Last day of 2009, WHEW!

I have to say...This year was PACKED for me! There were MANY UP's and MANY DOWNS. Just like any other year I suppose. I am pretty much going to focus on the GOOD and forget about the bad that happened. Here it is in picture form!

I managed to move out of my horrible living situation. FINALLY into a great place. With roomies.

I got a new car!!! Well, new to me. I ended up getting the same car that I had before but just one year younger.

I had a ton of girl time, which included ALL of Sex In The City! I went to San Francisco with my sister and got in some great sister time!

I played a TON of music!!!

I ate, drank and made some amazing food/drinks!

I also found and signed a lease for MY OWN place!

I FINALLY GOT TO MY FEEL GOOD WEIGHT! With hard work and a lot of effort of course!

This is me and Shelly. She is my walking partner in crime (along with Karen of course). We walk a hour almost at least a hour two to three times a week.

Some other things that went on during year that I have left out are:

-I made some new friends!

-started a yoga practice on my own.

-learn how to play the piano

-helped several people with diet and exercise programs

-Tried out some AMAZING products!

-Go through another year at the bank

-went on many trips

-Got asked to TEACH a yoga class

-Made stretching a huge part of my life

-Got over TWO injuries and have been injury free for 6 months

and

-wrote in my blog for the third year in a row!

That is that my peeps! I hope you all have a SAFE and wonderful New Year!!! See you on Monday!

-Heather

The final count down.

Musselman's big promotion this January to help fight breast cancer. They will officially announce the kick off of the program on the Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular, airing January 1st on NBC (4-6 pm EST).

To start the year off with a giving spirit, they are donating ten cents to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) for every package of Musselman's Natural Apple Sauce purchased in the month of January. The NBCF is dedicated to raising awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for those in need. They will soon have a link to a video featuring Peggy Fleming talking about her experience with breast cancer and sharing details about what Musselman's is doing to help others in need of support.

Musselman's provided me with a 48 oz Natural Apple Sauce in a pink ribbon package and a offered a few healthier recipes that are perfect for the winter season, such as Craig's Apple Pork Chops, Good Morning Muffins and Apple Sauce Meatloaf.

With the colder winter weather just around the corner, they wanted to help me get cozy and add a serving of fruit to some of the most popular comfort foods (made with our apple sauce!) that not only feeds your hunger, but can also help feed hope for those affected by breast cancer.

Check out this video if you will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwjd7MCjj-Q

Baking and cooking with unsweented apple sauce is a GREAT sub for butter or oil. It makes things sweet without sugar and gives it a great consistancy.

YAY!!! MY MOM IS READING TODAY! Thanks so much Donna!

This morning I decided that I would put this apple sauce to the test and see just how warm it could make me! I have already baked, cooked, simmered, and eaten it alone several times so I wasn't surprised when I had it this morning in Oatmeal Pancake. Remember the Quinoa Bread that I made? The chunky apple sauce was the star of the recipe.

Pancake Breakfast Cookie ingrediants:
1/4 cup applesauce, sliced &blanched almonds, 2 egg whites, cinnamon, shredded coconut, PB, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup quick oats. Cook it just like you would a pancake. You may have to add a little water to get it to a pancake batter like consistancy.
Applesauce in pancakes! I have never tried it–have you? I added the entire mini container–so I managed to get the apple flavor!

Also–I decided to blend two different types of oats together because I’m running out of quick oats [my weapon of choice for microwave pancakes] so I decided to mix it with organic oats–it turned out quite well, actually! I was afraid it might take longer to cook, but it didn’t! And it was much chewier too. This was amazing and so very glad that I made this! It was p-e-r-f-e-c-t with my cup of joe! Thanks Krista for continuing to be the best and allowing me to have some of the best apple sauce EVER!


So, there you have it. A warm and cozy breakfast. Can you believe that New's Years Eve is TOMORROW? Dude, my horoscope said that after the 26th life for me would SLOW down to a crawl. Not so Miss. Susan, I am holding on for dear life. I must say...2009 can go and I will not look back. This year (and I wont go into it until tomorrow) has been a VERY eventful one for me. I plan to re-cap the year (as best as I can without it being the longest post ever) and include my New Year's resolutions. DO you have any New Years Resolutions? I always try to make a list and this year....I am sticking to it.


Other snacks of the day include:

Cottage cheese with greek yogurt and grapes. WARNING! This bowl looks HUGE but it is not. This is only a 1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese with a couple of table spoons of greek yogurt (plain) and four grapes sliced in half. I put some fresh mint on top to make it extra special. It was the perfect mix of a slow digesting and fast digesting "meal" before lifting weights for 45 minutes. Today I am going to lift weights and focus on Shoulders. I am sad because my gym will be closed tomorrow AND New Years day. Looks like I will have to get in some cardio outside. So lifting is the best idea today.


After getting back I am having a Vegan Boca Burger salad with avocado, onion, cucumber and mustard on Romain. It is great for right after the gym because I need a fast digesting protein to get to my muscles and soy protein is just the thing. I have pretty much cut the soy protein out of my diet but every once in a while I mix it up!

I was a bad blogger and didn't take a picture of my salad. This is kinda what it looked like minus avocado and onion. I also only ate one boca burger and sliced it up and put it on top. This is something that you need to go out and get. Even if you only eat the burger it is a great snack. Check this out! They have all kinds. Even "chicken" patties. See! The thing that I LOVE about these are that they are low calorie. The vegan one has no dairy in it and non of them need to be refrigerated. What does that mean?



It means that you can take it with you and BAM! You have yourself a "meal" ready to go. Pair this with a apple and you have a perfect snack. I carry one with me sometimes and it is just fine. Hey, you gotta get your protein with EVERY snack and this is a on-the-go snack that fits perfectly in your purse. You may be surprised how much it tastes like a hamburger.


Mom....Try this out next time. You will LOVE this. Get one of those Arnold Thins (the thin bread that we looked at Nannie's house) and make this! This is so simple but look, you can add some things to it and end up with a GREAT hamburger that only has about 300 cals total! Most hamburgers would carry about 700 cals so this is a HUGE difference.

Now, this is my idea of a "meal" this could easily be paired with a piece of fruit and the whole meal would be less than 400 cals. TRY THIS!


I am trying to get my mom on a healthy diet and it's a good thing that I am a food blogger. This way everyone can SEE exactly what I eat and how it looks (portion sizes). No reason why you can eat this. Just try it. You can find Boca Burgers at Kroger in the refrigerated section in the health food section. They come four to a box so if you get the Arnold sandwich thins and a tomato you have a lunch or dinner for four whole night! They were on sale last week at Kroger for 2.50 so for 5.00 dollars you can have 8 meals. I like the idea of pickles on the side. They are low calorie and you can eat two or three of them with no worries.

I am going out to my favorite restaurant with Karen. It is the end of the year and a little sangria and ceviche needs to be had. We will reminisce about the past year I am sure too. Hopefully I can get in a walk this evening by actually walking to the restaurant and back. I am sure Karen will be up for it. She is a walkin machine!

Ok, this post is getting long but I promised I would give you my routine for Monday-Friday. Here it is in it entirety. Sit back, this is going to be in detail and pretty long. Here we go.


7:45-wake up, dress, warm the car up and head out the door. I try to take a bit of something on the way out. ANYTHING. A couple almonds, a bite of a granola bar whatever. Just a bite to get me started so that I get my body going. This is NOT breakfast this is just to get my metabolism going.

8:30-Arrive at work and get COFFEE. I have about a cup and a half and get up and running for work.

9:30- I usually have oatmeal, with a few egg whites MIXED IN, half a banana (in the oats) and some stevia or truvia to sweeten. OR I have a low calorie English muffin toasted with half a banana and peanut butter. (this meal costs about 9.00 for 6 days of breakfast)


11:30-1/2 cup of Kroger fat free cottage cheese, and some berries (any kind) or a piece of fruit (this meal costs about 6.00 for 5 days worth of snacks)

1:00-weight lifting for 45 minutes OR walking for 60 minutes

2:30- Boneless Skinless Chicken breast and Romain with some veggies (like tomato, cucumber, onion and avocado). I buy a three pack of chicken breast and BAKE it with MRS.DASH. I cut the three chicken breasts IN HALF and only eat half a breast a day with my lunch.I always use either salsa or mustard for my dressing. I know, I know...Boring but hey...your waist line will thank you. You can have as many veggies and you want and really have a big salad, no need to skimp on the fiber!


5:00- Almonds, I usually eat some sort of nuts to hold me over before dinner. This is a great snack that you can have in your purse as well. Count out about 20-25 seriously....If you are like me you better count them out. I have been known to go through a whole pound of nuts in just two days.

5:30-walking for 60 minutes or if I want I will do a yoga video or aerobic video, whatever! If I lifted weights during lunch then I get in some sort of cardio at night. If I did cardio during lunch then I try to get in some weights at night. You have to see when works best for you. Just make sure that you eat before and right after. Before: yogurt would be best and after a apple, then about a hour later have your protein fiber filled salad or breakfast depending on the time.

7:00-I have a low sodium soup (you can get low sodium soups in the health food isle and they are in a BOX). Look so them. They have all types. What I do is I bake my chicken and I also bake some mixed veggies (like yellow squash, onion, broccoli, mushrooms, whatever you like). If I had a boca burger for lunch then I would chop up the half chicken breast add veggies and then pour 1 cup of soup in the bowl to make a stew. If you wanted to you could just go ahead and make a huge batch of soup for the week. You could use low sodium chicken or vegetable broth for the base and then add in ground turkey, chicken, tofu or fish. Try to taper your carbs through out the day. I try not to have any heavy carbs after 5:00. Carbs are for energy so you dont need as much energy at night when you are winding down. Acceptable carbs are sweet potato's, quinoa and BROWN RICE, whole wheat pasta. No white stuff please. If you wanted the boca burger for dinner on the Arnold thin...Go for it. Just make sure that Lunch and Dinner has some sort of steamed meat and two or three servings of veggies. Frozen veggies are fine. You get the idea...

9:00-I have a little snack before bed but not much. This is sometimes, sugar free chocolate pudding (I hate to tell you this is ok because it has splenda and high fructose corn syrup in it but I do have it SOMETIMES.) I would rather you buy a DARK chocolate bar and have two to three SMALL squares if you need that chocolate fix. I sometimes have celery with a tiny bit of peanut butter or hummus. Just make sure it is light and try not to eat two to three hours before you go to bed (especially you MOM!)

This is it guys! This my schedule. Let me know what you think. If you weigh more or are more active you may need to eat more. This is just what I eat. I wanted to leave you with a picture of the soup that I eat so that you can see what dinner looks like.


This is for you Mom so that you can see how to make a simple soup for dinner. Add a BIG bag of mixed frozen vegetables in a pot or crock pot.




Then add the WHOLE box to the vegetables OR you can add this if you don't want to buy the organic kind.
You can buy kroger brand or whatever just make sure it says LOW SODIUM and NO MSG. I even circled it for you. Then add your meat of choice and let it cook. You can add what ever kind you want and if you have no meat then BEANS will be fine. Kidney, garbonzo, black eyes or lima beans are fine.

This is what you end up with.

Chuncky, harty, warm and good for you. I dont eat soup EVERY night but when it is cold out I do. I have other dinner items (you can scroll through my other posts).

I will see you tomorrow and hope that you have a wonderful night.

Luv ya!
-Heather

Back to work.

I am back to work after 4 days of holiday fun. I am glad that I made it through the holidays but I am sad to see my family time go away. I need to visit home more often. I made it through the holiday season without gaining any weight and emptying my wallet. Just how it should be. How did your Christmas go? I tried my best to catch up with some bloggers that I follow but really haven't had the chance to yet. No worries though...I will be reading!

I wanted to sum up my holiday with a few words but I just can. To much went on. I got to see everyone that I wanted to and ate some great food, not too much though ;)

There is one thing that made MANY appearances through out my holiday gathering and here are just a few pictures to let you see what I mean. Our Christmas setting! Fizzy Riesling.

Fizzy water with lime.

Fizzy sweet tea and lemonade. Fizzy pomegranate juice.

So what does all these things have in common???

Well, the soda streamer of course. I know that I just devoted a whole post to this product but seriously....It has taken over my life. With it being so portable, I almost don't leave home without it. I took it to several friends houses and it was the talk of the evening. It made making drinks so much fun! People were fighting over who go to to "pump" it! Gosh, I am thinking that this should have entered my life a long time ago....

This is the plate for Christmas! I had this at a friends house (I have no pictures of the plate that I had at my grandmothers house. I had MANY Christmas dinners over the last week or so. It was so weird. Here I was so close to Christmas and thought to myself "I actually LOST weight during this season!" "I haven't been to that many holiday parties or even indulged in that many holiday treats! Well, that all changed very quickly. Within a day or two I had a packed schedule with all sorts of things to do. Food of course, was offered and I totally partook. I did however tried to stick to my rule...Fill up on as many veggies as possible. I love the saying "Try everything, eat nothing." This means that you can have a LITTLE bit of everything (a bite or two) and not feel like you are missing out but there is no reason to have a HUGE piece of pie. The saying goes that the first THREE bites are the best after that....it is not the same. So next time you are at a function, party or gathering take this rule of thumb with you. You wont be sorry you did!

Ok, so on to some of the highlights!

-I got to have a mother daughter sleep over at my sisters house.

-Had sparkling sake with my sis

-Took goofy pictures with my family

-went to Star Bucks with my mom on Christmas day and sat and talked for a while.

-Got some great, practical gifts

-Had my tarot cards read

-got in two great runs (even on Christmas Day ;)

-Cash from my step-mom and Grandmother (NEEDED THIS!)

and

Ate some WONDERFUL home cooked food. My grandmother made sure that there were things for me to eat that I would feel comfortable with.

Some unfortunate things that happened was.

-My sister and boyfriend got into a car accident on Christmas Eve which totalled his car. My mom and I saw the whole thing because we were following each other. We ended up sitting in a ambulance for a while and it really put a damper on the evening.

-Had to have a heart to heart with my mom about her health.

-Lost a gift card that I got

-found out that I have to pay a 150.00 pet deposit and application fee...

All in all (even with the not so good things) I had a blast and LOVED every minute with my fam. It is so rare that everyone is together AND willing to spend so much time together. I especially loved the time with my mom.

Ok! This is my Christmas re-cap. I wish that I had more to report but honestly I loved not having computer access and not carrying my camera with me everywhere. I have some great things to report and review for you. I am going to Thursday tell you my entire schedule and what my meals and workouts are and give you some of my inside tips! So be looking out!

See you tomorrow! Have a great day!

-Heather

Christmas Eve is Here!!!

Well...I am not even going to say it again. Wait! I will. WHERE HAS THIS YEAR GONE? I remember being funny to customers and saying "Christmas will be here before you know it!" in July...I was thinking to myself as I joked (only old people say things like this.) Well, call me Grandma Heyn, it is true. I have no idea where 2009 has gone and how we have already gotten to Christmas but we have. It doesn't feel like Christmas Eve at all. I am sure that it will when I see my family in just a few hours.

This morning I do have to work however we thought it would be fun to have a little Christmas breakfast! There is some AMAZINGLY good food here and I made something that I have never made before. It turned out great!

Cranberry Almond Granola!

Ingredients
-1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
-1/4 cup sunflower seeds
-Nonstick cooking spray
-1/3 cup maple syrup
-2/3 cup packed brown sugar
-1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
-1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
-1/2 cup chopped roasted and salted almonds
-1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
-1 cup dried cranberries

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, cranberry juice, and cinnamon over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved.
In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and salt.
Pour the maple mixture over the oat mixture and stir until combined. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Stir in the cranberries and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture begins to brown. Cool completely. Store airtight in a plastic container for up to 1 week. I think it looks so pretty in a mason jar! Wrap a ribbon around it and it becomes a instant homemade gift from the heart!

Lets get even closer!

I broke up the granola into large chunks so that people could eat it by it's self. I LOVE granola on yogurt, cottage cheese and even as a cereal.

See, granola is VERY diverse. You could even use this as a pie crust! The list can go on!

Here is what it looks like if you were to make homemade granola bars!

What will you be having for breakfast Christmas morning?

Don't wait until lunch or dinner. Try to keep your schedule as you usually do. One meal is all that you need to indulge in. There is no reason to go all out three times that day.
I hope you all enjoyed my recipe, my review and my Christmas wishes!I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I know that I will be with my family which = love, laughter and thankfulness for the ones I care so deeply for. Life is good and this New Year will be bringing a whole new beginning for many. I know that I am ready.
I will not be posting until Tuesday the 29th. I will be missing you guys though and don't worry...I will be excited to share my Christmas with you all!
Love,

Heather

Sooooo close!

I am counting down the days! I am so ready to spend some quality family time. For sure! Yesterday a few things happened that I was happy about. I went and looked at a place (actually a few) and really liked one of them. I knew right when I saw the third house that the upstairs apartment would be PERFECT for me, the only problem was the price was not right. The realty company wanted 525.00 for the apartment and I already knew that was not in my budget. I went for it and asked if he would take 400.00. Now, I know that was a BIG stretch and I pretty much knew that he wouldn't take 125.00 of the rent for me but the Realtor said that he would ask the owner. This morning I got the call....

He said that he would take 425.00!!! It is a deal! I have found the place of my dreams and I cant believe that I am going to be moving into a beautiful apartment ALONE! This is still going to cause me to really buckle down as far as spending goes but I think in the long run, it would be so worth it. It is just a 6 month lease and then he said he would reevaluate it in July. I have two months to save a bit and get the things that I need to move in. I am ready now but decided that waiting is for the best. So....what does the place look like???

Well here is the house. The whole upstairs is mine! Merry Christmas to me!!!How cute, right?!? I LOVE that it has a tin roof too! The bottom apartment is empty so I am excited to see who will be moving in there when I get moved in. This is going to be a great thing for sure.

Ok, so I don't have any reviews this week. I have been SOOOOO busy with Christmas and trying to find a place to move. Heck, I wasnt even able to get a post done yesterday! Today my eats will be the same. The only difference is today is going to be a cardio day. Yesterday I felt really bad. I still have a soar throat, headache, achy bod and a tiny fever. I don't feel half as bad as I did yesterday but because I felt so ill I took a rest day. Today though, will be "sweat this bug out so that I can enjoy my holiday" day. This is the plan anyway.

Breakfast to fuel this sweat session. Two slices of Gluten Free bread, fat free cottage cheese a orange and some un pictured PB2. It was a HUGE breakfast but I did 30 minutes of running and 10 minutes on the stair climber on lunch and it KICKED my BUTT! Literally. I will go on a nice walk with Karen this evening and make sure to do at least 30 minutes of stretching. That should do it. Tomorrow I will have to day a day of rest as well. I will be working and then heading straight to Warner Robins. I will be driving s-l-o-w for sure because it is Christmas and police are everywhere. Lunch was almost as big as breakfast (usually I divide it into two and eat half at 8:30 and then the other half at 11:30 and then to the gym at 12:30 just so you know.) Here is today's big and filling lunch! Dinner will be light for sure. That is the biggest "salad" that I have ever had...Yes, that is cheese you see. Sorry, I just had to do it. I also ate a few pieces of dark chocolate.

Dinner...I have no idea yet. I feel either a snack plate coming on or a nice hot soup. My throat is still soar and this may be a good thing for me. I am outta here. Gosh, I am just now able to post this and it is getting late. I will see you tomorrow! I will be on holiday for a few days so no posting until Tuesday. See ya!

-Heather