20 Pounds!

20 Pounds!

So I know my hubby is so private about it, but since I am so proud of and amazed by him I have to share it... He has lost 20 pounds since starting at the gym last month and being a little more health-conscious of what he eats! If you guys see him often, maybe you won't notice the difference very much, but if you really pay attention or you haven't seen him for a while then you can definitely see his face has slimmed down. I've noticed a happier guy with a little more energy than in past years. He is also fighting the cravings to eat bad foods late at night and really any bad foods at all! I know that I have slipped a few times with the chocolates and all and even though Daniel is tempted to join me, he just says no. It's very inspiring... I want to be more like him.

So I finally got a gym pass as a gift from Daniel. (Thanks, boo!) If you know me well, you know I've been wanting this since like.. ever!

I try to take pictures of every meal just to keep a record somehow, but I never upload the photos immediately. I like to upload them all together at the end of a week or so like I have been doing. I just feel it's more convenient.

Greek Yogurt. I've been loving this stuff. I bought the Fage All Natural Nonfat Greek Strained Yogurt in a 35.5 oz tub for about $8. I didn't taste great alone and I ended up putting a lot of fruit and cinnamon and honey in it to make it taste better. But I went through it pretty quickly and for $8, it seems a little pricey for us. Then I ran into another kind of Greek yogurt at WinCo called Zoi. It was also 35 oz but only $2.99! Ya, it was a little hard to believe so I turned the container around and compared it to the Fage...

Fage- serving size 1 cup, 130 calories, 9g sugar, 23g protein. Woah, nice!
Zoi- serving size 1 cup, 220 calories, 23g sugar, 11g protein. Big difference.

Also, the Zoi is vanilla flavored and it just tastes like dessert! I love it, but it's not the healthier choice and like any dessert I just eat it tooooo fast! Zoi is way too much sugar and way not enough protein to justify eating it! Maybe I will save it as a health(ier) option than cookies and ice cream and chocolate for dessert.... IIIFFF we have dessert :)

Another good dessert I've tried is pink chocolate drizzled popcorn. It is the SmartPop popcorn which is a pretty common indulgence for any diet cuz it's so low cal and it conquers those cravings. And I added just a little chocolate over the top of it so I could get my chocolate fix. The amount of chocolate I drizzle only adds about 50 calories for the entire bag of popcorn so I just don't feel so bad about it. I am planning on making them for favors for Ariana's second birthday party!



Oh ya, I am planning a menu for her party that is totally health-conscious. I know a lot of my family and the people around me that I care about and support on their journeys to living healthier will be at the party and I don't want to kill their diet efforts that day. I know personally that birthday party food just tempts me so bad and I nearly always succumb to all the cupcakes and pizza and ice cream and just feel awful after. And I would feel awful to do that to the people I love. So I am making every effort to serve healthy, colorful, yummy, and also some vegetarian options at her party. And I will do everything in my power to not use styrofoam, paper plates, paper cups, or any other unnecessary waste to add to the growing landfills around us. Guess who will be doing dishes for the rest of the day afterwards?! Lol... I will do whatever I can to make even the smallest difference if I can.

Enough with the HFCS and gelatin! Now THIS is what I call a fruit snack! And my daughter loves it… Score! And look at those colors – eat your rainbow, guys…

We love this pilaf rice. It’s super cheap, super easy to make, super tasty, and a good carb and grain to add to a meal. It’s 89 cents for a box which feeds all three of us for one meal. I served it here with some steamed fresh broccoli (Ariana and Daniel’s favorite vegetable AND half as expensive as the pre-packaged stuff) and boneless skinless chicken breast with the “savory” herbs and spices from the spice rack that Holly gave me two Christmases ago :) And instead of regular water, I added some fresh lemon and strawberry slices to make some sort of a strawberry lemonade flavor for a change. Ariana liked scooping out the strawberries. Aaaand some tea candles for a pre-Valentine's Day romantic feel :)

Today we had a nice lunch when Daddy came home from work. We had a fresh garden salad with capers and light balsamic vinaigrette and unsalted croutons (the special ingredient to make Daniel eat more salad hehehe…) I steamed some fresh carrots and sautéed tilapia in onions, capers, and an olive oil/balsamic vinegar/teriyaki sauce. Daniel doesn’t usually like onions so I try to find clever ways to sneak them in like chopping them up really small, adding them to a sauce, or sautéing them several minutes in the pan before adding the fish/meat to take the edge off the strong taste. I just love cooking with them and the flavor they give, even though Ariana laughs at me when I use goggles to cut them up :/