Tell Yourself The Truth

Did you know that our mind believes what we tell it? If you want to believe the truth, you have to hear it! You have to tell yourself the truth. That’s why it’s so important to monitor your thought life and think positive thoughts about yourself!

I mention this not because it’s something I’ve mastered but rather it’s something I struggle with and I want to be more mindful about it. 

Today, I am telling my brain that I am stronger than I think. I am worth taking care of and I am worthy of treating myself with the upmost respect, which includes keeping my own promises to myself. I can make healthy choices that serve my body well. I thrive when I am hydrated and when I get movement in during my day. Eating well makes my body feel better! I am doing a great job!

Truth is, I am doing a great job! I have been treating my body well this week; eating good food to fuel. I weighed in at 227.5 lbs today which is the lowest I’ve been all year!

This weekend, we celebrate my youngest turning 5 and I will have cupcakes and pizza and then, I’ll continue on with eating healthy and working on keeping promises to myself. I’m about halfway into my holiday challenge and I’m making the good choices during a tempting season filled with holiday goodies. I am so proud of myself for choosing a better balance this month that is setting me up for losing weight and gaining better health!

Follow the Plan, Not the Feeling

Today’s post comes from a chronic feeling follower - me! This is something I have become more aware of this past year.

I believe breakthrough can come from following the plan, not the feeling. Sometimes I won’t feel like tracking my nutrition, or going for a walk, but if I follow the plan and do it anyway, change happens! Good change, happens!

There are definitely times when following feelings can be wise. For instance, if I feel like I need to rest, I might need to! However, if I always feel like I need to rest, that’s different. It does take some discernment. It’s not an all-or-nothing process.

I do love the reminder of following the plan, not the feelings, though. This isn’t an absolute rule, of course, but it makes me stop and think; is this a feeling that is going to help my progress, or hurt my progress. Can I give into this feeling, or should I push through and follow the plan?

Let me tell you, in these cold winter months I rarely feel like eating healthy foods like salad greens. However, I know that eating them will make me feel better even though I don’t feel like doing it. This would be a good time to just follow the plan!

Side note: I have been getting these salad mix bags and it’s been making eating my salad greens much more enjoyable this time of year!

If you get anything from this post I hope you remember that you won’t always feel like working toward achieving your goals; but transformation can be found by following the plan, not the feelings.

What I Ate Monday: Dec 1

Yesterday was the last day of Thanksgiving break at home with my kids and it was a really great day! We had so much fun during break, and a lot of time to relax together. 

We played Mario World, Mario Kart, and board games. We visited with family during Thanksgiving. We went to the movie theater to watch Zootopia 2. We baked cookies, decorated the Christmas tree, and went to a Christmas Festival. We watch The Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving and Christmas specials. We had a wonderful break together, and my husband got to spend a lot of it at home with us, too!

During the last day of break, I took a picture of just about everything that I ate and wanted to share it today.

For breakfast, I made an omelette with 2 eggs, 1 slice of ham and 1/2 slice of American cheese. I had a small side of grapes, too.

For my morning snack, I had apple slices and peanut butter.

For lunch, I had leftover chicken sausage, potatoes and green beans.

For my afternoon snack, I had 1/2 of a peanut butter cookie (the rest went to my daughter), some sliced Gouda and a homemade butter pecan latte.

For dinner, I had beef and broccoli with jasmine rice and a Fresca.

My evening snack was a couple of dark chocolate almond nougats. This all came out to about 1,700 calories for the day!

It’s Going Well

It’s December 1st and I’m feeling so good today! I am working on my Holiday Challenge which has been going really well. 

If you saw my week one update, you might be wondering how it’s going well since I was up a pound during the update, and my goal is to maintain and/or lose 5 pounds during this challenge. I guess it all comes down to how you define things “going well”!

I’m defining things as “going well” in a few different ways. First of all, I feel really good physically. I’m getting in more activity than I normally would this time of year because it’s part of my challenge, and it’s helping me break out of the seasonal funk that comes with less sunlight and less activity during the winter months.

I’d also say it’s going well because the day after Thanksgiving I was up 3 lbs but by the time I did my update, I was only up 1 lbs and today, I’m back to 229 lbs, and so I’m officially maintaining my weight which is my first weight-loss goal of the challenge!

Also, can we talk about how much better you feel when you’re hydrated?! Yes! Drinking more water as part of this challenge has been helping me so much!

I am encouraged that I feel good on this Monday morning, and I hope you are feeling good too!

Holiday Challenge: Week 1 Recap

The first week of my holiday challenge took place during Thanksgiving break. To say this was a challenge is totally accurate. It was a big challenge to start off this way!

I enjoyed Thanksgiving, the time with my family, and all of the leftovers, and now I’m working on getting back on track. Still, here’s an update on my challenge tasks from week 1, during Thanksgiving break.

Challenge Tasks:

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

Realistically, I met this goal probably 4/7 days. I did make sure to get at least 60oz daily, though!

• Walk for 60-90 minutes/week

I made an effort even during the craziness of Thanksgiving break, and got about 30 minutes in this week!

• Track nutrition daily, 5/7 days each week

I met this goal! I tracked 5/7 days this week!

• Blog weekly challenge updates

I met this goal, with today’s update!

Weight Loss Goal:

Maintaining my current weight is my first goal! My “shoot for the moon” goal is to lose 5 pounds!

Challenge start weight: 229 lbs.

Week 1 weight: 230 lbs.

Thanksgiving impacted this weigh-in, for sure. I am continuing on despite gaining a pound this week and I know I’ll see progress for it!

Hot Honey Beef and Broccoli

It’s the day before Thanksgiving and I’ve been doing my best at not overindulging this week just because I know I will be overindulging during one meal on Thanksgiving. Reading that you probably either get exactly what I’m saying or haven’t had to battle the all-or-nothing mentality.

One way I was battling the all-or-nothing mentality this week was by putting more interesting and healthy dishes on our meal plan. 

On Monday, I made beef and broccoli for dinner. I don’t know if I’ve ever made this meal from home before to be honest. It was so simple and majorly satisfying!

This was made with thin beef, fresh broccoli, and whole grain rice. I added the stir fry corn and sesame seeds to add a little extra to the dish. I topped it all with a drizzle of hot honey and liquid aminos. It tasted like takeout! This meal is going to be on a weekly repeat for a while.

Full Day of Eats (Mexican Take-Out)

Here’s a sneak peak into a full day of eats where we ended up eating Mexican take-out for dinner. We didn’t know what we were having for dinner until that evening. 

Had I been planning on getting Mexican all along, I may have skipped my afternoon latte to make more room for a calorie deficit but, this ended up alright even without knowing in advance!

300 calories

Breakfast was an omelet wrap made with 1 egg, 1 egg white, 1/2 slice of American and 2 oz of Virginia ham. The toast was 100 calories; Artesano white.

~ 215 calories

Since I didn’t eat breakfast until 11:00am, my lunch was light. I made a salad with lettuce, ham, mozzarella cheese and french dressing

~ 220 calories

My afternoon latte was made with 2 shots of espresso, 1 oz of simple syrup, and 8 oz of oatmilk.

~ 800 calories

Dinner was Mexican rice made with queso, topped with steak, chicken, peppers and onions.

~ 140 calories

Our Mexican restaurant gives us chips and fresh salsa with our meal, which is hard to pass up!

140 calories

To satisfy my sweet tooth, I had some dark chocolate with almonds.

It’s hard to tell exactly what this came out to, but if I had to guess I’d say this all was about 1,815 calories which still gives me a little deficit for the day!

Full Day of Eats (1800 cal)

Happy Monday! Today I want to share a peek into a full day of eats from Thursday, last week!

On this day, I had a dermatologist appointment first thing in the morning, after getting the kids ready for the day and off to school. I was short on time and so I grabbed a premier protein for breakfast and made sure to bring my 40 oz water with me.

When I got home, I had a yogurt and warmed myself up some chicken and rice soup that my mom had made.

I went on an afternoon walk to get some steps in! It was a beautiful 45° November day.

As a snack I had a much needed latte made with two shot of espresso, my husband’s homemade simple syrup and oatmilk.

For dinner, we ate at a friend’s house and they made lasagna!

For dessert, I had one of the peanut butter blossom cookies I made the other day.

This all came in around 1,800 calories! It was a good day.

Holiday Challenge (Nov 21 - Dec 21)

Happy Friday! Since my Fall Challenge just ended I figured I’d keep the momentum going with a little Holiday Challenge! 

Challenge Tasks:

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

I am carrying this goal over from my Fall Challenge because it’s totally necessary!

• Walk for 60-90 minutes/week

To be honest, 90 minutes/week was a lot easier expectation when the weather was nice. So I’ve adjusted this task to a range of 60-90 minutes each week!

• Track nutrition daily, 5/7 days each week

Tracking nutrition is key! I’m going to be more realistic in this challenge and say 5 out of 7 days each week!

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is my favorite accountability tool and will help keep me focused! It also provides a time to readjust expectations when necessary!

Weight Loss Goal:

Since it’s the holidays, my weight loss goal is to maintain my 10lb weight loss for 2025! I started the year out around 240lbs and now just I’m under 230lbs. Maintaining this is my first goal! My “shoot for the moon” goal is to lose 5 pounds!

Starting weight: 229 lbs.

Goal Weight: 224 lbs.

Fall Challenge Outcome (Oct 20 - Nov 20)

Hello! It’s been about a month since I started my Fall challenge and today is the last day! So, let’s check in on how I did!

Fall Challenge Goals

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

I wasn’t perfect with this but, I drank more often than not and so that’s a win for me!

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

This was really fun to do in the beginning but as the weeks went on and it got more cold out, it became less fun and more challenging. I still got some movement in each week which is a win, but this is a clear area for improvement moving forward!

• Track nutrition daily

I ended up doing this most of the time, which is so helpful! I’d say on average I did 4/7 days each week.

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is the one goal I accomplished fully and it’s such a great accountability tool!

Weight-Loss Goal

On October 20th, I weighed in at 233 lbs. I’m was hoping to get down to 225 lbs by today, November 20th but that didn’t happen. My official weigh in today is 229 lbs. That’s 4 pounds lost, which is half of my goal! I am happy with this, and I want to keep pressing on!

Omelette Wrap

Have you ever made an Omelette Wrap? It’s my go-to breakfast this week and so I thought I’d share it with you!

It’s an easy and filling 300-calorie breakfast idea, providing about 20 grams of protein! Here’s how I make mine:

Omelette Wrap

1 egg

1 egg white

1/2 sausage patty (1 oz)

1 slice marble cheese

Cook the eggs like an omelette, add the cooked sausage patty and slice of cheese. Fold it all together and enjoy!

I’m sure you can add even more protein to this dish by adding another egg white and a side of cottage cheese. You could change out the sausage patty for ham or make it a veggie wrap. If you have some baby spinach on hand that would be a good addition, too. 

I love using base recipes for our meals that you can easily change up with just a few ingredients.

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I used some leftover rotisserie chicken to make a chicken pot pie soup and it was such a win that I wanted to share it with you!

Come to find, one rotisserie chicken can be split into two soups. I love it when I find a new way to stretch our dollar. I initially bought a rotisserie chicken for Chicken Gnocchi Soup. I didn’t need the entire rotisserie and so I stored it away until the other day when I made this soup!

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

1/2 of a rotisserie chicken (fully cooked and separated)

4 cups chicken broth

1 - 14 oz can cream of chicken

1 bag frozen mixed vegetables

1/2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole grain rice (cooked separately)

Salt and pepper to taste

Add the rotisserie chicken, chicken broth, can of cream of chicken soup and bag of mixed vegetables into a slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 hours. About 1/2 hour before serving, add the heavy cream. Serve the soup over rice and enjoy!

I really like using whole grain rice for this soup because of the texture it adds to the dish. I made the rice separately, and served it separately. This helped with portioning since I could scoop out the amount of rice I wanted. I did about 1/2 cup of rice to 1 cup of soup ratio.

I did end up adding more broth after taking this picture to make it more “soupy” but I wanted to show you it this way so you could see what all was in it.

As I was eating it, I thought that next time I could make this with cauliflower rice instead of whole grain to make room for some carbs. I was thinking more carbs in the form of biscuits on the side! Wouldn’t that be great? I think so!

The Week Before Thanksgiving

It’s the week before Thanksgiving week, which means it’s the last week before Thanksgiving break for my kids! I can’t wait to have them home with me for the week!

We may just stay in at home, cozied up all week doing Christmas crafts in effort to turn our house into the North Pole (similar to the Elf movie). 

Or, we may venture out and go to the movies, the children’s museum, and/or trampoline park. We have a lot of fun options to pick from for the week. Either way, I just can’t wait to get some extra family time together.

We began decorating for Christmas a little earlier than usual because the dreary weather called for it, however we’re still waiting to fully decorate the Christmas tree until after Thanksgiving.

Even though the holidays can be a busy time, I am finding more of the slow moments that this season brings and soaking into them with intention. I am working on being more present in each moment, and I’m feeling so grateful for it all.

It Caught Up to Me

Happy Saturday! I don’t usually post on the weekends but I wanted to post the past few days and I just wasn’t feeling well enough. I’m feeling much better today!

Needless to say, there was no progress on my challenge this week. The sickness that was going around my house caught up to me. The good news is that I did maintain my loss. I’m just not sure how much progress I’ll see by Thursday this week when my challenge officially ends. 

That doesn’t mean that I’m giving up; I’m just acknowledging that I likely won’t reach my goal. Instead, I’ll try my best to get as close to my goal as possible, even if that means just maintaining the loss I’ve had so far!

Fall Challenge: Week Three Update

Hello! Week three didn’t go as well as I thought it would because sickness came to visit our house, but it also didn’t go terribly bad either.

Goal Progress

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

My water goal was met about 4/7 days, again. This is something I can improve on!

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

I didn’t do as well with my walking in week three, but I did make it on the treadmill once specifically to try and get some minutes toward this goal. I’d say I walked for about 40 of the 90 minutes that I wanted to accomplish.

• Track nutrition daily

I tracked my nutrition 4/7 days. This remains an area I could continue to improve on!

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is my update for week three!

Weight-Loss Goal

I’m still hanging around 230 lbs. I’m happy to have lost 3 pounds during this challenge. There’s about one week left in my challenge and while I likely won’t reach my initial (8lb) weight loss goal, I’m going to try to keep this 3lbs off, and shoot for a couple more lost before this challenge is finalized and done!

It’s not over until it’s over! Time to keep going!

A Spontaneous Adventure

Happy Friday! This week took a bit of a turn when our kids got sick but it’s November and so that’s not a big surprise. They are doing pretty okay, now!

Before the sickness came, we took a spontaneous adventure to Coolspring Ranch in Hermitage, PA. We spent half of the day there, walking around enjoying all of the different activities for the kids. It was our first time visiting and we look forward to going back next year!

Piper was wearing her Santa shirt because we also went to Kraynak’s Christmas World that day to walk through their light display. This was all on the day after Halloween. I know it may be early for some but this mom was ready for the transition to Thanksgiving and Christmas for sure!

The rest of this week was more relaxed. We spent a lot of time cozied up at home while our girls recovered from their sickness. 

It’s 9am on Friday morning now and Laney is still sleeping after being up most of the night. It’s chilly outside, with the wind blowing and I’m enjoying some quiet time in our warm house, as Piper and Nick are both out for school and work. Laney will be waking up soon and so I’ll grab myself a cup of coffee and wait.

I’ll update on my week 3 challenge results sometime soon!

Fall Challenge: Week Two Update

Hello! I’m sharing a recap of the second week of my Fall challenge. All in all, I did much better in week two than in my first week of the challenge and I anticipate week 3 to go even better still!

Goal Progress

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

My water goal was met 4/7 days. Not perfect but better than week one!

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

Thanks to a walk around the park, a trip to Zoo Boo, an afternoon at a pumpkin farm, and trick-or-treating around town with my family, I went way beyond my walking minute this week!

• Track nutrition daily

I tracked my nutrition 5/7 days. Major improvement from week one!

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is my update for week two!

Weight-Loss Goal

Last week, I weighed in at 232 lbs and this week I weighed in at 230 lbs. I’m happy to have lost 2 pounds this week!

5 more pounds to lose before this challenge ends. Let’s do this!

Halloween 2025

Hello! The second week of my challenge ended up being much better than the first week, even with Halloween in the mix. Sure, I’m having more sugar than usual but I’m trying to be mindful about it. 

Last night, we went to my grandparents house to celebrate my grandpa’s birthday with meatballs and cupcakes. I made some sourdough bread to take, as well.

After dinner, we took our kids around the block to trick or treat. This year, Laney wanted to be a “blutterfly” and Piper found an awesome chicken onesie to wear.

We are loving this season of life with little kids!

I’ll be sharing my full week two recap, soon!

I Love Walking

I’m trying to keep my goals on the front of my mind this week. One of my goals is to walk for 90 minutes each week. This hasn’t been too hard to do because I love it. The hardest part is remembering how much I love it before I begin. So, let me share a bit.

I’m so glad that I started walking outside again. I didn’t realize how much I have missed it. It’s convenient to have a treadmill but nothing beats walking out in nature.

Watching the trees change in color is such a treat this time of year. The smells of the season are something not be missed, as well. I love the sweet smell of the grass as the sun hits it, and the smell of the fallen leaves on the ground.

As if I needed more of a reason to go for a walk, I will also mention how much to helps me feel better physically, too. I was feeling a little overwhelmed this morning. There was a lot of tension in my body, and so I went for a walk. What a release!

Why am I sharing all of this? Well, sometimes I forget how much I love going for a walk. Sometimes it’s chilly out, and I’d rather stay inside where it’s warm and cozy. However, I haven’t ever taken a walk that I’ve regretted and that’s what I want to keep in mind as I work to meet my walking goal this month!

I Love Cooking

I’m happy to say that week two of my Fall Challenge is off to a much better start. If you missed my week one challenge update, you’ll want to check that out, here: Fall Challenge: Week One Recap.

Yesterday, I reached my water goal and I tracked my nutrition. I made a roast with mashed potatoes and vegetables for dinner, which was amazing! I love cooking, and even more so this time of year.

I also made an apple pie this past weekend for a family event. We finished off the last of the pie last night, which was tracked and ended up topping out my nutrition range for the day. 

I love to cook homemade goodies for my family, but I try not to have things like pie on hand too often because my self-control is very limited right now. It’s a balancing act, for sure!

Fall Challenge: Week One Recap

Hello, and happy Monday! I'm going to be honest with you. The first week of my challenge could have been considered a warm-up. I didn't meet my goals, but I also didn't completely throw in the towel. I'm going to celebrate the little wins! For Lauren, and whoever else is joining this challenge, I hope you can find some little or big wins to celebrate as well!

Week One Goal Progress

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

My water goal was met 3/7 days. I did make sure to drink at least 64 oz. on the other days!

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

I completed 60 minutes of walking, outside. It felt so good! 

• Track nutrition daily

I tracked my nutrition 2/7 days. This was pitiful, and a major area of improvement for the week ahead! I did, however, make some amazing homemade meals this week which tasted way better than eating out! (Little wins)

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is my update for week one!

Weight-Loss Goal

Last week, I weighed in at 233lbs and this week I weighed in at 232lbs. I only lost a pound but I'm happy to have lost it because I didn't put in my full effort in week one. Looking to buckle down more this week!

7 more pounds to lose in 24 days. Let’s do this!