About Moi

About Moi
My Name is Brittany, and I'm 23yrs old. I was diagnosed with Lupus when I was 15, and then diagnosed with RA, when I was 18. I also got married when I was 18, and I'm enjoying my happily ever after with my hubby! When I got married, I was slim and trim...But not for long. After getting married, I started to gain a LOT of weight! In 1yr, I gained 50lbs! Finally, I went to the Doctor, where I discovered I have low thyroid. After being put on medicine, my weight gain slowed down, although over the next 3yrs, I gained an additional 26lbs. When I was 20yrs old, I got yet another diagnoses of Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. That's 4 diagnoses in a 5yr period, if you lost count. They all effect my weight, in one way or another. Add on top of that, my love affair with food, and every 1 of those 76lbs gained was accounted for. Being 76lbs over weight is unhealthy for anyone, but it was especially unhealthy for me, and my health issues. Since starting this blog, in Jan-2010, I have lost 40lbs! I'm a new, slimmer, and healthier me! Before losing weight, I was told I needed knee replacements. Losing weight was the ONLY tool I had to help me hold off on that life changing surgery. Since losing 40lbs, my knees have never felt better! My husband and I are also trying to start a family, but my PCOS was not going to make it as easy as 1,2,3, as I didn't have periods on my own. My doctor had told me if I wanted a baby, I HAD to lose weight. Since losing 40lbs, I've had regular cycles for the first time in my life! Which is very important when trying to have a baby ;) This journey of mine is more than me simply wanting to wear skinny jeans. It has been a quest to becoming :Deliciously Healthy, so ALL of my dreams can come true! I'm almost half way there! With each new day, I get closer and closer to my goal of 120lbs, and becoming :Deliciously Healthy!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

A Successful Weekend, and a Yummy Recipe!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I'm happy to report that I had a great, successful, and :Deliciously Healthy weekend!
I made healthy choices, and didn't pig out ALL weekend like I normally do!

My husband and I came up with things to do, so that we weren't thinking about vegging out the entire weekend with pizza and a movie...and brownies, and candy, and ice creme...I'm getting side tracked. Point is, we did good! ;)

We actually got a lot done! Which is kinda funny to me. It's amazing the things you can get done, when your not thinking about eating all the time!

I also went shopping. Shopping's good when you're on a diet. At least for me anyway. I get to get my mind off of food, buy things I love just as much as I love food (or at least almost as much), I drool over things I would buy if I had lots and lots of money to spend, and I get to day dream about the day I will love clothes shopping as much as I used to. I look at items and say to myself, "Stick to your diet Brittany, and you may actually be able to pull that off someday!" I also went baby shopping, even though I'm not pregnant ;) Joe and I decided since we know we are going to start trying for a family in a few months, it would be smart to slowly start buying things now. The benefit to that is, I get to wait for things to go on sale, and clearance! Did you know that most Targets re-do, and clean out their baby section every January? I got LOTS of stuff for 50% off! Shopping for baby things was also a HUGE motivation for me to keep making healthy choices! My goal is to lose at least 40lbs before we start trying. Buying baby things was a nice reminder that I don't have time to fool around.

This weekend, I made one of my favorite recipes! It's called "Chili Verde", but I just call it chicken chili :) It's really more like a chicken chili soup. It's great for cold, winter days, because it warms you from the inside out! It's also very simple, and quick to make, which is a lifesaver for me, with my RA. It's a GREAT recipe if you have leftover cooked chicken breast, as it makes this recipe even easier to make!! I usually add a dollop of low-fat sour cream, and a tablespoon of salsa on the top, but I forgot to pick those items up at the store, so I just went without it. My husband also likes to enjoy it with a small handful of low sodium tortilla chips (He's also trying to lose weight).You Will Need:

~2 cups chopped and cooked chicken breast (2 boneless skinless chicken breast)
~1 can (15 to 16 ounces) of cannellini or great northern beans. Rinsed and drained.
~1 can (14 1/2 ounces) of low sodium chicken broth
~1 cup green salsa (salsa verde)
~1 (9 ounce) package of frozen white corn, thawed

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a 3-quart saucepan. Heat to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. And that's it! You're done! Told you it was easy! ;)

Makes 4 servings.

Here's What I'm Thinking:

Calories: 290 for 1 serving.

Enjoy!

***

I'm excited for this upcoming week. This past week was my first week on my diet. I decided this time around, I would start by taking baby steps, instead of stopping EVERYTHING cold turkey! That's what I've been doing over the past week, and I have to say, it's made a big difference! I wasn't having to go through my caffeine withdrawals, and my chocolate withdrawals at the same time!

Every day, I would focus on eating healthier, along with focusing on 1 thing I could change/cut out. I would focus on cutting out my soda for a couple days, along with eating healthy recipes. Then, over the next couple days, I would focus on cutting out my sweets, along with the soda, and continuing to eat healthier. And so on, and so forth. So, this past week was kind of the beginning stages of my diet, focusing on 1 thing at a time. The begging stage is done, and I've successfully weaned myself off of my old habits! This next week, it's all on baby!
I'm excited!

9 comments:

Tammy said...

Hi Brittany! Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. I just done reading all of your posts back to Feb 2009. I'm glad you're back on track and getting it right this time. It's tough to keep our minds in the right place, but we can do it. Your skinny pic is gorgeous!! It's awesome that you have that kind of motivation to put up where you can see it. I don't have any skinny pics...I've been fat since I was about 12 years old!! The good side to that is I don't know what I'm missing, lol. I have diabetes, and PCOS. I lost 40 lbs so far & was taken off the 2 diabetes meds, the high cholesterol med, and the high blood pressure med...yay!!! I don't think there's anything they can do about our PCOS, but losing the rest of the weight has to help. Oh, and I also have hypothyroidism....we have a lot in common!! It will be a pleasure to follow your journey. :)

:Deliciously Healthy said...

Thanks Tammy! That's amazing that losing weight has aloud you to stop taking some of your meds! And yes, we do have a lot in common :0)

I'm excited to keep following your journey as well!

xoxo

Corletta said...

Good for you! You must be so proud of yourself. A weekend with no junk food. I have that in sight also! I think my goal will be not to not eat any, but to eat everything in moderation, for it's not moderation that made me fat :)

divad said...

Hey, I can't wait to make your soup recipe! It looks awesome!

I also have PCOS and I can't tell you how losing 60 pounds has helped in this area - regulating my cycle. I'm excited for you as you start this journey to baby land and I know that losing your excess pounds will help in this area!

Christi said...

thanks for the comment! and good job getting through the weekend, those are so hard in the beginning. keep up the baby steps ;-)

Unknown said...

Hey, great job all around! I'm glad you guys found something non-food related to do, and that you did well on your new eating plan.
Keep it up!

Meg said...

Sounds like you had a great weekend! And I'm going to have to check out Target now -- we could definitely use those sales for the baby! :)

Keep up the great work, girl!

Tiff said...

Hey there- just found your super cute blog! It's always nice to find a blog by someone my age and I'm looking forward to reading yours!

Tiff
www.project365th.blogspot.com

Marisa @Loser for Life said...

Ooooh, your chili looks delicious!

Way to go on taking your time to change your "bad" habits one step at a time! It seems much less overwhelming that way! Awesome job!

Yay for baby shopping ;)