Cakeballs 101

Last week I made cake balls for the first time. If you've never heard of these little delicacies, head over to Bakerella's blog site. She is now 'internationally renown' for all her cakeball creations. But don't go to her website if you're short on time. Because once you get over there, I'm sure you'll keep clicking through the oodles of cuteness and creativity.

Anyhoo, I'm going to make these for Eva's birthday party, but I definitely didn't want to attempt them for the first time that weekend. I had been wanting to practice for a while, but due to my new healthy lifestyle I didn't want a bunch of cakeballs in the house. So when my local MOMS group planned a 'St. Patrick' family day last weekend, I knew that was the perfect opportunity.

So what do you think?

I know, I know - technically they're cakePOPS

What I learned about cakeballs:

• They truly are better the next day. I tried one the night I made them and they were too 'wet'. The next day they had the perfect moist consistency.
• If you want the inside to be white, you'll have to cut the 'crust' off of the cake, otherwise you'll have brown crumbs mixed in and it won't be perfectly white.
• I made them a little bit on the big side. Quarter-sized is perfect.
• Next time I will definitely make them with homemade frosting. I didn't want to go through the hassle of making it if they turned out to be gross, and the store-bought stuff was only $1 at the commissary. But it's too sweet for my liking, and I think they'd be better with frosting from scratch.
• Although Bakerella is the undisputed cakeball queen, I found Pioneer Woman's 'how-to' guide much easier. (the funny thing is, Bakerella is featured in the lesson!)

Now that I'm a 'pro', lol I have a little twist planned for when I make them for the party. But you'll have to wait and see ;)

What I'm loving...

When I see that someone is successful with a weight loss program, I always want to know the details of how they did it. Especially if they didn't use a trainer, or order a meal program or follow some preplanned system. I like hearing stories of people that just make changes in their life that works for them. And so far, that's what I've done. Now, I haven't lost some mammoth amount of weight, nor am I a fitness expert. But I'd like to pass on what's working for me, on the off chance that it may help someone else. So here's what I've been eating (and loving!) which is helping me reach my goals.

Breakfast

• Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal (sooooo much fiber and protein, and an easy meal when I'm still groggy)
• Kashi Multigrain Waffles (I've eaten them with butter and syrup, but lately I prefer a little peanut butter on top)
• Subway Sunrise Melt - with egg whites, on an english muffin (rare, but I occasionally pick one up after dropping my husband off on base)

Snacks

• Fage yogurt (that I mentioned in my previous post. YUM)
• Dried Cranberries
• Nature Valley Peanut Butter granola bars
• Pita Chips with hummus or alone
• Whole Wheat Pita Bread with hummus
• My famous smoothie (not sure if it's famous, but it consists of 5 frozen strawberries, 1 fresh banana and about .5 cup of orange juice blended up. Sooooo good)
• Spinach salad with raspberry vinagrette dressing
• And of course, fruits like grapes, bananas, apples

Lunch/Dinner (normally my lunch is leftovers from the previous night)
Here are a couple recipes that I've made lately. I'm trying to do at least one meat-free meal per week.

• Spinach Pie
• Turkey Chili (I can't find the exact recipe online, I printed it a couple years ago!)
• Italian Chicken
• Curry Turkey
• Eggplant Parmesan

I also make my own pizza bi-weekly (and yes! I do the dough from scratch), and make tacos, spaghetti and other quick go-to meals.

Now all of those recipes may not be the healthiest. But, they're better than eating fast food or junk. And I make sure to control my portion size. Plus, my husband has the opposite problem of me - it's hard for him to gain weight. So I can't make all of our meals vegetarian, low-cal, low-carb, etc., and I refuse to cook separate meals for us.

That's what's working for me. I hope that may help someone out there!

Take It Off Mondays

This week I was avoiding the scale.

Normally I weigh in on Thursdays, but I had a feeling I wouldn't like what I saw, so I put it off till this morning. I was hoping to have at least maintained my previous weight, because surely there was no way I lost this week.

But I did. I lost 1.5 pounds. Is that great? No. But it's a loss. And I think I reached a breakthrough this week.

I did excellent with my eating this week. I ate nutritious meals and snacks and really got hold of my nighttime snacking. I treated myself with cake balls on Friday and Saturday; (I'll explain in an upcoming post) but considering they probably equalled two half-sized portions of cake, I'm totally fine with that. Because again, I am not on a diet. I am making lifestyle changes. So treats must fit in now, because they will always be around...

So you're wondering why I was avoiding the scale like the Bubonic Plague? I was a lazy bum this week. I walked twice (goal was 5x) and did cardio once (goal was 3x). This led me to doubt that I'd make any progress, especially coupled with the fact that I had cake balls this weekend.

After I weighed myself in I remembered something my friend Ashley (who works in the health & fitness industry) told me: 'If you give your body what it needs, it will do what it's supposed to do'. (I definitely paraphrased there, because seriously that conversation was months ago - do you really expect me to remember what she said verbatim? You get the point.)

I had given my body what it needed. And even though I hadn't worked out, I felt good. I didn't have that nasty stomach bloat you get when you eat junk. Which leads me to the other part of my breakthrough this week:

I don't need sweets as much as I thought. I have stocked up on greek yogurt as a snack, but now it's become a dessert of sorts. I had some strawberry Fage the other night, and I actually savored it. You know, like in the commercials, where the woman takes 2 minutes to eat each bite with a sensual, dreamy look on her face? That's how I ate my yogurt the other night. And after I ate it, you know what I didn't feel? Guilt.

I'm seriously drooling over this picture right now. YUM.

Normally, I would have eaten some kind of junk, and probably 2-3 servings of said junk; and then to accompany the post-binge stomach yuckiness and sugar high, I'd swallow a large chunk of guilt over what I just did to my body. But now, on my new journey, I honestly don't crave that stuff like I used to. And that is just AWESOME.

So here's the past week at a glance:

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight loss this week: 1.5 lbs

Weight loss to date: 5.5 lbs

Weight left to lose: 7 lbs

First Goal: 7.5 pounds (hopefully this will be reached by next week!!!)

• Reward: $15 worth of craft supplies OR a box to contain the unorganized craft pile I currently possess ;)
  

Second Goal: 12.5 pounds

• Reward: A new bathing suit.
  

Final Goal: to fit in size 10 pants!

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)
  

Success: I finally realized I don't need sweets like I thought - the cravings have subsided!!!

Set-Backs: Not enough physical activity!

Exercise: Since I haven't been reaching my previous goal, I'm going to tweak it slightly. I'm aiming for 3 walking sessions, 3 cardio workouts and 2 weightlifting or ab routines. I'm so close to my first goal, so I want to kick it up this week!

Hope you'll join me in my healthy living journey!

Y3W | Who is this...

little girl?


And what did she do with my baby?!?!?!?

Take It Off Mondays

I caved. I mentioned my Inner Struggle last week to avoid the baking. Well I didn't. I made banana bread. Twice. Banana bread is basically banana cake sans icing. And I had 2 pieces Friday, 3 on Saturday and another 2 yesterday. Ugh.

I have come to realize two things about my eating habits (and they say the first step in breaking addictions/bad habits is accepting them right? So I'm on my way, right? - just appease me and say yes)

First, I am a nighttime snacker. During the day I'm busy with Eva, cleaning the house, running errands or doing stuff on my computer so sometimes I forget snacks or go too long between meals. But when I do eat during the day I make good decisions and control my portion size. And then after I put her to bed and commence sitting like a log in front of the TV that's when the cravings strike.

The second thing is, I'm a contact craver (not sure if I made that up - if so, just go with it) I have been doing so well passing up on fast food and eating good when I do occasionally eat at a restaurant. But seeing people eating junk or sweets makes me want it soooooo bad. Hubby got some Sonic this weekend, so I made him get me a strawberry limeade. I pass Sonic everyday almost and have no problem avoiding it, but once I knew he was going I had to have it.

Which is why I do so horribly on the weekends. There are no moms/spouse group activities on the weekend, and I do my chores during the week (except for laundry) and my husband is a homebody who eats all the time. I weigh myself on Thursday mornings and as of last Thursday I was 163.5. Let's just say I didn't maintain that loss over the weekend...I'm hoping to 'reset' and also lose another pound or two this week. So here's the weekly review:

Starting Weight: 167.5

Weight loss this week: 1.5 lbs

Weight loss to date: 4 lbs

Weight left to lose: 8.5 lbs

First Goal: 7.5 pounds

• Reward: Still not sure - maybe some craft goods, since I've been hankering to do some new projects...
  

Second Goal: 12.5 pounds

• Reward: A new bathing suit.
  

Final Goal: to fit in size 10 pants!

• Reward: A new outfit for my new bod ;)
  

Success: During the week, I ate really well. And I managed to curb my late night snacking. But then I baked, and then the weekend came and - well, you know the story...

Set-Backs: Weekend, late-night snacking and contact craving...

Exercise: My goal last week was to walk 5x. I walked 3x. But I achieved my goal of doing cardio 3x and I also lifted weights twice. So I'm going to try to walk 5x, cardio 3x, and again, any weight lifting is just a bonus. I might even sneak in some ab workouts!

So now I must get off this couch and get walking. Talk to you later, interwebz.

Y3W | Dreamers Into Doers

So I stumbled on this website today. Wow. I've been missing out, I see. I've been busy working on my business plan, creating a pricing strategy, scoping out the competition, etc. And all along there's a website that serves as a forum for women like me - those striking out with their own business. I think this will be a great avenue for me to network with others in my industry, as well as learn some tips on how to be a better businesswoman.

Sign me up ;)

My inner struggle

I haven't blogged much about my plans for Eva's birthday, but as I start finishing projects, I promise I will add more. All I'll say for now, is we're doing a music theme for our little 'Eva Diva' and the color scheme is black, white, plum purple and buttercup yellow. More details to follow...

But for now, I've been looking at blogs and websites for dessert ideas. I know most birthday party hosts offer cake and ice cream - but I'm trying to do something different. I want to do a mini dessert buffet (especially since I'm keeping the food VERY simple). And I'm so excited to execute it. There's only one problem.

My new healthy lifestyle.

I desperately want to try out some of these creations, not really to eat them, but more so to practice before I attempt it for the party. And as I mentioned before, I love baking and being creative with it - I find it so fun! But I'm trying to keep treats out of the house so I can't go overboard like I have in the past and eat everything in sight. So baking right now is out of the question. To get around that, I'm hoping there's some event or get-together around the corner that 1. would give me a legitimate reason to bake and 2. give me the opportunity to give those creations away, so they're not in my house.

Hopefully that happens soon, because I have the baker's itch. One can only hold off so long before you must scratch...