12-week transformation...day twenty-two

This was my exact face as my alarm went off this morning. The weekend went by way to fast...I was not ready for Monday.

...Little Peggy just gets me...

Breakfast
It's still a good morning even though it is Monday. Made a mocha shake this morning with added instant coffee for an extra flavor punch.

Morning Snack
I am guilty of not drinking enough water lately...it's even making my face a tad puffy! I know it and I know I need to change that. So this morning I have been drinking water like crazy, which has made me feel full...so by the time my snack time came around, I wasn't really hungry. But don't get me wrong...I still had a chai latte.

Lunch
There are times when I just want to yell, "LUNCHTIME!!!" But, I practice self control and do not let out that yell. I am sure my co-workers are very thankful I can resist. Anyways, today for lunch, I had a steak chopped salad from Rubios. I had to get my oil changed during my lunch hour, so I wasn't able to go home and grab lunch.

Afternoon Snack
Due to me working out after work, I ate my snack about an hour beforehand. I ate some chili nacho cheese puffs along with a ton of more water. Water, water, water...all day long!

Workout
I did my normal 2.18 mile run tonight after work. Felt good...well, after I am done, I feel good. During...well, that's another story. But, I did it!

Dinner
Once I got back from my run, I made a chocolate chip pancake and drizzled it with some medifast sugar free syrup. Yum! I love breakfast for dinner!



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

Well, you made it through Monday! I pray your Tuesday is a good one! Mine is going to be...I will tell you all about it tomorrow. :)

xoxo,
Toni

12-week transformation...day eighteen

I am simply meditating on this today. No specific reason...it's just a good reminder and one to remember.

Breakfast
For breakfast I made a mocha shake and added some instant coffee to up the flavor a bit.

Morning Snack
I was feeling a tad stomach sick around my snack time, so I slowly sipped on a chai latte...I think the warmth of it made my stomach feel better, but not 100% better. :(

Workout
Due to a busy evening, I did my run at lunch! It was okay...I prefer doing it at night, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Lunch
After I got back home and showered, I made a quick mocha cookie crunch shake. I used a chocolate chip soft bake packet and blended it with instant coffee, water, and ice.

Afternoon Snack
I was pretty hungry by the time my next meal time came around. So I had some honey mustard pretzel bites with a ton of water.

Dinner
When I got home, I got ready to go to a Bible study and a lean and green meal while doing so. I was in such a rush, I didn't take a picture...but I had a some chicken and lettuce.

Dessert
After I got home, I ate a strawberry crunch bar while writing this post. Sorry...no picture of this either.

And now I am off to bed! I am tiiiiired!

xoxo,
Toni

12-week transformation...day ten

Let's just say that this morning was pretty much the worst morning I have had in a while. You ever have those days when everything seems to be going wrong? Yeah, well...that was me.

To start of the day, I made a dark chocolate shake and when I went to take it out of the fridge, I dropped it and apparently the lid wasn't on all the way and my shake went everywhere. I mean, everywhere. I thought about taking a picture, but I was just so in awe of the mess I had to clean up that I just grabbed a towel and go to work. But just picture the entire inside of a fridge covered in a dark chocolate shake. Not fun.

So, it took me a good 15 minutes to clean everything up. But I had to still get ready...so dripping in sweat, I rushed to dry off, put on some makeup and get dressed. Oh...and make another shake. Then while putting on makeup, my blush ran out! Not a huge deal, but it is when your morning isn't going so well.

And to put the cherry on top of it all, I came into work and was feeling sick all morning. Stomach was killing me. So yeah, not the best start to the day.

But I did learn something...I learned why people (not just kids) cry over spilled milk (or shakes)! Why? Well, because it goes everywhere...that's why. ;) 

Breakfast
As I mentioned before, I first made a dark chocolate shake, but since I dropped it, I remade my shake, but used a mocha packet instead.

Morning Snack
Right after drinking my mocha shake, I had a really bad stomach ache and it continued all the way until it was time for my morning snack. I almost didn't even want it, but then a warm drink sounded pretty appetizing and soothing...so a chai latte it was!

Lunch
I was feeling better by lunch and decided to make a protein-style turkey burger with a side of broccoli.

Afternoon Snack
Still going strong with having a better day, I had some mixed berry cereal crunch for my snack. It cheered me up a bit...I love cereal!

Dinner
As I have been mentioning these past few days, our church is having a week of prayer. So before I attended tonight's service I ate a smores crunch bar.

Dessert
As the night's before, I was fairly hungry by the time my last meal of the day came around. I got home and made a coffee milkshake and then headed off to bed...I was eager to end today and see what tomorrow holds for me.

Hope you all have a better day than I did! ;)

Aren't these cats the cutest! Love them! :)

xoxo,
Toni

12-week transformation...day four

Today's transformation email was great! All about breaking habits and how to break them...here is what Dr. A says:
  
Changing your habits is a four-step process:

1. Identify the foundational choices that support optimal health, and implement a plan to incorporate them into your daily choices.
2. Become aware of the daily choices you make that don’t support health.
3. Think long term.
4. Create a microenvironment of health by removing as many negative stimuli as possible. If you have a Health Coach, you have already begun to build a powerful microenvironment of health and support!

Good advice, right? Seems pretty reasonable to me!

Now, I won't lie...this week has been tough. As I mentioned before, I usually eat all sorts of junk when I am working a conference, but this time, I am sticking to my plan and I feel better than ever. I love this feeling, but it's hard...especially when everyone else around you is not on a diet and eating all sorts of goodies.

But...I have made it this far...I can finish out the week. Can you believe it's Thursday already? Time is just flying by this week! I am pretty happy about it because I cannot wait to get back into my own bed and be able to work in my own kitchen without a cooler or walking everywhere to get ice...it's the little things in life.

Breakfast
So I don't know if I was really hungry or something, but for some reason my mocha shake this morning tasted like heaven. It was delicious! Nice and smooth and creamy...with a bit of thickness to it. Just divine I tell you.

Morning Snack
The morning was pretty busy, so time flew by. By the time I looked at my watch I realized it was time to eat! Praise the Lord because it has been quite difficult craving wise...so I am hanging in there.

Lunch
Well my lettuce is all gross now, so my salad wasn't all that great...so sad. :( I will just have to treat myself to a yummy lean and green meal tomorrow. The salad was the same as all the rest and included romaine lettuce, chicken, parmesan cheese, and light chipotle dressing. I will be honest and admit that I added some more cheese to cover the not-so-great taste of the lettuce.

Afternoon Snack
I don't think I was really hungry, but I definitely had the munchies. I think it was more me wanting to taste something yummy...because of the whole lunch debacle. So I did end up eating some honey mustard pretzel bites along with a sugar-free zero monster. I don't drink these often, but today was just one of those days, you know?

Dinner
It was semi-busy this afternoon, so time semi-flew by. I kept looking at the clock for some reason. Oh well...I was able to eat eventually. I ended up having a strawberry crunch bar, which seemed to satisfy my non-hunger-munchies. Check out that giant dried strawberry on the top! :P

Dessert
I had a sweet tooth around dessert time...like major sweet tooth. I really wanted to eat some chocolate...like really bad. But then I thought about why I am doing this program (Take Shape For Life)...so I heated up a chocolate chip cookie soft bake instead. Satisfied me right away and now I am going to bed feeling fantastic.

Tomorrow is a weigh-in day and I can't wait to see what the scale reads! I am excited! Hopefully I will have reached the weight (138.0 pounds) before my holiday weight gain.

xoxo,
Toni

just look up

Today was a weigh in day...now, I am still losing the weight I gained over the holidays...but I am still moving forward! I told you I gained 12 pounds and as of this morning I have lost 5 of those pounds bringing my weight to 145.8 pounds.

With that said, I saw this quote and knew it was a perfect fit for today's post. I need to look up...not behind at my mistakes, or the future. Looking up puts me in the proper perspective.

Breakfast
Made a mocha shake with about a teaspoon of instant coffee added to it.

Morning Snack
A couple hours later my stomach started to rumble and I made a chai latte. Totally hit the spot.

Lunch
I am out of my normal salad ingredients, so I made an omelet which included egg beaters, cottage cheese, light cheese, spinach, and kale. It looks ugly, but tasted amazing!

Afternoon Snack
Lunch kept me quite full but I was still feeling a bit munchy and had some brown sugar and cinnamon cereal crunch.

Dinner
For dinner I made a mock java chip frappuccino. Added some instant coffee to a chocolate chip cookie soft bake packet and blended it all together with water and crushed ice.

Dessert
Took dessert with me on the go today. I just cut up a cinnamon roll crunch bar and ate it during church.

So...I kept today's post short and sweet because I didn't want to overshadow the profound quote. Think about it today and just look up!

xoxo,
Toni

day sixty-three...if it was easy, everyone would do it

Today was kind of tough. Not really for food reasons (although having an entire box of see's candy in my office doesn't help) but rather for exercise reasons. I went for a 2.17 mile jog and just struggled with it. Then I saw this quote and thought, how true! I mean, if running was easy, everyone would be healthy and in shape, right? But the fact is, is that working out is hard! There is just no easy way if you want to see results. Simple as that.

With that said, I am not feeling discouraged, but rather encouraged. Weird, right? But I am excited to see my weight for tomorrow morning. And you know...if I don't reach my goal of 2 pounds, that is okay. I know I am due for a plateau and I am ready for that, but I also know that I have tried my hardest this week and have stuck to the plan. 

But all the glory goes to the Lord for helping me get through my run tonight and also through this week.

Breakfast
Okay...enough with my "life is hard but keep going rant"...let's move onto my eats for the day. For my breakfast this morning I made a mocha shake and added some instant coffee to it. Totally enhances the flavor of the shake...you should try it.

Morning Snack
I was out and about on an errand when my morning snack time came around. My stomach started grumbling and I realized, Oh, it's time to eat! Funny thing though, in about ten minutes my stomach stopped grumbling and I wasn't hungry anymore! Just goes to show that when those hunger pangs do come, stop, drink some water, go for a walk, etc...I promise the hunger will dissipate. :) But anyways, when I did make it back to the office, I made a calorie burn cappuccino and sipped on the hot goodness for about 30 minutes. 

Lunch
Back to the daily grind for lunch today. I had a romaine salad topped with a pizza burger, some parmesan cheese, and light chipotle ranch dressing. Perfection. It was raining outside which is why the table has puddles on it. ;)

Afternoon Snack
For my afternoon snack I had some nacho cheese chili puffs. These are fairly good...just remember to have some water on hand...well, at least for me. They can get spicy at times.

Workout
As I mentioned earlier, I went for a run today. Nothing out of the ordinary, just my same 2.17 mile run. It was hard but fun at the same time. Maybe the difficulty was due to the cold? I don't know. At one point I couldn't even feel my nose! Oh well...I fought through the pain and finished the run.

Dinner
After my run, I made a java chip frappuccino. I just mixed instant coffee with the chocolate chip soft bake and blended it with some water. Easy peasy and delicious!

Dessert
To end the night, I had a strawberry crunch bar. Something light and small...because tomorrow is a weigh in day!

And now I am off to bed! Isn't this picture of my cat, Peggy, just the cutest! Even cat haters have to love this. I mean, how can you not. ;)

Goodnight!

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