Chocolate Covered Cherry Shake

Ingredients:
1 package Medifast Hot Chocolate
6 ice cubes
4-6 oz water
1 tbsp sugar free cherry syrup

Crush ice in a personal blender until you can no longer hear chunks. Add water and syrup, followed by the hot chocolate mix. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

Medifast calcs: 1 Medifast meal and 1 condiment

Milky Way Shake

Ingredients:
1 package Medifast Hot Chocolate
6 ice cubes
4-6 oz water
1 tbsp sugar free caramel syrup

Crush ice in a personal blender until you can no longer hear chunks. Add water and syrup, followed by the hot chocolate mix. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

Medifast calcs: 1 Medifast meal and 1 condiment

Celebrating 80 Pounds Down

This post is a little late, since I hit 80 lbs down on Sunday, but better late than never, right?

(For the record, it's 107 lbs down since my highest weight, with 80 lbs down since March 4th with Take Shape For Life!)

Anyway, I thought I'd mark this momentous occasion with some pictures to commemorate how far I've come. For those of you who know me from my online communities, you'll know that this is a HUGE deal for me to post something other than just a artfully cropped head shot. You're about to see why...

Ready?

2004 - at my highest weight

July 30th, 2013 - 107 lbs down from my heaviest, 80 lbs down thanks to TSFL!

On March 4th, 2013 I never expected to be where I am today. I never expected to be fitting into the size that I am in, let alone posting a full-body picture of myself willingly. I still have about 50 lbs to go, but that unattainable goal is suddenly attainable! 

As my weight melted off, people started asking me what I was doing. At 50 lbs down, I started to consider becoming a health coach for Take Shape For Life. When I hit 80 lbs down, I decided I couldn't wait any longer. My entire journey I've been kicking myself that I didn't know about this plan YEARS ago. I spent my entire adult life obese. Had I known about TFSL back then, I could have experienced my pregnancies at a healthy weight rather than being high risk and diabetic. So I made a vow to help others discover this fantastic plan.

Anyway, this isn't a sales pitch for TSFL. I would be promoting it regardless of whether or not I became a health coach because it's the first program that has WORKED for me. The other plans I tried worked for about 30 lbs, and that's when I'd start finding ways to cheat. There's no way to cheat on this plan. And as long as you stick to it, it'll work. 

So there's my big announcement, with some long-awaited full-body pictures. Now you can understand why I only posted artfully cropped pictures of my face. It was the only part of my body I wasn't ashamed of. Now I'm proud of the entire package, even with the weight I still have to lose!

Updates!!!!

My apologies for letting this blog go dormant for the summer! Having two kids home 24/7 over the summer and having to entertain them (aka keeping them from killing each other) is a full time job!

Anyway, I will soon be getting back to updating regularly. But, while you're waiting, I have lost a total of 76 lbs since March 4th, 2013! It is absolutely surreal.

I have developed a few new recipes and will be posting those soon as well!

Hope you all have had an awesome summer and I can't wait to share the new recipes with you!

S

Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower

Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients:
4 cups grated raw cauliflower (8 green)
1/2 tsp garlic powder (1 condiment)
1/2 tsp ground white pepper (1/2 condiment)
2.5 Tbsp grated Parmesan Cheese (2.5 condiments)
4 Tbsp regular-fat cream cheese (4 healthy fats)

Combine the grated cauliflower, garlic powder and pepper in a microwave safe bowl. Cover and microwave for six minutes. Remove from microwave, add cream cheese and parmesan, and mash until  desired consistency. Serve immediately.

Serves 4
Recipe: 8 green, 4 condiments, 4 healthy fats
Per Serving: 2 green, 1 condiment, 1 healthy fat

***Recipe approved by Nutrition Support 6/3/13***

Cheesy BBQ Turkey Meatloaf

***Recipe approved by Nutrition Support 6/3/13***

Today I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. I've been making the same recipes over and over (because I love them). I realized that after almost four months, I needed to change things up a bit! I had just bought a package of 99% lean ground turkey and wanted to make something I could heat up straight from the microwave, since summer is such a crazy time around my house. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes came to mind! Here's my take on my favorite bbq meatloaf recipe that my grandmother handed down to me! 

I decided to throw these into individual containers so I can just grab one and stick it in the microwave. My apologies for the non-artistic pictures :) 

Ingredients:

20 oz 99% Lean ground turkey (2.25 lean)

2 tbsp Walden Farms Original BBQ Sauce (1 condiment)

1/2 c Egg Beaters (.25 lean)

6 oz (1 1/2 cups) shredded moderate fat cheese (1.5 lean)

1 Tbsp chopped onion (1 condiment)

1 clove of garlic, minced (1 condiment)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper (1 condiment)

1 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley (1/4 condiment)

2 packages Medifast Garden Veggie Crackers, crushed (2 optional snacks)
1/4 cup Walden Farms Original BBQ Sauce (2 condiments)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Crush the crackers in the sealed packages, set aside. Combine the turkey, 2 tbsp bbq sauce, egg beaters, cheese, onion, garlic, pepper, parsley and crackers in a medium bowl until the mixture comes together. Press into a pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Brush with the remaining 1/4 cup of bbq sauce.  I used a 8x11 glass pan because I love lots of top with little "loaf".

Bake in pre-heated oven for 40-50 minutes until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees in the center. (Mine took 40 minutes and was 140 when I took it out. I undercooked a bit in order to avoid it being overcooked after re-heating)

Serves 4

Recipe: 4 lean, 6.25 condiments, 2 optional snacks

Per serving: 1 lean, 1.5 condiments, 1/2 optional snack

Serve with a side of Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower and 1/2 cup steamed green beans for a full L&G (Nutrition Support approved the combo for a full lean & green + 1/2 snack)

BBQ Salmon

BBQ Salmon

Ingredients:
7 ounces of raw salmon filet, skin removed
2 tsp liquid smoke (1/2 condiment)
2 tsp kikoman low-sodium soy sauce (1 condiment)
2 Tbsp Walden Farms Original BBQ Sauce (1 condiment)
1/4 tsp minced garlic (1/4 condiment)
1/4 tsp onion powder (1/4 condiment)
scant sprinkling of cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut off a piece of foil twice the size of the filet and lay it on a baking sheet. Spritz the foil with cooking spray. Lay the fish in the center of the foil. Pour the liquid smoke, soy sauce and bbq sauce over the filet. Sprinkle the minced garlic, onion powder and cracked black pepper over the filet.

Wrap tightly and bake at 350 degrees 20-30 minutes until the fish flakes easily.

Medifast calculations: 1 lean, 3 condiments

Recipe approved by Nutrition support May, 2013.