The Spaghetti Squash Murderer....

Last night was my first attempt at making spaghetti squash.
At first I was very angry with the squash for being so difficult. I had to get my anger out....

Next I told it that we would need to scrape it's guts out. It was a bit hesitant but I threatened it with more yelling and it obliged.The guts were kinda gross. But I got over it.Plus, the seeds were rather friendly.Into the oven it goes:And soon to be into the tummy...
Review: Umm...I think maybe I didn't bake it long enough? It was kinda crunchy. But still good! And A healthier option to pasta! I may have possibly made up for those carbs with a couple more slices of bread... :)

and btw...i burnt the seeds...oddly the smiley face came out as a sad one....

On to a more "serious" topic....

Not sure if you all noticed my little formspring box on the right here>>>
You can ask me anonymous questions here and I just might answer on my blog!

Well apparently two people have asked me a question...WAHOO!

First Question:

"how do you stay motivated? i find myself so lazy at times"

Wow. Motivation. I honestly sat in bed thinking about this question for a couple of hours last night. I hate to sound cliche to the "weight loss blog world" and I'm sure you've heard this before, but here is my full and honest truthful answer:

I stay motivated because I know this is not a short term thing. This is an entire lifestyle change that I intend to use for the rest of my life. When I think of it that way, I don't beat myself up for splurging on anything. In fact, I rarely feel guilty for indulging in "non diet" food. (If you have been a follower of mine for let's say...longer than 2 days... you will know that!). In the past when I tried to lose weight, I would fall "off the wagon" as soon as I made one mistake.

My motivation is the fact that I want to be able to say to myself, my family, and my friends that I truly do lead a "healthy life." Weight loss is just an advantage of that.

I don't eat "healthy" things 100% percent of the time. But I do recognize that each snack or meal is a NEW chance to make a healthy decision.

There are a lot of other things that keep me "motivated"- to look hot in a bikini, to have a healthy pregnancy (when that time comes), to feel confident in my own skin. But to me, these are all results of a decision to live a healthy and active lifestyle.

Hope that makes sense to someone?!?!

Second Question:

Why are you so cute?

Aw. That was a nice one. I think my cuteness comes from the ability to completely and utterly embarrass myself (hence the previous squash pictures). Seriously, you should try it sometime!

Ask me more questions through my formspring box and I may answer in a future post!

Also, thank you so much to everyone who helped with my "what to eat pre-run" inquiry. The resolution was so very simple that I even embarrassed to admit it: don't eat right before your run!! (or not at all) So I am now making more of an effort to eat about 1-1.5 hours before I head out. It has worked thus far! :)

Going to the coast

One of the best things about living in Western Washington is that you are never too far from a trip to the ocean. Saturday was a perfect day for a trip to Hansville with my trusty pup and my friend Olivia. We had such a great time! My goal was to burn some calories and have some fun: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. :)

Chloe and I enjoying the waves:My friend Olivia with the furry face:Olivia was nice enough to control the camera for the afternoon and got some great shots. To check out more, you can visit my photo blog.

Bite for the day:

Remember how I made turkey burgers on Thursday? Well I cut up one on Saturday for lunch and made a BBQ wrap out of it. Yum!

HELP!

On Tuesday I tried to run 3 miles again. I made it about 2.5 and then I had to stop...I felt SO nauseous. I figured it was because I hadn't eaten anything that morning.

Then today I went out to run again. I ate an applesauce right before I left. I only made it about 1/2 a mile and had to stop again- I felt nauseous, but even worse than before!

My race is coming up in two weeks and I really need to figure out what to eat before it! Anyone have any ideas for me??

Last night I came home and literally started throwing ingredients together. I made turkey burgers....and OMG were they yummy!!

I have no recipe for you because like I said I literally just started throwing stuff in a bowl...what I can remember is obviously ground turkey, onions, garlic, mozzarella cheese, worcestershire sauce, onion powder, paprika, and salt. Seriously this was the bomb!! I then grilled it on our George Foreman grill!

Trick Your Man Tuesday's: Streching the Eating Comfort Zone

Well I'm remixing Trick Your Man Tuesday's this week because, well, frankly I couldn't think of anything to "trick" my man with this week. I did however, make him a little uncomfortable by forcing him to step out of his eating comfort zone. What do I mean by this you say?!

Eating with your hands.

That's right folks, my big buff, 6'3" manly man (can you tell i think he's a hunk :0) ) took part in a new tradition at our house this week:

Thai Lettuce Wraps
(click on link to get recipe!!)

My adventure on Friday night took me to the grocery store, where I went well equipped with my color-coded grocery list in hand:(no I'm not really this crazy all the time...I was bored!)

I finally made it out of the store alive--and headed back to the house to begin the amazing meal:
Double chin you will always remain my cursed enemy!!

I chopped...and I chopped...and I chopped. There was quite a bit of work in this meal. Definitely not a quickie....but what a dish it turned out to be!And it just so happens our lovely friends came to join us. Check us all out ready to feast!!And here's the hubby...hands on ready for this wrap experience!! (please excuse the tongue and my crazy eyes)
I have to say, he did well. And its kind of nice to have a clear conscious this week...no tricking involved!! ;)

Make sure to stay tuned tomorrow as I tackle a rising crisis in America: Dog Obesity.

Weigh In Week 15: Valentine's- One FUN Blunder

Valentine's day. When Kellen and I woke up yesterday we had vowed to swear off valentine's day this year. Why? Because we figured: why do we need a day to show each other we love each other? Why not do that every day?

Now, of course in my deepest darkest secrets I was so hoping he would reveal a dozen roses and a box of chocolate he had hidden under the bed. No such luck. Apparently he took our "let's not make valentine's day a big day" seriously. OH MAN....he has some years to learn I guess :)

However, that didn't mean we weren't going to spend some quality time together! We ended up heading out mid morning and going for a short hike in a nearby town. Have I mentioned to you all that I have made a pact with myself to explore as much as I can of the nearby towns I live close to this year?

The hike was ok, but mostly it was just good to spend time with him. For lunch we headed to the grocery store and picked up some ingredients to make his favorite: paninis. Here is where the diet demise of the day began.

Check out this sandwich:Turkey.Brie.Tomato.Spinach

So Good. Could I have chosen to eat only half? Yes. Did I? No. :) But it was definitely one of those choices that I didn't feel like I had wasted my calories. This thing was perfect!

After lunch we set out to get our bike tires filled and went on a short ride, until it started pouring down rain!! It was actually kind of fun riding in the rain and when we got back I was soaked.

That night we went over to our friends Jared and Olivia's house. The men made a GOURMET dinner while Olivia and I did "girl stuff" including playing for quite a while with her MAC photobooth:
Then dinner was served. OK guys, this is where the amazingness comes out:Chicken with blackberry butter sauce, risotto cakes and broccolini (must say with Italian accent)! Heaven on a plate!

To top that off, the guys even made us homemade eclairs!! What studs!!
After dinner Kellen and I got a chance to snap some pics of us two:Say Cheese! Ah. What a fun day :)

Oh.....now you are wondering about the weigh in huh?!?

Well first of all I just have to say that whoever invented superbowl sunday and valentines day to be within one week of each other this year....I CURSE YOU!

Also, his name is probably TOM, because that's a factor in this game too.

But I can't be toooooo angry because....I lost a pound this week. That's a total of 23.5 pounds! I am so close to seeing a brand new weight decade! Next week will be the week.

I want to HOLLER OUT to my girl Tiff @ Project 365--last week she left me a comment on my weigh in day that said "Make that scale show you what you want." WOW. So simple. So true. This saying has been echoooooing in my head all week, Tiff, and you were like my little weight loss angel sitting on my shoulder!! hehe. She is such an inspiration and if you haven't checked out her blog yet you are missing out!

Hope you all had a wonderful valentine's day, no matter if you protested against it (like us!) or accepted chocolate and flowers with open arms.... ;)

YAM-bam-THANK-YOU-MAAM'!

Yesterday was a lazy day for the two of us.

A day doing nothing is pretty much a slice of heaven for me in this whilrwind called life. I got to try out a couple of new recipes that I have really wanting to try.

For dinner I decided to go with a Chicken Strips and French Fries theme- Nicole style- This included chicken made from my Weight Watcher's Book called "Southern Oven Fried Chicken."
The recipe essentially calls for fat free buttermilk to dip the chicken in, and then a mixture of flour, crushed up corn cereal, and salt. Dip the chicken "bits" (cut up chicken breast) in the buttermilk and coat with the flour mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 or so. That's it. SUPER simple and delicious. I've been making this one for a WHILE, as you can see:I also decided to venture down sweet-potato-fry alley. However, with my SMALL brain and even smaller knowledge of sweet potatoes, I accidentally picked up YAMS!! Oh well, it worked
out great anyway and the hubby actually LOVED this recipe!! (Olive Oil and Johnny's Seasoning (I'll be posting about this seasoning more soon--heavenly!). Then just bake these bad boys along with the chicken (keep a close eye on them as they cook faster).

I also added in some yummy asparagus to top it off. YUMALICOUS!
And just for kicks, here is where my pup likes to sleep during dinner time:
Stay tuned tomorrow for my WEIGH IN post and a valentine's day special!! :)

Life Without Pizza is No Life At All

Yes, this is an actual magnet on our fridge. And it is just so true: pizza- the food of the gods! This amazing dish spans countries and generations. And here at our house, pizza makes a very regular appearance.

Last week I got an inkering (is this a word??!) for some good pizza grub. But since my goal mainly has been to take my favorite dishes and transform them into lower calorie goodness, I was presented with a challenge....

I can't remember who asked the question, but I was reading a blog a couple of weeks ago where someone asked ways to make a lower calorie pizza. Someone suggested using the la tortilla wraps for a crust (possibly Kaitlin @ Everyday Grace??). So I scooted on over to my local Albertson's and picked up some la tortillas, and some other ingredients:I was a little skeptical of the tortilla for a crust....but I decided to try it. I put the ingredients together and broiled it in the oven. Then I wrapped it up like a burrito. And can I just say....YUMMMMMM
If you saw my food journal for the past couple of weeks you would be quite surprised to see the entry "PIZZA WRAP" in their QUITE a few times. Rough calculations say this delicious lunch is about 250 calories. But it is FILLING! Man, I was surprised how long this kept me full.

Last night I ventured into the real crust world. I figured it was probably a good idea to use some frozen crust I had picked up at Trader Joe's a while ago (A garlic and herb dough). I used essentially the same ingredients, except the dough. OH! and I added some pineapple. SO good. And of course this was spilt with my eating machine hubby so I beefed his up a bit. Can you tell which side is mine?!If you missed it, I also made some mini pizzas on Sandwhich Thins on Sunday. However, I would HIGHLY recommend the pizza wrap over the minis!!Well those are my pizza creations....that's a wrap (no pun intended...ok maybe it was...)!

Trick Your Man Tuesday's: Second Edition

Welcome to my new weekly installment of "Trick Your Man Tuesday's" If you missed last week's episode, you can click HERE to check it out.

Trick Your Man Tuesday's was invented in order to try to get my husband eating healthier food choices without his knowledge. Is it only me or do we all get a little sense of satisfaction when the people around us have no idea that what they are eating is just a little bit better for them, and we don't have to hear their hesitations?

This week on the menu was spaghetti and ceaser salad. The healthy switches? Ground turkey for regular ground beef and low fat ceaser in place of regular.

This was a very daring event as my cooking this week had to be done quickly without the notice of the subject, who was playing video games on the couch! (Notice said subject in background, please forgive me for the crappy photo as I was trying not to draw attention to the frying pan)And here is my frying pan creation: Ground turkey with spaghetti sauce. I was a little worried about the color of the meat as this might be a big indicator....we will see....

While the pasta was a' cookin, I threw together some lettuce and low fat ceaser dressing. Did I mention the low fat part??! SHHHHHHHHH mum's the word!And here is the final spaghetti product. My portion/his portion. Man that man can eat!
THE VERDICT:

It went a little something like this:

Meal was inhaled (on both parts, i was hungry!)

End of meal...

Him: Um...is this like chicken or something?
Me: OH....uhhh...yeah...uh....ground turkey...*slight smile* But it was good wasn't it?!?
Him: Yeah....*smiling* But why ya gotta cheat me like that??!

(no comment on the ceaser)

We both laughed. It was a good moment. And I think he may just be open to the ground turkey a little more....

MISSION SUCCESSFUL!!


After dinner the leftover cookies were consumed by the subject. Yay for no more temptation for me!

Weigh In Week 14: Superbowl Munchies Got the Best of Me

Guten Morgen everyone! (Had to throw some German out to ya!)

This morning my weigh in was as follows:
-.5

That is basically the littlest amount I've lost thus far (other than gaining after Christmas). But, I'm not really surprised. For one, I've been doing this long enough now to notice that the weigh loss right before I start my period is always pretty small. Also, I kind of cheated this week...A LOT. including superbowl....it was sort of my demise.

I started the day off good with my favorite breakfast of lowfat waffles, banana, and PB. YUM.

Then for lunch I made mini pizzas:I sort of left these bad boys under the broiler a little to long...they were a little crispy...and just ok. (Made on an arnold's sandwhich thin)

The rest of the...yes, well, we will not speak of it. Let's just say there were chocolate chip cookies, tortilla chips, and hot wings involved. YIKES!

HOWEVER, good news is that I got my hair cut this weekend, FOR FREE! My friend Olivia did it! And she even dyed it (brown) and gave me bangs. I look smokin'! (humble, aye?)
Next week I'm looking for a better loss- at least one pound will make me happy. I am starting off the morning with c25K 9.1. We will see how 30 straight minutes running goes....

PT: We're all here because we're not all there.

Yesterday was really fun. It started out with a super yummy breakfast that Kellen and I like to make once in a while:This dish consisted of red potatoes, eggs, onions, and bacon. Calories? A lot. But don't worry people! I lightened my version up--egg whites and turkey sausage in stead of regular eggs and bacon. Here's a pic of my plate:Yum!

After Breakfast we headed to Port Townsend. It's a town on the Puget Sound. Our first stop there was Fort Warden state park. This park used to be a military base and has a ton of cool old military bunkers to explore. It also has some hiking trails up to higher bunkers and such. It was SO fun!Here we are exploring the bunkers:All in all it was great exercise!
We sat down on a seat we found at the park and ate our lunch:

Tuna fish sandwich on 45 calorie bread. A perfect packed lunch. I tried feeding Chloe some carrots but she wouldn't go for it!After lunch we went into town. Downtown Port Townsend is a super cute strip of shops and cafe's. If you'd like to see some more pictures I took around the town there, you can click here to be linked to my photography blog. To wrap up our day, we headed over the Courtyard Cafe. I ordered the "Way to Aunt Katie's Heart- Peanut Butter Pie"Don't worry guys! I didn't eat it all. It was pretty delicious, but I resisted!
This place even makes there own Marshmallows! I didn't try them, but Kellen and I definitely plan on it next trip we take!

Such a wonderful day!