zucchini pasta with sausage

Step One

Gather your ingredients. You will need:

2 medium zucchini

1/2 cup of marinara sauce

1/4 cup of light mozzarella cheese

4 sausage links (depending on what kind of sausage. I used Morningstar)

1 teaspoon of olive oil

Step Two
Wash the zucchini. Then cut off the ends and peel the skin.

Step Three
Julienne the zucchini to resemble spaghetti noodles.

Step Four
Heat up the olive oil in a non stick pan and add the zucchini. Saute for a few minutes.

Step Five
Cut the sausage into bite size pieces.

Step Six
Add the sausage to the zucchini and cook until thoroughly heated.

Step Seven
Mix it all together while adding the marinara sauce. Keep stirring until the sauce is warm and zucchini is soft.

Step Eight
Transfer the zucchini to a clean, oven-safe plate. Then sprinkle the cheese on top.

Step Nine
Place the plate under the broiler and cook for a few minutes. Keep an eye on it so the cheese doesn't burn. You want it to have a nice golden brown color to it. Take it out of the oven carefully (plate will be hot) and enjoy!

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

xoxo,
Toni

day seventeen...who do you please?

I will keep it short and sweet tonight, but I just have one question to ask you. Who do you please? Is it yourself? A spouse? Parent or sibling? Your flesh or your spirit? Tonight at church we read a verse in Romans 8 that said, "So them, those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:8). This hit me like a ton of bricks and made me really think about who I am trying to please. It was only last month that I was living a life solely devoted to my flesh and feeding my sin of addiction to food. I did not realize at the time that because of my fleshly desires, I could not please God. Really makes you think about who you are pleasing.

I can say with confidence now that I am living wholeheartedly for the Lord and am walking in His steps more than ever before. Through this Medifast program, I have been able to deny my flesh those things it longs for and instead fill up my spirit with the things of God. And with the Lord's help I am able to walk in His ways and please Him.

Breakfast
Sunday's seem to be my late start day. I tend to sleep in, which causes me to eat my breakfast later on in the day throwing my meal times way off. This morning I woke up and had a pineapple mango smoothie around 10am.

Lunch
I went to church around 11am and didn't get home until about 1pm, so it was definitely time for my lean and green meal for the day. I made a new dish today that I think you guys will love. Sundays from now on are going to me my "try new things" day. And hopefully by Monday or Tuesday I will have the recipe for you all. So today I made spaghetti using zucchini and added some marinara sauce and sausage to it...oh, and a little bit of melted cheese. Delish!

Afternoon Snack #1
After two or so hours, I ate my first snack of the afternoon. I had some pizza bites and drank lots of water. For some reason these bites are super dry, resulting in me drinking about 24 ounces of water. But I see it as a good thing!

Afternoon Snack #2
I then had a smores crunch bar as my second snack of the afternoon. I can't tell you enough how much I love these. They are so stinkin' good! I could easily eat these everyday, all day.

Dinner
I ate a tad late today, because I had to wait until I got home from church...which was around 9pm. I will be honest, I don't like eating too late because I feel kind of gross in the morning. I don't know what it is. But...I have to complete my meals for the day even if that means eating late. I will just have to wake up earlier on Sundays in the future so I don't have to stay up late.

Dessert
I tried to pick a small, light meal so it doesn't sit in my stomach too long as I am going to go to sleep for the next 8 hours.

Remember to feed your spirit rather than your flesh so you can please the Lord and not yourself or someone else. God is the only one who matters.

xoxo,
Toni

day sixteen...running the race

taken after the race

 Today I ran a race...both physically and spiritually. Let's start with the physical race.

Well, I woke up this morning, got ready, and headed out with my parents to run a 5k color run. Now, before I began Medifast, I would run about 3-4 miles three times a week with no problem. Yes, I would get tired, but I would always push through it. Today however was a different situation...totally different. My health coach told me to take it easy with my running for the first two weeks of the program—which I did.

I am in week three now, so I thought I could just breeze through the run like I have in the past. But I was wrong...like way wrong. I pretty much struggled the entire time. The first mile went pretty good, not too much pain, but soon after I was hurting. I definitely had to listen to my body—it was screaming for me to stop and walk. It was humbling, but I did. My mom was also with me the entire time and did not leave me in the (color) dust...she's a keeper. ;) After walking for a few minutes, we would pick the pace up again and begin running...only for me to call a break and start walking once again. We did this for the rest of the run, but it worked. We ran the majority of the run, so that is an accomplishment. But I can honestly say that I did the best I could.

taken before the race

Moral of the story...listen to your body and know that you will not be able to do all you could do before the Medifast program. I am going to begin a workout plan beginning Monday, but it will mainly consist of toning exercises. I will probably add some cardio as well, but just try to shoot for 1 mile of running rather than 3. Some things will have to be adjusted because I am not feeding my body all the calories and energy I used to. My body is still adjusting to the low calorie diet. I'm just taking it little by little.

Okay, so here is the spiritual side of the story...after the run and me realizing just how weak I was, the Lord gave me a verse that spoke wonders to me. Now, I have heard this verse more times than I can count, but in this particular moment, it was just what I needed to hear. Taken from Hebrews 12:1, it says,

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." 

How great is that! I may not have broken any records running today, but I did endure and finish the race! Even with my new health program. It is helping me lay aside the sin of overeating and turning my focus to the Lord rather than my flesh. Keep running your race. You may have just begun (like me), but the finish line is there, we just need to keep enduring and we will eventually see it.

my mom and me right after we crossed the finish line

Anyways, I hope that this encourages some of you today who may be struggling with endurance. Keep going! It may hurt physically, but you will win greatly spiritually.


Breakfast
I had to make a quick breakfast to eat on the go to the race. So I made a pancake muffin in a mug. I then cut it in half and stuck it in a toaster. Delish!

Morning Snack
I had my morning snack a little after I finished the race. I wasn't too hungry after that difficult run, but I ate it anyways. I chose something small and easy to eat (because I was in the car). Also, I came prepared and pack multiple snacks. You just never know what will happen and you don't want to be without your meals! And yes, those are my running pants...covered in color!

Lunch
Lunch was a little late for me today, so I ate a simple meatball salad. It is quick and easy to make and tastes delicious too!

Afternoon Snack
At this point, I was just relaxing, so it was nice to eat a crunchy snack while doing my nails. It was easy to eat too so I didn't mess up my freshly painted fingers.

Dinner
After my fingers dried, I decided to try out a little recipe. I took the brown sugar oatmeal and made granola out of it. But I will get to that next. For dinner I made a dark chocolate shake. I was going to a friend's house and this was a perfect meal to make and take with me to drink on the drive over.

Dessert
I made granola, and it wasn't half bad. I baked it in advance because I had to take it with me to eat at my friend's house—didn't want to be unprepared and tempted. While they were eating pizza, dr. pepper, and brownies, I munched on my oatmeal granola. And you know what? I didn't feel left out! No one even mentioned or asked why I wasn't eating pizza too. They all understood! Love my friends! Just make sure that you have supportive friends who won't drag you down.

So that's it! Quite a busy day, but it was a good one. I hope your Sunday is a fun one!

xoxo,
Toni

day fifteen...week two weigh in

Today was pretty slow and uneventful. I started out the day by weighing myself right after I woke up... and guess what?! I lost another 4.2 pounds! So crazy to think I am losing weight by eating pancakes and chocolate. So this brings my total weight lost to 11.6 pounds. It has only been two weeks and I have already lost 11 and 1/2 pounds! This program is beyond great...you convinced yet? Well, hopefully I will have you convinced in a few more weeks after I have lost even more weight.

I have also decided to do monthly photos and measurement check in's rather than weekly or biweekly. So in two more weeks I will be updating you all on how I look...unless you see me at church or work or something...then you already know. ;)

Breakfast
I started off the morning with a nice hot cup of Medifast calorie burn cappuccino. I used a milk frother to mix the powder and water, and it turned out creamy and smooth—no chunks. Yay!

Morning Snack

So...I tried something new again with the oatmeal. Instead of cookies, I made a muffin. It was so easy too. I simply added 1/4 cup of water and mixed it in a mug. I then microwaved it for 1 minute and 30 seconds. After that I took the muffin out of the mug and flipped it and microwaved it yet again for another 30 seconds to dry it out a bit. It was so good! I am excited to see what else I can do. :)

Lunch
Lunch was amazing. All I did was toss some fresh green beans with a little bit of olive oil and seasonings and bake them for about 25 minutes. And on the side I had some meatballs. Such a perfect and balanced meal...not to mention delicious.

Medifast Lean and Green Breakdown:
lean: 6 meatballs
green: 1 1/2 cups of green beans
healthy fat: 1 teaspoon of olive oil

Afternoon Snack
Lunch kept me fairly full, but I was pretty excited for my afternoon snack. I had some brown sugar cereal. This is one of my favorites. Even before I went on the Medifast program I loved to eat cereal (most of the time I would binge on it), so this snack is perfect for me.

Dinner
It's weird to call a snack "dinner", but oh well...it is what it is. So for dinner I had a peanut butter crunch bar. Another one of my favorites. It actually tastes like an old protein bar I used to eat back in the binging days...but this one is way better for me...and honestly tastes better too.

Dessert
To end the day, I had a chocolate chip cookie soft bake. Now that I look back on my day, it was full of sweet foods...hmmmm...oh well. Tomorrow is a new day full of different foods. I microwaved the soft bake in a larger bowl just for fun...made a bigger, yet flatter cookie, which I liked. I know the picture makes it look kinda gross, but I promise you it was delicious!

Well, that is it for today. Just remember to hold fast to the Word of God and don't lose hope when things look grim...God is always in control!

xoxo,
Toni

oatmeal cookies

If you are on the Medifast program you either like the oatmeal or you don't. And if you are like me, you are most definitely not a fan of it. Well, I have a solution...make cookies! Even if you are not on the Medifast program, I am sure you can use any packet of instant oatmeal mix out there...but, I have not tried it, so don't take my word on it.

Step One 
Gather and measure out your ingredients...

You will need:
1 packet of Medifast Oatmeal (I used the brown sugar one) or any packet of instant oatmeal
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup of water
1/8 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Step Two
Next mix all your dry ingredients together and then add the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is moist. Then allow the batter to sit for about 5 minutes so it can become a more thicker consistency.

Step Three
Spoon batter and place onto a greased cookie sheet. I also put down parchment paper just in case.

Step Four
Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Cookies will be fairly soft, so you can leave them in a little longer to harden if you like. Then allow them to cool before you eat them...well, at least try to wait.

Step Five
Enjoy!!! Also, all of the cookies you make count as only 1 Medifast meal!

xoxo,
Toni