for my Radiology Registry exam, only 28 days til I take that...

Keep at it! As always feel free to comment here or message me with questions or if you'd like to share :)

Healthy Chicken Pesto Pizza

I LOVE pesto and chicken pesto pizza used to be a rare treat, not usually a "dieting" item. But after some internet research I've found a delicious and healthy recipe!

Ingredients:
- Weissenbergs pizza crust mix, whole package
- 1/2 cup artichoke hearts in water
-1 medium red bell pepper
-8oz cooked chicken breast, bite size pieces
-1/3 cup low fat pesto sauce
- 1/2 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and spray a cookie or pizza sheet with cooking spray.
2. Mix up pizza crust and let set for atleast 5 minutes. In the meantime cook up your chicken and slice the red bell pepper.
3. Roll out the pizza dough into a crust big enough for 8 slices. Evenly spread the pesto sauce over the crust.
4. Spread the chicken, artichoke hearts, and bell pepper over the pesto and top with mozzarella.
5. Cook the pizza for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and crust is browned.
6. Slice into 8 servings and enjoy!

Here is the finished product and a view of a single serving:

I thought it was a winner, comment and let me know what you think!

Calories vs. Points

Happy Friday!! It's a beautiful day here in Southern Illinois, finally some Spring/summer weather! Made me kind of sad to be indoors all morning working out, but I sure needed it... This last week and a half, two weeks, I've been experimenting with comparing what I eat in calories vs. points. I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app and have been dutifully logging every morsel I consume, or fairly close to it. My experiment showed that counting points keeps you very close to the suggested calorie limit for weight loss. For example, I was on 16pts a day this last week and I usually kept under 1390 calories, 1400 being my limit, even counting veggies and fruit that are free on Weight Watchers!
I like the idea of counting both when I have the time because it really makes me concentrate on what I'm eating and helps me keep my fruits to a reasonable limit. My Fitness Pal makes it easy to log food, exercise and water intakes! If you're having trouble getting results or just want a challenge, try tracking both this week and let me know how it goes :)
I'm hoping to get back down to goal-weight this week, post spring break, and thus be able to really test my ability to balance eating more normal and exercising less crazily while maintaining that weight. This is something I'm very nervous about getting a handle on, especially with a summer at home ahead of me.

Hope you are all well! Please message me if you have any questions or comments!

Happy Easter!

Good morning and Happy Easter to you all! Even if you don't celebrate this day for it's religious intentions I'm sure we all have fond memories of waking up to search for a candy and goodie filled basket full of green grass that gets everywhere and colorful plastic eggs :) At least I know I do! So because I'm trying to stay healthy and have a hard time with control when it comes to sweets, I decided to make myself an Easter Basket with healthy stuff! Behold my Easter basket: homemade healthy bunny and Easter egg shaped pancakes with banana slices for the candy!

Here's the pancake recipe if you'd like to try this delicious treat!
For 1 serving, 4 pancakes:
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 unsweetened applesauce
1/4 fat free millk
3 Tbsp egg whites or egg substitute
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2-3/4 tsp Splenda
a little water
Mix that all up and spoon 2-3 Tbsp of it into a pan for each pancake! Top with fresh fruit and sugar free syrup! Each pancake is just 1pt :)

Happy Easter all!

Spring, what is that?

I mean really snow on the First Day of Spring? Atleast that's how it's been in Illinois....
Hello all! Sorry it's been awhile since I posted, as I said before I was home for Spring Break and had to enjoy every minute of it :) I got in some good runs while I was home and got my mom started on the physical part of her journey to My Kind of Healthy!  24hr Fitness has a good facility and some great tools- staff and such, to get you on your way. Some things I learned about running with a dog: 1) all dogs do not enjoy long-term running, 2) you must gradually work them up to your pace and duration just like how you had to start out, and 3) ALWAYS check their paws before and after, especially if they show any sign of discomfort. My pup cut his pad during our run and I didn't realize it til much later :(
  Now that I'm back at school I'm working on maintaining my goal weight on working on balancing some more normal behavior (eating out, drinking, not exercising everyday) with the things about being healthy that I enjoy like lots of fruits and veggies and working out. I'm also starting a body measurements chart to document my muscular changes now that I'm not focusing on weight loss anymore. I'd suggest starting one in conjunction with your weight loss regimen.
  This morning I tried running a course with hills and uneven pavement, same distance 4 miles, but with the added challenge. I succeeded and felt accomplished if a bit sorer than normal! I like the idea of challenging yourself and so when I think of something like this I make myself try it. Recipes for you all to try and can find on my Pinterest Healthy Recipes page: Healthified Chicken Tortilla Casserole and Quinoa Veggie and feta stuffed Bell Peppers! Both were super delicious and fairly easy to make.
I hope all of you are doing well on journeys! As always, feel free to message me or comment on this post; I'd love some feedback!

GOAL!

Hello! So I'm sorry it's been awhile since I posted but a lot has gone on. First of all, I made my goal finally! It feels great and now I am just trying to learn how to balance less intense exercise with eating more normally... It will take a bit to read just myself to this new way of living but I know its going to be a great adventure! I hope you are all doing well.
One of my close friends has begun her journey to health and so I'd like to share her blog: http://healthful-love.tumblr.com/  
I'm home for Spring Break so I'll update as I can, as always feel free to comment or message me!
 You can do this :)

Sick no more!

I just realized that since beginning my journey to fine My Kind of Healthy, I have not gotten sick once O.O... I used to get colds like nobody's business but in the last 8 months- NO colds, no stomach bugs, very few headaches (I've been treated for severe migraines since I was 5 years old) and less overall malaise! This is huge and I can't believe I haven't realized it since before now. I've been sick most of my life, so sick I've been practically disabled for large parts, so this revelation is amazing and wonderful and I just had to share! If you're like me and get sick often, then I highly suggest that you look into finding your own Kind of Healthy. Not only are the physical changes empowering, motivating and make you feel great about yourself; but being able to not get sick and staying more stable emotionally are also benefits you could reap!
 On a side note, be honest with yourself about what you're eating and how much because even if you write down or log having eaten a lesser amount- your body is keeping an accurate diary so to speak and it will come back in one way or another. If you remember later that you forgot to log something then just take a little bit off each day for a few days until you've made it up. We are human, these things happen you don't need to berate yourself!
 I am so excited about this latest realization and the prospect of making my goal this week! I'm super motivated now, hope it hold! Have a great week everyone!

When to Up the game

Hello everybody! I hope you had a good week :) Today I'd like to talk about when to Up your game in other words, when to try just a little harder. This is in addition to changing up your workout to keep your body guessing as we discussed last week. So I've had to hardest time trying to break 144lbs, my body just seems to love that number... I came across a meme earlier this week that said "When you want it as much as you need to breath, you'll find a way" At first I thought this was a bit extreme, and it is if you take it literally; but what I take from it is that when you want something enough, when you're willing to compromise, that's when it starts working.
  Ever since I got back down to 144 post-holidays I've been trying to use all my points and work out just a little less intensely to get my metabolism ready for when I reach my goal, so that I don't gain all that weight back. This week though, I decided I wanted to see, really just see if I could break 144. I've wanted it for a long time, but on Friday I finally said I wanted it as much as breathing. So I worked myself as hard as I've ever worked and BOOM! I made it down to 142.6lbs and proved to myself that I am strong enough :) Now I'm not saying whenever you feel like you've hit a snag to go out and work yourself to death, all I'm saying is that 1) this takes dedication and probably some sacrifice, especially if you want timely results and 2) if you hit a long-term snag, chances are you're going to have to Up your game.
  A lot of this is finding what your body needs, what it likes, and what works. Sweets are my Achilles heel, so I found chocolate flavored gum (sounds nasty but it tastes really good and does the trick!). I know I need to eat protein after a workout to maximize my effort, that even though I may have the points I need to use them on healthier options like fat-free yogurt, proteins and such not sugar. Figuring out some of these things is just trial-and-error, you may notice trends as you get on your journey pay attention to these and make changes accordingly.
 A tip for keeping motivated with the healthy eating is to try new recipes! I try to make a new one every week and sometimes depending on if I have company I may try too. These keep your taste buds happy and let you stay on track. Food.com and Pinterest are my two main sources for healthy recipes.
 As always, good luck on your journey this week feel free to message me or comment on this post with any questions or comments!