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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Bountiful Baskets!


Look at all that great produce -- only $15!! That's the price of the bags of potatoes and strawberries ALONE!


I'm a new fan of BB!! Every week or so, volunteers get together all over UT, AZ, ID and Vegas to hand out Bountiful Baskets. If you're interested go HERE and check your contribution days/times and sign-up. You'll get a reminder email when it's time to make your contribution (place your order) and you'll want to respond ASAP as they only have so many.
You can also add on extras like Bread baskets, treats, and they have specialty baskets. This week's was Asian Ingredient Pack with Bok Choy, Garlic, Ginger, and others. I wasn't too sure what it was all about, so I just stuck with the regular Fruit/Veggie basket. The prices are the kinds of prices Restaurants and Grocery stores get... so it's a SUPER great deal!
I can't wait to see what they have next time (oh, and each time is different, you never know what's going to be in your "basket"!!)

Now I'm off to make some pickles and possibly applesauce! I'm so excited!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

20lbs loss and info on Cheating

Well I jumped on the scale today and was ECSTATIC that I had lost OVER 3lbs yesterday! My total weight loss is 20lbs! I. Am. So. EXCITED!
I was really afraid of losing any this week because I have been bad. As far as meals go, I've been REALLY good. Probably eating less than what I'm supposed to. But I've been sneaking in mini dark chocolates and popcorn.
I normally don't like popcorn. My husband usually makes a bowl for himself at night and I can usually look at it and say, "Ew," and be done. But earlier this week, I wanted some, dangit! So he gave me a little cereal bowl of my own. It was just enough to make me feel, "Oh, that was good." And possibly want more later.
So last night, he wasn't in a sharing mood and made me grab my OWN bag. I told him I couldn't eat the whole bag... so he said he'd make it (he adds seasonings to make it YUMMY!) and he'd take what I didn't eat. So I sat down with my HUGE bowl of popcorn, perfectly seasoned and soon realized I had eaten the whole thing! Well... not the whole thing, my son helped with about a 1/3rd of it! But I felt so disgusted afterword. I know popcorn is one of the more healthier snacks for you to choose if you must have something salty... but a whole bag? Ew.

I was shown this SITE from a friend (her site is HERE) that has lots of detail about HCG, including some awesome info on NOT CHEATING. This is what she says on the subject:



  1. Do not be afraid of cheating--you have complete control whether you give into temptation or not. Just because someone else has cheated does not mean you will cheat as well. Many, many people have done the protocol without cheating, and you can too. Prepare yourself for the fact that you will *want* to cheat, but *acting* on the thought is your solely decision.
  2. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.
  3. Do NOT cheat, this cannot be stated enough, it is a waste of time and money and NOT WORTH IT! Also know that if you cheat, you will gain more than you would not on hCG.
  4. To get your mind off of wanting to cheat, focus your attention on something else. You can take a walk, go to the library, movie theater, or visit with friends. It is also nice to find a support system, whether it be through an online group (visit here), a buddy who is following the diet with you, family member(s), etc. Just make sure you have someone to stop you from cheating.
  5. Create a cabinet in your kitchen which supports your diet. Store your teas, Stevia, Apple Cider Vinegar, Grissini/Melba, fruit, etc. and use this special place to “snack” with items that are all allowed on the protocol.
  6. Do NOT create your own substitutions. Dr. Simeons created a specific list of foods to eat and studied each food intensely. If you start making substitutions, then Dr Simeons' protocol becomes weaker and weaker, and eventually will become completely ineffective. It is the substitutions to the protocol that give the program a bad reputation; it needs to be precisely followed.
  7. Do not interfere with your own weight loss success by not following the protocol! Dr Simeons' program eliminates and/or reduces sugar and carbohydrate cravings. However, if sugar and carbohydrates remain in your diet (except for the allowed starch), you are not allowing your body to cleanse and your hypothalamus to reset. These are the key to lifelong success.
  8. You don't need to understand why something will or will not work with the Simeons plan. There are many unexplainable factors to the program, you just need to know that substitutions to the protocol causes weight loss to slow. Just because something doesn't make sense to you doesn't mean you should change it. Do not expect to have the results produced on the Simeons protocol if you do not follow the Simeons protocol.
  9. Expect to have cravings, be hungry, and moody and expect to want to cheat. These expectations will let you be prepared to control the cravings, hunger, moods, and cheats. Prepare yourself for these feelings, but know that the decision to deviate is yours...stay strong and remember that only you are accountable for everything you put into your mouth.
  10. When you feel a craving coming on, go and brush your teeth; this should help the craving pass.
  11. Don't disappoint Dr. Simeons, he would not let someone remain on the hCG protocol if he/she cheated more than three times. You need to commit to the program and stay with it!
  12. The only way to fix a cheat is to get back on track and tell yourself that you will not cheat. The more you tell yourself that you cannot cheat, the stronger you should feel. If you allow yourself a bite of something, you have already cheated, and you should never make that allowance.
  13. When you use food as an emotional crutch, you will find it difficult to cope without that crutch while on the VLCD. You need to fill the empty spot with something healthy that you can enjoy, both on and off the protocol. This will not only reduce cravings, but also help you maintain your new healthy weight. Some possibilities include crafting, painting, walking, gardening.
  14. If you go forward and cheat, you have to take responsibility for that cheat. You should feel guilty and unsatisfied, and you will pay for the cheat for three to five days. This can be 3-5 days of the scale going up, or staying the same. You have to pay for your mistakes, and it sure is time consuming. There is nothing you can do except stop cheating and vow to yourself that you will not cheat again.
So here's to less than 2 more weeks of NON-CHEATING and super weight loss for good!! :)

Monday, February 22, 2010

Recipe Monday

Remember when I mentioned I made my own Chicken Bouillon base for soups? Well, now you can make it too! It's super easy and smells soooo good! Just be careful when adding spices as Creole can become VERY spicy! :)

Chicken Bouillon Base

3 lg Chicken breasts

8C. Water

1/4t. Garlic powder

1/4t. Onion salt

1/4t. Celery salt

1/4t. Poultry seasoning

1/4t. Black pepper

1 1/2t. Sea salt

Combine ingredients in soup pot and cook until chicken is done. Remove chicken and refrigerate or freeze to use later. 2C. Bouillon for soup or 4TBS. to sauté veggies.


Friday, February 19, 2010

Friday follow-up

I never realized how rough February would be for me. Especially this year.

You see in February, not only is it Valentine's Day, but it is also my husband's birthday, his mom's birthday and our anniversary. It was a crazy month and it's not over yet!
This year (during V-Day weekend) his sister happened to move to the SLC area, making a stop here for a night.
With all the family visits, I indulged. Well, the first visit I kept to my diet and did REALLY well. But I felt left out, not the fam's fault AT ALL. So the next 2 visits, I decided I was going to be careful, but allow myself to indulge with them. So first was the Chorizo Tacos (can I say YUMMY!?), and the second was Chilis (I think the chips and salsa and mayo on my sandwich are what hurt... but so yummy!). And both times followed with cupcakes and/or cake to celebrate birthdays. I also had some Valentines Granny B's cookies (if you live in or near Utah, you know what those are!) laying around (my husband and now my son LOVE them!). And then there was the V-Day candy (that we purchased the NEXT day so save some $$). So you can see... it was just tragedy waiting to strike (I gained 6lbs.).
With all that going on, I decided I would use those indulgences as "load days" for a 2nd round.
So Wednesday was my 1st day back on the 500Cal diet. And I must say, I thought I did VERY well. The next morning I weighed myself super excited to have lost at least 2lbs.... but was very quickly disappointed with the fact that I had GAINED another 2?! I was super devastated to say the least.
So this morning I got back on the scale, not really expecting anything and I had lost 3lbs (well 5 actually, I didn't save the 2lbs increase from the day before). That seems like a lot in one day, and I think the 2lb increase could have been the result of dead batteries in my Balance Board.

So I'm sittin' pretty at almost where I left off before the indulgences, super excited to finish this round and have the fat be gone forever!!

Today's menu:

Creole seasoned steak with diced tomatoes and chives and strawberries for dessert. Yum!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Grissini Breadsticks, anyone?!


I have 11 boxes (3.5oz each) of these bad boys (they're actually really yummy!!) and I know how hard it is to find them in Southern Utah, so if you're interested I'm selling them for $3/box or $2.50ea. if you buy 2 or more boxes. You can email me stacilee84@gmail.com for more info!

I will be making a trip to St. George in a week or so, and I can deliver it then.... or anytime in Cedar/surrounding areas!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Recipe Monday... err.. Tuesday?!

Sorry, I forgot yesterday was Monday. You see, Sunday was Valentine's Day and then yesterday was my hubster's birthday... so it was kind of a crazy weekend! Forgive me for forgetting the recipe yesterday?! I actually forgot it was Monday until this morning!

So here it is, the Green Chile Chorizo Taco Recipe... SUPER YUMMY!

Green Chile Chorizo
Ingredients

1 large fresh poblano chile
1 or 2 fresh serrano chiles, stemmed and roughly chopped
1 medium bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
2 teaspoons salt

Instructions

1. Prepare the flavorings. Roast the poblano chile directly over a gas flame or 4 inches below a very hot electric broiler, turning regularly until blistered and blackened all over, about 5 minutes for an open flame, about 10 minutes for the broiler. Cool until handle able, rub off the blackened skin, tear open and pull out the stem and seed pod. Quickly rinse to remove any seeds or bits of skin. Roughly chop and scoop into a food processor, along with the serrano(s) and cilantro. Pulse until uniformly chopped, then run the machine until you have a coarse puree.

2. Finish the sausage. In a large bowl, combine the pork with the green seasonings and the salt—your hand is the most efficient utensil for working the seasonings thoroughly into the meat. Cover and refrigerate for several hours before frying to sprinkle over queso fundido, into soups or over huevos rancheros.

Makes 1.5lbs.


Green Chile Chorizo Tacos
Ingredients

Corn Tortillas
Shredded Cheese
Green Chile Chorizo
Onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare chorizo at least 4hrs ahead of time. Place into skillet. When 3/4 the way done, add onions and cook until well done.
Place about 6 corn tortillas between 2 sheets of damp paper towels, microwave for 1min. Repeat until desired amount of taco shells are cooked.
Place tortilla in 13x9 pan with one edge up against short side of pan. Fill with one spoonful Chorizo and sprinkle with cheese. Fold up other edge of tortilla to form taco shell. Place 2nd tortilla next, matching up edges and fill the same way. Repeat until pan is full (usually about 12-15 tacos per pan).
Bake for 20 min, then BROIL for 2min. Top with diced tomatoes, lettuce and salsa.

Now, go make some!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

New Look

I finally felt brave enough to put on my "Skinny Jeans pt. 1" and take a picture. I was able to wear these jeans comfortably almost a year ago... but then they became too tight. These aren't my REAL skinny jeans(which is actually a short black skirt), but they're the beginning of great things to come!

And I got a new 'do. I so {heart} it! She made the color just what I wanted (as blonde as my hair would go in one sitting anyway) and went to town cutting it super cute-like!

Monday, February 8, 2010

My Goal

Well you can probably tell I've past up the 3-week-of-500-Calorie-Diet mark,(you can go as short as 23 days, or as long as 40 remember) but I have a reason for doing so. I want to lose 17 more lbs in 17 days (the 24th of Feb). If I lose the 17lbs before the 24th, then I'm on to the 1,000 Cal Diet. Either way, I stop at the 24th.
So far I'm right on track with my loss and very excited to have an end-date in sight! When finished with the 500 Cal Diet, I will be down 35lbs!! Woohoo!!

Recipe Monday -- Round Steak w/ Tomatoes

I've decided to declare Mondays "Recipe Monday."

Each Monday while on hCG, I will post a recipe that I've found... starting TODAY!

I know I said I was going to post the Chorizo Tacos I made, and I will... but that will have to wait til next Monday!
Today's recipe didn't come to me just while on the hCG Diet, but I grew up eating it. It has always been my FAVORITE meal... and when I'd come home from school and see it and smell it cooking, I'd instantly be in heaven. And the best part about this meal? It contains only TWO ingredients, that's right -- TWO. Perfect for the hCG Diet. Here it is:

Ingredients:

Round Steak
1-4 Cans of Diced Tomatoes (depending on the size of round steak you have)

Instructions:

Place one can of diced tomatoes into crock pot, add steak, add more cans of tomatoes until steak is covered. Cook on low for 4-6hrs, until steak is tender enough to come apart with a fork.
That's it, in a nutshell.

Now, if you want to be more fancy you can do the following to the steak prior to putting it into the pot:
Coat steak with the following rub mixture: Sea Salt, Pepper, Minced Garlic, Onion Salt, Celery Salt and Italian Seasonings. Place steak into HOT skillet (with a tiny bit of olive oil) and just sear both sides. Then place into crock pot and allow to continue cooking.

I've done both methods and they taste the same to me... yummy deliciousness. I figure about 3/4can of tomatoes is a serving for hCG dieters, as most of the tomatoes cook down and leave you with lots of yummy juice.

To Serve (to the hCG dieter):
Cut about 3oz cooked steak and cube into bite-sized pieces in a soup bowl (or just pull apart as that's how tender it should be). Cover with tomatoes and juice. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Enjoy.

It may not seem filling, but it actually is.

How easy was that?!

If you're not on the hCG Diet, a side that is SUPER Yummy to have with this are those Herb-Butter Mashed Potatoes (using the tomato juice as gravy) --- YUMM!!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

...

I don't really have anything to post about today... but it's been about a week since my last post and I thought I'd just let you know I'm still here... and I'm still workin hard at this thing. If you notice the tracker above it says I've lost 16lbs so far. That's including the 5lbs I lost in December. I hit a two-week slump for some reason where I didn't lose (or gain) anything... so it's nice to jump on the scale this week and see some improvement.
Last weekend, I almost gave up. I felt like I was STARVING and yet I wasn't losing anything... I had hit rock bottom. So Saturday I did an Apple Day to jump start it again. I only ate 3 apples, and it was HARD to get the last one down... I felt like I was gonna puke. Later that night, I had to eat a piece of bread. I felt much better after that, and the next day I had lost 2lbs!
My in-laws are coming in today to celebrate my husband's birthday and I'm making Green Chile Chorizo tacos... I've never had it, but it sounds so good. I am going to enjoy it with them... and probably have an Apple Day tomorrow. I will pass on the cupcakes though... I fear that will put me too far over the edge. I'm making sure all the fixin's to go along with the tacos are super healthy so it won't be too much of an indulgence.

Speaking of healthy alternatives, I HIGHLY recommend reading "Eat this, Not that." They have a few different versions, I have the 2010 version and some of the things in it are a complete SHOCK to me! You'd think ordering a salad at a restaurant would be healthier than a steak right?! Wrong. If you're planning on eating at Applebee's you're best choice would be a house Sirloin with veggies. (Weird, that's my fav meal there!) And a Big Mac is MUCH healthier than a Whopper (WHAT?! I know!). Not only does it help you determine what you should (and SHOULDN'T) eat at restaurants, it tells you the best choices to make at the supermarket as well... go read it! It's a small, simple book with lots of pictures! Super fun!!

I know it's not hCG-approved, but I will post the recipe to tonight's tacos (upon determining if they're tasty or not).

Have a great Groundhog Day!!