White chicken chili

Andy adjusted the original recipe so that it had more veggies in it. 

12oz chicken breast

8oz Italian tomatoes canned

8oz pinto beans (seasoned) 

16oz chicken broth low sodium

1Tbsp chili powder

1Tbsp dried oregano

1 white onion chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 red bell pepper chopped 

1 Tbsp of minced garlic

In a large sauce pan over medium high heat add in chicken, chicken broth and pinto (w/juices) bring to a boil then simmer on low heat. 

In a medium skillet over medium heat add Olive oil and sauté the onions, garlic, red and green bell peppers for about 4 minutes. Pour into simmering saucepan. 

Season with oregano and chili powder. 

Let simmer for at least 20 min. 

I added in a dollop of fage plain Greek yogurt into my bowl

Dinner tonight!

Hello all of my followers! (All few of you!) but you few I owe huge thanks to for hanging in there and sticking with me! So I am working on compiling up a bunch of our favorite recipes into one post but tonight's dinner was a MUST POST! 

I used my turkey meatloaf recipe minus a few things and made turkey burgers(p) topped with Swiss cheese(f) and fresh pico(v) then as a side dish I made carrot fries(v) because you need "fries" with burgers! 

 Turkey burger - 

2lb turkey

2 egg whites 

2TBSP coconut amino's (got at sprouts)

1tsp pink salt

1tsp fresh ground pepper

1tsp minced garlic

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. I measured out into 4oz "balls" the turkey mixture is kind of wet so it's not really ball form. 

Lightly spray frying pan with cooking spray and cook covered on medium low heat.  I just pressed my ball into a patty shape once in the pan. Once browned flip over and finish cooking. (Mine cooked down to 3oz portions.)  Top with Swiss and pico 

Carrot fries- 

Peel and cut carrots into sticks. In a bowl top lightly with extra Virgin Olive oil and I used Mrs Dash seasoning to help flavor them up. Mix well to ensure the carrots are evenly covered. I cooked them at 375 until soft. About 10-15 minutes. 

This was one of our winner dinners tonight! I knew it would be since we LOVE the turkey meatloaf recipe! But top with cheese and pico DELISH! 

In the next few days I will be posting more recipes! 

Favorite Recipes

Turkey Meatloaf 

This is by far our favorite so far that we've found (thank you Stephanie!) 

I like to cook mine in muffin tins to make little "meat muffins" they end up weighing out to 1-1.5oz a muffin so they are perfect! 

Light Sesame Chicken

This is one I found on Pinterest and it's a keeper! LOVE this! It works for high carb day paired with steamed brocolli and brown rice or low carb day with just brocolli or it's really good in lettuce wraps! 

http://alidaskitchen.com/2012/06/08/chipotle-macaroni-and-cheese/

Chicken Tostada's

This is a Chris Powell recipe! DELISH! 

http://chrispowell.com/abcnews-go-com-chris-powells-chicken-tostadas/

Chicken Tortilla soup

This is one of our all time favorites that we've adjusted to fit our lifestyle! So yummy! Even used non fat plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream! 

http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/13351/chicken-tortilla-soup-i/

Chicken Vegetable soup 

This is an Andy creation. We felt like soup and it was a low carb day so he created this for us. 

Bingham Salad - 

This recipe we adapted from our fantastic friends the Binghams. Hence the name! (Now if only I could still have Cami Salad!) 

1 Med. Bag of spinach leaves 

1 small bag of whole grain pasta (made with brown rice flour. 

1 container of cherry tomatoes

2 carrots sliced 

1 cucumber diced 

Mix all together and serve with a lite Italian dressing. 

These are all tested and tried recipes! They pass the "chefs" seal of approval! 

Remember every week I challenge myself to find new recipes and so if you have a favorite recipe don't be afraid to share a link and I'll check it out! 

Thanks for you love and support! 

HAPPY HEALTHY EATING! 

Weeks of Meal Plans

Here is a few of my meal plans for all of my friends/family that are on the same lifestyle as I am. I'm working on getting my recipes and links together now. Hopefully they will be up tomorrow. And then every week I'll post my week plan and my new recipe I'm using that week. 

Meal planning/prepping

I'm busy! I know everyone says they are busy and if that's the case.... You should all meal prep and plan! ;-) 

I meal plan because since starting this journey I knew that I needed to have a plan in place that I could hold myself accountable for. I meal prep because I need to make it as easy as possible for me to succeed, if that means taking 30-45 minutes out of my day sunday to prepare for the entire week, I will do it! 

I have a spiral notebook that I write all of my meal plans into. Mainly so that I can keep tabs on what we're eating, but also I have a spot that I can reference if there was a meal that we liked a lot. 

The Process :

Before you think that this is in code (well it kind of is...) MS - Morning Snack, L - Lunch, AS - Afternoon Snack and D - Dinner.  C.C is Cottage Cheese, Cuc - Cucumber, Tom - Tomato, Car - Carrots, Cel - Celery. These are items that work really well for a person on the go. I need items that I can prep on sunday and will be just as delish on Saturday afternoon. 

On Saturday I sit down (now with my hubby since he's joined the "wagon") and we plan out all of next weeks meals.  We try to bring in one new recipe every week to keep some variety in our dinners. Breakfast is taken care of because of the Powell Perfect Protien shakes we have but we plan out all of the others. (I will be loading up our meal plans shortly) then once I have my plan in place I start my grocery list. 

I create a two column list, One side is costco/SAMs and the other side is for the grocery store.  I buy as much as I can that makes sense in bulk. So my proteins, shelf stable almond milk and usually vegetables come from costco/SAMs club.Then my fruit and carbs/other assorted items that I don't need a massive quantity of comes from the grocery store.  It's always fun to go grocery shopping to see just how little our final bills are. 

I divide our meats into servings and vacuseal them to put into the freezer (except for any that I'll be using for the week) 

Sunday evening is MEAL PREP TIME!!! 

I prep out all of my snacks and lunches for the week putting them into individual serving sizes and place them into a labeled brown paper sack that I can just grab in the morning and go. For me if I didn't meal prep and have everything ready, It would've been so easy to not follow my program. 

I think that is meal prep and planning in a nut shell. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. 

Next posts will be most of my meal plans and then some of the recipes that I have found we love! 

MIND BLOWN!

So I wasn't going to post today but then I took my 168 day pics and I just couldn't not share this with you guys! 

This is proof that before you ever enter into this kind of journey.... TAKE PICTURES! They are the proof that you need that what you are doing is working! I have days that people tell me they see so much difference and I feel so much better and I am wearing a much different size of clothes but sometimes when the scale isn't moving "fast" enough it's hard. But then you take a side by side comparison and you realize HOLY CRAP it's working!!! 

It's crazy the difference you can see in pictures!

LESSON OF THE DAY - take before pics! It's not fun and even though you don't want to document how bad you are..... It's so worth it when you need a comparison! 

Menu/meal planning/recipes coming in the next few days! 

Starting Point

You know the point in your life when you know you need to change, but you don't know how to or even where to begin and you have A LOT of  "excuses" as to why you can't change. A year ago that is where I was at. I wanted to change. I wanted to have my "Extreme Weight Loss" journey, but unfortunately I didn't have Chris Powell and I had NO way of knowing exactly how to do it. Plus I wasn't in the right frame of mind. I still had all of the doubt words in my vocabulary. I CAN'T, I WOULDN'T, I LOVE FOOD TOO MUCH! 

One day about 8 months ago I was on Facebook (you know my "precious" time) and there was an ad talking about Chris Powell's 12 week weight loss challenge I clicked on it and it took me to the Vemma website. I searched around for a bit but only looking at the price tag and not the benefits I figured it was out of my range. I even talked to Andy about wanting to do it, but I just couldn't justify the cost at the time. 

About 7 months ago I got a weekly message from Amazon letting me know about certain Kindle titles on sale. Chris Powell's Choose more, Lose more for life was on sale. I quickly clicked over and purchased it. And within 2 chapters I knew that this was the journey I was going to start on.  His plan, His stories, His inspiration partnered with the product and 6 months later I am proud to say I am down 54 lbs! And to justify the cost for me, when I figure out my groceries with the Vemma products I still spend less then I did before this journey, when we were going out to eat way too much, when I was purchasing CRAP and JUNK just because it was a great deal or it looked good or even just to buy it. 

Was I able to follow his plan exactly every single day? No, I had my falls, but I was honest with myself, I admitted and recommitted and was able to get back right where I needed to be. 

I know that everyone is different and somethings don't work for everyone. I know that this lifestyle change is what has changed me forever! It's taught me so much about food, life, ways of thinking, most importantly ME! 

I love that there are so many tools that Vemma and Chris Powell have that help me through out the day! Thank you Vemma, Thank you Chris Powell, Thank you Friends and Family for your everyday support! It does mean so much to me to hear your encouraging words and support! But most of all.... Thank you to  my body for allowing me to go on this journey and realize that I really CAN do anything I put my mind to! 

 

Here is my "starting point!" 

Pre - Story

It's funny to look back at High School pictures and think. "I thought I was fat then????" 

Oh man, if I only knew what I know now. 

Things that I have said and believed since high school that have led me to my new "Starting" point. 

"If I work out, it DOESN'T matter what I eat. I can eat whatever I want!" 

"I could NEVER give up _____, I love it too much " insert MANY options; white bread, pasta, treats etc. 

"I'm NOT strong enough to resist (above food)"

"I WISH I could do that" -Watching American Ninja Warrior

"I WOULDN'T be able to do that!" -Talking about running 

"It's too EXPENSIVE to eat healthy!"

"I DO NOT have time"

So at the time I was 100% correct, I couldn't because I had no FAITH/RESPECT/LOVE in myself. 

What has changed you asked???? 

In the past 6 months I have found what works for me! I have found a lifestyle that not only has taught me how to change myself, body and mind, but it has given me a totally different outlook on life. 

I know now that it FULLY does matter what I eat. I have to eat clean/healthy food to fuel my body so that it can perform at it's peak.

I have learned that I CAN give up the food that I thought I could never give up. On reward day do I get a treat? YES I do, but there are things that won't ever be back into my eating plan.

I have learned that if I DEDICATE myself to something and work hard at it, I will get better and then I will be able to do that!

It's too expensive NOT to eat healthy! (money and health)

DO I have time? HA! I have to MAKE my time! It has to be a priority or else I'm right I don't have time. But I can get up 10 minutes earlier and I can use my wasted TV time in the evening for a quick run.

I have learned that I AM STRONG ENOUGH!!!!

This blog will be used for a few different purposes.

- Posting some of my goals and accomplishments 

- Posting before and through out the journey pics

- Documenting my meal plans

- Posting/links to recipes that we enjoy

- INSPIRATION for myself and others

I want to say a HUGE thank you to my friends and family that have been my support system the last 6 months. With the support that I have, I can move mountains. I have been EXTREMELY lucky in the support department and I appreciate it all. 

In  the next few days I will be adding meal plans and recipes. If you guys have any special requests, please let me know and I will do everything I can to post about it! 

Thank you for taking the time to read, I hope that with this blog I will be able to help inspire people to look for the "better" them! Am I the BEST me? No, but everyday I'm waking up knowing that I'm going to be better then I was yesterday!