Healthy stuffed chicken!

Stuffed chicken is Chris' favorite meal I make with the exception of my Mac and Cheese-and let's face it, we won't be seeing Mac and cheese anytime soon. This is the very first recipe that I didn't use another recipe for the ground work-so its my pride and joy! Chris is equally as good at cooking as I am so I think this was really about one upping him (yea I'm a one upper) and it hit the spot! 

What you'll need:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Fat free mozzarella cheese 

2 Roma Tomatoes 

Roughly 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach 

Minced garlic

Coconut oil

Low sodium chicken broth 

Toothpicks

Cayenne (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 375 while you're preparing the rest. The next step you can do hours before or right before. Today, I did my prep work before since Chris doesn't get home until late. 

In a medium sized pan, heat the coconut oil (on medium heat). Dice up the tomatoes and the spinach and set aside in a small bowl. When the coconut oil is melted add in roughly half a spoonful of garlic and brown it lightly in the pan. Add in tomatoes and spinach. This should only take 3-5 minutes to cook. 

Once the tomatoes and spinach are finished, set them aside in the bowl until the chicken is prepared. In preparation to stuff the chicken, I always take a small bowl out to put a few handfuls of the mozzarella cheese that way I'm not wasting cheese or rinsing my hands every time I stick them in the bag. :) 

Rinse and clean your chicken as normal. I'm picky, naturally this takes me 15-20 minutes. I cut off every single bit of fat I see and it takes forever! Anyhow, I find a paring knife works best for this recipe after MANY failed attempts at opening the chicken without poking through the bottom! I start at the top  in the middle and slowly cut it down.

Hard to explain but it's easier than it sounds! 

Now everything is prepped and the chicken is ready to be stuffed! Personally, I put the spinach/tomatoe mixture in first and the mozzarella on top but if you want it extra cheesy I'd put a layer of cheese, the mixture then another top layer of cheese. 

Once the chicken is stuffed I secure the fold using toothpicks-usually 3-4 per breast, and place them in a baking dish. I put just enough low sodium chicken broth in the baking dish so that the entire bottom is covered. -This eliminates dried out chicken that baking so often causes :) Here's where I add all my fun spices!

Like I said,this part is optional however it adds some great flavor! Cayenne is said to help boost your metabolism and well I'll take all the help I can get! I'd use that sparingly though, unless you love spicy food!

This is exactly how mine looks before it goes in the oven. Just a thin layer of the broth on the bottom and it's ready to go in the oven! Set your timer for 35 minutes and all should be great!

And the finished product! 

Low fat, healthy, easy, and incredibly flavorful baked chicken! I promise it'll be a hit! 

Monday, weigh in

I've been dreading stepping on the scale this week since Wednesday. I knew deep down that I went overboard with cravings and closed my eyes to discipline. I gained .8 lbs this week. I deserved what I gained and I can honestly say what I ate wasn't worth the set back. I guess after losing so much in the previous 3 weeks I felt invincible and thought I'd still lose with a few cheat meals.-Well that's what I had convinced myself anyway. I suppose it doesn't help that my boyfriend had 6 days off and we do enjoy going out to eat together. I need to gain some discipline back and make the right choices even if I am in a restaurant.-Trust me, there's almost always healthy choices available in restaurants, it's a matter of asking questions and sometimes substituting. So today, I start over. I don't need someone to motivate me anymore, my body speaks for itself. I CAN get there and I WILL get there. 

I'm headed to the gym in about 20 minutes and Monday is ab day for me usually. It would also be one of my running days but unfortunately my shin splints crept up last week so no running yet. I just placed an order on Amazon for compression socks. I had my old MSgt from the Marine Corps message me and tell me how compression socks changed his running life and he's shin splint free! I'll get back to you all on how they work for me-I should have them by Friday or Saturday.

These are what I'm trying. I read the reviews and I'm on board! I really need these to work because I really can't change the feeling I get after running. I've been running 3 miles 3 times a week for the past 2 weeks and I thought I was going slow enough for my body but hopefully the socks will help me out!

Almost one month down and results to show!

My world has been so insanely busy the last few weeks. Ever have a month fly by and you can't account for the majority of the days? That was January for me. I've been picking up extra shifts at the roadhouse since it's been so slow that I'm sometimes bringing home under $10!

Today, for instance, I brought home a whopping $7 and served 2 tables. Nobody wants a steak on Super Bowl Sunday! So now I'm sitting on the couch, drinking tea while the boys nap. What better time to create a new post?!

I'm rolling into my final week of month 1 of this 12 week "diet". People are really noticing a difference as am I! There's nothing more motivating than a coworker telling you they're watching you shrink before their eyes! I took some pictures to see if I could really spot a difference-it was a HUGE difference! I'll post those in a bit, but wow! I'm so proud of myself. It hasn't been all cake and pie but I've managed to finally gain some control of my weight and do it without starving myself! I will say I'm not perfect, I've had some slip ups. -More than i care to admit, but with the exception of this week I've followed the diet probably 90-10. Here I was thinking I couldn't slip up, not allowing myself anything out side the limits and my TLS coach (Shari) told me that as long as I follow it 80-20 I will be successful. Give an inch, take a mile. This week I was probably 80-20 or 70-30 :( . Lets just say I had more than 1 cheat meal but I'm going to guess that all except one were around or under 500 calories. I weighed myself on Wednesday and I was down 13 lbs. Tomorrow is my weekly weigh in that actually counts so I'll see how that goes. Well, without further adieu, I give to you my results thus far: 

I know, I know...underwear?! How inappropriate! That's what a few of my Facebook followers thought. -So much that someone reported it. Let me clear this all up. Yes, I have a bathing suit I could wear but why?! This actually covers more than my bikini bottom and I honestly wasn't sure I was going to go public with my results but I was just so excited that I had such an amazing improvement in such a short amount of time. So, sue me for my success. I won't apologize for showing off what I've been working to achieve. 

Anyhow! I've created all my own workouts. The internet is an amazing thing. I look up exercises all the time and literally watch YouTube video after video and try to replicate the movement in my living room (weightless) until I'm confident that I've got it down and add it to my workout the following day or week at the gym. I segregate muscles every day, so I only focus on one or two major groups at a time. I typically spend anywhere from 35-60 minutes lifting weights or cross training and then I spend another 30 minutes doing cardio. I have heavier cardio days and lighter-I try to get 3 heavy days and 2 light. Heavy days I'm either running or using the arc trainer and light days I'll either walk at an incline or use a lower resistance on the arc trainer. Here's an example of the shoulder work out I've been doing..never mind the goofy description, that just reminds me what exercise it is and I usually write down thing a to remember to do or not to do during the exercise:

I normally combine shoulders and chest but I don't have much written down for chest exercises (I'm terrible at proper names for equipment and exercises so I just remember what to do for some of it). I'll post workouts as I go, and I'll try my best to start finding proper names for everything I'm doing! All of this is of course assuming February slows down so I can blog! 

Results as promised!

I stepped on the scale this morning hoping for at the very least no weight gain, and that I did accomplish! I weighed exactly the same as I did yesterday morning-which is consistent with how the entire cleanse went. So in total, I lost 8 pounds during my 7 day cleanse. I've got so say I'm ecstatic that it's over, but I'm equally happy that I did it!

I started my new diet and went back to the gym today. I had a rough workout -nothing more than I usually do, but given I gave up a week at the gym and my body wasn't fueled with protein like usual, it was expected. I still pushed through it and finished a pretty good tri/bi workout ending with 30 minutes of cardio. It felt AMAZING to be back in the gym. I'm so miserable skipping days, so I think that had a lot to do with how moody I was last week too.

I didn't realize this before last night, but the new diet I'm following cuts out carbs and starches with my 2 servings of fruit per day being the majority of the carbs I get daily. This is going to be struggle. I'm not necessarily wanting carbs just yet but I'm sure it'll come! For breakfast I'm allotted one protein/dairy and one fruit. So I had a cup of nonfat yogurt and an apple to start my day. -Surprisingly, I felt really full and actually had to wait a little longer to go to the gym. -More than likely a benefit of the cleanse. For a morning snack I can have one protein/dairy, 1 fruit and 1-2 veggies. I had this after my workout so I made a protein shake with chocolate/peanut butter protein almond milk, kale, and a banana. It was delicious! But I think I'll stick to spinach instead of kale-it just blends better. I do however, love kale in juices just not preferred blended. Below is one of the sweeter juices we loved this summer :)

The rest of my meals (lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner) all consist of protein and veggies. I'll probably have some cottage cheese and some squash/zucchini for lunch, a protein shake for my other snack, and we're having salmon for dinner with some steamed broccoli  and asparagus. Basically when all is said and done, you're plate should have about a quarter of protein on it and 3/4 veggies with this diet. Can't wait to see what weight loss I have this week! So excited for next monday!

The cleanse end!

Finally! Today is day 7 of my veggie cleanse! It has certainly been a week of ups and downs. It's made me even more aware of how bad my food addiction is. I'm so glad I did this for several reasons:

1. I proved to myself that I CAN accomplish anything if I put my mind to it and keep the end game in mind. I usually find a great diet I 'put my mind to' and a week later or less I'm over it. Although this was only over a weeks period its the most dedicated I've ever been.

2. I feel so much better physically! I was skeptical about people saying how they actually did feel better. I thought, well I'm putting less into my body-I'm going to feel so tired! Negative, I feel great. I don't feel so sluggish. I will say the one cup of joe a day isn't for me but I did it. (I'm a coffee junkie so this part felt like it was going to be impossible) I'm not so bloated from eating all of the junk I used to, so I feel more comfortable.

3. My hopes are that this sets me up in the right direction for the actual diet part that comes next (tomorrow morning). As I already said, this was an emotional week for me, why pick my bad habits back up and leave this week all for nothing? I think proving to myself that I could accomplish this detox helps me to believe that instead of viewing this is a fad diet like I usually do, I'll see it as a new lifestyle.  I just need to keep myself motivated and focused.

I remember my friends who've done this detox saying that it got better after day 3, they lied. I struggled through the entire detox. Mind you, I'm a server at Texas Roadhouse and my boyfriend ate frozen pizzas and McDonald's the whole week in front of me so I was surrounded by all of my favorite artery clogging foods. -Which I honestly feel was necessary for me to feel so accomplished. I didn't give in to temptation and I couldn't be any more proud of myself for that alone. Typically, I'm the first one to say I don't feel like making dinner so lets just go grab McDonald's or head out to half off apps at Applebees. I got myself much more acquainted in the kitchen making myself veggie meals. Speaking of, I'll share the recipe that got me by this week. The other girls said they made vegetable soup and ate that most of the week. I attempted that, had 2 bowls and couldn't even stomach smelling it after that. -Thankfully Chris loved it so we didn't have much to waste. I found my love for stir fry-the healthy way!

My TLS coach told me that if after day 3, I felt it was necessary, I could add about 4 oz of lean protein into my dinner meal. (Day 2 I made this without chicken). I can't use oils in this cleanse so I picked up some low-sodium chicken broth as my 'sauteing juice' so to say. I put a little garlic and broth in the pan and heated that up on medium heat until the garlic was browning a bit. I diced up some organic chicken, sprinkled it with Cayenne and let it cook in the pan with a couple dashes of low-sodium soy sauce (that was ok'd by my coach as well). When the chicken was about 3/4 done I started another pan with some chicken broth and sliced green and red peppers and onion. I cooked those for about 5 minutes and added in some squash and zucchini with a little more soy sauce. It was probably 20 minutes cook time total and probably an additional 20 minute prep time but it was delicious! I let Chris have a bite and he admitted that he would've rather had that than the pizza he was munching away on. It is a bit spicy, but that can be adjusted with the amount of cayenne used-or you can just use pepper if you prefer.

I'll reveal the final results tomorrow if I find the time to actually sit down and blog but I can tell you it'll be around 10 pounds. As of this morning, I was down 8 lbs so it'll be similar to that give or take a pound or two.

^This is it in case anybody is wondering what it is I'm doing :)

Detox and Veggies

I've been pushing myself at the gym for about 6 months-steadily working out for 4-5. I've gained a tremendous amount of muscle-all of which I can feel underneath that fat layer that I can't.seem.to.lose. I've pushed harder, I've given up, I've had tears, I've experienced it all. -Except weight loss! 

If someone were to follow me around the gym and do my workout side by side with me, I'm confident that they wouldn't believe that I haven't lost a single pound! I've actually gained weight! I know, I know. Muscle weighs more than fat. But what about that layer?! The one I can't get rid of?! I have the hardest time sticking to a diet. I want chicken wings, pizza, fries, huge steaks, ice cream, burgers, etc etc. I'm finally sick and tired of wasting hours at the gym, so I'm trying something new. 

Yesterday I started a 7 day detox called Nutriclean. Basically I take a few pills in the AM with a fiber mixture I have to drink and I eat 5-6 meals a day with veggies only and 3 servings of fruit per day. I'm nearing the end of day 2 and its all cake and pie...until night comes. The ultra fat kid in me wants to run across the road and get a McDouble -or 3 and some large fries - maybe 2 of those and wash it all down with a nice cold Root Beer. Instead, I have a pot of veggie soup I made last night to hold me over. They say it gets easier after day 3, I'll let you know the truth to that. Right now, I'm not seeing that happening. But I will say, its only 7 days-I won't die. If anything, I'll be so incredibly proud of myself for actually sticking to something diet wise. Nonetheless, I'll be dreaming of red velvet cookies and peanut butter balls tonight, I'm sure. 

New year, fresh blog

I'm hoping 2014 is the most inspirational for me. I think I've got bigger plans for myself than I've even realized. I'm not one of those New Year Resolutioner's, I can't recall the last time I actually made one. If you think about it though, I think whether we like to admit it or not, we've all got one in our head. I really want to get more into writing and actually stick with a blog. How amazing would it be to have one of those blogs that actually got read a few thousand times over every day? I feel like those blogs are based on a single subject and I would probably get bored writing about the same topic over and over. So I guess instead of the fitness blog I originally intended to create, I'll just be writing about my life and thoughts in general. So here's to a new year of writing!