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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Brownie Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

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2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 egg

1 1/4 cup apple sauce

1 cup peanut butter chips

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp agave

1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients. Place rounded tablespoons of dough on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. These cookies have a moist brownie like texture with the delicious hint of peanut butter for the yummy peanut butter chips.

Makes 36 cookies. Only 90 calories/ cookie! This is half the calories from the original recipe that I seriously modified!!!.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Time to Get Back on Track

I gave myself permission to enjoy lots of sugary treats this past week.  They were delicious and I ate plenty.  They tasted good but I was disappointed in my lack of self control.  Once I eat one cookie or take one bite of chocolate I want more and more.  I never ate excessively, just 3 cookies or 2 sections of a Toblerone (now maybe that is excessive), but why not stop at one? So now I'm making a goal to be off of sweets for the next month.  I need to give my body a break from sugar and I think I'll be happier. I did find time to burn 1000 calories on the elliptical Christmas night and it felt great.  I am now going to go work out like crazy!  I had my green smoothie and now I need my endorphin rush to get me through the day!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies for Santa

4 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar or sugar substitute

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup applesauce

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs or 2/3 cup egg beaters

Blend sugar and butter together then add the rest of the ingredients. Roll out onto floured surface.  Cut shapes and bake for 10 min at 350 degrees. Recipe created by Becky Jones.

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Friday, December 17, 2010

16 Incredible Years

Today Dan and I celebrate 16 wonderful years of marriage.  We have grown so much over the years and love each other so much deeper now.  What a great blessing it is to be married to a gentleman who opens my door for me.  A man who never misses a chance to compliment me. On occasion I even hear “Hubba, hubba!”, a phrase he learned that my Grandpa Nordquist used to use with my Grandma.  I am so thankful for a husband that is a good provider and hard worker.  A man who loves me on my worst days and doesn’t care about dirty dishes or piles of laundry. A man that goofs off with our 5 kids and is a kid himself.  A man who keeps me young with his sense of humor and tickling.  A man who holds the Priesthood of God and is always willing to give a blessing and serve others.  I love you Daniel Adam Jones with all my heart and pray for a long lifetime on this Earth together.  What a sweet blessing to know that we have an eternity together. Happy anniversary sweetheart!029

December 17th, 1994 at the Manti, Utah Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint Temple.

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December 16th, 2010. Still madly, deeply, thoroughly in love with each other!!!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Crazy Life = Out of Balance

Life has been CRAZY lately which leads to complete imbalance.  I packed up stuff at my grandparents house yesterday and didn’t get to bed till 3:30am. Yep, very little sleep, a party to get ready for and host today and that means eat what I can, when I can and no exercise so far today. I love my grandparents and the help was needed and the party went great but I don’t feel right.  I need to get back to a schedule.  I fear that it won’t be till January 3rd when school is back in session after Christmas Break that I will have balance again.  I really need a regular schedule!!!  Tomorrow again is crazy with babysitting then delivering 2 meals to a couple families in the neighborhood who are in need and then a band concert.  Balance will come back soon and I will enjoy it when it returns!!!

Monday, December 13, 2010

What’s For Lunch

I get a lot of questions on food choices.  I want to feel like I am eating regular food but just healthier choices.  I also like to feel full. Here is what’s for lunch today:
2 hot dogs- 40 calories each –total 80 calories
14 chips –70 calories
1 tablespoon homemade mustard relish- 15 calories
1 medium apple- 70 calories
3 mushrooms- 15 calories
grape tomatoes- 15 calories
24 oz water
Total calories for lunch: 265 calories
I’ll have a rice cake for my dessert (50 or 60 calories depending on the flavor I choose.)

Keep in mind this is just lunch.  I have a 300-350 calorie smoothie for breakfast, a morning snack of usually 150 calories, lunch of 300-500 calories . An afternoon snack of 200-300 calories then dinner of around 500-700 calories. I eat this much because I am running an average of 4 miles plus 45min-hour of toning 5 days a week.  It's all in finding balance.  I still weigh every morning to make sure I am staying in my goal range. I burn about 750 calories a day working out so I can eat more than I used to.
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Thursday, December 9, 2010

Feeling good!

Yesterday I attended a cookie exchange.  What delicious cookies!  Yes I gave myself permission to indulge and they were delicious.  When excess calories are taken in of course you have to burn them off so today I ran 4 miles then went to Kickboxing and did an hour there.  I'm feeling good!  I've come a long way to try to find this balance.  Last year I didn't touch sweets.  Now I can enjoy them a little at a time and work off the extra calories. I did only eat 3 cookies and will enjoy they rest over the next week.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

How to Love Yourself

I didn't always like how big I was but I always felt beautiful and I loved the person inside.  I think it really started with my parents telling me of my worth and beauty.  My Dad especially always told me how beautiful I was and then my wonderful husband compliments me everyday as well. I never questioned if I was pretty, I knew I was and then made sure I did my hair, put on make-up and wore flattering clothes.   I think looking your best is key to feeling good about yourself.  I have been very blessed with a love for others that gives me a huge drive to give service.  Nothings makes you feel better than when you are in service to others!

If you are struggling with loving yourself here are a few things that may help.You can start loving yourself by making a list of the good things you do, the things you have accomplished in this life so far, and also ask your husband or kids what they like about you. It may be hard but tell yourself positive things in your mind throughout the day.  Even if the things aren't true if you tell them to yourself then they will come true eventually.  I have a list of goals and Life Affirmations in my closet that I look at every morning.  One of those sentences reads," I weigh less than 200 pounds.".  At the time I wrote it I questioned if I could actually get there but here I am now at 177 and I did it.

Praise your self for all that you accomplish.  Even the little things you should pat yourself on the back for accomplishing.  Surround your self with positive people that will compliment you and your efforts.  Friends are very important.  I didn't realize the importance of friends until recently.  Life is so much sweeter when you open up your heart and life to others and let them in. When others tell you of your worth and they love you, it is easier in return to love yourself. 

Of course the best way to find love for yourself is to get to know your Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ.  Get on your knees and spend time developing a relationship with them and after you feel of their unconditional love for you then you can't question you worth.  You are a daughter or son of God.  You are of Infinite Worth.  You have a Divine Nature and there are things that you need to do in this life. 

I feel very blessed to know who I am, why I am here, and the role I have here that will help me to ultimately return to live with my Heavenly Father.  Part of our mission here on this Earth is taking care of our bodies.  We have a stewardship over them and we must not only keep ourselves spiritually in shape but physically in shape as well.  They really go hand in hand.  Our body is the home for our spirit.  We need to provide it a healthy, happy place to reside. I only now appreciate this truth.  Remember with our Heavenly Father's help all things are possible. The Atonement of our Savior is there to take away the pain and heartache if we let him.
Let's try and be a little kinder to ourselves as we work on improving who we are.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Phone Call Made My Day

What a wonderful surprise to get a phone call from an old friend (we ran into each other at Time Out For Women).  She wanted to know more about what I am doing to keep my weight off and how I did it.  I love helping others try to find something that will work for them.  I know that my way may not work for everyone but I do believe that if you include your Heavenly Father in your plan you will only WIN!  Everyday is still a struggle but it is very worth it when I can get out and run, run, run and not hurt or feel exhausted. I am doing things I never dreamed of.  I limited myself so much by my weight. I truly feel free now! Now if only losing weight took away all of the normal everyday stress of life.  I am no happier than I used to be but I am able to do different things and some things are easier.  I think many of us think that being smaller will make us happier and that just isn't what brings happiness.  Love yourself where you are today and even if you make just one healthier choice today than you did yesterday then you are making progress!

Good Luck to everyone as we go through the tough Holiday season of sugar, butter and white flour!  Yep I was elbow deep in it all morning for a cookie exchange I have tomorrow.  Crazy thing is that they didn't even taste good to me anymore.  I guess my taste buds really have changed. Just the thought of so much butter turned my stomach.  I better figure out a yummy Christmas Cookie recipe I can share with everyone soon. Now off to run!  Baking all morning has thrown off my schedule!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Confession

Last night was the Ward Relief Society Christmas Dinner.  I knew it was coming so I didn't eat much during the day.  The food was wonderful.  I had a large helping of salad, broccoli, some grapes and a slice of ham. I skipped over the mashed potatoes, hash brown casserole and the salad dressings but my plate was full.I even kept my self content not eating any of the dozen or so delicious desserts that women had lovingly prepared. Before leaving I made up a small plate of yummy desserts to take home to my kids and hubby.  That was a mistake! Sugar makes me want to eat, eat, eat!  I wanted just a bite of each treat so I did and then passed everything onto the rest of the family.  I didn't eat much of the sweets but it was enough to have my stomach wanting FOOD!  I hadn't eaten well all day and mostly snacked other than my smoothie which was a mistake.  And I really didn't each much dinner so more calories wasn't the problem but the time of day is.  I gave in rather than push through my craving and made a veggie burger and had a few multi grain chips with it at 9pm. Being who I am I did a hard 30 min workout on the elliptical to overcome my guilt of eating so late followed by 30 min of crunches, leg lifts and push ups. Next time I will eat regularly during the day and eat a little of whatever is prepared and why not just cut a small bite out of each dessert while I'm there rather than take so much home.  Anyway, I learned a lesson so next time I will make a better decision!