day sixty-five...he put a ring on it

My older sister, Sterling, is engaged! I am beyond excited for her and cannot wait to see her walk down the aisle and live happily ever after. *heavy sigh*

It has been a long day, due to all the excitement of the engagement, so I am just going to quickly go through my eats for the day and head to bed. Don't worry though...I will talk more about it tomorrow. ;)

Breakfast
Woke up this morning and made myself a dark chocolate shake. We had to attend a memorial in the early afternoon, so I got ready while I sipped on the shake.

Morning Snack
On the way to the memorial, I snacked on a blueberry muffin. It's been a while since I ate one of these, and I was pleasantly surprised with how good it tasted!

Lunch
After the memorial, it was off to my sister's boyfriends mom's (what a mouthful!)  house to celebrate the engagement of my sister and her now fiance, Gabriel. I ate some honey mustard pretzel bites a little while before I got there.

Afternoon Snack
Once we arrived, there was a spread of finger foods. I sort of strayed off plan and had a few meatballs that had BBQ sauce on them (didn't snap a picture of them). But shortly after the little get together, we went to dinner at Baja Fish Tacos, where I had a salad with carne asada. Not as good as chipotle, but still pretty good.

Dinner
A little while later I made a calorie burn cappuccino. This was so perfect. I was really full for some reason and the warmth helped settle my stomach.

Dessert
I had dessert really late, but once I did, I ate a smores crunch bar. I ate it pretty quick for some reason too. Maybe I just wanted to get to bed. It has been a long day.

Well, that is that. More to talk about tomorrow. :)

xoxo,
Toni

day fifty-nine...an unintentional mistake

So...I made a mistake today. It wasn't until after the fact that I realized it was a mistake though. Okay, before you start thinking the worst, let me just tell you. I had brussel sprouts for my lean and green meal. You may be thinking, gross, why brussel sprouts? But...I was working on a recipe to make them more delicious for you all and, they were...until I found out they are off-limits.

However, it wasn't until after I was entering in my foods on my Take Shape For Life app on my phone that I realized brussel sprouts weren't on the list of approved vegetables. So I looked it up online and found out that this particular type of vegetable is high in carbs and thus, not allowed on the program. Oh well...I guess you live and learn. And hey, I suppose it's better to eat a wrong vegetable than a cookie. ;)

Breakfast
I took advantage of this lovely Sunday and slept in until about 10am. Once I got up, I made a mocha shake. I added a tablespoon of instant coffee to up the flavor a bit. It's amazing what a simple tablespoon of coffee can do! The shake was so good!

Morning Snack
After church was over, I ate a strawberry crunch bar. After the first bite, I wasn't a fan. But after a couple more bites my taste buds adjusted and it wasn't all that bad.

Lunch
Here is where I messed up...on accident. I had some roasted parmesan brussel sprouts with a pizza burger on the side. It was crazy good, but I will not be having brussel sprouts again now that I am aware they are off-limits. I will still post the recipe later on this week for those of you who can eat brussel sprouts.

Afternoon Snack
Lunch kept me full so I was really only eating my next snack because I had to. I ended up having some mixed berry cereal as well as a bottle of water. I have been slacking on drinking water today, so I drank a bunch with the cereal.

Dinner
I had my next meal while my parents and I watched church online. I sipped on a calorie burn cappuccino while they drank just black coffee. Perfect pairing...coffee and the Word.

Dessert
I ended the night with a delicious and warm blueberry muffin soft bake. I allowed the batter to sit for a few hours and then microwaved it. Not sure if there was a difference by letting the batter sit around, but it was sure good...a little more dense than usual, but good.

I am going to Knott's Berry Farm tomorrow, so we will see how that goes food wise. I have all my snacks prepared and ready to go, so it will just be a matter of when and where I eat my lean and green meal. I will let you all know tomorrow night how it went! :)

I will leave you with a picture of tonight's sunset...so beautiful....looks like the sky is on fire. God is so amazing...it's like He painted this picture for all to see and stare in awe.

xoxo,
Toni

day fifty-one...how I survived two Christmas parties

Yep...you read that right...I had not one, but two Christmas parties today. And guess what? I stayed on plan! My timing was off a bit, but I definitely stuck to my Medifast snacks and a proper lean and green meal (which I divided into two meals).

Breakfast
I woke up this morning and started getting ready for my first Christmas party. I made a quick French vanilla shake and drank it while curling my hair. Too bad I don't have a picture of that...would have been a funny sight I'm sure.

Morning Snack
Right before I left for the staff Christmas party, I heated up a blueberry soft bake. It looks terrible, but it did the job and held me over until lunch was served.

Lunch
This is where I ate half of my lean and green meal. It is seriously funny how easy it was to say no to the bread basket going around the table and even dessert! Dessert is a huge one for me. I love all things sugar. I have a giant sweet tooth. But anyways, I ended up just eating a salad and the broccoli. Easily passed over the chicken parmesan and pasta. Funny story...my dad actually ate most of the food on his plate and then we switched plates so it looked like I ate some of it. ;) tricky, tricky, but it works!

Here is apicture of me and my brother at the CCCM Staff Christmas party. Isn't he handsome?

Afternoon Snack
Once I got home from party number one, I broke open a pack of mixed berry cereal crunch. I eat it alongside a cup of coffee and relaxed for a few minutes...then it was time to start getting ready for party number two...which was a formal one. :)

Dinner
So dinner at my second party was a bit tough. They basically had salad and pasta. Oh and bread...all catered by Maggianos. So, for the second half of my lean and green meal I ate some salad (picked out the dried cranberries) and then took some chicken from one of the pastas. It was on the top, so there was no sauce on it! Yay! The Lord is so good and is always looking out for me.

Dessert #1
They had a coffee bar so what I did was I brought a chai latte packet with me and poured it in one of the cups and filled it with some coffee and hot water. Perfection in a cup!

Dessert #2
I had my final meal of the day as soon as I got home around 11:45pm. I broke open an oatmeal raisin crunch bar and ate it while starting to write this post.

And...here is a picture of me and my best friend, Kiera at the second party of the night. It was with my college Bible study group. So much fun! Love my friends...they are the best. I mean, you know you have good friends when they bring you up and encourage you rather than tear you down.

So...there it is—my day in a nutshell. Just be encouraged and know that you can get through a Christmas party this month and still stay on plan. Don't be shy to bring your own snacks!

It felt good at the end of the day knowing that I stuck to the plan even though I attended two parties filled with food. But it can be done! I promise you, you will not regret saying no to that tempting food and staying on plan. Plus, it doesn't hurt when you are getting a ton of compliments all night about how great you look...just a little motivation for you right there.

Oh and tell people about the program or diet you are on! It helps you not only to stay on track but then you will also have a ton of people keeping you accountable. Accountability is key.

xoxo,
Toni

day forty...forty days and forty nights

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It has already been forty days since I began the Take Shape For Life program. Forty days! I will be honest...there are not a lot of things I have stuck to for forty days. I am beyond thrilled and cannot wait to continue on this journey toward losing weight and getting healthy.

And it is only by the grace of God that I have even made it this far. I could never have done this by my own will...I would have eaten a dozen cupcakes by the second day. But with Christ, I am strong. He gives me the strength to say no to those temptations and keep fighting each day.

If any of you are interested in starting this program, click here. :)

Breakfast
I am off work for the rest of the week, so I slept in a bit this morning. When I did wake up, I made myself a dark chocolate shake. I love having the shakes first thing in the morning...they get me going.

Morning Snack
After breakfast, I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned...my room, not the house. My sister was here as well, so we cleaned up our room and then went to the store together. Once we returned, I ate a chocolate crunch bar while reading the latest Rachel Ray Magazine.

Lunch
I made something different for lunch. Since it is Thanksgiving week, I wanted to stray a bit from my mundane salads and try out some new recipes...especially since I have the time. So today, I made some turnip fries and paired it with a protein chicken burger topped with a little bit of light cheese. Delish! I have actually never had turnips before today, but they were pretty good and really close to potatoes in texture. Keep a lookout...I will post the recipe soon.

Afternoon Snack
Lunch kept me quite full, so I wasn't all too hungry for an afternoon snack. But, I still had one. I ate the honey mustard pretzels along with some water. There aren't that many pretzel bites in a bag, so it was a perfect amount that kept me satisfied for the next couple hours.

Dinner
I had to bring dinner with me to church, so I just a made a coffee milkshake. It was easy to take and drink...plus it was delicious. It was actually sitting around for over an hour and it was still icy cold when I drank it! Love this stainless steel cup. You can buy it here. It is actually 30% off right now too!

Dessert
After we got home from church, I ate a blueberry soft bake. I followed the new instructions that came with the new box and it came out so much better! No overflowing...only because I cooked it in a cup. :P

Well, that is all I have for today. If you can, please keep my dad in prayer. He injured his knee and is in constant pain. Just pray for the Lord's will to be done and that the Lord would give the doctors wisdom on what to do next. Thank you!

xoxo,
Toni

day thirty-eight...not enough time in the day

So in case you were wondering, Hunger Games: Catching Fire was really good. My friends, Kiera and Caleb and I went to see it last night. Caleb took this picture of us...we were trying to do the district 12 salute with a straight face, but just couldn't stop smiling and laughing. I almost did it, but failed. Oh well. We all had a fun night.

As a result of getting in late last night, I slept in this morning. By doing so I got a late start on my eating for the day. I didn't want to stay up really late just to get my 5 meals and 1 lean and green meal in, so I called my health coach and thankfully, she gave me a solution. She told me to eat my last two meals of the night together. Genius!

This is why I love the Take Shape for Life program. Without my health coach, I would have stayed up super late just to eat and go to bed or would have skipped my last meal of the day. So thankful for you, Charlotte! Thank you!

Breakfast
Like I mentioned earlier, I slept in this morning, so I had my first meal of the day around 10:30am. I spent the night at a friend's house so I just had a lemon meringue crunch bar, making it easy.

Afternoon Snack
I ate again after church, which was around 2pm. My eating times were all off today. I had the mixed berry crunch cereal.

Dinner
For my dinner, I made myself a veggie burger with mozzarella cheese and green bean "fries". This was actually really good and a nice change-up from my normal salad.

Dessert #1
Right before leaving for Sunday night church, I heated up a blueberry muffin and ate it in the car. It kind of overflowed in the microwave...still edible though.

Dessert #2
So I still had two more meals to eat before the end of the day and I didn't want to stay up until midnight just to eat. This is when I called my health coach and she told me to just eat the last two meals at the same time. So I made a coffee milkshake and a chocolate chip soft bake. I accidentally added warm water to the chocolate chip soft bake mix rather than cold, so the chocolate chips melted, making the cookie look dark brown. :P This was actually a really yummy pairing!

Well, that is all I have for today! Talk to you tomorrow!

xoxo,
Toni

day twenty-seven...medifast referral

Hey Guys!

You may or may not know that I started a weight loss & Optimal Health program a little over 3 weeks ago with this easy to follow program and the support of a free Certified Health Coach! Between these two things I am happy to report I have lost about 14 lbs in the last 3 weeks and feel amazing and have so much energy. If you would like to know more info or about the support of my health coach, Charlotte Jurekovic feel free to contact her directly by clicking here. She says she has room to support a few more clients right now.

I cannot tell you enough how much this program has already changed my life and I cannot wait to see what the next few months are going to bring. I highly encourage you to check out this program and maybe even start the program for yourself...I promise you, you will not regret it.

Breakfast
It was a chilly morning, but that didn't stop me from making a dark chocolate shake for breakfast. I drank it on the way to work and am pretty sure I was an ice cube by the time I was done, but boy was it good.

Morning Snack
My original plan was to eat a blueberry soft bake, but I didn't want the whole kitchen smelling like blueberries for the rest of the day, so I decided to just eat a caramel crunch bar. I will have the soft bake tonight at home.

Lunch
I am boring when it comes to lunch...well at least during the week. Today I had the same exact thing as yesterday—a simple salad with lemon pepper chicken and light honey mustard dressing. I also added 2 meatless meatballs because the piece of chicken wasn't that big. What can I say...I like the simple, yet delicious things in life.

Afternoon Snack
Lunch didn't really hold me over very well...most likely because of the lack of meat and protein. So in order to make it to my afternoon snack without binging on all the pastries just sitting in the kitchen, I decided to make a cup of hot tea. Worked like a charm. I was good all the way up to my snack.



For my snack I had the Parmesan cheese puffs. This is my last bag! I didn't order any more...but I just may in the future.

Dinner
I was stuck in traffic for about 30 minutes last night, so by the time I got home, I was hungry. So I made myself a warm blueberry soft bake. For some reason, it overflowed...but that's okay...still tasted delicious!

Dessert
I love dessert...it is the best part of the day. And despite it being cold outside, I still made myself a coffee milkshake. I know I am weird and it only makes me cold, but it is so good! And really filling too. Can't go wrong with a milkshake! Well, at least I can't.

So there you have it! And don't forget to contact Charlotte if you are interested in starting the Medifast program yourself... I promise you will not regret it! And don't wait until after the holidays, start now! I did, and it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

xoxo,
Toni

day twenty-three...a girl's night in

Tonight I threw a girl's night in party...I made a ton of food, and guess what? I didn't even have one lick of it! That is such a huge success for me! I know I took a risk by cooking, but I felt confident knowing I wouldn't eat any of it. My parents were also there for a bit and ate what I made. They said it turned out pretty good, so I didn't even have to try the food.

The only thing I will say is that you need to really think about it before you throw a party or cook a big meal. Why? Well, you don't want to stumble yourself. I could not have done this two weeks ago without eating something. So, don't rush anything. Stop and think. Ask the Lord to be with you...it will all turn out okay.

Breakfast
I was able to sleep in this morning...it was soooo nice! But with that said, I got a late start on my eating. So I made a calorie burn cappuccino just to get me started with the day. It was perfect!

Lunch
I went to Starbucks for a bit and when I returned home, I ate my lunch. I tried out these new boca brand meatless crumbles and topped my romaine salad with them. I wasn't the biggest fan of them, but they weren't bad either. I miss the meatballs from Trader Joe's, they are still out of them.

Afternoon Snack #1
I don't know what it was about this bag of pretzels, but they were so good! Like, better than usual. I don't know...maybe I am just getting used to all the odd tastes in some of the food. ;)

Afternoon Snack #2
I had a little time to kill before my guests started arriving, so I thought I would attempt to make waffles using the pancake mix. And it totally worked! All I did was mix the pancake packet with a dash of cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of water. I then let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken up a bit. I poured the mix into the waffle maker and voila! Waffles! I have actually never made waffles before, so this was a first on many levels. I am just thankful it turned out.



Dinner
At this point, some of my friends had started to arrive along with my parents, so I began making the appetizers for them to munch on while dinner was cooking. While I was doing that, I began munching on a caramel crunch bar. It kept my mouth busy and also helped me not want to pop some food into my mouth...intentionally or unintentionally.

Dessert
After dinner was eaten, I made the girls my top secret chocolate molten lava cakes. And while they were eating those, I decided to eat my dessert as well. So I microwaved a blueberry soft bake and ate with everyone else. And you know what, never once did I feel like I was being left out or wishing I could eat what they were eating. I was content the entire night. And never once did the girls question my not eating the food I was making. They all know about my plan and supported me last night 100%. I love my friends dearly...it is good to have friends who love and care about you when you are on this journey.

Overall, it was a fun night of food and fellowship and watching these two cuties...

I pray your Sunday is a blessed one!

xoxo,
Toni