One month down...

So today is officially one month down of dieting and my grand total lost this month is 21.5 pounds.
I can definitly tell that I'm getting more in shape in terms of endurance during my elliptical work outs and I feel less "swollen" if that makes sense. 
After having my gall bladder removed I felt nauseated nearly every time I ate no matter what it was.  I have to say though that since I've been dieting I haven't had one bout of nausea and my skin looks amazing (not bragging here just stateing a noticable change).
I've gotten some questions about what I'm eating so I thought I'd address that here:
       So when I say no sugar, I just mean nothing made with added sugar like candy, cookies, drinks,etc.  I am still eating fruit which has natural sugars of course, but even then I use my Tap and Track app on the iphone 4 and make sure that I'm not eating too many calories from fruit.  I LOVE watermelon this time of year and I typically eat it with baked chicken as a "dessert" or as a snack in the afternoon.  2 cups of diced watermelon are 80 calories just FYI.  On the other hand 2 cups of apple slices are 113 calories!  So again knowledge is power in terms of planning your meals.  Especially if you're going to add fruit to salads, etc.  I just say this b/c I think for weight watchers fruit is NO points.  Now I don't do weight watchers so I don't know much about it but for what I'm doing which is just calorie counting and eating whole non-processed foods calories matter so everything is counted.
     Which brings me to the next thing people have asked me, basically I'm just eating "whole foods" or "clean foods".  I've heard it referred to different ways but basically I just eat things I prepare myself from whole/raw ingredients so I know exactly what goes into a recipe.  At least as much as possible.  Nothing from a box/bag/can. 
     That pretty much leaves me eating alot of salad, baked or rotisseried chicken/fish with sauteed (in a very small amount of olive oil) green beans/asparagus/mushrooms/zuccini/squash, things like that.  Of course that gets old quickly so I also supplement that with brown rice sushi, The Southwest Salad from Chick-fil-A (only 280 calories), Subway 6" turkey sandwich on wheat with just meat, bread, lettuce, and green peppers (250 calories) with apples add another 35 calories.  I also sometimes make ground turkey lettuce wraps (341 calories).  Don't forget if you go out to dinner you can request a print out of all the caloric information on their menu items.  I did this at Olive Garden when we went for a birthday dinner and I was able to find a DELICIOUS seafood stew called "Seafood Brodetta" that is 480 calories.  More then I usually eat for dinner but still much healthier then other options and it's a LOT of food so I didn't eat all of it anyway. 
    Last night I made a delicous weight watchers recipe for totilla soup.  The WHOLE POT is ~1200 calories!  This soup is VERY fillings and could probably feed me for about 4-5 days.  The only thing you have to add is the toppings which are also low calorie.  I loved it and so did Michael so I wanted to share it with you guys.  

Healthy Tortilla Soup
1- rotisserie chicken (natural) - shredded
1- 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1- 4 oz can of diced green chilies
1- chopped zuccini
1- chopped red and yellow pepper
1- medium jar of salsa (~12 ounces)
3 cups of fat free chicken broth
1 Tbs. cumin
Salt to taste
Toppings: fat free sour cream, fat free cheddar cheese, avocado, baked tortilla strips/chips

Instructions:
I put all the ingredients except the toppings into a covered pot on medium-low heat for about an hour and just cooked down all the veggies and let all the flavors combine.  Then when you think it's ready enjoy and add toppings!
It's that easy!

Here's to the start of Month TWO!

Party menu printable freebie

On my dessert table I'm not going to have enough room to put individual card lables eg. "sprinkle donuts", or "jello shooters" and a lot of our food items will be handed out by a "vendor" just as you may see at a ball game or circus so instead I decided to create these little menu cards.  As people arrive at the party in addition to their treat bags they will be handed a menu card so they will know where to go to get all the goodies they want :) 
Here is a file of the menu I created for your printing pleasure!  Just click on the image to enlarge then save to your computer.  I printed mine in an 8X10 format which will give you menus per sheet.

These menus would work for a number of parties whether that be a movie night theme, circus, carnival, or baseball themes.

Carnival party printable freebies and sneak peaks

So the birthday party is quickly approaching and I wanted to share some more freebies with you guys and give you some sneak peaks. 

Printable cotton candy ziplock bag labels. Just click on the image to save to your computer.
Just print and cut out then fold over:



Fill your sandwich sized ziplock bag with cotton candy and just staple the folded label onto the bag:


What is a carnival without a goldfish in a bag?
I decided to follow THIS tutorial to make my own "goldfish in a bag soap" as favors for the party.


Here is an image of the actual size of the "goldfish" I purchased from oriental trading. I was surprised at how small they were. I guess that's why they sell them in a cache of 144 fish!  I just picked out the orange ones so they would look more like real goldfish.


Here is a free printable of the favor tags I created for the party:

I also created a few signs for the party and framed them in red frames from IKEA.  I think the frames are b/w $1.00-$2.50 each!



I also put some photos of the kiddos in a few frames to put around the party.  I just used a simple red and white baker's twine to add a little something to the frames.



Just click on the images below to enlarge then save to your computer to print.  They are all sized as
8 X 10 inches.


Here is the "photo booth" backdrop I created using huge sequins I purchased online and I created the sign with 1/16" MDF which I cut out with a jig saw and used en electric sander to round off the edges. My paint job is lacking but I found that just using printed out lettering + Modge Podge saved it in the end.


Some of the photo booth "props" mentioned in the sign above.