Delicious Goat-Cheese Topped Tarragon Chicken

This dish was SO good tonight for dinner! I actually got it from my Biggest Loser wall calendar which includes tips from Bob and Jillian plus yummy recipes and food swaps. This recipe is also included in the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook if you have it.

This chicken recipe is a definite winner in our house and I hope it will be in yours too! Very easy and very good!




Goat Cheese-Topped Tarragon Chicken
Servings: 4
Calories: 146 (per chicken breast)
Protein: 24g
Fat: 3g (1g saturated fat)
Carbs: <1g

Ingredients:
4 (4 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Olive Oil Spray (PAM makes a great one or Pampered Chef makes a great spritzer!)
1 1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon (spice isle)
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles (on sale at Publix this week!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly mist the chicken breasts with olive oil and season evenly all over with the tarragon, salt, and pepper.

Place a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over high heat. When hot, lightly spray olive oil in pan. Add the chicken and cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 4 minutes (makes chicken very moist). Top each breast with one-fourth of the goat cheese crumbles. Continue baking for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is slightly melted and the chicken is no longer pink inside.

Enjoy! Unfortunately I only have one picture taken by my iphone of this meal. :( Shawn cooked it tonight and forgot to take pictures so when I make it again, I will take pictures of the different steps. It really is easy and a delicious dish! :)

April 25

The Good: I lost another 5 pounds this week which brings my total to 45 pounds lost. I can't wait to hit 50 pounds lost! I also am wearing the smallest clothes I have owned in years and they are now fitting perfectly and some of them are actually a little too big! Craziness!! I am looking forward to buying some cute new clothes for my summer wardrobe which I haven't done in years! That is keeping my motivation going!

The Bad: I did not get any exercise in the last 3 days. I also have not been doing well with logging my food into my Bodybugg account. I thought I was going to get back on track last week but didn't seem to do it. I am getting myself back on track this week. It honestly gives me a piece of mind just to write down what I ate so I can see where I have weaknesses or where I need to make adjustments.

The Ugly: I had a full 12 hour day today without hardly any breaks. What a day back! It is 8:15 and I am ready to head to bed already! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. :)

Happy Easter

I want to wish everyone a wonderful Easter Sunday! I am so thankful to have a God who sent his son to die on the cross for my sins. I wouldn't be able to do this journey without him by my side every step of the way!

April 21

The Good: Wow! I have several things to list today under the good section. I think it just keeps getting better and better the more weight I lose. The first thing that was great today was that I tried ANOTHER new class yesterday and today! I tried Bodystep yesterday which was HARD but good and tried Bodypump today which was HARD but really good and just what I needed! It was more of a toning/weight class instead of cardio which was perfect because I need to do both. I seem to have an easier time getting my cardio in so it was really nice to go to a class to work with weights to help my body tone. I will definitely be making time to go to at least one Bodypump class each week! Looking forward to the summer now even more because I can take the classes in the morning and go back in the afternoon for an hour of cardio like I have been doing over spring break! :) AWESOME!!

The second good thing was I have been going through my closet at my house and at my parents house and I have donated 5 HUGE bags of clothes to LICS that I cannot wear anymore. The first few clothing pieces I threw in the bags a few weeks ago were hard because I had some sense of security with them. Now, I can't WAIT to throw something in the bag that is too big! :) I had several things at my parents house that still had tags on them because at the time I bought them, they were a little too small and I never lost the weight to get into them. Now, some of the things are TOO BIG! I hope someone at LICS can enjoy my old clothes, many that were worn very few times or still have tags on them. I also was able to get back into my 2 favorite North Face jackets from several years ago. I was so proud of myself and it was another time that I realized that my body has changed a good bit even though I have a hard time seeing it.

The third thing is that I have made some incredibly delicious meals this week. Another reason why I am looking forward to summer. I feel like I have a lot more time to cook and make things when I am not working every day. I can't wait to type them up and share them with you hopefully this weekend.

The Bad: I ate out twice today for meals. :( Not what I normally do at all but I did make good choices. I had Salsaritas for lunch today. I ended up getting a small quesadilla on a whole wheat tortilla (just ask for one, they have them!), chicken, cilantro, pico de gallo, and a small amount of cheese. It was delicious! For dinner, Shawn and I ate at Miyo's and I had two sushi rolls and a water. Not terribly bad but I like to keep my eating out at a minimum and I cannot remember the last time I ate out both lunch and dinner. Getting back on track with my food log tomorrow.

The Ugly: There are some days, like today, that I feel like I will never get this weight off. Shawn and I were talking the other day about how quickly and easily we gained weight. It is amazing to see how quickly pounds add on and how SLOWLY they come off. I have to keep telling myself one pound at a time. That's what I have been doing the last 4 months and it has worked well so far. :) I just can't wait to see 50 pounds lost, hopefully very soon!

Strawberry No Bake Cheesecake

I cannot wait to share this yummy DESSERT recipe with you! I have tried it twice now and have gotten rave reviews from everyone who has tried a piece. It is definitely a winner and SO EASY to make! It takes about 5-10 minutes to make. I hope you enjoy it this spring/summer! :) You would NEVER guess that it is a low fat dessert.

Strawberry No Bake Cheesecake
Servings: 8
Calories: 233.5/slice
WW Pts. Plus: 6
Fat: 9.6
Protein: 3.1
Carb: 29.9
Fiber: 1.5

5-6 fresh strawberries, sliced (for topping)
1 8oz container of lite cool whip (softened)
1 8oz block of 1/3 less fat cream cheese (softened)
1 reduced fat graham cracker pie crust
1/4 cup of Truvia (natural sugar substitute)
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whip cream cheese, vanilla extract and Truvia for a few minutes until fluffy.

Add Cool Whip and whip until smooth.

Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours, until firm.

Arrange strawberries on top and serve. (Adapted from Skinnytaste.com)

You can have as much fun with this as you want! You can add different fruits as toppings. I even thought of trying to make a key lime pie this way...hmm..may be trying that one soon! :)

April 19

The Good: I have kept a consistent workout at the gym last week and this week. I feel great and stronger than I have been in many years! I tried a new class on Monday called Boomba and it was ok. It was similar to Zumba but much more repetitive. I am trying out a Step class today so we will see how that goes. :)

The Bad: Shawn and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Monday! We had a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant in Lexington, Main Street Cafe. I was very good about my choice for dinner. I asked for extra veggies instead of rice or potatoes, I asked for my salad dressing on the side, and I gave my garlic bread away. I did however partake in eating an incredible piece of our wedding cake. It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! I am not sure if it was just that good or if I haven't had something that good in so long that it tasted extra good. It definitely was not on my plan to eat but I knew that I could enjoy it and work it off the next day (which I did).

The Ugly: The scale hasn't moved down as much as I have been hoping but I know it is because I am building muscle mass in my body. I need to start taking measurements so I have something to go by. :)

Four Months

I know this is coming 2 days late and I apologize! Friday night when I was going to blog, we were preparing for a strip of storms coming through and I didn't want to be on my computer during that time. Yesterday, Shawn and I went to the gym in the morning, ran errands all day, and watched a movie last night so I didn't get a chance to blog then either. So, now I can update you on my four months of progress. :)

I will also let you know that for some reason I did not see the weightloss I have seen in the last 3 months but hey, that is part of the journey, right!? I still saw a good bit of weight loss but not nearly what I am used to. I have started to exercise a lot more than I have since high school which has been awesome. I am getting back into the mode I was in in high school. I used to LOVE workout out and playing golf every day in high school and now I am getting back into that frame of mind. I LOVE it! I haven't missed a day this week at the gym and I have done 2 2-a-day workouts this week too! Now don't get me wrong, it is not fun while I am doing it but the feeling afterwards of accomplishment and success is something that can't be compared to anything!

Yesterday, Shawn and I decided to go to a RPM (spin) class at Gold's. One of the class instructors is in our Sunday School class and we have been looking forward to trying one of his classes. We also have several friends that go to RPM classes and love it. I was nervous but excited yesterday morning not knowing what to expect. The other people in the class were so welcoming and friendly to Shawn and I and it made us feel at ease as soon as we came in the class. I used to be intimidated even thinking about going to a gym again or trying out a new class but what I have found is the complete opposite. The people that I have met have been so nice and very helpful! I honestly don't think I have ever worked out as hard as I did yesterday in the RPM class! Holy cow! About the second song in, I felt like I was going to throw up and I was POURING sweat. I am not a "sweat-er" unless I have done something for a long period of time but man I think I sweated every ounce of water I had in my body yesterday. Once we were about half way through the class I felt better and knew I could push it out to the end. In the beginning I kept thinking, "I will never do this again, this is awful" BUT by the end, I was ready to do it again! Shawn and I are pumped up for next Saturday's class. We are ready to rip our body up again! :)

I feel like this past month has been the first time I have felt adventurous to try out new things and I am loving it!

Today: April 15
Weight lost since December 15: 43 lbs
Weight loss from March 15-April 15: 8 lbs

Goals for next month:
-lose another 10 pounds
-try out 2 new classes at Gold's
-continue to use weights for toning arms, legs, abs
-continue to track my food intake with my BodyBugg
-try more new recipes
-drop another pant size
-take my measurements this month (I wish I had started this in December but honestly I didn't want to even know my measurements then)
-walk in the Providence Heart and Soul 3 mile
-try to get to 50lbs lost by my 25th birthday on May 9th!



Goals for next month (March Goals):
-lose another 10 pounds (or more)
-start working a good bit with weights to tone up my arms and legs
-continue to track my food with my BodyBugg
-memorize Zumba steps and songs so I can reteach them one day! :)
-try 10 new recipes this month from skinnytaste.com or some of my healthy eating cookbooks
-start a garden
-walk the dam in the afternoons after school 2 days a week
-sign up for another 5K
-enjoy one nice dinner this month without worrying about calories
-try to get to my 50lbs lost by my 2nd wedding anniversary on April 18 (really want this so it will keep me very motivated!!)

April 14

The Good: I have had some incredible workouts this week! I honestly LOVE working out now. I am not sure if it is because I love to see the results, if it is something I get to do for MYSELF, if it is because I enjoy seeing/feeling how far I've come in 4 months, or because it is an awesome way to relieve stress. Probably a mix of all of these things. :) I hope that the scale shows a pretty number this week that goes along with my hard work. :)

The Bad: The gym was sorta out of sorts today. It was a crazy hour I was there but it ended up turning out to be just fine. While I was there a lady stepped on a tredmill in front of me and she couldn't figure out how to slow it down so she fell off. :( It was awful. I jumped off my machine as fast as I could to go help her and several other people did too. She seemed to be ok with a few scratches and bruises but I can imagine how much it hurt! I hope that fall does not discourage her from coming back. About 20 minutes after that, the fire alarm started going off. Crazy! Everything was fine, something just happened to the system. I had to laugh at myself afterwards because I was more concerned about hitting my calorie burned target in time than getting out of the building. :) That is SERIOUS and not such a great thing I guess. :)

The Ugly: Spring Break is ALLLLMMMOOOOOSTTT here!!! I can't wait but I still have ONE more day! Looking forward to spending next week at the gym, organizing the house, spring cleaning, and hanging out with good friends. :) I can't wait! I also hope to try some of the classes at Gold's next week since I will have a pretty flexible schedule. I'll let you know what I try out. Any suggestions from anyone? Let me know!

Exercise

Exercise: bodily or mental exertion, especially for the sake of training or improvement of health (dictionary.com)

Determination: the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose (dictionary.com)

I wanted to do a quick post on exercising. I thought I would share with you some of the things I have learned about exercise over the last 3 1/2 months. I honestly didn't believe I needed exercise at the start of my journey. Walking a mile was very difficult for me to do. Everything in my body used to hurt as I slowly walked a mile on my treadmill. I will never forget the feeling of the very first day I started walking. It hurt, I was miserable BUT I finished and felt an overwhelming emotion of accomplishment. I reminded myself that if I could do it once, I could do it again. I also reminded myself that the first is the worst. Since the first time I got on the treadmill, I have done so much more than I could have ever imagined. I honestly used to envy the people I saw running down the street exercising. I used to think "I could never do that." I now know I CAN do that! Now, don't think this has happened over night because it hasn't. It has taken day after day of consistent training to be able to run. I have a long way to go but I am getting closer every day.

If you haven't been exercising, that is ok! Start today by walking for 10 minutes. Then add 2 minutes then 2 minutes more day by day. You will be amazed at what you can do in a few weeks! Also, continue to tell yourself that today will be better than yesterday because exercise gets easier EVERY time you do it! :)

5K Walking and Running Plan

I have had several people ask me about my 5K run yesterday. It was great for me to do and I did it by myself at the gym. It doesn't take an "official" event for you to run a 5K even though it is a ton of fun! I am including a sample walking and running plan that you can use for the next 6 weeks if it is something that interests you. There are several that I have come across just by searching through Google.

I also would LOVE to have some of you join me on May 28 for the Lexington County Sheriff's Department Jail Break 5K. You can sign up on the Strictly Running website. I have heard this is a easy course to run because most of it is flat and I have heard it is a lot of fun! Let me know if you want to come join Shawn and I! :)

Run Your Way to a 5K
WEEK ONE

Mon Rest
Tue Run 1 min, walk 1 min. Do 10 times
Wed Rest
Thu Run 2 mins, walk 4 mins. Do 5 times
Fri Rest
Sat Rest
Sun Run 2 mins, walk 4 mins. Do 5 times


WEEK TWO

Mon Rest
Tue Run 3 mins, walk 3 mins. Do 4 times
Wed Rest
Thu Run 3 mins, walk 3 mins. Do 4 times
Fri Rest
Sat Rest
Sun Run 5 mins, walk 3 mins. Do 3 times

WEEK THREE

Mon Rest
Tue Run 7 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times
Wed Rest
Thu Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times
Fri Rest
Sat Rest
Sun Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times

WEEK FOUR

Mon Rest
Tue Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times
Wed Rest
Thu Run 10 mins, walk 2 mins. Do twice then run for 5 mins
Fri Rest
Sat Rest
Sun Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times

WEEK FIVE

Mon Rest
Tue Run 9 mins, walk 1 min. Do 3 times
Wed Rest
Thu Run 12 mins, walk 2 mins. Do twice then run for 5 mins
Fri Rest
Sat Rest
Sun Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times

WEEK SIX

Mon Rest
Tue Run 15 mins, walk 1 min. Do twice
Wed Rest
Thu Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times
Fri Rest
Sat Rest
Sun 5K Race!

5K Mission Accomplished!

Last week at my Weight Watchers meeting, we were challenged over the next 6 weeks to walk/run a 5K. Of course I was extremely excited about this challenge because I am already very focused on my exercise so it really excited me! I knew I wanted to try to run the whole thing and they even included a very helpful guide on the steps to get you to either walk or run a 5K in 6 weeks. Well...I love a good challenge and am very competitive with myself so I decided to hit the gym today while watching the final round of The Masters tournament to run my personal 5K. Boy...it felt good!! I was so proud of myself when I left the gym covered in sweat. ;)

While I was running and watching the Masters, I couldn't help but look around at the other people in the gym. I always wonder what their story is. Have they always loved to exercise, have they lost a ton of weight, are they on their weightloss journey like me, etc. I love sharing my story and I am always tempted to ask what others stories are but still a little too shy to walk up to a stranger and ask. Maybe one day I will get to know someone up there who has their own story to share with me. Until then, I will continue to ask myself...what is their story?

Any stories you want to share with me? Post your story below if you have one! I know some of you have some great success stories already! I would love to be encouraged by your story and have others encouraged by it too! :)

April 9

The Good: First let me apologize for not blogging like normal the last 2 weeks. I have been extremely busy and have not had any time to sit down and blog. I promise to do better in the weeks ahead! :)

I had a wonderful weekend starting with going to The Masters tournament with my dad yesterday. What a special time I had with him and a memory I will cherish forever.


I cannot even begin to put into words how Augusta National makes me feel. The overwhelming beauty of it is absolutely breathtaking. If you have never been the closest my words can come to describing it is truly 'a piece of Heaven on Earth.' When I walk through the gates of Augusta National and look over miles and miles of the most beautiful, emerald green grass, vibrant azaleas, and blue skies, I always think, this has to be what Heaven will look like one day. Truly amazing and it has been a blessing to me to experience going to Augusta National for many years now thanks to my grandfather's love of golf. We have been blessed to have Masters tickets in our family and it is something that we cherish and look forward to every April. If you have never been, I do hope that one day you will get to experience the beauty and serenity of Augusta National (TV doesn't do it justice.)

A few other good things from the week, I had 2 AWESOME days of working out last Wednesday and Thursday. I hope my effort from those two days and tomorrow's workout will show up on the scale this week. I have lost weight the last 3 weeks but it has been very small amounts so I am ready to see a big weight loss number again! I also hit over 4,100 calories burned on Wednesday and Thursday according to my BodyBugg so I was very excited to hit that goal! My daily target goal is 3,150 if that can help put it in perspective. :)

The Bad: We hosted a baby shower today at my house for my oldest sister Michelle. We had a great time seeing family and friends. I did pretty well on my eating but did dive into a delicious (Paula Deen recipe) cupcake that was packed with sugar, a few M&Ms and some Sangria. Definitely not on my plan but I did eat them in moderation and they passed as "lunch" for the day so I didn't feel quite so bad about it.


The Ugly: My Spring Break is STILL a week away! I am so ready to have a week for myself where I can organize the house, do my annual spring clean out, and have plenty of time at the gym. I plan to try some of the classes at Gold's that I haven't had a chance to do yet since I joined and I plan to get some serious workouts in that week so I can hopefully get over this plateau I am in.

High Fructose Cornsyrup

High Fructose Cornsyrup doesn't sound too scary but it is. It is one of the WORST if not THE WORST ingredient in foods that you put in your body. It causes all kinds of problems in your body and is highly addictive once you start eating foods that contain HFCS. I was one of those victims. After reading Jillian Michaels, Master Your Metabolism, I learned about the MANY dangers of HFCS. In her book she asks her readers to go to their pantry and clean it out getting rid of everything that has HFCS in it. At first, I will be honest with you, I didn't think that I would have that many foods with HFCS in them. Boy, was I wrong! Almost EVERYTHING I pulled out of my pantry had it in there! I was totally shocked and sick to my stomach thinking about ALL the foods I ate with HFCS in them!
Please, do yourself a favor and go check your pantry out after reading some of the links I posted below. I think you will be surprised too! I had to go on a total detox of HFCS because it had made my body CRAVE sugar and processed foods. I also had tons of mood swings and I could tell my blood-sugar levels were on a roller coaster with no end. Since being away from foods with HFCS in them, I have felt like a completely different person!
When Shawn and I go to the grocery store, the VERY FIRST thing we do is check the ingredients label to see if it has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. If it does, we don't buy it. Bottom line. Why do companies not tell us about the dangers? Because they would NEVER be able to sell their product to you! They are making TONS of money off of us buying their product with HFCS in it and they don't care what it does to you. Your health is not their priority; cheap food additives and making money is their priority.

Popular Products that contain HFCS: (There are MANY, MANY more, this is just a short list to get you going.)
-Ketchup
-Dijon Mustard
-Cool Whip
-Some yogurts
-Ritz Crackers
-Almost all sugary cereals
-Gatorade
-Syrup
-Coke/Pepsi
-Diet soft drinks
-Frosting
-BBQ sauce
-Caprison drinks
-Brownberry Breads
-Pepperidge Farm's line of 100% whole grain breads
-Sara Lee Heart Healthy Whole Grain Bread.
-Thomas English Muffins
-Wonderbread
-Miracle Whip
-Eggo Pancakes
-Poptarts
-Cookies
-Nilla Wafers
-Teddy Grams
-Nutri-Grain Bars
-Cough Syrups
-Cheese Nips
-Wheat Thins
-Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt
-Yoplait Yogurt
-Breakstone Cottage Cheese
-Smucker's Grape Jelly
-Kraft, Miracle Whip, and Wishbone Salad Dressings
-A1 marinades or steak sauces
-Lunchables

I could go on and on. It is SCARY to think how much of this awful stuff we put in our bodies day after day. Check out the links below if you want any more information on the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup.

http://againstthegrainlifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/04/high-fructose-corn-syrupwhat-you-need_05.html#links -Great article Bridgette!

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/high-fructose-corn-syrup-dangers/

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=486

http://www.naturalnews.com/024466_corn_health_HFCS.html

http://www.brighthub.com/health/diet-nutrition/articles/32326.aspx

http://www.healthfoodmadeeasy.com/danger-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/276694-the-hidden-dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/

April 1

The Good: I stepped on the scale this morning and the number was the lowest I have seen all week...won't announce my official weight loss until Monday but it is looking good! :) I also was excited to see how differently my clothes are fitting. I honestly don't have hardly any pants that fit. They are all baggy and about to fall off which is a GREAT thing. The bad thing is I don't want to spend the money on clothes that I will hopefully replace in a few weeks. I am looking forward to "sundress" weather because then I can get away with not buying new clothes for a little longer. :)

The Bad: I will honestly tell you that I had a cupcake today. Two of my students had birthdays this weekend and they wanted to celebrate by bringing cupcakes in for the class. I should have said no but I have been very careful to stay within my calories each day so I felt like I could splurge on a yummy cupcake that I haven't had in a while. Honestly looking back, the cupcake wasn't worth the calories I spent on it. I did also think that the smarter way of enjoying the cupcake would have been take ONE bite and throw the rest away...will remember that next time. :) Remember, changing your lifestyle and losing weight are all small decisions each day. I take my weightloss day by day and decision by decision. Did the cupcake ruin the rest of my day? Nope! I stayed on track even though I could have easily thrown in the towel.

The Ugly: A very special co-worker of mine is very sick with cancer. He has been in my prayers continuously throughout the last couple of weeks. I am inspired by the incredible strength he carries with him daily. I hope that I can touch as many lives as he has, children and adults. He has been an inspiration to me to keep on keeping on even when it isn't easy. Thank you, John for being an amazing person, constantly displaying an unbeliveable amount of strength, always smiling, always speaking to me when we see each other, and touching my life in so many ways!