Where have I been?

It has been quite an eventful couple of months around our house. Halloween has passed, so has Thanksgiving and now, before I can even take a breath...IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME! Wow, time goes so quickly! This, is something that I have learned all too well this year. My oldest daughter will be 18 in January and my youngest 4 in April...where did the time go? I have spent the majority of the last few months with my terminally ill Grandmother who, passed away at the beginning of this month. It has been a very difficult time in our family's life and now, as we enter the holiday season, I look to celebrate her life through the amazing memories that I will make with my children and husband. She was an amazing influence in my life and I am the woman that I am today because of the love and time that she gave to me throughout my life. I will forever be thankful for her and she will be in my heart everyday. I hope that I am able to pass on to my children the amazing lessons and love that she passed on to me.

With all of that being said, I have fallen a  bit off of my BFC plan through all of this. I have, for the most part, maintained my weight loss, but as the New Year approaches, I am looking forward to a renewed resolve to put myself and my health back on the front line. I am also looking forward to getting back on here daily and keeping myself on track!

I appreciate the tremendous support that I receive from all of my fellow BFCers and my blog friends.

Thank you!

5x7 Folded Card

Band Of Pictures Thank You Card

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Before and After...(up to now anyway)

Me and my mom!

Then...

Now...

and together, we keep on trekking down the path to health!

Wow, where did the time go?

It has been a very busy month and a half around my neck of the woods and frankly, with the gorgeous Summer weather, I'm enjoying being outside with my family soaking it up! One holiday has come and gone and we are already halfway through these Summer months, the time is flying by so quickly! I am settling into a new house after a very hectic move and things are starting to calm down. I have been diligent with my low carb/low sugar diet even when life has been out of control. As of today, almost 5 and a half months after starting BFC, I have lost a total of 46.1 lbs. This week on weigh in day, I stayed exactly the same as last week and after having to eat out for pretty much every meal for over a week...I'll take it! My 20 year reunion is this next weekend and although I did not quite reach my 50 lb goal, I am so proud of myself and my amazing husband who has been by my side every step of the way! 


I hope everyone has an amazing rest of their Summer! 


Be kind to yourselves,
Shawna

Some new photos!

The 4th of July 2012

My Birthday in June 2012

My sweet girlies, June 2012.

20 Delicious Protein Powder Recipes (That Are NOT Shakes) !

Awesome recipes that are adjustable for the BFC lifestyle!

http://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/556857-20-delicious-protein-powder-recipes-that-are-not-shakes/#slide-13

Vacation is good for the soul and the tummy!

Happy almost Summer!

We just got back from our first family and friends Summer get away. We went to Blythe, CA, well kind of, we were about 20 miles north and right on the river! It was fantastic! We got to spend some great family time together as well as some very fun adult times with our friends. I even convinced myself that I was "cheating". We enjoyed a few treats and it felt great to just let up on ourselves a little bit. It was so rejuvenating and soul nourishing. I normally do not look forward to Summer as it means...a bathing suit! This year, even though I am not exactly where I would like to be, I am MUCH more comfortable in my own skin and I am being kinder to myself. I think these 2 things are at least half the battle. :D I am looking forward to our next trip and I am even alright with being in a bathing suit! 

As of today, I have lost a total of 42.1 pounds ( 1 of those, lost on vacation! ) and I feel about as fabulous as I can at this point. I am working out at least 3 days a week ( KettleWorx week 5 ) and feeling better all of the time.

I am so appreciative of all of the support that I am receiving daily from my awesome husband and all of my online and real life friends.  

Have a wonderful rest of your week and BE KIND TO YOURSELVES!

Shawna :)

My thoughts on Mother's Day...

Every year, I get excited about Mother's Day. I always have these grand illusions of laying in bed all day and being waited on hand and foot. The reality, it's just another day. Expectations inevitably lead to disappointment as I put yet another load of laundry in the dryer and wash one more dish. My wonderful husband always tries his best to give me the day that I so yearn for but it's Mother's Day and no matter what, we can never just stop being mothers...even for one day. It's alright, my family is my life everyday and that is just the way it is. There will come a day when I look back and wonder where these years went. My gift is my beautiful family so, I need to learn to be more grateful and stop expecting so much...it's just another day. :-)

As Mother's Day draws near...

Thoughts on my own mother...

Thank you, Mom for helping me to become the woman and mother that I am. I love you. Happy Mother's Day.

My thoughts on Motherhood and my own children.

Thank you, My babies for making me a Mommy. You are my everything's! I love you both so very much!

A new week, a new workout and a new me!

Hi All!

So, after I began the KettleWorx program last week, I have discovered that 1, I love Kettle Bell workouts! And 2, I think that I like Jillian Michaels to kick my butt instead of that KettleWorx guy. LOL! Her workouts feel better and she is way more instructional. Anyway, I recommend that route if anyone decides to do it.

Sunday, was weigh in day and I am down another 1.5 pounds...yay! That brings it to a grand total of 40.1 pounds. WOO HOO! I'll take it! I still have my goal of 20 more pounds before my 20 year High School Reunion which is on July 22. I am sure that if I stay the course, I will accomplish it.

Have a wonderful week!

Be kind to yourselves.

Shawna :-)

KettleWorx, my new love and hate!

My husband and I decided that we MUST get exercise back into our routine since for the last few weeks, we have been slacking! So, this is what we have started...

http://www.youtube.com/user/kettleworx?v=6EAoZRknRKo

All I can say today after starting this program yesterday is...OUCH and I believe it will work!

Wish us luck...please? LOL

I've missed you O' Blog of Mine!

Happy Sunday All!


I hope that everyone has had an amazing week...or few weeks! I have not been on in quite some time as I have been struggling. :( I have also been helping my mom settle into her new home and honestly, just haven't had much time to sit down and write.

Today, as I weighed in, I realized that I have fallen short on updating my blog on my failures and successes. Last week's weigh in...FAIL! I was up a pound and feeling awful about it! I went through the week beating myself up at every turn and justifying every "bad" bite that I took, which weren't that many, thankfully. Of course, I knew that this morning was once again weigh in day and let me tell you, I was nervous! Well, this week's weigh in...SUCCESS! I am down 4.6 pounds from last week and I am very proud of myself!

Now, if I could just get that workout back into my daily habits. :) I feel so much more motivated starting this new week and I am sure that as long as I am kind to myself, I will get back on the right track! As of today, I am down 38.9 pounds and that is in just a little over 4 months. I LOVE BFC!!!


Have a wonderful week everyone and BE KIND TO YOURSELVES!!!

Shawna <3

Must share this recipe...DELICIOUS!!!

Mmmm...Sugar Free Margaritas (w/ 1.5 Tbsp Xylosweet instead of Artificial Sweetener) = 14.5g Carb / 0 Sugar and Soooooo Good.. 0/1 on BFC

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/beverages/r/locarbmargarita.htm

Is Sugar Toxic...YES!!!

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57407294/is-sugar-toxic/

NEVER GIVE UP!

HEY YOU!

Quick Weigh-In Day Update!

Happy Sunday!


It's here again, THE DREADED WEIGH-IN DAY...


Down 1.7 lbs!!! Woo hoo!!!


Total of 32.8 lbs outta here!


Thanks to you all for the continued support, kind words and wisdom.


Have a wonderful week!

Cooking Dinner With Trader Joe!

The other day, I was wandering through Trader Joe's and you know how they always have some yummy little sample brewing in the back of the store? Well, it happened to be this panini thing that was obviously too high in carbs but I took one anyway. I opened the bread and realized that inside, was this awesome sausage, cheese and spread stuff. I thought about it and realized, that I could make like a sausage casserole at least that's what it looked like in my mind. I bought all  of the ingredients, excluding the bread it was made on. I did really want to have some kind of bread so, I set out to find an acceptable option and found one! Cheesy bread sticks that are only a 0/1...wowo!

Ingredients:

What I did:

Split the sausage and grilled on stove top grill pan few minutes on each side. Then, put them side by side in a Pyrex baking dish. I then lathered them with the pepper/eggplant spread and topped them with the cheese (half piece per sausage half). Baked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. SO GOOD!

Then, I found these delicious bread sticks...

 Put them in the oven just to heat, made a nice little side salad.

It was a fabulous dinner and very low s/c value. Only 1 carb serving and maybe 2 sugars from peppers.

 WA LA!!!! 

COMMITMENT!

Surround yourself with the positive!

Excitement!

Just a quick note...


Back in my size 12 Levi's today...WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!


Have a great day!

Oh, the chaos of it all!

We had an eventful weekend. First, the cupcake episode and then the visit with the family!


Woke up on Sunday morning knowing it was "step on the scale" day. Dreading it after my indulgence the day before in that amazing cream cheese frosting...drool...oh wait, where was I? LOL! Anyway, I stepped on just sure that I would be up in the numbers and guess what? I was down 1.2 lbs from last week! 31.1 total lbs shed, woo hoo! Relieved, I decided to head into my day with a new found confidence. I now know that I can have a little treat every now and again and not beat myself to a pulp over screwing up. Whew...


The visit with the family is never short on chaos! With 4 children running around, 4 adults talking over them and a dog tripping all of us up, it is always a fun time! Oh, and then on top of all of that, we had torrential rains here in So Cal yesterday! Makes driving on the freeways, even better...NOT! :) 

Then, this morning, just as we thought we could take a breath and recover from our busy weekend, my husband so sweetly took our fur baby out for a walk and ended up stepping into a pile o' dog poo! He, not knowing he had stepped in it, proceeded to traipse through our whole house, up the stairs and through our bedroom. All I can say, is thank goodness for modern day cleaning apparatuses! Hahahaha...

I am thankful for the chaos, life would be so boring without it!


Here's hoping that everyone has an eventful week with a little chaos thrown in, just to keep it interesting.

I kissed a cupcake(OK,I ate it!) and... I LIKED IT!

I have to confess...


Today, I fell under the spell of a "Sprinkles" cupcake, I gave in and it tasted amazing! I didn't eat the whole thing but oh, I sure could have! In fact, in my "old days", I would have eaten 2!


I have a slight headache, I am on a sugar buzz and I can see and feel now what a drug sugar really is! As good as it tasted, I am paying for my indulgence. I am not going to beat myself up as I have been living and eating so cleanly the last 3 months. I am going to move on and forgive myself.


Tomorrow is a new day filled with peace, love and sugar free eating!

HOLY SHRIMP FAJITAS!

Tonight was shrimp fajita night and boy was it AMAZING!

We grilled some shrimp that had marinated in olive oil, a little lemon juice, garlic salt and course ground pepper on our stove top grill pan. Sauteed red peppers, green peppers and onion in the same mixture as the shrimp. Blistered some small Smart&Delicious tortillas, put it all together with Hubby's homemade guacamole , sour cream and then...went to shrimp heaven! SC 2/2 (if you have 2 fajitas) 

Not the greatest picture but oh how yummy this was!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...weigh in day!

Well, after the frustration of last weeks weigh in, I was less than thrilled to get back on that scale today. After procrastinating as long as possible (til I was so hungry that I had to) I finally did it and guess what? It was not at all as horrible as I expected in fact, I am down 1.6 lbs...woo!!!

So, now at the end of my 11th week of life change, I am down a total of 29.9 lbs! I feel fabulous and am more excited every day for what lies ahead.

I am so thankful for all of your amazing support! WOO HOO...BFC!!!

THIS...

X 30 = STOKED!!!

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Happy Sunday All!

Wanted to share my delicious Sunday morning creation, Open Faced Egg Sandwich Extraordinaire...do you like the name? Hahahaha!

It all began last night when I realized that I had some zucchini that had to be cooked or thrown out. I decided cooked and refrigerated was a good option so, I sauteed it in some butter, salt&pepper, dill and thinly sliced onion...yummy! So, this morning I decided that I wanted to use some of that and came up with my creation.

Ingredients:

Approximately 1/4 cup of the sauteed veggies, 1 egg, 1 slice of Trader Joe's Wheat Sourdough Bread and a small amount of  shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Heat veggies in a hot skillet, add egg and scramble together. Toast bread, place on plate and pile on egg and veggies sprinkle cheese on top and...

 Scrumptious, Sunday Open Faced Egg Sandwich Extraordinaire! SC Value 1/1
ENJOY!!!

It's been a busy week!

This has nothing to do with my "diet" but I wanted to explain why I have neglected my blog this week. I have been very busy creating (putting up according to instructions) an amazing vinyl mural masterpiece. The completion of it has given me a feeling of accomplishment much as my new life has been giving me. Maybe, I have found my artistic bone after all...???

The Beginning  

Progression 

The Completed Product

I just absolutely love it and I hope the sweet little girl who now has it in her bedroom, enjoys it for years to come!

Just a little reminder...