Milestone: 50 Pounds Down!

As I was talking to my friend the other day, I shared a full recap of my weight-loss journey because she was curious and wasn’t aware. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought of the BIG picture of my weight-loss journey until recently.

15 years ago, in 2011, I weighed in at my highest weight of 270 pounds. This is where my “goal of losing 100 pounds” originated and this blog was created. 

I have a lot of archived posts from 2011-2023 that aren’t visible anymore, not for any reason other than I shared a lot of pictures of my children back then and I’m just not comfortable sharing their faces in this public space anymore.

Those posts would show that my weight-loss journey has not been a linear process for me. I’ve lived a lot of life in the past 15 years. I’ve experienced heartbreaking loss, multiple times. I’ve had the blessing of giving birth to two healthy babies. I raised those babies into toddlers and into preschoolers. I’m currently raising a preschooler and a pre-teen. I have had sick days, wonderful days, terrible days, etc. all along the way. 

A lot of life has happened in 15 years, which means a lot of learning has happened. A lot of success, and a lot of failure. All lessons, though.

To think of my journey starting at 270 pounds and now realizing that I’m currently 50 pounds down from that weight is encouraging! It may have taken 15 years to get here, but I made it! I made it HALFWAY to my goal of losing 100 pounds! Thank you, God!

If you would have told me in the beginning that it would have taken me 15 years to get here that would have been shocking. I’m sure I would have thought: “what took me so long?” But now that I know “what took me so long”, I am just proud that I never gave up.

Here’s to never giving up! Let’s keep going!

Full Day of Eats: Perfect End to the Day

Another day, another “full day of eats” post. You don’t mind, do you? I hope you enjoy these kinds of posts. They help me to stay on track and they give me ideas for the future! 

Today I am sharing everything I ate yesterday, January 28.

The highlight of breakfast was the slice of homemade sourdough bread I made fresh and warm from the oven. I had an ounce of pork sausage on the side before I left the house for the morning. I went to Tim Hortons to work remotely, for a change of scenery mostly. I grabbed a low calorie coffee mocha to get me through and keep me warm.

Breakfast: Coffee Mocha + Pork Sausage + Sourdough Bread

For lunch, I got creative! I took canned lump salmon and mixed it up with a couple tbsp. of bang bang sauce. I toasted the tortilla over an open flame and topped the taco with shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes. Amazing!

Lunch: Bang Bang Fish (lump salmon) Taco + Coke Zero

The afternoon snack was such a boss. If you’re a cheese stick lover like myself, you might want to try to bake some provolone (on a cookie sheet with parchment paper), and add a a sprinkle of thin sandwich pepperoni on top. Bake at 280° for 10 minutes. Roll it onto itself, and chefs kiss, incredible!

Afternoon Snack: Provolone + Pepperoni Rolls + 0 calorie Fresca

Dinner was delicious! I tried the mashed cauliflower and while it was good, I’m not totally loving it and so I probably won’t be getting it again. We’ll see though. My family enjoyed it!

Dinner: Soy Honey Butter Chicken + Loaded Cauliflower Mash + Seasoned Fries + Green Beans

For dessert, my husband got creative and made a banana split with peanut butter and milk chocolate chips. I enjoyed it in bed, with a heating pad and a show. Perfect end to the day!

Dessert: Peanut Butter + Chocolate Chip Banana Split

Total calories: 1,735

Full Day of Eats: On A Cold Day

Hello! Today I am sharing everything I ate on Tuesday, January 27. I don’t know about you but the cold weather has me wanting hot coffee and comfort food first thing in the morning. That’s not usual for me so, I went for it! 

Pork sausage has been my go-to when I’m craving a warm comforting breakfast. I know it’s not the healthiest option, but honestly I wasn’t going for the healthiest option at the time. That’s just real life, right? 80/20.

Let’s talk about my breakfast sandwich for a moment. It started with just 1 ounce of sausage and 1/2 slice of pepperjack on toast. Then as I looked at my plate I thought “ideally this would also have fruit or vegetables with it to make it more balanced”. 

I opened the fridge and the best I could do was add some lettuce to the sandwich and it was a welcomed addition. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but the crunch was good and I felt good about adding a little green to the dish.

Breakfast sandwich: 200 calories

Coffee: 135 calories

I worked really hard the rest of the morning to drink my water. I don’t know about you but when I’m cold, the last thing I want is to drink cold water. I know this about me so I made it a little challenge for myself to just do it! I got in 32 ounces before lunch.

For lunch, I had leftovers from the evening before. Sweet and savory beef over rice with vegetables and a handful of lettuce to add some more green to the plate!

Lunch: 300 calories

In the afternoon, I had my usual oatmilk latte because, you guessed it, it’s cold and I needed a warm up, as well as an energy boost.

Afternoon snack: 145 calories

Since it was a work night, I gathered myself a quick and easy-to-make dinner for while I was working. My family was having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, so I packed 6 meatballs and a bag of my favorite salad mix for dinner.

Dinner: 800 calories

When I was done working, I had a couple homemade cookies for dessert!

Dessert: 250 calories

This was a really low protein day for me, coming in at only 57 grams. I also noticed this day was almost double my macro goal for fat, coming in at 103 grams of fat for the day. 

I probably didn’t need the cookie, and I could have chosen a leaner protein for dinner, but it’s okay! I notice I’ve been eating more carbs than usual, and definitely more high-fat foods. I just believe this is a part of “wintering”.

My body is craving these types of things, per the season. Instead of resisting it, I am just making sure it fits into my calorie deficit (1,650-1,850 calories). So far, so good!

Total calories: 1,830 calories

Winter Challenge: Week 1 Recap

Hi! I can’t believe it’s already time for the first update of my Winter Challenge!

My biggest struggles this week came from how darn cold it has been lately. The cold weather made me (1) not want to drink water, and (2) not want to move much. 

Challenge Tasks:

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

I only met this goal about half of the time. I was just not thirsty for cold water. I would have rather had some hot tea or coffee, and I did that quite a bit. Drinking water is definitely an area of improvement in the weeks ahead!

• Walk for 30-60 minutes/week

I met this goal, but it wasn’t easy. It’s too cold (for me) to walk outside. I do have a treadmill but it’s in our basement and it’s also cold down there. Anything to do with movement right now means starting out cold. My body and mind is fighting it.

Still, I did a couple sessions on the treadmill this week and I didn’t regret it one bit once I was done.

• Track nutrition daily + stay within calorie range 5/7 days each week

As for my calorie deficit, I did a great job balancing that this week! I had a day where I didn’t fully track because we went out to eat, and it didn’t really throw me off course at all. 

 

It was a healthy eating week for me where I got to enjoy all sorts of the things I love (including some bites of crème brûlée, brownies with ice cream, some chocolate chip cookies and no-bakes).

• Tuesday: 1,731 calories
• Wednesday: did not track - out to eat!
• Thursday: 1,788 calories
• Friday: 1,816 calories
• Saturday: 1,793 calories
• Sunday: 1,745 calories
• Monday: 1,654 calories

• Blog weekly challenge updates

First one done!

Weight-Loss Goal:

My realistic and main goal is to lose 8 - 10 pounds during this challenge. My “shoot for the moon” goal is to lose 15 pounds!

Realistic goal weight: 216 - 214 lbs.

“Shoot for the moon” goal weight: 209 lbs. 

Starting weight: 224 lbs.

Week 1: 222 lbs. (-2 lbs)

What I Ate for Dinner: Jan 19 - Jan 23

Hello! Today I am sharing what I ate for dinner, Monday, January 19 - Friday, January 23. I didn’t follow my meal plan exactly but, I still stuck with a lot of what I had planned.

Monday: Turkey Chili

Tuesday: Potsticker + Miso Soup

Wednesday: Wing Night / Family Dinner Out (a pub pretzel + some bites of dessert included)

Thursday: Salmon Steaks + Jasmine Rice + Broccoli

Friday: Tacos (only 2 pictured, but I actually had 3)

This was what we had for dinner last week. I hope it helps give you some ideas and insight into I’m eating while losing weight!

What I Eat After Eating Out: Leftovers for Lunch

Right now my goal is to eat within a calorie deficit 5 out of 7 days a week. On Wednesday, we went out to dinner for my daughter’s birthday. We had pub pretzels, wings, fries and dessert. It was great! 

I definitely went over my calorie deficit when we went out to dinner, but I didn’t completely go overboard. I had 1 pretzel stick, 3 wings, a small handful of fries, and some bites of the dessert we got for the table. I was able to have such restraint because I ate a large salad at home before we went out.

Going out to eat and going over my calorie budget wasn’t a surprise, it was calculated and also not entirely calculated. There’s a sweet spot I have found and it’s where I’ve been living lately. I’ve been intentional and well-calculated while also not being completely rigid about it.

Since my post on “momentum in weight-loss” went live yesterday, I figured I’d do a follow up and show exactly what I ate the day after I went over my calorie deficit.

Thursday, January 22

In the morning, I just drank water. I’m rarely hungry for food in the morning. Occasionally I will make an omelet, or drink a protein shake, but I didn’t want anything until about 11am. So let’s start with what I had for lunch!

For lunch, I ate 3 leftover wings and 1/2 bag of “everything” salad, by Taylor Farms (~ 520 calories). This is my favorite pre-mixed salad kit of the moment. You have got to try it!

In the afternoon, I finished the other 1/2 of the bagged salad mix (~ 280 calories) and made myself an oatmilk latte (~ 145 calories).

For dinner, I wasn’t feeling what I had originally planned and so I pivoted and made salmon steaks, jasmine rice and broccoli. (~ 722 calories)

For dessert, I had a chocolate chip cookie that I made with my girls that evening. (~ 125 calories)

I ended the day around 1,790 calories! It was a good day!

Where is This Momentum Coming From?

I have had a weight-loss breakthrough recently. I am at my lowest weight in 20 years. That sentence doesn’t even sound real, but it’s true!

I have been trying to lose weight ever since I was a teenager and if I’m honest, probably even before that. I was always bigger than my friends, my family, and I knew it. 

I grew up in the 90’s when diet culture was everything, or at least in our house it seemed to be. I have learned so much over the years and none of it has gone to waste. It all contributed to this season of life when I’m seeing such success! 

So, what’s different this time? Where is this momentum coming from?

When they say healthy living is a “journey”, it’s true. It’s not a short one, either. It’s a life-long journey and we learn all along the way. I’m still not done learning, and I’m grateful for all that I have learned already.

The all-or-nothing mentality that I’ve shared about many times in the past is worse for us than we might think. It’s a sneaky mentality that makes us think, “I blew it today so I might as well give in again the next day, and the next day, and I’ll eventually get back on track when I feel like up to the challenge.” This is a cycle I had been in for all of my life.

I decided to try something different this time. When I overindulge, which happens almost weekly because date nights, birthday parties, life in general; I just move on. Almost as if nothing happened. 

I don’t overcompensate for it the next day (which would make me feel deprived, and weak and more apt to give in and give up). I just continue on like normal, and trust that it will all balance out again. It may take some time, but I’ve seen that to be true.

I also don’t wait until I feel like getting back on track. I don’t chase or follow my feelings. I follow the plan. I won’t always feel like doing the right thing for my body, and that’s exactly why I have struggled for so long. Eventually, I follow my feelings and wait for them to change before I get back on track. That’s counterproductive. It’s kept me back from reaching my goal of losing 100 pounds, all of my adult life.

I’m not sure if this is the year when I will finally lose 100 pounds because, it’s not a race. I am wanting to lose this weight in a slow and sustainable way. It might not be as fast as I could, but I know that I will reach that goal eventually because of everything I’ve learned and how much I have grown over these years.

Full Day of Eats - Everything Was So Good

Hey there! I’ve got a full day of eats lined up for today, while maintaining a slight calorie deficit. Everything I ate on this day tasted so, so good!

On this day, I woke up, got the kids off to school, went for a fasted walk, and came home to work a bit. I ate a delicious ~310 calories breakfast. I made crispy rounds, scrambled eggs (1 egg, 1 egg white), with ham and pepperjack cheese.

Late morning, I picked up my youngest from preschool. We played together and I got a little more work done. For lunch, I tossed together 2 oz of lightly breaded chicken and a Mexican Street Corn salad kit. It was so good!

~ 380 calories

In the afternoon, I had my usual oat milk latte.

~ 145 calories

For dinner, I made lasagna soup. It was so comforting!

~ 440 calories

After dinner, our family watched “Free Willy” so of course we had some popcorn.

I made some homemade chocolate chip cookies just in time for the movie to end!

~ 250 calories for two cookies.

Making homemade cookies and watching a movie from my childhood was the best way to end this day!

I ended up consuming around 1,750 calories which is what I aim for in a day when eating with a calorie deficit in mind.

Winter Challenge (Jan 20 - March 20)

I am excited and nervous to begin a new challenge! I’m calling this new challenge the “Winter Challenge” as it will span the remainder of winter from January 20 - March 20. Woohoo! Let’s do this!

This is the start of the longest challenge I’ve committed to in a long time. I don’t know why that makes me feel nervous but it does! I also know it’s good to do things that make you feel uncomfortable.

I guess I’m just feeling a little intimidated. I don’t want to be too aggressive or set myself up for discouragement, so even though it’s a longer challenge I am still going to be gentle and realistic with myself while still making it challenging.

If I need to adapt these challenge tasks or my weight-loss goal along the way, I will. A lot can change in two months, and I won’t be rigid. Grace is necessary in all things, and especially in a weight-loss journey.

I will also be honest with myself if these tasks become too easy, as it’s supposed to challenge me and help keep my momentum in weight-loss. So, let’s make a task plan!

Challenge Tasks:

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

This is a part of every challenge because it actually is a challenge for me to do this, and it’s a challenge task that is so worth completing!

• Walk for 30-60 minutes/week

I am still keeping my walking minutes lower than one might think is needed for weight-loss, and I will adjust as needed throughout the challenge.

• Track nutrition daily + stay within calorie range 5/7 days each week

This has been a part of every challenge but I’m changing it up a bit and adding the terms of “staying within my nutritional range” for a slight calorie deficit which is currently somewhere between 1,650 - 1,850 calories daily.

• Blog weekly challenge updates

I’ll be checking in weekly for accountability!

Weight-Loss Goal:

My realistic and main goal is to lose 8 - 10 pounds during this challenge. My “shoot for the moon” goal is to lose 15 pounds!

Starting weight: 224 lbs.

Realistic goal weight: 216 - 214 lbs.

“Shoot for the moon” goal weight: 209 lbs.

The cool thing about this is that no matter how much weight I lose, even if I just lose one pound in the next 8 weeks, I will still be weighing in at my lowest weight in 20 years. That makes any loss a win at this point! 

I am so, so pumped! Let’s go!

New Year Challenge: Week 3 Recap

Today I am sharing my final recap of the New Year Challenge! Creating and participating in this challenge has accomplished what I had hoped!

Challenge Tasks:

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

I did this most of the time!

• Walk for 30-60 minutes/week

I reached the goal of 30 minutes!

• Track nutrition daily, 5/7 days each week

Did it and stayed within my nutritional ranges as a bonus!

• Blog weekly challenge updates

Completed this all 3 weeks!

Weight Loss Goal:

My first goal of this challenge is to get back to 224 lbs and maintain that weight until my next challenge starts. My “shoot for the moon” goal was to lose 7 pounds because, why not?

Challenge start weight: 227 lbs.

Week one weigh-in: 226 lbs.

Week two weigh-in: 225 lbs.

Final weigh-in: 224 lbs.

I sure am glad that I shot for the moon. While I didn’t make it, I still landed closer than I would have otherwise! 

I met my goal of getting back to 224 lbs. and I’m super proud of that! On to the next challenge!

Dinner Meal Plan: Jan 18 - 23

Happy Sunday! Just popping in to share my meal plan for dinner this week!

Dinner Menu

Sunday: Turkey Chili + Cornbread 

Monday: Salisbury Steak + Mashed Potatoes + Mixed Vegetables 

Tuesday: Potstickers + Miso Soup + Edamame 

Wednesday: Wing Night!

Thursday: Chicken Sausage Fried Rice  

Friday: Tacos or Homemade Pizza

Hope this helps give you some meal ideas! Have a great day!

Thoughts From My Walk

While I was walking by the lake, I let my voice-to-text roll and just started talking. Here are some of my thoughts from that walk.

I have noticed within the past week or so that I am thinking about healthier choices more in general and seeking opportunities to make healthier choices. For instance, every day last week when I dropped off my youngest off at Preschool, I went for a walk immediately after. Part of this is because it’s winter time, and the weather was finally favorable enough to do it, but at the same time I could’ve chosen not to. I saw the opportunity and seized it, and I’m very proud of myself for that.

There’s something different about this year, 2026, I can feel it. I believe that I will succeed. I believe that I will reach my goals. In years prior it was always more of a wish or hope when I would set weight loss goals, almost knowing that it was only a wish because of my circumstances. I was in the baby-toddler trenches at the time. 

My kids are a little older now, ages 5 and 10, and I have a little more energy and opportunity to focus on myself again. I’m seizing that opportunity now; I’m doing it and I will continue to do it. 

Life is shifting in ways that are bittersweet for me. My children will both be in full-time school next year and so I will have even more time to focus on me. Of course we never know what God has for us but I do believe that the upcoming shift in our family, while a little heartbreaking for a mother, will produce good fruit because God is faithful.

I am so excited for what this year has for me and I am going to continue working to seize every opportunity to make healthier decisions and give myself grace in times when I don’t. 

During this entire journey of trying to lose weight, which has been my entire adult life and even longer if I’m honest — it has all led to this season of success. 

I have learned so much over the years I have learned how to fail gracefully and get back up again and that’s good because I’m sure I will do that many times this year, but I also know that life has shifted enough and is continuing to shift in a way that provides opportunity for me to continue to grow and finally reach my goals. 

I’m looking forward to this year and the growth that will come!

What I Ate Monday: Jan 12

I know it’s Friday, but today I am sharing everything I ate on Monday, January 12.

In the morning, I had a hot cup of tea with a tsp of raw sugar. I also had water with a pinch of salt and squeeze of lemon. I didn’t eat anything for breakfast but had lunch around 11am.

Since I didn’t eat breakfast, I had a large “everything” salad with grilled chicken for lunch. It came out to 670 calories.

In the afternoon, I had an oat milk latte. This came in around 145 calories.

For dinner, I made burger tacos. These were about 540 calories all together and worth every single one of them!

My evening snack was a serving of spicy queso Popcorners with some cottage cheese which came out to about 210 calories.

I have been having a sweet tooth most evenings and so I ended the day with one of my homemade chocolate chip cookies which is about 120 calories. They are the perfect mix of salty and sweet!

The total calories for the day came out to around 1700 calories, which is a good calorie deficit for the day!

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may have noticed that I love Tim Horton’s cold brews with cold foam. I posted quite a few of them in my blog last year (before we got an espresso machine at home). They are so tasty and were my go-to coffee treat for many years.

Sometime last week while I was ordering a couple Timbits for my daughter, out of habit (and because I saw that I had a coupon) I started to order myself a cold brew with cold foam. 

As I was adding it to our mobile order, I saw that this drink comes out to 400-something calories. Wow! This was something I’d do all the time last year. Often without thinking much about it, and almost always because I had a coupon that made it less than $2.

Before I submitted the mobile order last week, I had this thought that “nothing changes if nothing changes” and I thought about whether or not I really need this cold brew right now, or if I was just doing it out of habit (and because it’s a deal).

Truthfully, I was doing it out of habit and because I had a coupon that made it under $2. It wasn’t really something that I needed at the time so I removed it from the cart. Besides, I can make a latte at home for under 200 calories and they are amazing!

Yes, I am working on my latte art ;)

Now, at a later date I might really “need” a cold brew and that’s OK, but on this date I removed it from the cart based on the fact that “nothing changes if nothing changes”.

I saved myself $2 and 400-something calories, and felt proud of my intentionality. 

One day, I’ll get a cold brew again, but it won’t be “just because”, it’ll be because I am looking for it and have room for it in my calorie deficit, and not just mindlessly adding it to the cart.

My Favorite Salad Shortcut

Holy smokes! I have two things that I just discovered that are my current food MVP’s!

Taylor’s Everything Chopped Kit + 3 oz. Soules Flame Grilled Chicken 

I have been using Taylor’s salad kits for a couple of months now but this was my first time trying the Everything style and it’s just got the best flavor! Pair that with some quick and easy flame grilled chicken and it’s a full meal. 

Truly so filling and satisfying. I don’t usually eat the entire bag of salad mix myself but on this day I didn’t eat breakfast and went straight through to lunch. This was worth every single one of those 670 calories!

What I Eat After Eating Out: Snacky Date Night

This past weekend, my husband and I got out for a snacky date night at a brewery and it was the best time! 

We ordered pub pretzels, chips and beer cheese; a flight of different beer, and; a flatbread pizza. That doesn’t sound like something someone on a diet would eat, right? Good thing I’m not on a diet ;)

Today, I wanted to share how I ate the day after we went out for our snacky date night. 

Spoiler alert: I didn’t do or eat anything out of the ordinary. I just went on living and eating like normal.

Since I had some beer, which is rare nowadays, I started the day with a large cup of water with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon. I made sure to drink a gallon of water throughout the day.

For breakfast, I made an omelet with 1 egg, 2 egg whites, ham and pepperjack cheese. I had a side of rye toast with butter, and a cup of coffee.

For lunch, we had meatballs, sausage, Italian bread, salad and a cupcake. We ate lunch at my mom’s house because it was my brother’s birthday. I had an extra helping of the protein and skipped the rigatoni. I thoroughly enjoyed the cookies and cream cupcake for dessert!

Lunch was pretty filling, so a cup of miso soup with dumplings was the perfect lower-calorie dinner.

A couple hours later, I was hungry for something sweet again so I ended the day with a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

This day ended up coming in around 1,840 calories and I feel good about how I handled “getting back on track” after eating out of the ordinary. As you can see there was no “restricting” or “making up for eating out”. I just went on with my day, working toward a slight calorie deficit, as usual.