My Before & Current Pictures

Ok I was going to hold off on posting any pictures but I decided to go for it.

The picture on the left is my Before picture which was taken at my heaviest weight of 191 before I started ww. I lost most of my weight during ww, then gained some of it back and am now losing it again but not on ww this time.

The picture on the right is my current picture. I am still a work in progress but I look and most importantly feel so much better than I did back then.

Click to enlarge picture



Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Baked Omelet Cups

Today for breakfast we had baked omelet cups. They are really good. I made enough to have leftovers for the week.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins cups

INGREDIENTS:
6 whole eggs
6 egg whites
Fillings: you can use whatever you like and the good thing about it is everyone can choose their own filling. Today hubby and I had spinach, bacon, cheese and green onions and the kids had cheese and bacon.
Muffin Pan (I used a regular muffin pan so had to also use liners. Next time I will use a silicone pan so they will pop right out).



INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Beat your eggs together like you would do for scrambled eggs. I add alittle bit of water to mine to make them fluffier and black pepper.

3. Line your pan with liners (if not using silicone pan) and fill with desired fillings.

4. Add enough egg mixture to come to the top.



5. Bake for 20-24 mins depending on your oven.

We enjoyed them with salsa. I also had homemade applesauce, herbal tea and water. A Great breakfast!



I am going out today to buy a 12 muffin silicone pan so I can bake them all at once and forgo the liners. Might have to adjust the baking time but will still be faster than baking them in 2 batches and much easier to remove from pan.

Enjoy!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Green Monster Drink

Tonight I decided to try something new. I have seen this drink on several blogs and always wondered if it tasted good. There are many different recipe variations out there but I decided to go with one I found on the "Oh She Glows" blog because I had all the ingredients on hand.

I used the following:
3/4 cup silk light soy milk
1 cup fresh spinach
1 small banana
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed



I blended it all up in my Magic Bullet (I LOVE this thing)



And this is how it looks when it's done



And Guess What? It tasted good too! I was a bit shocked because I wasn't expecting it to taste good. My only suggestion and this is what I will do next time is to put the banana in the freezer and let it get really cold so after you blend it, it is still really cold.

I had the hubby and kids taste it. Hubby loved it and my picky daughter even liked it. I told her it was soy milk, banana and green food coloring. hehehe :-)

I think I might try some other variations now!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Door to Door Organics

I am excited! I just signed up for a service called "Door to Door Organics". It is a delivery service that delivers fresh organic produce to your home each week.


We have been looking into joining a local CSA program but were still undecided for a few reasons:

• They don't let you substitute what produce you receive. You get what you get! Now I'm all for trying something new, but if there were items you already know you didn't like, you are still stuck with them.
• You are locked into a contract for a certain amount of time.
• You have to drive and pick it up at the location each week and can only put a hold in place once. So if you are gone a week and don't pick up, you just lose out.

Not really bad things but enough to keep be holding off from signing up just yet.

Well, I was watching the news the other day and they had a story on about this company that delivers local fresh organic produce right to you door. So I logged into their website and began looking around. This service sounds so much better than the CSA program:

• You get to pick which size box you want, if you want it every week or every other week.
• You can change out items you don't like for items you do like.
• You can cancel at anytime or even put it on hold if you don't need anything for a while.
• It's delivered right to your door!

All for about the same cost as what we were going to pay for the CSA program. It sounded perfect! So I signed up and we should receive our first box this coming Friday. We ordered the large box. I will be sure to post pictures and let you know what I think of it!

You can visit their website at: Door To Door Organics the service is only offered in certain areas.

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Lazy Day Saturday

It's very cold and raining here today. We are expecting a snow storm later and are just hanging out at home today being lazy. So I got out of bed early and headed to the gym to get my cardio in. I did a combination of the AMT machine and treadmill and burned 403 calories. I try to shoot for at least 400 calories on my "cardio only" days so I am Happy!


I came home and tried a new recipe from Meal Makeover Moms. I made the Blueberry Banana Pancakes. They were YUM! The only change I made was to use ground flaxseed in place of the wheat germ. The kids liked them too. I made a double batch so the kids can have them a couple days this coming week.


For lunch we are going to have Kashi Frozen Pizza. Very simple but they are good and I am in the mood for pizza. I haven't had "regular" pizza for about 4 months so this sould satisfy my craving for it.

For dinner I am trying yet another new recipe from Meal Makeover Moms. YES I am addicted to their website and now I have their cookbook too. I am making the Simply Delicious Shepherd’s Pie. I'll let you know how it turns out.

UPDATE: The Shephard's Pie was Awesome! We will make again for sure!

Since the weather is bad today, I won't be doing a grocery haul for Green Acres. We are going to go tomorrow (Sunday) instead so I'll do one then.

Have a Great weekend everyone!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Non-Scale Victory!

I had another non-scale victory this week that I wanted to share.

I went shopping the other day and decided to try on size 8 jeans. I was hoping they would fit because all my size 10 are getting alittle big.

Me a size 8? Never!!!

So I grab a couple pair and head into the fitting room to try them on. They FIT!!! OMG they pulled up nice and easy and zipped and buttoned. WOW a size 8!! A single digit size!

It's been about 19+ years since I have fit into a single digit size.

So here I am for the next couple days thinking "I wonder if it's just jeans from that store, they run big" :) So I had to go to another store yesterday and try on others and the size 8s there fit as well. YEAH!

I know it's just a size but when I started this in Dec. I was a size 12 and here I am just 3 months later in a size 8. Two years ago when I started weight watchers, I was a size 16 and today I am a size 8! That just amazes me and I just wanted to share my little victory with you all! :)

It's not all about the # on the scale. Sometimes our achievements come in other ways!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken

Get the taste of a rotisserie chicken using your crockpot!

This has been a favorite recipe of mine for a couple years now. I started making it when I was on weight watchers and still make it today. It's very easy and very yummy! Of course you can always buy the pre-made rotisserie chicken at the grocery store but you never know how long it's been sitting there under the warming lamp or what kind of chicken or seasoning they use. This way is so easy, there really is no reason not to make it yourself.

SUPPLIES:
4-5 Lb Whole Chicken
Seasoning (any seasoning you like, I watch my sodium so I don't use salt but I do use a garlic mixture w/out sodium that I buy at Sam's Club)
Tin Foil
Crockpot

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Roll tin foil into little balls and place in bottom of crockpot.

2. Wash chicken and pat dry.

3. Season the inside of the chicken and the outside really well.

4. Place chicken on top of the tin foil (so the foil will hold the chicken up from the bottom) . I place it breast side down.

5. Cover with lid and cook on HIGH 4-5 Hours!

It MUST be cooked on HIGH to get the Rotisserie taste. It comes out very juicy and good! You can change up the seasoning for different flavors: cajun, lemon pepper, garlic, etc.

And this is what it looks like when it's done:


This is the seasoning I use. I get it at Sam's Club. It is really good and only $3.99 for that huge bottle.

And this is the whole chicken I get from Target:

Enjoy!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

What I Ate Today!

Ok I was asked by a sweet friend of mine to post what I ate today so here goes!

I am currently on a soft diet (because of oral surgery) so that kindof limits what I can eat, so my normal day would be a bit different but this gives you an idea.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal with 1 tbsp. natural peanut butter and 1/2 sliced banana (YUM)
Herbal Tea with 1 tsp. honey

Post Workout Snack:
Protein Shake (2 scoops rice protein, 8oz. soy milk, frozen banana)

Lunch:
Chicken salad (made with corn, canola mayo, mustard, cilantro, onions and pepper)
served in green leaf lettuce cups
plum
some grapes

Snack:
Banana
2 tbsp. natural peanut butter

Dinner:
Mexican Lasagna (this was YUM, see note below)
plum

Snack:
1 piece dove chocolate
herbal tea with 1 tsp. honey

I also drank a gallon water which I do everyday (anywhere from 1 gallon to 1 1/2 gallons a day). It's the only thing I drink aside from the hot tea and the soy milk in my protein shake.

And I just realized I ate 2 1/2 bananas. Normally I would have an apple in place of a banana or hummus and carrots or wasa crackers but since I'm on a soft food diet, I can't have those right now.

Ok now to talk about the Mexican Lasagna. This was REALLY good! Everyone in the family loved it except my picky daughter, I did get her to taste it tho (I will share how in a different post). Once again, I got the recipe from "Meal Makeover Moms". Love them :)

I changed a couple things from the recipe. I used whole wheat flour tortillas and I used 10oz. lf cottage cheese and 2 cups lf cheddar cheese. It turned out great :)

So that's it! Nothing fancy! But it was good and filled me up! :)

Here's another sample menu of what I eat as well as a list of food changes I have made.

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Better Kid's Snacks

OK I just wanted to share with you the changes I have made when it comes to my kid's snacks.

Where we live the kids are asked to bring in a small snack to school every day. So for the past 4 years since we have lived here, my kids have taken the pre-package snacks (cookies, chips, crackers, etc). Not very healthy at all. :(

Well since starting this lifestyle change, I have also changed what I buy for their snacks. So now instead of pre-packaged stuff they take:

• fresh fruit
• fruit & cheese kabobs
• hummus and pita
• celery with natural peanut butter
• apples with natural peanut butter
• healthy homemade muffins or bars

This is also what they eat when they get home from school instead of the pre-packaged stuff like they use to.

So little changes being made and the kids are doing ok with it so far. My daughter did ask me last night "Can we just have 1 break from this lifestyle". LOL I thought that was cute!


Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

My Morning Breakfast & Workout

I just wanted to share what I had for breakfast this morning with you. It's nothing fancy but is my favorite breakfast and something I look forward to!

4 scrambled egg whites
salsa
1/4 avocado
1/2 piece whole grain toast
strawberries
cup of tangerine herbal tea with honey
water



Simple meal but oh so good and gives me enough energy to get through my morning workout.

I did the AMT machine again today at the gym. Burned just over 300 calories in 30 mins. Love that machine. It really works my body. I have an hour long Zumba class tonight as well. I should hit around 600-700 calories burned between the two workouts. That's what I am shooting for! Oh and hey you may be wondering "how does she know how many calories she burns"? Well, I wear this awesome heart rate monitor hubby got me for Christmas, that I just love. I will be post a review on it soon!

Have a Great day everyone!

UPDATE: I ended up burning just over 700 calories for today's workouts! YEAH!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Garden Turkey Meatballs & Spaghetti

Another great recipe compliments of "Meal Makeover Moms" for dinner last night. I swear I just love this website. Every recipe we have tried, my family has loved. This one was no exception.

Garden Turkey Meatballs & Spaghetti



You can find the recipe here.

I used Barilla Plus pasta and Walnut Arces organic pasta sauce. I did make a small changes with this one. I used half ground turkey and half lean ground beef. It turned out great!

We also had fresh spinach ready to eat with it but I decided I didn't want any. I did have some grapes.

It was a good and filling meal! The meatballs have oats, carrots and ground flaxseed in them but the kids didn't even notice them :)

All my best,
Shelly

Awesome Workout Today: Precor AMT machine

I woke up early today to head to the gym to do cardio, which I usually do on the treadmill. I like the treadmill but my lungs are usually hurting so bad by the time I am done, I am just exhausted. I'm not fond of running but I do it. :)

Today, my trainer suggested I use a different machine called the AMT (Adaptive Motion Trainer ) by Precor. I have never tried this machine before today and let me tell you, I LOVE it! I had such a great workout. I burned 600 calories in an hour and really built up a sweat. I could feel it in my legs, butt and even my arms. It was a awesome workout! I think it's going to be my favorite machine now.

The only downfall is that it cost around $7000 to buy. Yikes! Guess I won't be getting one for the house. At least the gym isn't too far, I can just drive there and use it when I want to.



Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Mango Curry Chicken & Veggie Kabobs, Tomato Salad and Apple Butterscotch Cake

Tonight for dinner we had chicken & veggie kabobs. They are really easy to make and so yummy.

Note: I used a premade sauce I found at Target called "Mango Curry Grilling Sauce" by Archer Farms. It was one of the very few bottled sauces I could find without high fructose corn syrup. Next time I may try to make a sauce from scratch. If anyone has a recipe for a good sweet/fruity grilling sauce, please let me know.

SUPPLIES:
Chicken
Veggies of your choice (we used bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, yellow squash)
Grilling Sauce (see note above)
Skewers (we have metal ones, you could also use wood ones. If using wood, be sure to soak them in water for about 30 mins. before. This will save them from burning.)





INSTRUCTIONS:

The instructions are very easy.
Cut up all your veggies and chicken into chunks and then skew them onto the skewers, alternating chicken and veggies. I usually put about 5 pieces of chicken and veggies in between.

Brush grilling sauce all over them, making sure to get them completely covered. Place in container and cover with foil and let marinade all day. You could skip this part but the favors of the grilling sauce really come out when they marinade all day.



Grill over medium heat on an outdoor grill, turning until all sides are cooked. Brush extra marinade on them as you grill them.

We ate them with brown rice and a tomato salad (see recipe below).



Tomato Salad

SUPPLIES:

2 lbs. fresh tomatoes
2 lg. clove garlic, pressed through garlic press
1/2 purple onion, peeled and sliced very thin
Handful fresh basil leaves, shredded
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Feta Cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Wash and cut tomatoes into one-inch chunks.
2. Add garlic, onion and basil.
3. In a small dish with lid, add oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
4. Shake well.
5. Pour over tomatoes and toss gently.
6. Serve and top with crumbled feta cheese

This was such a good dinner and so fresh tasting! Even the kids loved it, including my picky daughter.

For dessert, we had Apple Butterscotch Cake. OH MY YUMMY!!



Another amazing recipe from "Meal Makeover Moms". Make sure you visit their site!
Hope you enjoy!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Today for breakfast, I decided to cook up a big batch of pancakes. I found a wonderful recipe over at "Meal Makeover Moms". This is an Awesome website. I found it about 2 weeks ago and I now visit it everyday. All the recipes we have tried, my entire family loved them. They have a lot of recipes on their website, as well as a podcast, a blog, cooking videos and much more. I even ordered their printed cookbook the other day, it should arrive next week. I can't wait! We are trying 2 more of their recipes tomorrow night and Monday night for dinner. I'll be sure to post about them too.

I mixed up the dry ingredients the night before to save time in the morning. I also doubled the recipe so that we would have left overs for the kids to eat for the next couple mornings.

We served them with Organic Pure Maple Syrup and Strawberries and Bananas. They were so YUMMY!



Note: See the little toothpick sticking out of one of the strawberries? My kids think that it's fun to eat them with a toothpick and will eat more this way :)

Find recipe here.

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Product Review: Fit & Fresh

Since I am now cooking everyday, there are plenty of leftovers to take to work. I wanted to find a nice compact container that would fit everything in it and still fit in a lunch bag.

I was at Target the other day and found the perfect one:

It's by a company called Fit & Fresh and they have a whole line of neat stuff. The one pictured above is what I bought. You put the main dish in the big container and then put the icepack on top of that. There are groves that hold it into place so it doesn't actually sit on the food. You then take the two smaller dishes and they fit on top of the icepack. The purple thing is the lid which can also be used as a plate. So it all fits together nicely and you have one container to carry around with you. It's much easier to pack his lunch and stays nice and cold too. My only suggestion would be to come in different colors.

I also bought these little 2 cup containers that have a icepack that attaches to the inside of the lid. These are perfect for my son to take a snack in them to school and it keeps it nice and cold.

Again, I bought them at Target. They also had a salad one there too. But they have even more options on their website:
http://www.fit-fresh.com/

And they also sell them on Amazon:

Click Here To View Fit & Fresh Lunch on the Go

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Oatmeal Pancakes

Note: I took step-by-step pictures while making these and then deleted them by mistake. Ughhh. So next time I make them I will take pictures and upload them for you all.

This morning, I decided to cook up some oatmeal pancakes for breakfast and thought I would share the recipe with you. These are so yummy and very filling!

Oatmeal Pancakes

SUPPLIES

• 1/3 cup quick oats


• 1/3 cup egg whites


• 1/2 tsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp. vanilla


• Cinnamon to taste


• Optional: 1/2 mashed up banana or 2 tbsp. canned pumpkin


• Optional: Toppings (see below)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix together quick oats, egg whites, baking powder, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl.
Optional: add 1/2 mashed banana or 2 tbsp. pumpkin to mixture. Let mixture sit for a couple minutes.

2. Preheat a skillet over medium heat, spray with non-stick spray, and pour batter into it and shape into a pancake with a spoon.

3. Cook for approx. 3 mins. When you can shake it around in the pan, it’s time to flip over.

4. Cook an additional 1-2 mins until cooked through.

5. Remove from skillet and top with syrup, peanut butter, canned pumpkin, or mashed banana . We topped ours with mashed bananas and peanut butter.

The above recipe makes one large pancake. I make the mixture for each one as I cook them. Perhaps you could multiple the recipe and make more at a time, but it works for me to make them one at a time as some of us like them with bananas and some with pumpkin.

Today I also tried something new and I think I like it better this way. I grinded up my oats before mixing them with the other ingredients. This made the oats into more of a flour texture. You can do it either way but I think I will do it this way from now on.

Enjoy!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Homemade Applesauce

Today I decided to make some homemade applesauce. YUM!

I won't eat store bought applesauce (just don't like it) but I do love homemade applesauce and have been craving it. So with the help of my daughter Gaby, we made a batch and wanted to share the recipe with you. If you have never had homemade applesauce you really need to try it. It's very easy and soooo good!!

What you will need:

• 5 small apples (we use organic) the smaller the apple the more flavor
  
• 1/2 cup water
  
• Splenda Brown Sugar blend *
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

* I know there are better options out there to use like natural raw sugar but I didn't have any on hand, so I used what I had. You can use whatever sweetener you like best.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Peel, core and slice the apples.

2. Put the water and apples in a saucepan and cover with a lid and bring to a boil.


3. Turn heat down to low and boil, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes until apples start to get mushy.

4. Take a potato masher and mash them up a bit. We like them a bit chunky.

5. Stir in splenda. We taste the apples before this point and add alittle bit of splenda until sweeten. Many times the apples are sweet enough you don't need much if any.

6. Add cinnamon and stir.


7. Serve warm or cold. We like ours warm! Look how Yummy!


Enjoy!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Non-Scale Victories

So I thought I would share some of my non-scale victories with everyone. I believe these are more important than the number on the scale.

• I have went down almost 2 full dress sizes since I started.
• I run now between workout sets instead of walking.
• I have muscles in my body I never knew I could get.
• My husband says my butt is getting so small :)
• I can do walking lunges really well now.
• My ring finger went from a size 9 down to a size 7.
• I sleep much better at night.
• I have more energy than I have had in a long time.
• I have had cookies and cakes in the house and have not eaten one bite.
• I eat more fruits and veggies than I have ever eaten in my life.
• I drink more water than I ever have.
• I am having regular bowel movements. (I know might be "TMI" but it's a BIG victory to me :)
  
  I know there are many others I can't think of right now, so I'll be sure to post them as I remember them or as I achieve more!
  
  What Non-Scale Victories have you achieved? Click to comment below and let us know!

All my best,
Shelly

My Exercise Routine

Magazine Addiction

For as long as I can remember, I have had a magazine addiction. I remember as a pre-teen buying the TeenBop and Seventeen magazines and spending hours just reading through them.

To this day, I still love magazines, even with all the information you can now find on the Internet, there is something about cuddling up in bed at night and thumbing through a "real" magazine.

Over the years I have signed up for several different subscriptions and right now I receive so many different ones, I couldn't even list them all. I do however want to share my favorite fitness/health related ones with you. I receive and enjoy all the ones listed below and I save them so I can go back through them when I like.



Do you have any favorite fitness/health related magazines that I haven't listed above? If so, click below to comment and let me know!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Getting Kids to Eat Better

One of the hardest parts of this lifestyle change is instilling the changes upon my children, who have been raised on a fast food/junk food diet.

My youngest son is very open to the changes but my daughter is a much different story. Her favorite foods are Kraft Mac n Cheese and Top Ramen. Of course two of the worse foods for you. Plus she hates veggies (cooked or raw).

She seems to complain about every meal I make, especially the dinner meals. She usually ends up eating something different than what we eat. I don't force her to eat anything but I always make her a plate and give it to her and include some of everything we are eating. For example, she usually eats meat fine but won't do veggies at all but I still put them on her plate. I have heard and I believe it was from Dr. Oz on Oprah, that you should never force a child to eat something they think they don't like, but you should always expose them to it. It takes up to 10 exposures to an unliked food for a child to take a liking to it. Well I have to agree with this theory as after several exposures to cauliflower, my daughter will now eat it. Which is pretty amazing because she wanted nothing to do with it the first time I gave it to her. So we will continue with this practice. I only put a small amount on her plate as to not be wasteful but enough to give her exposure to it.

I am also trying to make changes to the foods they do like by picking better options. This is one of the reasons why I love the book: "Eat This, Not That" Kids Edition by: David Zinczenko. They give you the best options over products my kids already like. For example, Spaghetti O's original are better than Kraft mac n cheese, Kashi frozen pizza is better than DiGiono frozen pizza, and Eggo Nutri Gran low-fat waffles are better than Nutri Grain whole wheat waffles. The book is a wealth of information. Now I know these foods aren't the "best" options for them but if I can pick the "better" of the bunch to feed them while we transition them into this new healthier lifestyle, than I am all for it.

Another change I have done is to use ground turkey in place of ground beef in things like spaghetti and sloppy joes. They don't even notice the change. I have heard there are recipes out there with "hidden" veggies in them as well and I may try some of those. We also eat as much organic, natural food as possible. All their cereal, milk, eggs, meat, etc. are all organic now.

So it's a work in progress. They didn't learn bad eating habits overnight so I know the changes won't happen overnight but hopefully by starting when they are still young, they will be able to take a healthy lifestyle into their adulthood.

I would love to hear what others are doing to get their children to eat better. Please post a comment and let us know!

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Product Review - Eat this, Not That

My food changes

A big part of this lifestyle change is the change in the way I eat and what I eat. I no longer eat fast-food and rarely ever go out to a restaurant anymore. This is a BIG deal for me because we use to eat out 4-5 times per week!

Not anymore!

I am eating alot more fresh veggies and fruits, lean protein and complex carbs and watching my portion sizes. I don't count calories but I make sure I don't over do it. I eat 5-6 times per day.
Below is a sample of what I eat in a day.

SAMPLE MENU

Breakfast:
3 egg whites, scrambled topped with salsa
Slice Whole Wheat Toast (dry)
Fruit
Caffeine-Free herbal tea with honey

After Workout Snack:
Protein Shake with Soy milk and Frozen Bananas blended up

Lunch:
Grilled Chicken Breast
Steamed Veggies

Afternoon Snack:
Apple and Natural Peanut Butter

Dinner:
Steak
Green Salad with lots of veggies and balsamic/vinegar dressing

Late Snack:
If I am hungry at night, I will have a light snack like carrot sticks with some hummus or some fruit.
Caffeine-Free herbal tea with honey


OTHER FOOD CHANGES MADE

• We eat a TON of veggies and fruits. I buy fresh fruit several times a week and the kids are allowed to eat as much of it as they like.
  
• We drink a TON of water. And NO soda at all! The only other thing we drink is milk (the kids) and soy milk, herbal tea and 100% juice every once in awhile. Lots of WATER!!
  
• We buy organic as much as possible.
  
• We buy Hormone-Antibiotic-Free Meat.
  
• We now buy brown eggs from cage-free, grain fed chickens.
  
• We read the food labels of everything! And limit our sugars, trans and saturated fats.
  
• We take a multi-vitamin and suppliments.
  
• We eat "good" fat everyday like olive oil and avacado (sm. amounts of course).
  
• I eat 5-6 times a day and ALWAYS eat breakfast. I went from eating breakfast maybe 4 times a month to eating it everyday!
  
• We try to limit our carb intake in the afternoon so our body's have time to digest it.
  
• We watch our sodium intake and buy all "No Salt-Added" foods and NEVER use table salt on anything. I don't even have it in my pantry anymore. We try to eat less then 1000-1500 mg of sodium per day.
  
• We only buy boxed cereal that has less than 9 grams of sugar per serving.
  
• We try to eat as little as possible of processed foods.
  
• And of course we eat less of everything.

We are working on the kids, as that is the hardest part. My youngest son is doing really well but my daughter who LOVES Mac n cheese and ramen noodles and hates veggies is having a hard time. We haven't forced her but have given her better options, so hopefully over time she wil get better.

Here's to a healthier you,
Shelly

Welcome to "Mom Getting Fit"!