I look forward to sharing my progress with you and hearing about yours.

Random Facts

1. I love to sing LOUD in the car
2. I have two wonderful grown children
3. The man I am dating is ten years younger than me
4. I have brown eyes
5. I hate raisins, prunes and dates
6. I love to cook
7. My favorite color is turquoise
8. I hate to clean. If I could have a maid forever I would be in heaven
9. I run a department for a large outpatient rehab
10. If someone were to play me in a movie it would be Meg Ryan or Sandra Bullock. They both have that Lucille Ball quality with a modern twist that I would use to describe myself
11. I get to help make music videos and movies. Big fun!

Questions to Me

1. A saying that I have come to embrace is that “it is what it is” meaning that I can’t move forward until I accept where I am first
2. I know my blood type: A+
3. I had a fist fight in the third grade when I had to stand up to a bully
4. I would love to meet Billy Graham or his daughter Anne Graham Lotz; they are very inspirational
5. If I had $500 and I had to spend it on myself, I would probably start with bras and underwear and then move on to purses and shoes
6. Worst gift was from someone at work: a necklace that looked like it should have been in a bad horror movie…with matching ear rings
7. My best feature is my eyes
8. I cried about two weeks ago. I’m a big baby
9. I can’t remember making some one cry
10. A tropical island or a cruise for vacation
11. I have beat up two sheriff officers and my son put the video on YouTube. It was a self defense class and the graduation was a fight and you had to get away. It was pretty scary but very empowering!

Have a great night,
Herlinda

This is one of my go-to dinners and always a crowd-pleaser! I will also make a double or triple recipe and freeze in lunch and dinner size portions for one. This makes easy take to work lunches or quick dinners.

Ingredients

• 1 Oven Roasting bag (the kind used to cook a turkey)
• 1 pkg Chicken Breasts, bone in
• 2 Lg Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into large cubes
• 2 Zucchini, sliced ½ in thick and cut in half
• 2 Squash, sliced ½ in. thick and cut in half
• Your favorite seasonings (to taste) Here are a couple of my favorites:
  • garlic powder, season salt and fresh pepper
  • Cajun seasoning
  • Lemon pepper
  • Honey Mustard (make your own with a grainy mustard and honey)
  • Go Asian and use a low sodium teriyaki and add some ginger and pineapple

Directions

Take the skin off the chicken and cut any visible fat off of each piece. I choose to leave the chicken on the bone; it has more flavor and is super moist once cooked. Season chicken — both top and bottom. Be creative with the seasoning you use! Place the chicken in the oven baking bag (on a cookie sheet or deeper pan) across the bottom in one layer.

Put all the cut up veggies in a large bowl. Season the same as you did the chicken and toss to coat all the veggies evenly. You could spray the veggies with a light coating of olive oil first and toss so that the seasoning will coat the veggies a little easier. Once veggies are seasoned layer them in the oven baking bag on top of the chicken and close. Don’t forget to poke a few holes on the top of the bag!

Place baking sheet or pan in a 350 degree oven for approximately two hours. Make sure the rack is low enough so when the bag fills with steam it remains clear of the coils. After two hours remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

Open bag and serve. I usually cut the bag open on the top and dish the veggies out so I can get to the chicken. I usually take the chicken off the bone when I serve; it usually comes off without much effort. Enjoy!

We really loved this soup recipe from Janet and Greta Podleski’s Eat, Shrink and Be Merry. I would opt for using a food processor instead of a blender unless you have an immersion hand blender; I just found that it gets the job done more easily. Also, I will double the shrimp next time, or even mix it up a little and add some cooked tilapia or scallops for texture and variety! Remember: it’s okay to modify a recipe to fit your family and personal taste. I give you permission to play with your food! LOL

Nutritional Information

Servings: 6 (about 1 ½ cups)
Calories 239
Fat 8.2g
Saturated Fat 4.6g
Protein 19g
Carbohydrates 24g
Fiber 3g
Cholesterol 120mg
Sodium 501mg

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¾ tsp ground cumin
• ¾ tsp coriander
• ¾ tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 c. chopped onions
• 1 c. chopped red pepper
• ¾ c. chopped celery
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 medium zucchini
• 1 tbsp ginger root
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 4 c. cubed, peeled sweet potatoes
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 2 tbsp light peanut butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar/ honey
• 1 lb cooked shrimp, tails removed

Directions

In a large heavy pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onions, red peppers, garlic, and celery, cook stirring until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, and cook stirring until soft about 4 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, ginger root, cumin, coriander, curry powder and cinnamon, and cook stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broth, coconut milk, salt, and pepper, stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender about 10 minutes. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return puree mixture to pot with remaining soup. Stir in cilantro, basil, peanut butter, brown sugar/ honey, and lime juice. Mix well. Add shrimp and heat for about 2 minutes until shrimp are heated through.

I found this recipe for vegetarian chili by Emeril Lagasse on cooks.com; a great resource! It was a winner both at home and work, but it takes a huge pot to make. One of my goals is to find recipes that I can freeze ahead for some quick lunches and dinners and this recipe is perfect for that! I even froze some portions in ice cube trays, then emptied into a freezer zip lock bag. When I’m ready, I thaw a couple of cubes and add to my egg whites on some mornings for a little variety. Delish! Gotta love Emeril. BAM!

Nutritional Information

Per Serving:
Calories: 311
Fat: 7g
Protein: 13g
Carbohydrates: 51g
Sugar: 15g
Fiber: 12g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 1,040 mg

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 ½ c. chopped yellow onions
• 1 c. chopped red bell peppers
• 2 to 3 serrano peppers, stemmed seeded and minced
• 1 medium zucchini, stem ends trimmed and cut into small dice
• 2 c. fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
• 1 ½ lbs portabella mushrooms stemmed, wiped clean and cubed
• 4 lg. tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• ¼ c. fresh chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 3 c. cooked black beans, or canned beans rinsed and drained
• 1-15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 c. vegetable stock , or water
• Cooked brown rice for accompaniment
• Sour Cream or Strained Yogurt (garnish)
• Dice avocado (garnish)
• Chopped green onions (garnish)

Directions

In a large heavy pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and serrano peppers, cook stirring until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, corn, and mushrooms, and cook stirring until soft and the veggies give off their liquid and start to brown around the edges, about 6 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne, and cook stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and stir well. Add the beans, tomato sauce, and vegetable stock , stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add cilantro and season to taste.

Place ¼ cup cooked rice in a bowl and ladle chili over the rice, garnish as desired.

I found this basic recipe, but there were no directions on how to prepare it! On the first try, I blended everything together at once and got mixed reviews from the family. So I played with the ingredients, added a couple and varied the way of blending it. By try #5 everyone was happy with them! So, here’s my recipe for great protein pancakes.

Nutritional Information

Servings Per Recipe: 1
Calories: 267.4
Total Fat: 4.2 g
Cholesterol: 4.5 mg
Sodium: 458.8 mg
Total Carbs: 31.7 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.0 g
Protein: 25.0 g

Ingredients

• ½ cup oats
• ½ cup fat free cottage cheese
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (or) skim milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Stevia (to taste)

Optional Items

• Blue Berries
• Strawberries
• Cranberries
• Apples
• Bananas
• Raw nuts

Directions

In a food processor, blend oats into a flour mixture — as fine as possible — and set aside.

Place cottage cheese, egg whites, almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon and Stevia into food processor and blend until smooth and frothy.

Add oat flour mixture to processor and mix until blended. Check the consistency of the batter and add more milk or oats to adjust if needed. If optional items are added, I found that more milk was necessary because the items thickened the batter.

Pour batter onto a hot skillet sprayed lightly with vegetable oil by full tablespoons: two heaping tablespoons per pancake; and use spoon to help the batter spread.

Turn burner to medium heat and cook a little slower than traditional pancakes.  There will only be a few air bubbles visible, if at all.  Carefully turn the pancakes as they will be delicate. After the first turn, they can be handled easily.

This recipe make 5 to 6 silver dollar pancakes and is one serving. Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments below!

I know I have been kinda silent the last couple of days; I have been working like a mad woman! I joined a challenge: Real Chicks Getting Fit’s Spring “Chicks” Challenge 2012.  My challenge goals are listed below. Keep checking back to see how I’m doing!

1. Non Scale Victory
   • Be in a size 8 jean (maybe a dream but, “go big or go home”)
   • Like how I look in the mirror
   • Enjoy living healthy for me
2. Nutrition Parameters
   • Eat 5 to 6 small meals a day
   • Consistent with taking my vitamins
   • Try to drink at least 96 oz of water a day
3. Exercise Parameters
   • Be consistent with my P90X program
   • Running at least twice a week for 3 to 4 miles
4. I will blog at least twice a week about how I am doing
5. I will also encourage others who are on this journey

Well, that’s all for today. I will be announcing more exciting things later this week!

Be Blessed,

Herlinda

I am a former reality show winner. I won a healthy make over and lost a total of 101lbs over the course of about 11 months. I consider 65lbs to have been lost in a very healthy way. The rest was lost with a mixture of exercise which I loved and a bar and shake only meal plan which I hated!!! I was a good trooper, because after all I WON it. At my lowest weight at the finale I weighted 143lbs and was wearing a size 4/6.

About 4 months after the finale I went in for my routine annual exams. There were some issues found, an enlarged ovary and masses in one of my breasts. After a huge scare I found out that the cysts were benign and everything would be handled with some hormone therapy. I had never taken any type of hormones not even birth control, and my doctor informed me that they would cause me to gain weight. I was very depressed, I had gained a total of about 10lbs just trying to maintain after the show and the idea of gaining more was a devastating!

Well, I gained about 30 more pounds due to the meds and another 5lbs or so due to the depressing fact that after all my hard work I was once again FAT and feeling like I had let down so many people who believed in me. (Did I mention that this contest was televised regionally on NBC and published in a local magazine?) Ugh…

However, the real truth is that I gained back what I had lost doing the bar and shake plan. It was a total of 800 calories a day and I was working out like crazy 6 days a wk with two trainers. After the final weigh in the bar and shake Dr’s said that I would need to eat a DIET of no more than 1200 calories a day to maintain. My trainers were horrified, I am certainly not a nutritionist but even I know that is too few calories especially if you are working out like I was.

So, this is where I find myself. Determined not to gain any more weight and sure that I will be the size that I want doing it the right way! So I invite you to join me on my journey to be:

1. Happy – well, I just want to stay happy cuz a really great thing about the show (and there were a few, even if the diet sucked) was that I met my boyfriendJ. And I have a really supportive family who are with me all the way!
2. Fit — I want to be toned and like how I look. I will be super honest about the exercise: like, do the really fit people realize that, when you have a belly, some of those yoga positions are just not gonna happen the way they are demonstrating? Please, for the love of God, could you please show us how to modify that?! LOL
3. A Role Model — I want to show other people who are in their Forties that we can do this thing! In a healthy realistic way and maintain once we get there.
4. To be daring and try new things on a continual basis to show people that we don’t have to quit living!

I promise to share all that I am going through and be encouraging. Of coarse, I will be talking as much to myself as to anyone who cares to listen.

Be Blessed!