Off To A Good Start

I completed week two of acupuncture and week one of Bodybugg and I am down 4.2 pounds overall. I try to get to the gym at least 2 times a week for cardio and in the for next couple of weeks, I'll add strength training. I've also cut down my sodium. Most of the food show above was made with salt free seasonings (unless I added a sprinkle of cheese). I really wanted to post a screen shot of my Bodybugg stats, but I'm having issues with it since I am using my husband's computer (mine is being repaired). Once I get my computer back, I'll post those up. As far as the acupuncture goes, I do think it's working. I've noticed a big difference in my appetite and I haven't had any late night snacking. I'm hoping to have another great week!

This past weekend we celebrated the upcoming wedding for my dear friends, Melissa and Larry. We had a Jamaican themed couples shower and everything turned out beautifully. We served jerk chicken, rice and beans cooked in coconut milk, plantains, Jamaican patties, fresh fruit, rum punch, and pineapple upside down cake. I made the pineapple tree with fresh fruit and the pineapple upside down cake. Our party favors were coconut cups. Most of our guests enjoyed their rum punch in their coconut cups :-)

Of course, I can't post without mentioning my little one...

Ready for Spring!

I found this cute dress at Costco!

Someone is hogging the bed :-)

Actually just a snooze while I got ready for the day.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy day!

Turning 38

Yes, this past week, I turned 38. Seriously, where does the time go? This year I decided to keep things low key. I went to brunch with a few close friends and went home and enjoyed my little chocolate and raspberry mousse.

I finally got my new Bodybugg to help me track my calories in and calories out. I've used the device before and got great results (40lbs lost). I decided to update my device and got the new SP version. Thanks to the bluetooth in this device, I can sync it

up with my iPhone and track my results as I go. On the old version I had to wait till I got to my computer (which was usually the end of the day). So I'm excited about using it. I'll post my daily log and results on my blog like I did before, but probably not as often since it's hard for me to blog sometimes.

Along with the Bodybugg system, I am adding a little acupuncture to help me with my late night snacking and stress eating. I've never done it before, but I was expecting to lay down while the doctor sticks a bunch of needles in me... Wrong! For weight loss, I wear 3 tiny needles stuck to a band-aid like piece in each ear for a week. You can barely see them. I go in every week to get them changed out. Here's a close-up of what they look like...

The pressure points are suppose to help me with stress, hunger, and to slightly speed up my metabolism. So far I've worn them for a week and I noticed that it does help my hunger. The jury is still out on the stress eating. I did stress eat once during the week, but that is less than the previous week. When I get stressed, I am suppose to tap on the little needles to stimulate them. I'm not sure if it really works of if it just distracts me and reminds me not to eat. At the end of the week, I was down 2.5 lbs. The entire acupuncture treatment lasts 10 - 12 weeks. I'll report my results when I get to the end. Let me know if you've tried this and what you thought!

Shellac! I thought shellac was just for your average home project, now they are putting it on your nails. I went to go get a mani/pedi with my mother in law and the manicurist was telling me about the shellac gel they are now using. It's not suppose to harm my natural nails and the polish is suppose to last for 2 weeks without chipping. Since I am constantly washing bottle, dishes, and doing all the other household choses, I decided 2 weeks of a chip-free manicure may be worth it. It was! My nails were just as glossy and chip-free on day 14 as it was on day 1 and I even peeled 5 lbs of crawfish. The only thing you saw were the new nail growth below the polish. I took a pic of my day 14 so you can see it. I didn't think to take a day 1 pic of my first shellac manicure, so I took a pic of the day 1 of my 2nd shellac manicure. That's why you'll see 2 different colors on the pic.

The pros: high shine, lasts for 2 weeks, no chipping, completely dry when you leave the nail salon, great if you need your mani to last through a vacation

The cons: removal of the polish requires you to soak in nail polish remover for 10 minutes, longer process since you have to throughly dry after each coat

Of course I have to mention my little sweet pea. She got a beautiful hand knitted dress and bonnet from a good friend of mine. I can't believe she made this! Thank you Pat for the lovely dress. It's such a wonderful keepsake.

For Rachel!

Here is a little collage of my fav pics of Cora over the past 2 months.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy day. I'll try to post up daily logs and results often.

Me vs. The Pregnancy (and post pregnancy) Pounds

Cora at 6 weeks

It's been about 7 weeks since I had the baby and my its been a heck of a 7 weeks! After I gave birth to Cora, my body kind of freaked out on me. I had the horrible pregnancy rash called PUPPS that attacked most of my body. I had shingles. The icing on the cake was when I fell down a flight of icy stairs. My body was a wreck! Thank goodness, I still had my easy-going demeanor or I could have had one heck of a postpartum depression. So finally all of those ailments are behind me and now it's time to do some serious battle with the pregnancy pounds. During my pregnancy I gained 32 pounds. After I gave birth, I dropped about 20 of those pounds in 2 weeks! I figured I'd be back on track in no time and even packed away most of my maternity clothes... Well after a lot of late night feedings and sometimes the stress of keeping up with the baby, the house, and my health, I find myself doing some stress eating. I am back to gaining weight, but this time I don't have a baby in me. I'm having to unpack some of those maternity clothes. Yikes! Well enough is enough. I decided it's time to get back to the gym, watch my calories, and reactivate the Bodybugg. I hate being in clothing limbo (too big to get back into most of my normal clothes, but to small to really fit the maternity clothes). So let the battle begin! Tomorrow will be my first day back in the gym. I'll post my progress as I go along.

Wish me luck!

Friday Outfit/Monday Dinner

Since I dressed so casually at work today, you get Friday's outfit instead. Normally I wouldn't wear "fun" shoes like these to work, but it was Friday, everyone else was very casual, and I just wanted to wear my sparkly summer shoes :-)

Here are the details:

• Brown sleeveless cowl neck - JCP
• White denim skirt - Gifted from Holley
• Gold Necklace - Target
• White flower - Clarie's
• Beaded slide wedges - Target

So remember when I said I was about 3 lbs off from my goal? Well..umm...yeah...didn't happen. I just got too comfortable and I actually gained a few pounds. Six to be exact. Yes, I said 6! Soooo not happy about it. Darn you summertime ice cream! Even if I get the light or the fro-yo, that stuff creeps up on you if you aren't careful. I'm sure going to The Cheesecake Factory the night before weigh-in didn't help my case either. So to get myself back on track, I am wearing my Bodybugg again and tracking my food carefully. Instead of posting my screen prints of my Bodybugg stats, I will be posting my stats via BodybuggTweet which will show up on my Twitter updates. I will get to that goal!

So on to my dinner. I know a lot of people love to have breakfast for dinner. So here was my version of breakfast for dinner along with the stats...

Egg White Scrabble With Asparagus, Tomatoes, Onions, and Cheese

(Only 178 calories! Protein: 23.2 g ~ Carbs: 10 g ~ Fat: 7 g)

• 1/3 c chopped asparagus
• 1/4 c minced onions
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 1/4 c chopped tomatoes
• 1 oz 2% shredded cheese
• dash of salt and pepper

Whisk egg whites with a fork and season with salt and pepper and set to the side. Using a small skillet on medium heat, lightly mist your pan with olive oil. Add onions, garlic, and asparagus, stirring for 3-5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for another minute. Remove and set aside. Lightly mist your pan with olive oil and add the egg whites. Stir using a spatula to break up the whites for about 3-4 minutes, then add the asparagus mixture to the pan. Toss and serve. Sprinkle cheese on top. Enjoy!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope everyone has a great day!

Floral Thursday

Staying with my spring looks, here is another floral inspired outfit.

Short sleeve button-up - Express

Baby blue tank top - Old Navy

Brown/ Fuchsia floral skirt - Talbot's

Ribbon/pearl necklace - Francesca's

Pink Flower - Claire's

On Wednesday, I took a 1/2 day off and spent time with my mother. She needed to shop for the wedding so we hit a few stores. I found this fab skirt at Talbot's and I was able to take 60% the lowest price. Score! Even though we were mainly shopping for my mom, I got 2 skirts, 1 dress, and a fab pair of shoes for the wedding. Yay!

So I love the colors of this skirt. I kind of ran wild with it. I wanted a long necklace, but felt it was a little boring so I added the pink flower. The flower is actually for my hair. The bobby pin is just attached to the ribbon on the necklace.

The color coordination on the shoes and nail polish wasn't that intentional. I love these brown peeps and had a chuckle when I realized that my toes matched my outfit perfectly.

So no meal shots tonight. We had basically the same meal as the other night. Turkey meatloaf... Will loved it so much, he asked for it again. My girlfriend Lilly joined us for a healthy meal. We haven't really had some good quality time since her move back from Argentina. Thanks for coming to dinner Lilly! We'll definitely need to do it again.

I kind of had a lazy day at work and didn't get to walk during the day. I made it up at the gym though. I had a 30 minute workout with my trainer and then 30 minutes on the treadmill.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy weekend!

Spring Into Tuesday

We are having gorgeous weather here and I thought it was a good day for a spring outfit. Here's my look...

Pink top - Target
Floral skirt - H&M
Nude peeps - DSW
3 strand faux pearls - Target

Unfortunately we do not have an H&M in Houston. What is up with that??? So all my H&M stuff comes from my travels. This particular skirt came from a store in Sweden (where H&M is originally from). It's like Starbucks there...there's one on every corner. My friend, Liberty and I hit up as many H&M's as we could while visiting. Man that was a great shopping day. H&M if you happen to stumble across this, PLEASE OPEN A STORE IN HOUSTON!!!

So on to my food. No pic for lunch since I had leftovers of my cilantro-lime chicken. Tabitha, to answer your question, the original recipe came from Pam at For The Love of Cooking. I like a

For dinner tonight I tried a modified meatloaf recipe. My husband loved it and I highly recommend it.

1 pkg of Turkey Store lean ground turkey
1 envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
3 mushrooms diced
2 brown rice unsalted rice cakes (grounded in a processor or coffee bean grinder)
1 egg
1/4 c Ragu light spaghetti sauce

Mix all together. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. I made 8 servings (to keep sodium levels decent). I served this meal with 1/2 cup garlic mashed sweet potatoes, and 1 cup green beans with chopped onions. This meal was 23 g of protein, 31 g of carbs, 9 g of fat and a total of 287 calories. Will topped his with ketchup, but I didn't think it needed it.


Tonight I did a 30 minute arm workout with my trainer. Tabitha, I feel you! I know you had an arm workout too. My arms will be hurting tomorrow. Then I did about 30 minutes on the treadmill. Burn baby burn!

So here is a look at my Austin pics. We went to Austin because my brother and his girlfriend did the MS150 bike ride from Houston to Austin. If you are interested in seeing more pics, click here.

Will and I in front of The Capitol

My brother's group coming through the finish line

The bats come out at night. This is the view from the Congress bridge.

Back From Austin and Facing Moday

We got back from Austin a little late last night and boy was I exhausted today. Here is my sleepy Monday outfit...

Mint green top w/ ribbon trim - Anthropologie
Converse One Jeans - Target
Wedge round toe heels - Rack Room
Long strand necklace - Gifted by Lynette

I should have taken a picture of this top from the side. It has a great ribbon detail going down the side of the top. I've had it for a while, but I haven't worn it because I shrank it a bit and it was too snug. Yay, it fits again :-)

I didn't do too bad with my food while I was in Austin, but I wasn't as strict on myself either. It's really hard to be good when you're out of town. Well today was back to eating right. Lunch consist of tilapia, a spinach and mushroom salad, and 1/2 of a Power Crunch bar for dessert. The stats are...53 g of protein, 6 g of carbs, 12 g of fat, and a total of 340 calories.

Dinner was super yummy...3.5 oz of cilantro-lime chicken, spinach salad w/ 1.5 oz of avocado, and a blabk bean mash. Dinner was 40 g protein, 17g carbs, 14 g of fat, and a total of 353 calories.

My workout was intense tonight. I did 30 minutes strength training with my trainer and then an hour of spin class. I was drenched after the gym. I burned aprox 542 calories tonight.
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'll post my Austin pics soon. Have a healthy and fabulous day!

Palm Thursday

Since I only have 3 pairs of jeans that fit right now, my jeans week at work got cut short. So here I am in my Palm Thursday outfit. Here are the details...

Brown top - Anthropologie

Palm print skirt - The Gap

Beaded necklace - Target

Brown peeps - Ross

I love this skirt. I've had it for a couple of years now. I was looking at more closely and realized that I can probably make it. Hmmm... So speaking of sewing, that is the reason why I didn't blog yesterday. I was consumed with my little dress project, but I'm pretty much done with it...well kind of. I have just a few finishing touches. It fits me fine, but I think I made the collar to high so I am now debating about redoing the top of the dress. I hate to pull it apart, but I'm not sure I'll be satisfied if I leave it. Here's a preview...

Today my hubby was in the mood for some pasta instead of the fish I had planned. Somehow I was able to whip up some turkey spaghetti in 20 minutes. Since I am concentrating on my training and diet, Will got the whole wheat spaghetti and I had just the turkey spaghetti sauce with a spinach side salad. Add my 1/2 of a Power Crunch Bar for dessert and this meal was 32 g of protein, 23 g of carbs, 14 g of fat and a grand total of 335 calories. We also had the same meal for dinner, we just changed up the veggies.
Today's workout was with my trainer. Her goal was to keep my heart rate up and she sure did. My body will welcome the rest this weekend. Here are my stats...
I'm off to Austin for the weekend. Hopefully the weather won't be too awful for a few bluebonnet snapshots. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

A Smokin' Tuesday

OK so I guess I should explain my title to this post. Basically a load of firemen just left our place. As I was syncing up my Bodybugg and loading my daily pics, I notice a smell of burnt rice. When I went to tell my husband, I noticed the smell was coming from the guest bathroom/laundry room. I opened the bathroom door and noticed the smell was really strong and there was a haze. I started yelling for my husband and we both notice the smoke coming out of the bathroom. It wasn't billows of smoke, but you could definitely see it. Well, I grabbed my purse and called 911. The fire guys were at our place in no time. There were a ton of them. I think 2 trucks came out. I never had so many guys in our place. Well after checking it all out, it was our faulty washer/dryer (which is only 6 months old). They disconnected everything and now all my clean clothes that were hanging to dry, now smell like smoke. I guess I'd rather have smokey smelling clothes than burnt ones right? Yes, I'm thankful that everything turned out okay. Well be making use of that warranty tomorrow.

Okay so on to the clean clothes I wore today... We having a casual week at work so we are allowed to wear jeans the entire week. Here was my casual look...

The jacket, tank, and jeans all came from Target. The flat peeps are Steve Madden bought at DSW, and the necklace is from NY & Co. My jeans were fresh out of the now-broken dryer and was fitting good when I put them on. By the end of the day, I wish I had a belt on. I felt like I was always pulling up my pants. Gotta love strectch jeans...

Today's lunch was pretty thrown together. I didn't have anything planned so I had to work with what I had. I cooked up some tuna with onions, garlic, broccoli, and green peas. I thought the combo was pretty tasty. I paired it with black beans, and small slices of orange bell pepper. I even had 1/2 of a peanut butter Power Crunch Bar for dessert. Total for everything is 39 g protein, 35 g of carbs, 11 g of fat and a total of 395 calories.

Dinner was a simple spinach salad with a egg white, boiled spinach with garlic, and 2.5 oz of chicken breast topped with onions, mushrooms, and garlic. Why the overload in spinach? I bought a big bag at Costco and trying to get through it. Here are the stats for this meal... 31 g of protein, 8 g of carbs, 3 g of fat and a total of 189 calories

It was a cardio day for me. I went to Tuesday night spin class and got a great burn (394 calories). I use the Bodybugg that calculates my calories burned, but if you want an idea of how many you are burning, here's a calculator that might help you get an idea.

I hope everyone has a fab and smoke-free day!

Food For Thought

First of all, Happy Belated Easter! I hope everyone had a great holiday. I spent the evening with my family and dying some eggs. I'll be having colorful eggs all week long!

So since my daily outfit picture was all weird because of too much sun, I nixed it. I took it in the afternoon instead of the morning...bad idea. It was kind of a boring casual outfit anyways so you weren't missing much. So since I don't have an outfit pic, I thought I answer Candice's question about my diet.

Last year, when I lost the bulk of my weight, I was pretty religious with my diet. I started out losing 1.5 lbs a week by eating 1450 calroies a day. I was kind of just eating whatever I wanted as long as I stayed within 1450 calories and working out 5 days a week. Then I got a little more serious and started pushing myself harder. I consulted with my trainer and we made some adjustments to my eating habits and my caloies. I stayed within a range of 1200 - 1300 calories a day and continued to worked out 5 days a week. Doing that allowed me to lose 2lbs a week slowly. Once the holidays came around, I started baking more and I just wasn't conscious of what I ate on a daily basis. So fast forward to today and I am back on track. I had my checkpoint weigh in on Friday and I am very happy to report that I am losing 2 lbs a week. So how am I doing this? Well last year my trainer gave me a couple of meal plans to use as a guideline. Like I've said before, I try to eat 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% of fat within 1200 calories. I take a multi-vitamin, fish oil supplement, and a green tea supplement. I suggest finding a program online that allows you to log your food and that also breaks down the percentage of protein, carbs, and fat so you know where you stand throughout the day. Here are a few tips that get me through the day...

Breakfast - I always have breakfast. I am starving by the time I get up so I make sure I eat and get my metabolism going. Here is my breakfast of champions (I have this almost everyday).

1 cup of cooked oatmeal (not the instant packets, I buy the huge canister and measure it out)

3 tsp of raisins

1 packet of Splenda (or sweetener of your choice)

dash of cinnamon

2 hard boiled egg whites.

Lunch and Dinner - I always cook my dinners so I have leftover for lunch the next day. I always make sure I have a balance of protein and carbs. I tend to eat more carbs at lunch and try to have mostly veggies with my protein at dinner. I basically eat anywhere from 2.5 oz - 3 oz of lean protein (chicken breast, turkey, fish), 1-2 cups of veggies. At lunch I like to have red potatoes, sweet potatoes or black beans. I usually mash or boil them. I try to go light with any seasoning.

Snacks! - I have a mid morning, afternoon, and after dinner snack. My mid morning and afternoon snacks are usually protein shakes. Sometimes I mix it up and have 2 oz of chicken breast, or a couple of hard boiled egg whites. Late night or after a major workout, I may have a protein bar or cookie. It kind of gives me the feeling of having a treat or dessert. Sometimes I have a small cup of lowfat yogurt (about 60 calories).

So that's basically my daily food. I know it's tough to always prepare meals and sometime we go out. I found a few places around Houston that have items on there menu that I can have. I always try to go to those places or I grab a few meals on the go from a local healthy joint. Below is My Fit Food's Turkey Chili.
So I hope this info helps. If you are looking for more info, just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Here was my food and activity for the day... Have a great and healthy day! I'll be back with a fab outfit tomorrow :-)

Thursday/Friday And Flushing The Salt

Since our office is closed for Good Friday, Thursday was my Friday. This meant another jeans day. So here's my very casual office look....

Merona pink top - Target

white tank - Old Navy

Converse One jeans - Target

Tan wedge heels - Rack Room

Turquoise beaded necklace - gifted by my sister

I love this top, but I don't think it loves me. It always fits great when I first put it on in the morning, but as the day wears on, the shoulders start to stretch out from moving around and next thing you know, I am constantly pulling it back up. I hate fighting with my clothes all day. I may need to just give this top up. I've had it for a couple of years now so I guess it's had a good run.

After a slight splurge in crawfish yesterday, I woke up today feeling bloated from all the salt and seasonings. Even though I ate within my calorie limits and my protein level was great, the sodium in those tasty little suckers was crazy high. I really felt it in my fingers and tummy. Yuck! With tomorrow being my checkpoint weigh-in, I needed to make sure I ate pretty clean and drank a ton of water to help flush out the salt. Here's how I did some damage control...

Lunch - Since I didn't cook last night, I didn't have anything prepared for lunch. I made a "fast food" stop at my favorite healthy joints, My Fit Foods. I grabbed an Atlantic Salmon Meal complete with quinoa and broccoli. This meal was 35 g of protein, 26 of carbs, and 12 g of fat and a total of 360 calories. Delicious!!!

Dinner - Here's what I cooked tonight... 3oz chicken breast on top a spinach salad (1 oz spinach, 1 oz cucumber, 1 oz orange bell pepper with a few spritz of Wishbone Balsamic Spray), 3 oz of mashed sweet potato, 7 roasted grape tomatoes with a sprinkle of basil. This meal was 30 g of protein, 29 g of carbs, and 9 g of fat, and a total of 321 calories and no salt!

All in all, I did really well with my food. The trick is to try to eat 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat within 1200 calories. Today's grand total of 1212 calories brought me at 39% protein, 38%, carbs, and 23% fat. Pretty darn close to my target. Here's the activity for today... little walking at lunch and about 45 minutes of strength training with my trainer.

Wish me luck on my checkpoint weigh-in! I'll let you know how it goes. Happy and healthy Friday everyone!

Wednesday April 7

We were lucky enough to have another day of beautiful weather. Short sleeves and a cute skirt was definitely in order today. Here's my look:

Purple top - Old Navy

Grey/brown/ black scarf belted - Old Navy

Super cute layered skirt - gifted by my mother-in-law

Shoes and necklace are also great Target buys

I loooove this skirt. Will's mom gave it to me for my birthday and it's definitely my new favorite skirt. Now if I can just figure out how to sew it... Speaking of sewing, I was shopping in Target the other day and saw this bag. After close inspection, I realized it's the same pattern as my birdie sling. Even the pockets on the inside are laid out exactly like the pattern. I still think mine is way cuter esp since mine is made of 10% extra love.

Today is usually a "rest" day for me, but since the weather was so nice, I did a little walking to keep me going. I needed some fabric for a dress I'm making and for a few bags for Will. Instead of driving, I decided to walk. The distance was fine and all, but I have to admit, I wasn't all that crazy about crossing under a busy freeway at rush hour. Oh well, we made there just fine and I got some great fabric. I can't wait to show you my new dress :-)

I had leftovers at lunch and crawfish for dinner tonight, so no meal shots. Here's how I did in my food/physical activity comparison.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy day. Thursday is my Friday! Woo-hoo!

Hey Stranger! Long Time No See.

Sorry for the absence. We had a family emergency recently and even though everyone is okay, life just get turned upside down for a bit. This week we are catching up and working on the wedding. I may not blog as often as I like, but I'll still be around. Thank you to all your sweet comments. I hope you all have been doing well.

Okay back to blog business! Here was today simplistic outfit.

Velvet red scoop neck - Anthropologie

Black wide belt - Dots

Merona black skirt - Target

Red Dotted slingbacks - DSW

Silver dangle earrings - gifted by Will

So a couple of weeks ago I had a weigh in and measurement check with my trainer. It had been over a month since my last one. I kind of knew it wasn't going to be good because I was baking a lot recently. After my birthday, I also became a fan of TCBY's $0.99 waffle cone Wednesday. Well I was right, it was so not good. My trainer has challenged me to lose 2 lbs a week (total of 8) by April 30. So I've got my butt and mind in gear which was a huge challenge with the stress we had lately. I decided to cut all added sugars and am trying to go back to balancing my diet to 40% protein, 40% fat. So far I am on track. I'll have a mini weigh in with my trainer at the end of the week and will discuss my game plan. Wish me luck!

Here was my lovely and colorful dinner tonight.

Extra lean turkey burger with spinach sauteed onions and garlic, topped with sliced cherry tomato

mashed sweet potatoes with a sprinkle of garlic seasoning and pepper

small serving of spinach salad

Total calories for this meal: 350

Here was today's activity: walking at lunch and spin class took me over my goal at my last sync at 9pm.

Thanks again for being patient with me. Have a happy day!