Thursday, May 31, 2012

Crossing Off #97

       I'm still chugging away at the 101 List I posted last December with all the current goals I have for the near future. Number 97: To go a month without fast food - I thought for some reason that this pin would be wildly difficult, but in reality, it wasn't all that hard at all!

       There was one day that I was having an emotional afternoon and was wearing my feelings on my sleeve... and that day I was seriously craving McDonalds (because didn't you know that terrible processed foods make your hurt feelings better?!?)! It was the 17th or 18th of the month and the fact that I was so close to meeting this goal was the only thing that kept me from breaking the rules.

       *Pat on the Back* I can't honestly say that I'll never eat fast food again, but I will think twice about it before I do!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

It's Very PINteresting (Buffalo Chicken Love)

                           Hello, my name is Rebekah and I am addicted to Buffalo Chicken.

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken... three ingredients - chicken, franks red hot wings buffalo sauce and ranch dip mix.
Check out My Kitchen Apron & all the great recipes!
       A few months ago when I was in the midst of my past addiction/love affair with my crock pot (I still love it, I've just learned to balance it out with other forms of food prep...) I stumbled across this pin on Pinterest.  The next trip to the grocery store I picked up some Franks Buffalo Sauce. It has been true love since the first night when I smelled this delicious recipe cooking as I walked in from work!

      My current philosophy with food prep is that if you have time to cook one meal, you probably have time to prepare two.  I either double the recipe and we eat the meal again in a day or two, it becomes left overs for lunches or in the case of this Buffalo Chicken, it can become several different meals with a singular theme.

      Since we are being diet friendly around our house right now caloric intake is a big factor in meal planning. I am a big believer in changing habits (which I'm working diligently on right now) rather than "dieting", at 267 calories per serving (according to the recipe calculator on My Fitness Pal) - you can easily adapt portion sizes and side dishes to fit in to your daily calorie goal.

Day 1: Buffalo Chicken Burritos - I just mix up whatever box of rice we have in the house, (if I'm really planning ahead I break out the rice cooker) I serve up some chicken, mix it with the rice and we eat it in a tasty tortilla.

Day 2: Buffalo Chicken Pizza - I break out a store bought pizza dough crust and sprinkle it with shredded cheese, the buffalo chicken and I drizzle buffalo sauce and ranch across the top.

       I am thinking that next week will be a Buffalo Chicken kind of week and I'm planning to break out a couple of these new recipes I found on Pinterest.

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese


Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese.  I'm going to have to play with this recipe. Unfortunately, the Pin links me to a long and complicated version, and while I'm sure it is delicious, I very rarely spend that much time prepping a single meal and certainly not one focused around mac & cheese.












Buffalo Chicken Taquitos








Buffalo Chicken Taquitos - The recipe looks pretty tasty and I'm sure the creamy flavor of the Cream Cheese blends well with the spicy tang of the buffalo chicken sauce!
















A diet friendly lunch idea is to wrap up some of the chicken topped with veggies and a little ranch all wrapped up in a large piece of lettuce.















 




And, lastly - for the last of the left-overs: Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas. It's such a simple concept, I can't believe I hadn't thought of it myself already. Just add cheese (and since we like spice - maybe a little more Buffalo Sauce) to a tortilla and you're set!




Check out my Pin Boards for food & crock pot recipes!

Friday, May 25, 2012

My new favorite blog!

     In my quest to keep having success with my new diet and fitness routine I have been on a search for another blog to use as inspiration (like this one that helped me start the journey) that has a "normal" person dealing with daily struggles just like I am.  I think I have found it!

     May I introduce you to "Lovely Little Things"

Some of my favorite posts she has done (and I haven't even finished checking all of them out!) that you may want to look at:

~ check out the chicken salad she made with avocados instead of mayo - couldn't be more perfect, I've been craving those tasty green veggies!
~ One of my favorite things about her blog is that when she talks about an exercise, she includes pictures. I can honestly say that she has educated me as to what a "burpee" is! (check out her abs! I can only hope to one day have abs like that!)
~ She eats like a real person! I eat many of the things she eats & she is honest about what she consumes!


My fitness Pinterest board


I try to remember that each day is a new beginning with my diet. Sometimes John has to remind me that these things don't just happen over night and it takes time. I posted this on my refrigerator (and bathroom mirror and my desk...) today. I'm hoping that it will remind me that diet isn't going to be the only way this gets done. I think it also helps to know that I'm not blindly blundering along - it is an actual science, there is a formula... for calories at least.




The 100 Workout #exercise #workout 
This is my current Cardio Workout... I will admit that I'm not quite able to do the full counts of all of these... but I'm working on it!

It's amazing where all you can get inspiration if you want to find it! I just hope that now that I've started and it has become a part of my routine - it will be harder to quit than to keep going! 
I'm optimistic, for example, let me eat over about 400 calories and then you will get to listen to me complain about how badly my stomach hurts from eating too much! : ) (= success in my book!)


My personal growth moment from this past week was when for the first time ever that I can recall - I had too much sugar! I love cakes (I really enjoy baking and cooking for others too) and sweets - so I was having a cupcake. Yes, I had worked hard and had a hard work out later to make room for the cupcake in my diet. One cupcake later my shrinking tummy had consumed too much sugar! Ah!! I don't think I've ever been so happy to have an upset stomach!