-------Eating Healthy------

At New Years, I decided to start losing some weight. Let's just say I packed on some "Love" here in Wyoming. On top of that, I lacked self confidence, I felt really gross when I looked in the mirror, I didn't think I would be able to lose enough weight to make a difference, and I hated to go clothes shopping or even think about putting on a swimming suit. It was really a struggle. 


I wanted to change and I have. Mostly :) I didn't want to start a specific diet because I really wanted to teach myself how to just eat better and watch sweets and portions. It has made a tremendous difference when I am dedicated. My health, energy, and of course-- the scale is making me smile instead or cry when I step on it. 


What I have done: I started the old school counting calories. When I do this, It really shows me what a portion or serving is and it is teaching my brain how to think I am full when I am content-- not stuffed. I love it actually. 


When I am being good, I usually eat 1200 Calories a day. It can be tough, but also kind of fun. You feel so accomplished when you find that less is more. One of the biggest reasons I picked counting calories is because I needed a life style change and when you still eat most of the same stuff while incorporating more healthy stuff with your diet, it shouldn't be a hard to continue even after you meet your weight loss goal.  Some helpful websites for calorie counters:

http://www.loseit.com/

http://www.livestrong.com/

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

I have also learned how to cook yummy things like Light Lasagna (Shown on my blog), Chicken Potstickers, Raspberry-Balsamic Chicken, a Vegetable soup with very few calories, and more.


 Some snacks that I really like are slices of Jicama (A Mexican root veggie), cucumbers in vinegar or drizzled with fresh lemon, Rice cakes with Omega Peanut Butter or Nutella (Nutella is a hazelnut/ chocolate spread that is delicious and not too bad for you and really helps when you have a chocolate craving),  a cup of Rice Chex and 1/2 cup skim milk with some no calorie sweetener on top, and other things like half a banana, a medium size apple, or a Fiber bar.

Most of the time, a typical day of food for me is usually an Activia Brand Light Yogurt (Yes, they really work) in the morning followed by a small wheel of Babybel Brand Light Cheese. If I am still hungry, I eat a piece of fruit or a handful of veggies. Lunch sometimes is nothing more than a Lean Cuisine or bowl of Rice Chexs with milk and fruit-- or the Vegetable Soup with a snack in between lunch and dinner, Dinner is more grand with the meals I already talked about. After dinner, A Skinny Cow Fudge Pop is the perfect way to end the day.  

Usually, I never feel stuffed, but I usually always feel content. If I am still hungry, I try to drink lots of water. Drinking more water helps your body not to hold on to excess water because it doesn't have to worry about becoming dehydrated. Also, sometimes when you feel "hungry", try drinking water first because it could just be your body is trying to tell you it needs water. 


Exercise really helps too. When I exercise, I get to eat more :) Did you know you can burn calories cleaning your house? Gardening? Walking your Dog? Also, just going to the gym works too. Forty Five minutes to an hour of Cardio a couple days  a week and a few strength training/conditioning work outs the other days and you will see a difference. If you are not sure what to do google free work outs and you will stay busy at the gym. Here are some of the Conditioning work outs I found that I have done and the website I found them at:

http://weightlossandtraining.com/freeworkoutroutines-women

After I just told you about all of this, I have lost some dedication, but I am ready to restart and get back on track. Between me and you and whoever else stuck through the post this long, I have lost about 10 pounds. It hasn't been really hard to keep off either, but since I have lacked motivation and I haven't been doing good, the weight will come back so I got to get back in the grove. I would honestly love to lose 8-10 more pounds. It is sad to think I had that much to lose, but it is great to know that I CAN DO IT!


A few of my motivators include, my husband, my skinny jeans (they totally fit!), me wanting even skinnier jeans (When I am done I want a pair of ridiculously expensive pair of True Religion Brand Jeans), my swim suit, my doggie who wants to play and go for walks all the time, my sister Cassie (she and I are both working on getting "hot" for the summer), and my self confidence!

I am totally excited about another new thing too. . .  Bountiful Baskets. Have you heard about them? I am way excited. Basically, if it is available in your area, you can pick up a huge basket of produce for a great price every week or every other week.  Here is what I got this week. . . All Oraganic, All under 40 bucks--HOLLA! Here is there website if you are interested,

 www.boutifulbaskets.org

I am way excited, it all looks so good! What I don't eat or cook with I plan on juicing! 

 Fresh Juice is better than candy (most of the time)!

I already had one apple juiced and two oranges. So yummy. 

Anyone else losing some extra "Love" out there? Let me know how it goes :) Leave a comment! 

Easter 2011

The night before Easter we dyed eggs with the Elders. So Fun!

They were pretty into it.

This is one of my masterpieces.

Cute huh? :)

Steve took this right as I flipped my hair! Scary!

Me with two more eggs.

That is Steve's car egg.

Steve is pretty serious when it comes to dying eggs.

Again, one of my more brilliant works of art. HAHA!

Just kidding, Steve was not so serious!

Most of the eggs . . .

Excited Missionaries. 

Most of the time Steve and I get along. . . 

But sometimes we struggle! Just kidding :) We love each other. 

So much fun Dying Eggs!!

Easter Morning 

The next morning, I ran out to make sure the "Easter Bunny" got Steve's basket ready. He didn't so I had to hurry and put it together since I slept in. 

Funny, Steve mentioned that he saw Sadie eating the Easter Bunny. Oh well. Steve also had to hurry and put my basket together.

Steve's had some goodies!

The Elders dropped this off to us, So Cute. 

Getting ready for some Easter Breakfast. We totally forgot to cook the Bacon we bought...whoops!

Steve Juicing the oranges. . . mmmm!

Our Sunday Best for Easter :)

Urr Smile Lexsie. 

Setting the table for dinner. We cooked a whole chicken with vegetables. I also made some mashed potatoes and gravy. It was so yummy!

Sadie wanted to eat the Bunny Napkins.

We had a great Easter. It was a beautiful day--Shockingly! We played games, enjoyed Church, and ate a whole lot of food and Candy! 

On a more religious note, what a wonderful day to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior. I know that My Redeemer Lives and I am so grateful to him!

Easter Decorations

I love Decorating! Especially for Easter. It is so fun to get out all of the Spring Stuff and bring some color into the house! I picked this Wreath up at Tai Pan Trading and I love it.

This little guy was fun to stick on the table.

Steve found the Apothcary Jars and gave them to me at Christmas. I love them. So easy to  decorate with them. It is hard to see, but in the middle jar is a White Chocolate Bunny.

Hopefully, you can see him in this shot :)

I am usually not a huge fan of fake flowers, but I wanted something to brighten up the room and I found these Tulips at Hob Lob for half off! Holla! I love them

The vases come out again, this time for Spring! I loved the way they turned out. The little Chicks are way cute too. My Grandma used to give them to us when we were little and Steve gave me a pair!

I had so much fun! More to come on Easter itself. . .

I Have Nothing Exciting to Tell You. . .

This is pretty sad, but I have nothing note-worthy to say or blog about. 


We are not pregnant nor do we have babies or plan on having them just yet so I can't blog about the fun things we do with our non-existing children. 


We don't have a house, we are renting a condo so I can't show you how nice the bedroom is that I just painted because I can't paint anything.


We live a ka-gillion miles away from a decorating store so I can't show you what over-priced piece I just had to have for my house. We live a ka-gillion and two miles away from scrapbook stores, Tai-Pan Stores, a DI (Salvation Army is not the same as the DI), and IKEA so I can't show you what awesome inexpensive item I just made even better and is so cute every other blogger wants to make one. 


We haven't really had a weekend to sneak away to somewhere amazing to post vacation pictures (at least you won't be jealous of our non-vacations).


...and lately since Steven has been working later in the evenings, I don't cook a whole lot because I am the only one to cook for so I can't exactly post the amazing dinner and dessert I haven't made. 


So if you are wondering why I don't blog a lot, I just don't have a whole lot to say. . .


It's funny to think, I have lived in Wyoming over a year and I feel sometimes like we are alone out here. 


DON'T THINK that we don't have awesome friends here in WY, because we do. Lately, we just haven't seen a whole lot of them. 


Also, the stuff that used to keep me busy doesn't. 
My house is usually mostly clean (and you can only clean it so much). 
Since my friends here have been kind of busy, I haven't been as crafty because I don't like being crafty alone. Crafting-- It's like drinking; since I know all there is to know with about drinking--not. Some people craft better alone, some people only craft with others. 
Since Steve has been busy and coming home later, I don't cook anything amazing. 
My Church Calling is even slow right now. 
And it all ties into being a KA-GILLION MILES AWAY FROM ANYTHING :) All I can do right now is smile. Oh well-right?


I am so glad we have Sadie, our dog, though. She keeps me company and we go for walks. Sometimes we get to visit with friends. It's nice. 


We are also lucky that we get to spend about two days every month in Utah visiting family and running around like chickens with no heads. It helps with the homesickness and the KA-GILLON miles away from everything syndrome.


Last but not least, we have a camera. It is not the greatest camera so I hate taking pictures with it. So I can't show you pictures. AWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!


Steve would probably call this post as a "whiney baby" post . . . whoops :)

Valentines

We had so much fun the weekend before Valentines! We basically celebrated the entire weekend. It was a blast!

Saturday Morning, I woke up to Flower Petals leading out of our room . . .

to our bookshelf, with a ring and a wonderful Love note on it. I was shocked when I saw the ring. It is a simple ring-- and that's exactly what I needed. I love my Wedding Ring, but I don't like wearing it places where I could lose it. Like the gym, or gardening, or when I go to work with Steve. I am terrified it will slip off my finger and be gone forever. So I mentioned a while ago that I needed a "beater band," a simple ring that I could wear to places like the gym or gardening and he found one for me. He even had our anniversary date engraved on the inside.

Steve also had breakfast ready. It was soooo delicious! (Don't worry, I didn't eat all the powdered sugar that was on the plate!)

The next morning, it was "my turn" to spoil Steve. I picked up a bunch of heart shaped balloons for Steve. Last Valentines, I got the same balloons and they were so fun so I decided to get them again.

I woke up early and made him breakfast!

I also made his Valentines Card! It was giant!

Steve also got some yummy treats!

and I picked up some flowers from Safeway and arranged them in some cute vases I have.

I also bought this bear. I loved it. Steve loved it. Sadie hated it.

Later that evening, I made us dinner.

and we enjoyed a romantic candlelit dinner.

and after dinner was all cleaned up, we made White Chocolate Lava Cakes!

They were so yummy!

I had a few people comment on how we celebrate holidays. I had a lot of people tell me that they really didn't do anything for Valentines. I was sad for them. You don't need to have this huge elaborate plan to make the day special-- just do something that would make the other person smile-like breakfast in bed or lighting a few candles at dinner!

We may over do it, we may go above and beyond, but we love seeing each other with that big smile on the other's face when they wake up to a bunch of balloons or a trail of petals. It may be cheesy, but we have so much fun being dorks together.