A better breakfast for Bonnie

Nature's Own Thin Sliced Bagels, only 110 calories. I toast them with a little butter and eat them in the morning with a hard boiled egg. Easy, low-cal, and best of all, yummy!

My turn, I guess

My name is Meredith and I have been overweight ever since I had a baby. Seven years ago.
I put on 60 pounds when I was pregnant with my son, lost 40, gained that 40 back when pregnant with my daughter (at least I didn't gain 60 again!), lost 35, and started the 2010 school year around 165.

My major barriers to making it further with my weight loss (which has been a constant struggle) are emotional/stress/boredom eating as well as a hypothyroid condition, which I take medication for daily. I know half the world has low thyroid and I refuse to make that an excuse, but it does seem to make things harder.

Making time to exercise has also been a difficulty (I mean, I already get up at 5 to work every morning!) but I realized this week that my youngest is now 3 and can be told, "I'm going to exercise right now, why don't you watch Dora or look at books or play a game with your brother" and this usually works. I am proud to say that I have worked out on the treadmill 5 out of the last 7 days since my husband helped me move it out into the office/playroom. I CAN and WILL exercise after work each day!

So my new weapons in this fight are MyFitnessPal and a new commitment to exercise. Friend me on MyFitnessPal-- my username is Mooneymer.

I am confident that journaling plus working out are going to give me good results. I am also on my feet nearly all the time at work, since I am an elementary music teacher, so my metabolic profile is "Lightly Active."

I am 5'5" and a size 12 or 14 depending on the brand. I want to be a 10 and eventually an 8.
I also hope to go down a cup size in all this. Hope that's not TMI! :)

Chocolate Cinnamon Popcorn

I was looking for a sweet treat tonight but I also wanted popcorn...lo and behold chocolate cinnamon popcorn!

1 bag Jiffy Healthy Pop 94%  Fat Free Kettle Corn
1 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1 Tsp Cinnamon

Pop popcorn in microwave and dump into bowl. Combine sugar, cocoa powder and cinnamon in separate bowl. Spray popcorn with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray and sprinkle with sugar, cocoa, cinnamon mixture. Mix chocolate popcorn with spoon until thoroughly coated. Divide into two equal portions and share!
Only 80 Calories per serving!

I'm beginning my journey with a single step...

It's so hard to put yourself, your story out for the whole world to see. I, however, need the accountability which is why I chose to join in Bonnie's size 10 project. I've never been a size 10- NEVER. Growing up I was always the fat kid. Yes, I dealt with the teasing, the bullying and the ridicule but I also had (and still keep in touch with) some of the most amazing friends. The day I graduated from high school I was 5'4" and 232 pounds. For the next ten years I continued to pack on the weight until my highest recorded weight surpassed 350 lbs. I had tried every diet on the market - lose ten pounds and gain back 20-- so it went for years. I began researching gastric bypass surgery and after four years of intense research, thought, prayer, soul searching and pleading with my insurance, I was finally approved. I managed to lose over 150 lbs in the course of several years.

In 2008 I got married and became instant-mom to 3 beautiful children from my husband's first marriage as he was a widower. Shortly thereafter he was laid off from his job and we moved cross country. Again the emotional and stress eating took over and I saw the weight start to creep back on and I had soon added another 30 lbs.

2010 brought a welcome surprise when I found out I was pregnant with the child we'd been trying for for more than two years and whom doctors had told us was virtually inconcievable without medical intervention but at the end of my pregnancy in May 2011 I weighed in at 250 lbs. I knew I had to do something. I began moving more and just watching a little more closely what I ate and the pounds started dropping off. I plateaued at about 215 in January. I was a size 16/18 and even some of those were still tight. I started counting calories with LoseIt!. It's an app available on both Iphone & Android. I lost another 25 lbs between January and March and again plateaued at about 185 and a size 12/14. So I bought a fitbit activity tracker. It's an amazing device that tracks your movements and converts them to calories burned, tracks your sleep and works as a pedometer counting your steps and floors climbed in a day. I'm using my fitbit to keep me even more motivated and moving to get to that size 10!

 Pre-Surgery 2007

 7 months pregnant 2011

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures. It's from my honeymoon. I was a size 12 in this pic but well on my way to a size 10 until I allowed life and emotional eating to get in the way. This time I have a goal, I have a destination and I'm taking it one bite, one day, one step at a time!

Healthier Chicken "Parmigiana"

Ingredients:

• 4 zucchini
  
• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• Jarred marinara of your choice. I like Bertolli or Barilla, all natural.
  
• Reduced fat provolone slices

Shred zucchini into long ribbons with a vegetable peeler and place in 9" x 13" baking dish. Salt and pepper. Next, arrange chicken on top, and pour sauce over all.

Finally, top with one slice of reduced fat cheese on each chicken breast.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove foil at end for extra-melty cheese. I don't know the calorie content here but it's pretty healthy! Just don't eat bread with it :)

Upper Body Workout

During the day, I'm either sitting in class or sitting in the computer lab while I study, so you can see that I don't have much going on in the calorie burning department.I've been going on walks/jogs every evening to keep my body moving This past week I've been averaging 2-4 mile walks with about 1/2 mile jogs mixed in. (I was very happy when I jogged an entire continuous mile!)

Tonight the weather didn't cooperate when I wanted to go on a walk, so my boyfriend and I decided to work on our upper bodies.

In 60 second intervals we did the following sequence: (don't forget to stretch first!)

1) Small forward shoulder rolls

2) Large forward shoulder rolls

3) Small backward shoulder rolls

4) Large backward shoulder rolls

5) 30 second pot stirs on each arm (bend over at the waist and drop your arms to the floor and rotate) this loosens up your shoulders.

6) Push-ups

7) Hammer curls with weights

8) Tricep curls with right arm

9) Tricep curls with left arm

10) Standing abs (stand with your hands behind your head and bring your left knee up to meet your right elbow while you rotate. then switch. use your abs to bring your knees up.)

11) 60 second plank

Rest for 1 minute then repeat the entire sequence. It doesn't look like much, but it KILLS (especially if you haven't worked your arms in a while). Make sure to stretch when you are done.

BBQ Chicken Stuffed Baked Potato

Who says you can't eat well when you're trying to lose weight? Pair this scrumptious take-out style dish with a side salad and you'll never miss all the calories from you favorite BBQ joint!

1 medium russet potato (roughly 5 oz)
1.75 oz pre-cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 TBSP BBQ Sauce w/ 70 calories or less per serving

Poke holes in potato and place in plastic grocery bag. Tie top of bag and put in microwave for about 4 minutes. (or if you're lucky like me, you'll have a baked potato setting, just push the button and go!) Check potato for doneness with a fork- if it slides in easily it's done, if not continue cooking 1 minute at a time until desired firmness is reached.

Add shredded chicken to a bowl and top with 1 TBSP bbq sauce. Microwave for about 1 minute or until heated through.

Split potato & season to your liking- I sprayed mine with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray & seasoned with salt and pepper. Stuff potato with warm chicken and garnish with green onions!

230 calories, 14 grams protein, 42 grams carbs