12 week transformation...day twenty-five

Fun and random post today!

So Tuesday was my very last orthodontist appointment! It has been a three year process dealing with braces and my retainer....but I am finally done! And just for fun, here is a before and after picture of my teeth. Look at my face and my neck too! I have changed in a good way since three years ago. :)

This just goes to show that if you stick with something, you will see results. You may not see them everyday, but overtime, you will notice those small changes.

Workout
I did my run early this morning, since I am going to be busy after work. I won't lie...it's really hard to get up and actually start running. It took me a while to wake up and stretch out, but about five minutes into the run (or really jog) I felt pretty good. It was quite cold this morning, so that helped to wake me up too. It's actually kind of fun running in the morning...makes you feel pretty energized for the rest of the day.


Breakfast
Nothing too exciting for breakfast this morning. Made a french vanilla shake and took it with me to work. Boring...I know.

Morning Snack
I just love calorie burn cappuccinos!!! I loved every sip this morning...totally hit the spot on this cold and gloomy morning...which I totally love! Finally having somewhat of a winter!

Lunch
I enjoyed yesterday's lunch so much, I made it again! Had another turkey burger with cheese and broccoli on the side. Delish! I wish I could show you...but I was just so hungry I completely forgot to snap a pic.

Afternoon Snack
Had some cinnamon pretzel bites this afternoon...haven't had these in quite some time. I am glad I reordered them! These are pretty good!

Dinner
For dinner I made a mud pie shake...or really just a chocolate chip cookie shake packet blended with some instant coffee, ice, and water. Ah-ma-zing. So amazing...that I forgot to take a picture...again.

Dessert
To finish off the night, I ate a smores crunch bar. Perfect ending to quite a busy day.

I am off to a weekend camping trip with my college group from my church, so no blog posts until Monday. But I hope and pray you have a beautiful and blessed weekend. Remember, to keep your eyes on the Lord!

xoxo,
Toni

day thirty-one...getting back into the swing of things

As of this morning I am finally home and done with housesitting. I love house and pet sitting, but I am happy to be home. There is no bed like your own. ;) Now that I am back home, it is time to get back into the swing of things.

Now, I have to be honest and confess that I have not really been working out since I began housesitting. Now that I am back home, I am going to be getting up again in the morning and attempt to work out 5-6 days a week. Not long workouts...just short 30 minute conditioning exercises or a jog. I don't know, we will see how it goes. Let's just take it one day at a time. Sound good? Good.

Breakfast
I woke up earlier than usual this morning in order to get the house in tip-top shape. Bed made, blankets folded, kitchen clean, etc. Didn't take long at all. Before I knew it, I was walking out the door and packing up my car to head home. But before heading home, I made a mocha shake. For some reason, it tasted way better than usual...less icy maybe? I opened up the new pack of mocha shakes, so maybe it is just a really good batch.

Morning Snack
After I got home, I had some time to kill before church, so I headed over to Trader Joe's and picked up some essentials for this week's lunches. I bought some romaine lettuce, pizza burgers, and some veggie burgers. When I got back home from shopping, I ate a cinnamon raisin crunch bar and began walking to church with my parents.

Lunch
I had some zucchini to use before it went bad, so I made a plate of zucchini pasta with veggie sausage. This time, however, I did not add any mozzarella cheese to it...only a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Afternoon Snack
After lunch I met up with Kiera at Starbucks and caught up on some blogging and started writing this post. While there I had a black coffee with some splenda and an ice water and later on ate some cinnamon pretzel bites. They actually paired really nicely with the hot coffee.

Dinner
I still have a couple macaroni and cheese packs left from my first Medifast order, so I thought I would eat one of them tonight. Nothing really special to report about it...except that it looks more like cheese soup rather than mac and cheese. :)

Dessert
So I tried out a new dessert tonight...it was a brownie! Wow...this was soooo good! Way better than what I thought it was going to taste like. The brownie literally melted in my mouth. I am liking this Medifast program more and more every day. Instead of getting bored with the meals, I actually look forward to them! Love it!

So anyways, I hope your weekend was a good one! Keep me in prayer as I am starting the second month of the program and that I wake up on time in the morning to work out! :D

It's good to be home and back with these two crazy cats. ♥♥♥

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

day nineteen...the wonder of it all

I took this photo at Pirates Cove, Corona Del Mar, in August 2013

I woke up this morning singing the hymn entitled, Wonder of it All. How wonderful it is that God saved us. He created us perfectly in His image.

Here are the lyrics to the hymn. Just meditate on the Lord while you read each word and really know in your heart that everything—whether good or bad—is wonderful. Why? Because God is in the center of it all. And when God is in the center, it will surely turn out wonderful.

There's the wonder at sunset at evening

The wondrous sunrise I see

But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul

Is the wonder that God loves me

The wonder of it all

The wonder of it all 

Just to think that God loves me

Oh the wonder of it all 

The wonder of it all  

Just to think that God loves me

There's the wonder of spring time and harvest

The sky, the stars, the sun

But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul

Is the wonder that's only begun

The wonder of it all

The wonder of it all 

Just to think that God loves me

Oh the wonder of it all 

The wonder of it all  

Just to think that God loves me

Breakfast
Since I woke up singing such a beautiful hymn, I was in a very good mood to say the least. And the calorie burn cappuccino only made my morning better...until I burned my entire mouth. PS...don't you love the new red cups from Starbucks! I haven't liked the past couple designs, but this year it is very sophisticated and...well...just cute! :)

Morning Snack
As always, the cappuccino kept me quite full, so I had an apple cinnamon oatmeal muffin...made in a mug. I think I microwaved it just a tad too long because it was a little dry. But other than that, I loved it. Notice my Christmas fox mug? I am busting out the Christmas stuff early! I love Christmas! You will see that soon enough.

Lunch
I almost made another pizza burger salad, but had some green beans to eat before they went bad. So I made a pizza burger with green bean "fries" and marinara as dipping sauce. Delish!

Afternoon Snack
Pretzels were on the menu for this afternoon. I didn't reorder them on my next order (which shipped out today!) but maybe I will next time. I am beginning to like them...as I am running out of them. Go figure.

Dinner
I had to eat on the go tonight and so I took a picture in the back of my car. Surprised it didn't come out blurry!

Dessert
Dessert totally hit the spot tonight. I ate it in the middle of church, and it was perfect! It didn't make crunching sounds like last week, so that was a plus!

That's all I have for today! May your day be extra blessed and remember what is the wonder of it all!

xoxo,
Toni

day fourteen...tricks and treats

Okay, so there were no tricks today...only treats—healthy treats (for me at least). Now, in the past this time of year, I would eat every piece of chocolate I could find. And since my family usually bought the giant bag of mixed chocolate from Costco, I helped myself to countless chocolates. This year, however, no candy was bought for our house. Instead we went to my grandparents house and passed out candy there. It was perfect for me—I had no urge to eat the candy and I wasn't tempted after the night was over by all the leftovers. And the best part was, I didn't feel left out at all! God is good. :)


Breakfast
I started out the day with a chilly pineapple mango smoothie. For some reason I cannot get past this strange taste that this smoothie has, so I did not add it to my next Medifast order. It's not bad, it's just not my favorite. Oh, just fyi, since it is Halloween, I created all the pictures to have a cute Halloween theme.

Morning Snack
It's blueberry muffin time again! I wasn't too thrilled about these at first, but now I am liking them more and more. It's funny, because when I cook these at work, the kitchen ends up smelling like blueberries for a couple hours. Oops! Oh well, at least it's a good smell.

I also added a tad more water than I should have, and the muffin poured over the sides. But it all worked out...still tasted the same.

I am think I am having more fun than I should with the Halloween themed photos. :)

Lunch
I couldn't wait to show you what I created for lunch! I made stuffed Jack O' Lantern Peppers! I basically chopped a pizza flavored burger (you can used ground turkey) and mixed it with cabbage and sauteed them together until the cabbage was soft. I then cut the top off of the pepper and scooped out the seeds and stuffed it with the cabbage mix. So good! Confession...I actually didn't eat the whole pepper, but ate enough so I could round out my green portion of the meal.

Medifast Lean and Green Breakdown:
lean: pizza burger
green: 1/2 cup of orange pepper, 1 cup of cabbage
healthy fat: 1 teaspoon of olive oil

Afternoon Snack
Lunch kept me quite full until my afternoon snack, which is a first. The portion size on the pretzels are smaller than the other Medifast meals, so it was perfect.

Dinner
It was then time for dinner...and also the time for candy to be passed out...but...I had no desire to eat it! I mean, it was right in front of me in a giant bowl, and I was not tempted whatsoever! Instead I ate a cinnamon roll crunch bar. So much better than a tiny piece of chocolate...which, if I were to be honest, would have easily turned into ten pieces, if not more.

Dessert
Take two with the pancake muffin...drumroll please...they came out delicious! Way better than the normal prepare method. I actually ended up cutting the two halves in half again, making 4 mini "biscuits". I also put one of them in the toaster for a bit, and oh my goodness, so stinkin' good! I will be making these again for sure.

So yeah, that was my day and my first Halloween not binging on candy! Woo-hoo! I am so ready for week three. Bring it!

xoxo,
Toni

day ten...we will overcome

photo cred: Kathy Gilbert via instagram

I learned a lesson tonight. And I learned it through a song—God can work in any way He likes, and tonight He used Jeremy Camp to teach me that lesson. I went to the tribute tonight honoring Pastor Chuck Smith and being taught a lesson was the last thing on my mind. I figured it would be a time of remembering and just enjoying the speakers and music. But oh no...the Lord likes to work all the time...even at a tribute.

So anyways, Jeremy Camp was singing this song called "Overcome". And in the song he sings "every victory is Yours". Every victory that I experience is only done because of the Lord. He is the reason I have victory in those tough moments. He is the reason I was able to say no to fast food when my whole family was eating it after the tribute. I just sat there drinking water. And you know what? It wasn't hard at all! All glory to the Lord alone. Jeremy Camp then goes on to sing, "We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony, everyone overcome". This is just an encouragement for me concerning the future. I will overcome my addiction. I will overcome my destructive sin habits. But it's not because I am so wonderful and great, but rather because Jesus died on the cross for me and had victory over sin. Since He already paid the price, I too can have victory through Jesus Christ.

I hope that encourages you as much as it did me. You can listen to the full song by going here.

Okay, now onto the eats for today. My meal times were a bit off because I slept in this morning, but I still got my 5 medifast and 1 lean and green meal in.

Breakfast: Pineapple Mango Smoothie

Wonderful start to the chilly morning. I am loving this weather by the way. I absolutely just love the cold...and rain! We are supposed to be getting rain for the next two days! Bring on the warm chunky sweaters and boots!

Morning Snack: Meatball Casserole

So technically this is my lunch, not morning snack. I made a comfort food lean and green meal. So delicious! It is a meatless meatball casserole. Basically it is just mashed cauliflower on the bottom, meatless meatballs on the top and then a little bit of marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese on top. I know it looks like a lot, but it was a small, shallow pyrex dish—perfect portion size for one. Kept me pretty full for the rest of the day!

Click here for the recipe!

Medifast Lean and Green Breakdown:
Lean: Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs (6), 1/4 cup of light mozzarella cheese
Green: 1 1/2 cups of cauliflower, 1/4 cup of Trader Joe's marinara sauce
Healthy Fat: 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

Lunch: Cinnamon Pretzel Sticks

I didn't grab a picture of these because I was eating them in the middle of the tribute. Note to self: Don't bring an extremely crunchy snack when you know it is going to be silent all around you. ;)

Afternoon Snack: Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

I ate these at the tribute as well. I was able to snap a picture of these because I made them before I left. I will post the recipe for these soon as well...SO GOOD!

Dinner: Cinnamon Roll Crunch Bar

Yeah...didn't get a shot of this either. At this point we were driving in the car and it was too dark.

Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookie Soft Bake

Do you notice the background? It's my blog post! I was actually eating dessert while writing this post. I also added a tad more water then the directions called for, and it turned out great! Usually it is pretty hard and crumbly, but tonight it was soft and chewy. Loved it!

It's getting late, so I am off to bed! But I pray you all have a blessed week!

xoxo,
Toni

day six...you need to heed in order to succeed

When the Word of God is telling you something, you better listen up and do it. Take heed to what the Lord is saying to you. Last night the Lord spoke to me greatly through Pastor Chuck's Wisdom for Today Devotional. It was all about Jesus taking the victory on the cross to defeat satan so that we can in turn have victory.

In case you can't read it, it says, " His [Jesus'] victory means we can know victory. Though Satan will never stop trying to tempt you away from God, you can stand against that temptation and know the glorious victory of Jesus Christ."

Then this morning I received an email from my Medifast health coach, Charlotte, and she sent me another little Word from the Lord and it was all about standing fast. There was that word again: stand. You think the Lord is trying to tell me something? I need to be ready to stand in any situation. Whether it is about the Word of God or even about my diet, I...no we, must remain standing.

It is when you take heed to the Word and those helping you that you will succeed.

After waking up this morning and remembering all that the Lord spoke to me about the night before, I was ready to begin my day. For breakfast I had a delicious ice blended mocha shake. It was nothing special, I just took the Medifast mocha powder and blended it with one cup of water and one cup of ice. Simple perfection.

 

Next up for my morning snack, I ate some cinnamon pretzels. Still on the fence about this one, but I think I am beginning to like them more and more. My taste buds are finally adjusting to how the Medifast food tastes and how it is way better than "normal" processed junk food. Hopefully, one day I will just despise the taste of fast and fat food.

 

Doesn't that pretzel picture just look extra fall-like? I don't know...I think it does and I like it. Lunch was pretty boring and simple, but I like it. I have come to realize that cooking different and new recipes can oftentimes get me into trouble food wise. I tend to go all out and that will not help me when I am on this program. I think for right now I need to be repetitive and simple. So I stuck with my original ground turkey salad lunch. And for some reason, it smelled and tasted just like Taco Bell. I know, totally weird, right? But it was actually really tasty! And way better than Taco Bell...just sayin'.

Medifast Lean and Green Breakdown:

1 lean: 5 ounces of ground turkey

3 greens: 3 cups of romaine lettuce

1 healthy fat: 2 tablespoons of light Italian dressing

For my afternoon snack I decided to go and try the BBQ Bites once again. The verdict? Still not a fan. I don't know what it is about these, but they just don't taste that good to me. I may be crazy. But I still ate them, so I guess they aren't the worst thing ever. 

I had to rush dinner, unfortunately, so I could make it to church on time, but it was pretty good. I made the mac & cheese again and I think I made it right this time! Woohoo! For some reason, there were some tiny chunks in it last time because I didn't stir enough. But this time, I stirred like crazy and enjoyed a nice hot bowl of creamy, chunk-free mac and cheese.

After church, I came home and had my dessert. I have said this before, but I just love all of the bars. Tonight I had the cinnamon roll bar again and enjoyed every bite. When I have to order more meals for next month, you better be sure I will be buying more bars (and shakes).

So there you have it! Day six, complete! I cannot believe I have almost hit a week! Keep posted because I am going to share a little secret with you all tomorrow or on Friday. :)

xoxo,

Toni

day two...a paddle out and a craving attack

This morning was an emotional one. I woke up around 8:30 and began to prepare my first meal. But my reason for getting up this early on a Saturday evening was because I was going to a paddle out at the HB pier to honor the life of Pastor Chuck Smith. The photo above is when all the men were gathered around yelling out verses and singing hymns. It was definitely a moment not to be forgotten. 

So on my way to the beach I had a mocha shake. I love shakes and I love coffee. So this was just divine. 

After that I had some cinnamon pretzel sticks. Good thing I brought them with me, because I was still at the beach when it was time to eat my meal again.

So yeah, not too excited about those pretzels, they were ok, but not great. Next I had my "lean and green" meal for the day. I got creative and had the exact same thing I did yesterday: 3 cups of salad, 4 ounces of ground turkey, and 2 tablespoons of light dressing. 

Soon after that it was time to eat again and so I grabbed a cinnamon roll bar. Yes, it was good...but not as good as a real cinnamon roll.  

Then for some reason I just had massive craving attack! And it was like an hour after I just had the bar! Now, I am allowed to have diet and sugar free drinks, so I ended up drinking a zero Monster. I know it's not the best, but it's a lot better than eating a bunch of junk. 

After that it was time to have yet another meal. So, seeing that I could treat myself on this lovely Saturday, I made the Mac and Cheese. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't bad at all. Totally hit the comfort food spot. It wasn't as bad as it looks. Promise ;)

Lastly, I had my dessert meal after getting home from church. I ended up baking their chocolate chip cookie. It was surprisingly not bad at all! I was expecting some chemical tasting nastiness, but it actually (mostly) tasted like a chocolate chip cookie. I feel like I'm cheating by eating this kind of food, but it's totally ok! I think I'm going to do this (it's about time too).

Please keep praying as I continue this journey to get healthy and lose weight!

xoxo,

Toni