My Healthy Breakfast Casserole

I'd like to share the recipe to a breakfast casserole I made this past Saturday. I had people over for breakfast and wanted to make something I could eat too. I looked for recipes, but did not like them entirely. So I made my own. I had some left over baked potatoes, so I sliced them and put them at the bottom (instead of the bread most of them asked for. Then I used a yoghurt dip I had made out of plain yoghurt and onion spices (that was in place of the milk or cream). I used a packaged of boiled bacon I buy at Lidl (Canadian bacon).  I added 8 beaten eggs (with salt and pepper) and mixed it all up. I topped it with grated cheese (four cheese and mozzarella), and then I remembered I had some mushrooms, so I sliced them thinly over top. It looked really good.

It was very good. It did taste "healthy". I guess regular bacon would have given it a more "fatty" taste, or maybe adding butter. But I enjoyed it very much. It would be good to eat for lunch or dinner as well.

Red cabbage

Would you like to eat more cabbage and can't figure out another way? Someone gave me this recipe and I really enjoy it. I have modified it to be really light; the original has whipping cream.
Shred some cabbage; add fat free, sugar free pineapple yogurt, cut up canned pineapple and chopped walnuts. Mix well and enjoy. You can make with more or less cabbage. It's really crunchy and you forget you're eating cabbage.

Perfet Monday

I am very excited to say that today was a great day for me. I ate a 3-egg white omelet with a tomato and a tiny piece of homemade whole wheat bread. I had celery, carrots and cherry tomatoes for a mid-morning snack. For lunch and had a huge salad with hardly any olive oil and some vinegar, a spoonful of spaghetti sauce (meat) without pasta and an apple. I got home and before going swimming I ate a spoonful of white beans (weird, I know) and 5 grapes. Then for supper I had a two bean salad (garbanzo beans and white beans with peppers, onions and tomatoes). So my diet was super healthy. See if I can keep it up.
I got to go to the pool and swim a kilometer. I plan to do this regularly. And of course, drank 4 liters of water. But don't worry, Dany Joy, that is normal for me.
I hope this challenges somebody out there and I really hope I can keep it up. That's the main reason I'm posting it--to be accountable!
Have a great week!

Maribel's Journal #1

On Wednesday I started strong on the exercise. We went cable water skiing. I skied and swam in the sea for two hours. The next day many muscles in my body ached. I was so excited to find all the muscles that needed work! But then Thursday and Friday I didn't exercise much. Saturday I swam over 1 kilometer and Sunday just took a pleasant walk. I hope to do better this week, with organized regular exercise. I must confess that after water skiing I ate a whopper!! I know, it's awful! But I drank Coke 0!
 I hope to complete this week with some good reports and maybe by next week I can start seeing some results. 

Maribel's Introductory Post

Hi! My name is Maribel. I live in the province of Alicante, Spain. My husband and I have three children ages 13, 11 and 8. I have participated in several challenges with Dani Joy and they all have been a blessing. Sometimes I've been more "active" than others, but they have always helped me take care of myself. 

We moved to Petrer, Alicante 4 years ago to start a church. The Lord is blessing and we are grateful for what He is doing in us and through us.

We are missionaries here but I am a school teacher as well. I teach at a trilingual school my children attend. We eat at school and when we get home I like to make foods my family enjoy. Although we eat pretty healthy meals, there is always food that I should not eat to keep my weight where I want it. So the challenge is to pass on foods that the rest of the family can eat in good conscience. 

Another challenge will be to exercise daily. I have started, but I have to get back to a good routine. I know that when I get into the routine, I will have more stamina and won't feel like going to bed right behind my children, as I do now.

This family picture was taken this past summer in Segovia. We don't live there and that is not our home, but the Alcázar de Segovia. :-)

My measurements are a little behind last challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing results soon.

Height: 5' 3' 
Weight: 127 lbs.

Chest: 31

Waist: 29

Hips: 38

Right Thigh: 21.5

Left Thigh: 21.5

Right Arm: 11

Left Arm: 11

I could not find a full picture of me, so I'll post this one from this summer. I'm at a water fight at camp, and the guy next to me is my oldest son, David! 

Week 5, First post

Hi everyone! This is my first post for this challenge. I really wanted to continue on the blog to encourage myself and others. But these are hard days to diet and exercise. I have a full house (for the rest of the summer) and I have not finished the school year yet. I am drinking around 4 liters a day (with allergies and all, it feels great to drink).

I log on and read some of your entries every once in a while. Keep it up. I am looking forward to trying Dani Joy's Get ripped in 30. I have been doing the 30 day shred, but I don't do it everyday.

If you think about it, pray that I will have relief from allergies. Thank you.

God bless you all.

Maribel

Beginning measurements--Journal 1

Hi!

We're starting a new challenge! Aren't we dedicated? I am excited! I've already started with a light supper and some exercise. I will be doing the 30-Day Shred again. My sister is getting married, my anniversary is coming up next week, and I'm getting company all summer long. But my plan of attack is to feed everybody healthy meals, and my unattained goal is to watch people eat without "participating" and not eating while I prepare the food. Those two are tough ones for me.

I measured in inches, so it looks totally new to me. I did have to weigh myself in kilos, so I calculated the pounds with the computer. Here they are!

Weight: 57---125.6 lbs

Bust: 36.5

Chest: 31

Waist: 29

Hips: 38

Right Thigh: 21

Left Thigh: 20.75

Right Arm: 10.5

Left Arm: 10.25

I won't post a picture of me, since my friend Dani Joy posted two. I could post a video of me trying to mount a donkey, but I'll save it for another occasion.

Have a great time sweating off the fat!

Maribel

Elena y Rosa, si queréis traducción, pedidla. Si no, pues así practicáis. Besos.

Final post

Well, you could say I did not finish the best way possible, having vacation time these final days, but I enjoyed being part of this challenge. I will rethink strategies and join you for the next one. I have been working out in different ways and plan to do the 30-day shred beginning next week.

Congratulations to everyone who got this far and who lost something on the way. Keep it off.

My final measurements are:

Weight: 57.2

Bust: 95 cm

Chest: 77 cm

Waist: 71 cm

Hips: 96 cm

Right Thigh: 53 cm

Left Thigh: 54 cm

Right Arm: 26.5 cm

Left Arm: 27 cm

cms lost: 3

Maribel

Week 9 El Cid

Hello from Petrer, Spain! This is our mountain--El Cid!

These past weeks has been busy, and as activity and responsibility increases, my exercise tie decreases. Somehow 2 points did not seem to motivate me enough (just kidding, Dani Joy, I'm not complaining!) But I keep on moving. My weight or size have not changed, but I love feeling the pain in my buttocks' muscles after I push myself! I continue to eat healthy, but my appetite for vegetables has dropped some these days. I'll have to do another week of no-carbs before this challenge is over.

I'll share the pictures from the hike two weeks ago. This is how far behind I am. Notice the bottles of water. I carried those full all the way up, and drank them by the time I got down (I almost dropped them at some points as the way down got really tough).

I just noticed all the pictures were of the way up.

This next week we have three days of school and then we are home for almost two weeks! Yeah!! See what kind of exercise and diet plan we can follow! Last night my daughter said we should have carrots and tomatoes as we watched the soccer game. Then they start adding pop corn, ice cream, and before you know it, the healthy snack has been sabotaged! Good thing I don't like ice-cream!

Have a great week, everyone- take time to reflect on Jesus' work of redemption!

Maribel

For His glory

This week I have been praying with many friends and family for Jonatán, a young boy who is dying with cancer and has such a wonderful attitude that he is a great encouragement to us all. The Lord has given him (as He gives us all) every day for the past couple of weeks, and he lives a day at a time, praising God and enjoying family and friends. And so, I'm encouraged to enjoy every day God gives me and live it for His glory. I want to give my best to the Lord, my mind and body. That is why we eat right and exercise, for His glory. This is just a quick reminder and an encouragement to you all.

God bless you.

Maribel

Saturday Mountain Climb

This past Saturday our family decided to climb the mountain in front of our house. It is a pretty well known mountain and it takes over an hour to get to the peak at a good pace. We worked hard and managed to get there. I carried two bottles of water, one on each hand to make sure I got the upper body workout as well as lower body and aerobic. I need to put up the pictures, but I plan to do it tomorrow. The challenge began on the way down. We had taken a known trail up the mountain, but on the way, we saw markings for a race that would take place on Sunday morning. When we were up, we saw that there were markings for the race going down a different way. We decided to take it and learn a new way. We made a wrong decision. After a few hundred meters too many and too steep to go back), the path became very dangerous, going next to a very high precipice and with loose rock everywhere. We prayed and "watched" as we kept going, hoping that the path would get easier at some point. Well, after 2 1/2 hours of hard work and stress we got to a path that would take us to our car, about a kilometer away. We saw a sing there that marked the "juvenile" trail one way and the "expert" mountain climber trail that we had taken. Hours after we had planned to get back, we praised the Lord for his protection. I was very proud of my children, how they stuck to it, even when their knees were shaking and were afraid (as I was). Daniel (8) kept on asking . . .so mommy. . . How many points do you have now? :(

:) That night I had a hard time falling asleep, thinking of all that "could have happened". Then I had to take my thoughts to God and "whatDID happen". Praise God for His protection.

Carbs and hunger

Two weeks ago I purposely stayed away from "obvious" carbs because I was noticing a dependence on them that I did not like. I wrote a post on it, but I gathered some research on the matter, and I thought I'd share it with you. I knew that eating too many carbs could make you crave them, so I looked up on the internet articles relating carbohydrates to hunger. I found a good amount of information, but here are a few quotes.

"When we eat a meal, we have a reasonable expectation that the food will make us feel full. But we know from our experience that this expectation is not always fulfilled.

It depends on what we eat even more than on how much we eat.

It is carbohydrates that can make you hungry. And, unless you are consciously trying to starve yourself, when you are hungry, you eat more. And when you eat more, you gain weight.

In his important new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories(Alfred A. Knopf, 2007) science writer Gary Taubes carefully reports on the studies that trace the connection running between carbohydrates to hunger and then to insulin and on to weight gain. The chapters there on “The Carbohydrate Hypothesis” are well worth the consideration of anyone with diabetes.

when we don’t consume many carbohydrates, then consuming fat does not lead to weight gain.

http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/18362/eating-make-hungry/"

This was the site that explained it the best in the most concise way.

Since I like breads a lot, I have gome to whole wheat and no white sugar options. And they still taste good, the are filling and I ry to keep the consumption under "my" control, not the dough's. Keep springing, girls!

Week 6

This week has not been great for me. I will not be able to take advantage of the points. At school, the menu has not been good for a whites-out week. One day I managed to get around it without starving. The other days I had to eat some. Then I have been on my period, with all the cravings included. I made them sugar-free or brown sugar-whole wheat. But it wasn't my best-eating week. Yesterday we had our church meal. I know it may sound strange, but the ladies don't like my "watching what I eat" at those meals, especially since I am the smallest one. I like to keep a good testimony, so I had to try their dishes and cakes. They were good. I have drunk my water every day, and I have exercised some. So I may break even with the points this week. Next week I may have to sneak in some nix the fix days, even if I don't get the points. Thanks Daniella for your work.

Last week's post

Hi! I still haven't posted from this past week, but it's been one of those busy fast going weeks. I did measure partially, so I will post the achievements (-6.5 cm total loss) It must have been my no bread days plus the running I'm doing! I wish I were more faithful, but I only get to run some days a week. It feels great after the first couple of kilometers! My weight was 56.4, so the same as my lowest this time around. Not sure if it will go down ever, since I take my "liberties" and compensate with exercise.

Left thigh 51.5 (-1.5)

Right thigh 52 (-2)

Hips 95 (-1)

Waist 71 (-2)

Saturday was Father's Day here in Spain. We had a great time. We had a brunch made out of WHOLE WHEAT bacon and cheese biscuits, a mixture ofpotatoes, eggs, bacon and VEGETABLE stir, and some DARK CHOCOLATE pastries.It was Father's Day! Then we went to Terra Natura (a zoo) for the morning and walked up and down the world seeing different animals. We did not sit for any shows. Then we drove to my sister's and had coffee and well, other things to go with it ;)

In the evening I tried to compensate with level three of the Shred and walking to the store with my husband (he takes huge steps, so I get out of breath and happy). But he went and chose some supper the kids would like cheese and bacon on pastry dough. I used fat free sour cream, and accompanied it with carrots. I avoided the chips (not hard, since I don't care for those).

This was a fun day, but I don't believe I lost any weight or cm. I remind myself that building memories with my family is very important as well!

Have a great week!

Last week's post

Hi! I still haven't posted from this past week, but it's been one of those busy fast going weeks. I did measure partially, so I will post the achievements (-6.5 cm total loss) It must have been my no bread days plus the running I'm doing! I wish I were more faithful, but I only get to run some days a week. It feels great after the first couple of kilometers! My weight was 56.4, so the same as my lowest this time around. Not sure if it will go down ever, since I take my "liberties" and compensate with exercise.

Left thigh 51.5 (-1.5)

Right thigh 52 (-2)

Hips 95 (-1)

Waist 71 (-2)

Westerday was Father's Day here in Spain. We had a great time. We had a brunch made out of WHOLE WHEAT bacon and cheese biscuits, a mixture of potatoes, eggs, bacon and VEGETABLE stir, and some DARK CHOCOLATE pastries. It was Father's Day! Then we went to Terra Natura (a zoo) for the morning and walked up and down the world seeing different animals. We did not sit for any shows. Then we drove to my sister's and had coffee and well, other things to go with it ;)

In the evening I tried to compensate with level three of the Shred and walking to the store with my husband (he takes huge steps, so I get out of breath and happy). But he went and chose some supper the kids would like cheese and bacon on pastry dough. I used fat free sour cream, and accompanied it with carrots. I avoided the chips (not hard, since I don't care for those).

This was a fun day, but I don't believe I lost any weight or cm. I remind myself that building memories with my family is very important as well!

Have a great week!

Tuesday dinner

I have decided to stay away from breads and other obvious carbohydrates this whole week (starting today). This is a great sacrifice for me, since whenever I feel hungry, I always go to cereals, fruits, and breads. It would be great to get some points for it, but I am just doing it to show myself I can (it's sort of what smokers do, isn't it). Except I recognize I am hooked on bread. After all, I was born and live in Spain :)

Well, I planned my second supper without cheese, fruit or bread. I took a picture of the shredded vegetables on the pan and had high hopes of posting this recipe. I like plain flavors (no spices), but thinking Charlie and her spiced up recipes, I decided to crush some colorful peppercorns on the veggies. Well, the jar came open somehow and all the peppercorns fell on the vegetables. I spent the next 20 minutes picking peppercorns off the veggies to try to save dinner. They were reproducing like crazy! Well, I used some of the veggies to make pasta sauce for my family--blent in with the tomato sauce and all, they claim it wasn't bad, except when they accidentally would chew on one. My "plain" veggies were not that good. Next time, no spices.

So this is how my recipe ended up in the "humor post". Oh well. . . it's been a while since I couldn't finish my food. As we say here. . .No hay mal que por bien no venga.

Maribel

Hi there!

This week I have been working out using Jillian's Banish Fat Boost Metabolism video. I like it because it is aerobic and longer than the 30 Day Shred ones. I add some wight training exercise at the end, or some abs. It is good for days when you cannot or don't feel like going outside to run.

This morning I took some nice time to read through some posts. It is good to know how others are doing and encourage one another. I have not measure, and my weight has not changed, so I may post measurements next week.

Thanks Danielle for the water points! I needed something to get a couple of points a day ;) I love water.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Maribel

Natural tuna and tomato sandwiches

Here in Spain we eat a lot of "bocadillos" (sub style sandwiches). The tuna and tomato one is popular, and my kids like it. I normally buy canned tuna and comes in oil (vegetable or olive). Although I like tuna, I don't digest it very well. However, the other day natural canned tuna was on sale and I bought it. In the blender I chopped some fresh tomatoes, added the tuna and some olive oil. It is good, natural, and a great source of protein (read the can). It's delicious to put over toast or on some good crusty bread. And it is not aggressive to my stomach!

Try it sometime.

Maribel

Spinach omelette

I need to post more and get some points!

I thought I would share with you how to make a great supper recipe:

Spinach omelette (tortilla de espinacas).

I had some spinach I had to use. I normally buy it washed and ready to use and put it in my salads, but this weekend I did not eat much salad :( . Tonight I sauteed it with some spring onions (ajos tiernos) and added some mushrooms to it. I added 5 beaten eggs and salt. It's tasty! Slice some nice tomatoes to go with it. I did share with my family.

Have a great week.

Maribel

Put on your running shoes, mate.

Several of us are running for exercise. It is great as the nice weather begins, and I am finding unusual pleasure in letting myself float around the countryside or running along as my kids ride their bikes. It is fun to race them during short distances. I used to hate running, specially since it made me have knee pain (tendinitis) often, and I did not know how to avoid it. This summer while we were in California, David's cousin, Ericlee tortured me with a massage on my knee calf and mentioned that the problem was probably not my knee, but the way I was running and a wrong position of my muscular movement. He also led me to buy other running shoes. I got Saucony, an unknown brand to me. Back in Spain, I wore my running shoes to school one day (I had a sore toe) and the PE teacher made a comment about my shoes. She said that those were the best shoes, that doctors recommended them to athletes, etc. I was surprised that they were known here too. She said they were, around the "experts". I really think that the shoes may have been a very important factor in my being able to run my 6 kilometers (my longest distance) and not have pain.

So, put on your running shoes. . . mate!

Maribel