Because it's not about food....

It's about being PREPARED and enjoying the fuel we put in our bodies.  

I am a BEING of ORDER!

Therefore, I am preparing my meals.

Woo Hoo!  

(This is big for a mom who is driving teens to/from work and activities for 90% of her waking hours, or so it seems)

Yesterday I tried some new things, thanks to Sandy at Sandy's Kitchen!!  Lover her!  She has a lot of recipes for those following the TSFL program and using Medifast food.  Or for those just wanting to eat healtheir.  I've followed her for years now.  So I tried two of her items listed.  First:

MEDIFAST PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE BALLS
I didn't follow the exact recipe she has because I didn't have almond milk, but here is what I did:

Ingredients:
1 MF Chocolate Pudding
1 MF Hot Cocoa
4 T. PB2
1/4+ cup mixture of Water and Sugar Free Peanut Butter Syrup

Combine all ingredients in small bowl.  Form into 8 fudge balls.  4 balls makes 1 meal (since you used 2 MF meals in the recipe)

I actually made 5x this recipe - that's why you see 40 balls in the pic up there.  Then I put them in baggies (4 per bag) and froze them.  We can just grab one and go and have it ready by the time we eat.  The hubs really likes them!!!

You can find Sandy's recipe here.


Second:
MEDIFAST OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients:
1 MF Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal
1/4 t. Cinnamon
1 packet Splenda (I used Stevia)
1/3 cup water
1/8 t. baking powder
1/2 t. vanilla
1 T Peanut Butter (I used PB2)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients and let sit for 5 min.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.  Drop by spoonfulls and bake  for 12-15 minutes.

I doubled the recipe for me and the hubs.  Next time I would try to get the cookies flatter if I could to more crispiness.  But they were fine.  Definitely better than making the actual oatmeal.  My son took a bite and wanted more. :)  I will include these up in my Recipes - Medifast tab.  You can see Sandy's original recipe here.


I have also found the I love the Coleman Chicken Meatballs that Costco sells.  The carbs are lower and protein higher than other meatballs I compared and they looked like a great option for our "lean".

So we had them as our L&G last night and salad - So yummy and easy and fast.  That's really what I need, is easy and fast and yet still seems like a quality meal.

I love mushrooms on my salad and had 6 meatballs (on left), Brent had 4 meatballs with 2 turkey sausages. And of course light dressing.

Another meal I had that was super yummy, and also from Costco was this Garlic Pepper Marinated Sockeye Salmon.  Just defrost and bake for 15 minutes and it's total gourmet!  I added some cucumber as my "green" and had a delicious dinner.

For the hubs, I scrambled up 1 cup of egg beaters with some red pepper and added some light cheese just before it was done for a cheesy egg scramble.  Fresh cucumbers also finished off his "green".  So that was also a super fast meal fix that filled him up.

Onward and forward as a BEING OF ORDER!  

Yup, that's me.  If you have any quick and easy, healthy meal ideas, do share! 

oxXXOooXoo ~Margene

Change and RE-FOCUS + Dance Dare #7

Here I am... at another place on my journey.  Another place of change.  Have you noticed that change is fine when you're making it happen yourself and plan for it?  When it's something you want and have been anticipating?  Change isn't so great when it's unexpected and shifts your footing to where it can knock you down. 

So as you can tell by the sparsity of my blog posts, I've had life and different responsibilities cross my path that have re-directed me in many ways.  I am always looking for a reason that things happen, because I don't believe in coincidence.  I don't believe that you meet anyone by chance.

 

For the last 9 months I was called into service in my church as Relief Society President, a daunting responsibility, to which I felt extremely inadequate, but learned to rely on my Heavenly Father more than any other time in my life.  I was recently released from this service, quite unexpectedly I might add.  Usually one serves in this capacity for several years.  But alas, change rolls around when you least expect it and just when you think you know what you're doing!  This wasn't an easy change as I had my whole heart into my calling and I held nothing back.  I felt it was part of the reason we even moved here.  I felt like I was making a difference.  I was truly heartbroken to have it come to an end so soon and so unexpectedly.  But I am learning once again to trust in the Lord and in His Timing.

So I find myself with more time.  I never realized how much time I actually do have now... to focus on my own family, and my own health.   And NOW I have time to re-focus myself.  I've let too much weight slip back on and my knee has began hurting for a while and affecting my ability to be as active as I'd like to be.  I've even had to pull out of playing basketball!!!!  I cannot tell you what a disappointment that's been!!  It makes me feel like I've aged ten years (like I actually feel my age right now!) Running is painful.  This is not acceptable to me.

 I went on an awesome hike a few weeks ago over Spring Break - a very breathtaking and cool hike!!  But my knee was in pain the whole time.  I'm thinking it's the extra weight I've let slip back on. 

SOO -   FIRST thing is:  We're going back ON PLAN to get our extra weight off.  

We're actually on day 3 right now!  

And next we're working on several other things.  

It's nice to be able to do that and have the time to re-focus.

Look... I focused on these deer as I drove by.  It really is a hunters delight where I live, we see deer all the time and have to watch that we don't hit them!

Here are some of our meals I've focused on making lately.  YUM.

Veggie Salad with beef strips - Salmon & Sausage with steamed broccoli 

Beef strips with sauteed peppers and mushrooms

So my motto these days is:  Trust in the Lord and in His Timing.  

Even when things don't look great, you've got to BELIEVE that God has something better in mind for you - you just have to have FAITH and PATIENCE in Him.

Life is GOOD!!

~ XOXO Margene

PS - I finally had time to Focus on putting together my latest Dance Dare video!

So here is Margene's Seventh Dance Dares!  Enjoy!!

On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

My new friend gave to me:

3 fluffy socks
2 scented candles
And a cookbook with delicious recipes

And I LOVE my new pink and black fluffy socks.  I will enjoy wearing these around the house and to keep my feet warm.  Thank you Fabulous Mom!

And for some food pics.  This was my dinner (lean and green) last night:

Salad (romaine lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, peppers & tomatos) with Bacon Ranch Walden Farms dressing (fat free/sugar free/calorie free) and some baked "marinated wild Alaskan salmon" from Costco.  Salmon took 30 minutes to cook - no preparing other than that.  Salad was already made.  This is like "fast food" to me, yet look how much more delcious and healthy it is?  Loved it!

Today for my lunch, I had the Medifast Beef Stew.  I have soup at least once a day and my favorites are the chicken noodle, Chicken and rice, and beef stew.

So my meals each day go something like:

8am -   Pudding (fav is coconut banana & chocolate cake pudding)
11am - Soup (often with crackers & light laughing cow cheese)
1:30pm - Chocolate Mint Bar (my favorite!)
4pm -   Honey Mustard Pretzels
6:30pm -  (lean and green) - lean meat (or protein) & 3 veggie servings
                     (favs are  chicken or salmon with salad or roasted veggies)
9:30pm - Hot Chocolate.

I drink about 24 oz. water with each meal and chew gum often in between meals as well as nibble on my yummy knox blox.  I love to have my knox blox at the end of the day with my hot chocolate too.  Hubby loves the Medifast muffins I make as well as the Medifast brownies and the shakes.  On Sunday mornings, the hubs makes us both waffles from the Medifast pancake mix.  That is our special Sunday Morning Breakfast drizzled with Walden Farms sugar free/fat free/calorie free syrup! 

I also slipped on something new today.

Who is wearing size 12 jeans?  Yup, that would be ME!  (okay, they are stretchy somewhat but they fit and they are size 12).  Can you believe just 10 months ago I wore size 28/30?  I tell ya, no cookies or fudge can possibly taste as good as size 12 feels!! My final goal will be size 8.  I think that's where I'll be my most healthy, fit self.  And I will be there sometime next year... stay tuned.  Life is good!

Week 36... already??

These weeks are flying by. I am always thinking of what I want to blog and before you know it, a week has flown by. Last week I lost 2 pounds! And the hubs lost 1 pound. Woo Hoo... he finally dropped into ONEDERLAND with me!!!

I went to the Great Wolf Lodge last Thursday night with my kids. It is a big indoor water park hotel in Washington. We had these discount tickets for one night that we had booked over a month ago. I found a swim suit on eBay that was size 16, and it fit - maybe even a little bit big on me. (The last swim suit I had was a size 28.) My man could not get work off. I was so bummed!! But he did get off a little early Thursday night, and found a cheap car rental and zoomed up the 2 hours it took to join us! Then, the next morning he left at 5am to rush the 2 hours back to work. Is he awesome or what?

And I am SO glad he could be there for those few hours because it was so Amazing!! There wasn’t a ride, inner tube, pool, or water slide that we could not do!! I myself, haven’t been down a water slide (due to obesity and embarrassment) since I was a teenager. It was so fun!! My man carried me on his back around the wave pool, threw me around, rode with me on on the tubes... it was like we were teenagers. Having lost the weight that we have just opens up the whole world to us. I wonder, why aren’t all “skinny” couples just thriving on life and enjoying each other to the max?? I can not soon forget all the things I couldn’t do and how horrible I felt being bigger. Maybe one has to be obese to truly understand the freedom and joy of escaping it!! And I am still escaping as my BMI is still just over 31, although I started at 49.

I do have to say that it was hard at times to see all the food, pizza, fudge, ice cream, cookies, etc. for sale and everyone eating around me at the lodge. I indulged in a few moments of self-pity again before I got my mind off of it. I was well prepared with ALL our family’s food, though, so we bought no food there. My kids had beef hot dogs, salad, fruit, fiber one bars, and peanut butter cookies. The hubs and I had Morning Star sausages, veggie salad, and cottage cheese. And we worked up an appetite with all our running around! I also had plenty of my yummy knox blox to snack on, and Medifast crackers and laughing cow cheese wedges, as well as my Medifast puddings, bars, pretzels, shakes, and muffins. We were loaded with variety so that really helped not give in to all the junky food around.

Another positive thing this week was just last night. The hubs and I have been starting up our Mobile DJ business again - we used to DJ years ago, in fact, that’s how we met as teenagers when my brother recruited my man (at age 16) to be a DJ for us. We became best friends back then. Last night, pretty much right after getting back from Wolf Lodge, we loaded up and went and did our first [paid] dance together in several years. It was so fun - just like old times. I have to say, the man was looking pretty hot and I was feeling pretty lucky to be married to the DJ! We worked together like when we were younger - choosing the music, announcing, doing the lights. It was nice to get some compliments afterwards. I could really enjoy doing that with the hubs on weekends. I wish I had taken some pictures!! Something about getting the system going and doing that sound check and hearing the base really gets my adrenalin going. Brings back so many fun memories of all the dances we’ve done. You could relate it to the excitement you feel when you go to a concert and you’re waiting for it to begin, maybe some of you can relate. I love it!

Some Lean and Greens I made this last week are:

Teriyaki Chicken with peppers, zuchini and mushrooms. So quick to make too. I used Costco pre-cooked chicken with my favorite “Wok with me” teriyaki glaze, and sauteed the veggies and then mixed it all together. Yum.

I also made this Costco salmon (Wild salmon frozen with a mesquite marinade), with butternut squash. The squash I coated with a little mixture of olive oil, garlic powder, parsley, sea salt & pepper, & parmesean cheese and baked it for around 50 minutes. It was SO good... but I learned that it isn’t a veggie that is recommended for phase 1 - the plan I’m on right now. (Oops) But I will def. make this again when it is on plan!

My health goals are to keep working towards my goal weight, keep myself more active and come up with a CONSISTANT level of activity or exercise, and to drink a minimum of 100 oz of water each day.

Week 15 and still going!

We have reached week 15 on our Quest to Change our Lives! It's been bumpy at times but we're STILL GOING! This week I lost 2 pounds and my man stayed the same. I just realized that I am the weight I was when I became pregnant with my first child which was 18 years ago. I haven't been this "skinny" for 18 years! That is huge to me! But I'm still too big have a ways to go.

My man found a suit at the Goodwill in Lincoln City when we were out at the beach and it fit him perfectly. He hasn't worn a suit for over 20 years! He looks SO fabulous! The picture does not do him justice! My man is SO HOT!!

We have lost a few inches since we started!!

My man: Me:

Neck 2" lost 1" lost

Bust 5" lost 1" lost

Waist 7.5" lost 7.5" lost

Hips 7" lost 7" lost

Thigh 1.5" lost 4" lost

Knee 2" lost 2.5" lost

Arm 3" lost 2.5" lost

I made this shrimp and fried yellow squash dish this week and used some fat free tartar sauce as my condiment. I prefer tartar sauce over cocktail sauce but my coach has an easy recipe for cocktail sauce I haven't tried yet.

This was a yummy meal. I broiled salmon in my oven and basted it with that mango orange bbq sauce that I've shown in a previous post. Then with the fried yellow squash it was quite satisfying!

My coach gave me the newest Medifast recipe book a few days ago and I tried my first recipe from it: Spicy Garlic Lime Shrimp. I used a red pepper since I didn't have a green one, and I used the spaghetti tofu noodles instead of angel hair because that's all I could find. It was pretty good and my man ate it too. Next time I think I'll use fresh shrimp instead of pre-cooked frozen shrimp. The noodles tasted totally like regular noodles.

I'm excited for these changes in our lives and I also feel a lot of opposition at times. I know the adversary does not want us making positive changes - he wants to keep us down. And sometimes I succumb to old feelings and past heartaches that bring me so much pain. But I work so hard to put those things behind me. That is my biggest battle and I fight it every day! I realized from a lesson today in church that patience is directly tied to our faith. Being patient in my heartaches and trials is being grateful for what the Lord has given me and serving Him and my family while KNOWING that all these things will work towards our good.

My Mantra for this week: Seek to do His will and Trust in Him.

My Mini Everest

Week 14 marked our first vacation since starting our lifestyle change. I am down 2 pounds - 54 pounds total and my man is down 5 more pounds for a total of 60 pounds!

In Pacific City this last week, we stayed right next to "Cape Kiwanda", or actually there are 3 peaks called "Cape Mears", "Cape Look out", and "Cape Kiwanda". I don't know which one was the largest one but I assumed it was Kiwanda and so that is what I refer to. I had to attempt to climb it myself after my hubby and most of my kids did. So the 3rd day, which was the most sunny and beautiful, I set out to climb this beast of a sand mountain. Any of you who have climbed a sand mountain know that for every 5 steps you take going up hill, you only advance about 1 step because you just sink in that sand and slide down with every step. There is no work out machine at the gym to simulate this and it is VERY tiring.

Here is my video journey:

(If it doesn't play then reload the page and try again)

After leaving our vacation house and trekking up part way:

Facing the steepest incline:

Almost to the top:

Finally making it there:

Here I am posing with my man at the top. My legs felt like rubber! What a feeling of accomplishment! I tell you, 4 months ago I could NEVER have done this and I doubt I would have even tried. This really was like a mini Mount Everest climb for me!

Later on that day, we enjoyed the north side of the beach. We took our water and medifast bars with us. It is SO important to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours when on this plan. I can be feeling great and then when my body needs to eat and if I wait, I can get weak and feel yucky very fast. It is so important to eat BEFORE you get to feeling yucky. Then, after eating a quick medifast meal, I feel good and full of energy again. Here I am with my bar and water having my little meal while on the beach. It was a perfect day!

I made salmon again the last night at the beach and I tried this "paradise Pineapple Teriyaki" sauce that I found at the local store. I grilled it on my George Foreman and added a little sauce to my mushrooms and peppers when I stir fried them (in pam spray). It was quite delish!!

At the Coast

We are taking a family vacation for a few days for the first time in 3 years. So we got a cool vacation house on the Oregon Coast, Pacific City - right on Cape Kiwanda to be precise and it is GEORGOUS! Here we are out on the deck. We can see the Pacific on both sides of Cape Kiwanda.

Our shadow family... see how tall and skinny we are!

Hot tubbing after dinner. I've never sat in a hot tub overlooking the ocean... it was like a dream and to share it with my family was the best! I am not ready to show a picture of us in our swimsuits because we still look so huge... BUT when I came out of my room in my swim suit and my kids saw me (they haven't even seen me in a swim suit like ever!) they all were "ooohhhing" and "aaahhing" saying I looked so much "thinner". That made my day!! Still along way to go, though.

I've planned out all our meals. The first night I had tator-tot casserole (a family favorite) with corn on the cob and salad.... for the kids.

And this is what me and my hubby had. I grilled this salmon on my George Forman adding some s/p and dill weed, and then included some steamed asparagus. My man had his mainstay favorite - morningstar sausages and salad. It was all yummy.

Here is our lunch the second day... Chicken noodle soup and crackers. We ate while we overlooked the ocean. Kids had sandwiches, left over corn, pretzels and pudding cups.

Okay, here is our second nights meal. We had diet soda with our meal. My guy is not a chicken fan so he preferred his MS sausages to my Chicken. This is that Ranch Chicken Kabob that I made before and posted... I was craving it again. I made it on my George Foreman and tried not to over cook it. It was still yummy and tender but not as good as doing it on the grill. I made a TON but couldn't eat all of it. See how much is on that plate. I was so excited to eat it, but my eyes were bigger than my mouth. This was another chance to practice portion control.

Just last night we trekked out to the north beach of Cape Kiwanda where we had the whole beach to ourselves. We explored the rocks and incoming tide. There was this hang glider above us that we enjoyed watching... he was within a stones throw and he was amazing to watch. This is the view from our deck when we got back to our house.

We will have to come back here when we're at our goal weight. It made a huge difference to be somewhat lighter... but scaling those STEEP dunes still wore us out and we were pretty sore. Cape Kiwanda itself was 550 steps (according to my man). But it felt good and we both want to be more active and do more hiking and exploring.

Week 3!!!

Week 3 Results are in:

Me - down 4 pounds!! (for a total of 18 pounds so far)

My hubby - down 3 pounds!! (for a total of 16 pounds so far)

This week was truly a testing week as I flew out to Utah for 6 days to be with my sister and nieces for a baby shower. My husband got work off to run the household while I was gone.

I got some great tips for traveling from my coach:

* Always carry some extra bars in your purse.

* Double bag your medifast meal packets

in zip lock baggies and keep in your

backpack for quick access.

* Bring more food than you think you'll need.

* Be sure and eat every 3 hours

as hunger can be murder on your will power.

Here was the test: There was food everywhere! Yummy salads, taco soup with chips, rice krispy squares covered in chocolate, cute little cupcakes, chocolate dipped strawberries, cookies, brownies, and on and on.

Here I am even helping dip the strawberries in chocolate with my niece. It was fun!

What helped me NOT feel deprived or tempt myself to eat this food off my plan?

First, I kept my meals going, sometimes it was every two hours, and Second, I focussed on my family and visiting and NOT on the food. I laughed, I took a ton a pictures, I enjoyed visiting and I wasn't hungry because I was eating my meals and drinking lots of water. I even made my yummy little "Knox Blox" jell-o squares and had them in little baggies and if I needed a little inbetween snack, I'd suck on those yummy squares and it was all good. My nieces loved them too and we ended up making a bunch for the rest of the family. I will put the recipe for knox blox on the side bar of this blog. They are so low calorie and much firmer than Jell-o jigglers!

I am realizing that losing weight is really first a MENTAL and EMOTIONAL challenge. I could not do this if my mind wasn't ready. And I am finally truly SO ready to shed my weight. I feel so determined that I won't let temptations for other foods tempt me off my momentum and kick me out of my fat-burning ketosis! That would be a waste of 3 days not to mention the cost of 3 days of medifast food. It's NOT worth it. And I'm not so deprived. I still get my chocolate fix, brownies, shakes and my delicious lean and greens. And I get to FEEL so MUCH BETTER!!!

My 18 pound loss isn't too noticable outwardly yet... but, my brother did notice and asked if I'd lost weight!! So he could tell and he hasn't seen me in a long time.

Here is my second lean and Green meal while in Utah. Surprise...it's salmon!! My sister had some of this for me to have instead of the taco soup, chips and pasta salad that everyone else had. I sauteed by favorite again (peppers and mushrooms) and I was in heaven!

I am also realizing how much the Lord is helping me and wants me to have success. Honestly, it will take time even after I lose all this weight to feel like I measure up in my worth to others and myself. I have been heavy for so long and felt worthless compared to others who were more thin and fit. Only someone who is or was obese really knows the discrimination you feel and all the aches & pains you have 24/7. So much of it is unspoken and unknown. Sometimes if feels like others have an attitude of "If you don't like it, then just lose weight!" But I know my Heavenly Father has compassion on me and knows my struggles and wants me to feel His love and know my true worth! He sees beyond my size and He sees the real me, and I want to see that again too, and I know I will.

About drinking lots of water: I am having to go to the bathroom all the time because I'm drinking so much water. Seriously, it's almost too ridiculous! I went 3 times while at a friends house for dinner, 3 times while I shopped at Wal-mart, twice during the night, once on the plane, twice before the plane, etc. etc. BUT, I'm thinking that as my weight comes off, the pressure on my bladder will lesson and it will hold more (I've always had a weak bladder!). AND drinking lots of water HELPS with the weight loss. So, I may have to go potty a lot, but that's just another sacrifice to get this weight OFF!!!

First Week Losses

Well, we finished our first week on our new lifestyle (don't want to call it a diet) and I lost 9 pounds!! WOO HOO!! My honey lost 8 pounds. I think that's the first time I lost more than him! It was a little bit hard the first week because I felt hungry quite a bit. I am used to having larger portions and the medifast meals seem small to me but I am confident that my body will adjust. I know I am getting all the nutrients I need and I've been drinking LOTS of water. I can feel some differences already.

I'm excited to keep this going. I know I can do this. Cheating or eating things off this plan is NOT an option for me. I'm not punishing myself... I simply do not want to sabotage myself and so I'm choosing a better way for me right now. I still get my chocolate fix too!

Here is my favorite "Lean and Green" meal I've had this week.

This is 5 ounces of pre-cooked seasoned beef strips from Costo, with sauteed mushrooms (1/2 cup), green peppers (1/2 cup), and zucchini (1/2 cup). It is SO good and I feel very full after eating this since all my other medifast meals are much less food than this. I treat myself to crystal light to drink. I love my "Lean and Green" meals!

This was my Lean and Green meal tonight:

Left over wild salmon (5 ounces), with asparagus (1 cup), and a small tomatoe (1/2 cup). The measurements are sometimes my best guess. This was the first time I've cooked asparagus and I steamed it in a new microwave bowl. I need to learn how to cook it to perfection. I put a few squirts of a ranch vinaigrette spritzer on the veggies. I couldn't even finish this whole plate before I felt too full.

Tomorrow is the end of our second week and we'll see how much we've lost. :)