Day 2 & Day 3!

Day 3 down! Yay! I feel good. I did feel really hungry this morning around 10ish. But I moved offices and was unpacking boxes. The added movement with a decrease in caloric intake could be to blame. I drank more water and waited it out until my next Medifast Meal.

Lunchtime brought another surprise, I had forgotten to pack half of my Lean and Green for lunch. Nooooooooo!!! I was upset! Since I had been feeling hungry I was so looking forward to the shrimp. So I ate the bar instead and for dinner had the full Lean and Green portion. And I must confess I asked my co-worker to bring me two pickle spears from the deli. I ate those between the lunch Medifast Meal and next Medifast Meal shake.

 Yesterday, Day 2 on the plan, I had an appointment with the counselor to get weighed in. Small change of 1.5 lbs down. I am hoping for more and more and more.

True to the prior post, we bought more broccoli to make the Northern Italian Shrimp recipe for dinner and another portion for lunch. 

 The aroma of the dressing with the shrimp is delish! I find that this meal is really simple to prepare and cook. The chopping is minimal, very little ingredients, and it cooks in no time! We will definately repeat this one.

 Yummy goodness.

 To me, the serving size yields alot of food! This is a picture of three servings. Trust me, we measured twice just to make sure. My husband is not on the Medifast plan but is eating the Medifast Lean and Green recipes for dinner. He is also not a seafood lover, he decided his portion was too big so he put back 3 shrimp. At the end of his meal he took them back since they were so delicious!

 My next Medifast meal was a Chocolate Crunch Bar. 

 Here is a closeup of the bar so you can see the bottom layer of chocolate that holds it all together.

 Tonight, I am pre-preparing the Dutch Chocolate Shake for my next Medifast meal of the day.

 I added enough ice just to make it smoother.

 I love these cups. The lids do a great job. And they are so much easier to clean due to the width.

I have two appointments with my counselor next week. So nervous. Like a good student I have started to fill in the Daily Success Tracker by day. I see that this has really helped other patients in identifying the best meal plans for them when they reach their plateau. Here's hoping!

Let's do this!

I woke up one day and knew it was time.  Lets take this serious! I decided on Medifast after much research. Luckily, they had an opening when I went to get more information! Loaded with a weeks supply of bars and shakes, bag full of books, journals, guides and inspirational stories, water bottle, a very cool Health Mate Blender, blender bottle and two lidded cups for premade shakes, I came home to put everything up. With all this stuff, organization is a must. I cleared out a shelf in the kitchen cabinet and setup "the Medifast space".

This is what my shelf currently looks like. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the pills I got. B12, B6, Omega-3's.

I wasn't very productive at work today, I was so busy reading blog after blog of successful Medifast Clients. Their stories are inspiring and give me that push of motivation to know that it can happen to me!!!

I LOVE LOVE the dark chocolate shake.  After reading many stories of lumpy shakes, I decided to pre-mix/make the one I was taking to the office and leaving it in the fridge overnight. Loved it. Smooth and super delicious.  The chocolate crunch bar is another instant favorite. I am not big on sweets, I am big on chocolate! Love it. And this bar does not dissapoint.  It is rather small, but very powerful. It definately fills you up. The chocolate taste is soo good. It does have this small after taste at the end that reminds me of splenda. But just take another bite quickly and its gone!

This side has the other goodies. I always wanted to have one of these shaker bottles, even when I didn't drink shakes, just because I like the whole shiny ball moving around concept, I guess. Well, I have one now, and I have yet to use it. Again, I am only one day in. But the electric blender is so fast and does a great job. Here are the vitamins that I chose to add on to my plan. As my ever-so-knowledgeable counselor explained how many and when to take, I was thinking there was no way I was going to remember all of it.  She must have known, she wrote the times and amounts on the bottle tops!! So cool!!!

I headed over to Target after work to pick up a scale. I can't remember the last time I got one. I was then ready to try a new Medifast Recipe for my Lean and Green.

Northern Italian Shrimp & Broccoli. Yum-Yum-Yummy!!!! Super easy to prepare, super fast to cook, super delicious!!! It helped that I already owned the salad dressing and had shrimp in the freezer.  I made extra so I could take some to work and we plan to cook this again tomorrow for dinner.  Why mess with a good thing?!?!? I love to repeat recipes when I first try them. I already have most of the fresh ingredients on hand, in this case the package of cherry tomatoes and broccoli, so it will be alot easier. Thankfully I am not picky on leftovers and repeat meals, then again I am usually on the cleanup or cooking duty...cleanup or leftovers....hmmm...leftovers! Definately!  

Here are the ingredients ready to go. Please note that I have doubled the recipe to make sure I get enough for lunch tomorrow.

Burn baby burn!!!! =) The smell....soo good!

Ta-da! The finished product! This is half of one serving size.  Since I have this bad habit of staying up late, my counselor wanted to make sure that I was still eating and drinking the H2O every 2-3 hours. So she divided up my Lean and Green, half for lunch and half for dinner.

Here is the plan:

• 5AM Wake up - Drink 8oz of water and take vitamins
• First Medifast Meal within one hour - Bar with water (8oz)
• 8:45  Shake with water (8oz)
• 11:15 - 11:45 Half of the lean green with water (8oz)
• 2:45 Bar with water (8oz)
• 4:45 - 5:45 Half of the lean green with water (8oz) 
• 7:45 - 8:45 Shake with water (8oz)
• 11:30 - 11:45 Bar or Shake with water (8oz)

This is such a good way to incorporate the water throughout the day. I am still working on finding a water cup/container solution for all this water drinking. I would like to find 8 oz cups with lids that I can have in a lunch bag with ice pack in my desk. This way they are close by, ready to go, no fuss! Any ideas?

Thanks for stopping by and reading this! Wish me luck and much love and positive thoughts to you on your own journey to being a happier and healthier you!

Relaxing Sunday!

This is the most relaxing weekend we have had in a very long time. I had an organizational to-do list but was unable to check off anything on it. I am not stressing over it. It’s nothing that won’t be there tomorrow or the next day!

Breakfast

Breakfast was fast and simple. A hardboiled egg with toast with almond butter and the Starbuck’s Vias are back!!! This morning I tried out the cinnamon flavored one. It’s pretty good. Would I buy it again? Probably not, I am really in love with the caramel one. It’s the closest to my caramel macchiato!!!!

 Lunch

Hello again! Leftover tilapia, still as good as yesterday. Sides of roasted tofu, fresh cherry tomatoes and tortellini.

I am looking for a new plain or vanilla flavored yogurt.  I picked up these three contenders yesterday. I compared them side by side and first prize goes to… Yoplait. Second prize goes to O organics Vanilla bean.  Yoplait French Vanilla tasted like a true dessert. Smooth, sweet and simply good. O Organics tasted a little more yogurty, not bad but not as sweet. (must check sugar content) And Lucerne plain was too strong for my taste.

A little yogurt topped with nut/cranberry/raisin mix. SUPER GOOD!! The smooth cool yogurt with the crunchiness of the mix was beyond delicious. It was more than perfect!!!

The kind of Saturdays I wish for!  

Today was such a relaxing yet productive Saturday.

Yesterday I prepared this tofu for today’s dinner. 

I used:

-Extra Firm Tofu

-Balsamic Vinegar

-Garlic Powder

-Black Pepper

I pressed out as much water as possible by stacking the cubed tofu, wrapped in paper towels, under a cutting board and cookbooks for about 10 minutes. Then sprinkle them with the above and put in the oven @ 400⁰ for 20 minutes.

 All lined up and ready to go!

 I left a few without the balsamic vinegar, they only had black pepper. 

We started off the day by picking up the baby from Grandma's house. It was so nice to sleep in until 8am. We then headed over to Memorial City Mall to do some serious work clothes shopping. For lunch we headed over to Panera bread. It was a tough decision. Although Panera bread is at the mall and super convenient. Once we were "in town" (from Sugar Land), there were so many other choices available to us that have not made their way here. The contenders were Brothers Pizzeria, authentic NY style Pizza that speaks to Mr. Brooklyn aka Hubby reminds him or his home town and El Rey Taqueria that serves a Cuban and Mexican food menu.  He loves the pizza and knows the owners for years, and I love El Rey that brings back my college days where it was our "treat" to go to those days. With an 18 month old, convenience won! And organic cheese in the grilled cheese sandwich just sealed the deal. I had haf of the Frontega Chicken Sandwich with half of a Greek salad and an apple. The salad was big! I could not finish it. They were both so good.

 Nice and warm!

It surprising to get any naps into the day around here. So I was very grateful for today’s mini power 2 hour nap.  I felt so relaxed and energized!

Dinner

Breaded Tilapia went into the oven while the tortellini cooked on the stove. A side salad and a glass of wine finished off dinner.

And now that the baby sleeps, I will go off to spend some time with my Kindle!

Breakfast

Today it was one hardboiled egg, Starbuck’s Via with soymilk and two small pieces of watermelon.  So good.  The sweet cold watermelon was a perfect way to finish off breakfast.

Leftovers for Lunch

We met up at Pappasito’s Mexican Restaurant last night. I love to order appetizers, that way I get to sample a lot of different things.  I ordered the appetizer that had 4 chicken quesadilla wedges, one hard shell filled with chile con queso, 2 gorditas topped with pork, and four beef fajita nachos.  Look at these leftovers, they are a more than a meal by themselves.

 I was not super impressed with the gorditas. I don’t really like pork and I don't like the texture of shredded meat. But overall the dish was really good. Lots of cheesy goodness.

I came home and saw that a package had arrived! Yay for internet shopping! I found this Built sleeve for my kindle. I love the Built brand.  Durable, easy to clean and so soft.  I could not believe they made kindle covers.  It fits it perfectly! Can’t wait for my other packages to get here.  

 

Breakfast

Today's breakfast was fast and simple. One egg, clementines and iced Starbuck Via with Soymilk.  I like these on-the-go type of breakfast. I drive and eat which means more time with the snooze button.

Lunch

Baking fish is currently one of my favorite recipes. So easy to prepare, you can freeze and then pop into the oven. Too easy. I love the texture of panko, so I end up using it for all my coating needs.

Into the bowl went the panko, parmesan cheese, salt and garlic powder.

 Each fish was coated are ready to be frozen.

 I went to my piano lesson this afternoon.  I had started off with half an hour once a week. But it was too rushed for this pre-pre-pre beginner.  I am now at an hour once a week.  The hour was nice. More time to discuss all the principles and just enough time to get really frustrated with the keys! I have lots and lots of practice to do before I go back next week. I worked late today, so I had just enough time to eat dinner and go to class.  We usually put the baby to sleep at 7 on the dot. But she stayed up five minutes extra so I could put her to sleep! yay!

I prepared a hot cup of Earl's Grey Tea as I caught up on an episode of House Hunters.

 And then I got to crackin!

Simple & Filling Breakfast!

Breakfast

I had one egg, pistachios and a Clementine with Starbuck’s Via. I love hardboiled eggs for breakfast. Although this is one of my first times I think they are a keeper. They are quick and easy and include very little cleanup. Definitely a win-win in my book.  We bought a whole bag of clementines so you will be seeing a lot of them. They are so sweet and juicy!  I received a gift basket for Christmas that had a mug with a pack of Starbuck Via packages. One of them is too strong for me for one cup. So I cut it in half each morning, makes it last longer! It does not substitute my favorite, iced caramel macchiato with soy. But there are times you just don’t want to get out the door just for a coffee run.    

Snacks

Snacks included cantaloupe, oh so ripe and juicy and of course watermelon. My fav! I will take it to the grave how many watermelons I ate in one week, by myself, during the last month of my pregnancy. It was July, in Texas, really I cannot be blamed!      

Lunch

For lunch I went for the vegetarian hot sandwich @ La Madeline. It had roma tomatoes, pesto and hummus. It was good, but I found it had too much bread for my liking and not enough hummus. Sorry no pic.

Dinner

For dinner we had ordered pizza. Possible the best pizza in my area tied evenly with the 1905 Pizza Bar in Sugar Land's Town Square. Also super delish! But they don't deliver my way yet. If you are going to the Town Square to get the Pizza you might as well stop at Olives Martini Bar. The selection is not as great as Swigg's in San Antonio, but they are pretty good. I still look for something close to the banana chocolate martini on their menu. crossing my fingers! The service has ALWAYS been great, super friendly and fast. I have not had their food there yet, but it looks great. By the way if the kitchen is closed by the time you get there, they can always bring you some pizza from 1905 Pizza bar, same owners!

Pepperoni's does not dissapoint. E.V.E.R. They have great service and their delivery is pretty fast! We always order ours with extra sauce and extra well done. The sauce is delicious and the crust is nice and crunchy.

You cannot beat the freshness of their pizza. All of their toppings taste great! Be warned, after tasting this pizza there is no going back. You will love it!