Hi I am new to the site. I have been using the Catie's Organic Greens and Vitamin C in my morning smoothie for about 6 months now and it is really amazing. If you have not had a chance to try it I encourage you to give it a go for 30 days. You will notice a difference, especially around the holidays.

I've been a vegan now for about 6 months, and my husband comes in and out of it. I really love eating this way, and I feel great and have lost about 10 tough pounds that nothing else seemed to be able to get rid of. But I am getting kind of bored with dinner. Does anyone have any good recipes for me?

Ohhhhh, this is a very good challenge as like the most of us human beings we always seem to be in a big hurry even when we are eating a meal.

When growing up I use to think why does it take Mom so many hours to prepare a great meal (especially holiday meals) and almost everyone be done with in
20 min. or so...I also remember my Mom telling everyone to slow down...LOL!
Sometimes I catch myself eating so fast and other times when I am self conscience about my eating I chew more and take my time...

After today's challenge I am going to pay more attention daily and slow my eating down and chew my food and enjoy it!

My husband and I are really trying to focus on eating healthier; exchanging most of our food with healthy alternatives. We changed from regular semolina pasta to whole grain pastas, using tomato-based sauces and adding extra tomatoes to the sauce. We eat a salad with every home-cooked meal using dark leafy greens.

Drinking Silk soy milk, and adding more fruit to our daily menu. I still am having a hard time staying away from the sweets.

I will do good for maybe a couple of days a week at most, then I "makeup" for the week I went without...frustrating.

Sometimes I am good with replacing a healthier sweet like yogurt with fruit, or a smoothy, or sorbet instead of icecream. But I have yet to be consistent on that front. I think my next move will be to buy some stevia or agave and make my own healthier versions of desserts, since we've successfully replaced healthier versions of some of our favorite fast food and restaurant meals. I hope it tastes good...

Weight - 9 stone 12 pounds


I havent done any measurements as yet because it is that time of the month si I might be a bit bloated.


Rather than following a very specfic diet what I am doing is using ideas from what I have read in magazines, on the internet etc and recently from the toneitup diet plan that I won through the 30 day challenge. This will be my main focus of ideas however.


For breakfast this morning I had 2 weetabix with a little semi-skimmed milk and a sachet of some of the sweetener I won.


For a mid morning snack I weighed out 3 1/2 oz of almonds but only around half of them.


For lunch/dinner I had some brown rice with some quorn "beef-style" chilli. This included 200g of tinned tomatoes. With this I had a little orange juice to drink.




Now, Tuesday is cake, coffee and DVD day lol. This is just something I like to do and is my treat. I had a piece of coffee cake and some iced coffee. I do this on a Tuesday because then I have the rest of the week to be good :)


For my tea I had some bacon-style pieces fried with some chopped onions in a little vegetable oil.

Protein powder, what can you tell me about it? Which flavors do you like, and why? Do you have recipes using the protein powder? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I loved the 30 day challenge so much I decided to try my own. Well it wasn't my idea it was my mom's. Out of blue she said I'm giving up sugar for 30 days she said. I was floored. She did some of the challenges with me when I told what was presented that day but I didn't think she was into it. And she comes up 2 days a week to help my husband and I with our daughter to cut down on nanny costs and she ALWAYS brings dessert. I try and drop hits for her not to but she enjoys baking so much and I don't like to be ungrateful. I normally don't eat dessert but have been when she comes and really don't want it. So when she said she was giving up sugar I jumped aboard. So I am on day 5 and am doing great. I have not had one sweet thing not even gatorade. I had an urge the 2nd and 3rd day but now nada. I think when this is over I will try to give up my glass of wine :( I did it for 12 months while I was trying to get pregnant and pregnant and feel like I looked better not so dried out? We'll see. First I have to get through 25 more days of no sugar. (I'm not counting the sugar my wine has in it fyi ;)

Just a recommendation for all the honey line girls out there. If you are needing some motivation or just want to see a really great, inspiring movie check out Food Inc.. It is a lot of smaller theaters and I think you will find it highly interesting and life changing.


find out more info at http://www.foodincmovie.com


All the best!

About 10 years ago I became friends with an awesome lady who told me about cleansing, clean eating and helped me to see that food today is laced with chemicals and bad ingredients. Up until then I had this notion that someone had to be looking out for us and that foods couldn't be harmful because they were going through some sort of inspection. Well... that is so far from the truth I have found out that all the ugly facts are right there on the labels. I am glad I changed my ways before I had kids.


My husband and I have raised our 6,5,3, and 1 year old on organic, living, and natural yummy foods. I am such a nerd that I get excited when I see all those beautiful different colored foods going into their mouths (fruits and veggies)! The cool thing about being a healthy food nerd is that even though lots of people may think you are extreme or weird, nerds are actually the new "in crowd". :) Whether you are good with your money and save (money nerds, as people may call you) or great with your nutrition (healthy nerd) you are actually using wisdom and you know what "they" say about the wise. Well, "they" say a lot of things about the wise and it's all good!


So I am going to a party tomorrow night and I am going to bring a barley salad. The cool thing is a lot of my friend are healthy nerds too so they will actually receive the barley salad with open arms.


Love the healthy snacks form Gabby and Laird and I am excited to check out your recipes! Thanks for those!


-Melissa

healthy nerd


P.S. My kids still have treats and so do we but we just make sure that they are made with pure ingredients, etc. ...were nerds not saints :) haha!

Hey Honeys-


Just found an article that may inspire you on the water challenge. Water is one of the top things "they" say you can do for a long life. BONUS!


http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/8307/top-5-habits-to-increase-longevity/


Drink for life!!

I have run into a problem that I'm not really sure how to handle. My kids are in high school and middle school and are starting to have schedules that don't really coincide very well. While one is resting, the other is doing something, then it flips.
Problem is dinner. Because their schedules are so different, its much easier to just grab something while we are out. I want to stop doing that. Right now, its either eat dinner together at 3:30 or at 9:00 or one kid gets a decent dinner and the other doesn't. Any ideas or tips to this dinner problem?

Here are some of my favorite snacks, little meals I make for the kiddos.

sliced apple with little cheese bites (mozarella)
toasted whole grain english muffin with pb and honey
frozen yogurt with fresh berries and granola - for a special treat - tastes like icecream
dried mango slices
turkey cut up really small with small cheese squares
avocado cut up in chunks
carrots with light cream cheese
pretzel sticks

If I think of more I will write in again. Hope you like my suggestions!

I just wanted to share with you my new favorite thing. Trader Joe's sells this product, called "Egg White Salad" and they make it in three different flavors. Basically, it's chopped egg whites with some flavors. One is made with spinach, feta, and parmesan cheese. It has about 3 grams of fat, and about 20 grams of protein per container, and it is so tasty! They also make one with chives, and another one that is a bit spicy. They are so easy for me to grab and take to work, but more importantly, they are so healthy, and MOST importantly, they taste good!

I have recently discovered these veggie dogs by Yves. You can get them at pretty much any grocery store these days. They are so good and a lot healthier than regular hot dogs. If you put ketchup and mustard on them, you barely even notice a difference. Try 'em!

Just wanted to share a thought. I was with a friend this morning at the park and I was going to walk and get us some breakfast. She asked what I was getting and I said probably an egg on a bagel with cheese and bacon. She said can you get me a smoothie with a protein boost. That then made my order seem really fattening so I decided to go with what she got. It made me think how lucky I am to have really healthy friends or I don't think I would be as slim as I am. I think that is how a lot of people get in trouble with food. Someone says lets order pizza and then everyone jumps on board. If that same person said let's barbecue, pick up some chicken corn on the cob and make a salad everyone would probably have said sounds great. So when you are in a group and someone leads the food menu idea try and throw in a healthy option to try and persuade others to join. You might just all start eating a bit smarter and feel better as a group?! Just a thought.

Why Calorie Control is Difficult
Overeating, that is eating too many calories, is the prime cause of weight gain and ultimately obesity. Contributory factors to excessive energy intake include: (1) Over-consumption of calorie-dense foods - typically high in fat and/or high in sugar - which are very easy to digest even when you are not hungry.
(2) Eating too many high-GI foods - such as refined white flour snacks - which can cause appetite swings, food cravings and makes calorie control more difficult.
(3) Eating too few calories during the day which can lead to a severe drop in blood glucose and consequent binges in the evening. Very-low-energy-diets (VLEDs) can also cause binge eating if not medically supervised.
(4) Heavy drinking of alcoholic drinks - empty-calorie foods - which increase energy intake without contributing nutrition.
(5) A stressful or unhealthy lifestyle leading to reduced energy expenditure or calorie-burning.
(6) Family get-togethers and holidays are a common excuse to exceed our food energy needs and overeat.

taken from: www.calorie-counter.net

I think I'm getting into a bad habit. I am NOT a soda drinker at all but somehow over the last few months I have ordered a few? I used to just drink one when I went to the movies. Then a friend of mine ordered one at lunch and I thought what the heck I will too. Then the woman who helps watch my child when I work orders a diet coke every time I get her lunch. So over the past few months I have ordered one as well. I drank a coke the last two days I have eaten out. What is wrong with me? I feel like I am getting into a bad habit! And I'm trying to lose weight. I need to stop. Wish me luck!

There' no question about it! I've found that my glucose readings since Sun eve have been normal and not out of wack as when i was stuffing junk and simple carbs down my engine. Green smoothies are divine! And I'm feeling clean inside. And I don't have dizzy spells. It's actually quite cool!