My Secret Obsession

I have a guilty pleasure/secret obsession.  Not many people outside of my family and friends know about it.  It's The Biggest Loser.  I watch it religiously.  I DVR it.  I get upset if an episode doesn't get recorded. The show actually motivates me.  It drives me to workout.  It reminds me what I never want to go back to. 

This season they're tackling the subject of childhood obesity.  I love that they're doing this because so many children are overweight.  I fear about my own children's weight and health occasionally.  But the growing number of obese kids is due to the fact that almost every house has a TV with 200+ channels and atleast 1 game system (Wii, Xbox, Playstation 3 etc.)  I think the root of all evil are the parents though!   

When I was a child I was not asked if I WANTED to goto the playground/park.  I was just taken.  It was not suggested that I go out and play, I WANTED to go.  And if I didn't want to?  I was still told to go out.  

Parents allow kids to sit inside on their butts all day eating junk food, watching TV and playing video games.  Parents are the ones that buy and cook the meals that are causing 7 year olds to weigh the same as full grown adults. 

I find it amazing that people my age don't know how to cook a healthy meal from scratch (yet there are 40 new food blogs popping up everyday).  Convenience meals and fast food is part of the reason America is fat.  My daughters' friend came over for dinner one nite and she told me she had never had a salad before.  My jaw nearly hit the floor!  REALLY????  Even before I turned into a "health freak" my kids ate salad.  Even Sunny will eat a big salad (a deconstructed salad but, salad all the same).  They love salad.  

Okay, enough ranting about parents and the poor choices they make for their children.  

I am very happy that The Biggest Loser is back.  I'm also very happy that Jillian Michaels is back.  She's actually my idol.  I'm excited to see how the contestants change and who wins.  

In order to do my part to ensure my kids aren't included in the obesity statistic I have signed Kaylee up for soccer and as soon as we get her practice schedule Mantha will be starting gymnastics.  I can't wait to post picture from Kaylee's first game!

How do you feel about The Biggest Loser?  Do your kids do any sports?  

Writing Prompt --  What is your favorite song that gives you energy?
Answer -- I don't think I really have a specific song.  Anything with a good beat.  Normally when I workout I turn on Pandora and just go with it.  I have never been lead wrong by Pandora.

Donut Date Night

I might be a health nut (or freak if you prefer) but, I'm also a mom that occasionally enjoys spoiling her kids.  Tonite was one of those nites.  Mo went to a birthday party so I decided to indulge Kay's sweet tooth (which will be her downfall later in life, just like me.)  I took her to the nearby Dunkin Donuts.  Okay, I can't lie, I also enjoyed spoiling myself with coffee.  

 
Why no donuts?  It's a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins combo store.  Kay decided that she wanted ice cream instead of a donut.  

I ordered a Pumpkin White Chocolate Latte.  It was delish!  Perfectly pumpkin-y and just the right about of chocolate.  Plus, a medium only has 280 calories and no fat!  

Tonite was a nite about learning, not just desserts.  Kay learned that her tummy has adjusted to our new diet way of eating.  Her stomach is very upset right now from the hot chocolate and ice cream.  She even told me she wished she had gotten a donut instead. 

I look out for my kids healthy 99.7% of the time.  Indulgences should be no different.  Next time I won't even offer to let her get the unhealthier option.  I've always said you can indulge in a healthy way.  I need to start applying this to my kids too.  

Do you indulge your kids in ways you wouldn't indulge yourself?

Eggplant Lasagna

I love it when a change I make in the house has a positive impact.  Here's something you might not know, this girl --->
(the one that's NOT me) LOVES meat.  She loves it as much as Mr. Amazing.  But, she also claims she wants to be a vegetarian.  (Ever met a meat-loving vegetarian?  Neither have I)  So when the following conversation happened I was very shocked.  

Kay:  "What are we having for dinner?"
Me:   "Chicken Nuggets."
Kay:  "Why have we had meat every day this week?"
Me:   "I don't know."
Kay:  "I keep asking myself when we're going to have vegetables.  I'm tired of meat!"

{Let me start out by saying that we have had veggies w/ dinner every nite but the main dish has been a meat product}  I eased her mind by letting her know that we aren't having meat for almost a week.  But honestly if it were up to me this house would be 100% meat free....except for holidays.  I would be nice on holidays. 

But I, of course, can't eat chicken nuggets.  I think that if she liked eggplant then she would have skipped the nuggets and opted to eat what I made for myself.  I've had a recipe floating around in my head for a while now.  I've been wanting to do lasagna with eggplant as noodles.  My fresh vegetable supply is getting low and I had an eggplant I wanted to do something more exciting with so, I found this recipe from Fatfree Vegan.  You could make this recipe non-vegan by substituting the tofu for ricotta.  (For some reason that sounds really odd, to make a recipe NONvegan...) 

An Eggplant Lasagna collage!  Super exciting!

 
Eggplant Lasagna
(adapted from Fatfree Vegan)

1 Large Eggplant  
Salt
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed (I used the 1/2 bag of fresh I had)
1/2 lb Lite Tofu
2  tsp oregano
2 T minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
2 cups spaghetti sauce (you can use my homemade one here) 

Directions

1. Slice eggplant into thin slices (I used my mandolin)
2. Salt each slice and lay on a cookie sheet with paper towels and allow the eggplant to drain for 20 minutes.  When 20 minutes is up, rinse the salt off the slices and blot dry with paper towels.
3. Preheat oven to 375.  
4. Mash the tofu.  Add spinach and everything else besides eggplant and sauce.  Mix together.  (Make sure it's smooth)
5. Put sauce in the bottom of a pan sprayed with non-stick spray.
6. Layer the eggplant, then half the tofu mixture.  Repeat the layering.  Put one last layer of eggplant on the top and then add sauce.  
7. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes, uncover and bake for another 10-15.

Do you have any dietary restrictions that your house follows?  How do your kids feel about them?

Get to know a little about me.

I finally decided to start a blog because I’m tired of all my ideas running free in my head.  I decided that they needed a place to stay and that’s why we now have the Fat Free Queen.  I’m a self proclaimed health nut..  Here’s a little bit about my weight loss journey.  

 I started my journey about 3 years ago.  I weighed 197 pounds.  Today I weigh 114.  This is all thanks to eating a whole foods diet 

Why I decided to start this blog

1)  To hold myself accountable

 I have no one to really motivate me to be as fit as I want to be.  My husband and kids “love me no matter how I look.”  This causes me to slack occasionally.  Hopefully this blog will keep me motivated and keep me going.

2)  To help people find good recipes for dealing with gallstones

In September 2011 I ended up in the hospital and was diagnosed with gallstones.  Eating any fat at all caused me pain.  Since then I have been on a quest for the yummiest fat free foods and recipes.  At first I would hke 2 different dinners, one for me and the other for the family.  IO got sick and tired of that after a few weeks.  Since then I have making one meal for the whole family.  Since I’m cooking for for 2 kids, a toddler and a husband who likes to eat I have to make sure that the meals are normal and don’t contain any “weird” ingredients.  

 I got my gallbaldder removed at the end of February and I feel a lot better.  Eating fat still makes me sick so I still eat a fat free vegetarian whole foods diet.  Occasionally I will add a little seafood because of the health benefits.  

The people in my life

1) My amazing husband

 I am married to the most wonderful man in the world.  No matter what I say I want to do he supports me.

I want to become a nutritionist?  SURE!

I want to be a personal trainer?  OKAY!

I want to sign up for a mud run?  I’LL DO IT WITH YOU!

He’s loved me at every weight.  Right after I had Baye and I was 197 lbs, he thought I was gorgeous.  A week after my gallbladder surgery and I was at 107?  Yep, he thought I was beautiful then too!  He has reaped some of the benefits from my healthy eating habits too.  In the past 2 years he’s lost about 60 pounds.  I’m happy for him but, I’m also jealous.  He’s the type of person that weight just falls off of even though they don’t try.  But I love him.  He’s amazing and awesome!  I can’t imagine life without him.  And from here on out he will be known as Mr. Amazing.

2)  Kay

 Kay is my (almost) 9 year old.  She’s amazing too.  She would play every sport under the sun if I would allow her to.  She’s the quiet but competitive type.  She loves a challenge.  

3)  Mo

 Mo is my 7 year old.  She’s great.  She hates tv.  She spends a lot of time outside because of this.    She loves her bike and her scooter but most of all she loves taking care of Baye.

4)  Baye 

 Baye is my (almost) 3 year old.  She doesn’t understand that our yard is not an extension of our house.  On a warm day she will try and drag all her toys outside to play with them.  She would live out there if I would let her.  She has also started forcing me to take a 1 mile walk every evening after dinner.  We do the same loop (her choice) every day.  It takes us about 30 minutes and we stop to look at Bayes and rocks and sticks and of course, to say hi to our neighbors.  But she’s the cutest thing ever.  

5 things about me

1)  I’m a fish.

 I have decided that in my last life I was a fish.  I love to be in and around the water.  Pool, beach, lake, it doesn’t matter to me.  I live in a beach-front community so in the summer me and the girls are constantly at the beach or the pool.  

2)  I hate the gym!

 Every few years I go and do a free trial at a gym.  Every few years I remind myself that I still don’t like going to the gym.  You will never find a post on my blog about me doing a gym workout.  I prefer to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine.  I also don’t mind working out in the comforts of my own home (even with 3 kids and 2 dogs underfoot.)

3)  I love to bake.

 Half of the time you’ll find me in the kicthen baking some new sweet treat for the girls.  Mo and Baye aren’t much for sweets but, Kay makes up for both of them.  I try to figure out the ways to make desserts with lower calories, lower sugar and most of all lower fat.  

4)  I’m currently training for 2 different races right now

 Mr. Amazing and I signed up for the Survivor Mud Run in October.  It seems like it’s going to be a completely awesome time.  And it’s a great calorie burner.  It’s a 3.17 run/walk.  There are 20 obstacles along the way.  The obstacles vary from a cargo climb to a tunnel you have to crawl through.  This race also includes 3 mud pits that you have to trudge through,  Mr. Amazing and I don’t run so we plan on walking it.  I’ve been working on my arm strength and my leg strength

Click here to find your closest one

 I’m also training for the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air stair climb.  I’m actually training harder for this one than the Mud Run.  This race 30 flights of stairs.  About 600 stairs.  I want to be in the top 20 for my age group.  In order to that I need to finish in under 8:30.  My best time so far is 7:45.  My normal time is around 9:30 though.  Luckily I have until November to cut my time down.  

Click here to find out when it's coming to your area

5)  I am in constant pain.  

 Even though I live an active lifestyle I am in pain 24/7.  I was in a car accident about 2 years ago that screwed up both knees, my back, and my neck.  I can’t let the pain stop me from living my life.  Where would I be if I did that?  I’d be sitting at home, moping, feeling sorry for myself and making Mr. Amazing’s life miserable.