September Weight-In Success!

Check out my REBOOTizer giveaway! Hurry and enter before it ends on Tuesday! 🙂

On Thursday, I had my bi-weekly appointment with my nutritionist. As I’ve told you before, I gained 4 pounds last time. I was feeling down and cut out my nut intake because of it. This time I came out with happy news!

This week’s weigh-in results:
– 3.9 pounds

Yay! I’m so proud of myself. I was able to lose the weight that I had gained in just 2 short weeks. This just puts me one step closer towards my goal weight. I know that I won’t reach my goal weight by the end of the year, but I’m really going to try to get as close as possible. Remember, I want to be more comfortable with weight by the end of the season. I know that I will be able to reach a HUGE milestone for myself though (to be revealed at a later date).

It’s amazing to think about the progress I’ve made since I started my program at the end of May. I’ve lost a total of 22.15 pounds! How crazy is that? I feel the most reward when someone I haven’t seen in a while says that they can tell I’ve lost weight. I’ve been told that it’s most noticeable in my face. I love hearing about people noticing my progress. It gives me a lot more confidence.

I was surfing the web and reading other weight loss blogs, and stumbled upon the Model My Diet Weight Loss Simulator. I played around and thought that it looked really cool. I made a simulated weight loss model of me at my current weight vs. my goal weight. What do you think?

That’s it for today! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Have you ever tried a weight loss simulator?
What is the last milestone you met?
What are you doing today?

A Vet Visit and Daily Eats

Have you entered my REBOOTizer giveaway? Go check it out!

I am so ready for the weekend. Is it just me or did this short week take FOREVER?

This weekend, our original plan was to watch my mom’s dogs, Bailey and Riley. Kirby was really excited to have some fun with her friends and Queso was excited to torture Riley. For some reason, Riley has a very vulnerable personality and extremely frightened by our cat. Strange dog. But, sad news came after work today when I found out that Kirby has tested positive for ringworm. Poor puppy.

We took her to the vet about two weeks ago and have had her on medication for a while. Last week, they decided to take a culture to figure out what exactly she had. Well, it’s ringworm; which means she’s extremely contagious to humans, cats, and other dogs. Ian and I are doomed. Especially since we sleep with Kirby. Queso, who knows. We need to keep a special eye out on her too.

This morning for breakfast, I decided to try out Carrots N’ Cake’s two ingredient pancake again. I can never get them to be an actual pancake. They always fall apart on me. I think that’s partly because I’m extremely impatient. Oh well. It was still delicious. For those of you that don’t know, this pancake includes an egg and a banana. That’s it! How awesome is that! And it tastes like a banana pancake. Delicious!

For lunch, I had some leftover sausage that I got at Whole Foods and a Food For Life brown rice tortilla. I’m SO happy that my friend, Brittany, introduced me to these! I’ve craved wraps for so long. It completely didn’t occur to me that I could find gluten-free tortillas. I know, I’m an idiot. But these are great! Let the wraps begin!

I had to show Ian how to “wrap his tortilla like a diaper”. Or at least that’s what he called it. Silly boy.

Check out my awesome manicure! I totally am loving these gel nails. Last week, I got a mani/pedi. Pink on my toes and french on my fingers! Makes my nails look like their acrylic, but not heavy and don’t hurt (or break). So much better if you ask me.

For dinner, we had Chicken Marsala, which was delicious again. I seriously think that all of you should try this recipe. This is definitely top 5 for me. That and the Manly Steak Dinner (which we are having tonight). 🙂

I’m ready for Ian to get home from his run so we can get started on our steaks! I’m HONGRAY. Have a good weekend! Remember to enter my giveaway!

Has your pet ever had ringworm? I’m worried about Kirby!
What are your plans this weekend? 

REBOOTizer Product Review and Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Happy Thursday! I was completely bonkers yesterday. I was so determined to get to the gym all day and work out before my weigh-in this afternoon, that I completely forgot about an appointment that I had! Whoops! I also completely forgot to post. Sorry guys! But I will make it up to you today because I have an awesome giveaway for you!

As I mentioned, I went to the gym last night. I’ve actually been going almost everyday this past week (woohoo go me!). As you know, I didn’t lose weight at my last visit to the nutritionist. I planned to change that this time. I wanted to do everything in my power to make it happen. (Plus, my weigh-in is today and I wanted to get in one last big workout!)

Last week, I was thinking about how I could help out my weight loss in any way, shape, or form. Then, I remembered my conversation with REBOOTizer at the Healthy Living Summit this year (read about Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3). I had a great conversation with one of the representatives about how their product could be helpful on my weight loss journey if I used their REBOOTizer Detox Shake.

I picked up a few of them and put them in my gym bag. That way, I always had them on hand after the gym. I remember the representative told me that by doing a detox regularly, you can actually prevent the production of fat cells in your body, which results in preventing weight gain. Another added benefit of REBOOTizer is that it treats oxidative stress, which is known for its impact on health and speeding of the aging process. It sounded perfect and decided to try it out over the course of a week.

The drink tastes a little like iced tea, which is awesome!  I have been drinking one/day over 6 days to “cleanse” myself of the toxins that come out after a heavy-duty workout. The amount of liquid is about the same as a shooter, so is really easy to mix and drink quickly when on the go. Another option, is to drink right before bed – which allows you wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to start the day. (I had one last night, and boy, I’m more awake than ever!).

Here’s how it works. The anti-oxidants are separated from the water in a powder form. This is great because when nutrients mix with water during the manufacturing process, it deteriorates them. Having it separated in packaging and mixed right before consumption “ensures the potency of the ingredients and protects them from water’s natural oxidation”. So, what do you do to mix them up? You squeeze the package and shake it up! It’s actually really fun! You can even make a little dance out of it! You don’t have to refrigerate them either. I’ve tried it both ways and don’t really have a preference. So it’s really up to you and what’s more convenient!

So, what’s the main takeaway? REBOOTizer helps clear your body of harmful toxins and reboot your metabolism. I’ve been really happy with the results that I’ve had with REBOOTizer. I’ve felt more aware, awake, and have seen the numbers drop on the scale. I definitely plan to continue using this product!

And you should try it out too! The folks from REBOOTizer have graciously offered to give a month’s supply of REBOOTizer to one of EB’s readers! That’s 6 packets of REBOOTizer! Awesome! I will be selecting a winner on Tuesday, September 11th at 8p.m. CST. If you can’t wait and want to buy some REBOOTizer for yourself now, check out their website. Good luck!

To enter:
Leave a comment telling me why you want to try REBOOTizer (mandatory).
Follow the REBOOT brand’s Facebook page and leave a comment here saying you did (mandatory).

For extra entries (optional):
Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment here saying you did.
Follow me on Facebook and leave a comment here saying you did.
Tweet the following message: “Check out the sweet @REBOOTizerUSA giveaway on @erinberriesblog! You could win month’s supply of @REBOOTizerUSA! http://tinyurl.com/8l628yb” and leave a comment here saying you did.

Fall Goals and September Plans

Lately, I’ve done a lot of thinking about my weight loss and fitness goals. Since a new season is beginning (and I still somewhat live my life in semesters), I’ve decided to come up with some goals! I hope to complete these goals by the end of December (aka end of the semester).

“Fall Semester” Goals

• Reach a weight in which I feel more comfortable with myself
• Work out at least 3 times/week
• Take my puppy, Kirby, for a 1 mile run
• Begin Couch to 5K
• Be able to do a pull-up
• Complete Couch to 5K training
• Fit into a piece of clothing I haven’t worn in a while
• Run a 5K

I’ll be following up on these goals as the season goes by. Some of them are pretty ambitious, but I feel like that’s the attitude you need to have to get things done. Wish me luck!

As for the month of September, here’s what I have coming up:

• Double Date with my friends Marly and Derek
• Family Garage Sale
• Rock of Ages Musical with Mom
• Texas A&M vs. Arkansas Football Game

Doesn’t seem like much, but it really is! We’ve planned for this garage sale for months. Our neighborhood puts together a neighborhood-wide garage sale. I have many fond memories as a kid running to other sales and finding cool things. One thin in particular I remember was a pretty cool floppy disk set of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Does anyone else remember that game? Or floppy disks for that matter?

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego were you this past weekend? 🙂

Labor Day Weekend

Over the weekend, I’ve spent a lot of time with friends and family.

My older sister and her husband came into town with my sweet and adorable 5-month-old niece. I just can’t get enough of her chubby cheeks. I love her. My older sister lives in Dallas and doesn’t get to come into town to visit very often. So, of course I was really excited to see them!

Cutest Baby Ever!

We stepped away from family time to celebrate my good friend, Marly’s, birthday. We went to G’Raj Mahal Cafe in Austin. Essentially, it is a food trailer, but has a bunch of seating. Ian and I aren’t huge Indian food people, but wanted to give it a try. I have had some bad experiences with Indian food in the past, but was surprised that I liked some of the dishes here. I ordered Chicken Tandoori, but I got to try some Saag and some Indian Beignets. I’m pretty sure I really liked the Saag, but then I realized the reason I liked it – it had cheese in it. Sad day. Anyways, it was great to get out and have dinner with friends. Happy Birthday Marly!

In other news –  I’ve recently won some giveaways! I was really excited about this because I hadn’t ever won a giveaway before, but then suddenly, I won 2! Woohoo!

From Alex at The Run Within, I won the Pirate’s Booty giveaway. I love me some Pirate’s Booty. I wasn’t expecting so much! I’m pretty sure I’m stocked for a while now. Yum! These are great for snacking. I’m loving the cute treasure chest that it came in. I really want to save it and maybe make it a hiding spot for Queso.

The other giveaway I won was a NatureBox from Emily at Relishments. This was great! Ian and I absolutely love the Far East Rice Crackers. There was so much in the box that we even had to share some with our friends. Everything was absolutely delicious though. I’m actually snacking on the Rice Crackers right now. Hehe 🙂

What did you do this weekend?
Have you ever tried Pirate’s Booty or NatureBox?

August Foodie Pen Pal Reveal!

I cannot believe that August is already over. You could probably tell my amazement with how fast the year has gone by in earlier posts. But the exciting thing about August being over is that it is Foodie Pen Pal reveal day! August was my first month ever participating in Foodie Pen Pals, which is put on by Lindsay from The Lean Green Bean. She does such a great job at organizing the whole thing and making it such a joyous experience for everyone. Thanks Lindsay!

I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I got my reveal day package. I practically tore the package apart when it arrived on my doorstep! My package came from Colleen in Florida. She does not have a blog, but I think it’s really cool that readers get involved with bloggers with FPP. I’ve even recommended it to several of my non-blogger/in real life buddies.

Now onto the reveal!

Colleen sent me some spices, dipping mixes, and olive oil from The Spice and Tea Exchange.

Signature Blend – “Our finest all-purpose blend. A robust seasoning made for absolutely everything, including: meats, soups, eggs, and sandwiches! Ingredients include St. Augustine’s own Datil Pepper. Blended with fresh pepper, salt, garlic, bell peppers, celery, horseradish, paprika, chives, Datil, onion, tomato powder.”

Tuscany Blend – “The ever popular Tuscany Blend is a delicious Italian-style seasoning that can be used in many ways. Try brushing chicken with olive oil and coat with Tuscany before cooking. Add it to oil & vinegar for an amazing bread dip. Blended with fresh garlic, sea salt, tomato powder, onion, black pepper, olive oil, rosemary, basil, bell pepper, parsley, chili flakes, aji pepper, lemon & lime zest, coriander, cumin, oregano, thyme.”

Mushroom Paradise Olive Oil Blend – “Packed with a variety of mushrooms, truffle salt and savory spices, this mushroom lover’s delight makes a unique olive oil dip. Also try it in a vegetable or beef barley soup, combine it with broth, butter & flour for a delicious gravy, or incorporate it into a main-course dish, Contains portabello-boleta-porcini mushrooms, mustard seed, onion, peppercorns, garlic, truffle salt, wine.”

Vik’s Garlic Fix – “Bold all-purpose blend that’s great with chicken, burgers, pizza, eggs, soups, pasta, or sauteed with shrimp & butter for a quick & easy scampi!”

I’m so grateful that Colleen sent me these spices because it will definitely add some variety to Ian and I’s meals! We are planning to use the Tuscany Blend next week on one of our chicken dishes. And the garlic fix sounds delicious! Colleen knew the way to my heart when she sent me that. I absolutely love garlic! Anything and everything with garlic is okay by me! 🙂

Did you take part in Foodie Pen Pals? What did you get?
Have you ever heard of The Spice and Tea Exchange?

Product descriptions were taken from The Spice and Tea Exchanges website.

Food and Fitness Tracking Gadgets to Try

Recently, I purchased a FitBit and have used it to track my fitness and wellness goals. At first site, the FitBit looks very similar to a your typical pedometer, but it is much more than that. The FitBit tracks your steps, distance, calories burned, recent activity level, and floors climbed. On top of that, it can monitor your sleep quality! Plus, it’s super small so you can hook it to your bra, pants, or put it in your pocket.

I was surprised when I found out that I only walk about 5200 steps each day. That is so low! I guess that’s what I get for working at a desk job from 9-5. By using the FitBit, I’ve been motivated to get to the gym more often or just move more in general. Like today, I went to the gym and blew my average number of steps out of the water! Today I had over 10,000 steps! Woohoo! Go me!

The thing that the FitBit brought to light that surprised me the most is my sleep quality. I had no idea how often I woke up during the nights. I’ve been told in the past that I’m a “tornado sleeper” and just spin in circles while I’m sleeping. Last night, I went to bed a little later that normal (usually I go to bed at 11). But according to the FitBit, I woke up 24 times through out the night! Around 5:30am, I woke up to use the restroom, but still isn’t that crazy? On FitBit’s website, they do mention that it may not mean that I’m completely awake or a completely conscious state. Still, I’m not I’m not sure if this is an actual problem. The number is quite high. I might bring it up at my next physical.

After using the FitBit more often, it started to make me think of what other fitness or weight loss gadgets are out there. I’ve used a lot of different gadgets to for the gym in the past. One in particular was the 24 Hour Fitness BodyBugg. The BodyBugg measures calories burned by tracking your motion, steps, Galvanic skin response, skin temperature, and heat flux.

I thought that it was extremely accurate and I really enjoyed using it! But, it had some major downsides. I didn’t like wearing the somewhat uncomfortable and very obvious armband all day to track my progress. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want my colleagues at work to know that I’m tracking calories. It makes me feel a little less confident in the workplace. Unfortunately, you have to wear it on your arm or else the results aren’t as accurate. On top of all of that, you have to pay for a membership on the BodyBugg website to keep it up after the first 6 months. All of these reasons were contributing factors to why I stopped using the BodyBugg.

However, I’m always excited to find the next cool gadget to use. That’s why I was excited when the folks from SlimKicker contacted me to be an early adopter of their product. Sometime  early next year, I’ll be able to experience the SlimKicker first hand to help me with my fitness tracking. In the meantime, their website is a great resource (plus, it’s free!).

On the SlimKicker website, you can log daily eats, fitness activities, participate in challenges, join groups, become friends with other SlimKickers, and read informative blog posts that could help you on your journey. I love that by interacting with the site more, you level increases and you receive rewards. It definitely makes it feel more like a game and gets the competitive side of me a little excited. 🙂

My favorite thing about the SlimKicker website are the Challenges. There are tons of different challenges that vary in type and difficulty level. Some that I joined immediately were “No Snacks After Dinner”, “10 Wall Squats a Day”, and “Exercise Before Facebook”. I think that by participating in these challenges and checking in on the SlimKicker website each day, I can keep myself accountable and continue on my weight loss journey successfully. I’m really excited to learn more about SlimKicker and am going to continue using their website to challenge myself!

Some other fitness gadgets to check out:
Map My Run – Ian uses this religiously on his runs every day. This app can help you map your route, track your location, find a new route, and even hook you up with a local running group. It also lets you log your food and other activities.
MyFitnessPal – I’ve heard a lot of great things about this website and app. Many other bloggers use this to track their food. It’s a great tool to use if you want to count calories
Spark People – I just discovered this site when I found Katie‘s blog. Spark People is a great resource for those on their weight loss journey. It’s a network of sites that help motivate you to strive for a healthier lifestyle.

What food/fitness apps and sites do you use?
Do you know of any other cool gadgets out there right now? I want to check them out!

Paleo Maple-Walnut Chicken & Paleo Pizza

Over the past two days, Ian and I cooked two very delicious and Paleo-friendly meals. These are definitely becoming staples in our home and I really wanted to share them with all of you as a part of What I Ate Wednesday! Thanks to the wonderful Jenn for hosting! Go over to her blog Peas & Crayons to learn more about WIAW!

First up is the Maple-Walnut Chicken from Paleo Plan. It turned out really well. Even though, my nutritionist mentioned to stay away from nut butters, I planned out my days and ensured I still had my daily nut allowance. That way, I could still cook the meals that we had planned for the week.

I do wish that the maple glaze on this dish turned out to be a bit thicker. We tried to reduce it as long as possible, but in the end – we were too hungry to wait!

On Tuesday night, Ian and I had planned to make a chicken dish. Only to realize…that we were fresh out of chicken! We juggled our meals for the rest of the week and moved up Paleo Pizza from Paleo Plan!  I was extremely excited to make this because I haven’t had pizza since May! I’ve totally been craving it too. Even during my cheat meals, I haven’t planned for pizza since Ian is 100% GF and can’t eat the crust.

When I first found this recipe, I was a little hesitant. A pizza with no cheese!? No way! But I craved pizza desperately did a little more research, and I thought it would be a fun recipe to try! And it turned out awesome! 🙂

The crust is made from 1 cup almond flour, 3 tbls. almond butter, 2 eggs, and some sea salt. Easy peasy! We didn’t have any unflavored almond butter in the house, so we used maple flavored (I guess we are having a maple-themed week!). The crust did taste a little sweet and cookie-like, but it was great in the end. Who’s to say there’s anything wrong with a pizza with a sweet crust!? (Excuse the excessive amounts of coconut oil on the pan. Ian got a little spray happy.)

Overall, I really enjoyed the dish. It was a great way to get veggies into our dinner in a fun (and portable) way! Next time I’ll probably cut up the turkey sausages a bit more. But it did make for a pretty delicious bite when you got a bunch of yummy sausage!

But that’s it for tonight! I’m going to bed! Sweet dreams!

What did you eat on Wednesday?
What is your favorite nut inspired dish?
Have you ever tried Paleo Pizza?

Healthy Snack Ideas

Last week, I went to my nutritionist and found that I had gained 4 pounds since my last visit. Over the past month, I watched the number on the scale increase and I was completely clueless as to why it was going up. I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing. I was eating veggies, drinking my protein shakes, eating smaller amounts of food, going to the gym, and whatever else it took.

My nutritionist and I had discussed what we thought the issue could be. Initially, we thought that my fruit intake was too high. I was having fruit in my protein shakes, a banana for a snack, and maybe even more fruit later in the day. This wasn’t bad, but with my plan, I should limit my intake of fruit to 2-3 servings/day. I knew this, but it didn’t always come to mind when I was eating. So, this past week I have limited my fruit intake to only my shakes in the morning.

However, the scale had kept rising. I was discouraged, unmotivated, and disappointed in myself. I found myself asking why I was depriving myself of all the delicious things in the world to just have my weight increase. This immediately triggered something for me. This  attitude is what had made me gain all the weight in the past. I would have totally ate my feelings and gained all the weight back, if it weren’t for what I’ve learned on this program. I wasn’t going to have that!

So, over the past 5 days, I’ve sent my food journal to my nutritionist. She was able to find my issue by seeing what I ate. It wasn’t that I was eating too much food or even unhealthy food for that matter. It’s just that I was eating a little more than my share of nuts lately. Nut butter, nuts, and bars are such a readily available and easy snack. Sometimes when I was in a big hurry, in addition to the nut butter earlier in the day, I’d have a bar. Most bars have a base of nuts, which would then take up my nut intake for the day.

Also, I’ve found that sometimes I’m so busy in the day, that it slips my mind to write what I’ve eaten. This just shows the importance on journaling my food. I must journal what I eat. If I bite it, I write it. That way I can track what goes into my body and how many calories I’ve consumed for that day.

My nutritionist’s advice to get me out of this funk is to cut out nut butters and bars for the next week to see if the scale starts moving. In place of the nut butters, I should snack on veggies or proteins. Even carbs! She suggested that my snacks be around 200 calories.

After talking to her, I started thinking of what healthy and natural snacks that I could have at work and readily available. Things that will work for me are:

• Deli Turkey Rolls Ups with sprouts, spinach, and/or mustard
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Mini Frittatas
• Sweet potato wedges
• Veggies and hummus
• Edamame with sea salt
• Guacamole with veggies

Here’s some other places where you can get ideas for easy, healthy snacks:

• Quick and Healthy Snack Recipes
• Six Sister’s 100 Healthy Snack Ideas
• Dietriffic’s 25 Healthy Snack Ideas

What do you eat as a healthy snack?
Have you ever plateaued? What did you do to help push you along?

Mini Frittatas and Crustless Quiche

Have you commented on what name we should name our potential future puppy? If not, do it here!

Yesterday, Ian and I went to the grocery store and got all the ingredients needed for our meals this week. By meal planning, we have definitely cut our grocery bill down a lot! As we plan meals more often, we want to eventually get our bill down to $35 dollars/person each week. Do I think this is possible? Yes. Hopefully we can do it! This week our grocery bill was about $72, but we owned most of the ingredients already.

This week’s meal plan includes:

Monday: Maple-Walnut Chicken
Tuesday: Chicken Marsala w/ broccoli
Wednesday: Out to Eat
Thursday: Paleo Chicken Saltimbocca
Friday: Out to Eat
Saturday: Paleo Pizza
Sunday: Leftovers/On your own

After grocery shopping, we had about a dozen eggs left in our fridge that needed to be used. So, I decided to make some mini frittatas and crustless quiche. I had quite the audience!

The mini frittatas are extremely easy to make. Just throw a bunch of your favorite veggies into a muffin pan and add whisked eggs to it. Then bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Then, voilà! Yummy and healthy snacks for the entire week.

I covered the crustless quiche with potatoes to make it extra yummy! I was so proud of myself. I’ve learned quite a few tricks by being so addicted to the Food Network. 🙂

What snacks do you make as your go-to food?