Thursday, June 28, 2012

And the numbers are in...

Hola mis chicas!!

I hope ya'll are having a fantastical week so far!  I'm in vacation mode these days, and I plan to do nothing but relax, catch up on my DVR, and hit the water as often as I can.  This Texas heat is KILLER.  Not kidding too...it was 106 degrees for what seemed like alll day today!  The disadvantages of living sooo far south in a border-town. :/  My vay-cay doesn't officially start until Friday afternoon, but I'm counting since tomorrow, since I have to be out of the office for jury duty.

On another subject, I wanted to share my WW weekly weigh-in with ya'll from yesterday.  Drum roll please...


 I lost 2.8 pounds this week chicas!!!  Yeaahhhh budddyy!!!  And guess what else??  This weeks loss put me at 90.4 pounds TOTAL LOSS!!!  I couldn't believe it myself when I stepped on that scale Tuesday, but there it was, right in front of me.  I am sooo beyond excited chicas, even more so because I am nearing my first BIG goal I set for myself when I first started on the program months ago.

During my WW meeting two weeks ago, my awesome leader Nancy set up a mini summer challenge for all of us who wanted to participate.  It basically just involved setting a summer goal for ourselves, since this season can be particularly harder for me some people.  My goal was to reach 100 lbs. lost by August.  Amazingly, if I am able to accomplish this, I will have lost 100 lbs. in almost 8 months.

I'm speechless chicas...I really am.  It's still hard for me to 'see' the changes in myself.  And I hear it nearly every day. 

No chicas...I am not being a self-absorbed bia gloating about these comments and compliments, but it's the truth.  In all honesty, it's hard for me to accept any comment people tell me nowadays in regards to my weight-loss, much less a compliment.  They all talk about what a change they see in me, and how they can't believe how much weight I have lost in such a short amount of time.  They are even more speechless when I tell them that all I've been doing is Zumba classes several times a week, and Weight Watchers.  Then of course come the questions like...'You HAVE to be doing something else...what kinds of diet pills are you taking to help you out?'.  Ouch.  That makes me even MORE uncomfortable talking about myself, and this tremendous accomplisment.  Just to set the record straight...NO I am not taking any type of diet pills, etc.  And NO I am not starving myself, or suffering from any kind of eating disorder.  I am just sticking to the program, and exercising regularly.  I eat gooood chicas!! Believe me!!

They talk about this alll the time during my WW meetings.  About how difficult it will still be to accept the positive changes that are happening to your body.  And how for a lot of people, they continue to look at themselves at the weight they originally started at.  I don't know...but this has been especially difficult for me.  I look at old pictures of myself, and can see the changes then, but when I look in the mirror, I don't feel it yet.

I want to be able to be as excited as I was above when I said I had lost 2.8 lbs. this week, allll the time.  I SHOULD be happy when someone compliments me.  I deserve it.  But it's sooo hard sometimes, and something that I need to work on myself, from within.

Self-love.

I'm getting there, and have come a looonnng way...trust me.  I'm finally putting ME first, and I'm starting to love every minute of it...


Be blessed...and stay blessed chicas!!

xoxo,
Nica


Saturday, June 23, 2012

My meatballs bring all the boys to the yard...

Ohmygoodnessssss these are the bomb.com.

No...seriously chicas...they were sooo yummy when I made them earlier this week, I had to share the recipe with you all.  And if any of you are following the WW PointsPlus program, you'll be happy to know that I created this recipe using the eTools 'Recipe Builder' via the Weight Watchers website.  Soooo suuupeeerrr easy to use (well at least I think so), and oh so helpful when you want to be on point with your tracking as well.

These deeelish meatballs could actually be served many different ways, although the night I made them for dinner, we had them with spaghetti.  Here's what you'll need:



Start by pre-heating your oven to 375 degrees.  Also, go ahead and line a LARGE baking pan with foil, and spray it lightly with non-stick spray.  Preferably not a flat baking sheet, since the meatballs will release quite a bit of liquid during the cooking process.


Next, wash your bell peppers, de-seed them, and chop them up into small pieces, along with the onion.  Mince your garlic, and add it to the mixture as well.  Remember...most veggies are ZERO points in WW.  Yummy, filling, and get those healthy checks in chicas!!


Add your ground beef and 2 eggs to a large mixing bowl.  For this recipe, and in most of my cooking, I use HEB brand ground beef, 96% lean/4% fat.  Also, I'm pretty sure you could use just egg whites to save on points, but to me, adding the yolks makes the meatballs moist.


Add in your dry ingredients next.  Here's what I used:


FYi...I'm using reduced fat parmesan for this recipe.  I'm pretty sure substituting regular parmesan cheese for this recipe WILL alter the PointsPlus value.  Also, at this point in the recipe, I only add 1 tbsp. each of the parsley flakes, and the Italian seasoning.  Now for the fun part. :)  Add the chopped veggies to the mixture, and time to get your hands dirty chicas...


Roll up those sleeves (I hope you washed your hands already! lol), and get to mixin'.  Make sure that all of the ingredients are meshed well together, and then get started...


Roll each meatball in the palms of your hands until a nice round shape forms.  I personally use my digital food scale to weigh out 2 ounce meatballs.  With this recipe, you should get about 24 meatballs, or 8 servings (3 meatballs/serving).  Once weighed and rolled, place them on your foil-lined pan, and sprinkle with the remaining tbsp.'s of parsley flakes and Italian seasoning.  Put them in the oven, and bake for 25 minutes.  Your time may vary slightly based on your oven, but don't overcook.  When ready, they should be light brown in color.  I don't cover mine with foil or anything else during baking, and they come out juussst right every time. 

PointsPlus Value= 5
Serving= 3 meatballs

If anyone has problems follwing the recipe, or questions regarding how I calculated my PointsPlus values, feel free to holla at me.  I'd love to hear if you tried the recipe, and how you liked it!!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of the meatballs fresh out of the oven, but here's how I made them for dinner that night in my spaghetti sauce...


Yuummynesss chicas.
Enjoy!!


Be blessed...and stay blessed!!


❤Nica

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Guess what...

I'm baaaaccckkkk!! Yeeaaahh buddy!!

And it feels oohhh sooo good too!! :)  The procrastinator in me took over for awhile there, but I was finally able to work on the blog design, and be SATISFIED for once.  I updated things a bit, so make sure to take a peek around chicas.  If you're brand new to reading my blog, click here to read my veeerrryyy first post, which will give you a little interesting info. on muah.

Anyhow, a few things have changed since my last post, which right about now, feels like an eternity ago.  I got a good kick in the boo-tay by my doc late last year, and...well...let's just say it put A LOT of things into perspective for me.  I picked myself up off the ground, along with the support of my 'ing friends and family, and started on a path to a healthier me.  January 3rd, 2012 was a life-changing day for me people.  I joined Weight Watchers, attended my first meeting, and weighed-in for the first time in years.  Yes...YEARS chicas.  And let me tell you...WOW.  Big shocker. 

I used to be ashamed to admit that first recorded weight, and it actually took me several months to even reveal it to my closest ❤'ed ones.  In fact, I couldn't even say the number out loud!  But now...well...here I am.  This type of post will usually be posted on Tuesdays since that is my 'official' weigh-in day every week, but since my internet was down yesterday :/....here ya go!!


Yup...you're reading that right!  My starting weight nearly six months ago was 372.2 pounds...
three hundred and seventy two point two pounds...

Fast foward almost six months later, and my official weigh-in yesterday at my weekly meeting was 284.6 pounds.  Yup...calculate that correctly...I've lost a total of 87.6 pounds so far!!  I actually lost 5.8 pounds this past week alone.  Crazy...I know.  But I'm telling you chicas...

Weight Watchers has changed my life, and for that...I am grateful.  The same day I joined WW, I also started taking a Zumba class that I had read about on FB.  Chicas...let me tell you...you'll be shaking those hips like Shakira in no time!   I love love LOVE it.  BUT...let me say this much...it's all about the instructor you have, and how hard you push yourself.  My instructor Andrea is AWESOME.  I'll be posting soon about my class in more detail.  By the way, you can check out a record of all of my previous WW weigh-ins since January here, since this is my first actual weigh-in post.



Gotta get started on dinner for now, but talk to you all soon!!




Be blessed...and stay blessed!!


❤Nica