I feel weird blogging about instant gratification, because it's instant gratification that landed me in a vat of hot fudge, with close to 300 lbs on my 5'4" frame.
But the kind of instant gratification I'm talking about is much, much better ... I'm sure you've noticed that I just haven't been blogging as much as I used to. It's not that I've dived back into that vat of hot fudge, it's that I have found a new lease on life, and find it very very hard to sit in front of my pc to blog every day. I'm out there doing the things I've always dreamed and desired to do, and as I'm sure all of my blogging friends can attest to, blogging can seriously take a chunk out of your day.
That's where instant gratification comes in. I have become somewhat addicted to my iPhone and the ease in tweeting a motivational quote, or what I'm thinking/feeling/doing/eating at any given time. I love the instant gratification I get of someone tweeting me, and feel like I'm able to connect to more people on a daily basis via Twitter.
I will continue to post Mental Monday, the Biggest Loser Diary (on Tuesdays), Recipe of the Week (on Thursdays), and Former Fat Girl of the Week (on Sundays). If you're new to my blog and want to see what I'm up to on a more personal level, I invite you to follow me on Twitter, as that is the best way to keep in touch with me and follow up with my healthy, new life.
I'm working on my final 45 lbs (gosh, the first 120+ came off so easy compared to the final 45), and I'm gearing up to start my half-marathon training for my 2nd half-marathon, the Chicago Rock n Roll Half-Marathon on August 1st (and potential first marathon in October!)
You can follow my workouts on Daily Mile, or interact with other healthy folks on my Facebook Fan Page, and of course, you can follow me on Twitter!
Thank you all so much for your support - past, present and future! I know with every fiber of my being that I couldn't have done this without you!
xo,
Chef Devin Alexander's Baked Turkey Wontons
Ingredients
- Olive oil spray
- ¼ cup drained sliced water chestnuts
- 2 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed and each cut into six pieces, lengthwise
- 4 whole green onions, trimmed and each cut into thirds
- 1 package (20 ounces) Jennie-O Turkey Store extra lean ground turkey breast
- ½ cup finely minced sweet onion
- 1 tablespoon cooking sherry
- 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon toasted or roasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons chili paste
- ½ teaspoon salt + extra (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 70 wonton wrappers (3 x 3-1/2-inches each)
- Sweet and sour sauce, chili garlic sauce, or hot mustard for dipping (optional)
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment and lightly mist the parchment with spray.
Add the water chestnuts, carrots and green onion to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a chopping blade. Process until the ingredients are minced, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the chopped vegetables to a fine mesh strainer. Using a rubber spatula or a spoon, press out any moisture from the chopped veggies. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large glass or plastic mixing bowl. Add the turkey, sweet onion, sherry, egg, sesame oil, chili paste, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper. With a fork or clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined.
Fill a small bowl or ramekin with water.
Place a wonton wrapper on a clean, flat work surface. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling onto the center of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half diagonally, to create a triangle. Dip your finger in the water and lightly run your fingertip along one side of the triangle (inside). Gently press the edges of the wrapper, sealing the dry side to the moistened side, being careful not to leave any air bubbles. Press on the filling slightly to spread it out (if the mound of filling in the center is too thick, the wontons won’t cook evenly). Transfer the wonton to the prepared baking sheet. Continue filling and sealing the remaining wonton wrappers until all of the filling mixture and wrappers are used. Working in batches if necessary, place all the finished wontons on the baking sheet in a single layer.
Lightly mist the tops of the wontons with spray and sprinkle them lightly with salt, if desired. Bake for 5 minutes. Then gently flip the wontons, spray and salt the tops, and bake them an additional 2-4 minutes, or until the outsides are lightly browned and the turkey is no longer pink inside. Serve immediately with sauce for dipping, if desired.
Makes 10 servings. Each (7 wonton) serving has: 208 calories, 18 g protein, 29 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, trace saturated fat, 26 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 365 mg sodium
xo,
"Build upon strengths, and weaknesses will gradually take care of themselves." Joyce C. Lock
Tonite’s episode featured an elimination without a vote, watch the elimination clip below to see what happened. And, catch up with John in the “Where Are They Now” clip to see how he’s doing today. There is even more from the episode that you didn’t see last night in the bonus scenes – hear from Miggy about her addition to the ranch with the scene included below. Plus, Bob and Jillian are back with this week’s Trainer Tips!
The next Biggest Loser will take place in the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. And, two Olympians will be lending a hand in training and the challenge! Get a sneak peek at the episode with 4 preview clips and hear from the contestants in the interview below.
Week Five – Two Minute Recap
The players welcome one more team to the ranch. Get caught up fast.
Week 5 Elimination
One player gets eliminated without the players voting.
Where Are They Now: Week 5 – John
Check out how John looks today and he what he does to get motivated.
Bonus Scenes Week 5 - Miggy's Update
Miggy is happy to see the latest addition to the ranch.
Week 5 - O'Neal's Strategy
O'Neal realizes he's entering a game on the ranch.
Week 5 - The Pink Team's Stress
The Pink Team confides in Bob.
Trainer Tips #1 (2/2/10)
Bob talks about working out and having fun.
Trainer Tips #2 (2/2/10)
How much money does America spend on Super Bowl Sunday?
Trainer Tips #3 (2/2/10)
Jillian tells you how much money America spends on Super Bowl Sunday.
PREVIEWS FOR NEXT WEEK:
Olympic Challenge
Alison brings out a special guest to show the players their pop-challenge.
Inspiring Story
An Olympic athlete shares her inspiring story with the players.
Motivational Workout
An Olympic athlete gives the players a motivational workout.
Olympian Interviews
Two Olympians inspire the players to push themselves further.
xo,
Dr. Oz Reveals the Sneaky Sugar in Your FoodSo it's no big revelation that you need to steer clear of sugary foods -- cakes, cookies, pastry, regular soda -- when you're trying to lose weight. The thing is, that's easier said than done because a little food additive called high-fructose corn syrup lurks in loads of products you'd never even think about because they're not terribly sweet! Things like ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, breakfast bars, jellies, yogurts, peanut butters. Even fat-free or low-fat foods, like salad dressing are often loaded with HFCS. The very salad dressing that you thought was helping you stick to your diet by eating more veggies may actually be sabotaging your weight loss efforts.
"Most anything with a sweetener in it that's preserved has high fructose corn syrup in it, because [regular] sugar won't preserve," said Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of The Dr. Oz Show and co-author of the recently re-released "YOU: On A Diet." "It's ubiquitous."
Indeed, a full 50 percent of all the sugar we consume comes from HFCS in processed foods. In as little as 70 years -- basically within a single generation -- Americans have gone from eating no HFCS to eating more than 63 pounds of it (about 128,000 calories) each year. "It was so inexpensive and had such a long shelf life, it became a very efficient and inexpensive way to sweeten food, and began to be added to all foods," noted Dr. Oz. Why does this matter? Because Dr. Oz believes HFCS is even worse for us than regular table sugar. "It's very difficult not to correlate the increase in HFCS over the last 50 years directly to the increase of obesity. It's not only the only reason we have an obesity problem, but it's one of the top reasons." Here's why:
• Your brain doesn't recognize the fructose in HFCS as regular food, so you can eat a lot of it and still be hungry, which means you eat even more. Our bodies have a nifty feedback mechanism -- a protein called leptin, which is released by our body's own fat -- that turns off our hunger signals, letting us know that we're satisfied and can step away from the buffet. But when we consume fructose in foods or drinks containing high fructose corn syrup, that feedback mechanism gets disrupted. So not only don't we get the message that we're full, but because the brain doesn't recognize this stuff as real food, it still wants us to eat.
• Sugar also sets us up for some wild swings in blood sugar highs and lows that make us crave -- you guessed it! -- more sugar, which in turn prompts the body to store more fat. Indeed, when people who are even slightly overweight -- in other words, most of us -- eat sugar, we store a whopping 35 percent of it as fat. All sugar does this, not just HFCS. But unlike regular sugar, HFCS is cheap and shelf-stable so you don't have to park yourself in the candy and cookie aisle to get a lot of it.
• The fructose in HFCS also seems to overwhelm your liver's ability to process it. "The liver doesn't particularly like it when there's fructose in there," Dr. Oz said. "It's irritating and the liver responds by producing inflammatory compounds." Among other things, like laying the groundwork for artery damage and heart disease, these compounds also encourage your body to store more fat. "You're literally turning the major organ responsible for detoxifying you into fat, which is hindering your ability to get thin," he said. "Fat people have a tougher time getting thin than thin people have staying thin. The odds are stacked against them because their livers can't keep up."
The obvious solution is to limit your consumption of HFCS -- no small task to be sure. Dr. Oz suggests four ways to get started:
Limit processed foods. "If you eat whole foods, real foods, foods that don't come in colorful packages, that come out of the ground looking the way they look when you eat them, they won't sabotage your natural ability to regulate your weight," Dr. Oz said.
Read your labels. If HFCS is one of the first five ingredients in a particular product (or there's more than 4 grams of sugar per serving), skip it. "Natural versions of condiments don't have HFCS, but the inexpensive, more customarily eaten versions usually do," he said.
Try natural sweeteners. Raw honey, agave syrup, or stevia (a powdery natural sweetener that you can use like regular sugar or artificial sweeteners), are good options. "Natural sugar in natural form is the best way to get it," said Dr. Oz.
If you drink soda, switch to 100 percent fruit juice. Even though juice has sugar, it at least offers valuable nutrients. Or better yet, opt for water. If plain water is too boring, add some fizzy seltzer and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Or try no-calorie flavored waters, made with sucralose (aka Splenda).Written by Norine Dworkin-McDaniel
Published January 2010
xo,
"When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out." David Weatherford
As the dreary, gray and bitter cold Wisconsin weather seeps into my bones, I was thrilled to re-discover Chef Curtis Stone's recipe for Turkey and Vegetable Chili that was shared on a previous episode of my favorite weight loss reality show, The Biggest Loser.
It definitely perks me up and helps put some warmth back into my body!
But then again, just gazing at Chef Curtis Stone's dreamy-ness does wonders for a girl too! :)
Chef Curtis Stone's Turkey and Vegetable Chili
INGREDIENTS
For the chili:
- 1-½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, medium diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 small red chili, seeded and small diced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 large carrot, peeled and small diced
- 1 large celery stalk, medium diced
- 1 small yellow bell pepper, seeded and medium dice
- 12 ounces 1% lean ground turkey
- 4 medium size ripe tomatoes, medium diced
- 8 oz cooked white or black beans
- 4 cups baby spinach
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup plain fat free Greek style yogurt
- Micro cilantro to garnish, (can substitute with chopped chives or chopped cilantro)
DIRECTIONS
- Place a large saute pan over medium high heat, then drizzle with the oil.
- Add the onion, garlic, and red chili and sauté for 2 minutes, or until tender.
- Sprinkle the cumin over the onion mix and stir well, then add the carrot, celery, and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the vegetables begin to get tender.
- In a separate saute pan, brown the turkey in the remaining oil over medium high heat, then transfer to the vegetable mix.
- Add the tomatoes and the beans and cook for a further 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the tomatoes have broken down and most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Stir in the spinach and remove from the heat.
- Season the chili to taste with freshly ground black pepper
- Spoon the chili into serving dishes
- Spoon a tablespoon of the yogurt onto each garnish with the micro cilantro and serve.
Nutrition Facts:
Calories 280
Total Fat 7g
Sat Fat 1.5g
Cholesterol 35mg
Sodium 120mg
Total Carb 28g
Dietary Fiber 9g
Sugar 7g
Protein 29g
xo,
"You can sit around and wait for the good things to happen to you, or you can go out and make them happen." Unknown
Thank heavens for Laura at NBC! I don't know what I'd do without the exclusive Biggest Loser clips she sends me every week!
Today's clips include Bob-alicious on The Jay Leno Show last night! I'll take whatever clips of Bob-alicious I can get! ;)
Also, recap or rewatch tonight’s elimination and catch up with Migdalia after her time on the show in the “Where Are They Now” clip! And get a tip to help in your own battle to keep the weight off from Jillian in this week’s “Trainer Tip”. Plus, we also have a whole bunch of bonus scenes that you didn’t see in the episode for even more drama (oy vey!) from Week 4.
Preview next week’s episode, which has a team returning to the ranch to continue the competition in the “Next On” clip! Remember you can cast your vote on which past competitions you’d like to see on air this season – head over to the official site and vote now!
The Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper is here.
Biggest Loser’s Bob talks about the red team controversy.
Week 4 Elimination
The players are forced to choose who to eliminate.
Where Are They Now: Week 4 – Migdalia
Check out Migdalia looks today!
Trainer Tips (1/26/10)
Jillian shows you the perfect afternoon snack.
Bonus Scenes: Week 4 - Red Team's Defense
Jillian tries to teach The Red Team a lesson.
Bonus Scenes: Week 4 - Migdalia's Concern
Migdalia turns to Jillian for encouragement.
Bonus Scenes: Week 4 - Melissa's Plea
Melissa reaches out to Jillian for help.
Next On: Who's Coming Back?
Find out which team will be returning to the ranch to compete in Tuesday's Biggest Loser.
xo,
Okay ... we're 25 days into 2010. How's them resolutions coming? I think by now, sadly, most resolutions have been broken and tossed out the window. If your motivation is lacking, here's a great article from SparkPeople.com that may help you get back in the groove!
xo,
"Go the extra mile. It's never crowded." Executive Speechwriter Newsletter
9 Hidden Reasons to Stay Motivated
Ways to Rediscover Your DriveEveryone tells us to stay motivated. Our friends, our co-workers, our relatives say to keep going, don’t quit. Sometimes, though, you ask, "Why? Why try my hardest when it ends in disappointment? Why go through something when it’s going to hurt? Why?"
Because it’s going to be different this time! Because you can’t accomplish anything that you give up on. Disappointments and failures happen to everyone. The difference between those who reach their goals and those who don’t is staying motivated. If you’re motivated, you’ll keep going. If you keep going, eventually you’ll reach your goal.
Need more reasons? Here are 9 of our ‘hidden’ reasons to stay motivated. Use one or all of them to keep the fire burning inside you.
1. Confidence
How did it feel after that first jog around the block? Or when you finally walked the stairs at work without losing your breath? The more you accomplish, the more you’ll believe in yourself.
2. Fit into that dress
It’s been hanging up in your closet for two years now, just waiting to be thrown on for a night on the town. All it takes is for you to go that extra mile and stay on track. Before you know it, those two years will be ancient history.
3. Make the week easier
Ever felt like a week was taking forever? It feels like Friday, but it’s only Tuesday? This happens when you’re not working towards anything. When you have a goal in mind, you’ll want to cook that healthy dinner or go to the gym. The week will not only go faster, but be more enjoyable.
4. Gives you purpose
Every once in a while, we need a good reason to get out of bed. Here it is, right in front of you. Eat the healthy breakfast that’s going to jump start your day, go for your morning jog, or walk to the driveway and grab the newspaper. When you’re motivated, you have a reason to do what you do.
5. For your kids
And your grandkids. And their kids, too. The healthier you are, the longer you’ll be around to watch your kids grow and to spoil your grandchildren. They’ll want you to be around as long as possible; consider this just another present.
6. Power of momentum
It’s a scientific fact – something in motion tends to stay in motion. Momentum builds quickly and can lead to great results. Suddenly, you’re not only working for the goal, but also to keep your streak alive. Even more reason to reach your goals.
7. The ‘wow’ effect
Picture this: Walking into a restaurant, you run into someone from high school, and their eyes light up. They gasp, "Wow, you look great!" By sticking with your goals, this can happen. Watch the "wows" add up.
8. Spread the spark
When friends and family see how hard you’re working, they’ll wonder how they can reach their own goals. Guess who they’re going to look to for help? By staying motivated, you’ll not only help yourself, but others too.
9. Keep gaining experience
The more you do, the more you will learn and understand. You’ll discover which tactics work best for you and which ones don’t. It’s like weeding out the garden - not the most enjoyable job in the world, but when you’re done, all that’s left are beautiful flowers. Keeping sticking with it and soon it will be all flowers for you.Written by Zach Van Hart
from Sparkpeople.com
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Hi, I'm Michelle, a former fat girl. I'm also a food addict. I've lost 115 lbs since September 2008 following a clean eating diet. In July 2009, I achieved a dream of becoming a 
