Good Eggy Morning!

Good Morning!!!!!! 

Some how I am chipper this morning, even though I went to bed at midnight and was awoken every half hour till 3am.  But then I slept pretty soundly until 7am.  Usually with a night like that I am walking the kids down stairs for breakfast groggy and half with it...that is until I open the door to the let the dog out and I am greeted by the crisp morning air! 

Protein is a girls best friend when lacking energy.  I like to start the morning with eggs.  I feel like it fills me up longer and I don't pick as much during the day if I start out STRONG!  It's frustrating though because I hate having to make a BIG mess just to scramble up two eggs.  Usually I offer the girls eggs too, and they'll respond that they want some, but when I put it on their plates, their done and never touch them. 

What to do?!

What can you do with these three items to make your morning easier?!

A friend of mine taught me that you can take a coffee cup, spray the inside with pam and then scramble two eggs in the cup, pop it in the microwave and cook your eggs that way.  WHERE WAS THIS ALL OF MY LIFE?!  I cooked mine this morning for two minutes.  It depends on your microwave and the power.  But make sure you scramble it with a fork or else you will get an egg explosion!  Not fun to clean.  I learned the hard way.  Thanks B!

The finished product!  Nice and fluffy!

 

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Have an EGGcellent Day!!!!!! 

Facebook Group

I so not facebook savvy.  I started a facebook group for my amazing friends who want to follow this journey on facebook.  I don't know how to let you know that I update my blog other than sharing my link and hoping you see it.  So now I made this group on facebook, 29...And This Is It, and I will post the links there. 

If you would like to be a member of that group, let me know. 

Thanks all my love!

Alissa

Zero Points!

As many of you know, I am on weight watchers and usually what I like to do is find a way to eat something with as little points as possible, so that when I have a snack I don't feel quilt.  

For dessert last night I made this amazing dessert my mom always used to make for us when we were little.  And she told me that her mom used to make it.  My Grandmother used to own a weight-loss center in Roxbury called “Let’s Be Slim”, people used to be able to work-out there, and then have lunch in the health food store.  It was a great set-up and unfortunately she eventually closed the business to pursue other ventures.  Too bad she wasn’t alive today to help me.  Well I guess she is through my mom and this recipe!  

My Grandmother and my mom make this recipe with diet 7up but because I broke up with soda, I used seltzer water flavored lemon lime and it worked just as well, if not better, because now my kids to can have the apple dessert  and I don’t have to think they are having soda.  

The Recipe

Cut up a bunch of apples, make two if you want a small personal serving, I like to use about 6 apples so we have extra for multiple meals.  Slice them up, the thickness depends on you.  Spread them out in a pan, I used a 9X13 pan since I made more apples.  Sprinkle stevia over the apples, or another artificial sweetener to get zero points.  If you would like to use regular sugar to avoid the artificial stuff you’ll have to figure out the points.  I used three packets of stevia over all the apples.  Then sprinkle your apples with cinnamon.  I like to coat them with cinnamon since it’s a zero point spice that also boosts your metabolism.  Many benefits!  Then take your seltzer water and pour over the top of the apples, enough to coat them and give you a little bit of liquid underneath the apples.  But just a little bit, you don’t want to over soak them and make your apples fall apart.  Mix it up!  And pop in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15  minutes or until desired tenderness!   

Add some fat free cool whip and you have yourself a yummy treat that’s also healthy for you!

Serving size (1 cup apples/ 2tbsp of fat free cool whip) Total points ZERO

**Just a note, if you use the diet soda on weight watchers that's also zero points.

 Guess what?!  We ate it for breakfast this morning!  The kids loved it!

Happy Eating My Friends!

Ups and Downs

I want to write this blog to you today and tell you how wonderful I am doing and how successful I was during vacation.  I want to write five different blogs about my weeks…but I feel severely defeated and frozen.  I actually feel depressed.  

Soda!

I have kicked the soda habit.  It’s been three weeks and two days since my last soda.  And I do have days where I yearn for that bubbly little beverage, but I’ve had a lot of success with sparkling flavored waters and a natural Starbucks energy drink!  

I want to stand up and cheer, but only feel like a huge fat blob unable to muster the energy to do ANTHING!  I’m downright disgusted with myself, and it  makes me a miserable human being.  For those of you who knew me years ago could probably attest to the fact that I used to be a happy person, pretty much always smiling and goofing off.  Now, I feel like I only give like 2% of myself to the things I do and the ones I love.  And that’s just not fair.

The Doctor's Office

I came home from vacation, I mean feeling pretty good.  But I was severely swollen.  Maybe all the salty road foods and also sitting for two days of driving.  My last day in the car was 17 hours!  My shoes didn’t fit, my jeans didn’t fit, I was just a mess.  I felt 9 months pregnant again.  EHH  a chill runs down my back at the thought.  Lol   I had to go to the doctor two days later, still swollen.  The scale at this doctor’s office said I gained 10lbs while being away.  GOD!  I freaking suck.  I suck.  I am going to give up!  All these self-defeating thoughts running through my mind since going to the doctor.  

Then he sits down and begins to encourage me to get Lapband.  I’m like freaking guy, if I can’t control my own mind, and the eating, the only thing I am going to do is bust that freaking band off my stomach!  Like seriously!  Is this what we do?  We just encourage fat people to have surgery to fix things?  DUH!  It’s mind over matter.  We are taught from a young age, it’s 10% of what happened and 90% with how you handle it!  Oh but when you can’t take the 10% go ahead and get cut open and have a foreign object inserted so you don’t overeat.   UGH!!!

I mean seriously, if it is something you have chosen to do, then all the more power to you, I just know it will be something I fail at yet again!  And have you had surgery before?  I have, and it sucked, no way no how will I voluntarily go under the knife ever again!  Well except maybe for a tuck and lift after I lose all this weight!  

The Gym

I went to the gym the other night.  All I could handle was 10 minutes on the elliptical and lifting on the circuits!  I am still sore.  And I know I need to go again, I’m just mentally at a standstill.

Not quite sure how I am going to get the ball rolling again. 

Shake Your Money Maker

Last night while on vacation I went with my two sisters to one of their favorite work out classes.  Hiphop Fitnezz and HipHop Abzz.  http://www.zumbahappy.com/ (This is the link to the place)

First I would like to add a disclaimer to this blog post, I, Alissa Sarate, have a tendency to shake my money maker in ridiculous, inappropriate fashions.  I am not inappropriate in that I do this on bar tops or poles, but in the privacy of my own home.    I thoroughly enjoy listening to hip hop music with absurd base that when my car is empty, my speakers shake!  

I haven’t worked out in a while, as my body hurts so much most of the time.  It’s the result of carrying so much extra weight.  I run around after three kids all day, and I’m just plain old lazy by the end of it.  It’s one of my major excuses and I just need to bite the bullet and start working out.  So, it’s been a while and I went with my sisters to this zumba like class. 

My sisters and I, are quite different.  One of my sisters is a hard core super workout, eat right fitness freak.  She had her own battle with weight after getting married.  Her and husband decided to make a choice to lose weight and eat healthy.  They are dedicated their P90X and insanity workouts, protein shakes and KMA, zumba classes.  My husband, her and her husband actually went running in the 90 degree weather yesterday.  My other sister, made a choice while in high school to get healthy.  She worked out really hard, training herself to run, and eat right.  She lost 50lbs.  I’m so proud of both of my sisters and their dedication.  I pray that both of them, never have to experience what I am going through with my weight.  I know God is going to use this in my life, not sure how yet, but All for God’s glory this weight will come off of me.  

So before the class, I had already had the fuller Alissa planting the seeds of doubt and failure in my mind.  I’ll just sit down if it’s too much.  Stand in the back so you can half-ass it.  But I got there and the skinny Alissa coached me through the whole time!  I almost feel psychotic.  The whole time I’m dancing and working out and singing along to the songs, while in my head I am saying, “Go Alissa, Push, Go!  Hold your tummy in, squeeze your tush, breathe, shake shake shake, don’t give up, don’t be that girl!!!!!!!!”  All this replayed in my mind over and over and over again!  

I did keep looking at the clock, but I wasn’t going to give up.  My one sister kept telling me, “it’s okay to take a break if you need to”.  And I appreciate that, because I knew it would be okay, but I didn’t feel like I needed one. 

And to my surprise I made it through the class, I had to modify some parts because I just could not jump and go crazy at the end, instead I just bounced.  But I did it.  I walked into the class assuming I would have a heart attack and die, but I made it to the end and I loved every minute of that dance workout. 

YAY.  I can do it again.  And I feel like I shaked a lot of Mommy frustrations out of my body!  I highly recommend it for any mom would loves to shake it and needs an out.  

After such a work-out and being up still for a few hours, I needed a snack before bed.  I got a banana and a handful of strawberries and a squirt of fat-free whipped cream.  I drank a couple glasses of ice water and I gave myself a pat on the back.  I did good.  And I’m proud of that.   

It’s in those moments and small decisions that count the most.  I know it is hard at that one moment when you are looking at either a glass of lemonade or an ice water, or a bowl of ice cream or a bowl of fruit.  Don’t look at the whole picture and imagine yourself never indulging again, but think of it in that one instance and how good you will feel and strong you will feel in making the BETTER decision!  

Feeling super good this morning!  Alissa