Big Big Plans

So many people (and by many I mean like five...) have mentioned that I need to update my blog, and that they actually do read it from time to time. I like people to know what is going on in my life, but at the same time I don't. Kinda weird but yeah.

We are moving to Las Vegas at the end of September. We have known this for a while, but I could not write about it because Josh's work was not aware of this until just a few weeks ago and we did not want it getting back to them so that he could work up until we moved. He got an accounting job at BDO Seidman, an auditing firm. We have to stay in Vegas for two years and if we don't like it we can move pretty much anywhere. I am looking forward to moving, even though I will miss my job, our ward, the mountains, grass, family, friends...etc... We are planning on renting for a while, and if we like it we might buy a house since the housing market there is so cheap.

Most of all, I am looking forward to insurance. I want to make and have a baby. Not only that, but I want my teeth cleaned. I haven't been to the dentist since before I was married. That is just nasty! But when you are a student/ poor married couple, teeth aren't really up there on the priorities list.

Still maintaining with the weight stuff. It is hard not eating all of the carbs I want, but it is definitely worth it. New favorites... egg salad with two smashed up saltine crackers mixed in with some tomato soup to accompany it. mmmmmm. Green apples with muenster cheese, Muenster and ham wraps with tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and ranch dressing inside (no tortilla). I have realized that I really like Athenos regular hummus. I love to eat this with carrots, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and cucumbers. There are really good sugar free Popsicles from Walmart that are amazing as a substitute for ice cream on a hot night. They are the ones that have two sticks and you have to break in the middle. Amazing. I also made spaghetti, but instead of eating it over noodles, I ate the meat sauce over french cut green beans. Really good as well.

Sad story... I really wanted to get some icecream, so I bought the dryers sugar free kind. I sat down with my fork and was eating it out of the carton. I ate about a cup, and put it away. About 20 minutes go by and my stomach starts to hurt, and growl but not in a good way. So I think about it and take a look at the ingredients list on the carton. Right below the ingredients list is a warning that eating more than 1/2 cup can cause a laxative effect. Needless to say, I got a lot of reading done that day in my "personal study". Seriously, making any food that has a laxative effect should be illegal.

Other fun stuff that has been going on...

Mike got some free 311 tickets from his work. These weren't regular tickets, or lawn tickets, these were VIP SUITE tickets. My mom gave the four tickets to Chris and I to take one friend each. So it was me and Bree, and Chris and his gal pal. We were in this fenced in suite that was tiered to be at the same level as the stage, no one blocking the view, like 40 ft from the stage. We had two tables, and folding cushioned chairs that we could put away if we wanted to dance. We sure danced. I am an amazing dancer when it comes to 311 and sublime. We had a waiter that brought us drinks and Nachos. Bree and I bought matching shirts. We had parking that was from a separate VIP entrance, no walking out in BFE. No line to getin to the show, they didn't even frisk me because I was wearing shorts. They had a free VIP dinner. Took all of 2 minutes to get out of the show and out of the parking lot. Most of all the show was amazing. All of these great songs from long ago... and Nick Hexum singing in a wife beader. So happy. I am so glad I got to go with Bree. We had a blast and I am glad it is something I can cling to when I will be far away.

So yeah, I just realized that it is 12:37 am and I have to teach relief society in the morning.

Hope you had fun reading...

Well not much to blog about but I haven't been on in a while so I will at least give an update and some recipes.

Total on the HCG diet I lost 38 lbs. I have been off the shots and on maintenance for about two weeks and I have lost three more pounds. So 41 lbs. I feel a lot better and have more confidence in the way I look. I am not going to be adding carbs after the three weeks of maintenance. I am going to just try to eat no sugar, no starch for a long time. I like the way I feel. I never get full, just satisfied. I eat about 10 fruits and veggies combined each day with some protein and dairy in there as well. I say I am avoiding carbs, but I get plenty of natural good carbs in the foods I eat. I am just avoiding the bad carbs that are full of sugar like bread, chips, cereal, and pastries. Not to say I don't get cravings for these things because I do, for sure. But 41 lbs is better than bread.

As for exercising I am getting into it, but slowly. Chelsea gave me these awesome videos called "Turbo Fire". They are like P-90-x but cardio??? They kick my butt so hard. They are a great work out though. My face turns bright red, and I sweat like a pig. I also have been doing a hip hop dance cardio DVD. I probably look like a total idiot doing the moves, but it is at least fun. Some friends invited me to water aerobics on Thursday nights. It is pretty easy, but I am sore the next day. I like how you can talk with each other while working out, and I love to swim. Other than that I have been taking Lady on her usual walks if Josh doesn't have the time.

As for food and recipes, I have been trying out a few things. For breakfast I have bought Canadian bacon which is way lower in calories than regular bacon. I cut the circles into fourths and eat them on cucumber slices with light french onion flavored laughing cow cheese spread on top. Delicious, and a great way to eat a vegetable in the morning.

I bought large bags of mixed berries from Costco and I will eat a cup of those for breakfast with some nuts or a hard boiled egg. Grapefruit with squeeze of Agave nectar is amazing! I even invested in some grapefruit spoons from Smiths so that I can eat them more easily. Then there is always a good omelet in the morning if I want something more comfort food-ish.

Lunch is normally cherry tomatoes, a hard boiled egg, celery dipped in cottage cheese, or something quick and easy with some fruit like strawberries or plums. I pack my lunch so it is usually something I can just grab out of the fridge.

Dinner is more fun. I made portobello pizzas again, but this time combination style with Canadian bacon, mushrooms, green peppers, onions, olives, and shredded mozzarella. Yum... Ragu's traditional pizza sauce has no sugar or crazy stuff in it either which is great.

Another yummy dinner: Melt brie cheese with some torn up pieces of precooked bacon on parchment paper in an oven safe baking dish. Dip vegetables like cucumbers, mushrooms, peppers, cauliflower, and cherry tomatoes in it and it is pure divinity. Josh even liked this one. It is also great with apples.

Chelsea also showed me the instant sugar free fat free chocolate pudding mixes made by JELLO. Delicious. I especially love to dip strawberries in the chocolate fudge pudding as a desert.

Other yummies are carrots and cherry tomatoes dipped in hummus, mixed nuts, and broccoli and cauliflower with melted cheddar cheese. Sugar free candies and gum are a staple.

Eating out is not too bad either. I went to IHOP on friday and had a great omelet off of their "Simple and fit" menu along with a bowl of fresh fruit for dessert. It was amazing! I have been to Pita Pit twice and just gotten the pita as a salad instead. So good mmm. Then there are salads from Wendy's and Cafe Rio that have been great too. However it doesn't need to just be a salad whenever you go out either. I went to Texas Road House and got a delicious steak topped with mushrooms, onions and swiss cheese with a side of steamed veggies. They even bring peanuts to snack on til your food comes, which is perfect.

As for other news...

I got a sewing machine for christmas that I opened last month. I decided to try my hand at sewing some barbie clothes for Josh's sister Ashley. I thought maybe I was just a bit rusty and that was why it was so difficult. After discussing it with my Grandma Redd I felt better. She said I would be better off tailoring a suit than sewing barbie clothes. They are more difficult because they are so small. So I went to sewing Melanie some burp cloths. They weren't perfect, but they turned out pretty cute.

I sang in church for the first time in over a year this last Sunday. I prayed that I would have the spirit with me, and sing as great as I had practiced. I started crying in the middle of the song until the end and it probablly sounded so bad. Most of all it was just embarrassing because I wanted so badly to sing my best. I guess heavenly father wanted me to just cry and bear my testimony while sounding like a blubbering idiot. It is cool, but I am glad no one from church has brought it up. I have to teach Relief Society this Sunday, so that should be awkward getting up infront of everyone again.

Josh graduated with his Master's this Month so we are officially done with school. YEAH! I am so happy and it has been fun getting to spend our nights together instead of him studying and me being bored.

That is all for today. Life is good. I can't wait for the rain to stop. :)

More Recipes

Not sure why but this post is not saving my spaces between paragraphs. Sorry if it is diccifult to read. Forgot a recipe in my last post, so thought I would post a couple... Crunchy quick Salad 2 short stalks of Celery chopped horizontally into small bit sized pieces 1/2 orange Bell Pepper cut into bit sized pieces 1/4 cup of Cottage cheese (I really like Meadow Gold brand or Cream o Weber") Place cottage cheese in a small container and stir in veggies. This was so good! Crisp and crunchy and sweet. I love this for lunch. :) No oil or Butter Scrambled Eggs/ Omlette I have wanted scrambled eggs for a while but I have never made them without at least some cooking spray so they won't stick. On HCG you can't even have cooking spray! So I researched and found a way to do it. 1 egg (I have gone cage free it was delicious) 1 Tb milk salt and pepper Also could add: bell pepper, spinach, green onion, yellow onion, tomato, I might even try some cottage cheese one day... Mix together egg, milk, and salt and pepper in a microwave safe plastic bowl with a wire wisk. Sprinkle other ingredients on top if desired. Cook uncovered in the Microwave for about 1 minute and 10-20 seconds. Time will vary depending on your microwave. Remove immediately from the microwave and scoop out your eggs especially the edges. It will stick, but if it is right out of the microwave it will all come out nicely. It will look puffy, but it is good. :) Carb Free Lasagna The Lasagna was good, but Chelsea and I did not lose weight the day after we ate it. Layered spinach leaves, cottage cheese, sliced tomatoes, meat sauce, all in that order til I had a full pan. (mine was like 3 inches by 2 inches) The meat sauce was hamburger browned with onions, minced garlic, oregano, basil leaves, tomato paste with water, and salt and pepper. Cooked for about 45 min 375 degrees. Not bad for carb free Lasagna.

Alies on a diet = SHOPPING

Fun and interesting things...

I remember when I was in high school that instead of eating when I was bored, I would shop. Ross, the DI, and TJ Maxx were by best friends when I was 17. I was also my skinniest when I was 17 because I did not eat. Maybe an apple and a sucker and some water the entire day.

Now that I am not eating again, but a healthier version of eating well but not much, I am back to shopping to fill some void. The past three Saturdays I have bought more new clothes, BRAND NEW, than in a long time. I used to only go to the DI if I needed something to wear. Now I have new dresses, shirts, and even new workout shoes! I have spent all of my Kohls and Target gift cards from my birthdays in the past three weeks, and I had about 8 total gift cards. I don't know but it is nice to have some cute clothes now that I am feeling thinner.

The diet has been going well, but I haven't been losing as much as in the beginning. Since I last wrote I have lost 5 pounds. 5 lbs in 2 weeks. I had a platau week in there with an apple day, and this week has been more steady. At least its coming off though.

I am going to start exercising when I start maitenace. I am trying to find a cheap step class up here in Logan, maybe Zumba? My boss said he would help me get a pass to Planet Fitness through work, and I think like my work would be paying for it?? That would be awesome. If anyone reading this knows about Zumba give me some ideas of what it is like. Is it like Step aerobics? I loved step when I went to SLCC.

Not much else going on. We are really liking Net Flixs. We have been watching a show called "Jericho" on there. It is really good. I have been reading "Stolen Lives" by Malika Oufkir. It is about a family that is put in a type of concemtration camp in Morocco after their father is killed for treason. It is so crazy! I don't think I could live like that, but it tells how they get through it, what they do to stay alive and sane. Chelsea and my mom have both read it, and loved it.

Lost 25 lbs as of Today

Heck yes! I feel great today. I am wearing jeans that I used to have to always wear a hoodie with because of my muffin top, with just a T-shirt, and they are even baggy and I have to keep pulling them up. That feels awesome! Way better than feeling like an elephant all the time.

There are a few new things that I have learned that have helped me get here and made this diet much easier.

#1: Chelsea gave me a new book called "The HCG Victory Tool Kit" by James Walker. It is a great book with loads of info about why the diet works, what you can eat, and what you can do to lose the most weight while you are doing this diet.

#2: The book gave info on some things that we did not know on our previous HCG diet. Such as you can eat EGGS! AND COTTAGE CHEESE! I cannot tell you how much easier the diet has been with these two add ons. I make dressings and dips with the cottage cheese, and Chelsea and I want to even make a Carb Free Lasagna! mmmmm. Eggs are so amazing, and quick and easy too. I just make a few in my egg cooker and eat them as my lunch protien, and in salads, yummy. It even tastes a little bit like Ice cream when I eat it all by itself in this little Gelato cup with a gelato spoon that I have kept around. It is all about fooling your mind right?

http://mylifemybody.com/2010/07/cottage-cheese-benefits-five-things-you-should-know/

This link gives great info on the benefits of cottage cheese along with some great low fat ideas.

#3: Chelsea also introduced me to Dessert Delights Extra Sugarfree Gum. The most amazing gum ever!!!. There are three kinds I have been able to find: Key Lime Pie, Starlight Mint Ice Cream and Strawberry Shortcake. The best thing about them is that they really do taste like what they say they are! I don't gain when I eat even like 5 sticks throughout the day. When I am craving ice cream at 10 pm I just eat some of the Starlight mint gum, and I am in heaven. I highly reccomend picking some of these up and keeping them handy for cravings.

#4: Carolynn (my cousin) told me about making your own flavored drinks using mineral water. I have been adding different juices and stevia to my Perrier water and even though it is not diet coke or Dr. Pepper, it tastes great. My favorite so far is mixing vanilla liquid stevia with Lemon Juice, like a sparkling sweet lemonade.

#5: JOSH. He has been so awesome thought this whole thing. He tries not to ever eat in front of me, and told me that while I am doing this diet I don't need to make him food so that it would be easier for me. So sweet. He also didn't mind this week when I spent $8.60 on just a steak from Juniper Takeout. He is amazing, and I love him so much. He keeps giving me positive feedback about how I am looking too, which helps a ton.

Other things going on besides the diet....

I got to babysit for the girl who used to be my visiting teacher last night while they went on a date. I had so much fun with their 18 month old little boy. We played with balls, and playdo, and colored, and he showed me all of his toys. Seriously, I want a baby so much. I didn't even want to put him to bed because I was enjoying everything. His laugh, how excited he got while we were playing with his toys, man I just love kids.

I have been reading a lot lately. I finished "Water for Elephants" last week. It is a movie that is coming out soon about the Circus in 1930. (Robert Pattinson aka Edward Cullin will be the lead with Reese Witherspoon) So stoked. I just finished Nicholas Sparks latest called "Safe Haven". It was really good too if you like his style.

We are trying out a Free month of Netflicks on the XBOX 360. We watched "Fire in the Sky" last night and I couldn't sleep for hours, that movie scared the crap out of me when I was little too. I am looking forward to watching some of the old movies I saw on there with Josh.

When I was an my Grandma Redd's house last weekend, she made this soup that looked and smelled so amazing. It is her hamburger soup, so I asked for the Recipe to see if I could make an HCG version. Here is what Chelsea and I came up with.

HCG Hamburger Soup

3 oz Hamburger
1/4 onion chopped in square pieces
1/2 Large tomato or 1 small tomato cut in cubes
3/4 cup Cauliflour heads with no stems
2 tsp Tomato paste
Water
Oregano
Celery Seed
Basil

Brown your hamburger with the onion slices in a small frying pan. Once browned spoon it into a small saucepan and add enough water to cover the hamburger and about a half and inch more to cover the vegetables you will add. While the water comes to a boil chop up your vegitables and add them to the pan. Stir in dashes of the spices and tomato paste. Boil the soup until the cauliflour is as soft as you want it to be. Remove from heat and salt to taste.

Such a good soup on a cold day.

Anyways, I am off to run errands. Hope things are going well and I apologize for not writing as often as I would like.

Restaurants HCG Friendly

So while I was down this past weekend I ate out twice. How? By eating at HCG friendly restaurants. Apollo Burger will serve a lettuce wrapped burger! This is not on the menu, but they say they do it all the time. You can also add onions and extra tomato. They will also add cheese if you are on maitenence. Delicious and fast if you want a drive thru.

I also went on a date with Josh to Applebees. Now, applebees caters to chubby people. One of my favorite stand up routines is by Robert Kelly about Applebees because it is the truth. If you want to laugh your bum off, watch it below.

Jokes.com
Robert Kelly - Applebee's
comedians.comedycentral.com
Jokes Joke of the Day Funny Jokes

So anyways, I got the 7 oz steak with steamed veggies. I did not eath the carrots, but the zuchinni was divine. I also asked the manager for saltines. JUST ONE packet please. He looked at me funny, but Chelsea and I both believe that if they bring you 5 packets of crackers this diet is much more difficult. :)

We went and saw "Battle LA" this weekend too. It was a really good guy movie. Kinda Indenpendence Day-ish but really good. We shaved lady as well and she is freezing up here in the rain. I steal Andrea's pictures she posts of my dogs off Facebook because I am too lazy to upload my own, so when she posts a pic I will get one of the shaved lady on here. She is so tiny now without all that furr.

I had a blast running errands with my mom and sisters. I miss them all so much. Especially Mellie. She is having a baby in September!!! So crazy! I am way excited for her. I can't wait to find out if she is having a boy or a girl so I can start buying it stuff. I love being an aunt. Jake, cohen and Carly have been so much fun, it will be awesome to have another kidlet to join the fray.

Well I am off to a PI party since today is 3/14. I will however be eating some very delicious strawberries instead of the pie, but it is all good. Pie sounds delicious though. Funny dream I had the other day. I was living with Chelsea and Jeremy and while they were out I took out all these chips and 3 kinds of donuts and soda, candy and was just eating away like crazy. They pull up and I see them coming out the window and I stash everything away as fast as I can, lick my lips of any donut (I know it is spelled doughnut) powder and give them a smile. Yes, I dream of the food I am not eating and they are truly great dreams.....

So my boss took our staff out to lunch today at Beehive Grill here in Logan. I was stressing cuz I had never been there before and wondered what the heck I was going to eat since I am on the diet. Luckily they had a hambuger. So I got it with no sauce, took off the bun and the pickle, and scooted the fries to the other end of the plate. If you think my coworkers were't looking at me funny then, you should have seen them when I cut the hamburger in half, ate ONE half along with the tomato and lettuce that came on the burger, then put my fork down. I asked for a box and took the fries to Josh, and I ate the other half of the burger with asperagus, a tomato, and a plum as my dinner.

I hate feeling wierd about eating "skinny" while everyone else is eating like you normally would when you go out to eat. It is just uncomfortable. I am fat, why are you looking at me funny when you know I SHOULD be eating like this. Although it is also wierd and uncomfortable when you go out to eat as a fat person and eat what you want, and feel like people are looking at you with disapproving eyes. When I was gorging for the diet I went to IHOP and ate a ton, and you would swear my skinny little waitress thought I was going to eat her too along with my 4th cup of hot chocolate. Same thing happened at Coldstone. Are fat people not allowed banana icecream with grahm crakers? Its not like I got tripple chocolate brownie with all the fix ins. Fat people just can't win when it comes to food. In all contexts except eating contests.



"Yes I am going to eat all of this pasta. Quit looking at me skinny!"

Other news, I am coming to Salt Lake tomorrow to see my precious Penny and I am so excited. Josh also wants to go to "Battle LA" so we will see how that is. I am also thinking of cutting my hair. I am sick of blowdrying it forever in the morning. I also had no appetite at all today. Even thinking of food made my mouth salivate like I was going to ralph. Nasty.

A McCormick Seasonings recipe came in the mail yesterday and I decided to do a HCG version of it, it tastes like something like a stew or Goolosh.

Greek Style Skillet

3 oz extra lean ground beef
Chopped onion
Oregano
ground Cinnamon
Garlic pouder
1 tomato cut in small pieces
1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
1 tablespoon water
Canned Green Beans

Cook the ground beef and onion until the beef is no longer pink. Sprinkle oregano, cinnamon, and garlic power and mix well. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon of water. Add green beans and cook until beans and tomatoes are heated through.

It was satisfying. I have not wanted to eat hardley anything though. It sucks, but it is good too. Nothing sounds good, and I have to make myself eat and gag it down.

Funny story though, at work yesterday one of the boys brought Pizza for everyone because it is spring break! Sat the Pizzas right behind me and I had to smell the awesomeness the whole afternoon. So I come home to eat my HCG meal, and Nate, Josh's brother comes home with pizza for us. !!! I swear, food just sucks. Also, my boss who NEVER takes us out to lunch wants to take us to lunch tomorrow because it is Spring Break. Most likely to firehouse too. I will just go and eat some iceberg lettuce and tomatoes.

I need to start an HCG/ healthy meal restaurant for people who are really trying to eat healthy. Why don't they have fast "healthy" food either? I do love to cook, but I miss just being able to grab something at McDonalds or Wendy's. So lame.

Funny Story #2: I had to get a new license because I am now 26 and it expired. So I am taking the eye exam and have a difficult time reading the letters on the screen you stick your face into. The man at the counter said if I had missed one more letter I would have had to go and get contacts before he would pass me. So yeah, how is that for feeling old, and the gray hairs are coming in like weeds. I dont' even have kids!



Things are good. We fixed our car and are most likely going to purchase a new dryer. However we somehow still have money in the bank even after that and all our bills paid. This is me working at $9 and josh working part time. I say that is pretty freaking amazing.

I'm Back

I wanted to annouce that due to certain people asking me to start blogging again, I have decided to start blogging again. This will mainly be about books I read and recipes. I am doing that HCG diet again because I wanted to loose some weight, and hey, I know it works so why not?

First an update for those of you whom I don't talk to everyday. I graduated in 2010 with my Balchelors in Elementary Education. We moved to Logan in June for Josh to stay at his internship and begin the Master's Program.

We got another dog in August named "Lady" because she looks like lady. "Oh miss Laaadiiee Ma'am". I am so freakin hilarious. Then our land lord let us know that we were only alloud one pet. Lame Sauce. So we have joint custody of Penny who is currently living with my mother.

I began working as an administrative assistant cuz there are no teaching jobs in logan and I love it. I work with 8 guys and 1 girl which is so much better than the drama of teaching with 30 women in 1 school. Plus, I get to wear all of my favorite articles of clothing: skater shoes, hoodies, jeans, hats, beanies, heck I could probablly wear my pajamas and no one would care. I do wish they allowed fip flops but this is Logan. I haven't worn flip flops since August.Bummer...

We went on an amazing sailing trip in August to the BVI with my fam and Josh learned to love snorkeling.

Other than that not much going on. We celebrated our 5th year anniversary in February. Still no babies, but dogs are a great substitue for now.

Books I reccomend: If you still have not read the Hunger Games series, GET ON IT!!! They are amazing! I recetly read "Crank" and it totally tripped me out. I do not want to ever do Meth because of that book. I am going to be starting a book club up here soon and I will let you know of some more books that are worth the read.

As for HCG recipes, I will keep posting them. I am on Phase 2 again where it is really restrictive, but still yummy.

Here's one I had for dinner today...

BunLess Burger

3 oz Extra Lean Hamburger
Sliced Red onion Rings (not the breaded kind)
1 sliced tomato
2 pieces of bib lettuce
S&P to taste

Grill your burger in a sauce pan
Rinse and slice your veggies while the meat is cooking
Have one "bun" be one piece of the bib lettuce folded to the size of your hamburger patty. Place the cooked hamburger patty on the lettuce

While the pan is still hot grill your red onion slices in the leftover hamburger juces
Lay the cooked onions on top of your patty and top with tomoatoes and the other folded lettuce leaf

Delicious and nutritious.

Off to watch some Glee. Thanks for getting me into that show Dayne and Bree. I find myslef singing all the songs in my head at work. I really need to sing for you sometime Dayne, cuz I am amazing. :)