2 Weeks Until....

Hey everybody!!

How was your weekend?  Mine was crazy busy, but a lot of fun! I am a bit sleepy today and was actually happy to come back to work for a break lol

Did you get in some good exercise?  Try some air popped popcorn?  I baked, but only did limited sampling.  I hope it worked because this Wednesday is the moment of truth on whether I hit my goal or not! If I don't, I won't get discouraged, I will continue on and when I get there I get there!

So two weeks today is Christmas Eve, can you believe it! The stores are lavishly stocked with so many temptations it's crazy!  One of the ways that you can keep those temptations at bay is have a meal before you go out, drink a large glass of water, or go for a big run/walk.  The eating and drinking will make you full and therefore you will not want to purchase a big box of cookies and if you do some exercising you will feel proud of what you have just accomplished and will hopefully not travel down the candy isle.

With that said, I know how much everyone wants to enjoy this time year and I don't want you to not eat treats, but you just try to do consume them in moderation.


I came across this very easy/healthy snack that I want to share with you.  It's a no bake cookie recipe! My favourite! I tried it out this weekend and they were so good!  Totally killed my cravings to eat the other more fattening treats that I baked.

No bake energy bites!

Give these a whirl and before you stick your hand in that cookie jar, reach for one of these!!

Enjoy and chat with you tomorrow!

Weekend fun!

Hey guys!

I am so sorry I didn't get to write to you yesterday! It was a very crazy day at work yesterday and I had an appointment to get to right after that took a few hours.  By the time I got home it was time for bed.

Well happy Friday again! I can't believe the weekend is here already! What do you guys have planned?  I have a very busy next couple of days and they are going to test my restraint as I am out pretty much every day!  I am off this afternoon to a Christmas German market and you better believe I will be tempted by oodles of tasty treats.  I intend to have a good lunch before so that I don't end up hungry around all the freshly baked goods. I was good this morning too, I got up and did our ab work out and our full leg workout.  Then I vaccummed the entire house...that is surprisingly good exercise!

Tomorrow I have a good hike scheduled and then I am off again to a Santa Claus parade.  This is no ordinary Santa Claus parade.  This is a big festival! There will be alcohol and very delicious, but not waistline friendly food.  Fortunately I am driving so I will be keeping my alcohol consumption to a minimum and as for the calories, I am going to do my best to eat more green things than fried lol Wish me luck!

And Sunday I am downtown Toronto for a concert!  I think we will cook dinner at home so I am not tempted to order something off of a menu.

I will do my ab/leg work out again on Sunday to keep that up and I am going to keep walking and try my best to not be tempted by items that will not help my goal this week.

So for this weekend I want you guys to have a lot of fun, do a lot of laughing (that burns calories too and can be quite an ab work out on it's own!), remember to watch what enters your mouth and do some moving around!  Go dancing tomorrow night!

Weigh in Day # 4

Oh heavens...I have gained a pound.

 Alas, the shortbread cookies have gotten the best of me.  With that said, I think I am finally starting to tone up! I have been routinely walking/hiking everyday and doing Zumba at least twice a week for the past 6 weeks and the other day I put on some lacy garments and definitely noticed a difference! I felt wonderful about myself.  I am not where I want to be weight wise and don't have my dream body yet, but I am slowly going to get there!

You have to take everything in stride! While I may have eaten one too many cookies this week I know for a fact that I ate healthier than the week before so I think this pound I have gained may be attributed to something else.  I was very stressed out over the past week due to personal reasons and that definitely could have played a roll in the weight gain.

So what am I going to do about it this week??? I am going to continue drinking lots of water, keep drinking that green tea and concentrating on cooking up some healthier recipes.  I will share tonight's dinner below.  I am also going to kick up my exercise regime.  Along with Zumba and my walks I am going to do those ab/leg/butt workouts 3 more times before the next weigh in.  Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday will include those.  Combined the whole work out is only 20mins! So short, but so good!

Treat yourself to a glass of wine and this delicious, but still healthy recipe that all the men in your life will totally love and then give it your all this week to hit that goal you have for next Wednesday!  You can do it!!

Turkey Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Ingredients
1tsp vegetable oil
7 slices turkey bacon (this is suprisingly tasty and is only 25 calories/piece!)
1 pound extra lean ground turkey
1 cup shredded cheese
1 egg
1/2 small onion, diced
1 slice french bread, crumbled (I leave out the bread)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic powder (I use 1-2 cloves of fresh minced garlic)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp yellow mustard
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat & cook turkey bacon until browned and crisped, about 5mins per side.  Drain bacon on paper towels, crumble when cool
3. Mix cooked bacon with ground turkey, cheddar cheese, egg, onion, crumbled french bread, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and pepper; turn the turkey meatloaf mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and form into a loaf shape in the middle of the dish.
4. Mix ketchup, mustard and brown sugar together in a bowl, stirring to dissolve brown sugar. Spread the mixture over the turkey loaf
5. Bake the turkey loaf in the preheated oven until the juices run clear, loaf is no longer pink in the middle and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the loaf reads at least 160 degrees F, 45mins to 1 hr

Here are the Nutritional facts; Calories - 253 - not too bad!

This is very delicious I assure you!

Enjoy and get ready to kick some butt tomorrow!!

How are we doing?

Hey guys!

How are you doing on this fine Tuesday afternoon?  I just wanted to take today to see how everyone was doing? 

If you have been following me and have attempted some of my suggestions what do you think?  Are some of them working for you?  While we are technically in the same shell, our insides are very different one another.  Something that may work me in losing a few pounds or inches may not work for you.  It really is all about experimenting.

I really do believe that by eating better and exercising more, you will lead a happier and more healthier lifestyle.  It is not about the number on the scale or the size of your pants, it's how you feel about yourself on the inside.  That will always an forever reflect your confidence on the outside.

For me personally, I think the next step is going to be writing everything that I consume down.  This will allow me to really watch what I eat and maybe swap some of those chocolaty treats for some healthier snacks.  My goal when I started this blog was to lose weight.  I am on the right track, but after the holidays I will need to kick it up a notch.

I still think I will be able to attain my goal of 5lbs next week, but then I may just try to keep it there until January comes.  With Christmas right around the corner it will be tricky.  I think if I can maintain my short term goal weight I will be happy.  But who knows! Maybe I will go for a few more lbs.  That would be something to follow for sure!

I know for a fact that I could be drinking more water, green tea and exercising a little it more.  While I walk a lot and do zumba, I am not on a routine with toning up.  Starting on Thursday, I intend to do the ab & butt/leg work out 3 times before December 12th (the goal weigh in day).  I am also going to have to pull out all of the stops! (Like freezing the cookies I baked last week instead of eating them).

So for tonight, eat lots of fruits & vegetables, drink lots of water and have an extra cup of tea, this will help flush out a few more calories before tomorrow's weigh in.

Good luck and I will see you tomorrow with hopefully a new number on the scale!

Lattes, Cappuccinos & More Oh My!

Good afternoon and happy Monday!

How was everyone's weekend?  Mine was pretty good.  I spent my whole day on Saturday baking with a good friend of mine and I was very well behaved.  I only sampled two cookies! I also skipped lunch, so I had a big bowl of pasta for dinner lol  That's okay because I hiked in the morning with the pooch and then did a combination of the butt/leg/ab workouts on Sunday.

I don't know about you, but for some reason today I have a serious case of the Monday's and am craving something tasty!  Something from Starbucks I might add. Starbucks is a dangerous place for me, not only is it expensive, but I love everything about it! The coffee's, the lattes, all the flavours you can choose from, and oh did I mention they make the best pumpkin scones known to mankind?  Trouble I tell you, always trouble.

Well I found many ways to enjoy my Starbucks treats, but cut down on the calories.  The beauty of this place and really just about every cafe offers these things now, is that I can fully customize my drink.  I am all about treating myself, but doing it in the right way.  For instance, order your drink with skim/non-fat milk, this alone reduces your calories and it tastes the same in my opinion.  Do not add whip cream.  I know it's pretty and adds to the drink, but it also adds to your waistline real fast.  Depending on the beverage, ask for 1/2 the amount of sweet syrup.  If you need to sweeten it up just a tad then ad a sweetener.  They tend to be zero calories or quite low on the caloric scale versus the syrup.  Also, try to stay away from the treat counter.  I know its hard and if you have to have something, order their little bite sized treats.  As much as you want the banana chocolate chip loaf...think about that sexy dress you plan to wear out this coming weekend.

Yes I think I may need to take a trip to Starbucks today! 

Enjoy your coffee treats!