Post Your Points

Post Your points and enjoy your weekend. We'll start again on TUESDAY so you can enjoy a little chocolate on Monday without guilt. You all deserve a little love for working hard and staying committed even when it's hard.

I'll post the combined points soon so you can see how you're doing. After this next challenge I'll award the necklace to the next winner!!!

Have a great LOVE WEEKEND!!!! I love you all!

Wow, Traci Tate Lost 175 Pounds in One Year!

No pills, no special diet and no surgery, this young women lost 175 pounds in one year by eating healthy and exercising. What an inspiration! Check out her story here.

Desire, Commitment, Motivation, Follow Through

These words have been swimming around in my mind for the past few days. I think that the first and the last are the most important.

Do you really want to make changes? Are you willing to do the necessary things to make those changes?

I often question my desire. I guess sometimes desire doesn't always equal passion and for someone to go head strong without wavering they have to have a passion for what they are doing. I can thinking in my mind about the workouts I'm going to do, the great meals I'm going to make. Sometimes I feel like I have a strong desire...but then my follow-through is often lacking.

You need to have desire and commitment before you can be motivated to do something hard.

Can you believe we are half way through February? Are you still as committed as you were January 1st? Are you're reasons strong enough for your to make some real changes?

Take some time to think, refocus and get ready for some follow through!
I want to...do you?

A Good Reminder

I love this blog for many reasons but I thought I would share this post with you guys
today because it's a good (witty) reminder about FAT!

Check it out here!

Junk that annoys me

There are some junk food items that just don't tempt me. More than that, they downright annoy me.

And I have been known to get more than a bit persnicketedy when the other adult in the house brings them home for the kids or for his guy friends.

The biggest culprit is chips, usually in the form of Doritoes or Frito Lay Corn Chips. Then's there's the artificial cheese dip that goes with the chips. And lastly any "pastry" item that could last a year and still be considered fresh: Hoho's, Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes, Little Debbie items, you get the idea.

I grew up in a house where chips were a once a month treat and there were only enough cookies to provide for four children's school lunches per week. At the time, I remember being jealous of a girl who had Oreo cookies and Doritoes as after school snack options, while I choose from the following four staples: nuts, apples, peanut butter crackers and popcorn. But, I have long ago realized that those choices were a blessing.

How do you handle the different eating habits the other parent in your house brings to the table?

Banana Fat-Free Frozen Yogurt

Thanks, Cammy. I wouldn't have thought of trying this out today without your post. And now I have a great way to use up overripe bananas without having to mess with making banana bread. Plus, for the same calories I get twice the serving versus regular ice cream. Sweet, indeed!

(Full recipe & pics on my recipe blog.)

Is it really ice cream?

This was posted the other day on one of my favorite blogs "Make it and Love it". Her blog is usually dedicated to crafty things but every now and then she posts some fun recipes. This recipe just happens to be in a new series she is starting and the minute I saw it I thought of all of you. This has only one ingredient and it isn't dairy. It is made from creamed frozen banana, that's it! I haven't tried it yet but I have some sliced banana freezing in the fridge so I can give it a try tomorrow. I'm hoping it will help with the after dinner sweet tooth I seem to be having lately though I think I might have to add some chocolate to mine;)

here is a link to the full post for anyone who is interested:
http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/01/mini-series-with-our-best-bites-healthy.html

P.S. Did you gals read what happened to Mandi(Trainer Momma)? She was robbed this morning. So sad!

P.P.S Is the picture on this post really big for anyone else or just me? I have tried to fix it but it is the same size no matter what I do. Oh Well


**Edit Post - Fixed it for ya :) ~Chelsea

Quinoa Crunch

Quinoa, I'm at it again. I can't quite figure out who would like this except the exceptionally healthy and crazy but I'm giving it another shot...this time was much better.

I LOVE GRANOLA. I remember my mother making large pans of it when I was younger and just eating and eating it. I'd eat a ton of it every day if it wasn't so many calories. I have a hard time sticking to the suggested 1/2 cup serving. Because I love granola so much I decided to give this a try. It's like quinoa granola.

First Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

For the Quinoa Crunch
1 cup quinoa
1/4 cup flaxseeds
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil

Then in a mesh strainer ruinse the quinoa under cold water. I didn't have a mesh strainer so I used some cheese cloth I had on hand. It's easier to see if the water is clear if you put a glass bowl in the sink underneath the strainer. When the water in the bowl is clear, the quinoa is sufficiently rinsed. Drain the quinoa well, shaking the strainer to get out as much water as possible. I had to squeeze my cheese cloth to do this.

Transfer the quinoa to a medium mixing bowl. Add the flaxseed, honey and olive oil. Use a spoon to mix until well combined. Spread the mixture in a thin layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

Note: if you buy flaxseeds, they need to be refrigerated after you open the package.
I used a silpat. It made it easier to pour the finish product into a zip lock.

Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring once. I cooked mine a little longer because I wanted it to be more browned...like granola. COOL. the picture on the left is the finished product. Store in an air tight container up to 1 week.

This is my finished product that I sprinkled on Dannon Light and Fit yogurt.
1 serving is about 1/4 cup at 132 calories.

Now the rest of the recipe is like this:
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons Quinoa Crunch
1/2 cup fresh blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries or a mixture
1/2 teaspoon honey, or a I suppose Agave

Now, I had intended to do this but I decided I'm not a fan of plain greek yogurt. I need a flavor...maybe I'll look for vanilla to make this work. I only had strawberries on hand...maybe the plain would have worked with raspberries since I love them. So when I switched the the Dannon light and fit I didn't use the berries or the honey...just the crunch. I think you could use the crunch for many things. I'm going to try the Greek Yogurt option again...once I get to the store.

Body fat

Our weight scale is wonky. Unreliable. And usually makes me 3 to 4 pounds heavier than the scale at the gym. Which means that the gym scale is ALWAYS good news. Well, today I put an end to the wonky and invested in a body fat scale. So cool. And so scary. It's like looking in the far end of your closet under the pile of stuff that's been tucked away there for a very long time.

So now I know my stats, what percentage of me is body fat, what percentage of me is water (55%!) and what I weigh down to the ounce, sort of. Still, this new-fangled scale can't tell me certain things: like that all my excess body fat is in my front pouch. Seriously, it's like my body thinks another kangaroo is coming someday. Not happening. But this new found knowledge led me to investigate body fat generally and here's what I found in a nutshell: We are all fat, ladies. and we all should be, bare minimum 14%!

A certain amount of fat is essential to bodily functions. Fat regulates body temperature, cushions and insulates organs and tissues and is the main form of the body's energy storage. The following table describes body fat ranges and their associated categories:

*General Body Fat Percentage Categories

Women (% fat)
Essential Fat: 10-12%
Athletes: 14-20%
Fitness: 21-24%
Acceptable: 25-31%
Obese: 32% plus

*American Council on Exercise

The pamphlet that came with my scale defined an athlete as someone who exercises 10 or more hours a week, which puts me squarely in the fitness category with an occasional athletic week in the spring and summer.

Hoping to hop around a bit today...finally, after 5 long days of sick lethargy!

A plateful of love

Hi ladies!

Today I was all about showing my two almost healthy, but still sick kids the love. I always insist {with nutrition nazi zeal} that, bare minimum, they have a fruit or vegetable at lunch. But when they're sick, it's tough love. I have to kind of force it upon them. But at least I try to do so with whimsy. I told them "I love you and that's why I'm giving you food that's good for your body." {followed by a handful of gumdrops.}

Spinach Artichoke Dip

To die for, I'm telling you! So good!

The original recipe came from a Pampered Chef mini-book. I've changed a few things, to reduce the fat and calories. Here are the ingredients:

~10 oz. frozen cut spinach, thawed and drained (you can do this in the microwave)
~2 6oz. jars of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
~1/2 cup Miracle Whip Light salad dressing (original recipe is mayonnaise)
~1/2 cup light sour cream (original recipe is regular sour cream)
~3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (NOT the powdered stuff in a can!!)
~2 tsp. minced garlic (the kind in a jar, soooo much easier than peeling and chopping cloves of garlic, which is what the original recipe called for)

Combine ingredients and bake in an 8x8 baking dish at 375 for 20 to 25 min, or nuke it in the microwave for 5 to 5-1/2 min until everything the cheese is melted and bubbly. I also posted this, with more detail and pics at my recipe blog - Becky's Kitchen Creations.

Per 1 oz./28g serving, approximately 1 Tablespoon:
50 calories, 3.1g fat, 3.3 carbs, 1.5g protein

Yeah, it's not exactly lowfat or cheap on the calories, but it's a pretty good party staple, so I thought I'd share.