Things I'm loving: February

The Amazing Race!

This is one of Michael and I's favorite shows on TV. We love to watch all the teams race around the world and perform crazy tasks. We love to talk about whether or not we would do the said tasks and most of my answers are "Hell no!" I love to watch everyone else do them though!

Olympics

We are totally engrossed in the Olympics right now! We are loving the skiing, speed skating, snow boarding, luge....pretty much everything. The only thing Michael hates watching is the figure skating! I just think its really cool rooting for your country to win each event we take part in. I think it might be really exciting  this time as well because the US is doing so well and racking up a lot of medals!

Spring clothes hitting the stores

I think we are all so ready for winter to be over. Obviously it's going to be several more weeks but just seeing bright happy colors, floral patterns and swimsuits reminds me that it won't be long now. Plus I have to say I'm pretty excited about being several sizes smaller this spring so that means another one of my favorite things...shopping!!!

Dove dark chocolate

Dove dark chocolate is my go to treat when I need a little chocolate fix. Dark chocolate is actually really good for you because it is packed with antioxidants and it has been proven to lower blood pressure. But really, in the end it's just delicious! I keep a bag in my desk at work and when I feel the need for a sweet craving a couple of Dove definitely do the trick!

My Valentine!

  

I can't have a February loves list without my Valentine! Thanks for a great Valentine's weekend babe; I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

My Top 10 Get Healthy Tips

 

I want to preface this post by saying that these tips are entirely based on my experiences and just because this works for me, it might not work for you, or you might not even agree with what I'm doing. Most of these tips are nothing new and thousands of books will tell you the same things. However, a lot of people have asked what I've been doing to lose weight so that is why I put this together. And now, my top 10 get healthy tips!

1. Make the decision you want to change your lifestyle

This is the most important tip I have. You can do tips 2-9 but if you haven't fully committed to 1, it will never last. This is why every doctor says that diets are temporary and the only way you can have long term results is through a full lifestyle change. It takes a lot of commitment to eat healthfully. It is a lot easier to go to McDonalds than make a healthy meal, but it is obviously not the best choice. It's all about choices and making good ones is the hardest part.

For me, when we started talking about when we were going to start a family I just felt that I wasn't taking the best care of myself and that things would only get more complicated once we had a child and that I owed it to myself and my future children to be healthy so I can provide a good example. My doctor encouraged me to lose 50 pounds before we started trying to get pregnant as well.

2. Drink lots of water and nothing else

Now I know this is not rocket science and nothing new, but drinking water is one of the best things you can do for your body. It helps you flush out all the bad by-products when fat breaks down in your body. Water also helps you feel full for longer. Many times if you feel hungry, you are really thirsty, so try drinking a glass of water first. The other part of this is not drinking soda or juices with high sugar content. Liquid calories are very sneaky and things you may not think about. Also, it has been proven that drinking diet soda actually stimulates hunger and you tend to eat more after drinking it. Juices that are high in sugar essentially just turn into calories and then fat. I was never a big juice or soda drinker, so this is not that hard for me to stick. I drink only water and then milk at dinner time.

3. Eat breakfast everyday

This is probably the second most important tip on this list. Eating breakfast is pivotal in losing weight. It jump starts your metabolism in the morning so you are burning calories more efficiently throughout the day. You also tend to eat less during the day if you eat breakfast. A lot of people say that eating breakfast makes them hungry before lunch and that is proof that it is speeding up your metabolism. Making good breakfast choices can make you feel fuller as well. Every morning I start with a breakfast sandwich that consists of a whole grain english muffin, egg whites and either turkey sausage or a piece of canadian bacon. I usually have an apple or a banana as well. Around 10:30 I usually have another piece of fruit to keep my metabolism going and then have lunch around 12:30. Eating more often during the day actually helps you lose weight, who knew you could eat more and weigh less!   

4. Get moving!

For me personally, changing my eating habits and watching calories will only help me lose weight for so long. I absolutely have to workout in order to keep dropping pounds. When I first started changing my eating in November I waited about 3 weeks before I started building workouts into my routine. They say it takes 21 days to build a habit so I wanted to change only 1 thing at a time. I workout 4 days a week for about 40-45 minutes. It's really hard for me to have the energy and time to workout during the week because of my work schedule so I only workout Tuesdays and Thursdays and then Saturday and Sunday. It really works for me; as soon as I started working out, the pounds started melting off.

5. Don't deprive yourself

I think one of the dumbest things you can do is try to go on some crash diet totally eliminating carbs or trying to eat salads or baked chicken every night. You will only be able to sustain that kind of diet for a very short period of time. Instead if you choose a balanced diet you can eat what you want for the most part. That's where working out comes into play too. If you want to splurge that day, make sure you burn some extra calories to account for the calories you are going to consume. If I really want something like pizza, I have it. Except instead of eating a medium sized pizza, I will have 2 or 3 small squares of pizza and a salad alongside it. Also, when we go out to eat, I usually cut whatever I ordered in half and push it to the side.

6. Track your progress diligently

They say you should only weigh yourself once a week but I find that weighing myself everyday really keeps me on track and keeps me motivated. I love that after a hard workout I can see that I'm half a pound lighter. On the flip side, seeing after a night out I'm a pound heavier enforces my need to drink a lot of water the next day to flush out the salt from eating out. The scale doesn't scare me anymore, its a big source of motivation for me to see my hard work pay off. I also take my measurements regularly to see my progress and taking pictures of yourself is another way to see the difference and increase your motivation.

7. Pinpoint your weaknesses

This was really important for me. In order to change your habits you have to realize the bad ones you currently have. I really didn't eat that bad to start with. I didn't really eat fried food, I don't like fast food, a lot of the crutches people have I didn't have. My biggest problems were portion sizes, cheese and ice cream. I love to cook and bake but I would make too much food and eat too much of it. I wasn't listening to my body when it was telling me it was full, I would just keep eating because it tasted so good and I acted like I would never eat it again. I have cut my portions probably by 2/3. It has made all the difference. My other weaknesses were cheese and ice cream. I would put cheese on everything and eat way too much of it. The same goes for ice cream. I would have it every night after dinner and I was eating 2 or 3 times the serving size. By pinpointing those specific weaknesses it has helped manage my calorie intake and in turn helped me lose weight.

8. Set realistic goals and an overall goal

 I could stand to lose 100 pounds but setting out to conquer something like that seems monumental. My doctor said he wanted me to lose 50 pounds so that was my first goal. I lost 10 pounds on vacation so when I came back it really got me motivated. It seemed so easy. Before I knew it I was down 20, 30, 40 and then hit my 50 pound goal only 2 months after starting. It felt really good. I immediately set a new goal of 75 pounds. Now being down 60 pounds, 75 seems so close. I am going to keep going until we start trying to get pregnant and up until we get pregnant. I will continue to set small goals and maybe I will hit that 100 pound mark! Even once I am pregnant, I will continue eating healthfully and not take the "eating for two" attitude.

9. Plan meal menus

Planning ahead when it comes to meal planning eliminates the temptation for going out to eat and making bad decisions. By having a strategy of your meals for the week you can make your healthy choices ahead of time. It also helps having a planned meal schedule for the nights I workout during the week. I try to plan a quicker meal that Michael can start while I'm working out or utilize my crockpot to have it ready to eat when I'm done. 

10. Bring your lunch to work

Along the same vein as having a planned menu for the week, bringing your lunch to work eliminates the possibility of making bad decisions if you go out to eat. When you eat at a restaurant, you have no control over the ingredients used, the amount of salt they put into it, etc. I bring my lunch almost everyday. If I go out it is usually only once a week at the most. I either have leftovers from dinner the night before or some type of sandwich with a piece of fruit on the side. Also, another benefit is that you will save money! It's not cheap to eat out everyday so you're helping your body and your wallet! 

So if you're still reading, congratulations, it was a long post! I hope this helps explain some of the factors of my success so far. It actually helped me too; it reminded me of all the positive changes I've made and I will continue to follow my own advice!

Next stop...75!

I hit another weight loss milestone yesterday. I am officially down 60 pounds! Even with being out of town for the weekend and splurging a little, I still managed to lose weight and hit my next goal. This just proves even more for me that by changing my lifestyle, I can still occasionally splurge if I make healthy decisions 90% of the time and work out. I'm really proud of myself. This weight loss train is just gonna keep moving. My next goal is 75 pounds. I would like to hit this goal by May 1st. 

A lot of people have asked me how I've lost the weight so I'm going to do a post this week on my top 10 tips that have helped me achieve success. Look for that later this week.

Here are my progress pictures.

 

                Before                    50 pounds lost            60 pounds lost

                                   

 

 

50 pounds lost

         60 pounds lost

Obviously the results are not as dramatic compared to my before and 50 pounds lost, but I can see some subtle differences. I can't wait to see what 75 pounds looks like!

Menu Planning Monday

We did not do very much cooking last week. We were super crazy at work and we didn't really do grocery shopping since we were going out of town. We still ate well, but I want to get back in the kitchen! I went grocery shopping today and got us all re-stocked and ready for cooking this week.

Here's our menu for the week:

Monday: Katsu-don
Tuesday: Herb roasted Chicken made in the crock pot with potatoes
Wednesday: Make your own pizza night (BBQ chicken for me, cheese for Michael) and salad
Thursday: Ranch chicken sammies with salads
Friday: Date night!

A Lovey Dovey Weekend Recap

We had such an amazing weekend! It was so nice to get away for a few days. I'm sad the weekend is over but I'm happy I took today off as well just to extend the weekend a little bit. I wish I could start my work week on Tuesday every week! So on to the recap, it's long and picture filled!

On Friday morning we got up early and finished packing everything up and headed down to my parents to drop off Porkchop for the weekend. After dropping off the dog we were on the road and headed North to Lake Geneva. We made it up there really quickly and pulled into town around lunch time. We went to one of our favorite lunch spots Popeye's on Lake Geneva and scored a lake side table view for lunch. We had a great lunch watching all the locals drive their cars on the lake heading out to their ice fishing huts.

 

All the little black spots on the lake are ice fishing huts

The weekend before we were up there, Lake Geneva had a Winterfest celebration. Part of that celebration was the national snow sculpting competition. Obviously its cold enough to keep them standing so we were able to walk through all the sculptures. It was really cool, I took a ton of pictures!

 

Michael in front of Popeye's with a snow sculpture of Popeye character Wimpy and a stack of hamburgers; it was only fitting!

All the snow sculptures in the park

Michael with a snow brontosaurus

 

Me with sea turtles and a coral reef

Pigs on a Harley

 

Me with a cupcake

 

Eskimo family, check out the walrus underneath!

 

Robot

After we walked around the snow sculptures we headed to main street to stop in a few shops. We headed to one of my favorite stores, the Cornerstone Shoppe, but didn't find anything this time. It was time to check-in so we headed to the resort and to get our room. 

 

Our room, they have all just been re-done

 

Love the TV in the bathroom mirror!

A wintry view of the golf course from our balcony

We relaxed for a little bit and took a little nap before we headed to dinner. Before dinner we decided to exchange our Valentine's Day gifts. 

Present time!

I love a little blue box!

 

A ladybug charm necklace! (Michael calls me ladybug, bug, buggy)

Modeling my new necklace!

 

Michael's turn next!

I made Michael a "52 reasons why I love you" book from a deck of cards

One of the "52 reasons"

After exchanging gifts, we headed to dinner at the hotel. Here is a picture of us before heading out.

 

After dinner we relaxed and watched some of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics before calling it a night. 

On Saturday we got up and went to breakfast at Egg Harbor. After breakfast we hit up all the shops on main street that we missed on Friday. I found some cute Easter decorations, we got Porkchop some treats and I found a couple new pairs of shoes. I was really excited about the shoes because pretty much all of my shoes are way too big after losing almost 60 pounds. It's really weird to think my feet are shrinking too! Nine West was having a buy one, get one for 50% off sale so I picked out 2 new pairs. After torturing Michael with all the shopping he could take, we picked up some sandwiches and headed back to the resort. We put our swimsuits on and headed to the pool. We took a nice swim and spent quite a bit of time in the hot tub; it was really relaxing. We took a nice little nap after our dip before we had to get ready for dinner. 

Ready for our Valentine's dinner

We had dinner at the Geneva Chophouse. It is in the Grand Geneva resort and it's one of our favorite restaurants. We had a delicious and elegant meal. They pulled out all the stops for Valentine's Day giving all the ladies flowers and a special menu for the night. We started with chopped salads and bread. Michael had a filet and king crab legs. I had one of their specials which was a center cut ribeye with porcini mushroom crust and porcini mushroom butter. For dessert they had a special chocolate bar where you got to choose what you wanted. We chose chocolate covered strawberries, truffles and a chocolate pop. Everything was so delicious, we left with very full bellies. After dinner we headed to the hotel bar and watched some of the Olympics. We got to see Apollo Anton Ono win his silver medal in a crazy race! We had a great night.

On Sunday morning we headed to Egg Harbor for breakfast again and then went back to the hotel to relax before we had to pack up and get ready to leave. We got home in the early afternoon and just relaxed for a while. My parents came down to drop off Porkchop for us after watching him all weekend so we wanted to take them out to dinner to thank them. We went to Bonefish, which was delicious as usual! After dinner, my parents headed home and Michael and I crashed. We had such an amazing weekend. It was great to get away and we really love going to Lake Geneva no matter what time of year. I'm excited because I get to go back again in May for my sister Arla's bachelorette party that I'm hosting at the Grand Geneva Resort!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! I'm sad the weekend is over, but I'm happy I have a short work week. Hopefully next weekend will be here before we know it!

Happy Valentine's Day

So a lot of people will moan and complain about how Valentine's Day is a made-up, Hallmark holiday and you don't need a special day to tell someone you love them. Well to that person I would say, you must not be in love! I agree that you don't need a special day to tell someone you love them, but Valentine's Day gives you an excuse to do it an extra special way! Michael and I don't usually go too over the top. I typically make him a card or a sentimental gift. He is a wild card and I never know what to expect from him!

We are celebrating this weekend with a 3-day weekend getaway in Lake Geneva (I had this post done and scheduled to post today). I will have a full round up of pictures and details about our weekend away tomorrow!

Me and my Valentine

Love Through All Seasons

I love you all through February,

Not just on Valentine’s Day;

I cherish you when the flowers of spring

Appear in the midst of May.

I adore you in the summer,

When the air is filled with heat;

Without you in my life each day,

I wouldn’t be complete.

I treasure you in fall,

When leaves are turning gold;

I have loved you since the beginning;

I’ll love you when you’re old.

I cherish you in the winter,

When colder days are here;

I love you, love you all the time,

Every minute of the every year.

So I’ll give to you this Valentine,

But I want to let you know,

It’s not just today, but always,

That I will love you so.

Getaway time!

Michael and I are leaving tomorrow morning to head North to Lake Geneva. I am so excited for a long weekend getaway, we could really use it! It has been a really rough couple of weeks at work for both of us. I'm excited for all the relaxing, dining, and shopping with just the two of us. It's one of our favorite places to go to sneak away. I will have a full weekend recap and hopefully lots of pictures on Monday. I hope everyone has a great weekend and a very lovey dovey Valentine's Day!

And since I don't really like to have a post without a picture, here's a picture of Michael and I last year on Valentine's Day!

Whole lotta shaking going on!

This morning around 4 am I was woken up out of a dead sleep because our bed and everything else was shaking! (Michael didn't feel a thing!) A 3.8 earthquake hit the far west Chicago area in the DeKalb and Sycamore area. People as far as Wisconsin said they felt it as well. We had an earthquake last year as well but the epicenter was in southern Illinois and it was over 7.0 magnitude. I'm glad that this one wasn't as big as that because we would have probably had some damage since it was a lot closer. I've never felt an earthquake my whole life and then we have 2 in the past year, crazy! Well I guess we're now prepared for our vacation in California in July, since I know what to expect now. Let's hope this whole earthquake thing doesn't become a regular occurrence in Illinois, we shouldn't have to deal with snow and earthquakes!

Olympic Fever!

I'm so excited the 2010 Winter Olympics are starting this weekend! I've always been a big fan of watching the Olympics. The last Olympics were the 2008 Summer Olympics and they were amazing especially with Michael Phelps in the pool! My favorite events of the winter Olympics are ice skating, skiing, bobsled, luge, snowboarding, speed skating and hockey. There are less events in the winter Olympics then the summer ones but they are all really exciting events to watch. We are going to miss most of the first weekend of events since we're going to be in Lake Geneva but luckily they don't have too many finals that first weekend. Go USA!

NBC has a full schedule of events here.

P.S. - It looks like Chicago could be hosting the winter olympics with how it looks outside today! I am happy to be warm and toasty inside and working from home today!

Sew Easy!

Well, I can scratch one thing off the baby bucket list! My mom came over early on Sunday before the Super Bowl bash to teach me how to sew! I'm so excited that not only did I learn to turn it on and get started, but I actually sewed a table runner! It wasn't nearly as daunting as I thought it would be. I feel very confident that I would be able to do it all over again even without my mom there. I still have a lot to learn though so we will be having another lesson hopefully soon.

Look my sewing machine is out of the box and has seen light for the first time in 2 years!

 

Cutting the right length and width for my table runner

Look, I'm sewing! (testing on some scraps first)

I did it! One side is ladybugs and daisies for summer

The other side is bunnies for Easter!

I am really happy I finally got my sewing machine out of the box and actually made something on my first try. My mom's years of sewing experience really helped walking me through everything. I would not have been able to just take it out of the box and start going without her help. Thanks Mom! I can't wait to see what my next project is going to be! Stay tuned!

Menu Planning Monday

 

We have a shorter menu this week since we are heading to Lake Geneva on Friday! 

Monday: Leftovers from super bowl (I'm too tired to cook)

Tuesday: Ranch chicken sandwiches and salad

Wednesday: Cheese ravioli and turkey Italian sausage

Thursday: Thai food

A Super Weekend Recap!

We had such a great weekend even though the game didn't go our way last night. This is going to be a long recap, but here we go. On Friday I worked from home which is always a treat. I was able to get up and workout before plugging in and working in sweatpants is always a perk. I finished up early and then headed to the grocery store to load up on everything we needed for the party. I did not want to have to shop with everyone and their mother on Saturday so I was glad I got it done. Michael came and met me to help get everything loaded in my car and then followed me home to help unload it; he's such a great hubby! Friday night I was able to get my cake bite mixture made and rolled all the bites and put them in the freezer for dipping on Saturday.

On Saturday I got up and worked out and then I had an appointment to get my hair cut and colored at Rockstar salon. After getting my hair done I headed to Joann to pick up some fabric since my mom taught me to sew yesterday! Once I was done running errands I headed home and got busy in the kitchen!

 

On Saturday night we had a date night and went to dinner at P.F. Changs. Michael had never been there before so I thought it was time we went. It was super yummy! We came home from dinner and just relaxed and watched a movie.  

Sunday I started the day working out and then we headed out to grab some breakfast. We came back and started prepping all the food for the party. Everything came together very well and rather easily. My parents came over around noon and helped us finish getting everything ready. The main reason they came early though was so my mom could give me my first sewing lesson! I'll have a post later in the week to talk about my first sewing experience. Everyone started coming over around 4 to get ready for kickoff. We laid out all the grub and everyone dug in! I'm really bad at taking pictures during an event when I'm hosting so I only have a couple of pics from the night.

The house feeling football festive and valentine love!

 

This little guy had his first outing to our house and was the hit of the party!

 

Paul - crazy about dogs, Dad - very into the game

The famous cake bites 

The party was really fun and I think everyone had a great time. Our first Super Bowl party was a success! The only bad thing about it all is that we had to come back to work today. I could have used another day off! At least we have a short work week since we are going to Lake Geneva on Friday so today is already my Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a speedy week so we can do this weekend thing all over again!

Super Bowl XLIV!

Go Colts!

 

Cooking up something good...

It's the day before the big game! I went grocery shopping yesterday and picked up everything we needed for the party tomorrow. I also made my cake mixture for cake bites last night. Today I am prepping everything and getting some cooking done. I am prepping the pizzas, making three pounders, chocolate peanut clusters and dipping and decorating the cake bites. Tomorrow we'll be making the buffalo chicken dip, nacho bar items, and potato slabs. We are in good shape, I'm excited!

Michael had gotten me a chefs coat a couple years ago but I always forget to wear it. He snapped some pictures today while we were cooking. I can prove I wear it now!

Happy Friday!

 

Whew! Another work week is over; we made it! I am really looking forward to this weekend. I got to work from home today and only until noon, then I headed to the grocery store to stock up on everything we need for the Super Bowl party on Sunday. Luckily our cleaning lady came yesterday so I don't have any cleaning to do!

Tomorrow morning I am going to get my hair cut and colored for Valentine's Day (I gotta look good for my husby!) I am going to spend the rest of Saturday in the kitchen getting everything prepared for the Super Bowl. Hopefully we are going to have a date night on Saturday night as well. Sunday is the big game and party time; I can't wait! I'll have a full weekend recap with pictures on Monday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Super Menu

Well the biggest football game of the year is Sunday! We are hosting a Super Bowl party at our house this year. I'm super excited. We love throwing parties, especially themed parties. This will be our first Super Bowl party. Oktoberfest is our big shindig of the year but we're happy to add another to our list! So with any party comes the menu, my favorite part of planning!

We're not having a huge crowd only about 12 or 15 people but that doesn't stop me from cooking for 30! What can I say it's in the Ebeling blood, we cook for an army!

So here's the Super Bowl menu:

Buffalo chicken dip 

English muffin pizzas

Veggies and dip

Three pounders

Potato slabs 

Make your own nachos bar

Little smokies wrapped in bacon

Sub sandwiches

Tamales

Tortilla roll-ups

Cheese and crackers

Cake pops

Chocolate nut clusters

So that's the plan for now. I think it sounds pretty darn tasty! My diet is definitely going to take a beating that day but I just have to make sure I workout in the morning to adjust for some additional calories. I am looking forward to spending Saturday and Sunday in the kitchen getting everything ready! I'm actually excited about the game this year too, I'm hoping the boys in blue in white pull it out this year; Go Colts!

January & February Goals

Well the first month of the new year is already gone. I can't believe how fast it went. I'm really looking forward to February. Here's a recap of my January goals and new ones for February.

January Goals:
1. Meet my first weight loss goal of 50lbs, only have to lose 8lbs to reach this goal. Goal met! I am down 56lbs!
2. Continue to workout at least 3 times a week. Goal met! Most weeks I worked out 4 times but had a week with only 3 work outs.
3. Try at least 3 new recipes this month. Goal met! I made: brown sugar pork chops , crunchy garlic chicken and pesto presto italian flag chicken. We loved both chicken dishes, the pork chops, not so much.
4. Have Valentine's Day decorations up by the end of the month. Goal met!
5. Blog at least 20 times this month. Goal met! I blogged 27 times in January.

February Goals:
1. Continue my weight loss. I am hoping to be down more than 60lbs by the end of February.
2. Continue to workout at least 3 times a week.
3. Have a fabulous weekend getaway with my husband for Valentines Day!
4. Try 3 new recipes this month
5. Blog at least 20 times this month
6. Learn to sew! (It's actually going to happen this month!)

6 more weeks...

That rascal of a groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow today. I was very disappointed in his performance. I was really hoping for an early spring. I am getting antsy for long walks, sitting on our deck and firing up the grill. Oh well, at least the days are getting longer. It's no longer completely dark when I get off my train at night. It's nice to not leave and come home in the dark anymore. Think positive right?!!

Menu Planning Monday

Well it's another week and another menu. We did really well last week cooking at home almost every night so I want to continue that momentum. We tried some new recipes that were really good as well.

Here's our menu for the week:

Sunday: Pesto presto Italian flag chicken (new recipe; it was so good!)
Monday: Hash brown turkey tenderloins with salad
Tuesday: Garlic and panko crusted shrimp with baked potatoes
Wednesday: Michael - burger/ Sara - pad thai
Thursday: Cheese ravioli and turkey Italian sausage
Friday: Take out