My Plan To Eat Healthy and Exercise:

I am done with eating unhealthily. I am done putting off exercising until "tomorrow". I am done wishing that I could be more healthy, but feeling like I can't do it. There is no better time than now to better myself.

My plan is to eat healthy and low-carb foods during the week, and then relax on the weekends. I am not going to be an out of control junk-eater on the weekends, I am just going to not be so strict with myself about carbs and calories. I feel like doing this will give me more of a chance to succeed. If I give up carbs "cold turkey", I will more than likely quit this diet after a couple of weeks. It might take a little longer for the weight to come off, but I am fine with that.

Unlike last time when I said I would but never did, I am going to post what I am eating here on my blog. I feel like if I publicly put out there what I am eating, I will be more accountable. I think I will post my food once a week. I won't add up calories on my blog, but I will be using myfitnesspal to track them myself. My goal will be to eat about 1200-1300 per day. I am also going to make an effort to do some form of exercise at least 5 days a week. I hope I can stick with it and finish strong. My ultimate goal would be to lose 20-30 pounds. I am not concerned with this happening by a certain date, but I would love to get there as soon as possible.

I am going to try to keep this up until Easter, and then see where I am. I may decide to continue this diet for longer, or I may decide to change things up. We'll see when that time comes.

I'm hoping to do my food posts every weekend, but the day I post might change slightly every week depending on how busy I am.

I've been slacking. I'm going to try to make a come back!

Hi, all. So, I've been a major slacker. My daily food diary tumblr posts fell through and I haven't been keeping up on myfitnesspal. It sucks, but I was eating awful foods anyway. I'm going to try to change that! Starting the next time I go to the grocery store (this weekend sometime), I am going to attempt a low-carb diet. That is, very little to NO bread, pasta, rice, or potato. I have not set an end date for this yet, but I am going to set an end date to keep myself motivated (I feel that if I have an end in sight, I will do better). Also, I am going to get off of my lazy butt and exercise again. And, finally, I am GIVING UP SODA. This is a big one. I gave it up a few years ago, but have started drinking it again since and it is a horrible habit. It's bad for my body and my wallet, so I am giving it up. Hopefully for good. This whole thing is a revelation I came to today, and I have no details to this plan yet, but I will try my hardest to follow through. Also this week, I am going to revamp my blog's layout. I want to involve my blog in some way in this whole process, so I will think of ideas. I'm a little worried because I tend to do badly with any kind of diet, or lifestyle change, or whatever you want to call it when I am busy with school....and I am sure busy with school right now! Hopefully I can succeed! I will write a more put-together post about this later, I just wanted to do a minor update.

Weight Loss Progress-Pictures (2010 vs 2011)

This is me. Last year (2010) I was at my heaviest weight EVER and hated the way I looked. This year (2011), I am happy to say that I am around 40 pounds lighter and still working to lose more weight. These pictures show about a 20-30 pound difference. They were taken at different times during the year so it varies a little bit. I am going to track my food intake everyday (hopefully), to track my exercise, and to track my weight LOSS on this blog and on my tumblr! I am 15 pounds away from my goal weight and I can’t wait to reach it!!

I will be posting my daily calorie intake in one batch post once a week. I am updating my tumblr daily and keep track at myfitnesspal.com.

UPDATE TIME

Sorry, I haven't posted in awhile. I have been busy with school. I am taking finals today and tomorrow and am taking a quick break from studying to update my blog! After finals are over, I have some time off of school and I am hoping to make posts about several recipes I have been making and enjoying and also about my weight loss journey! Please stay tuned and look for those posts in the coming weeks! Take care!

P.S. I forgot to mention, I have opened a new tumblr - http://cheryllosesweight.tumblr.com - and I will try to track my daily food intake/exercise and post pictures. I already have some before-and-after pictures up. I am very proud of the weight that I have lost and am still trying to lose more. :)

P.P.S. I am also going to be posting everything from the above tumblr to this website for now since this blog is about my life and right now weight loss is a big part of it.

Engagement Pictures!

These were taken by the wonderful Nicole! Her photography business facebook page is here.

Creamy Tomato and Basil Bisque Recipe

I've had really good tomato basil bisque before, I hope this is just as good! I will try at home soon and report back...

INGREDIENTS:


3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 celery rib, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons unbleached flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 cans (14.5 ounce size) tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons basil
1/4 cup cream
salt and pepper, to taste
croutons and fresh parmesan cheese for topping



PREPARATION:


Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook for 4 minutes. Stir in flour over low heat. Add broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, bay leaves and basil; bring to a boil. Turn heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves.

In a blender, carefully puree half the soup. Return to saucepan, stir in cream and season with salt and pepper.

Top with croutons or freshly grated parmesan cheese.

NUTRITION:

158 calories, 10 grams fat, 14 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams proteinper serving.

Show full nutritional data (including Weight Watcher's Points ®, cholesterol, sodium, vitamins, and diabetic exchanges)





This recipe from CDKitchen for Creamy Tomato and Basil Bisque serves/makes 6

Veggie Med Sandwich Recipe (Noodles & Company)

You can really put your own spin on this sandwich! There's no wrong way to make it!

Veggie Med Sandwich Recipe
Serves 4-6








Ingredients:
1 package of your favorite flatbread
1 bunch spring onions, sliced
2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1 Portobello mushroom cap (gills removed)
1 red pepper
1 tablespoon white wine (your choice)
1 heirloom tomato
1 cup fresh organic baby spinach leaves
½ cup low fat yogurt
2 tablespoon low fat mayo
2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
1/2 lemon (squeezed)
1 cucumber (deseeded)
4 tablespoon feta cheese
Fresh cilantro to garnish

Preparation:
Chop garlic, slice onions, mushrooms and slice the peppers. Set aside.
Coarsely chop ½ of the cucumber and tomato. Set aside.
For the sauce: Combine the yogurt, mayo, the juice of ½ of a lemon squeezed, 1 clove of fresh garlic and the Sriracha sauce. Whisk and set aside.
Sautee over medium heat: Peppers, onions, garlic, white wine, mushrooms until lightly golden. Add spinach to wilt.
Toast or grill the flatbread to warm.
Place sautee mixture onto flatbread.
Add 1 tablespoon of sauce. Garnish with tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, and cilantro.