LIFE.

BLS (Basic Life Support) Class!

You have to be certified to work at the clinic but I actually found it to be extremely informative and would take it again in a heartbeat even if it wasn't mandatory. We learned how to perform CPR, Heimlich Maneuver & how to use an AED (Automated Extended Defibrillator) on adults, children and infants in 1 person rescuer or 2 person rescuer groups. Definitely a useful life skill!

If you're interested in becoming certified you can do it with your local Red Cross!

A veggie platter w/ my skinny egg salad & a scoop of crunchy peanut butter

Since I'm at the clinic with the Hubs now dinners have been a lot simpler as of late.

And for the Hubs - Dumpling Pizza!

It's so simply and filling.  I mean what's not to love pork + cheese. 

I had a similar version years and years ago at a fusion Japanese restaurant in Hawaii.  It's just pan fried dumplings + cheddar (fried until it's crunchy) + furikake on top!

Steak night!

With my drug dealer (lol!)

And my (eye) prescriber (uber important as I am blind as a bat)!!

Steak w/ Chive Butter, BBQ sauce & Spicy Chipotle Butter & Side Salad

Your steak comes out entirely raw on an extremely hot plate.  And you basically cut it yourself and "cook" it to your preferred wellness.  It was pretty fun & interactive!

The irony is that this steak is apparently from Omaha Nebraska lol!  Americans in Germany eating US steak. Oh the irony.  The Hubs went with the Argentinian steak and tried some of mine and said the Omaha steak was better. Who knew?!

Night cap.

Cooking for The Hub's potluck.

Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Brownies

Sushi Bake

Breakfast sausage, Scrambled eggs w/ Cheddar & Salsa, Toast w/ Peanut Butter & Honey and an Orange

Sunday brunch... because everything in Germany is closed on Sundays. And.I.Mean.EVERYTHING... you wake up Sunday morning and want to grab brunch, or a morning coffee or running to the store to grab some fresh bread. Not.Going.To.Happen.

So we do Sunday brunch at home now lol!

Coffee date :)

Made the Hubs crab cake sandwich while I ate salad 

-____-

Crab Cake sandwich topped w/ avocado & a Beet & Gorgonzola Salad

I'm such a good wife :p 

Bahahahaha

Although to be fair mine was a crab salad.. but still lol!

OOTD - Jacket: F21, Blouse: ZARA, Jean Leggings: H&M, Booties: CHINESE LAUNDRY, Purse: CHANEL

I was reading a post on Whowhatwear.com recently and it talked about "cultivating" an "everyday uniform".  Pieces that you can just throw together and be out the door decently put together in 5 mins flat!

And I realized the above is mine! 

Loose fitting blouse or tee, jean leggings, booties w/ a leather or in this case faux leather jacket!

Kalbi shortribs marinated for a full 24 hours!!!

The Hubs kept opening the fridge and asking if I could cook them straight away but waiting the full 24 hours made all the difference in the world!  So flavorful and juicy.

                                                               OM NOM NOM!!  

  Obviously the picture above was The Hubs dinner mine was eaten sans rice more broccoli and less meat :p

OOTD - Jacket: F21, Dress: ROMEO & JULIET, Shoes: CHINESE LAUNDRY, Purse: REBECCA MINKOFF

Vietnamese Egg Rolls & Shrimp Crackers

Pho

Sauteed Beef over rice noodles

Had to drive 70 minutes round trip for Vietnamese food!  

But it was worth it was delicious!

#WillNeverComplainAboutDriving15MinForFoodAgain

I really reallllly loved the Sk-II cream the more I used it.  Would absolutely most definitely repurchase this in the future!

Definitely more cost friendly then the La Mer I was using prior.  And truthfully because of how expensive the La Mer was I was trying to use AS little as possible when I used it.. which probably COMPLETELY negated any moisturizing effects of the actual product itself

-___-

Before my SK-II ran out I purchased these products from Nordstrom.com (they're super affordable too!) upon the recommendation of my blogger friend Phoebe from Eat. Live. Love. Repeat. She's GORGEOUS.. I'm literally obsessed w/ her eye makeup and her glowy skin!  So I'm trying these out now!

#FurDaughterApproved 

tehehehe!

Snitzel Sandwich, XL Hot Dog & Paprika Fries

Flexible Double Sided Spatula & Bundt Cake Pan 

Totes excited over my new pink kitchen wear!! 

I don't really drink alcohol.. but I L-O-V-E alcohol desserts.  

Tiramisu, Bananas Foster, Champagne Truffles.. you name it I love it LOL!

And I especially love a good rum soaked bundt cake ie. Baba au Rum/Rum Baba especially during the holiday season (ok I'm SERIOUSLY months in advance but do you really need a reason for rum soaked cake? lololol.) 

How I lost 100 lbs. Part 3

Eat Protein at every meal

Calorie for calorie Protein keeps you feeling fuller longer then anything else we can put into our bodies.  If you don't eat meat it's ok cheese, yogurt, beans, tofu are all great substitutes.  When I started dieting I ate oatmeal for breakfast and I found that by simply adding one boiled/fried/scrambled egg I was significantly fuller for a longer period of time then when I just had oatmeal. 

When you're losing weight ideally we all want to imagine it's just pure fat however the truth is you're losing water, fat and muscle.  Even at rest your body is constantly breakdown and building up muscle.  So would you rather be building muscle or building fat?  Every time you eat between 10 to 15 grams of protein your body gets a trigger for protein synthesis which allows it to build muscle. When you're building muscle it's taking place of your fat and in fact it actually takes your body more calories to maintain the muscle as opposed to the fat!

Say for instance you eat 250 calories worth of protein it will take your body 75 calories to burn that 250 calories of protein.  However you eat the SAME exact 250 calories in carbohydrates it only takes your body 15 calories to burn!!  While I adamantly believe at the end of the day to lose weight all it really boils down to is less calories in and more calories out but eating more protein DOES in fact make you burn quicker vs. ingesting the same amount of calories in carbohydrates.

Now I try to substitute the afternoon chips/cookies/crackers that are 100 cals for something like string cheese/yogurt/nuts same calories but I'm fueling my body better.  Helping me to stay satiated longer but also promoting more calories burned. 

Drinking (Empty) Calories

Seems like a no brainer but it's really amazing how many completely empty calories we "consume" by drinking them.  Soda, Juice, Alcohol, Coffee Beverages.  One can of Soda has 150 cals.  doesn't seem all that bad right?

Well if you drink 1 can a day for an entire year that's 54,750 calories = 15.6lbs a year!  

We absolutely cannot talk beverages without discussing my absolute favorite seasonal Starbucks item the Pumpkin Spice Latte which comes at nearly 500 calories equivalent to a McDonald's Big Mac! Yes I do occasionally indulge when fall rolls around but I try and limit my PSL's to once a week! This article details some of Starbucks seasonal drinks and makes the correlation on how one of their drinks is essentially the same as consuming 5 Twinkies in one sitting!!  Crazy! 

There's so much misconception about juice.  People think it's ok, GOOD for you even.  I mean you drink it at breakfast right?  How bad could it be.  Well I'm sorry to break it to you but it's just as bad as soda.  Juice has roughly the same calorie and sugar content as soda.  Ok but you get Vitamin C & D from it so it has that right?

                                                 OR you could also just as easily EAT fruit.

The purpose of the juice IN fruit is to aid in consuming the FIBER that goes along with eating fruit. When you drink juice you're really taking out the most nutritious part of eating fruit the Fiber.

And I admit it I totally love juice so if you insist on drinking it do what I do when I drink it (once or twice a month) add equal parts water to it. Once you start watering it down you'll find that you'll find juice entirely too sweet for you.   

I drink about 8 cups of water a day sometimes even more.  And it's really not that hard once you get into the habit of it.  Go out and buy the largest water jug/cup/container/whatever you can find and fill that baby up. And start bringing it with you everywhere.  I promise if you have it near you you'll find yourself mindlessly reaching for it and before you know it you're re-filling it up again.  Your body often times cannot differentiate between thirst and hunger.  And our minds often mistakenly tell us we're hungry when we're really thirsty.

Before I sit down to eat ANYTHING I start off by drinking one large glass of water and then I eat.  I find often times I'm not even hungry or if I am that I'll end up eating significantly less.  If I'm still hungry I'll proceed to eat my meal/snack/fruit/whatever but it doesn't matter what I'm eating I'll drink a SECOND glass of water while I'm eating.  So if you're keeping score that's one glass before I eat anything and a 2nd glass while I'm eating. 3 meals + 1 snack x 2 cups per meal/snack = 8 glasses!

When I'm looking to switch things up a bit I drink unsweetened green tea.  Green tea has been shown to improve skin quality, help promote weight loss, reduce bloating, fight cancer the list goes on.  One thing is for sure since I've switched over to drinking predominately water and tea it's made my skin AMAZING!!!  I use to break out so much more (never EVER left the house without foundation) but since switching to water my skin has never been clearer.  

Some of my weakness are a good fruity frozen slushy drink especially in the hot summer months.  I indulge once in awhile but I always ask for a glass of water and water it down.  If I'm home I'll make it with crystal light & ice!

I also loveeeeeee Boba!

But now I actually opt out on the Boba part of it.  I know seems like it defeats the purpose but I promise you a milk tea is just as delicious without the Boba and you'll be saving yourself between 200 to 500 calories just from omitting the Boba balls alone :)!

                                                                       Write It Down

I logged everything I ate (and still do!).  I kept a notepad on the kitchen counter. There are calorie logs online like Calorie King is really popular and I know they have a smartphone app too!  However I found for myself personally that I really needed to write it down with pen and paper.  It just seemed so much more permanent.   

When I first made the commitment to lose weight I started by eating everything pre-packaged.  My own version of Weight Watchers or Nutri-System because I needed to learn portion sizes.  Because of that I would prepare the Hubs dinner separately and then heat up my own food in the microwave.  If I even TASTED The Hubs food while cooking it I would add that to my daily log.  Sure sounds crazy/neurotic ect. but "tasting" food still turns into calories in your body.  A lot of people taste test/nosh/have a glass of wine while they're cooking and they don't even realize but they've consumed a TON of calories even before they've sat down for their meal. 

Don't mindlessly eat or graze.  If you want that cookie eat it but log it down.  If I did have a brownie as a mid afternoon snack SEEING it written down on my daily log would help me make a more mindful lighter calorie choice for dinner that evening because I knew I was "running" out of calories for that day. 

                                                            Don't Deprive Yourself

   If you want that cupcake eat it.  

But just be mindful about the rest of your day.  Don't eat that cupcake and then follow it up with another one. It's a spiral effect that just leads to bad food choices for the rest of that day and sometimes that week and even month! So yes indulge every once an awhile because you deserve it just be mindful! 

It's what really allowed me to watch my calories and lose weight over time.  I think if I didn't allow myself a "treat" every now and again I wouldn't have been able to stick with it for so long.

                                                               I love food and I love to eat.

                                                                 This will never change.  

                                               The key is how to make it work with your life.  

If you have the opportunity there's a documentary series that HBO put out a few years ago called "The Weight Of The Nation" it's AMAZING.  You can find it on I-tunes for free and I promise you it was life changing for me. #MINDBLOWN after I watched it.  I highly recommend it it will change how you look at food and people too! 

For me my struggle with food is a life long battle.  I was overweight as early as high school (180lbs.) And I gain weight EXTREMELY easily I can literally go on a weekend trip and come back 5-8lbs. heavier. And whenever I'm stressed my eating just gets completely out of control. Anybody that's ever been overweight knows that food can be an addiction  For me it definitely is.  In my lifetime I've probably lost upwards of some 300+ pounds.  I'll lose 10lb.... gain 20lb... then I'll lose 20lbs. and then gain 50lbs.  It's a vicious cycle. So I know that for me this is something I'll have to constantly work on.  

                                     On that note I'm wrapping up my mini weight loss series!! 

I really really hope this was helpful.  For the last 6 months or so I've received tons of comments and e-mail after e-mail asking me how I lost weight so I wanted to really lay it out for you dolls :)  Please let me know if you have any comments/questions ect!! 

Btw's I've seriously been loving all the comments/e-mails/tweets about you guys stockpiling broccoli LOL!! #soawesome #broccolishortage2014

                                                  If you missed it visit Part 1 & Part 2!

                                   And finally if you didn't see my BEFORE pictures go HERE!

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM!

In The Kitchen: CHICKEN & ARTICHOKE TART

So I'm OBSESSED w/ Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets.  

It's awesome and it makes EVERYTHING taste so good!

I basically always make this for parties/pot lucks/get-togethers ect.  It throws together really and easily and tastes rich and delicious.  Bonus - people think it's fancy because it's on puff pastry (Whenever I make this the Hubs legit calls it "fancy pizza" lol.)

Ingredients:

1 box of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry (2 sheets)
1 cup cooked chicken
1 can of artichoke hearts
1 tsp olive oil
4 tsp sun dried tomato pesto
4 tsp pesto
2 tsp garlic
1 cup mozzarella
2 tbsp of parmesan
pepper to taste

I always make it with two different sauces mostly because I like to eat things with different flavors and get tired of the same flavor quickly lol.  But if you're just making it for 2 ppl I would suggest just 1 sheet of puff pasty is plenty sufficient. :)

Defrost the puff pastry for 30-45 minutes at room temperature.

Spray baking pan with baking/cooking spray (otherwise the puff pastry tends to stick)

Once defrosted poke holes in the pastry to prevent it puffing when it bakes.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Already begging these two lol!

"Seriously.. we're still here.. and we're not leaving" 

HEHEHEHEHE.

You'll want to shred your chicken and drain your artichokes really well otherwise it will make the tart soggy and then cut the artichokes into manageable sized bites.

Mix the sun dried tomato and pesto sauces separately with 1 tsp each of garlic.

And spread each sauce on one sheet of puff pastry.  I have the sun dried tomato on the left and the pesto on the right.

Spread out so it covers the majority of the pastry dough and leave the edge sans sauce.

Combine your shredded chicken and diced artichokes and add the olive oil (it's ok to omit this if you want but I just prefer it because I don't like my chicken to dry out in the oven) and then pepper to taste - I like things extra peppery.  I didn't salt honestly because the sun dried tomato & pesto are plenty flavorful for me but you can definitely salt it if you like :)

Spread the artichoke & chicken mixture on each side evenly.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella on each side - 1 cup total.

Then sprinkle 1 tbsp of parmesan on each side - 2 tbsp total.

Bake for 15 to 25 min depending on your oven. You should definitely start checking around the 15 min mark because the cooking spray tends to cause the bottom to brown quicker.  Also I live in Germany (much older building hence the oven here doesn't seem as strong as the ovens I used when I lived stateside)

Cut into individual slices and you're ready to eat! 

It makes a super easy dinner w/ some side salad but also super awesome for tapas style small eats party (gets everyone in the room moving and mingle :)!!

Enjoy!

You'll have to let me know if you try them out and what you think.

(The Hubs prefers the sun dried while I prefer the pesto lol.. so you can see why I have to make two different flavors every time!)