Cheese...why did I bother??

my bloated belly :*(

Recently my niece left to return home with my sister. While she was here I started experimenting with my diet so the grocery shopping didn’t change completely. Well now that she is gone there are a few things I need to get rid of but I hate to waste food. So last night I decided to make queso from cheese that I bought specifically for her.

Now I could have just thrown it away but again I hate wasting food and ate the queso anyway. Today I’m totally paying for it because now I’m bloated and miserable. Why did I bother? On this journey, I learned that eating dairy keeps me bloated and uncomfortable. This is a lessoned learned (again) and when I get home the cleaning of the refrigerator and pantries will start. Furthermore, my workout this morning wasn’t the best surely from eating the cheese last night.

On the bright side I did have a very good and healthy green lunch today. The salad was really good!

Salad: mixed greens, spinach, cucumbers, sprouts, olives, and avocado with my homemade chips and salsa on the side

Dressing: ginger soy

First Braidout of the Year!

It's been a long while since doing a braid out. This past weekend I wanted something different and since my hair was already stretched a braidout did the trick. For this look I lightly very lightly spritz each section with water, used a little conditioner, gel, and braided five plats. Simple!

Each section was pinned down before bed and I wraped my locks with a satin scarf. The next day I unbraided and fluffed with oil. Love the results!!

 This time around I opted for a side part instead of down the middle. Next I'll have to try the side part with my twist out.

Kiddie Kurls Hair Update

As you know my neice Kiddie Kurls was living with me for a while. When she arrived the transition back to natural immediately started because I refused to relax her hair again. She gained at least 5 inches in the short time she was here.

Last week she went back to live with my sister and I'll miss her so. Her transition is going well and at the time she left she reached bra strap length. She was so excited about her hair she wanted pictures taken and I'm sharing with you all.

Weekly Inspiration

"Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated..." -- M.P. Follett

Fitness Update, Challenge, and Weight Loss Pics

Finally I have pictures of my weight loss journey. For some reason I couldn’t find the original pictures so I had to improvise. The “before” pictures are still shots from a fitness video update I never uploaded. There is a six month time lapse between the pictures. As you can see like most I struggled with blasting through a plateau as well.



me at 144lbs



131lbs

I was really self conscious about showing a picture from the back because this is a definitely a trouble area for me. But the difference is huge and I just had to share.



Now I’m only 6lbs away from reaching my goal weight. For the month of June I plan to do the 30 day Shred video to try knocking off the last 6 lbs. As far as meals, I’m going to continue eating RAW until dinner or one cooked meal a day when I’m in a crunch.

Here is what’s on the menu for today. According to the cro-no-meter today I’ll consume approximately 1261 cal, 26.7g protein, 255.6g carbs, and 27.9g fat.

Breakfast – Purple Smoothie (roughly 3 cups)

Mid-morning Snack – Cherries (roughly 4 cups)

Lunch – Apple Raisin Salad

Mid Afternoon Snack – Cashew (roughly 2 oz)

Dinner – Sweet Potato/Baby Carrot Bisque w/salad

8 glasses of water

Now I’m sure the carb count is freaking someone out but not me. The carbs I’ll consume today are from complex carbs like fruits and the sweet potato. As you see no white bread, cheese, butter, processed sugars, etc are consumed so all good carbs here. The fat content can be reduced some but I’m not too worried because majority of the fat is from the cashew nuts.

So what’s on your menu today? Are you closer to your weight loss goals?

Green Smoothie with a Cherry Twist

There is no need for measurements when making smoothies. This is simple and yet oh so delicious!! Just pile as much as you can of each in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Frozen dark sweet cherries

Banana

Spinach

Almond Milk or water (enough to get the consistency you want)

Vanilla extracts (2 caps full)

Ice (optional)

The best part is this smoothie is red which makes it appealing to kids!!

Green Smoothie with a Peachy Twist

Pile ingredients in a blender, blend, and enjoy!

Frozen dark sweet cherries

5 Peaches (pitted, small, chopped)

Spinach

Water

Ice (optional)

Remember "the riper the peaches the sweeter the smoothie".