Green Tea: AMAZING Prices on Amazon!

   

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Green Tea

Speaking of natural energywhen I was researching for my post this morning on green tea and other sources of natural energy, I found that Amazon has ah.mayz.ing prices on green tea!

Green Tea

Boxes of 40 bags of green tea average $4-$5 each at big box stores like Target and Walmart and organic green tea is around $6-$7 per box. So, when I found these prices I was way excited! Here are a few that I think are great:

Organic Green Tea:

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Green Tea

Newman’s Own Organic Green Tea, 100 bag, pack of 5 — $28.21 with Subscribe & Save. (Subscribe & save is a feature that saves up to 20% and gets you free shipping! If you don’t want them to send it to you monthly, just cancel your subscription after the order ships.) The final price on these comes to $5.64 per 100 count box or just $.06 per tea bag! $5.64 is a typical price for the 40 count boxes at regular stores.

Non-Organic Green Tea

 51QN5JQ5EVL. SL500 AA300 PIbundle 6TopRight00 AA300 SH20  Green Tea: AMAZING Prices on Amazon!

Bigelow Green Tea, 40 bags, pack of 6 — $17.76 with subscribe & save and free shipping!  That comes to $2.96 per box or $.07 per bag! Again, less than you’d pay at regular stores and with free shipping!

Green Tea

Natural Energy: What I’ve Found that Works for Me

   

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Natural Energy

I started a new workout routine this past week. My 15 year old brother has a semester long health class assignment to work out 5 days a week and keep a log of what he does.

 

So, he asked if I would go with him to the local gym Monday through Friday. We talked about our schedules and tried to figure out what worked for both of us. It turned out that the only time we could both go would be before he had to be at school in the morning.

 

And, so, I’ve been waking up at 5:30, picking him up and hitting the gym by 6:15. Yikes. I am not much of a morning person. And it has been really surprising to me just how little energy I have after working out. It is a constant conversation with myself to talk myself out of going back to bed.

Natural Energy

2011 08 23 19 52 55 0192 255x300 Natural Energy: What Ive Found that Works for Me

So, I began looking for ways to natural energy boosts to help me make it until my body catches up with my new schedule. Here are some things that I’ve tried and what I think about them:

Natural Energy

1. Green Tea: HANDS DOWN my favorite! Green tea for energy is a great way to start the morning! Not to mention that it is a powerhouse antioxidant and boosts your metabolism.

p325142 a Natural Energy: What Ive Found that Works for Me

2. Eating Breakfast: This is a big one! If you are trying to lose you NEED TO BE EATING BREAKFAST! If you don’t eat breakfast your body say, “Okay…I’m not getting fed today. I’ll just hold on to this fat so I can use it and not starve.” Basically. When I get home from working out I am so drowsy – and then eating a high protein, low carb breakfast gives me a great boost!

3. Stretching: When you stretch your body you are forcing oxygen into your muscles and spinal cord and body and oxygen = energy!!

4. On that note…Breathing: When I’m sitting at my computer in the morning dozing off, I’ll get up, and take a few deep breaths. The extra oxygen is really rejuvenating.

5. Sleep: This is a bit of a no brainer, but sometimes the most difficult. I cannot function on less than 7 hours a night and 8 is ideal. If I stay up too late and skimp on those hours, my mornings are torture. Get lots of sleep! (I know there are probably some moms laughing hysterically right now…I get it. If you can’t get your full 7 or 8 at night, take little power naps during the day.)

 

Those are the things that I have found over the last few weeks of a crazy early schedule that help me to stay energized during the day (somewhat). I’d LOVE to hear suggestions on what works for you!

Natural Energy

Motivational Quotes: If by Rudyard Kipling

   

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Motivation Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Confession – I LOVE cheesy mushy feel good stuff. I often scour Pinterest looking for motivational quotes or music lyrics to keep me going or perk ,me up! It’s an addiction, really.

But in my defense, words of affirmation and motivational quotes are excellent ways to attract good things into your life. I like leaving post-it notes on my mirror or changing my phone background to say something encouraging.

Combine that with my love for fonts and color and what better way to combine those two loves AND show our readers some love than to create printable art with motivational quotes.

For now, it will be a daily feature. You can add our site to your morning routine – brush your teeth, get dressed, check the weather, check your horoscope, get some motivation over on LILV.

So Hold On SAMPLE2 300x216 Motivational Quotes: If by Rudyard Kipling

Motivational Quotes

Today’s motivational quote comes from my FAVORITE poem of all time - If by Rudyard Kipling. I memorized it for an assignment in the 7th grade and still can recite it to this day. I can’t always remember my wedding anniversary, but I can recite this 7th grade memory…it’s THAT good! My favorite stanza of that poem says,

“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
to serve your turn long after they are gone.
And so hold on when there is nothing in you,
Except the will which says to them, ‘Hold on.’”

Beautiful, right? For the next week, you can head over to our Facebook page, become a fan and click on the Fan Freebies tab to print this art for free! It is an 8 1/2 x 11 print that can be trimmed and stuck in an 8×10 frame. Check back each morning around 10 to get that day’s quote and art!

Motivational Quotes

Weight Watcher’s Recipe – Potato and Kale Frittata

   

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Potato and Kale Frittata

Weight Watcher’s Recipe

Oh.em.gee! I wish I could put smells in this post! I decided to cook something yummy for lunch (as opposed to my usual sandwich routine). I was scouring my fridge and had a few veggies that were on the verge.

 

One of my favorite ways to use up left over vegetables is in a quiche or frittata! They make for excellent Weight Watcher’s recipes. And cooked eggs freeze great, so they are also great for freezer meals! The lower calorie option is the frittata which is essentially a quiche without the crust. These are a great way to use up the left over tomato or onion slices from burger night, that half an onion you didn’t need for last night’s salad or whatever other bits and pieces of produce you have laying around.

Weight Watcher’s Recipe

Potato and Kale Frittata 233x300 Weight Watchers Recipe   Potato and Kale FrittataI started by chopping all of my veggies that I decided to use and putting them in a bowl. Let’s take a moment to ooh and ahh over this bowl of beautiful nutritious color.

Mother Nature knows her stuff, am I right?! Then I sauteed the vegetables, saving the kale until last to wilt right before I moved it to the pie dish to put in the oven. I topped the sauteed veggies with the egg and cheese mixture and baked it until the eggs were done.

Delicious does not even begin to describe this dish! And at less than 160 calories for a FOURTH of the pie dish…I think fritattas may become a lunch time regular around here.

 

As with all of my recipes, substitute substitute substitute! This isn’t an exact science. You could do spinach instead of kale, zucchini instead of potatoes, parsley in addition to thyme. Whatever floats your boat. I personally LOVE thyme with egg dishes, but my sister doesn’t care for thyme at all. So, change it to meet your personal tastes. And here’s a bit of nutritional info for you:

 

Calories = 158 ** Fat = 6.9 ** Sodium= 152.2 (not including any added salt) ** Carbs = 15.8 ** Fiber = 3.1 ** Protein = 11.3 ** Weight Watcher’s Points = 4.4 ** Weight Watcher’s Points Plus = 4.1

Like I said, what a great Weight Watcher’s recipe!

Freezer Meal Directions: Cover the pie dish with aluminum foil before adding the ingredients. Spray the foil with cooking spray. Prepare the frittata as directed – cooking and all. After it has cooled, take out using the aluminum foil and wrap in more foil. Place in a gallon freezer bag and freeze. When ready to use, thaw overnight and reheat in oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Potato and Kale Frittata2 236x300 Weight Watchers Recipe   Potato and Kale Frittata

Potato and Kale Frittata

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4

Serving Size: 1/4

Calories per serving: 158

Fat per serving: 6.9

Ingredients

  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cups chopped potatoes
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 2 cups kale, stems removed and chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1/2 T olive oil
  • 2 t garlic powder
  • 1 t dried thyme
  • 1/2 t red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Saute' chopped onions, potatoes and peppers and spices over medium high for 15-20 minutes or until onions are opaque and potatoes are fork tender. Add kale and saute' for 10-15 minutes or until kale begins to wilt.
  2. Transfer sauteed veggies into pie dish coated with cooking spray. Beat together eggs, egg whites and 1 tablespoon of water. Add shredded cheese and stir. Pour egg and cheese mixture over vegetables. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until eggs are cooked.
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Weight Watcher’s Recipe

100 Calorie Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew

   

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100 Calorie Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew

100 Calorie Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew

My mom brought over a few boxes full of canned goods recently and I really needed to make some space in our pantry. I also needed to stick to my low calorie goal for the month, so what’s a girl to do?

 

I simply combined several different vegetable varieties into my slow cooker and voila! It was truly delicious, really easy and when I calculated the calories — holy guilt free!!

 

100 Calorie Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew

100 Calorie Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew 240x300 100 Calorie Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew

 

For dinner on Sunday I had two servings of this stew with a 100 calorie wheat bagel thin and a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese for a total of 325 calories! And felt full and satisfied afterward!

 

For those Weight Watcher’s people out there, this only has 2.7 points per serving! And for the people looking for fiber — a whopping 5.7 grams per serving! In other words, it’s really nutritious AND delicious!

 

100 Calorie Slow Cooker Veggetable Stew

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes

Yield: about 9 servings

Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories per serving: 110

Fat per serving: .8

Ingredients

  • 3 cans diced tomatoes
  • 2 cans whole kernal corn
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • 2 cans cut green beans
  • 1/2 lb. baby carrots
  • 1 T parsley
  • 1 T minced garlic
  • 3 T dried onion flakes
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients into slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. My baby carrots were kinda large, so I cut them into bite sized pieces before adding them.
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100 Calorie Slow Cooker Vegetable Stew

Finding Balance

   

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Finding Balance

Finding Balance

I am avoiding my weekly weigh-in today. I really sucked it up last week! You may have noticed my lack of posts throughout the week. Monday started off fairly well with a weigh-in and good health choices. I maintained my calorie goals and got ready to go to the gym.

Then my friend called and asked if I’d like to make a bit of money helping her clean her aunt’s rental home. I jumped on the opportunity, and thought doing some deep cleaning would be a good gym replacement.

The next day I decided to start organizing and deep cleaning my house. I worked on our home all day and would go help my friend at her aunt’s at night. That was how most of my week went. And somewhere in between all of that my diet and exercise was lost.

I have found that I have a really hard time finding balance. Not just when it comes to weight loss, but in most areas of my life. If I’m hitting the gym daily and eating great, chances are my house is a cluttered mess. If I’m spending lots of quality time with my family, chances are I’m not making conscious food choices. If one part of my life is really organized and together, the other parts are most likely getting ignored.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who struggles with this! So, how do I find balance? How do I keep all the plates spinning when I’m putting greater focus on one specific plate.

Finding Balance

Kim and Bob Harper 300x225 Finding Balance

I envy the Biggest Loser weight loss approach. To me their biggest asset isn’t necessarily Bob Harper or an on-site nutritionist, although having those resources would be heaven.  They are able to set aside all of their other responsibilities and just focus on losing weight. That would be amazing! (That photo is of  me and Bob at the Vegas airport. He was sitting at our terminal a year ago and we met him and talked with him and got a photo! How fun!)

But I’m not at The Biggest Loser ranch. I don’t have Bob Harper at my side (I wish – what a cutie!!). And I do have a two year old who needs lots of my attention, a house that I’d prefer to not look like a pig sty, a husband who deserves a bit of my TLC, lots of siblings who I enjoy being around, a blog to write, another blog to write, bills to pay, meals to cook and on and on and on. And somewhere in the middle of all of that I have to do things for me! I have to make time for the gym and to not eat on the go so that I’m making conscious and accountable food choices.

It is all so exhausting! I don’t have any answers at this point in my journey of how to do it. This is where I turn to y’all — my readers, family and friends. I am open to suggestions and advice. How do you find balance? How do you make time for yourself when there are a million other things/people screaming for your attention? How do you focus on one part of your life and not lose sight of the others?

Finding Balance

Weight Loss Results – Kim Week 1

   

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Weight Loss Results

Weight Loss Results

Week one went pretty well…until I got to the weekend. I worked out twice a day Monday through Thursday and once a day on Friday. Didn’t make it at all on Saturday or Sunday. And my nutrition went to crap on Saturday and Sunday.

Here’s how it went down. Troy and Zeke went on a camp out Friday around six. I had made a pot of low calorie vegetable stew and was prepared to have a light dinner and hit the gym. Until…I took a ride with my sister to run some errands and she asked if I felt like sushi for dinner. I have a serious weak spot for sushi. And I thought to myself, “You’ve done really great this week! Reward yourself! Have some sushi!”

This saying comes to mind that I saw on Pinterest:

You are not a dog 300x205 Weight Loss Results   Kim Week 1

Source: healthful.tumblr.com

So true! I totally reward myself with food! I need to come up with alternatives! As far as Saturday and Sunday went, I did okay, but could have done better. I had little cheats both days – a slice of pizza on Saturday and a burger from McDonald’s on Sunday. And those “little cheats” cost me around 500 calories each! In spite of my small slip ups, my results were fantastic!

Here are my measurements from this morning:

Week 1 Weight: 272 pounds
Week 1 Measurements:
Arms (left just below arm pit) –  16.5″
Bust – 45″
Hips (just below naval) – 57″
Waist (just above naval) – 43.5″
Thighs – 32.5″

And here is where I started:

My starting weight is – 278 pounds
My starting measurements are:
Arms (left just below arm pit) –  18″
Bust – 46.5″
Hips (just below naval) – 58.5″
Waist (just above naval) – 44″
Thighs – 33.5″

Weight Loss Results

Woohoo!! So I have lost a total of 6 inches AND 6 pounds! Even with my little weekend backslide, I exceeded my weight loss goal by two pounds! I’d love to lose 15 pounds this month, but secretly the goal in my head is to lose 20, so I’m tracking for that, which is really exciting!

Imagine what I can possibly do this week if I don’t reward myself with food this weekend. I’d love to lose another six pounds! That would put me at 266 and only 4 pounds away from my post pregnancy weight two years ago.

How did you do this week? What are some suggestions for rewarding weight loss without sabotaging your progress?

Weight Loss Results

Low Calorie Roasted Red Potatoes Recipe

   

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Low Calorie Roasted Red Potatoes Recipe

Low Calorie Roasted Red Potatoes

Roasted Red Potatoes 261x300 Low Calorie Roasted Red Potatoes Recipe

Tonight’s dinner was AH.MAY.ZING! My favorite part was this side dish. I saw this on Pinterest months ago and kept telling myself I needed to try it. The recipe that I originally pinned is from For the Love of Cooking. I took the olive oil down a bit and didn’t include the sour cream. They are so yummy!!

I prefer to use fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. Next time I think I’ll try them with with a bit of thyme or other dried herbs. Also, the picture is of a one cup serving, which is obviously double the calories. I had the extra calories in my budget today, so I went for a carb fest! You could also replace the sour cream with low fat Greek yogurt which would be delicious as well! According to my calculations, for a 1/2 cup serving these are a mere 130 calories and only 2.5 grams of fat! And for those Weight Watcher’s peeps – 3.5 points plus!

Roasted Red Potatoes

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Calories per serving: 130

Fat per serving: 2.5

Ingredients

  • 1 - 1 lb. bag baby red potatoes
  • 3 t. olive oil
  • black pepper
  • salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash the potatoes and boil for 10-15 minutes. Let them cool enough to handle and cut them in half. Place on a sprayed cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Change oven to high broil and broil for 5-10 minutes or until browned around edges.
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Low Calorie Roasted Red Potatoes

Have you modified a recipe lately to be lower in calories or better for you? I am loving getting creative in the kitchen lately. I saw another Pinterest recipe recently for lower calorie no bake cookies…be.still.my.heart! I’ll be trying those on Saturday! (P.S. We’d love to have you follow us on Pinterest – and better yet, if you like this recipe PIN IT! Share the love…)

Check out the rest of LILV’s recipes! Oh, and did you see this sweet coupon? Only $2 for a Jamba Juice! I think I’ll make that my low cal treat tomorrow. My favorite way to save calories is by saving money! Click the photo below to print your coupon.

Low Calorie Roasted Red Potatoes

jambajuice 300x250 Low Calorie Roasted Red Potatoes Recipe

Kim’s Mid Week Checkup – Week 1

   

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Weight Loss Progress

Weight Loss Progress

It’s nearly noon on Thursday, which means I am halfway into my first week. I’ve done really well so far, I think. This for me is all about a lifestyle change. I’ve done the fad diets thing. Making extreme changes for a few weeks at a time. It doesn’t work! I don’t think it ever will for me. This has to be all about making sustainable health choices that will have long term effects.

That having been said, I noticed myself yesterday going into beat up mode because I hadn’t gotten to the gym. I had too much to do yesterday evening and had missed my window in the afternoon. Around seven last night we were finishing dinner and Troy asked if I’d like to go for a walk with him and Zeke to the park. My first thought was, I can’t spend the time doing that – I’ve got to go to the gym!

And then I chuckled a bit at myself as I realized how ridiculous that thought was. Here’s a bit of information about me – I am a control freak! When I make a plan I decide beforehand exactly what it is going to look like. My plans to get healthy are no different. I decided this week I needed to workout no less than once a day. I decided working out looked like going to a gym or doing a Tae Bo DVD at home.

Weight Loss Progress

Zeke at park 300x300 Kims Mid Week Checkup   Week 1For a moment, I nearly missed out on a workout that included spending time with my family because it didn’t fit into my box. My husband and son were at the end of the block by the time I changed my mind and got my running shoes on. It turns out that the park is half a mile from our house, which means round trip I walked a mile. Plus all of the climbing and playing that I did at the park with my two year old. Using a couple calorie calculators online I estimate I burned around 400 calories!

So far this week I’ve stayed within my 1,200 calorie food goal and have worked out every day – even though yesterday wasn’t a gym routine. How have you done this week? Do you have control issues like me?

Just in case you missed the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done – check out my starting post from Monday! And if you’re wondering my goals for the month, you can read about that on this post.

Weight Loss Progress

Making Workouts Fun – Catharsis

   

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Making Workouts Fun

Making Workouts Fun

I’m going to start a few posts on how I am making my workouts fun, or at least not total torture. Today’s post is about letting workouts be a bit of a cathartic experience. So, let’s first define cathartic. According to Google, Cathartic means “Providing psychological relief through the expression of strong emotions.”

I firmly believe that my 100 pounds of walls around me have been built up in a misguided way of protecting me from my painful experiences. Those layers in some way shielded me when I hid under my blanket as a child when my parents fought, they protected me from my feelings of worthlessness as I discovered my ex-husband’s infidelity, they protect me as I recover physically and emotionally from my near fatal car accident.

Peeling off those layers of protection is proving to be a scary yet liberating ride! All day today I’ve had feelings of insecurity and humiliation as I’ve thought of people reading my starting weight post and seeing those beginning photos. I’ve been literally nauseous as I’ve experienced more vulnerability than I’ve ever dreamed of. It has been terrifying emotionally!

Making Workouts Fun

photo 30 e1335897982476 225x300 Making Workouts Fun   CatharsisThis morning I brought that body along with all of that vulnerability to the gym. I met my best friend, Michelle, there to do a cardio kickboxing class together. I haven’t been to a group fitness class in years! But I thought, since I’m being all kinds of brave today emotionally, I may as well go all in and do something that is physically terrifying – try to keep up with a bunch of hot skinny girls in a group setting.

The workout was INTENSE to say the least! I was huffing and puffing through the whole thing, had to take a few more breaks than everyone else, and literally thought for a moment that I may die. But I did it. I finished. At the end of the workout, the instructor dimmed the lights and played the song “Perfect” by Pink for the cool down. As I was getting my heart to slow down I listened to the words of the song and fought back tears. My body was shaking from the workout, my emotions were raw from my starting post, and those words rang truer to me than they ever have before:

“Made a wrong turn, Once or twice
Dug my way out, Blood and fire
Bad decisions, That’s alright
Welcome to my silly life

You’re so mean,
When you talk, About yourself, You are wrong.
Change the voices, In your head
Make them like you Instead.

So complicated,
Look happy, You’ll make it!
Filled with so much hatred
Such a tired game.
It’s enough, I’ve done all I can think of
Chased down all my demons, I’ve seen you do the same.

Oh, Pretty, pretty please
Don’t you ever, ever feel
Like your less than, less than perfect.
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like your nothing
You are perfect to me.”

Making working out a cathartic experience is one of my favorite ways to make working out enjoyable. As I literally fight through my misperceptions of what my body can do I am able to get over those beliefs that are holding me back. Weight loss for me is about 80% psychological and 20% physiological. There are lots of demons that I get to face in this process. Just focusing on the physical part isn’t going to be enough. I have to address the reasons I got here to start with. Head on. “Blood and fire.”

If you’d like to add Perfect by Pink to your workout playlist, you can download it on Amazon for a little over a buck! And a bonus, if you buy it through this post, it’ll help support our website. 

Making Workouts Fun

pixel Making Workouts Fun   Catharsis
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