Fast Metabolism Diet: Here I Come!!

After failing with dieting for the past four years, three babies later... I am finally trying something new with a reinvigorated zeal!  It is called.... the Fast Metabolism Diet.

For 28 days, I will no longer be allowed to eat soy, dairy, sugar, gluten, corn, peanuts, bananas, or grapes.  On the flipside, I will be able to eat veggies, protein, brown grains, and fruit.

I'm pretty excited about meal planning for the first week.. and preparing, but I'll update with results.

Cardio Sucks

So again, we've inevitably met again.  The time when the weight has stopped coming off because I'm nursing, four months after giving birth prematurely (again), I am still 25 pounds overweight and even though I feel great, my muffin top is screaming for some attention.

So tomorrow, I am going to attempt to start cardio again.  20 minutes 6 days a week... just using random exercises I find on Pinterest.

Wish me luck.

i'm going to need it. ....

Day 5 - Skinny Cow Challenge

Breakfast - yogurt, toast with butter
Lunch - veggie sandwich, lobster bisque, chocolate covered strawberry
Dinner - dumplings, tofu with preserved egg, dried pork, dried fried onions, oyster sauce
Dessert - ice cream sandwich with cool whip and oreos sprinkled on

Weight - 133
Waist - 33

Day Four of Skinny Cow Challenge

Breakfast - boiled egg and two boiled egg whites
Lunch - part of my son's pizza from Costco, some Gouda cheese slices, and an assortment of random free samples at Costco
Snacks - half a Rhodes roll
Dinner - taco salad with beef, tomatoes, sour cream, pace salsa, black beans, and tons of lettuce with a skinny ice cream sandwich after

Weight - 132.5
Measurements - Forgot again

Exercise - lame ab work and arm work again, I really need to get to the gym and do some cardio

and yes, I forgot to post daily so I did all four days today.  I'll try to be more consistent going forward.  I hate working out at 11:43 but oh well, it is what it is.  DRATS!

Day Three of Skinny Cow Challenge

Breakfast - piece of toast with I can't believe it's not butter slathered on
Lunch - salad with tomatoes, craisins, sliced almonds, apples, leftover pork
Snacks - whole grain chips with jalapeno yogurt dip and some cucumbers, banana with peanut butter, chewy bar
Dinner - salmon patty with leftover butternut squash and a skinny cow ice cream sandwich

Measurements - Forgot to take
Weight - 133.5

Exercise - some lame ab work and arm work

Day Two of Skinny Cow Challenge

Breakfast - ate late, had a boiled egg with ketchup, toast with I can't believe it's not butter, pork, some fries, some chips and cucumber with jalapeno dip, chilli for dinner, an apple, and an ice cream sandwich!
Lunch - see above
Dinner - snacked on pirate's booty, a banana with peanut butter, an apple.... chili with some rice (lots of beans eh?) and a skinny cow ice cream sandwich
Weight - forgot to weigh in...
Waist - 32"

Exercise - Ran on and off for 15 minutes, did some basic ab work.

Day One - Skinny Cow Challenge

Today's meals:

Breakfast: egg scramble with tomatoes, garlic, onions, sausage, spinach with loads of ketchup and tabasco
Lunch: 4-5 pork dumplings, 1 potato dumpling
Snacks: Half a cheese stick
Dinner: mustard greens, Chinese broccoli, tofu and shrimp with chicken and curry chicken over rice, jello with whip cream

Today I weighed in at 133, measurements- too lazy to do 'em

No exercising.

Back in Shape . ... All Before 32: The Skinny Cow Challenge

I turn 32 mid May... so I've decided to dedicate the days leading up to the big 3-2 to get back into pre-wedding shape aka before first baby and back onto the road of healthy living.  I never got back to that, have slowly regressed into eating less fruits and vegetables because of the effort it takes to do so... and have eaten a lot of pasta and dessert lately!  But now is as good of a time to try as ever, especially since we will probably start trying for baby #3 this summer.

So here I go!  I have decided to journal everything I eat, my exercise regiment, and my measurements including any random rules I might have.  Here are three for starters.

1) No carbs after 4 PM except for 2)
2) Only ice cream or fruit for desserts at night - ice cream sandwiches are an exception and fall into this fake category I've made up
3) Even if there's no time to work out, must do ab work and arm work for 20 minutes total.

Right now I am 133.5 pounds, my waist is at 34.5 inches and I am a size 6 because of my flat rear.  Let's see if I can drop down to 128, 28 inches and size 4.

Here we go!!!

Crock Pot Chicken Legs

Chicken drumsticks are cheap.  Dirt cheap.  Crock pots make life so much easier with kids and a long day of errands and classes.

Ingredients:
8-10 drum sticks
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 envelope onion soup mix

Instructions:
Put drumsticks in slow cooker, mix the rest of the items in a bowl and pour over.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Leftover Pasta

I have an assortment of pasta today - without sauce - some noodles with broccoli, some tortellini, and some cauliflower just sittin in my fridge begging to be used.

So I decided to crack open a can of cream of chicken and put the leftovers to good use.

Ingredients:
1 10 oz can cream of chicken
1/2 cup pesto
1/2 cup milk

Instructions: Heat up the above three ingredients in a medium sauce pan on medium-high until it boils, then reduce on low for about five minutes.  Add in leftover extravaganza items and wa-la!  Dinner is served!

Serve with french bread on the side if available.

SO EASY!

Greek Ground Turkey with Pitas

One of our favorites meals is greek but only done with the help of the Skotidakis Greek Yogurt Dip Dill & Cucumber style picked up at your local Costco and pita bread from Costco (2.79 for a STACK).

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey (other anything ground for that matter)
1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled
2 t dill weed
2 t parsley flakes
2 t basil
1/4 cup olive oil (give or take)

for side: chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions and sprinkle of feta

Instructions:
Mix spices with cheese, oil and turkey.  Put in a medium pan and heat on medium-high and crumble.

Toast your pita, then spread the cucumber sauce - top with meat, feta, tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions.

SO EASY.

Moist Pig Cake

Why's it called pig cake?  I dunno - that's what Ree Drummond named it - and I only relist her recipe her with a few adjustments because sometimes it's really difficult to scroll through her amazing photos because of the sheer volume.

Ingredients:
For cake:
14 oz can of mandarin oranges in light syrup, reserve 1/2 cup of the juice
1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 softened stick of margarine
1 T vanilla

For frosting:
1 15 oz can of crushed pineapples, reserve juice (all of it!)
1 tub of cool whip
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 5 oz vanilla pudding mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Drain the mandarin oranges and use 1/2 cup of the juice to mix with the yellow cake mix, 4 eggs, stick of margarine, T of vanilla.  Then, add in the drained Mandarin oranges and mix until all crushed.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish/pan and then pour your mixture in.  Stick in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (when stuck in it).

Mix the frosting while the cake bakes by first mixing the pineapple juice and pudding mix.  Add in the powdered sugar, about 1/2 of the cool whip (a few gigantic dollups, add more if you wish), and lastly - the crushed pineapple.  Mix for a few minutes.

Once the cake cools, frost it.  This cake is sooo delicious!  It tastes sooo moist and fruity!  For some aesthetic viewing, add a mandarin orange on top of each slice.

Easy and Yummy Salmon

Ingredients:
1 lb salmon cut into four pieces
salt and pepper
1 cup soy sauce
1 T Grey Poupon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp rice wine vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Salt and pepper both sides of the salmon and put on a 9x13 baking sheet in the oven for 10-12 minutes.  Meanwhile, boil the soy sauce, grey poupon, brown sugar, and red wine vinegar until everything is mixed. Remove the fish, make sure it's about done - looks flaky, put the sauce on and broil for about 1-3 minutes or until flaky and ready about 6 inches away from heat.