Baby Steps

Hello everyone, my blog is under construction, I came to the realization that I need a change. I also need to change my approach to diet/fitness. I need to stop making excuses and I need to sit down and plan for my short term and long term goals, and make a list of the baby steps I need to take to get there. My March goal poster was a good start, but it got me thinking that I want and expect more from myself.   Last week I did ok in my diet and fitness, but frankly I drank too much wine to really see a difference, so I have some ideas for how to be more successful this week.

This Week:

• I asked hubby to exercise with me in the morning, because I have been having trouble finding motivation to exercise before work. To get the fit/toned healthy body I want I know I need to consistently exercise.
• To continue to take the stairs at work on breaks
• Eat lots of green veggies/ green soups.
• Stop using watching tv shows on hulu as an excuse not to exercise, read, and blog.
• To stay connected with my bfc friends via the blogs and fb's bfc page.

My goal poster is awesome :)

Hello everyone, sorry I wasn't on the blogs much last week my computer is having some problems, I got a virus but hopefully hubby can fix it for me. I am loving my goal poster it's it is helping me to get back on track with consistent diet and exercise. I didn't get as much exercise in as I wanted hubby and I were both tired last week and we had a hard time getting out of bed, but I did get two good days in. I have also started doing the stairs at work on my lunch break.

• Last Sunday the scale was 139.5 yesterday it was 136 :) Several changes helped me to lose weight this week, First of all I hubby and I went back on the fast track, chips were a big contributor to our February weight gain. I tried to drink a ton of water each day and for flavor I added cucumber and lemon slices.
• I made a weight watcher veggie free inspired soup with a little onion, garlic, asparagus, spinach, celery, and kale and low sodium chicken stock. I added chicken or shrimp for protein.
• I started doing the stairs at work on my lunch break. I was inspired to do that when I saw in a magazine that Jordin Sparks from American Idol used stairs to help her get started on her 30 lb slim down :)
• I ate the flax muffin for breakfast with some eggs, turkey sausage and I had one for lunch with my soup.
• And I ate only the food I brought to work and didn't nibble on any wheat thins or cheeze-it's.

Goal poster

Hello everyone, I'm sure it's no big surprise but February was a little rough for me I fell off the wagon and I gained about 5 lbs :( I ate way too many chips, and I didn't watch my portions, drank a too much wine, yada, yada, yada. I think I allowed myself to emotionally eat and drink because I had been doing good and I thought I deserved it, and the more I did it I lost sight of what was once in awhile became too frequent. I am annoyed with myself 5 lbs means my jeans don't fit the way I want them to and that really irritates me. Don't worry I'm not having a pity party I thought about my bad choices and I came up with a plan to help me get back on track.

As you can see I made myself a goal poster for March, I bought several health/fitness magazines and cut out pictures and words to inspire and motivate me. I made a calender where I plan to write down my exercise and on the back I plan on tracking my food. I am excited and motivated!!! I am glad to be back on the wagon, and back to our blogging community :)

Concerning our house I don't have a lot of news, the house is in short sale so the bank can take as much time as they want before they review our offer and get back to us. This is a little frustrating but we are optimistic.

 

Hello everyone, sorry I have been a little MIA lately, I've been a mixture of busy and also just plain lazy. Last Tuesday hubby and I had a lovely Valentines Day, hubby cooked us steak, shrimp and asparagus and we enjoyed some delicious red wine. We decided that we need to be a litttle more disciplined about our red wine intake because we both put on several lbs the past several weeks to to wine and carb indulgence. I have decided to stop weighing myself for awhile because I found I was getting obsessed with the number on  the scale. Right now I am focused on healthy bfc/ft eating and exercise, and lots of water.

I just wanted to make this a quick post to let you know that I have not fallen off the wagon. I took time to re-focus on my eating and exercise. I saw this picture on pintrest and it is so motivational to me I had to share it with all of you. I will write a more detailed post in the next several days and I will share some pics of the flax bread/muffins I have been making for breakfast. (I don't want to bother hubby with putting the pictures on the computer tonight because he is busy with homework)

Big hugs to everyone, and special thoughts to my friends who are going through tough times, I am sending you lots of love from Washington State :)

Reckoning day after Super Bowl

Good evening everyone!!! I had a really nice weekend, Friday night hubby and I had a nice pork chop salad and some wine and watched Top Chef, Saturday while he did homework I went over to my folks and did laundry and hung out with my Mom and Sadie dog (my Dad was out of town visiting his brother) My Mom and I had some nice conversations, I told her more about our dreams for getting a house and once we have a house getting a puppy and eventually having babies. My Mom is such a neat person, you guys would really like her. She and my Dad are doing the FT, she has lost 2 lbs and my Dad has lost 15 lbs :) My Mom doesn't really need to lose much her goals are similar to mine she wants to slim down and tone up. We have very similar bodies.

Today was my weigh in day that's counts and thankfully it was better than I expected, 135.5 lbs this week compared to 133 last Sunday, but during the week I was between 135-137 lbs. So all in all I gained back 2 lbs of the 3 lbs I lost after the holidays...but I am looking at it as  a glass half full kinda thing rather than glass half empty. What I could have done better was eaten less carbs Superbowl Sunday because I drank red wine and ate chips and dip (I know I ate more than a serving of chips and a serving of wine) and during the week I polished off a bag of chips without thinking. I think the morale of my story is it is important to pay attention to portion size of high carb things like chips especially since they slide down so easily, I think that is a big reason I try not to keep them around. it's way to easy to eat too many before you realize what you have done. And chose between drinking red wine or eating chips or other carbs, not both at the same time.

As I said in my last post I am back on track and I am getting enough fiber in, my #2 problem is also back on track. Hubby and I have been eating a lot of flax seed muffin/bread things things that I first saw in Minichick's blog. We have been taking 1/4 c ground flax meal, 1 egg, 1/4 tsp baking powder, a small amount of melted coconut oil or butter, mixing everything in a dish and then using a spatula to spread it onto a salad plate and baking it for 2 mins. the result is a delicious flat piece of flax bread that I have been using for breakfast or snack. Sometime this week I will try to share pictures.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend, I have lots of love and appreciation for all of you :)

Makes you think

Good morning everyone, I saw this on pintrest this morning and I wanted to share it with everyone. I  love this visual with the sugar cubes next to the food items it really helps me to envision the sugar in food.
Life here is pretty exciting, we put an offer in on the house we love and the owners accepted it, now we are waiting for the banks approval because it is a short sale. One of my co-workers had a beautiful baby boy this week and another co-worker is adopting a baby boy who is due any day now. I just turned 29 and now I feel ready to start preparing to get pregnant. I am excited I am going to start making some goals to prepare and I am going to make a goal chart. We are thinking of trying next year because hopefully we will be in a house and hubby will be more in the middle of school than at the beginning.

In my last post I said I thought I did pretty  good at the Superbowl party, well I think I ate a ton of salt because the scale was up 4 lbs on Monday :( It's been going down every day but man it has been annoying. I also realized that I have been slacking on fiber because my #2's haven't been that good lately, so I've started tracking everything again. I think if things don't fit the way you want it's time to go back to the basics, keep it simple and keep track of what you are doing and make adjustments accordingly. My rule of thumb jeans still don't fit the way I want them to but I know that with keeping track of what I am eating and my exercise I will get there soon. Have a wonderful Friday everyone :) TGIF

Superbowl Sunday

Hello everyone I hope you had a nice superbowl Sunday if that is your cup of tea. Hubby and I went to a party and I feel good about what I ate I mostly had some chips and guacamole and some red wine. It helped that we had a hearty chicken salad before we left the house and when we got there I visited and then sat down away from the food to watch the game with my water. Shortly before halftime we sat down with our realtor and signed papers for an offer on the house we saw the last week. Please pray or think good thoughts, this would be an awesome house for us.

On Friday we went out to dinner at Applebee's and I was disappointed that I couldn't find any of their foods from the BFC Quick Meals book on their menu. I ended up getting one of their under 550 c dinners with steak and shrimp and broccoli and potatoes. Everything was tasty except the broccoli boarder lined on raw but I didn't care after eating my steak and shrimp.

Life is good up here, except for having some chips today I have mostly been doing the ft, the scale today was 133 :) But I'm not super focused on a number, I know how I want to look and my clothes to fit. Have a wonderful new week tomorrow :)

I love my new BFC Quick Meals Book

Hello everyone, I have the most wonderful news to share, today hubby and I looked at a house that would be so perfect for us. The neighborhood is great it's only several houses down from a nurse I work with and she says she loves living there. It has three bedrooms, two baths, a finished basement and a two car garage, and we like the schools available. To my friends who are familiar with my area it's near Manito Park which we love. We really hope that this house works out for us, we didn't see any big problems with it today but obviously we would need to have it inspected and learn more about it. The biggest problems that we saw were cosmetic, the inside and outside could use a good paint job. One of the bedrooms is lime green, I don't think that I could sleep in a lime green room, but no big that's an easy fix.

Last week I bought the Belly Fat Cure Quick Meals at costco for $11.59, which is a much better price than walmart's $17 I saw the other day while picking up a prescription. I have to admit I was skeptical of the quick meals book, I thought Jorge was just trying to make more money.  I love that Rosalie is featured in this book on pg. 11 I have lots of love for Rosalie, she has helped me stay on the bfc wagon :) Big hugs Rosalie, you rock!!! I think this will be really helpful to me when I eat out. For Christmas we received a gift card to Appplebee's, the asiago peppercorn steak on pg. 27 looks delish. I think this will also help me to make better choices as arby's and subway. I really wish PF Changs was included in this book, we also received a gift card there and it seems a lot of their stuff is carby or in sauces that seem to be filled with sugar. I haven't eaten there since starting the bfc. Has anyone eaten there since doing  the bfc/ft? If so what did you get?

So far the weight I lost before and during the  Fast Track Detox Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman  is staying off, each morning I weigh between 133-134, I don't know about hubby I know he doesn't weigh every day but he is looking good. In response to Dawn's question I didn't buy a lot of supplements, I've done this before so I already had the hydrochloric acid for the sequel, and besides making sure I had enough of the veggies she recommends I just bought dandelion tea to supplement the pre-quel. Dandelion tea may be good for the liver but it tastes nasty, and do does dandelion greens. Hubby told me tonight that he has had more energy since doing the fast and I agree, my mornings have been much easier and I don't feel so tired all the time. P.S. during the detox I didn't add orange juice to the cranberry juice because I didn't have one and I didn't want to make a special trip for it, I just added an extra lemon (plus I think not having the extra sugar from the orange was good since I try to eat low sugar  even fruit sugar on the bfc)

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