Time flew!

Pin It Now! Alright, so much for updating my blog at least once a week. ;)  It has been a little crazy around here lately. Birthday parties, Superbowl, Kids, kids and kids. And no I am not complaining about any of it. I loved every minute!

I have NOT been good this week, or the last for that matter. I have a "membership" to myfitnesspal.com and it really is a great tool for keeping track of exercise, food intake, calories burned, support and much more. Sigh. I have not logged in for almost two weeks.

Not only that, I have not eaten as well as I should have. My hubby's birthday is in two days and he will be working, so we went out to celebrate early at John Holly's (YUM :)) and as I looked at what I had ordered, it was ALL fried. YIKES! Then we went to my brothers birthday and ate delicious schnitzel, potato casserole, gravy, sauerkraut, homemade cake. Mmmmm.

Has this weather has created a vortex of ... I don't have a good word to use, but it has NOT BEEN GOOD on my food decisions. Is it just me, or does cold weather just make you wanna bunker down and eat all the comfort food you can jam into your belly?

Then the Superbowl... Little to no exercise... Shall I go on?

So, really what I am noticing is that I try to allow myself  A... ONE "free day" where I don't count calories or log what I eat. I don't try to think too much about what I am eating. It goes back to that whole, "don't deprive yourself or you will gorge on it" way of thinking. Buuuut, I allow myself this day more than once a week and I make excuses for it. Not a great way to start out a new way of living, right? This is why I cannot have cookies around, or delicious homemede white bread... I just can't right now. My will power is not strong enough yet.

Having said all of that, I must also add that I still have made better choices. Even though on those days  I blew it, on the other days I didn't do too bad. Certainly better than I would have done two months ago. I am cooking/baking with whole wheat flour. I substitute no sugar added, home grown applesauce for fats in recipes. I add splenda instead of sugar (and barely any of that as it has a lot of chemicals and it tastes funny). I use oats in a lot of my cooking. I bake my own whole wheat bread, pizza dough, goodies, healthy cookies, tortillas, and a few other things. I try not to use ANY processed foods. Yeah, that is a challenge. But, it is do-able.

Before I started writing my blog, I watched "Food, Inc." YOW-SA... Talk about a way to jump start a life of eating right. It really is beneficial for EVERYONE to watch this movie. Please, if you care at all about what you are putting into your body and your kids bodies, PLEASE watch this movie. It isn't about becoming a vegan, a vegetarian, or a hippie. It is about becoming a conscious eater. It has truly changed my life and my family's life. It has changed the way my cupboards look. We eat better together. This is why I am not too upset by the fact that I am not losing weight as quickly as I had hoped (of course a lack of exercise at this point has a big part to play). I am not going on a "diet" and I am not making life changes alone. My family and I are  making habits that will last much longer than a diet. These changes are saving OUR lives. So even if I don't lose another pound, that alone is worth it. Is this transition hard on all of us? Of course it is! These are years of bad eating habits that we are breaking. Is it worth it?! OF COURSE IT IS!!!

I think I may have mentioned Dave Ramsey in a previous post (and maybe even "Food, Inc."). Either way, we are traveling through Dave's book titled "Total Money Makeover". The reason I talk about  this is to say that we have tried to cut out a lot of our "eating out", budget in order to save that money and put it where it needs to go. Beans-n-rice baby. When you mix that thought process along with the movie that I will probably continue to mention ;) it leads to.... not a lot of options for locally grown, organic, healthy, cheap food. However, there is one restaurant that for us stands out above the rest. Chipotle!! So, for any of you looking for great food at decent prices AND its good for you; there's one suggestion. And no, I am not getting paid by any of these companies, unfortunately...

So, to the point. As I stated earlier, I am NOT losing as quickly as I had hoped, but that for now is okay. I AM getting healthy. My weight for today is.... 181.4!! Yea! Still, after blowing it all those times, I am losing weight and it feels wonderful. I am not yet seeing results, but again I hope to work out more and I WILL without a doubt, continue to eat better. My fridge had never looked so colorful! So the journey to a healthier me and a closer relationship with the ONLY thing I want an addiction to (God) continues.

To my friends and family who stand behind me and continue to encourage me, THANK YOU!! I love you all dearly and would NEVER want to do this alone. God is so good to bring all of you into my life!!

As promised, I have a great recipe to share. Maybe you could bake these cake-like brownies up for your sweetie on Valentines day and feel good about it!

Brownie Batter:

• 1/2 no sugar added applesauce
• 1/3 cup Splenda
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2. Mix together applesauce, splenda, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. I whisk the dry ingredients first to get rid of any lumps and get them mixed well. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

These are great! I did not use a frosting, but I did sprinkle some (SOME) all natural white chocolate chips on top after they came out of the oven and it was pretty good. I think I will just add some to the batter next time and make the brownies a bit gooey. As stated earlier, these are cake like. But, they are VERY good! 

Have a great week everyone!!!!