Happy Good Friday!

I'm pretty excited for tonight.  Growing up during Lent we had a few staples on Friday's, Tuna Casserole was one of them and on Good Friday my mom always made Potato Pancakes.  Both of them are favorites of mine, a true comfort food girl at heart :)  Tonight my mom invited us over for Potato Pancakes.  It's been awhile since I've had hers, I don't think Chris ever has.  I've never tried making them before, I'll leave that to the experts (aka my mom).

Salad Dressing

So if you keep up with what I eat on a daily basis, you'll see a LOT of salads.  I usually have one for lunch everyday.  I get the pre-washed lettuce, throw it in a tupperware and add veggies and usually some sort of protein (tuna, ham, egg, etc.)  What I've been doing lately is buying a bad of mixed veggies (usually broccoli, cauliflower and carrots) and then cutting them up and using that in my salad.  The best part of a salad is the dressing right?  :)  I usually go with a "free" dressing from Kraft.  I try and find the lowest calories, fat free, low sugar, etc.  Part of the problem with those dressings though are the added chemicals and things they put in them.

As you know I love the Biggest Loser.  Well a few seasons back Hannah and Olivia (sisters) were the runner up and winner.  I LOVE them.  They have a website that I recently came across (http://myfitspiration.com/) that has a ton of great videos, inspiration, etc.  I just watched one that they talked about salad dressing.  Hannah recommends Bolthouse Farms dressings.  She said that the Salsa Ranch is her favorite and it's only 35 calories for 2 tablespoons.  That's a little more than my Kraft Free (I think it's around 25) but I really get sick of Italian dressing sometimes.

Olivia says that she likes to make her own dressing and the recipe sounds easy to make and yummy!  It's listed below.  Without adding oil is ZERO calories, now that's my kind of dressing!  If you do add the oil it's 42 calories, still not all that bad.  

Recipe1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
Dash of garlic powder
1/2 tbsp (or to taste) red wine vinegar (or vinegar of your choice)
1 tsp olive oil **optional**

Do you have any go to dressings that you love?  If so, let me know in the comments, I'm always looking for new ideas.  Thanks!

My "Burger"

I'm a little frustrated.  I talked to my doctor last night and he asked that I hold off a few more days before working out.  I know I promised that there would be gym time on the blog this week, unfortunately doctors orders (this time really not an excuse!)  That doesn't mean that I can't keep eating right though.

Last nights dinner was new for us.  I'd never made it before, so it was our test batch.  I made Portabello mushroom "burgers".  I grilled the mushroom caps on the Foreman grill and also grilled up some onions.  Then we added a slice of 40 calorie pepperjack cheese to the top of it.  We put that on a whole wheat sandwich thin.  Overall I thought it was pretty tasty and filling.  It could have used a little more seasoning, it was a bit bland.  I did put some onion and garlic powder on before grilling it, but that didn't seem to do enough.  What I really wanted was to put some balsamic vinegar on it, but we didn't have any.........next time.  As a side, we also made spaghetti squash in the microwave.  Chris pierced the squash all over with a fork then we put it in the microwave for about 15 minutes.  Then we let it cool for a bit and I cut it in half length wise, scooped out the seeds and then shredded it into strings (aka spaghetti).  I topped mine with a little Smart Balance butter and salt.  I really liked this dinner.  It was filling, good and something different.

Consistency!

I saw this picture/quote this morning and it first made me smile then made me think.  Consistency seems to be my issue.  I go all out for awhile and the first blip and I go back to my bad habits.  Same thing happens on the weekends.  I'll do great during the week and then on the weekend, it goes out the window.  I need to keep reminding myself to be consistent.  I don't think it's something I will ever be able to stop thinking about. Weight has been a big struggle for me for a very long time and I have to get in the mindset that this is a life change not a diet that ends at some point.

I Took the Weekend Off

I know my blogging and tracking has been a yo-yo lately.  I took the weekend off to recover and revive my motivation.  We had a very nice weekend.  I took Friday off of work and Chris and I spent the whole day together.  It was great.  We went to breakfast, did some shopping, ran some errands and saw TWO movies :)  It was just what the doctor ordered.  Saturday was one of our friends daughters 2nd bday party and then I went to part of a bachelorette party in the evening.  Yesterday we went to one of my friends houses for lunch and to hang out.  Overall it was a great, fun, much needed weekend.  My doctor told me I can start working out again this week so I'm happy about that.  I'll be starting back slow, but you WILL see workouts added back into my routine this week.  You'll also see my better eating habits reappearing.

Like I said before, the last few weeks/month have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster, but it's behind us now and I'm ready to move on.  Lets do this!!

I Went Over My Calories....

....but I have a reason.  I'm having a procedure done today and can't eat or drink until around 1 pm today.  So I thought if I ate a little extra last night I wouldn't be so hungry today, WRONG.  My stomach is growling and it's only 8:30 am.  Some hunger pains are probably good for me anyway :)

Last Night's Dinner

Yesterday we planned ahead!  By "we" I mean that I thought to take out fish from the freezer before I left for work and totally forgot so called Chris and asked him to do it, hahaha.  Dinner turned out pretty good if I do say so.  We had tilapia.  We get it from Costco, it's all pre-packaged so all we need to do is take out two filets in the morning and we're set for dinner.  I baked them in the oven.  I topped them with some Pam, onion and garlic powder, a dry rub we got in Hawaii on our honeymoon and some Italian breadcrumbs.  I popped that in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes and they were done.  I also made some corn and whole wheat pasta.  My favorite way to eat pasta is just with some butter (in this case Smart Balance), a little salt and some times a little garlic.  After dinner we both felt like we ate a bulb of garlic so perhaps I put on a little too much.  However, as Rachel Ray says, two garlics cancel each other out :)  Chris also took out some salmon (from Costco, shocker) so swap the salmon and the tilapia and we'll have the same dinner tonight.  Sticking with the Hawaii theme, I also opened up a bottle of wine we got while we were there.  Overall, pretty darn good meal!

  

Why Can't I....

....feel as motivated as I feel while watching The Biggest Loser for the rest of the week?!?!  Last night was the finale of The Biggest Loser.  I love that show!  My favorite contestant won, Dani.  She totally deserved it.  At the beginning of the season the group is broken into 3 teams.  Dani's team dwindled down FAST!  She was the only one left for a long time before they went into single's.  Even being the only person on her team, she won a lot of the team and individual challenges.  It doesn't hurt that she's from Chicago either :)  She lost 46.65% of her body weight, 121 lbs!!  She looks amazing!  Oh she also won by ONE pound!

Anyway, back to my point.  I feel so motivated while watching the show to want to do something about my weight and to look like the contestants do and then BAM the next morning it's back to the real world and loss of motivation.  Don't get me wrong, I haven't lost the desire to lose weight, in fact I'm more motivated now than I have been in a LONG time.  I just wish I would bottle up the feeling I get while watching the show and keep that with me all the time.

Tired, but Ready for the Day!

So I'm not going to lie, this weekend (as you can tell) I didn't to the best sticking to my diet.  I didn't go crazy, but I did not make the best food decisions.  So as I've said before, back at it today.  I know I sound like a broken record, but I think it's better to at least get back on track than it is to continue to spiral downward.  I had an early morning meeting this morning so I was smart and packed my breakfast/lunch last night.  Had I not, I'm almost positive that a salad would not have made it's way into my lunch bag but instead one of the burritos or something "easy" from the freezer.  I started off my morning with coffee, but instead of creamer or sugar I added the Almond Milk I bought yesterday, it gave it an interesting taste.  I think I can get used to it :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We've had quite the weekend!  It's been a fun one.  Friday we went to the Big 10 Conference.  My company sponsored it so there was a pre-game event, tickets to the game and a VIP room at the game.  We had a lot of fun.  Saturday we went to the dying of the Chicago River and the parade downtown.  The river part was fun, the parade was eh.  Way too many drunk high school/early college age kids.  The parade itself was just a bunch of people walking.  There weren't a lot of floats or music or anything, it was just ok.  Today we met up with our friends Eve, Pete and their daughter Olivia for lunch.  It's been a busy weekend, but a fun one :)

Lets Shoot Some Hoops!

I couldn't even tell you who's playing in the Big 10 Conference today, but Chris and I are going :)  My company is a sponsor, so we have a client event, hospitality suite and tickets to the game.  It should be fun.  Go team (who ever that is)!

Not as Hard as I Thought!

So yesterday was my first day tracking food again in a few weeks.  I'm not going to lie, in those few weeks I was bad.  Pizza, fries, burgers, fried things, etc.  Why can't I be the opposite?  When I'm sad/stressed/etc. why can't I NOT want to eat!  I guess that's just human nature.  Anyway, I started tracking again yesterday and it wasn't at all hard to get back on track.  It helps too because Chris is using My Fitness Pal to so we (and a few of our other friends) keep each other accountable.  It feels good to get back into a routine of healthy eating.  Who would have thought?  :)

I'm Back

I know it's been awhile, and I'm ok with that.  As many of you know, I've been dealing with a health issue and haven't really felt like blogging or worrying about what I'm eating, etc.   For those of you who don't know what's going on, don't worry it's nothing life threatening!  I'll be just fine.  It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster and quite honestly it's sucked.  Chris has been an amazing rock through it all and I love him even more now than I did before, if that's even possible.  A lot of you have also been an amazing support system.  Your kind words, thoughts and prayers have meant more to us than you'll ever know.  I feel like I've been operating in a fog for the past few weeks, however the fog is lifting.

I spoke with my doctor and we have a plan for what our next steps are.  Now that we have our plan in place, I feel like I can start living my life again.  The doctor has asked that I not workout for a few weeks, but that doesn't mean that I can't start eating right again.  So in the spirit of the blog title, no more excuses for not eating right!  I want to get healthy, move past this and start being happy again!

Thank you again for all of your support.  Whether you read my blog daily or not, I'll be here writing away, choosing to make healthy decisions and getting back on track.

Much love,
Nicole