Hello everyone, sorry I have been a bit of a blogging bum lately sometimes I just get in a funk and I feel I have nothing to say. But I do have good news I have lost some of my holiday weight :) Hubby and I decided to do the Fast Track Detox Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman, the author of the Fat Flush Plan. It is a one day detox but you spend the week before preparing for the detox. You avoid caffeine, chocolate, dairy, alcohol, processed food, excess fat and wheat products. You prepare by eating veggies from the crucifer family, green leafy veggies, sulfur rich foods, liver healers, fiber such as flax or psyllium and lots of water. And for three days after the detox you eat the same way.

Last week before starting to prepare for the detox: me 136.5 hubby: 183.5
Day before detox: me: 134.5 hubby 179.4
The day after the detox: me: 133.5 hubby:177.0

I feel wonderful, my mind and body feel fresh and clear. This one day detox was just the thing I needed to shake things up and to rid my body of some toxins. My next plan is to do the ft for awhile and continue to exercise consistently (I have been doing wonderful this month, and being able to look at all my stickers in my day planner is very helpful to me)

Hubby and I are now proud owners of our very own scale, which makes it nice to have consistent weigh in times. I hope everyone is having a nice start to their week, I want to give my new followers a shout out, thanks for deciding to follow my blog I hope I don't disappoint you :)

Exercise

Hello everyone, thank you for such kind messages. My roses are still going strong, I trimmed them the other day and put them in a square vase it's fun to mix things up. I got them from Safeway, I don't know why but Safeway roses always last the longest. This new year (2012) I am trying to be more consistent about my exercise, I really believe with the bfc and consistent exercise I can have a more toned body and hopefully a flat tummy. This year I have been keeping track of my exercise in my pocket sized day minder. My Dad has been buying me these day minders for years ( I don't have a smart phone to keep track of my calender). Each day I write down my exercise and then I put a sticker on the month page. It is very satisfying to look at the stickers.

In regards to exercise I used to be a total gym girl, I loved the bike, the elliptical and the stair master, I also used the machines and free weights. When hubby was active duty Marine at Camp Pendleton I LOVED working out on base, the gym was huge and they had lots of equipment to chose from, I especially enjoyed the tread climber which looks like  a treadmill split down the center. I wish I was doing the bfc when we lived down there because I know with the amount of exercise I put in I would have looked and felt great. While we were down there I ate a lot of foods that I thought were healthy, which I now know were really full of sugar, and I was never able to get below 143 lbs.

Now that we live back in our hometown and hubby is in school we are focused on saving money, so most of my workouts are at home these days. In response to a question from Angie: I have never taken an official zumba class, hubby and I have a program on our computer's called vuze which allows us to download some movies, tv shows, and some exercise videos. I have the zumba cardio party, and a 20 min zumba workout. I love them!!! At some point I would like to get more zumba dvd's. I especially love that I can do them in my living room and no one can see how hard I struggle to shake my hips :) I know Kay has the dvd's and she likes them when she chooses to do them at home.

I have also been doing Tracy Anderson's dance cardio and method mat that I got off of vuze. I love Tracy she knows how to kick my butt, hubby even likes her method mat workout. At some point I would love to get some of Tracy's dvd's especially metamorphosis. If you are curious about Tracy Anderson check her out on youtube, she had whipped Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna into shape.

 Long story short, I have decided to made 2012 the year I make the biggest effort to tone up and slim down  using the bfc/ft and all my exercise tools I already have. I really want a slim tummy, I have never had one, I have always had a little poochie ( the fat below your belly button).

One Year Anniversary on the BFC: down 10 lbs

Celebration roses

Hello friends, January 10th was  my one year anniversary on the BFC, whoo hoo!!!! I started this post on the 10th, but I had a hard time finishing it.Instead of treating myself with food I bought a bouquet of pink roses to celebrate. In the beginning I really didn't think it would work and I would not be able to stick with it. The beginning was very hard for me, it took awhile to get the hang of things, I was very discouraged until I found Rosalie's and Amber's blogs and video's on youtube. I kept a journal for about the first month until I started my blog and got a job, it's fun to look back and see what I struggled with and what I learned. I am going to start journaling again because I love how it can be a safe place to vent, and it helps keep me honest about how I am truly doing.

I heard about the bfc from my Mom who heard about it from her Naturopath who has lost 30 lbs herself using the bfc. I think there is a lot of good in a natural approach to health care so when her Dr. recommended it that helped me to find the bfc credible. I think it is important to feel that whatever diet/exercise program you are doing is credible. There are a lot of people out there that are willing to make a buck on anything.

Here are some things that I have learned on the bfc:

• Don't give up
• Chose your fats and proteins wisely, just because you can eat bacon and cheese doesn't mean you need to go hog wild with them.
• Remind yourself that you are trying to eat "better carbs" not just "low carb"
• Tailor the bfc to a way that works for you and your family.
• Try not to eat too many processed foods they are full of sodium and other preservatives that are not good for us.
• Use your crock pot more or make freezer meals so you don't have to eat bad because it is easier.
• Learn to love low sugar dark chocolate...I know it's not the same as a delicious piece of milk, but when it has lower sugar is has more of the good cacao which is healthy for us.
• Be willing to try new things, you might actually love them. Bfc friendly products I have tried: barleans, clemmy's, chia seeds, coconut flour, almond flour, stevia, truvia, ezekiel bread, Jay Robb's protein powder, unsweetened almond milk.
• Revamp old recipes to make them bfc friendly and be willing to try new ones. I love the stir-fry recipes in the original bfc.
• Make friends who are doing the same plan, I have met so many people on the blogs that I respect and appreciate. I think that is why weight watchers is so successful, going to meetings and connecting to others with a shared goal is a powerful tool to help you stick with your goals.

I love the bfc and I want to continue to get better at eating low sugar and better carb and learning how to deal with food bullies in a better way. I lost 10 lbs and several inches from my waist and hips, I am hoping this year that with exercise and the bfc I can have a more toned body with a flat tummy :)

1 year on the BFC

Hello everyone, I feel like I am still struggling to back into the daily routine after the holidays. I weighed myself on Friday and I am only up three lbs for the whole holiday season!!! I am so excited that it is not the usual 10-15 I have gained in the past several years. Last week I took the sweets that we were given to work for my co-workers, everything was a big hit and I am relieved not to have the sweets around to tempt me.

Last night we went to my work holiday party at the Davenport which is a beautiful hotel. We had soo much fun, I drank some yummy red wine, had a delicious meal, only two bites of the dessert and I danced my butt off. I wish I had a picture to share but we never got around to asking anyone to take our picture.

My heart hurts for Pattie and her family and like Kay I feel a little weird prattling on about my life when they are dealing with such heartbreak. Life is truly precious, I've been thinking about that a lot the past several days. My hubby has a tattoo on his forearm that says "death is certain, life is not" We don't know how much time we have here, and it's important to take care of ourselves.

Happy New Year Part 2

Happy 2012 everyone, I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Eve. Hubby and I stayed the night at the in-laws and we enjoyed a nice bfc approved breakfast with the family this morning. We had egg sandwiches with Rudi's english muffins,  low sodium bacon and of course lots of coffee. We had fun, hubby's Grandma is visiting from CA, and we lounged around in our p.j.'s watching football. I married into a big football family, so I had to get on the football wagon.

As I think about the New Year I hope to continue to get better at the bfc I don't want to fall into the mindset that I can relax on the bfc because I am in a good place with my weight. It's important to learn to take care of ourselves with out emotional eating. I want to become a better blogger because it is helpful to me and I want to be able to be a source of support and encouragement to any who read my blog. I want to be better about taking pictures of delicous bfc breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks to help inspire others and to remind me of all the yummy things that we eat on the bfc when I feel discouraged and want to dive into a bowl of pasta. I also want to make some videos, because I love it when the other bloggers post videos and I have found them tremendously helpful. Hubby and I plan to sit down and discuss our goals for 2012 and come up with a game plan on how to get there. We have never done this before so it will be new territory for us, but I know it will be good having a plan and goals is always good. I think we will even take a play from Sherri's play book and make a goal poster.

The past several days I have been eating more salty foods than usual and I want to share a recipe for water that helps with bloating. Sassy water named after Cynthia Sass one of the authors of the Flat Belly Diet (which has a lot of good info about healthy fat helping us to lose belly fat).

• In about 8c of water add, fresh sliced ginger, 1 medium cucumber peeled and sliced, 1 medium lemon, and around 12 mint leaves (I often leave the mint out because I think it tastes better without it) Chill all the ingredients in the fridge overnight and in the morning you will have a refreshing drink to help you get rid of bloat.

I hope everyone is having a nice New Years day, keep it low sugar and better carb and you will feel better tomorrow. Lots of love and big hugs to everyone :)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!!! 2011 is almost over and we are at my in-laws MIL and Grandma already went to bed, so I thought I would check in with my blogging buddies. I am so excited about Sherri's idea for a goal poster, I told hubby about it and I think we are going to make one. I am so happy to share that this is the first time in a long time that I am going into the new year feeling good about my weight. I don't know what my official year end weight is but I feel good and I am happy with how my clothes fit.

My Mom told me yesterday that she and my Dad are going  to do the bfc, whoo hoo!!! I hope they really go into it with open minds and give it a  fair shake. She told me she gained 5 lbs from Christmas goodies. One thing that really helped hubby and I this year was not having any Christmas cookies around. The things we were given are in a bag by the door to be taken to work. This holiday season I ate only two of my favorite holiday cookies, 3 peanut butter balls, and about three pieces of homemade candy. This is big for me, in the past I ate a ton of everything.

Here are some things that helped my to be successful this holiday season:

• Red wine instead of beer or sugary mixed drinks
• Having no Christmas goodies around
• Celestial seasonings holiday teas with whipped cream
• My peppermint coffee instead of starbucks peppermint mocha
• Exercise even if it was for 20 mins at a time
• Lots of water
• Looking at last year's holiday pics
• Having enough healthy food to snack on at work
• Reminding myself that I need to stick to the bfc and not slack off because it is the holiday season

Happy New Year Everyone!!!! Big hugs to everyone!!! Let's make 2012 a wonderful year with lots of success stories.

Merry Christmas

Hello friends, I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season. We had a lovely Christmas, and Santa was very good to me. Some of my favorite presents were:  Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook and a set of holiday coasters that our Mother's made for us at a pottery painting place. Todd and I are very blessed to be able to have both sets of folks here in town this year (his parents lived in Philly the last four years)

I received a nice compliment from  hubby's cousin who is more like a cool aunt to us, she told me that I had lost weight since I saw her in the summer and that I looked really good. :) :) :) I think one of the big things that has helped me is drinking less beer, I mean way less beer. Which was hard for me to let go of,  but now that I feel good where I am at it's easy to pass up.

I feel good about the little indulgences I had over the past several days, and I am only up 1-2 lbs :) 1-2 lbs is much much better than 5-10 lbs that I have put on the past few years. I have my holiday work party coming up Jan 7th so I am really feeling motivated to eat belly good and to exercise. I have lots more to say, but it's getting late and I work early tomorrow, big holiday hugs to everyone :)

Hello everyone, can you believe Christmas is right around the corner? It doesn't look like it is going to be a white Christmas around here which is a bit of a bummer. I feel like my mood is up and down on one hand I feel better physically going into the holiday season lighter than last year and determined not to gain weight, and on the other I feel down with the dark cold weather and I just want to nap until I feel better. I mostly think it's a combination of the weather and hormones. I feel better when I remember to take my vitamin D supplement and I exercise.

labor of love modge podged presents

I am loving the peppermint chocolate coffee, I have even put peppermint extract in my candy cane lane tea, I really feel that the coffee and teas are helping me not to over indulge. I took Thursday and Friday off work so I could enjoy getting ready for Christmas, I drank a ton of peppermint coffee watched Christmas movies and wrapped presents. Actually this year I modge podged my presents, so hopefully they can be re-used next year. That wasn't my intent in doing it in the first place it just sounded fun, and it was very enjoyable and relaxing. I think it's good to find things to do to get in the Christmas spirit that don't involve sugary foods.

Hubby and I bought a bunch of presents this year at World Market, I found a new low sugar chocolate bar that I LOVE. For $1.99 I got a delicious dark chocolate bar that has 2g of sugar for the whole bar!!! :) You have to try it,  I think it has a wonderful texture and taste.

Life is good, hubby and I looked at out first house yesterday :) it won't be a good fit for us but it was exciting to look. It's never a good sign when the house next store has a small bus, vw bug and trailer in their back yard. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week, stay away from all the yummy sugary goodies you won't regret it :)

Delicious. You must try it :)

Don't worry I didn't fall off the wagon

Hello friends, sorry I haven't posted in almost two weeks, December is flying by. I am happy to share that I am 99 % done with my Christmas shopping and last night we started wrapping Whooo Hooo!!!! I was feeling stressed about what to get and shopping. This year hubby and I are really trying to show our parents how much we love and appreciate them this year we will be having Christmas Day dinner at my in-laws with both sets of folks :) I am so blessed by my parents and hubby's family. My parents are good people and they love love love my hubby for which I am so thankful. My in-laws are awesome, and I'm really glad they get along with my folks.

I hope everyone likes my new pics, I feel they are a good reflection of where I am at now and where I came from. Last Monday we went to the Davenport to see the Christmas Tree Elegance with my folks I felt really good about how hubby and I looked. I am wearing my seven jeans that have been sitting in my closet for two years, and hubby is wearing the sweater he got last year for Christmas that didn't look good then because he had a chubby belly.

When I look at our Christmas pic from last year I remember how bad I felt about myself and I am so thankful that I started the belly fat cure in January to stop the cycle of gaining weight and feeling bad about myself. Sometimes I find myself thinking I've only lost 15 lbs and that's not a big deal, but when I look at my before pictures I realize those 15 lbs have made a big difference in how I look and how I feel about myself.

Saturday hubby and I went to Starbucks before heading to the mall for some shopping I ordered a peppermint mocha which is my favorite seasonal holiday drink, I haven't had one since last Christmas. I ordered a tall with the sugar free syrup (even though I'm sure it was made with fake sugar) the drink was still probably not very belly friendly, and it wasn't as good as I remembered. My peppermint coffee drink I make at home is much better. In my special 16 oz holiday mug I add 2 packets truvia, 1 T ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa, 1/4 tsp peppermint extract and finish it off with whipped cream. It is delicious and very belly friendly. Next time I go to Starbucks I will get my usual americano with cream and I will know that I am not missing out by passing up a peppermint mocha.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday, whatever you are up to keep it belly friendly you won't regret it. :)

Hello everyone, I was getting a little tired of the look of my blog so I gave it a festive face lift. I really need to put some current pics on but I need hubby's help and he is busy with homework right now. Thank you for the great comments, I think I will just tell sis-in-law that I don't want to do holiday baking, but plan a some other holiday activity date together. And for the sugary goodies that I am given hubby and I can always take them to work. The food bullies may never understand that being low sugar is a priority to me and not just a diet, but this is my lifestyle now and I have to stick to my guns.

Another thing that I need to work on is the voice that tells me "I deserve to indulge, and I will be missing out if I pass up on the belly bad goodies." I listened to that voice on Monday as I tried some homemade candies at work, I need to purpose to not do that at work because those little bites and "you have to try this" really add up.

Tonight for dinner I made a variation of the zucchini lasagna and it was delish. I added a package of frozen spinach to the ricotta mixture, hubby loved it. He says using zucchini instead of pasta is really helping him to stick to the bfc. He has really been on board with the bfc lately after he lost between  10-15 lbs doing the ft in October.

As far as pintrest is concerned my user name is Katesmccoy, just type it in the search box and then click on people. That is the simplest way to find the right Katie McCoy, or I should say The Real Katie McCoy LOL.

It's a good thing hubby liked what we had for dinner tonight :)

Hello friends, sorry I was a little MIA the past few days I was in a little post-holiday slump. Friday we didn't go anywhere hubby did homework all day, Saturday we watched the Apple Cup at the in-laws (the Apple Cup is a football game between the University of Washington Huskies and The Washington State University Cougars) hubby's team the Huskies won...yeah Dawgs!!! We did some celebrating that night off the bfc, I had two beers and bloody mary's, hubby had beer and screw drivers.

This morning I made a bfc friendly peppermint mocha flavored coffee, thank you Dawn for the inspiration. In a large mug of coffee 16 oz I added 1 Tbs coco powder, two truvia, 1/4 tsp peppermint extract and topped it with whipped cream DELISH. It's not exactly the same as a Starbucks peppermint mocha or the coffee-mate flavored creamer but it satisfies my craving for this seasonal drink. I am also loving the celestial seasoning candy cane lane tea and sugar cookie sleigh ride.

I am now wondering what to do about all the holiday baking and treats my friends and family make. While at my in-laws on Sat I showed my MIL my blog and was trying to talk to her about the bfc. She didn't seem very interested in either. My sis-in-law wants to do holiday baking together, which I don't want to do because I don't find it relaxing and to bake with others and because of the bfc I don't want to bake tons of sugar filled goodies. I am not sure how to handle this without hurting their feelings, I don't want to bake and I don't want a ton of sugary crap around.

I am glad everyone is loving pintrest, it is now one of my favorite sites and I look at it daily. I just want share that you need to be aware that sometimes there are some inappropriate images on there, today on the home page was an artsy black and white of a couple having sex, and the other day there was a pic of a man biting another man's naked butt. I am simply sharing my observations so you can be aware.

I am thankful for the bfc and my bfc buddies



Happy Thanksgiving

Hello friends I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, we really enjoyed ours. Thank you for all the nice comments about my cold, I am feeling much better and thankfully I wasn't coughing up a lung or sneezing on Thanksgiving.

I felt good about what I ate: Breakfast pumpkin oatmeal. Chicken soup as a snack before going over the the in-laws. My favorite appetizer was picked asparagus wrapped in cream cheese and ham. I had two glasses of red wine and a  little bit of everything I wanted, but only a tiny amount of stuffing, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes. I felt like the amount of food I ate was similar to a normal dinner I didn't overeat and I felt really good. I only had two bites of pumpkin pie. The only thing that I had a hard time with was these sweet and spicy almonds my Mom brought she covered the almonds in a mixture of butter, brown sugar and pepper.

I am grateful that we talked so much about holiday food and plans the past several weeks, I felt that I was able to enjoy the holiday without stressing about food. I felt good about myself and how my clothes fit. I am hoping to continue to be good about holiday eating so I can say the same thing about how I feel at Christmas.

I am really thankful for the bfc this year, I feel that this journey into low sugar and better carbs has introduced me to so many new things that I love. I am committed to a low sugar lifestyle and I am trying to get my family on board. I really appreciate all my blogging buddies I don't think I would still be doing the bfc without your support and help. You guys are awesome and I love and appreciate you :)

Short and Sweet (with a little complaining about my cold)

Hello friends, I'm still not feeling good I called in sick today because I was coughing up a lung this morning. Hubby got me some cough syrup before school, I googled it to make sure my other prescriptions didn't interfere and holy crap it had a ton of sugar, 13g :( wow I never knew. At least I have been able to exercise the past couple of days so hopefully that helps with the sugar in my cold/cough meds.

The past several days I have been making pumpkin oatmeal my adding some pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, two packets stevia and walnuts to my oatmeal delish. I have done this for the past several years except pre-bfc I used brown sugar.

I don't have much else to say my head is foggy from the cold meds, I mostly wanted to check in and complain a bit about sugar in cold meds. Have a wonderful day friends I hope everything you have to do pre-Thanksgiving is going smoothly.

Good evening everyone, it is a snowy Saturday up here and I am very thankful that hubby put my snow tires on my car. The snow makes everything look pretty and fresh and I love it's crisp smell. One nice thing about living in an apt is we don't have to shovel any of it. I am also thankful that it's not bitter cold we are fortunate that it doesn't get that bitter cold up here too often.

I knew the sugar free mousse wouldn't be something everyone would like because of the fake sugar in the pudding. I made three batches last week with butterscotch pudding, cheesecake and vanilla and they were good but they had the fake sugar taste. I don't plan on making any more, I wonder if they even make sugar free pudding with sugar alcohols or stevia. I think I need to make another batch of the pumpkin coconut muffins to get my pumpkin fix. I really love pumpkin I've been putting pumpkin pie spice in my coffee, and I put some in plain greek yogurt although the yogurt wasn't that good so I wouldn't recommend doing that. The next pumpkin recipe I want to try is healthy pumpkin gooey butter cake from Lauren's blog healthy indulgences, it looks delish and I have most of the ingredients on hand.

This week I tried the zucchini lasagna recipe from Amber's blog we loved it! It is a keeper recipe, the next time I will make a larger batch in a 9x13 so we can have more leftovers. Hubby and I are being bums today and it feels so good. I agree with Cat in that we need to take better care of ourselves so today I gave myself a facial, my skin feels so soft now. Hubby and I watched last week's episode of Dexter and we are getting ready to start the new season of Top Chef. I think Rosalie gave the bug she has, I've been blowing my nose all day :) LOL. I've been drinking lots of tea and taking airborne I am hoping that I will be able to nip this thing in the bud, no one wants a sickie at Thanksgiving.

Sugar Free Pumpkin Mousse

Hello friends, I like Sherri's plan not to make goodies that are tempting and have them around they really are like crack. I feel like I am going into this holiday season strong. I went to the Dr. Monday for my physical I had been putting off (don't you just HATE the cotton swab the size of Texas they have to use for a pap). The scale at the Dr.'s office said 138, which is a 4.2 difference from my folks but it doesn't bother me because each scale is different and my clothes account for some of that.

Yesterday at work we had a Thanksgiving spread for lunch. YUM. I took only a dab of stuffing, cranberry sauce, a sweet potato dish,  and cheesy mashed potatoes, I had lots of turkey. A tablespoon size of the high sugar and carb dishes was perfect. I had two perfect bites with turkey, stuffing and cranberry all together on the fork. I feel confident that I can be good on Thanksgiving now. I plan on having a delicious hearty breakfast Thanksgiving morning so I don't get crazy hungry and snack on a lot of belly bad food.

I got inspired to look for some pumpkin pie pudding recipes after a recipe I saw in the paper and didn't write down. I usually avoid the fake sugars such as suclarose and aspartame but having some in the form of sugar free pudding is not bothering me right now. Between this pudding and the pumpkin coconut muffins I feel I am getting my fill of pumkiny things this season.

Pumpkin Mousse from Taste of Home.

• 1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
• 1 package (1 ounce) sugar-free instant butterscotch pudding mix (cheesecake and vanilla are also good)
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup fat-free whipped topping, divided (I used Reddi whip)

In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and allspice; fold into pudding. Fold in 1/2 cup whipped topping.

• Transfer to individual serving dishes. Refrigerate until serving. Garnish with remaining whipped topping. Yield: 4 servings
  Nutrition Facts: 2/3 cup mousse with 2 tablespoons whipped topping equals 96 calories, trace fat (trace saturated fat), 2 mg cholesterol, 360 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 1/2 fat-free milk.gs
  .

Hello friends, we got our first snow yesterday BLAH!  The good news is that it is all melted off today and the sun is out. Yesterday my sis-in-law and I got together to have coffee and discuss Christmas. I have some good ideas and I want to start getting things together to avoid the stress of the time crunch. This year I don't want to go overboard on the Christmas baking and sweets. We came up with some good ideas we just need to narrow them down so we don't take on too much and then really accomplish nothing. Last year we made cookies, caramels, pumpkin bread, roasted pumpkin seeds, and took holiday pics in front of the big Christmas tree at the mall to make a gift basket for my in-laws who lived in Philly at the time. It turned out great but it was time consuming and expensive to ship.

For Thanksgiving I am bringing a squash soup and the quinoa pie from Martha Stewart for sure, and I am thinking about bringing a bfc friendly dessert. I am feeling good about Thanksgiving I know there will be tempting food but I plan on eating a good breakfast and sticking to the belly good food. The only thing that I really LOVE that is not belly friendly is stuffing. Friends what are you planning to do with stuffing, will you eat a little or avoid it all together?

Yesterday was dinner at the folks, laundry and weigh in day. For dinner we had a tri-tip roast my my made and a recipe I saw on pintrest mushrooms and green beans roasted with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and an acorn squash soup I made. I am a badass soup maker. I roasted the acorn squash, sauteed 1/2 onion, 1/2 apple and 1 carrot, 6c veg stock, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice and sage, s&p to taste. It wasn't my favorite soup that I make but everyone else really enjoyed it and my Dad is a picky eater. I know some of you might be thinking the apple and carrot are too high in sugar but I only used 1 carrot and 1/2 apple and it served four with leftovers. Pre-bfc I would have used several carrots, the whole apple and onion now I use smaller amounts of the fruits and veggies that are higher in sugar. I make the bfc work for me by using less of the things I love instead of giving them up completely.

Yesterday I weight in at 133.8 that is .8 lbs less than last week, whoo hoo! And hubby was 189.2 this is his lowest weight in a long time. Doing the FT was the perfect thing for us, it gave us the kick we needed. For hubby it really motivated him to be better about his diet. I guess that is all for now I need to meal plan and make my grocery list. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday :)

Eleven, Eleven, Eleven :)

Hello friends, thanks for the nice comments I wish the pics of the frozen pumpkin yogurt and fudge were mine but they are the pics that came with the recipes. I have recovered from my meatloaf disappointment, Wednesday I made the pumpkin chilli from skinny taste and it was delish. Next time I might try adding a little jalapeno for some heat and flavor. I think this would be a good recipe to make and freeze. One of my coworkers has been telling me about chicken in the crock pot with salsa verde so I tried it yesterday I used four chicken breasts and a jar of salsa verde. The result was tender delicious chicken that we used for taco bowls. Taco bowls last night were the salsa verde chicken with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, napa cabbage, tomato and avocado...delish.

I feel really silly talking about pinterest like  I know what I am doing because it is still new to me and I'm not very good at some things yet. Such as being able find friends who aren't in my e-mail contacts or friends on facebook. What I do know about pinterest is that is super fun place to get inspiration for all sorts of projects and you don't have to set up an account to search for things.

I have fallen off the exercise wagon a bit and I need to get back on. I have a pilates chair, zumba and Tracy Anderson on my computer so I have no excuse. Exercise is important for physical and mental health. I have been having a bit of a hard time lately feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed. I think part of it is the change in weather and short days. The lack of sunlight in is hard and I need to start taking vitamin D supplements.

I hope everyone has a good Friday, funny that it's 11/11/11. In case you forgot today is Veteran's Day, if you know any give them a shout out today it makes them feel respected for their service and good about themselves. Have a wonderful day friends. TGIF :)

Frozen pumpkin yogurt & healty coconut butter fudge

Hello friends, thank you for your kind words I know things will work out, but it felt good to vent, and it's good to know that others have been in similar boats. I am sad to say my crock pot meatloaf did not turn out very well. I put it on the other night before bed so we could have it for lunch, in the morning the meat was still pink and there was a lot of grease from the ground beef :( so I drained the meat and baked it in the oven for a half an hour after work. It wasn't a disaster but not a recipe worth making again or sharing.
I made a dessert last night that I saw on pinterest: pumpkin frozen yogurt. I took a cup of plain greek yogurt ( the recipe called for vanilla yogurt but all I buy now is plain greek) 1 cup pumpkin, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, I added four stevia packets instead of one T sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla, and put all ingredients in the ice cream maker until cold. Hubby and I shared it and each serving had around 8g sugar. It was a tasty holiday themed treat but it could use some tweaking...maybe a pinch of xylitol as well, Lauren at Healthy Indulgences often uses sugar alcohols and stevia in her recipes.

I know that I have told you guys how much I LOVE LOVE Pinterest, it is such a great place to find pretty things, crafty things, recipes, ideas etc. Doing the bfc/ft has awakened a part of me that is interested in homemade healthy things. I am no longer content buying something that I thought was "healthy" but really full of sugar. One of my new finds is a site called http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/  (what a great name huh). What really drew me in was a picture of her sugar free fudge on pinterest. She calls it naughty girl vegan fudge. One of the main ingredients is  coconut butter. I had not hear of coconut butter before, it is the flesh of the coconut ground up to make a delicious butter richer than just the oil. 2 T has 1.9g sugar. I made the fudge which is a small banana, coconut butter, coconut powder, and a dash of salt (I added 4 packets stevia) blended together, it was delish. The texture was rich and creamy although it tasted very bananaee. A better name would be chocolate banana coconut yum yum, the name fudge sets one up for disappointment because it is not the usual rich sinful creation we are used to. My personal favorite belly bad fudge is the recipe off the marshmallow fluff jar yummm.


Naughty Girl Vegan Fudge

• 4 tablespoons Artisana coconut butter (or homemade)
• 1/2 a large, very-ripe banana (80g)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• scant 1/16th tsp salt
• You can add sweetener, if desired
• 2T (or more!) cocoa powder

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/01/31/sugar-free-chocolate-fudge/

Hello all my skinny peeps! I am having a nice relaxing Saturday, we took our usual walk with our coffee and enjoyed the fall day. It's getting chilly up here so we broke out our hats and gloves. I have been playing around on the internet looking for crock pot recipes, I plan on making the turkey pumpkin chilli everyone has been talking about from skinny taste and trying some new recipes: balsamic chicken, Italian low carb meatloaf and some pumpkin soup from the skinny crock pot. Don't worry I will keep you all posted and share if they are keeper recipes.

Today was weigh in day 134.6 no change from last week, but I'm grateful I didn't gain after the bites of candy and frosted sugar cookie on Tuesday. I didn't exercise at all this week, bad Katie. I feel I am in a bit of a slump lately I think it's a combination of the change in weather, money stress and hormones. All reasons I need to be exercising. We are only getting half of hubby's tuition paid for by financial aide which is frustrating because that is based off of our income last year, I wasn't working and hubby made less money an hr than he does now. Anyway we keep plugging away looking for money from other sources for next quarter, it's just frustrating when we are trying to save. The good news is I am not turning to food and drink to deal with my stress.

This picture makes me laugh. Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)

Good evening everyone, the weekend was nice and I had Monday off work.  We went to my folks on Sunday and had a great time. My folks were excited to hear that we got pre-approved to buy a house. One of their neighbors is renting their house out because it wouldn't sell and they are moving south for warmer weather, they told us several times that they would sell it to us lol...no way would we ever move so close to the folks. We keep telling my folks that we are holding out for the house right next store to them. LOL.

The scale said my weight was up by.6 lb but my waist measurement is down by .5 inches and my weekly pic shows that I am losing weight. I would like the number on the scale to be lower but after reading the article Beth shared with us it doesn't really bother me. Plus my Mom said she can tell I've lost weight especially after she hugged me :)

Monday I went to our brand new Trader Joe's holy crap it was busy, so I wasn't really able look around and take inventory. I bought hubby some good looking bfc approved bread and some other items. I was also looking for some fall decorations. Pier 1 has a pumpkin serving bowl and pumpkin soup dishes I  want, but I didn't get them because I have spent extra money lately on specialty bfc products: natures hollow jam, ghiradelli coco powder, clemmy's ice cream & unsweetened coconut flakes. It would be nice if money really grew on trees.

I was a little bad today because I ate  left over Halloween goodies: frosted sugar cookie along with several milk duds and candy corn, and a bite of butterfinger they didn't taste very good and TMI, they gave me gas. Eating that junk really reminded me that I don't miss that kind of food and need to continue to stay away from it. Goal for tomorrow: no more leftover Halloween candy cheats!!! :)

Another fall Saturday

Hello friends, another Saturday whoo hoo!!!! Exciting things are happening hubby and I got pre-approved to buy a house. We are relieved hubby did a number on his credit in his early 20's and we have run into some problems with it. Thankfully he paid off the money he owed several years ago and now it's been long enough that his credit is good, hallelujah!!! We started looking at houses online, I love being able to take a virtual tour with the internet. I don't know exactly when we will get into a house hubby doesn't have a lot of time between work and school.

On the school front hubby is doing well but, dealing with financial aide can get a little frustrating. Hubby registered for financial aide late so we were told to pay for school out of our own pocket and we would get reimbursed in Sept or Oct, hubby recently found out that we will not get reimbursed until August 2012 :(  Same thing for the next quarter, so we are thinking we will get a student loan and when we get reimbursed from financial aide pay it off. So, we have hit some bumps in the road, once hubby's schooling is all said and done it we will appreciate it even more.

On the food front we have been plugging away. Last night for dinner we had tri tip roast I made in the crock pot, mashed cauliflower, sauteed mushrooms, asparagus and broccoli. All I really had to make last night was the cauli I had sauteed the veggies the night before. I need to do that more have things already made in the fridge for easy dinners and lunches. Sometimes I hate having to cook and clean every night because hubby is in school and too busy to help. I plan on looking into bfc friendly crock pot recipes and I will share any keepers I find.

Well, I guess that's all for now I just wanted to share what's happening over here. We plan on bundling up and getting another nice fall walk in this weekend the leaves are almost off the trees. A co-worker said we might get snow as early as Nov 10th BLAH :( I'm not ready for snow, I'm ready for a vacation someplace warm I don't think we are too young to be snow birds lol. I hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday :)

Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash

Hello everyone and thank you for the nice comments. I glad to share that I am back on the exercise train, man it's hard to get back into it. I hope that eating good this week and exercise will help combat my cheats over the weekend....I guess weigh in, measure and pic day Sunday will let me know if it worked or not. Hubby is done with the fast track he told me on Sunday that he needed some real bread, I got a big laugh when Dawn said her hubby said the same thing. I will have to share pics of him with everyone if he doesn't mind he has lost around 10 lbs and three inches from his belly

 I made Martha Stewarts Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash the other day...yum. I think I am going to bring this to Thanksgiving as an alternative to all the carbs, I am also thinking about bringing mashed cauli as a substitute for mashed potatoes, and almond flour biscuits.

 Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash
 Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, havled crosswise, and seeded
• 18 fresh sage leaves, plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped sage
• 1/2 onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Vegetable oil, cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush 2 rimmed baking sheets with 1 teaspoon oil. Cut five 1/4-inch-thick rings of squash; cut remainder into 1/4-inch dice. Place squash on sheets. Toss with 1 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 12 sage leaves. Bake until tender and just golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Keep oven on.
2. Heat remaining teaspoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. quinoa and stock; bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat. Simmer until liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 2 minutes.
3. Stir together quinoa, diced squash, chopped sage, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
4. Coat a 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Arrange 6 sage leaves face down in plate; top with squash rings. Press quinoa mixture on top.
5. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter. Serve wedges warm or at room temperature.

http://www.marthastewart.com/313442/quinoa-pie-with-butternut-squash?czone=balance/stressfree-cnt/holiday-eating&czone=balance/stressfree-cnt/holiday-eating&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/turkey-free-mains

Hello friends, I can hardly believe it's Wednesday already where did the weekend go? Hubby and I went on some beautiful fall walks, drank coffee and wine, slept in, went out to dinner, had dinner at the in-laws, watched college football (sadly our college team University of Washington lost to Stanford). Needless to say it was a full relaxing weekend. We didn't weigh ourselves this weekend because we didn't end up going to my folks, but I feel good and my MIL said she can tell I've lost weight since I saw her last two weeks ago.  :)

I cheated a little this weekend on the ft, I had a little mashed potatoes with last nights dinner, and half a wrap as a lunch/snack. Today hubby and I went out for Mexican and I had some chips and two small corn tortillas. I'm not really sure if that will put a hitch in the ft giddy up or not. I do plan on starting to exercise again tomorrow, I've been lazy and gotten out of the habit of doing it. I need to exercise I've been cranky, anxious and hormonal lately.

Hubby and I are starting to brainstorm for the holidays. My in-laws are hosting Thanksgiving and my folks are invited so it will be all four parents, sis-in-law and her boyfriend, hubby's grandma and us. I am glad that is the plan this is our first holiday with all the folks, hubby's folks moved to Philly for several years before we got engaged. I found a recipe on Martha Stewart's website for a quinoa butternut squash sage pie that I want to try out and if it works bring it to Thanksgiving. The more I think about how to have a low sugar better carb bfc and ft friendly holiday season the less stressed I feel. I am getting tons of ideas for the holidays from pintrest with hubby in school we want to have a nice holiday season and still be able to save money.

A relaxing Sunday in the park with our coffee :)

Coconut pumpkin muffins take 2

Hello friends and Happy Saturday! Yesterday was a great day at work I got off early and was home by 4:30 whoo hooo! I got busy in the kitchen because I really enjoy it. I made another batch of the pumpkin coconut muffins I added more stevia about 10 packets of truvia, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp allspice...delish. I think the allspice was what we were missing. I am so thrilled to have these muffins as replacements for pumpkin bread. Regular pumpkin bread is sooo high in sugar and white carbs, last year I made tons of it with pumpkins we grew. As a result hubby and I got chubby bellies.

I have been using coconut oil for the past several weeks in all my coconut breads/muffins. It's really amazing and cheaper than using butter since a loaf of coconut bread calls for one stick of butter. I heat it up in the microwave to measure it out. I have also been using less than the recipe calls for instead of 8 Tbs I have been using 6 and I can't tell a difference.

Hubby told me last night that all the coconut, almond and flax things I have been making have helped him to stay on the Ft. I am really enjoying all these different things and I don't feel deprived at all on the Ft.

Spiced Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

Hello friends dinner tonight was so good and easy because I made butternut squash soup last night. I have to share the recipe Spiced Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup from: Easy Soups. I modified it for the bfc and ft by taking out carrot, brown sugar and reducing a whole onion to a half.

Modified for Bfc & FT

Butter or olive oil
1/2 yellow onion                                        
2-3 garlic cloves
1 roased butternut squash
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry
2-3c veg stock
juice of whole lime
1/2c coconut milk
green onion and sour cream garnish.
S&P

Sauteed the garlic and onion, and added the spices, veg stock & squash, simmer, puree in food processor. Pour soup back into the pot and add the coconut milk and lime, season to taste. Delish.

Just pluggin away on the FT

Hello friends, I love it when the work week flys by. I have been having lots of fun in the kitchen. Yesterday I made the coconut pumpkin muffins, which are very tasty but need to be tweeked for my taste because I want a stronger pumpkin taste. I made lemon coconut bread on Monday but instead of lemon extract I accidentally put in maple (it was early in the morning and the bottles are similar) surprisingly  they didn't taste too bad and we ate them. I made two soups this week. a modified la ribollita from my book Easy Soups. With napa cabbage, zucchini, celery, little carrot, veg stock, garlic, onion, sage, rosemary, and thyme, and tomato paste....delish. It was perfect to come home last night and make reheat some soup. For tonights dinner I made spiced butternut squash and  coconut soup with roasted butternut squash, onion, garlic, veg stock, cumin, curry, lime, cilantro & coconut milk. I had to check if butternut squash is ft friendly and thankfully it is on the super carb list on pg 160.

I really think the ft is working well for myself and hubby. I don't feel deprived not eating grain carbs since there are so many alternatives. This morning I am eating a flax muffin with almond butter for breakfast. 1/4c ground flax, oil or butter I used 1 tsp coconut oil, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 egg microwave for 2 mins. I don't know the exact origins of this recipe but I saw it on minichicks blog several months ago.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day, whatever you are doing keep plugging away and don't give up.

Weigh in day

Hello friends today is a beautiful Sunday here in my neck of the woods and very productive...church, grocery shopping, laundry & dinner with the folks. My weight is up a tiny bit 134 lbs today, last Sunday 133.4 lbs but I'm ok with that. Last night we took pictures and we compared our start pics and last weeks pics side by side and I am happy to share that my belly/love handles are smaller... which is helping me not to feel discouraged about the number on the scale today.

Today I showed my Mom my blog for the first time, she thought it was neat but didn't really say much else. I think I waited so long to tell her because I thought she would think it was stupid. Well I guess that is all for now, I am hoping to have a good cheat free week and hopefull see 133 lbs next Sunday. :)

Feelin hopeful for tomorrows weigh in

Hello friends and Happy Saturday!!! Thank you for the great comments concerning my dinner out. I don't know why I didn't think to ask for veggies instead of pasta, in the moment I felt like I would be missing out by not eating the pasta....I know that doesn't make sense and I need to purpose to not think that way. I put the leftovers in the freezer so I wouldn't be tempted to pick at them.

I just signed up for myfitness pal and I am excited to try it out. I am also very very excited to try the coconut pumpkin muffins Amber posted they look sooo yummy. Today hubby and I got hot americanos from our favorite coffee shop I wish I had made the pumpkin muffins before our walk so we could enjoy them with our coffee. A good cup of coffee is one of my favorite pleasures, hubby and I are BIG coffee drinkers.  We enjoyed our coffee during our walk to get out and enjoy the fall sun.

Tomorrow is hang out day with the folks/laundry & weigh in. I am hoping to see good numbers on the scale despite my Thursday cheat, I'm not really sure what to expect. I  hope everyone is having a nice weekend :) Big hugs to all my friends, I really appreciate all of you!!!!!

P.S. Last night I watched Bridesmaids and I was delighted to see these cherry canisters in Annie's kitchen. I love love love everything cherry, I just can't get enough. These are just so sweet I wanted to share them with my blogger buddies.

I cheated on the FT :(

Hello friends, I think I might need to get myfitness pal to help me calculate the s/c in recipes such as the pumpkin bread recipe I found yesterday. Sometimes I wonder what we did with ourselves before the internet. I love having this blog and meeting so many new friends I think this low-sugar lifestyle is one I will try to sustain for the long haul. I am enjoying having a little  more fruit on the FT, I have been putting around 1/4 pear or apple into my salads...delish! Hubby and I have been having stir frys for lunch the past several days, but I burnt us out on those lol....back to my old standby salads. Today I made a yummy one with tri tip steak, sunflower seeds, avo, blue cheese, kalamata olives, pear and pomegranate seeds...delish.

I am feeling pretty guilty right now because we went out to dinner for my MIL's bday and I was naughty. I had buttered garlic bread and some pasta with shrimp....FT bad. I brought home most of my pasta and I plan to freeze it for another day. I hope I didn't mess up any progress I have made too badly. The only things that were available without pasta were salads, and I don't usually get a salad at a restaurant because I can make my own bad ass salads at home. Tomorrow I am going to exercise before work even if I have to force myself to do it. I have been wearing the lazy pants on the exercise front and I need to stop it.

I am so thankful that tomorrow is Friday, I could use a nice weekend to re-group and plan. I heard the weather is supposed to be nice, I would love to drink some yummy coffee and take some nice walks to enjoy the beautiful fall trees. As for the no poo thing I did it on Sunday and my hair still smells like vinegar when it's wet, I'm not sure if I could get past that enough to do it some more. I guess that's all for now have a wonderful night friends :)

Hello peeps, thanks for the great comments I really appreciate all of you so much! Life is good, today my boss told me that my co-workers think I am doing a great job and they enjoy working with me :) :) :) Sunday I made the maple chocolate version of coconut bread...yummy although I baked it a little too long, next time I'll take it out sooner. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen these days while hubby is doing homework. The only downside is I have to clean up all my messes.

One of my co-workers turned me onto the site http://pinterest.com/, if you aren't familiar with it check it out it's filled with beautiful things. I searched low sugar pumpkin bread on pintrest and found a recipe from the comfy belly that looks promising using xyiltiol as the sweetener.

Pumpkin Bread: http://comfybelly.com/2011/10/pumpkin-bread/#more-6927

Ingredients

• 1 cup of pumpkin puree*
• 1 cup of honey (or other sweetener; I used maple syrup)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice (or cloves)
• 2 cups of almond flour
• 1/2 cup of walnuts (optional)

* Pumpkin Puree

1. Slice the pumpkin (or other squash) in half (from stem to bottom), take out the seeds (and make toasted seeds).
2. Roast the pumpkin for about 1 hour (at 350 degrees F), face down, in some water that covers the bottom of the dish. You can also steam the pumpkin. Alternatively, you can dry roast it by wrapping it in foil and placing it in the oven. That would also reduce the moisture in the puree.
3. Cool the pumpkin, peel the skin off, and puree it in a blender or food processor.

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine all the ingredients (in the order listed) in a bowl and blend well.
3. Bake in a bread pan (I used a Pyrex glass dish, 5 inches x 9 inches) for 60 minutes or until the outside is very brown. The darker you go, the better it tastes (in my opinion). It might take a longer or a shorter amount of time depending on how moist your pumpkin puree is. When it’s done, a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Thank you Dawn for sharing your decision to go poo free and why peanuts are a no go on the FT. I guess when I read that part it just didn't sink in. I hope everyone is having a great week, whatever you are doing bfc, ft, ww keep it up, don't cheat and don't give up. If life is good and you are happy share it, if you are discouraged with your life/weight share it. The blog community is a wonderful place to seek support and encouragement. We only have one life and no one can live it for us, so we better make the best of it. :)