Long Time

Hey, It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but I knew it would be like this!  School is winding down and despite using more carbs and chocolate to help me through the treadmill has helped me keep my weight consistant at my goal!  I just took my wedding rings in to be re-sized and will have them back next week and bought a ton of new clothes!  Size 12- heck yeah!  :) 
Eli's speech is getting clearer every day even though he hasn't had therapy for a long time.  His therapist is on maternity leave and I still haven't heard about replacement or if they are going to comp the hours, but really it doesn't matter because he's doing well. 
We had a great vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge where we swam over 4 hours each day, did crafts, did Magi Quest (an interactive wand game that Ella became a Master at and defeated the dragon), and just had some wonderful family time.
We had Thanksgiving for Lyle's family at our house last minute due to a death in the family, but we all had a nice time I think and it went well. 
And now I only have one test and getting totally geared up for CHRISTMAS!  I'm so in the mood this year!  Can't wait!  Hopefully I'll have some tasty and somewhat healthy and/or allergy friendly recipes to share this holiday season!

Little update

Okay, so for inquiring minds I completed the second 10 day cleanse and did okay- I got back to my lowest weight which was a total of 35 lbs off!  While I didn't get any more off, I was pleased to get back on track with my diet, which I'm doing a decent job of sticking to.
Don't expect a lot of posting (not that I'm good at updating anyways) because school is back in.  So I'll be busy keeping up the workouts, diet, working, family time, and sanity to worry about a blog! :)  Hopefully the pounds will continue to slowly work off at this point and I can keep up my working out and have continued good results when I do get on to post!
Oh, and an update for Eli.  He's doing much better with his speech over the last few months with no help from a speech therapist.  He had his first meeting with the school speech therapist yesterday and was doing good about using sentences.  He's still not quite clear and does some "blending" of words which she'll work on for a little bit, but it doesn't look like he'll qualify for services long and will probably be discharged this fall sometime! :)

Renewed determination

So it's been awhile and I have been cheating a lot on my diet, not just once a day.  Luckily I've been sticking to my exercise so I haven't gained weight, I've just been staying consistant even though I have about 8 lbs to go to my goal of what I weighed when I got married almost 10 years ago!  Here's the latest "after" picture with the first before picture.

April 2012

August 2012

Oh my!  Right?!?!  Huge difference.  So now I'm getting back on track starting another 10 day cleanse to force me to stick to my diet (I just started day 3 today) and have a new exercise routine for the next 10 days at least.  On the first day I did 45 minutes on the treadmill, and whenever I walk on the treadmill I'm using resistance bands to work my arms, and I'm also using my exercise ball for crunches and pushups.  On the second day I did the Zumba Flat Abs video and then 30 minutes on the treadmill.  I will alternate each of these every day for the 10 days.  I will be done with the 10 days before my schooling starts, so while I need to keep up eating good and exercise I may not have the time to devote over an hour every day like I can the next 10 days.  So that's the plan and we'll see if I can make my goal- which overall is a total of 40 pounds gone!!!!!!

Eli's birthday and Two special treats!

The first of two birthday parties for Eli was yesterday and I made a few special treats just for him!
The first is an Eli friendly mini-pizza.  There was only one pizza sauce at the store without soy in it, so I bought that.  I used a corn tortilla for the crust, topped with sauce, lunch meat, and then his Diaya dairy free, soy free and gluten free cheese product that I've had in the freezer for over a year (I bought it at Jungle Jim's in Cinci on one visit with my sisters and haven't gotten around to using it).  That cheese stuff tastes funny, I can't lie.  But Eli doesn't know and loved it and loved saying he was eating pizza (usually he has salad bar at the pizza place while we eat pizza)  Here's some pictures.
 The ingredients:

 Pizza before cooking:

Pizza after cooking:

The next treat for Eli was ice cream sandwiches for his birthday!

I used Rice Dream ice cream, which does have Soy Lecithin which the allergist has said is okay, but we generally avoid.  We tried it anyways.  It has a little better texture than the Tempt Hemp milk ice cream we've tried before.  We sandwiched this between two enjoy life snickerdoodle cookies and tahdah!

 Here's the finished sandwiches:

Here's my big boy enjoying his pizza!  :)

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw

Had a yummy dinner last night- I made BBQ pulled pork and coleslaw.  I've been talking about pulled pork for weeks and been trying store bought pre-made and wasn't impressed, so I looked up recipes online and printed off Emeril Lagasse's recipe from the Food network website.  It included a recipe for the pulled pork, Essence ( a creole seasoning in the rub), a wet mop sauce, barbecue sauce and coleslaw.  It also has fried pickles, but I wasn't interested in that.  The pork and BBQ is Eli friendly, and he had some but not the coleslaw because of buttermilk and mayo.
Here's some pictures of the progress...
This is the pork before cooking...I prepared the rub and applied it the night before and also prepared the wet mop sauce (not pictured) the night before so the flavors can blend.

 This is the BBQ sauce, it was sweet and tangy!

 This is the pork after 7 hours at 225 degrees.  The juice on the bottom was the wet mop sauce that I basted the meat with every 45 minutes while cooking.

 This is the pork in the bowl after I shredded it.

 This is the homemade coleslaw- probably the best coleslaw I've ever had (but I'm not a big slaw fan)

 Eli's plate- potato chips, pulled pork and BBQ on the side.  The meat was quite spicy (from the cayanne pepper) but the sweet BBQ really toned it down.  That wasn't good enough for Ella who wouldn't eat it.  I think a lot of the spice was from the wet mop, so if I wanted to tone it down I might cut some things from that.

 My sandwich- yummy!  Pulled pork, BBQ, coleslaw on a honey bun!

 Yum- a good and messy sandwich! :)

Lyle and I loved it just the way it was!  The kids thought the meat was too spicy.  The link for the recipe is...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/barbecued-pulled-pork-sandwiches-with-homemade-bbq-sauce-cole-slaw-and-fried-pickles-recipe/index.html

Work out tip

So for those who might be reading this interested in weight loss....  if you work out using a treadmill consider upping the incline to boost calorie burning.
For example:
 10 minutes at 3 mph (a walk) with no incline burns 39 calories
 10 minutes at 3 mph with an incline of 3% (which isn't much) burns 53 calories
 10 minutes at 5 mph (decent jog) with no incline burns 102 calories
 10 minutes at 5 mph with 3% incline burns 114 calories

Totally worth the extra incline in my opinion! I do a program on my treadmill called fat blast that takes the incline up and down automatically and other than warm up and cool down is between 3% and 5% incline.  I then manually increase or decrease speed depending on my motivation or mood.  I always do at least 3.7 mph (good power walk) but when I feel like jogging take it up to 5 mph.  Today I did 60 minutes on this program, and 20 minutes in a row of it at 5 mph, then another 8 minutes later at 5 mph and the rest at 3.7 except a 3 minute cool down- this burn 544 calories!  I can eat my "cheat" food today knowing I've burnt most or all of it off already!
:)

1 month down!

Okay, so it's been a little more than a month, but I'm very excited about my results!  I've lost 5 more pounds this week, another inch off my waist and hips!  That's a total of 20 pounds!  YES!
Here's my before picture again..

This is after the 10 day Advocare Herbal Cleanse...

And this was today- after more than a month, 20 lbs, 4 inches off my waist, and 4 inches off my hips!

Feeling good and looking skinnier!  YAY!  :)

Message me if you want information on the Advocare products or a copy of the diet I followed.  It takes lots of commitment, and you need to work at the diet and exercising but it has been totally worth it for me! :)

Beef stew/chicken stew

So last night I made some beef stew. Sounded good and I haven't had any red meat in awhile. Of course Eli is allergic to beef so I had to make him his own stew with chicken, but I will say how I adapted his.

So I start by browning stew meat seasoned with Thyme.  If you're doing chicken you can grill it up at this point with whatever seasoning sounds good.  We had left over chicken breast for Eli's.

So after the  meat is cooked I throw in my onions and celery because I like the flavor it gives the meat and I like them super soft when I eat them.  If it were up to Lyle he would leave them towards the end because he likes them crunchy-but he wasn't cooking!

Then for ours I added butter to get ready to make a gravy- about a tablespoon because I don't drain the meat.  For those with allergies to wheat, the easiest way I make gravy for Eli is a corn startch gravy, usually with chicken broth then add it at the end.  If your not allergic to wheat but do have soy and milk allergies this spread is what we use for Eli.  Gluten, soy, milk free and we can finally get it in town now!

So next you add some flour, enough to soak up all the juices in the pan and a little extra, and let that cook in for a few minutes.  Then add some water or chicken/beef stock depending on your tastes, not quite covering everything and make sure you get everything stirred up well and all the goodies scraped off the bottom of the pan.

I bring that to a boil for about a minute the add all of my other veggies- carrots, potatoes in this case.  I save mushrooms until the potatoes are completely done so they don't get overcooked.  After you add the veggies add just enough water to cover them.  Boil until potatoes and carrots tender, add mushrooms and simmer until desired thickness.  We like a thick, chunky soup.  
For Eli's this time I boiled carrots and potatoes in chicken stock, added left over chicken, and added a little cornstartch to try to thicken it up hoping it would be an easier gravy than another dirty pan- it didn't work.  So boil everything you want and make a separate gravy, then simmer in gravy for a few minutes to get flavors in.  Here's the finished products.

Eli's chicken and veggies (gravy didn't really work)

Our beef stew

This would be my cheat meal for the day, because of the starchy veggies.  It was very yummy and worth it. 
The diet is still going strong and at last check in on Monday I had lost 15 lb!  It's totally working for me!

AdvoCare Products/ continued weight loss

So it’s been awhile, but   I’ve been trying to recover from my finals.  I passed my classes, one with an “A” and one with a “B”.  The “B” is weird for me because I’ve always been one to excel, but it was a very difficult class for myself and my family (because of my moods!) so I’m glad it’s over and I can look back and said I learned from it.

My latest weight loss measurements from Monday are:  down two more lbs for a total of 14!  Hips are down a half an inch, waist line stayed the same.  So not too shabby.  I’m hoping I can keep busy enough that I’m not tempted to snack and exercise even more without school work happening and keep the weight loss going through the summer. 

One test for me was yesterday baking cookies for a bake sale my mom is having for Relay for Life.  I did eat one cookie, but that was it!  So I feel I did good and it was my cheat for the day.  My friend Ty is distributor so  if you're interested in the products please order through her!  Also, make sure if you choose to do this to follow the diet exactly or else your gut won’t forgive you (think multiple bathroom stops!)  If you want the diet, product list with price or other info e-mail me and I'll e-mail it to you.  I was going to post it but it won't work without a lot of jibberish mixed in!

My distributor site: https://www.advocare.com/120311897/default.aspx
(you may need to copy & paste the link)> go to "Shop Now"
> go to "Benefit" on left hand side, "Weight Loss"
> you will order online, using a CC, super-easy!

No new recipes at this time, I’m considering after a few weeks of summer going to the library to get some ideas for low fat/low sodium/Eli friendly recipes to try!  So maybe in June after vacation!

Pictures of results so far

Okay, so I promised before and after pictures and I'm happy with the changes.  Smaller belly for sure!  :)


Before



After- 11 lbs off and 2 inches off waist, 1 inch off hips

Results/Lunch

So it’s been a few days since I blogged, but I had a big test, and have another two tests left so you’ll have to bear with me.  I also haven’t had a chance to get my husband to take an after picture, so that’ll have to wait a little too.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time making two broths for cooking that is healthier for us (lower sodium than store bought) and for sure safe for Mr. Eli.   I made roasted mushroom broth and veggie broth which I’ve made before.  Both recipes are from the Better Homes Cookbook, and I’ve frozen them to use over time. 

No exciting new recipes, but I’m mainly just doing seasoned fish or chicken breast and veggies.  Today’s lunch for Eli and I is southwest chicken breast, brown rice (made in my veggie broth instead of water- yummy!), and steamed asparagus.  Yum Yum!

My 10 day advocare results are as followed:  Lost 11 lbs total, 2 inches off of belly at belly button, 1 and ½ inch off from under my mom roll!, 1 inch off my hips, and at least 2 inches off my chest (wasn’t an original measurement so I don’t know for sure).  So a total of 6 and ½ inches from what I started and since then I’ve lost another half an inch off my belly!  I’m so happy with the products and it jump starting my attitude and weight loss.  Having success right away is an amazing way to start a program because otherwise you just work for months with no big results (which is what has happened before).  If you are interested in the products my friend Ty who recommended it and had great success is also a distributor.  Her website is here: https://www.advocare.com/120311897

My new diet now includes one freebie a night.  Last night I ate part of a KitKat and it just didn’t seem the same…weird but good.  Not craving that one anymore!  J  I’m planning on making some special potatoes the next time we’re all together for dinner as my cheating food for the day, and I’m looking forward to potatoes as I haven’t had one for almost 3 weeks now!  Going good and very happy!

Talapia

So last night we ate the Talapia...yuck.  Of course I have yet to eat Talapia not drenched in tartar sauce that I like.  Lyle and both kids loved it, but I wouldn't eat it.

I brushed the fish with olive oil, and put southwestern seasoning, cumin and cinnamon on it.  I don't know why, I just started putting stuff on it.  Along the side we had baked sweet potatoes. 

A good thing I made yesterday was a veggie rice soup.  I took carrots, celery and broccoli and boiled in water with some bullion cubes (Eli wouldn't be able to eat with bullion because it has wheat,  but I could have used chicken or veggie stock and he could).  I made brown rice in another pan and when the veggies had just a little crunch left I added the rice and enjoyed.  It was yummy!  Only problem was sodium content would have been through the roof.  I'm thinking I can make it very low sodium with a homemade veggie stock that I made before going through the cookbook for Eli!  Definately a must do again!  I could also add some chicken breast!

I have been doing twice a day workouts so today I did Zumba this morning, and will probably do my treadmill this evening.  I'm going to try to contain myself from weighing again until day 10 because I don't want to start obsessing about every pound!   Tonight is some kind of chicken dish with broccoli probably, maybe cauliflower, who knows?!

Eating Out

So.  Eating out on my diet plan probably isn't recommended, just because it's hard and you don't know how they prepare food.  Well Lyle promised Ella they could go get "Mickey mouse pancakes" at a local restaurant after dance, so off we went.  While we were waiting for our food, it made me think about how on this diet it's a little easier, but not much, than trying to find something Eli can eat.   I ended up with a side salad and small cup of vegetable beef soup.  Some of the vegetables in the soup I wasn't "supposed" to eat- corn, and the beef in it probably wasn't lean, but I can get away with cheating.  Poor Eli can't. 
So what do we do for Eli?  Well it depends. 
We absolutely LOVE Disney, for many reasons, but one is because whenever you make reservations and mark that you have allergies the chef will come to your table and prepare a special meal for the person with allergies.  Last year Eli wouldn't eat much but got several types of food for the first time ever.   This year we're very excited to go because he wants to eat stuff, we just can't let him.  So this will be a great experience for him!
Now that Eli can eat lettuce and likes it, we can go to places with salad bars and not have to bring much food.  Veggies and fruits on salad bars save us from having to bring those to restaurants and we've started frequenting places with that option a little more.  Just having a salad on the menu doesn't always guarantee it's safe- Fazoli's has cheese on theirs if  you don't specially order it and make sure they make a fresh one, not just try to take off the cheese (that happened to me once and there was still cheese in it).  These places we still take meat options for Eli, because you never know about marinades or some lunch meats have beef even if it doesn't sound like it should (pork hot dogs usually have beef).
 For unknown restaurants or places like we went last night, we just pack a meal.  Last night Lyle opened a can of tuna (which I thought was weird), and took a cup of peas and mandarin oranges.  We buy both fruit and veggie cups from the store for occasions.  Meat we more frequently take is turkey pepperoni, ham or turkey slices, or turkey hot dogs. 
Many restaurants have awesome menus to help you decide about allergies, so make sure you ask.  TGI-Fridays and O-Charlie's comes to mind right away.  Italian restaurants are also making special gluten free menus, but that doesn't help us a lot because of the soy allergy.  If they marinade their meat, I assume it has soy even if they don't know for sure.
Packing is easiest for us, but my biggest concern is once he gets bigger if someone will complain.  Of course we just won't eat there if they can't accommodate my son.  End of story!

Day 5 and Southwest Chicken

Today is Day 5 of my Advocare 10 day program.  I ran on the treadmill yesterday for 55 minutes doing a “cardio burn” program, and today did the same thing but 45 minutes.  I also did some light weight work and some AB reps.  Out of curiosity I checked my weight and measurements because I stepped on the scale last night and was pleasantly surprised.  Well, doing my “official” way to do my weight, I am down 8 lbs, and have an inch off my belly and ¾ of an inch off my hips!  YAY!  Awesome!

So last night I made a yummy, healthy family dinner.  We had garlic green beans, southwest chicken, and brown rice (for Eli, Ella, and I).

The garlic green beans are fresh green beans sautéed in a little olive oil with garlic.  That’s it.  Simple and we all like it.

The southwest chicken was chicken breasts, baked in a little olive oil and I seasoned both side with a very little salt and lots of pepper and Pampered Chef’s Southwest seasoning.  Very yummy and easy again. 

Brown rice was brown rice, and I made it right this time instead of soggy!  J  Tonight I’m thawing Tilapia and will need to experiment with seasoning to find a way I may like it. 

My goal is to have a BMI either normal or close to normal by the time I turn 30 (May 27^th).  And it would just be a shame to have to buy a new wardrobe for Florida this year! 

Cheater Cheater

So, since I'm being honest enough to post a picture....I did cheat on day 2, which really just hurts myself.   Not big cheats at least!  I had a deviled egg, which the egg part is okay, the mayo is bad!  And I also had a small piece of ham which is not a low fat meat.   These are both things that are okay AFTER day 10.  Once again, what kind of dummy starts this right before Easter?  Oh yeah, someone so busy she forgot about Easter!  haha!
Hopefully for day 3 I'll be good...even though that means missing my grandpa's Easter rolls. :(

New Plan, New Goals, Here's to a new me!

So I haven’t blogged for a long time.  Mostly because the purpose of this blog was me cooking things that Eli, with many allergies, and the whole family could eat.  At first this was a very overwhelming task, but as we have learned it is the most basic meals that Eli can eat and enjoy.  This includes chicken, turkey, fish and pork prepared in almost any way as long as we don’t use normal vegetable oil and seasoned any way, and fruits and vegetables.  Casseroles are out, but these are usually calorie and salt packed meals that most everyone should avoid.

A few months ago, Lyle cut his finger and ended up in the emergency room for stitches (nothing earth shattering in our world), but his blood pressure was through the roof!  200s/100s!  I have had people having heart attacks with better blood pressure.  I rechecked it at home a few days later and it was still 170s/90s, which is no good at all.  Since then he has been going to the gym 4-5 days a week and eating healthier with more fruits and vegetables, less snack food, and less beer!   His blood pressure is now down to 120s/60s and improves every time I check it, so he’s making his goals and has lost about 15 pounds.

Why do I share this?  Because my weight and health overall isn’t the best either and I’m taking the initiative to start a new diet and exercise and decided to blog about it.  That’s why!  And the greatest thing is almost all of the foods on my diet Eli can also have!  I can have eggs, which he can’t, and some nuts for snacks.  One great example is I made salmon on Friday for lunch, brushed with just enough olive oil to not stick, seasoned with salt and pepper and some fresh lemon juice squeezed on top.  This was served with a spring green salad with low calorie vinaigrette and brown rice. 

So this will now be a combination blog of my hopeful weight loss and diet, and the simple but tasteful recipes I come up with that Eli and I can eat together!

For the first 10 days I’m following a herbal cleanse that a childhood friend recommended and worked for her (she’s lost about 20 pounds!) and I hope it helps me jump start my program also!  So it is a little more restrictive than what my continued diet will be, but that just pushes me to make what I can eat a little more flavor filled without extra calories or fat!  Here’s a picture of the products:

And I’m going to be super duper brave and post before pictures, with the determination that after pictures will be better.  Please don’t mind my messy house. 

So, Day one is over, Day 2 is half done and I’m thinking- Who’s the idiot who started this right before Easter holidays?!  Haha!  Have a happy one!