What's On Your Plate?

The four of us made a trip to Sam's Club the other day.  While we were there I picked up some canned chicken breast.  Now I'm sure you're probably thinking ewww...but it is really good and pretty healthy too.  I like to make it with 1 1/2 Tablespoons of lite mayo, green grapes, onion, celery, and a squirt of honey.  Voila!  An instant lunch.  As I mixed all of my ingredients together I looked at the serving size.  Now I figured there was probably 3 servings in the entire can.  There is 5.  I was pretty surprised, a serving size is 1/3 C.  

 The left over dish that I put it in makes it look like there is more.  It's just barely covering the bottom.  Here is the finished product.

I used 1/2 of a toasted english muffin, cucumbers, and sweet peppers.  I picked an english muffin because I went a little crazy at the last Meijer 10 for $10 sale and well there's probably 9 packages left over in the freezer. 

For breakfast I make myself a chocolate Shakeology shake.  I love to make mine with sliced strawberries and a splash of vanilla.  I'm lucky enough that Tim's aunt brought us some real vanilla from Mexico when she visited.  It makes it taste even better.  I love my Ninja!  I don't know what I would do without it.  This shake helps keep me feeling full all morning and it is packed with vitamins and minerals.  If you're interested in finding out more about Shakeology just click the link at the top of my blog and it will take you to my website.

When I came home from school this afternoon Tim had hamburg out thawing.  I thought, now what can I do to that burger that would be considered healthy?  I decided to make a shepherd's pie.  I used extra lean ground beef, frozen veggies, 2 Tablespoons Ketchup, and every spice I could find in my spice cabinet (I'm also trying to cut down on the salt).  Mrs. Dash and I are becoming fast friends.  Instead of potatoes I used cauliflower whipped up into fake mashed potatoes.  They are so yummy.  While they don't taste exactly like mashed potatoes they make a great substitute.  I cook frozen cauliflower in a microwave safe dish covered (do not add water) for 8 minutes then I drain the water and throw it in my trusty Ninja with a splash of fat free milk and a tablespoon of light sour cream.  That Ninja whips them up in no time.  This is what it looked like when it was finished.

The whole family loved this.  It was super easy to make and pretty healthy too.  I hope you enjoyed reading.  If you have any ideas of some healthy recipes I would love to hear them. 

Better Late Than Never

If you've ever struggled with your weight then you know how hard it is to keep it off.  For me it is a daily struggle.  Some days I win and some I lose.  Until recently I had been losing that struggle.  I had been slowly gaining back the weight I had worked so hard to lose.  I could sit here and give excuses about why I was gaining weight.  But what good would that do?  The fact is I have gained weight.  It's depressing and makes me mad thinking about how I let myself down.  That is in the past and there is nothing I can do to change that.  I can change what is happening now.  With my husband on board the "Lose Weight" Express it will be so much easier to do this.  I started really getting serious on Monday, March 19th.  So far I have already lost 2.5 lbs this week.  Not too shabby!  I have been working out with my new best friend Les Mills Pump.  It is a great new work out program from Beachbody.  It is so much fun.  I have also been experimenting with some new recipes.
 

 Tim and I have been trying to eat low carb healthy food.  I have found Pinterest to be very helpful in finding new and tasty recipes.  Here is a picture of a low carb cauliflower crust pizza that I made.  I used lowfat mozzerlla cheese, turkey pepperoni, and plenty of veggies.  YUM!  Tim was pleasantly surprised and so was I. 

This has nothing to do with weight loss and my writing professor would tell me I have an alligator in a fish pond but I wanted to throw a couple of pictures of my girls in here.  Plus it's my blog so I can do whatever I want!  My daughter Evie loves to go around the house and take pictures.  So here I am with my youngest daughter Hailey.  Even though we got Evie her own camera it's so much more fun to use mommy's real camera. 

I took this one of Evie and me.  I'm so happy she smiles for pictures now.  When she was a baby she use to have the most sober look when you took her picture. 

There you have it folks.  I will continue to eat well and exercise.  I'll keep you posted and thanks for reading.  It helps to keep me accountable!

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It's Time

It is so easy to become lazy and say, "I don't need to work out today."  I know this because it is what happened to me.  I slipped away from my work out schedule.  So starting today, I am pledging to get back into working out everyday.  I forced myself out of bed at 6:30 and started Burn Circuit with ChaLEAN Extreme.  I did not want to get up.  I was telling myself, "You can do it later this afternoon."  But that's what got me into trouble in the first place, being a procrastinator.  I convinced myself I better get my lazy toosh out of bed and start my work out. 

Since my last entry I have enrolled at Lansing Community College.  I am constantly juggling being a wife, mother, and student.  It can be a little overwhelming at times.  I leave for school Monday through Thursday at 3:15 pm and get home around 8:15 pm. Except for Thursday when I get home at 9:15 pm.  It can get a little crazy at times.  One of the things I found myself doing was eating when I got home and then going to bed.  I know that this is one of the worst things that I can do.  I wasn't burning off the calories I was putting into my body.  So I ended up gaining some pounds back that I lost. 

Now I am pledging to myself that I will begin my new work out regimen.  I will do ChaLEAN Extreme each morning before I start my day.  I will also drink Shakeology every morning for breakfast.  I will NOT eat after 7:00 pm.  I AM going to pack a little lunch for myself to take to school.  Let's get this weight loss rolling!

Are You Worth It?

I've been changing the way I eat and exercising daily.  I have been LOVING it!  Granted there are days that I don't feel like it.  But for the most part I've been working out one hour or more at least 5 days a week.  I feel so much better about myself and I have a ton more energy which is really helpful when you have 2 girls under the age of 3. 

Recently I decided to invest in myself.  I purchased some Bowflex SelectTech weights.  Thanks to my friend Alicia I was able to get a great deal on them through the Internet.  Here are some pictures of me working out with them.

I absolutely LOVE my new weights!  They are so convenient and easy to use.  I'm lifting 20lbs in all of those pictures!  Who would've thought I'd be lifting 20lbs?  Oh and don't you just love my #1 Mom shirt?  I wish I could say that one of my daughters bought it for me but I bought it for myself.  Even if they don't think I'm the #1 Mom I think I am. hahaha!  Yes, I use my jazz boots for my workouts.  They don't ever leave the house so I feel comfortable working out with them on my carpet. :)

The other purchase I recently made is a bodybugg.  What is a bodybugg?  The bodybugg works with a program on your computer. After wearing it all day you hook it up to an USB cord and upload the data from the bodybugg to the program. The bodybugg itself has sensors on it that monitors your activity throughout the day. In addition to keeping track of calories burned you also input calories consumed. The idea is to have a calorie deficit in order to lose weight.  It is the neatest little contraption I've ever seen.  Yesterday was my first day wearing it.  It was pretty neat to see how many calories I burned.  Below is a picture of what the bodybugg looks like.
 

The question I asked myself when making these purchases is "Am I worth it?" Why, yes I am! By having all of these things I am also teaching my girls about health and fitness just by them watching me workout and eating healthy.  Hailey loves to watch my ChaLEAN Extreme dvds.  She is really good at doing squats.  Those are Hailey's favorite.  Evie always tries to do the workouts with me with the resistance bands that I have.

YOU Have To Want It

One thing I've learned from my whole weight loss experience is that you won't lose weight or get healthy until YOU want to.  You can't lose weight because your mom, dad, friend, or spouse thinks you should.  It won't happen.  I know this because I speak from experience.  I knew I needed to lose weight but I wasn't ready  yet.  I knew it was going to take hard work and self control.  Two things that didn't interest me for a long time.  I had to do it because I wanted to.  This time that was the difference.  I didn't do it for anybody but ME! 

Beachbody workouts are the perfect addition to any weight loss program.  They are fun, fast, and effective!  I am telling you they work.  You might say, "Wow, that workout dvd is $59.95!"  "I can't afford that."  How can you not afford it?  You need to take control of your health now!  If you join a gym you will end up paying much more than that and you won't get the same results you will if you use a Beachbody program.  Plus you get to do it in the privacy of your own home with your very own personal trainer right in your living room.  How awesome is that?!
Here is a video on ChaLEAN Extreme. I love this workout program! Chalene is amazing.


Now you've got your workout program.  How can you take your weight loss to the next level?  You need Shakeology.  I'm sure that most of you look at the price and think "I can't afford that."  Why can't you?  You have to remember that it replaces one meal everyday.  You can order it on home direct and have it automatically shipped to your house for free each month.  It's so convenient.  It is delicious and most importantly it's the healthiest meal of the day!  You don't have to take my word for it.  Watch this Youtube Video.  You'll see for yourself.


100 doctors don't lie, either do I. If you're interested in purchasing Shakeology you can click the "Get Healthy Now" button at the top of the page on the Shakeology banner. Start treating yourself right right now! You deserve it!

Family, Fun, and Chocolate

I have been pretty busy the last few days.  On Thursday Tim and I got to take the girls to Bay Valley Resort between Bay City and Saginaw.  We met Tim's mom and his sister and her children there.  We all had a great time.  We spent most of our time in the pool which the kids absolutely loved.

This is one of my favorite pictures from our little trip.  My two beautiful daughters and me.  I am very blessed!   

On Wednesday (the day before we had to go) I tried on my swimsuit from last year.  The greatest thing happened!  It was too big!  Then panic washed over me and I thought,  "I'm going to have to try on swimsuits."  This has never been very much fun for me.  But I went into it with a positive attitude.  The girls and I hit the stores.  The first one I found that I really liked I tried on and guess what?  It fit!  Thank you ChaLEAN Extreme!  I decided that since I liked it and it fit I wasn't going to jinks myself and I was going to go ahead and purchase it.  It wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be. :)

On Saturday I went with my friends Sally, Alicia, and Kisha to Kalamazoo for Beachbody Super Saturday.  It was great to be surrounded by people who are loving fitness as much as I am.  There were several others there that had a similar story to mine and they had lost a lot of weight.  It's amazing what these workouts can do for people.  I wish all of you could have been there to witness it. 

This is a picture of me standing next to a tall glass of Greenberry Shakeology.  I had a chance to try that flavor on Saturday.  It was pretty good.  I prefer chocolate but that's because it's a great way for me to get my chocolate fix. 

Shakeology is a wonderful way to get ALL of your nutrients in ONE meal.  It's low calorie and high protein.  It only has 140 calories per serving. It has a whopping 17 grams of protein per serving.  It's high in antioxidents, minerals, and probiotics.  Every time I enjoy a glass of Shakeology I am doing something amazing for my body.  It can help you to lose weight, lower your cholesterol, help improve regularity, and lower your blood pressure.  It gives you energy!  Who doesn't need more of that?  There is not another "health" shake out there that has the nutrients that Shakeology has.  You have to ask yourself, "Are you worth it?"  I think you are!  How much money would you save if you could get rid of your cholesterol medication?  Or any other medication for that matter?  That is exactly what happened for a man I met on Saturday.  After he started drinking Shakeology he was able to quit taking his Lipitor pills for cholesterol.  I'm telling you this stuff is outstanding!  If you're interested in finding out more please feel free to contact me or check out my website.  www.myshakeology.com/reneestoll.  I would love to see you become the healthiest you you can be!