Using natural methods to restore health

Banana Ice Cream

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This treat is amazing, if you like bananas.  There’s only three ingredients and it only takes a few minutes…but it tastes so good.

Slice 4 ripe bananas onto a cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking sheet (or wax paper.)  Freeze until hard, about 3 hours.

Place 1/2 cup milk into a blender.  Add a few banana pieces at a time and blend into a puree.  Keep adding until all the bananas are used and you like the consistency. (Note:  I have a Vitamix blender and made the mistake of adding all the banana pieces at once.  It was really hard on my machine though we finally did get to the creamy ice cream texture.)

Variations:  Add 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter or peanut butter powder (PB2) to the milk.  2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder is also good.  Up to 1 cup of other fruits can be added like frozen strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mango etc.  The bananas are essential to the creaminess of the dish so the more bananas you have the better it will be.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

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Here’s my lunch today–and it was even tastier than it looks.  And talk about healthy!

Strawberry Spinach Salad–Serves 1

2 cups spinach leaves

4 oz sliced fresh strawberries

4 oz grilled chicken breast, sliced (I throw mine on the Foreman grill)

12 almonds, chopped, and toasted in the microwave on high for 1 minute

2 Tablespoons (1 oz) Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette Dressing

Layer all ingredients on a plate and eat right away.

A Yummy Green Smoothie

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Yes, I’m drinking my smoothie from a Cottage Cheese carton.  All of our glasses are too small to hold an entire smoothie, so this was my solution ;p.

I found this recipe via pinterest and traveled to the blog to read more–aak and now I can’t find it!  I’ll update with the link as soon as I can.

Her recipe was pretty good, but I made a slight change to help it be colder and thicker.

1 small banana, sliced and frozen

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon peanut butter

4 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup ice

Blend all until smooth.  Drink right away :).  This was the first green smoothie I had that I liked!  The banana and peanut butter covered the green taste really well. To save costs I bought my spinach in a huge bag from Costco.  It has 3 produce servings for the Fit Yummy Mummy Plan which really helps towards the 10 a day goal.

Italian Eggplant Bake Revised

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I’m thrilled that so many of my lovely readers are still here :).  Every time I get a comment from you it makes me smile and want to blog again.  I’ll have to admit that I enjoyed my break from the blog, even though sometimes I felt guilty about neglecting it.  I was enjoying my family so much that most of the time I didn’t even think about it.  I think I’m ready to start writing again, even if it’s just a few times a week.

Someone brought a huge box of eggplant to church last week.  We waited by the box until the crowd thinned so we could take 2 of them without feeling greedy :).  I looked up my recipe created this summer for Eggplant bake and cut the cheese in half and added a half cup of parmesan for flavor.  It was delicious and only had 300 calories a serving, which is a generous 1/8th of a 9 x 13 pan. 

2 eggplant (1 or 1.5 lbs each)

1 jar spaghetti sauce (26 oz)

2 lbs ground beef

2 cups mozarella cheese

1/2 cup parmesean cheese

1 tsp garlic salt

Place ground beef in a large skillet and sprinkle with garlic salt.  Cook meat until no longer pink, drain and rinse of excess fat.  Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Cook for a few minutes on each side in a hot skillet until lightly browned.  Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Place 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the dish.  Cover the sauce completely with eggplant slices.  Sprinkle with half the ground beef, half of the cheeses and half the remaining sauce.  Repeat the layers once more.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.  Let stand a few minutes before serving. 

We served ours with a huge spinach and romaine tossed salad, green beens, and peaches. If you aren’t watching you carbs, garlic bread would be perfect :).

I’m off to put the children in the tub.  It’s Saturday night, whether you need it or not…..

P.S.  I did not peel my eggplant.  I try not to peel anything if I can help it, because usually there are lots of vitamins in the peeling.  When I served the leftovers to my mother for lunch she looked shocked.  “You didn’t peel it!?”

“Oops, Was I supposed to?”

Mother:  “What did your recipe say?”

Me:  “Ooh, recipe, that would have been a good idea…”

Lunch back to Fit Yummy Mummy

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I’m trying to blog a photo again from my phone. Here’s my lunch to prove that the holidays are over and I’m no longer using moving as an excuse to not take good care of myself. I’m back on the program with Holly and the other Fit Yummy Mummies and already feeling better.

It’s all from Costco: Turkey burger cooked on a Foreman grill, steamed snap peas, baby peppers, fresh broccoli, and baby carrots, with a honey mustard dipping sauce.

Come with me for a visit!

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I’m guest posting over at Fit Yummy Mummy today.  Darren said, “Now you are officially famous.”  We both think Holly is awesome.  She gave me my groove back and Darren says I’m his Hottie on my way to Super Hottie :).  The topic today is how to eat healthy on a budget.  Yes, it is possible to eat the Fit Yummy Mummy way on a Grocery Shrink budget.  Pop over to find out how.

See you there :).

My Personal Fit Yummy Mummy Challenge Results

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I just posted this over at Club FYM and wanted to share my joy with my Grocery Shrink friends.  I wrote in an earlier post about how I discovered Fit Yummy Mummy and how it’s changed my life.  The last 12 weeks was the FYM Fall Transformation Challenge that I participated in.  As an exclusively breastfeeding mom, I doubted my ability to make quick changes in my appearance.  But I stuck to Holly’s basic program and lost an average of a pound a week.  I still have 20 lbs of excess fat to lose and a lot of muscle to build and should reach my final goals in March.  What I’ve experienced gives me hope that I will reach those goals if I keep living the FYM lifestyle.  Planning and Consistency is the Key to Where I Want to Be.

Here’s my final entry for the challenge:

FINAL STATS

Mom to six ages 11, 10, 8, 6, 4 and 6 months
Height 5’6”
Weight 157.6..145.4       -12.2 lbs
Size 12…8 -2 sizes
Bust 40…38         -2 inches
Waist 34…32.5       -1.5 inches
Mommy Belly 40.5….34.5    -6 inches!!!!!
Hip 40.5….38.5       -2 inches
Thigh 23 7/8…..22       -2 inches

Total 12.2 lbs and 13.5 inches lost   

Reflection:
I’m a different person than I was 12 weeks ago. Not just smaller, but stronger inside and out. Emotionally I dealt with being a 7 year veteran homeschooler and putting 2 of my kids in Christian school. The transition was heart wrenching but has been good for our family. We also had the stress of inviting a reality TV crew into our home for 2 days. That 2 days of filming required 4 weeks of prep—cleaning out the spaces that get little attention and no one ever sees. Holly’s program is so perfect, because it only requires 15 extra minutes a day. I can do that even amongst the stress.

The FTC took place over 6 birthdays in our family (including mine) and I learned how to remove sweets from my definition of celebration. Saturday night before the end of the challenge, my oldest daughter scored her first goal in soccer. My dad took us all out to IHOP to celebrate. I was really worried about it, but ordered the spinach omelette with fresh fruit and was able to enjoy the moment with everyone without sacrificing my goals. I had an aha moment:

No matter where I go, there is a positive choice in the options. And when I make that good choice, it FEELS better than anything sweet can taste.

I could enjoy watching the others eat mounds of whipped cream over fluffy white flour pancakes with 6 different syrup choices, and it was okay, because I am reaching for something that is bigger than the moment.

My youngest baby is 6 months old and this is the smallest I have ever been with a 6 month baby. Even though it is my 6th baby! Before FYM I had some thoughts whether it was ever possible to have a trim figure with 6 babies and 35 years old. It is possible!

I feel so strong. When I move, my back is straight and I can feel the muscles in my posture. My legs are strong and powerful. I can run the stairs in my home doing chores and not get winded. I’m so excited because I will only get stronger, yet I will weigh less. It’s like putting a huge engine in a little red sports car. I can MOVE!

Losing weight has always been a battle for me. I had childhood onset obesity and currently weigh 3 pounds less than I did when I was 12 years old. My daughter is almost 12 and when I shared that with her today as she helped me with my photos—her jaw dropped. I’m so thankful she has lived an active healthy childhood and not dealt with the emotions of childhood obesity. Genetics and my past don’t matter as much as my NOW habits. I can have a better body than I did when I was 12—even after 6 babies.

My goals this challenge:
1. To Lose 12 lbs—Met!!!
2. To be able to do real push-ups (I can do 6!)
3. To balance my posture so my shoulders are level—Yes!
4. Consistently Plan My Meals—I would go with spurts on this one. For several days in a row I’d plan it all out, and then for a few days I’d record what I would eat instead. While I prefer planning ahead, both methods worked well for me. I’ve been used to eating 6 small meals a day for several years so the biggest change was upping the produce and decreasing the bread.
5. Do my exercising first thing in the morning for a metabolism boost all day. I did great with this one until the early morning crazies got to me. If I didn’t get it done first thing in the morning, I did it before lunch. Still a huge improvement.

The biggest dare I took, was doing my exercises no matter what. Which meant sometimes I was the only mom jogging around the soccer field at 8am on a Saturday morning. I had to get past the fear that people would look at me and think I was weird.

About Fit Yummy Mummy

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P.S. (You can still enter the ebook giveaway at the post previous to this one.)

I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately asking for more information about Fit Yummy Mummy.  I don’t mind at all, but there’s so much to say that It’s worth writing a post about.  First, here’s my before and during pictures.  The picture farthest to the right was taken this Sunday.  I won’t reach my fitness goals until March, but every day is better than the day before.

I first found Holly, aka Fit Yummy Mummy, from a youtube video.  I might have been searching for smoothie recipes–I can’t remember.  Anyway, I was impressed, but skeptical.  I found her webiste and was taken back by how long her sales page was and when I tried to exit, a pop up came.  You know the “Wait, wait, don’t go” kind of popup.    Those types of things make me wonder how legitimate a business it is. 

I continued to haunt her on youtube and finally shot her a personal email. I just found out I was pregnant with baby #6 and was determined not to gain 50+ lbs again.  But I knew I needed help.  She gave me the standard answer.  Don’t diet while pregnant.  Eat healthy foods.  After the baby’s born we can talk about weight loss.  Grrr.

Fast foward.  Grant is born after  I gained 50lbs…again.  And I received an email from one of my subscribers that said she broke down and bought the FYM ebook after I mentioned it and LOVED IT!  Really?  I promised myself as soon as I sold enough products to pay for the book, I’d buy it.  It was right after I got home from Family Camp and had to find enough fat clothes to pack for the week.  It was frustrating and I didn’t like how I looked in our memory pictures.  Plus, I tired easily.  Dragging all that extra weight around was hard work.

Babies are worth it, but a lot of extra weight is no fun.

I couldn’t wait to download her book and once the purchase was made, I was shocked at how much stuff I got.  It was an ebook  of over 100 pages, plus exercise videos, plus a meal planning guide, plus a quick start guide, plus, plus, plus.  Her stuff made sense.  It is current on the research for the best ways to loose weight.  I could do it with grocery store food and basic home equipment like a stability ball and dumbbells.  I could use protein supplements if I wanted to, but I didn’t have to. She promised the exercises only took 15 minutes a day. I could do this.

The e-book package came with a one month free membership to clubFYM (after the first month there is a subscription fee that you can cancel at any time), where Holly posts her new workouts every month plus pops in to give advice and encouragement daily.  Even better it’s a place where I keep my personal journal, recording how I feel about the journey and write down my favorite meals, recipes and workouts.  It’s a place where I can connect with other women on the same journey and give and receive encouragement.

Without ClubFYM I would have given up long ago, like I always do.  Even though her program is the best, and I get more good food than anywhere else, losing weight and getting stronger is hard work.  Sometimes I don’t feel like making good choices.  And after so many bad choices in a row, I feel like giving up.  But the FYM girls understand this and encoruage me through it.  I can do this, and you can too.

I think my favorite part about club FYM are the challenges.  There are 4 (at least) a year and are free for club members to participate in.  If you are taking part in a contest you have short homework assignments 3 times a week to help stay on track. And you get lots more of Holly in the form of live video chats and teleconferences.  Here’s my motivation board which was one of my assignments from this challenge:

I whole heartedly endorse Fit Yummy Mummy.  I even tried to get my dad to join, lol.  If I love you a lot, I’ve mentioned it, because it has made my life better.  And I want you to have some of the happiness I’ve found.

Disclaimer:  Because I like FYM so much, I signed up as an affiliate.  I make a commission from the sales of her ebook (only if you purchase through the button on this page)  but not from the sales of the club FYM membership.  I would have written this post even if there were no affiliate program, but I wanted you to know.

Healthy Banana Cookies

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I found this recipe scrawled on a piece of scrap paper. It is gluten free (if you have certified GF oats) and has no added sugar other than that occuring naturally in bananas and dates. I can’t tell you if it’s good yet, but I’d like to try it. I can imagine that I will need to think about it as a healthy snack and not as a “cookie.” By the ingredient list, I can expect this to have a cake like texture without the crisp and chewy texture from traditional sugar and butter cookies.

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup dates or raisins
2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup oil (coconut oil would be lovely)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all and let sit for 15 minutes. Drop by spoonfulls on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

I would like to add nuts for a little protein, and then these would be the perfect after workout snack. The healthy carbs are great for muscle recovery. Also, I think a teaspoon of cinnamon would be nice here and help with blood sugar stabilization.

How Much Do You Want It?

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I was thinking this morning about how much I want to lose this pregnancy weight.

 I want it so badly that I can bake a huge batch of cookies and not taste one. 

 I can make lasagna for the family and eat grilled chicken over romaine. 

I can bake chocolate strawberry shortcake and only eat strawberries. 

I haven’t always wanted it that  badly.    We’ve all had the uncomfortable situation of hearing a friend or family member say how much they want to lose weight and then watch them eat things that will prevent that goal.  Should we say something?  NO!  They already know it…they just don’t want it bad enough.

The key to will power is a healthy level of disgust.  The #1 enemy to will power is denial.  To be fully committed to change we have to look reality square in the face, acknowledge how gross it is, identify the behaviors that created the situation and plan new ones to take their place.   

What turned the corner for my fitness committment was my before pictures.  I had no idea I looked like that.  Really?  Pictures don’t lie.  What turned our corner in the financial world was writing down all our debts and how long it would take to pay them off if we continued the way we were living.  We looked at our dreams and which ones were attainable with the payments we were holding.  It’s the same method that will get my house perpetually clean, and my children better behaved.  It’s simple, when you think about it.  If only it were easy.