Greek Yogurt is Gross

Frankly, I think greek yogurt tastes like straight up bile but with 17g protein in a 6oz serving, I couldn't help but give it a second try.

Now I've never been one of those girls that could survive on nuts and berries until lunch without feeling shakey so finding a healthy stick-to-your-gut kind of meal is difficult. Let's get something straight: carbs are everyone's friend. So are fats, proteins, and fiber. But let's get something else straight, high amounts of carbs are a runners best friend and high amounts of protein are a body-builder's best friend. So, what does this mean to me? It means...

Terrific Tip #2: Everything in moderation is good.

Today it is nearly impossible to find a breakfast item at the store that isn't loaded in sugar (carbs and fat). From cereal and breakfast sandwiches, to toaster treats and breakfast bars. So you can imagine my giddiful (is that a word?) state when I came across greek yogurt. PACKED with protein, low in carbs, good fats, fiber AND there are so many different uses for this rarity in the dairy cooler!

So, to satisfy my need for a long-lasting breakfast, I've come up with a completely delicious, completely nutritious breakfast smoothie. I know, I've completely lost your interest in this blog because you disagree with the idea of a nutritious breakfast smoothie BUT WAIT! I am in the same boat with you. Smoothies = sugar, more sugar, and some fruit cocktail. Not this one! Try this smoothie and I promise you'll be good to go for AT LEAST 3 hours.



|| JORDAN'S STICK-TO-YOUR-RIBS SMOOTHIE ||


1 6oz cup of plain, low fat greek yogurt (plain = no sugar!!)
1/2 cup frozen fruit of your choice *
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tbsp. flax seed
1/2 tbsp Splenda


Put fruit and orange juice in the bottom of the blender. Top with flax seed and Splenda then yogurt. Pulse until all ingredients are blended and smooth in consistency. Pour into glass, insert straw, and enjoy!


*(You may use fresh fruit in addition to or in place of frozen fruit. Frozen helps to get that slushy consistency)

The Basics

A major key to eating healthy is stocking your kitchen with healthy food. Another key to eating healthy is staying distracted. I find that I spend much less time snacking when I'm doing something and cooking is my favorite distraction. So I put two and two together and decided to stock my kitchen with my own kitchen basics. Preparing kitchen basics at home ensures control over the quality of ingredients and quantity of certain nutrients within the final product. My granola recipe is high in Omega 3's and fiber, low carb (the carbs in it are complex carbs), and delicious. Enjoy!


|| GRANOLA ||

2 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. sliced almonds

2 tbsp. flax seeds

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 c. agave nectar

1 tbsp. maple syrup

1/2 dried cranberries

vegetable oil

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all dry ingredients except dried fruit in mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients and coat dry ingredients well. Lightly grease baking pan with vegetable oil. Bake granola for 10 minutes total or until golden brown. Mix the granola after 5 minutes of baking. Once golden brown, remove from oven, mix in dried fruit, and let cool before storing.

Epic Fail

Well, it's 9 months later...New job, new place, same body. Ugh.

So, now that you've been updated, it's time to get back on track. I had a conversation with Michael (my adoring fiancé) who has encouraged me to keep blogging through my weight struggles. So here we go!...again : /

The Goal

On December 30th, 2010 at 11:47pm, I got engaged. It was perfect. He whisked me off to New York City for New Years right after the big blizzard. He took me ice skating in Rockefeller Center, fell on his butt so that it would be easier to get on one knee, and pulled out a perfect ring in front of Manhattan, under the stars and skyscrapers. Such a dream come true after 4 years of dating, 3 years of knowing he was the one, and 18 years of living without him.


After the applause faded away, and I had an opportunity to look at my beautiful ring, I came hurling down to earth. This ring looks terrible on me. Me and my naturally pudgy fingers even pudgier due to 23 years of poor exercise and a love for the food of my Italian heritage.


Time to get serious.


Well, in the past, I had tried Atkins, The Zone, I even tried the diet where you inject yourself with fluids from a pregnant lady, and most recently I tried the 17 Day Diet - none of them worked. I guess in all of my ventures I at least earned a degree in Yo-Yo Dieting. My mom told me, my fiance told me, my brother and friends told me and finally, I told myself that I am doomed to lose weight the old fashioned way...exercise.


I hate exercising. I would much rather watch Giada DeLaurentis cook eggplant lasagna with ree-coat-ah and mote-sah-rail-ah and all those other ingredients she pronounces way better than us while I look through Brides magazine in my sweats. Thus, the reason for my unhealthy weight. So, I looked at some of the benefits to exercise:

1. Weight Loss
2. Improved health
3. Cuter clothes
4. Pride
5. Better sex (which is a good way to exercise, by the way! ; )
6. I would have a good excuse to wear sweats (my favorite line of clothing)

I got serious. I even put black streaks under my eyes and bought a camouflage shirt. Actually, that's a lie because I, unlike all of the TLC brides, actually have to save serious pennies to pay for my wedding. No Kleinfeld's for me, I would actually rather wear a sweatshirt to my wedding at this point which brings me back to the reason I'm writing this...back to business..

I am approximately 80 pounds overweight. If I lose 80lbs, I will reach a goal that I have wanted all of my life; to have a single-digit dress size. According to theknot.com, I have 572 days until my wedding date (Terrific Tip #1: Saving money buys you time to lose weight) and 80lbs over 572 days is totally doable. 572 days = around 19 months and that's 4lbs a month! 

Any other brides out there? Let's do this.