I Did It!

Rocked my bikini at the beach mofos!  ;)

Ethan and Mommy <3

Kristina Pastina

I am a pasta lover. I love it so much, as a kid I was often called Kristina Pastina. It's one of my weaknesses. I'm Italian. I grew up living on it. When I first started eating healthier, I cut out white pasta and began eating whole wheat. Then my doc suggested I cut wheat so I began trying different types-- rice pasta, spelt, kamut,  cereal etc. This time around, Dr. Som doesn't want me eating ANY grains. While it has been tough and I've had a few moment of weaknesses, it has shown that my body is LOVING the no grain lifestyle. I found these today: red lentil pasta and amaranth pasta. Made from, you ready for it, red lentils and water and amaranth and water. Could it be too good to be true?! Maybe! I'll keep you all posted on the taste tomorrow :)

ALMOST

ALMOST wore this to the pool yesterday... not that brave yet lol. By the end of the summer is my goal.

Yay!

A non-scale victory for me! These jeans fit again! Haven't worn these some summer 2011 (before Ethan).

Dinner!

Yum! Cauliflower rice, peppers, onions and chicken.

Target Dress

I bought this dress today at Wal-Mart for $12! It doesn't fit lol. Well, it fits, it just hugs my tummy a bit too right. This is my new target dress. My goal is to wear it for picture day with my Kindergarteners (usually sometime in September or October).

FACIAL HAIR!

One of the most annoying symptoms of PCOS. In my late teens I noticed I was getting long whiskers of hair on my neck. I started just trimming it with scissors but that quickly wasn't enough and I started waxing it. The waxing left the area with ingrown hairs and red skin, never mind the fact that it hurt like a BITCH! I then heard of Vaniqa (I think on a PCOS message board) and asked my family doctor about it. He hadn't heard of it but called a few places to see if they had it and wrote me a prescription :) I loved it!  It was a cream you put on your face that slowed the growth of hair and as long as you kept using it, it would work. It was too good to be true. They stopped making it available in Canada :'( So of course I couldn't get anymore and the hair kept growing, by then it spread from a tiny 2x3 patch to probably 4 x5.
Then I tried laser hair removal. It didn't work :( My hair at the time was that coarse wirey hair but it was blonde.
Fast forward quite a few years later and here I am. Last year I bought a Wag Jag for laser hair removal again since street my son the hair turned black. They told me I could not continue to wax while getting laser treatment so I started shaving in between sessions. At first I had to shave every day or two. Now I obly shave about once a week :) It worked for the most part although I will probably need to go for touch ups every few years or so. I decided to write this today after reading a post today on a new amazing blog I found here. As with Jess I've never talked to my past boyfriends or even my husband about facial hair. I even tried hiding the fact that I was going for laser hair removal lol.  I'm glad it's somewhat under control now but I really feel for the ladies who still struggle with this on a daily basis.

Belly Bandit

Got my Belly Bandit today!  My sister went to Buffalo yesterday and found it at Babies R Us for $49.99 (as opposed to $69.99 in Canada). As per the website I should have bought an XL but they didn't have any so she got me a Large. WELL, The large fits but I only have like 2 inches before Velcro stops and I can't do it up! Was thinking about exchanging it but then my hubby pointed out that if I got a Medium it won't likely fit after baby #2. So I'm going to see it my grandmother could add some extra velcro.
Wearing it is not too bad. It makes you feel like your abd are engaged. Im sure that's a good sign lop.
I am wearing it under my dress in the photo. It makes me look leaner but I didn't wear it out today lol. It has some bulk near the Velcro that showed through my dress. Im laying in bed wearing it and I'm planning on wearing it through the night. Hope I make it! Keep you all posted! Xo

I Bought a Bikini! LOL

Even though I wrote "LOL", I'm not joking. I seriously bought a bikini today.
I have NEVER owned a bikini.  Not as a kid, preteen or teenager and definitely not as an adult. Then I read this article? and thought "why not?" So I bought one :) Will I wear it out in public? I hope so! More likely a beach than my sister's pool or something. Warning: here is a pic. I decided to go with a different top (all black) since clearly the one in the photo doesn't fit. Enjoy or laugh your ass off LOL

Check up!

Saw Dr Som today.
Before I get into our appointment I must comment on something that really upset me.
I stepped into Dr. Som's office today and it was BUSY! Her and her husband run yhe practice so I was very surprised to see the office full. Then I noticed the patients... Cancer patients :( Here I was trying to lose weight,  getting frustrated at times and sometimes really depressed and there were these women, young and old, fighting for their lives. It really made me feel crappy but put a few things into perspective for a minute.

Anyways, back to my appointment:

I'm down 7.6 lbs. 4.1 lbs of fat, 3 lbs of water and 0.5 lbs of muscle. She suggested I get to bed a bit earlier (10pm instead of 11 or 12). She also suggested I buy a "Belly Bandit" or similar to help with my belly shape. I've noticed a huge change in my waist but barely anything in my tummy :( She was extremely happy with my progress and said I was doing amazing. I see her again mid August.
Hoping to get in the 240's by next Wednesday. Oh, I've also decided I am only going to weigh in on Wednesdays.  Hope I don't cave! :)

2009 vs. 2014

Not a huge difference but this is me in 2009. Bad relationship and stress made me balloon up to 282 lbs. This is me in 2014. After moving out, breaking up with that jerk, losing, 50 lbs, meeting the love of my life, getting pregnant, gaining 70 lbs, getting married and losing 50 lbs LOL

Treat!

This is a TREAT for me.
A whole banana (which I ended up sharing since Ethan loves them)
An apple.
Cinnamon.
Peanut butter.
I also had a glass of almond milk with my inositol.

Last Night's Dinner

Had chicken with oyster sauce, salad and nuts. Everyone else ate spaghetti :)

Sample Menu

I thought I'd share an idea of what my meals consist of lately. I am on a faory free, wheat/grain free eating plan. Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast:
Smoothie - Almond milk,  1 scoop of MediClear and a handful of strawberries

Snack:
2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch:
Hamburger (no bun)
Homemade sweet potato salad
Green salad

Snack:
Apple with cashews

Dinner:
Chicken breast with oyster sauce
Salad

Feel free to send me a message if you want some other meal ideas :)

Updated pics

Here are some updated pics! The ones in the dress are from end of May. The one in black peplum and capris is end of June :)

Still around and losing pounds!

Quick little update!
Last weekend was my birthday and I went all out lol. Cake, homemade meal from Nonna, etc. I felt so sick the next day I barely had anything. Won't be doing that again. I'm down 2 more pounds this week! Only 24 lbs to go until I hit pre-Ethan weight :)

New Rules!

Saw Dr. Som last week and she gave me 2 new and important rules I'd like to share with you that have been helping me along the way.
#1: Have a maximum of TWO servings of fruit per day
#2: Whenever you eat a fruit or veggie, eat it with a protein.
I'm down a total of 50lbs as of this morning :-) Only about 26lbs to go to reach my first goal!

Update!

Hello everyone! I was doing the Dukan diet which was great -- I lost 10 lbs in 5 days! Then progress stopped. I went to Dr. Som and she put me on a 14 day cleanse. It consisted of MediClear smoothies 1-3 times per day, no grains, no dairy, no sugar.  She also said my blood pressure was low and gave me some supplements. She checked my cortisol levels and while it is usually through the roof, this time it was at burn out status. I am currently on day 10 of the cleanse and I feel great! I thin I've lost some weight but I asked Joe to hide my scale so I won't know until I see Dr. Som on Tuesday. 

Just wondering who still parts attention to me here lol. If you read the this, please drop me a quick comment so I know :-)
Here is a pic from our wedding in October :-)

Dukan Diet

Here I am again! This time with a new approach. I know, yet another attempt. I see Dr. Som on Tuesday because I'm almost entirely sure that the reason I am yo-yoing is due to my hormones being out of whack.
ANYWAYS, The Dukan Diet. I've already completed the first phase. Thr Attack phase consisted of a pure protein diet. It lasted 5 days and I lost 10 lbs :-) Nice! I am now on the Cruise phase. It consists of alternating your days. One day is Pure Protein (PP) and the next day is Protein + Vegetables (PV).
Hoping I get great results this week!
I leave you with a pic of me and my handsome little guy ♥

Tuna Nuggets

A few weeks ago this post would have been called Tuna Burgers but I have found that forming them into little nuggets make these much easier.
To make tuna nuggets or burgers, you'll need:

1 can of tuna in water (drained)
1 egg
2-3 tbsps of breadcrumbs (I used gluten free)
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together with your hands.
Form burgers or nuggets.
Heat olive oil in a pan and when youre sure it's hot, place burger/nuggets in pan. You want them to sizzle to make a nice crispy outside.
Cook them for a few minutes and flip.
All done! Easy peasy and sooo yummy!
Enjoy! :-D

Timeline!

Hello everyone! Here is a brief timeline of my weight loss journey:

Late 2009:                                282 lbs
September 2010:                      260 lbs (approximately)
December 2011:                       230 lbs
January 2012:                           Pregnant! :)
October 2012:                          306 lbs!!!!!!!!! (and 9 months pregnant)
January 2013 - January 2014:   "on the wagon, off the wagon, on the wagon, off the wagon"
March 26th, 2014:                    262 lbs......... Down 44 lbs from pregnancy weight and 32 lbs away from pre-pregnancy weight!      

My beautiful son is now 17 months old which means it has taken me 17 months to lose 44 lbs. 6 of those months I was breastfeeding which I believe inhibited my weight loss. After I was finished breastfeeding, I would plateau after 10 lbs, then get frustrated and start to slack on my eating. (I just love food so much!!!!!!!!!) I think my body was getting too used to the way I was eating which is why I was plateauing.

This time around I have made the following changes:
I have cut out all dairy-- no milk, no cheese, no butter, NOTHING.
I have cut out all gluten-- I most often eat brown rice as a starch with my meals and occasionally (0-2 times per week) rice pasta or spelt pasta.
I have also recently cut out almond milk believe it or not since it ranks quite high on the glycemic index.

I have also continued the following eating habits:
No food after 8:00pm.
1/2 cup of starch with lunch and dinner.
Protein with every meal (size of a deck of cards).
Eat on small plates.

This was my eating plan for today:

Breakfast:
Egg omelet with brocolli, onion and red peppers
Apple

Lunch:
1/2 cup of brown rice with a splash of low sodium soy sauce
"tuna burgers" (gluten free, message me for the recipe)
Romaine lettuce salad with oil and vinegar dressing

Snack:
Grapes

Dinner:
1/2 cup of spelt spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce
stew beef (3 oz)
Romaine lettuce salad with oil and vinegar dressing
3 tsps of inositol powder (great for PCOS!) in a splash of V8 Fusion juice watered down.

Feeling Pretty Today :-)

Update

So I plateaued last month and fell off the wagon but I'm back...AGAIN. It's so hard :-( Here is my body currently. Man I love that boy but did he ever ruin my stomach :-/ lol

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

That's it! I'm going on a no dairy diet! I cannot keep up with this acne!
The only dairy I regularly eat is cheese so that will be my challenge. I am just so depressed and feeling really low :-(

Today's Meal Plan

Hi everyone!
Just wanted to share my meal plan for today!

Breakfast:
Kashi
Almond milk
Banana

Lunch:
Ground chicken
Quinoa
Salad

Snack:
Broccoli
Ranch dip

Dinner:
Quinoa
Salmon
Broccoli

Snack:
Banana
Apple
Peanut butter
Cinnamon

Happy Hump Day! Xo

Mmmm...

My yummy dinner last night:
Rice pasta, with ricotta cheese, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and parmesan cheese
Salmon
A yummy salad

Down 10 Pounds!

Yay! 2 weeks in and I'm down 10 lbs :-) My eating was slightly off today. For lunch my friend and I went to a Pita Pit. I got a whole wheat pita with lean chicken breast, lettuce, spinach, olives, onion, tomato, feta and tziziki sauce. A good choice besides the pita part but I figured the veggie:grain ratio was optimal.

Going to my parents tomorrow and although I know they usually have healthy options, I thought if I prepared and brought my own lunch and fiber dinner I'd be less tempted to eat something else. So tomorrow's lunch will be a portion of chicken breast, 1/2 cup of rice pasta with tomato sauce and a salad. Snack is broccoli and ranch dressing. I'm really starting to enjoy this as a snack :-) Wish me luck!

Tonight's Dinner

These are eggplant pizzas before and after going into the oven. Eggplant breaded with gluten free bread crumbs, fried, then topped with pizza toppings (I chose, tomato sauce, ricotta cheese pesto,  black olives, tomatoes, red pepper and low fat mozzarella cheese) and baked! Mmmm...

Who Am I?

Added a new tab! "Who Am I?" Check it out :)

Happy Monday!

I organized my dinner so pretty to take a pic for you guys, but I must have been so hungry I ate it before I got a chance to take a pic lol. Anyways, I am down 8 lbs today. Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast:
Kashi
Almond milk
Banana

Lunch:
Rice pasta (1/2 cup)
4 small chicken meatballs
Salad with Greek dressing, sunflower seeds and craisins

Snack:
Broccoli and ranch dressing

Dinner:
Basmati rice (1/2 cup)
Pork tenderloin
Broccoli
1 tbsp of light cream cheese

Yesterday's Dinner

So good! Broiled tomatoes and mushrooms with cocktail shrimp, basmati rice and a bit of cream cheese... Mmmm...

Weekend!

Usually I have a difficult time eating properly on the weekends. This weekend was no different, I was very good :-) I did have a hard time getting my vitamins and supplements in though.
I received my water infused this week and tried it out! I put some frozen strawberries in it. I'm going to have to experiment with different fruit this week.
I also weighed in on my Diet Bet challenge. I can't believe there are over 800 people and the pot is over $20k!
Here's to a new week! Stay tuned for some meal plans this week! :-D

Day of Temptation

I weighed myself today! Down 5 lbs this week!

I had a staff meeting after work tonight and there are always lots of treats and goodies. Today was no different. There were Swedish meatballs, homemade chocolate chip cookies, chocolate, chips,  veggie and dip and fruit and dip. I had a lot of will power and ate a few meat balls and veggies and fruit with dip. Even though I'd sell my right kidney for a bite of that cookie!
After the meeting I picked up Ethan and Joe and we went to the Keg for dinner. The first thing the waitress brings out is FRESH baked bread and butter. OMG. I was very proud of myself and didn't eat a crumb. Next she brought Ethan some fries. Unfortunately I had a few because I was STARVING by then. Next she brought out our entrees.  Joe had BBQ chicken and ribs with a potato and I had Chicken Oliver-- chicken breast with scallops and shrimp and a Bernaise sauce with veggies. It was amazing. Not sure what was in the sauce but I could have ordered something a lot worse. Anyway, I'm proud of myself for showing restraint  but vow to try a bit harder tomorrow :-)

SNOW DAY!

SNOW DAY!!!!!!

I got to stay home today with my 2 favourite guys!
I was worried I wouldn't stay on track since usually being home is self-sabotage but I did extremely well :-) Here is my meal plan today:

Breakfast:
Kashi (1 cup)
Almond milk (1 cup)
Cinnamon
Banana

Lunch:
Left overs from last night's dinner (rice pasta, asparagus,  chicken and a salad)

Snack:
Apple
Banana
Peanut butter
Cinnamon
Oat/banana biscuit

Dinner:
Quiche with ricotta,  eggs and veggies
Salad with Greek dressing

Getting a little hungry now but I'm going to try and down a big glass of water and head to bed. Goodnight world! :-)

Today's Meals!

Breakfast:
Quinoa (1 cup)
Applesauce (2 tablespoons)
Almond milk (1/2 cup)
Cinnamon

Lunch:
Cabbage roll with Extra Lean Ground Beef, Brown rice, Lentils and veggies
Salad with sunflower seeds and craisins
Greek salad dressing

Snack:
2 Clementine oranges

Snack:
Banana with 1st tbsp peanut butter

Dinner:
Chicken Breast
Green beans
Rice pasta
Garlic/margarine/parmesan cheese

Supplements!

So I went to Walmart today and stocked up on my supplements. I'm going to have to figure out a way to ensure I am taking them on a regular schedule and that I always have them on me. Here are the supplements I will be taking:

Breakfast:
One-a-Day Women's Multivitamin (1 tablet)
Omega 3 Fish Oil (1 tablet)
Milk Thistle (1 tablet)

Lunch:
Omega 3 Fish Oil (1 tablet)
CLA (1 tablet)
Milk Thistle (1 tablet)

Dinner: 
Omega 3 Fish Oil (1 tablet)
CLA (1 tablet)
Milk Thistle (1 tablet)

Before Bed (empty stomach):
Saw Palmetto (1 tablet)
Vitamin D (2 tablets)
Calcium Magnesium (2 tablets)

Once I get a chance to go to the health food store, I will begin to use Inositol powder as well.

Dinner!

Mommy and Ethan's dinner! Quinoa, chicken breast and veggies! Mmmm...

DietBet!

So exciting! Just learned about DietBet this evening and I am so excited to get started! If you haven't heard of DietBet before this is what it's all about. You pay into a pot (usually $20-$35 depending on the game you are joining) and if you lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks then you split the pot with the other winners!

I joined a DietBet called "Bikini Body Mommy Challenge". I paid $25 to enter, right now the pot is at $2925 with 118 people, meaning in everyone wins (which is highly unlikely), everyone will basically win back their money! The challenge doesn't start until January 14 and the initial weigh in is January 12-13.

I'm super excited! If you want to join me enter here!!! :) Wish me luck! xo

Preparing

I went to Costco today to purchase some essentials. Picked up a case of almond milk (a staple in our house), Mary's Organic Crackers, Quinoa and a huge bag of almonds.

Tomorrow Joe and I will be going grocery shopping where I will fill our cart with lots of veggies and fruit! Some other items on my list are soy sauce (for my many stir frys), light cream cheese (to add to rice pasta should I have some), and tahini (to make hummus and baba ghanoush)!

I will also need to stock up on some vitamins and supplements and get back into my regime :-)

My first goal is to get to 200lbs, my second goal is to lose 100lbs which will bring me to 175lbs.

Wish me luck! I will likely weigh in on Fridays but I'm a scale whore so you may hear some news more often ;-)

Starting Fresh!

Alright ladies and gentlemen!
Drum roll please........................

There it is! My "starting weight" for 2014. Depressing yet motivating.  Can't wait to drop this weight and look and feel better!