Weight Watchers!

Where To Begin...?

I had about 5 doctors appointments this week, and 3 out of the 5 told me I needed to lose weight and that I had moved from being just overweight to obese. In fact 1 of them stated I was MORBIDLY obese.

This didn't sit too well with me.
After sobbing in my car for a good 5 minutes, I decided to pull myself together and I called my mom.
My mom then told me that I needed to not only lose weight to feel better about my appearance but also because of the health factors, I have some respiratory and cardiac issues and losing the weight will certainly help.
I'm currently on a medication that causes a lot of weight gain, so the idea of trying to lose weight while I'm on something that makes me gain is a bit overwhelming.
However it can be done, I just have to work twice as hard.
The other thing is my doctor didn't clear me for cardio, so at this point I have to lose weight using diet alone for now.
This is where Weight Watchers comes in.
I have family members and friends who have used weight watchers and they have seen great results.
I also like that it allows for me to eat the foods that I want too without feeling guilty or defeated.

So here it is folks.
Day 3 of Weight Watchers:
I can honestly say this diet is very easy to maintain.
I haven't used all my daily points even once let alone my weekly bonus points.
And because I have to track my food, it makes me more aware of what I'm putting into my body.
I don't feel like I'm on a diet, so far I've been able to eat normal foods and enjoy my meals since starting.

Last night I made a delicious meal that was only 7 points!
I made Cajun Blackened Tilapia with Herb Rice.
Delicious
See?:


Quite Easy and Simple.

Today my snacks are as followed:

2 Pts.


sooooo yummy! 4 pts


Super Spicy but delicious. 4pts for about 30almonds.

I'd love to hear what you all are snacking on during the day, and what you find to be challenging or helpful!
Any and all advice is appreciated!

ITS A"MAHI"ZING

Mahi Mahi Extravaganza

So as some of you might remember, we just got back from the Outer Banks. While we were there Randy caught a bunch of Mahi Mahi that we froze and brought home with us.

Now...I scoured the internet for Mahi Mahi recipes and I decided I would try one and then wing one.
Here are the results of my effort!

We ended up making three different kinds, so I'm sorry if this entry seems a little all over the place, I'll try and get them organized!

Garlic Butter

Alright so I ended up cooking all the Mahi in the skillet, on this batch I used salt and pepper :)

They salt and pepper batch was going to get drizzled with this lovely garlic butter sauce that I whipped up right quick

End Results!
Yummmy.

Now we ate this meal with rice and asparagus, but I think in the case with the garlic butter I would much rather have had something heartier like potatoes.

NEXT STOP...Old Bay Town

Now this next batch was Randy's favorite and the recipe that I decided to wing!

We used Old Bay. Now for any non-marylanders reading this site...Old Bay is sort of the Holy Grail of seasonings in Maryland, we put it on everything...as you will soon find out.

Alright, same deal, in the skillet only seasoned with old bay, I did about 4 minutes on each side until it was flaky and able to pull apart with a fork.

mmm yum, look at that pretty color!

For those who may be interested in knowing what the box looks like :)

Now the asparagus was all Randy's doing, look how excited he was though to help me cook!

lol it got better, I promise.

He wanted to whip up some old bay asparagus, which was AMAZING.

While Randy was cooking the asparagus, I ate Red Velvet Cake and played with Boe:

(and that hairy man foot would be Randy's not mine, just for the record)

Ginger Sesame

Now..once that batch was finished it was time to work on mine!

This recipe is very easy although there are some changes I would make now that I have tasted the finished product.

First, I seasoned the filets with a little ground ginger and sesame seeds.

 

Then it was time to make the sauce,

I used 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce, fresh grated ginger, and I just sauteed the ginger in the skillet for 30 seconds with a splash of sesame oil, and then added the teriyaki and let it heat for about a minute or two.

After my sauce was all nice and warmed and aromatic, I poured it over the sesame mahi mahi and garnished with some yummy green onions (I tossed these in the skillet for about 30 seconds for flavor)

 

FINISHED RESULTS AND OPINIONS:

 

Everything was really yummy, however I think next time I'll add a little brown sugar to the sauce because the teriyaki did make the dish quite saltier than I prefer...

I still had two helpings though!

(yum)

Vacation - Relaxation and Mahi Mahi!

So I've been MIA for a little while because I have been on vacation!
We went to the Outer Banks for a week, and oh my goodness it was the most relaxing week of my entire 25 year old life.

(Our house was right on the beach, all I had to do was step out of the gate!)

I had no idea just how stressed out I really was until I no longer had to worry about anything!
My biggest stressor was whether or not I needed to wear flip flips because the sand was too hot.

However...
I was bad.
I was really really really bad.

I ate everything.
I didn't think about my diet at all, and you know what...it showed.
I came back to work and I had my weigh in for our biggest loser contest and lets just say, I had gained back every single pound that I had lost.
I was definitely crushed.
But now I'm just going to work a thousand times harder to stay on top of everything.

But...look I'm getting side tracked.
BACK TO THE VACATION POST:

Randy went fishing with my family, and oh boy, did they catch some fish haha

holy crap.  That's a lot of fish haha.

I'm REALLY excited though because I get to cook Mahi Mahi for the first time, so I've been gathering all these amazing recipes!
If you know of any and want to share them please add them in the comment section below!

While the men were out hunting, we women were gathering....err gathering sunrays.

How cute is my Grandma :)

Randy and I had a wonderful time, but were so happy to come home to our Boebutt <3

(He was pretty bitter over us leaving)

Anyway...it's back to the grind for another year...sigh!
At least I have something to look forward too!

Everyone Loves Pinterest!

  So I'm Kiiiiinda Excited!
Everyone loves pinterest right?
Well my blog now has it's very own pinterest page!
I already have hundreds of recipes on it, all organized by category and the recipes are also organized by whether they are a healthy recipe or a sinful recipe :)

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do!

www.pinterest.com/danicakeaddict

Date Night!

Surprise Date!

Now I consider myself pretty lucky in love.
I've got a great boyfriend who does everything he can to help provide for us, and to help us grow as a couple.
However we are human.
I think it's human nature to get "comfortable" and to sort of let a lot of that romantic and fussy stuff fall to the side.
Our idea of a date is going to grab a pizza and watching a movie at home.
Which is wonderful, but there aren't any angel choirs singing.

So I about died when I came home from work on Tuesday evening and found that the entire house was sparkling, he had cleaned everything and told me that we were going out.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that we were going to Yellowfin.

Yellowfin Steak and Fish House is right on the water in Annapolis, and it's so gorgeous and I have been wanting to go there for so long!
He had made reservations, and reserved us a waterfront table!

We started off with some bubbly goodness

Look at that view!!

Everything we had was fantastic!
I wish I had taken pictures of our salads, but I'm a bad blogger and forgot.
But I had the hot bacon caprese salad.
omg. bacon.

For Dinner...we spoiled ourselves.
Randy got the scallops in a rich white wine butter sauce, with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus.

I on the other hand was a little indecisive so I got everything.
I got the lobster tail with a crabcake, and scallops...and shrimp...and garlic mashed potatoes.

BEYOND DELICIOUS.
Everything was so fresh, and cooked delightfully.
The sauces weren't overwhelming but were a perfect compliment to the dish.

All in all the evening was wonderful, and we left stuffed and happy.
I would absolutely recommend the restaurant and would absolutely return!
(once our wallets have recovered)

Grandma's Spaghetti Sauce!

Grandma's Spaghetti Sauce!

 

So we are leaving for vacation this Sunday, and there is always lots of prepping and packing to do! However we had a new item to add to our agenda this year, and that was Grandma's Spaghetti Sauce!

My Grandma has been a bit under the weather the past few months so she was unable to make her cherished spaghetti sauce, however my dad decided that with her guidance we would attempt to make her sauce ourselves!

(My Grandmother is fabulous)

Now this post is NOT a recipe post.
Because it's a secret :)

But I'll give you some little glimpses into how we did!

 Now First and Foremost.
My Dad is NOT a Cook.
His idea of cooking is buttered egg noodles and a hot ham and cheese.
So this was HUGE.
And you know what....
He did wonderful!

Look at him prepping the garlic!

Thanks Dad!

 So after we added all the ingredients to the sauce

We let it simmer for a bit.

While that was bubbling, I worked on the meatballs.

And The Ribs.

And The Sausage.

and then we threw it all in the pot to cook for the next couple of hours

Naturally I Was Starving.
So I Started Snacking.

 And Taste Testing.....

At The End of The Day.
It Wasn't Grandma's.
It needed more oregano (I think this was because we used fresh instead of dried.)
But this was something easily fixed!
So with 4 tubs in the freezer and ready, I think we are all set to go to the beach!!



On a sidenote:
I hate spaghetti sauce!
So this just shows how much I love my family :)

When Pizza Happens To Good People

When Pizza Happens To Good People



So has some of you may know, I am doing The Biggest Loser at my work. Basically we weigh in on Monday and pay $1, at the end of the 15 weeks whoever has lost the most weight gets the pot of money and gets to look all hot.
I'm tryna win that shit, This week when I had my weigh in I had lost 4lbs!
YAY!
Cue Party Music.

HOWEVER.....
My boyfriend likes to sabotage me.
He ordered pizza.
Not only did he order pizza.
He ordered my favorite Philly Cheesesteak Pizza.
ommmmmmmmmmmmmg.
I ate it.
A lot of it.
Womp.
Now at first I felt all awful and depressed and guilty.
And for a split second I even thought about not eating for a day to make up for my bad behavior.
But then I realized.
Pizza Happens.
And Pizza SHOULD happen.




(So Should Cream of Crab soup)
 




90/10 Rule Man.
90% of what goes in my body is good and happy and healthier, and 10% is junkfoody-delicious-crap.



Now...other than that moment of gluttony
I've been quite good!

Here is a round up of some of this weeks healthier choices:


Banana Chips!
So good!
I got this bag at Trader Joe's awhile ago and it's lasted quite a bit.
They are great when I'm needing something to tide me over till lunch.




 
Portion Control!

At least two of my lunches this week have consisted of a half cup of Trader Joe's Chicken Fried Rice.
Its so delicious and actually does a great job of filling me up!
I usually pair it with either hummus and veggies, or cinnamon applesauce.




I've got a new Tilapia Recipe so hopefully I'll be able to post that up here by the end of the week!