The First 43: My Life Now

Months ago I posted an image from the weight loss simulator which showed my original weight and my goal weight.  Here is the simulator image with my goal weight in a side by side with a recent photo.  It was fairly accurate. Here is a new simulator image, it has my current weight with a goal weight of an additional 15lbs lost.  If I can get there, I'd be happy to look like the simulator image! If you want to try out the simulator, here are the links again: WOMEN: http://api.modelmydiet.com/eywomen MEN: http://api.modelmydiet.com/eymen

We are moving soon so, it's time to do a purge....   I held onto my "fat" clothes for far too long. I'd let a piece of clothing go here and there but I was honestly terrified I would gain the weight back and have to buy new bigger clothes again.  Since we are moving, I decided it's time to get rid of those clothes, give them away to charity and embrace my new smaller sized clothing.  There is no point in packing and moving clothes I can't wear. I even found some really nice clothes that were just too snug to keep wearing not that long ago, packed up under the bed.  It's almost like having a new wardrobe to work with without spending any money.  It feels great to get rid of the clothes and say to myself "you won't gain it back." I honestly think that having the clothes around always gave me the "option" and I don't want to have that option, I just want the clothes out of sight. Someone else can enjoy them instead! As ...

What an exciting morning! I reached my goal of 43lbs lost and even did myself one better as I'm sitting at 44lbs lost right now. I am ecstatic. I did a ridiculous dance all around my living room and then almost felt like crying out of sheer relief.  It's been 283 days of calorie counting, about 9 months. Every single day. It's been well worth it as I've managed to stick to it and reach my goal. I'm going to slowly start increasing my caloric intake now to switch to a half a pound a week loss for another 15lbs.  It doesn't mean that the exercise stops or that I am going to stop eating the way I'm eating.  It just means I won't be losing at the same rate and that's okay with me.  I need to give my body a break and just live a healthy active lifestyle. Thank you to everyone who has cheered me on every step of the way and given me more support than I could have ever asked for. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Here are my progress photos: Thi...

One of the reasons I love Chatelaine magazine is the recipes and I always hope I will get around to making them someday. Well this one I got around to making. It's delicious and I highly recommend it. Tomato Goat Cheese Risotto 2 tbsp light margarine 1/2  white onion, finely chopped 1 cup arborio rice 540 ml can stewed tomatoes 2 cups vegetable broth 1 tbsp dried oregano leaves 1 tsp each of garlic powder, salt and granulated sugar 140g light goat cheese, crumbled  150g package frozen spinach, thawed Directions: Use an oven safe casserole dish with a lid.  Preheat oven to 400*F. Melt margarine in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and stir often until they are soft. Stir in rice until coated and then the can of tomatoes. Stir often until liquid is almost absorbed.  Then stir in the broth, herbs and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Put the mixture into your casserole dish, cover and bake in centre of oven until all liquid is abso...

In April when I started this program these jeans were snug. I mean snug in every place. I really should have been wearing a bigger size to be comfortable but, I refused to buy them. I looked like I was just sausaging myself into them. My muffin top was out of control. It was probably the realization that I needed to start buying bigger clothes that really got me thinking. Here is what they look like now..... The photos don't really do it justice but, if I walk, they don't even stay up, they immediately start to fall down. These will be the only pair of my "starting" pants I will keep so as I continue to lose weight, I can continue to show these types of photos.  I am now officially ready to purge the rest of them! Plus, if I hang onto them, it gives me the ability to just fit back into them and I really don't want that. I figure with 0.8lbs left to lose the pants aren't going to change much between now and my goal so here they are. 

Nutella cookies! NUTELLA! I really love Nutella but honestly haven't eaten much of it since April because of its high calorie count (it's worse than peanut butter at 100 calories per tablespoon, yikes!) I guess this is where my Italian genes come in, love of all things chocolate. Anyway, I found a recipe and slightly adapted it (well, just cut the sugar in half, who needs all that sugar when you've got all that Nutella?) It allows me to still love my Nutella while consuming less calories. Ingredients: 1 cup of Nutella (or knock off Hazelnut spread) 1 cup All Purpose Flour 1/4 cup Sugar 1 egg Directions: Preheat oven to 350*F.  Mix egg, sugar and flour (it will look crumbly.) Once that's done add Nutella.  Mix for a minute or two. It will still look crumbly but will be able to form into solid dough (think peanut butter cookie consistency) Roll the dough into balls (this recipe makes 35 cookies) and place on baking sheet.  With a fork, press down on each ...

Last night I decided to throw a few things together and make my own sauce. A fun experiment in "just use what was already in the cupboards, in the fridge and in the freezer."  It actually turned out pretty great and it was healthy so I'm sharing it here with all of you. Sausage and Spinach Sauce Ingredients: 2 lean sausages (I used Blue Menu) 1 1/2 cups strained tomato sauce 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup of frozen spinach, thawed 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped Two garlic cloves, pressed 2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 tsp sugar Dry or Fresh Oregano & Basil to taste Directions: Take the casings off the sausages, cut into bits and cook oven top in a frying pan.  Add onion and garlic.  Keep in pan until cooked.  Once cooked, add the strained tomato sauce, water, spinach, olive oil, sugar, basil and oregano.  Mix together.  Let the sauce simmer stove top for about 15 minutes.  This makes enough sauce for 4 people. Calories: 150/servin...