Welcome to the New Year!
I must say, I am so excited to be entering into 2012! I have made big changes in my life in 2011 and I can’t be more excited to see where these changes will take me in the new year. I feel as if I have grown leaps and bounds as a person over the last 365 days and feel more and more confident in my abilities to achieve any goal I set for myself! A few personal highlights of 2k11:
- Made one of the best decisions of my life – starting The Losing Path!
- Successfully lost (and kept off) over 60 pounds with nothing more than (mostly) wise food choices and a lot of sweat
- Exceeded my goal of running 3 ½ miles by Christmas and ran 5!
- Wore shorts to my alumni cheerleading game – shorts in public? It’s a big deal! J
- Transitioned into veganism
- My proudest – inspired a few other ‘Losers’ to hop on the healthy train and make some positive changes to improve their health/life!
Now – we’ve gotten through 2011 and it’s On to the Next One… so how about some goals? Here are a few of my goals for 2k12:
- Lose at least 60 more pounds
- Run a 9 minute mile
- At least START writing a book based on my Path – I want to spread the motivation and help as many people as possible!
- Wear even SHORTER shorts to the alumni cheerleading game! (watch out!!)
- Submit photos to a modeling agency J (always been a dream, never had the courage!)
- Do a mud run/obstacle course
- Work on and develop new delicious recipes to share!
- Grow as many vegetables as possible!
Just for comparison’s sake, here’s a picture of what I looked like last New Year’s Eve:
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| 2011 |
And here’s a picture from this year:
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| 2012 |
2012 is already looking better J
Well, things were a bit out of whack this weekend in Virginia (as I anticipated) BUT I was still able to make some good food choices and workout a little! I thought ahead and prepared for the travels and I’m so happy that I did! I had a big bowl of granola and berries with soy milk before we left and I snacked on veggie sushi and an orange in the car and drank water (and 1 5-hour energy drink). We arrived in VA at about 7am and I cleaned my brother’s house for about 4 hours then took his dog for a 20 minute run around their neighborhood. Man, I didn’t think about how much more difficult it would be to have a strong animal pulling you every direction other than where you’re heading ha! Before and after the run I did 50 crunches and 10 pushups and I stretched. I cleaned some more in the afternoon then cooked dinner for everyone!
Food Friday: Granola w/ berries and soy milk for breakfast, carrots and hummus snack, Amy’s Vegan Meal for lunch, chips and salsa snack, enchilada casserole for dinner (recipe below). I had a glass of wine after dinner then called it a night…
Saturday I woke up and cooked breakfast then my sister-in-law and I went grocery/party supply shopping for the celebration!
Food Saturday: Granola w/ berries and soy milk for breakfast, carrots and hummus snack, salad of rice/lettuce/avocado/tomato/salsa/lime juice for lunch, chips and salsa snack and party food for dinner! I made Fruit Pizza (recipe below) and Med Wrap-Ups (recipe below) – yummy! My dishes were loved even by a man that is so picky he won’t eat anything the color white! J
Sunday I woke up and cooked breakfast, straightened the house a bit then we had to hit the road..
Food Sunday: Last little bit of granola w/ berries and soy milk and a banana w/ crunchy peanut butter for breakfast, veggie sub from Subway for lunch, snacked on a peanut/almond/pistachio mix, ½ of an order of small French fries (yikes!) from McDonald’s and an apple for dinner (choices were VERY limited – obviously) and a whole grain flat bread w/ hummus for late night snack. Obviously, I wasn’t as prepared for the trip home food-wise as the trip down and I totally regretted that!
We got home at around 10pm last night and by the time we unpacked some things, my parents visited Nora and we got settled down a bit, it was 11:30 before we even went to bed. I had every intention of getting up and going to do a killer arm workout this morning but I just couldn’t do it – I was so exhausted when I woke up! So, no gym today but food is still looking pretty good…
Food Today
Breakfast
None – bad, I know! Running REALLY late
Snack
Oatmeal w/ raisins and granola
Lunch
Whole grain flatbread w/ hummus, carrots, red bell pepper, red onion and garlic pepper relish
Snack
Salad of spinach, carrot, red bell pepper, red onion served over warm brown rice w/ a little garlic pepper relish and light balsamic vinaigrette
Snack
Protein tofu
Dinner
TBD I’m not sure what I even have in my house!
Recipes!
Enchilada Casserole
Mild Enchilada Sauce
Corn, thawed
Black Beans, drained and rinsed
Zucchini, diced
Squash, diced
Chipotle salsa (any brand)
Diced green chiles (canned)
Corn tortillas
- Preheat oven to 350
- Mix the corn, black beans, zucchini, squash and green chiles in a bowl.
- In a casserole dish, pour a bit of the enchilada sauce, then cover w/ a layer of tortillas (try to cover the surface of the dish as best as possible)
- Pour a bit of enchilada sauce then spoon ½ of the veggie mix
- A little more enchilada sauce then some of the salsa
- Repeat this layer and then cover the top layer w/ another layer of tortillas and more enchilada sauce
- Cover w/ foil and Bake for about 30 minutes – uncover then bake for another 10
- Garnish w/ diced tomato, avocado, lettuce and a squeeze of lime juice! I served it w/ brown rice
*If not going for vegan, add cheese atop of each layer!
Vegan Fruit Pizza
2 Rolls Crescent Dough (try to not get butter-flavored)
Strawberries
3 Kiwis
Blueberries
Raspberries
Blackberries
1tsp Lemon Juice
3tbs Apple Juice
¾ c powdered sugar
½ c white sugar
1 8oz tub Toffuti Cream Cheese
- Bake crescent dough as directed, let cool to room temp
- Meanwhile, cream together cream cheese, sugars, apple juice and lemon juice
- Dice strawberries, kiwis, raspberries and blackberries and mix together in large bowl w/ blueberries
- Once dough has cooled, spread cream cheese mix over dough then sprinkle fruit over cream cheese
- Put in fridge and let set for about an hour, cut and serve!
*Please note that I normally would not recommend white/powdered sugar! This is a special occasion dish and to be eaten in moderation J
Med Wrap-Ups
Whole Grain Flat bread wraps
Cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced thin
Red onion, halved and sliced thin
Red bell pepper, sliced thin
Marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
Sun dried tomatoes, diced
Roasted pine nut hummus
Garlic and hot pepper relish (Italian aisle – I think it’s labeled as a pasta sauce?)
- Spread a generous shmattering of hummus over flatbread (covering entire surface)
- About 1/3 of the way down, layer the bell pepper, cucumber, onion, artichoke and sundried tomatoes then sprinkle hot pepper relish over this
- Fold the flatbread over the veggies and pull tight then continue to wrap. Slice cross-wise and serve!
Well, I suppose that’s all I have for the time-being. Overall, I’m happy with the outcome of 2011.. there were certainly some bumps in the road but we made it through. J
Cheers to 2012!
Until tomorrow…
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