Erin's Super yummy Quinoa salad!

As I've said before, I'm not following some strict diet, I'm making lifestyle changes.  I've looked at my eating habits and am trying to make better, healthier choices.  One of the major things I found is that I wasn't getting enough protein in at each meal.  That is probably one of the biggest changes I've made.  The only problem with upping your protein is that it can make you be a little...shall we say....backed up.  So to counteract that I've obviously had to make sure I'm getting enough fiber.  Hehehe!!!  {I really am a 12 year old stuck in a 29 year old body...I'm soooo mature!}  Anywho, this salad is great for having tons of protein and being packed full of fiber too!  Plus, I've totally been craving it lately, BONUS!  It's fresh, filling and really yummy.  Here are the ingredients:

Quinoa - 2 cups dry

Chicken Broth, 99% fat free - 14 oz can

Black beans - 14 oz can

Mango - 1 cup-ish, 2 mangos

Cilantro - 1/2 cup

Green Onion - 6 medium

Dressing: 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 3 Tbsp

Fresh Lime Juice - 2 Tbsp

Red wine vinegar - 4 Tbsp

Directions:  First cook the quinoa.  Follow the directions on the package.  I cook mine in the chicken broth and make up the difference with water.  While that is cooking, cut up all the other ingredients.  I like small chunks of the veggies, and bigger chunks of mango.  Mix the ingredients for the dressing together, and once the quinoa has cooled, mix it all together. Then just salt and pepper to taste.  So yummy!  It takes about 30 minutes to make this salad and I break it down into 4 large servings.

Broken down into 4 large servings it has 562 calories, 17 grams of fat, 19 grams of protein, & 15 grams of fiber.

 To drink I made lemon water {out of bottled lemon juice} with some mint sprigs.  It's pretty refreshing, but not on my list of favorite drinks.  Today I added fresh lemon juice {much better flavor than the bottled stuff} to a single packet of fruit punch crystal light & 32 oz of water and it made it taste a lot better.  I am trying lemon juice to see if it will help me flush out some water weight I am holding on to, we will see!

Isn't that a pretty lunch?  Shanna and I thought so!

Yes I am Competitive!

I am competitive. Very Competitive. Lets just say that I am not very happy that Erin is losing so fast, and I am on the slow track. I am trying out different calorie amounts and trying to figure out what will make me lose faster. I was doing around 1300-1400 calories and losing very slow. My sisters told me to up my calories to 1900. I am trying that for a couple of weeks to see if that helps. Meanwhile, Erin is doing awesome, and it is making me CRAZY!!!  In all seriousness though, I am happy that Erin and I are on this journey together, and that we CAN have a little friendly competition and laugh about it! I know that in the long run, my body will respond and the weight will start falling off. In the mean time, I need to have patience. I really am super proud of Erin too! Way to go!!! Now then...anyone want to play a game that I can win at??!

What does success look like?

Seriously so true!  I've made the decision to get healthy and I am making big changes...not dieting, changing my habits; not occasionally exercising, doing it daily...but I still can get so frustrated when I'm not making steady progress.  This was a good reminder that success will come, after plateaus and back sliding...but I'm in it for the long haul, so I have to be able to see the big picture!  What do you like to do to refocus your efforts???  I like to do an extra long workout...that tends to solve my munching problems because I really hate to workout hard, then blow all my efforts on food.


I am pretty proud of myself today...I went 10 miles on the treadmill and bike.  Kicking off the week with a bang.  Feeling good!!!

Huge milestone

Alright, I am super excited because I hit my 20 pound mark today!!!  I was getting pretty frustrated because I was working out hard, and eating a lot better and not eating at night at all and I just wasn't seeing the results I wanted.  I have been feeling so much better, and I can see a difference in my body, but still not showing on the scales.  That's when I knew I had to track my food better.  Stupid food!  I hate that I have to write down everything I put into my mouth, but apparently that's the only way this is going to work for me.  So anywho, today is a big day....20 pounds down.

Here's my list of 20 things that weigh 20 pounds:


1. A puppy
2. A 1 year old 
3. KitchenAid Mixer
4. Car Tire
5. Medium sized bag of dog food
6. Two bags of sugar
7. My purse packed full of everything for my kiddos
8. 2 gallons of milk
9. 80 sticks of butter  {Seriously gross!!!}
10. 4 large Rainbow Trout
11. A big bag of ice
12. A propane tank
13. Karaoke machine
14. Thanksgiving turkey
15. Dining chair
16. A pug dog
17. 2 medium bowling balls

18. 2 cats or one really large one!
19. A Racoon
20. All the fat I just lost!!!


That's pretty gross and awesome all in one!  So here's to being 20 pounds lighter and being diligent about writing all my stupid food down!!!

Winner, Winner!!!

The winners of Our First Giveaway are....Drumroll....

Darci and Alissa!!!

          Thanks for joining us on our journey!!! Email us your addresses and we will get you your jamba juice gift cards asap! mrserinjohnson@gmail.com

Epiphany!

DON"T FORGET TO ENTER OUR DRAWING FOR A JAMBA JUICE GIFT CARD (WE WILL HAVE TWO WINNERS)!  IT ENDS TODAY!!!

I think I've had a major breakthrough today.  This morning I decided I wanted to try writing down what I was going to eat and what exercise I was going to do at the gym instead of writing stuff down after I'd exercised and eaten throughout the day.  So I got on My fitness pal and logged it all in.  Then I had breakfast, then went to the gym.  It's amazing how much easier it was to meet my goal when I knew that if I didn't I'd have to delete those sit ups I'd already said I'd do!  The same went for eating.  After running errands I didn't have to hem and haw over what I was going to eat, I already knew.  I realize that some of you probably think I'm dumb that I'm just now figuring this out...but I am not a plan meals in advance kind of girl.  I don't make super detailed meal plans for the week for my family, or like to be tied down to something to eat on Monday, when on Friday it may not sound good anymore.  But I can definitely start my day off with a little list of things to eat and what exercise I'm going to get done for the day.    CHALLENGE:  If you don't already do this, give it a try and see if it helps you at all.  Don't beat yourself up if you stray from the plan during the day, but make sure you change your list so you stay accountable!

Protein baby!

Holy moley...I just got back from a four day camping trip, and my system is feeling a little draggy.  I don't know about you, but when I'm not in my usual routine it's a lot harder to stay on track.  I wanted to go on vacation and not have to be worried about what to eat though, so I packed lots of healthy snacks (watermelon, celery with cottage cheese, ranch, and buffalo sauce dip, cucumbers, beef jerky...etc.), but those yummy treats, (homemade chex mix, candy, s'mores, etc...) still called to me.   So, in kick starting my week I am loading up on the protein.  This is a super easy way that gets me eating better fast.  It fills me up and makes me way less snacky during the day and most of all at night (that's my worst time of day for being munchy.)  Dr. Oz says to have 25 g of protein 3 times a day.  The easiest way for me to do that is to have a protein drink.  I just buy it in bulk at costco, it's called Cyto Sport 100% Whey protein.  Just mixing it with water tastes pretty good and is super easy.  I also made a zucchini and mozzarella cheese omelet.  So yummy, healthy and filling.  What are some of your go to meals to help you get back on track? 

Also, don't forget to enter our drawing.  It ends tomorrow!!!

Our 1st Before Pictures and a GIVEAWAY!!!

The Before Pictures!!! We should have done them a month ago, but better late than never! After you see our pics, hop on over to My Fitness Pal, and add us as friends: mrserinjohnson and shanse. If you aren't already a member of this website, it's a free site that's a lot like the Weight Watchers.  You can keep track all of your eating with their huge database of food, also your exercising can be tracked.  It's awesome!  After you do that, comment over here for your chance to win a gift card to Jamba Juice! We are giving away 2 of them.  Enter our giveaway by Tuesday, August 13, at 5:00 pm.  We will announce our winners on Wednesday!

Shanna:
     This is definitely not fun seeing pictures of myself this way. It is what it is though, and I am determined to lose the belly(which sadly is NOT a leftover from having my twins!)and become toned and have MORE energy!!!

Erin:
    Wow, if you want some good motivation, take photos of yourself from each angle and decide if there's anything you want to work on.  My goal is to lose weight in general, and work on my leftover rolls from my twins.

Fruit Kabobs

I am not the best fruit eater. Lots of veggies, not much fruit. I made these babies for a BBQ tonight. Delish and a hit! Of course I will eat them when they look so good! I used strawberries, mango, kiwi, pineapple and grapes. I see lots more fruit kabobs in my future! p.s. You can tell I am no professional photographer. Maybe I will work on that. :)

Short term Goals, and Long term goals, and REALLY Long term goals

Ok, so my birthday is in exactly 1 month(don't worry, I will LOVE whatever you get for me. It's the thought that counts)I want to give myself something really awesome. Maybe 50 lbs lost, or down to a size 6 or run a marathon, or...wait... those are not realistic goals?! I have this problem. I am not a patient person, at all. I am sure you can relate. I think we all want what we want now. I am learning that it is VERY IMPORTANT to set small goals for the short term, but have our eyes set on bigger, long term goals. And then the lifetime, long term goals. I tend to want to set long term, hard to reach goals, and then I get frustrated when it doesn't happen in just a couple of months. So, I am making a goal of making a goal. And then, I will make more goals to make more goals. :) You get the drift. So I am going to open up and give to you, since you are so curious, a short term(aka my birthday goal)a long term, and a really long term goal. 1. Short term(September 1, 2013) Lose 14 pounds. I have lost 11 pounds since July 1st and I have just tweaked a few things in my eating so I think 14 is doable. I want to be down 25 by my birthday! 2. Long term and 3. Really long term are going to wait. I have to start with small goals. Now then. What are some of your short term goals?