Decisions Decisions

When you're on vacation or away from your healthy stocked fridge, there are a lot of decisions to make about whether to stay on track and make healthy food choices or just say to heck with it, i'll get back on track when I get home. Well I've worked really hard to change my eating habits and one little memorial day camping trip isn't going to ruin it all! Although it was especially hard when my husbands friends showed up with brownies, chips and cookies...ugh! Nevertheless if you come prepared like i did, hopefully you can just say no! I packed some nuts and fruit to snack on and for dinner I put some chicken and veggies, wrapped in tin foil, in the hot coals under our fire and made a delicious little dinner that me and my husband both enjoyed. For breakfast I know a really easy omelet trick, perfect for camping, but you can do it anywhere you have a boiling pot of water. Before you leave, put eggs, tomatoes, cheese, spices, peppers and whatever else you like in a little sandwich sized ziploc bag (make sure its a strong bag like Hefty or Ziploc because the cheapo ones might break open). Bring a pot of water to a boil over a camp stove or your fire and drop the baggy in. About 30 minutes later you have a beautiful omelet! Enjoy!

Easy Easy Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

I think I've mentioned it before, but...I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER! I also love cookies but they are usually complicated recipes and include ingredients that are totally off limits for me. However, these peanut butter cookies are a little piece of heaven because they not only taste just like the real thing, they are super simple to make.

As I pictured above, there are only 3 ingredients...yeah you read that right, 3! I told you this would be easy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all natural granulated sweetener (I used Stevia, but some people don't like the taste)

1 cup Fresh Ground Peanut Butter

1 egg

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. Form into 12 small balls and press them flat on a cookie sheet with a fork (that way you get the little crisscross design on top). Bake for about 15 minutes. Cool. Eat!

Before & After

After ^

Before^

Ok I said I'd show you my before diet and after diet pictures so i got brave and here they are! The top picture is me now (today actually) feeling healthy and confident!

Carob Fudge

I want to share one of my favorite recipes in the whole world...Carob Fudge...it is awesome.

Carob Fudge
3-4 tsp warm water
2/3 c. carob powder, sifted
1/3 c. agave syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 c. dry milk powder
3/4 c. peanuts or pecans

Combine the ingredients in the order listed (add a little more water if too dry). Line the bottom of a small loaf pan with plastic wrap and spoon in the fudge. Pat the top so it is flat. Chill in fridge or freezer. Enjoy ya'll!!

read: the agave syrup can be exchanged for unsweetened applesauce.

Real Food

The hcg diet I'm doing has 4 phases...I'm currently on phase 3. Phase 3 of the diet states you can eat whatever you like as long as it has absolutely no sugar or starch. I have to be pretty creative with my cooking and make most everything from scratch but I've found some premade items that make my life much easier. From the top: Row 1--TRUVIA all natural sweetener made from the stevia plant with 0 calories, it comes in little packets and can even be used in baking. FITNUTZ peanut butter powder, love love love and less than half the calories and fat than even my favorite fresh ground peanut butter, when water is added it looks and taste just like the real stuff. CAROB POWDER has been a childhood favorite of mine, its like chocolate but doesn't need sugar to make it sweet and since i couldn't have chocolate growing up, it was the next best thing. Row 2--PEANUT BUTTER, I'm a peanut butter freak and this stuff is fresh ground at my local grocery store...yum :). EXTRA VIRGIN COCONUT OIL replaces butter in almost everything and has healthy fats needed in your daily diet, and I love the subtle coconut taste, i even use it as a luxurious skin moisturizer. LEMONAISE is made with lemons and is a substitute for mayonaise and taste exactly like it, it was the only one in the entire health food store that didn't contain sugar! FLAXSEED MEAL, i use it as a replacement for flour (i can't have starch) and sometimes i mix it with organic coconut flour for more desert-like things. It has tons of fiber but it is super absorbent so i have to double my liquids in recipes. Row 3--TURKEY PEPPERONI is sooo good and an excellent little snack with much less fat and no additives of regular pepperoni. SPROUTED TORTILLAS have saved me and are sooo versatile; great for mini pizzas, burritos, enchiladas, wraps and they can even be sliced up and baked like tortilla chips. They are made from sprouts so they are not starchy! CHEDDAR CHEESE is an awesome little snack and they come in these great little 3/4 oz packages so i don't eat too much of it...because i love cheese and i would totally overdue it.
So these are my favorites, if you have any great products that you love, let me know! I'm always searching for more ideas!

I guess i haven't mentioned it before, but I just finished doing phase 2 of the HCG diet...for those of you out there who haven't heard of it...you can read the entire original manuscript describing every detail on my page to the right titled "HCG - Pounds & Inches". I've also added some pages titled Phase 2, Phase 3, & Phase 4 describing each phase of the diet in detail. But I'll tell you this, it changes your life (for the better if you're committed to it). I wasn't seriously overweight but I just didn't feel healthy and needed something drastic to makeover the way I think about food and health. Its funny how easy it is to get out of the habit of taking care of yourself. Growing up in the south, surrounded by fried everything, bbq and decadent deserts, my mom made sure we had none of it. That means no butter, sugar, fast food, beef, pork...the list goes on. I don't think I tasted steak or chocolate til i was 17! Which is right around the time everything I had instilled in my brain about living a healthy life when out the door. I moved out of my parents house, and away from their watchful eye, to go to college in utah. Living on your own as a college student doesn't exactly promote health! Staying up late and living on juice and candy packed on my freshman 15 in a hurry. 7 years later, and many diets later, have landed me here, embarking on my journey to total health happiness inside and out.

My next post I am going to show some of the food that makes my life easier, it can all be purchased at your local health food store.
Also I am going to post some before and after pictures of myself so tune in for that!!

Cookies :(

Ok, this is the temptation I have to deal with at work! Look at all those cookies!

My Fabulous Healthy Life

My mom has always told me "Eat to live, don't live to eat". After all this time, I think i'm getting it.