By Brenda Fisher
I have really learned to like my low-carb lifestyle since I started doing it a few months ago. But I will admit one thing I miss is pasta and bread, especially when Italian food is on the menu. Zucchini is a low carb girls best friend so I’ve been trying to use it in the place of pasta. I’ve used my hand julienne peeler to make zucchini noodles before. The trick to keeping these noodles a little firm and not mushy is only peeling the outside of the zucchini until you get to the seeds in the middle and then flash cooking them in boiling salted water for about a minute.
Another idea I had was putting sauce over cooked zucchini halves. I saw a recipe on Pinterest for something similar. Yesterday, I was searching for something to eat and spied some left over pink spaghetti sauce. If you haven’t made pink spaghetti sauce before, its so good! A jar of good spaghetti sauce, a brick of low fat cream cheese, a pound of ground turkey, and some Italian seasoning and you are set. Brown the meat, add the rest and heat until its combined. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Instead of veering off the diet, I decided to give these little beauties a try. The verdict?
Delightful, delicious and down right fabulous!
The combination of the tomato sauce, cooked zucchini and the salty Parmesan cheese was just what I was craving. Bridget had to have a bite too because she said it looked so good. My girl is a smart one. The zucchini was tender but not mushy, the sauce was creamy and the cheese broiled on the top made it. Next time I might try a little fresh mozzarella on top. Yum.
I started out by cutting off the ends and splitting it down the middle into two equal halves. Trust me, the closer the halves are in size, the better chance of them cooking evenly. Next I scooped out the seeds down the middle. There is a LOT of liquid in the seeds and this is what tends to make zucchini mushy when it gets cooked. Removing the seeds allows the zucchini to cook and be tender with out getting mushy.
Once the halves are seeded, brush the top and bottom of each side with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven (I used a toaster oven and it worked great) at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes until they are tender. This step is essential because it allows the zucchini to cook before you add the sauce, which is already cooked and warmed up.
Once they’ve cooked, they should be fork tender but not browned (unless you like your veggies a little more done). Spoon warmed sauce into the boats and sprinkle with grated Parmesan or fresh mozzarella cheese. What I love about this recipe is you get a lot of veggie with a little bit of sauce and cheese. I used about 1/4 of a cup of sauce in these which isn’t much. But it tastes so good, you won’t miss the the excess sauce. At this point, turn the oven (or toaster oven) to broil to melt the cheese. This part goes fast, so watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn!
Savory, creamy pink spaghetti sauce, melted cheese and the tender zucchini are the perfect combination for a delicious, low-carb Italian dish. This combination is so good you won’t even think about the pasta you’re missing. The zucchini pairs so well with the tomato sauce. Fantastico!
Keep kicking fat’s ass! Loves to you all!
By Brenda Fisher
I weighed myself yesterday and I’m proud to report I’m .2 pounds lighter than I was when I left on vacation! Yay! With that out of the way, its time to chat about healthy families.
Raising kids is tough work. Not only are you responsible for teaching them things like reading, math, how to be honest, polite, ect…, in my opinion, parents also have a responsibility to teach their children to be healthy. I know, sage advice from a fat girl, right?
In my quest to lose weight, I have had to make changes for my family. Not just to help them eat better, but to avoid temptation for me. This may come as a shock to you, but I have very little will power.
Exercise is hard for me. I don’t like doing it, think about it every second I am doing it and can’t wait for it to be done. I don’t think there will ever come a time I will learn to like it. That said, I do enjoy getting out with my family for walks.
Since James is done with Saturday morning classes for the summer (yipee!!!!) I decided it was time to start a new summer family tradition – weekly walks/hikes/bike rides. The idea is to get up early each Saturday morning and do something healthy. Easy, right?
Today we went down to the Jordan River Parkway near our house. I love this park. James and I used to walk here when we were dating. Oh the memories.
The weather was perfect and we had a great time walking while Bridget peddled along beside us. It was a lot of fun just being together and being outdoors. Not only is it a chance to spend time together as a family, but its also a great opportunity to see some new places and show Bridget how fun it is to be outdoors.
I can’t wait to try some easy hikes up in the mountains. We are so lucky in Utah to live so close to the mountains. I think its a shame that my beautiful girl hasn’t really spent much time in the mountains. This summer we’re going to change that.
Another reason I love the Jordan River Parkway in Murray is the play ground at the beginning of the trail. Bridget was so excited to try out a new play ground. James and Bridget had a great time racing up the equipment and sliding down on the three slides. While all this madness was going on, I was able to sit in the warm sunshine, listen to my daughter and husband laugh and read my trashy romance novel. Nirvana.
It was a great way to start Mother’s Day weekend. I’m not much of a hiker so if you can recommend a quick, easy hike good for chubby girls, I would appreciate any help. My friend Angel suggested Donut Falls. Maybe next week we’ll go and do that one and get out of the city for a while. What are some ideas you have for having healthy family fun?
Next week we are going to have some fantastic recipes for you. Monday will be a yummy Italian comfort food that is low in carbs but high in taste – a win-win in my opinion. Have a great weekend everyone! Keep kicking fat’s ass!
Kisses and loves!
 James Wayman, left, and my hubby James Fisher posing at Newport Beach. What handsome guys! Long live the bromance! By Brenda Fisher
Growing old is inevitable. Every day that passes is another day gone. Its kind of sad in one sense but in another way, its the chance to live life without regrets and make each day count. This year, my handsome husband James turned 39 as did his BFF James Wayman (my mom likes to call them James squared). Is there that big of a change from 38 to 39? You wouldn’t think so but the boys sure said there was.
Really? One day you’re 38 and things are fine and the next day you turn 39 and all Hell breaks loose? Huh?
As the boys were telling me how much older they felt now that they are 39, I was baffled. Turning 39 isn’t really a landmark birthday so why should it feel any different than turning 32 or 27? James Wayman said on his birthday, he thought about his life, his wife and three kids, and all the responsibilities he has where he is at in life. My James echoed his sentiments (minus the two additional kids). Maybe its a guy thing, I don’t know but they were a little freaked out by the big 3-9 birthday. I won’t pretend to understand what goes on in the mind of my husband and his best friend.
In my personal opinion, you are as young as you think you are. Do you want a number to define you? I know I sure don’t. I maybe turning 37 this year but what does that mean, really?
I got an e-mail from Livestrong.com today. Normally these go straight in the trash folder but the title caught my eye – 7 ways to fight aging. After my conversation with James squared I decided to take a look at the article. Here is what the author Lou Schuler said about ways to fight aging by lifting weights:
1. The older you are, the more important it is to lift
Research at McMaster University has shown that strength training can reverse the signs of aging at the cellular by as much as 20 percent. But that knowledge doesn’t do you any good unless you actually get into the weight room and improve the size and strength of your muscles.
2. No matter your age, the goal of strength training is to train something
Middle-aged lifters have a tendency to go through the motions. If you want your body to look or perform better, you have to train it to do more than it can do now. You need to increase the weights you lift, and the number of times you lift them, in a steady, systematic way. If you want to be leaner, you have to train your body to use more calories during your workouts. That means working harder and getting more accomplished from one week to the next.
3. “Working harder” doesn’t mean beating yourself up every time
Training is a process of imposing stress on your body in calculated doses. Too little stress and you get disappointing results. Too much and you don’t recover sufficiently from one workout to the next. It only works if you can train just as hard on Wednesday as you did on Monday, and at least as hard on Friday as you did on Wednesday. It’s not like planting a garden, where it doesn’t matter how sore you get after a day of digging because you have all summer to recuperate.
4. Kids are stupid. Don’t train like one
The average young person has a profoundly unrealistic view of how the human body works. But so does the middle-aged guy with a 40-inch waist who sits on a bench working his biceps and triceps, when his arms would look 100 percent better if his belly were 20 percent smaller.
No matter your age, you get the most benefit from the exercises that work the most muscle in coordinated action, and do the most to improve total-body strength. Those exercises–squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, presses and rows–also burn the most calories, both during and after exercise, while you’re recovering.
5. Heavy weights won’t make you huge, but they can make you lean
Males don’t have the market cornered on unrealistic expectations. The woman doing presses and rows with dumbbells smaller than her forearms is trying to do the impossible: “tone” muscles she hasn’t yet built. She’s worried about getting “too big,” which is equally absurd. Muscle is hard to build at any age, for either gender, and it never happens by accident.
The good news is that the muscle-building process creates a stronger, leaner, healthier, and better-conditioned body even when the actual increase in muscle tissue is minimal. But it only works if you try to build muscle by using weights that are pretty close to the heaviest you can lift.
If the workout tells you to do 10 repetitions, for example, you need to pick a weight that you could lift, at most, 11 or 12 times. Studies show that adults typically choose weights that are much lighter than the workout calls for.
6. Muscle needs to be fed
The older you get, the more resistant your muscles are to protein. So you need a bit more to ensure you don’t lose them before you’re done using them. Government recommendations are useless. They call for 10 to 35 percent of your daily calories from protein. So on a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s between 50 and 175 grams a day. Thanks Government!
A better standard for an adult lifter, courtesy of nutritionist Alan Aragon: Shoot for at least 1 gram of protein for every pound of your target body weight. If you weigh 140 pounds now and you hope to drop 20 pounds, you want at least 120 protein grams a day. Since a gram of protein is 4 calories, 120 grams would be a third of your nutrition on a 1,500-calorie-a-day diet, or a quarter of a 2,000-calorie diet.
7. A perfect workout should include five basic movement patterns.
The less you focus on exercises for specific muscles, and the more you focus on movement patterns that use lots of muscles, the better your body will look, feel, and perform.
Disclaimer: The article also has a few exercises you can use to help combat aging. I haven’t looked at them closely and have no idea if they are good for everyone. If you have questions about them, consult a doctor or a personal trainer.
Like losing weight, being more confident, facing your fears – its a mental game. It is possible to get over preconceived notions and make yourself better! I’m doing it and so can you. Don’t let something like a number get in the way of living life. Whether you’re 8 or 80 – live every day to the fullest and make them count.
I’m still scared to step on the scale (yikes!) but I’m going to do it on Friday. It’s time to pay the piper and be accountable again. So far this week I’ve made good food choices so hopefully I will be back to the weight I was (at least) before I left for vacation or possibly down (dare to dream). Keep working hard my friends!
Loves to you all!
 By Brenda Fisher
Its hard to believe that my lovely week in Newport Beach has already come to an end. We had a wonderful time with our friends the Waymans and it was really hard to leave! I will admit that my diet suffered a little bit while I was there. Fried foods were my downfall (Monte Cristo sandwiches, beignets, funnel cakes, fish and chips…) but I managed to pull it together and not undo the last few months of work.
That said, I haven’t been brave enough to weigh myself yet. I’m a coward, what can I say?For some people, food is simply fuel to keep the body going. I have a hard time with that idea (obviously, I’m chubby). Food is tradition, memories and most importantly, its delicious. If you can’t enjoy it, what’s the point?
While I did indulge a lot more than I should have, we had a great time. I wanted to share a few of the highlights so you can see just how much fun we had with our fun friends!
In all the times I’ve driven to California, one place we’ve never stopped is the Calico ghost town. It’s never been something that appealed to me and we’re usually in a hurry to get to the beach. But this time we decided to stop and check it out. Jill said her family would always stop there on the drives to California. I loved that idea and wanted to create that memory for my baby too.
It was a fun little detour. The kids got to pan for gold and we got to see some of the old buildings from the mining town. It started to get hot after a while so we didn’t stay long but we sure had fun while we were there.
The boys and the kids had a lot of fun panning for gold. And I couldn’t resist a picture of the backside of panning for gold! Such cute buns on our little vacation party!
We packed a lot of fun into a weeks vacation but probably my favorite part was spending time on the beach. I adore the beach. ADORE IT. If I lived closer to it, I would be there every day. No lie. We spent a few days on the beach and it was magical.
The boys and the kids had so much fun digging in the sand, looking for shells and sand dollars and playing in the water. Jill and I spent most of our time taking pictures, reading and relaxing. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
My food choices weren’t totally bad and I will be sharing some of the good choices I made while I was in California. Now its time to get back to work. When can I go back on vacation again?
This morning I got up with my sweetheart and I took a walk around the property at the Newport Coast Villas. I love being by the ocean. The mornings was a little cool and misty, the air was soft and everything looked amazing. As we went for a 1.33 mile walk around the property, I thought back to what I was doing on this day, nine years ago. It was the day of my wedding and it was one of the best days of my life.
We were up early that gray April morning in 2003 because we got married at 7 a.m. I thought it was fitting to get up early this morning (and so did Bridget) to spend a little time together, just the two of us, like it was on that day. Nine years have passed and every day just gets better and better with my family. Things haven’t gone the way I would have hoped in some ways but I have no complaints. I have a beautiful daughter, amazing husband and a great life.
 This is one of my favorite pictures from my wedding. I've never felt more beautiful than I did on that day.  Look how young and handsome James looks! Here is what I woke up to this morning:
A-mazing, right? I could do this every day, seriously. We are in day three of our fabulous California vacation with the Waymans and we are having a fab time! These guys are so fun, they even made Primm, Nevada seem like a great place to visit. Can I just say that Primm has an amazing outlet mall? Who knew? Sheesh.
We made it to California yesterday and went straight to Mrs. Knotts Chicken dinner restaurant at Knotts Berry Farm. Yum. I love this place. The food….mmmmmmm. I am very proud to report that my eating has been really good this trip as well. Traveling can be tough on a diet but with a little careful planning, I managed to save my carbs and calories for the meals that really did count (Primm buffet, Fatburger, Mrs. Knotts Chicken). I did have a a food mishap at Fatburger but I figured that’s what I get for cheating on my diet.
Vacation is calling so I better answer its call. Today I’m enjoying my lovely anniversary with my family and friends. I love California, did I mention that?
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