Mexican Turkey Burgers

A bold and spicy way to enjoy these leaner burgers from The Biggest Loser 6 Weeks to a Healthier You

Per serving (burger only): 120 calories, 23 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates (0 g sugars), 2 g fat (1 g saturated), 40 mg cholesterol, 0 g fiber, 30 mg sodium

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 (20-ounce) package extra-lean ground turkey breast
• ¼  cup chopped cilantro
• ¼  cup diced red onion
• ¼  cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/3  cup diced fresh mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon Mexican seasoning or fajita seasoning
• ¼  cup low-fat Mexican-blend cheese
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 6 whole grain buns or Arnold Sandwich Thins
• 6 tablespoons salsa
• 1 ½   medium avocados, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
• 6 tablespoons fat-free Greek-style yogurt 

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the turkey, cilantro, onion, bell ­pepper, mushrooms, seasoning, cheese, and garlic. There will about 24 ounces (1 ½ pounds) of mixture, or 4 cups. Divide into 6 (4-ounce) patties.
2. Grill the burgers for 3 minutes on each side, or until the inside is no longer pink. Serve on whole grain buns or Sandwich Thins topped with salsa, avocado, and yogurt (instead of sour cream).

10-10-10 ... 296.4

Well folks it was a great week.  In spite of my gain I know that I am on the right track.  I have never got off of the scales from a 2.2 weight gain and felt good until Saturday.  The difference I think was that I know I'm doing what I need to without a doubt.  I know that I'm measuring what I eat and I'm moving my butt!

I really got a routine going this week with the gym and workouts.  I went to the gym on my way home from work which was really the best!  I have to drive right past 24 hour fitness to get on the freeway so it's not one bit out of the way.  I really liked the water aerobics classes.  It was actually pretty comical because they offer the class on Tue..Wed..and Thur...but everyday there is a different instructor.  OMGoodness It's all a trick if you go all three days it is increasingly harder.  The class on Tuesday had an older instructor.  I would say that she is probably around 65 or so and she was really easy.  I mean I can't say that I didn't get a workout but lets just say that it was a very comfortable beginning.  Wednesday, the lady was early 20's and bubbly, she pushed a bit harder and had moves that were more challenging.  Really got my heart rate up and felt like a had a good workout.  The icing on the cake was on Thursday, my favorite, I swear this woman did not look like Jillian Michael's but I think she was trained by Jillian. She kicked my butt.  Holy cow, this woman is about 40 and her name is Kat, she is the only one whose name I remembered.  She was very memorable in a lot of ways!!  I am telling you that this woman screamed like a drill sergeant and she pushed and pushed you it was great and Friday morning I felt it and Saturday morning I really felt it.

So Saturday I got up really early and went to my meeting.   Then I went to meet Elissa and Karen for a great walk...now mind you I have to admit I had no idea what I was signing up for...LOL.  Elissa invited me to join them for their walk at Parker Square so I'm thinking hey great I'll meet them and walk for 30 minutes or so and get on down the road.  These ladies are not kidding around when they take a walk ...they take a walk.  So an hour and a half later and 3.66 miles later we were done.  WOW!  It was awesome but a pretty big dose for a big girl just getting started.  So I've completed my first 5K!  YEAH  Elissa you kicked my butt but thank you for the invitation!  It was a great walk!  My legs and tush are still throbbing but hey ...no pain no gain right?

After our walk and a quick stop at the grocery I had to get ready for my Premier Jewelry party!  Had a small turnout but some of the best ladies I know were there :)  Thanks for coming ladies I hope you had fun!

Another week ahead and still no pictures, I am taking them though so that will be a surprise for you when I get them up here.  Next weekend is going to be a slow weekend so I'm hoping that I can get them up here for you then.  I'm having a great time on this quest of mine and I know that it is not all fun and games, but a lot of hard work. 

I am looking forward to another busy and active week ahead! 

God bless each of you!

October 2, 2010 ,,,-3 lbs. -- 294.2

Well, today was my fourth meeting and my third week on the Weight Watchers Program.  I am down a total of 7.2 lbs.

So there was a girl in my meeting today that lost a total of 90lbs.and of course she looks great!  She said that she started Weight Watchers exactly one year ago today and that she had learned that whether she was up or down at the end of the week she was changing her life.  I know that she has to be so proud of herself.  What a great job!  So, I will take this opportunity to say that if in a years time I have lost 90lbs.  I will not consider myself as a failure for not meeting my original goal.  I think we have to define what we want and do our best to work toward that goal.

So, as you know, Eric started off with me last week and he has been a great encouragement with keeping up with my points and tracking what I eat.  He had a slow week but a loss and we discovered some places we didn't track his points correctly.  So, we say there that a loss is a loss, we are just going to keep on trucking.

 My new favorite treat...Frozen yogurt!  OMGoodness!  I had no idea it was so wonderful.  So there are some local yogurt shops that I'm digging!  Tutti Frutti and Yogurt Story wow...1/2 cup is only 90-100 calories and 0 fat!  = 2 points  Yum   So, I'm really more of a lasagna girl than an ice cream girl but I have been craving sweets for some reason.  I have found some great 1 point snacks and the yogurt that I can have guilt free!!!

I am going to try to get my pics up here tomorrow and I will be continuing to shrink until next week!


With that I will leave you with this great quote from Beth Moore which has me dying to see what is around the stinking corner:

“If Jesus gives us a task or assigns us to a difficult season, every ounce of our experience is meant for our instruction and completion if only we'll let Him finish the work. I fear, however, that we are so attention-deficit that we settle for bearable when beauty is just around the corner.
-Beth Moore”


Big love until next week.

September 25, 2010 297.2 down .6 lbs.

Okay, so I'm off to a slow start ... but, I started and I have enlisted help!  Eric went with me on Saturday to begin our journey together.  This is just not something that I do well on my own.  For those of you who know Eric, you know that he is very competitive and that helps me ...even when he wins!

I think it is fair to say that most of you are Christ followers.  Let me just tell those of you who are not, I serve an Amazing God!  One of the things that I have mentioned several times over the last few weeks is that I'd like to join a gym but just can't justify the money right now.  Well, I received a 3-month pass to 24 hour fitness in the mail!!!! I have plans already tomorrow but my hope is to go Wednesday after work and get it into my routine to start going in the mornings.  This is my self challenge for the week!  I am not a morning person and most of you also know that about me.

I didn't do that well this week with my activity, between the rain and the blahs it just didn't happen.  But, time to get up and dust myself off...better choices this week will mean a greater weight loss on Saturday.

Lots of exciting upcoming events to challenge me, crops, weddings, but I never said that I didn't want a challenge after all isn't that life?  A big challenge, I think so, we all have to learn to make better choices for ourselves and our families.  So I'm thinking that one thing I've learned is that a medium size Frosty is really not worth 9.5 points.  I mean if you have plenty of points at the end of the week ...maybe but for the most part ...naaaaah.  Not when you can have a cup of lowfat vanilla yogurt with fresh strawberries and blueberries for like 3.5 points...my new favorite snack!

Dinner tonight was Tex-Mex Turkey Burger....I will post the recipe before next week, they are amazing.  A Biggest Loser Recipe that I don't make often enough, great flavor and very satisfying total points for one 1/4 burger 7.5 points that includes, bread, avocado, cheese, turkey and veggies.  Yum!

So until next week I leave you with this......

It's tough being a woman...Beth Moore

My first week with Weight Watchers started 9-11-10 --301.4lbs

So, I did it!  I went and joined a local Weight Watchers group and weighed in on September 11, 2010. My starting weight was 301.4 lbs. It's a little startling to see, I must admit; although I know how much I weigh and I weigh several times a week. Having another person confirm that it is so is always a little harsh for me.  My first week was actually pretty easy.  I have started by making some very small changes.  The first ...MORE WATER ... I recently had already cut out the sodas and the diet sodas...I still indulge in the diet sodas maybe 1-2 times a week, I am for the most part drinking water.  Let's face it folks, what we choose to drink is simply a habit we develop.  Water is really good and it's good for our body.  I have always loved water and craved it so that indeed makes it an easy switch for me but still a challenge.  The second a healthier dinner ... dinner for me is the hardest meal to "get right" so that is where I focused my concentration.  I even hosted our ladies Bunco and kept everything healthy and trackable.  I made a great Spinach and Strawberry salad with toasted almonds and a white wine vinegar dressing that is incredible.  I also made a homemade Chicken Salad with a low fat mayo, celery, onion and some great spices.  I served the chicken salad with croissants but I passed on that and had mine on a bed of lettuce.  It was a great meal, easy and very healthy.


So for the big news!  I weighed in Saturday 9-18-10, at 297.8 a loss of 3.6 lbs.  I have to admit I was not thrilled a little deflated but excited that I am making progress and I am once again below 300 lbs.

My goal for week 2 is to get MOVING...a minimum of a 10 minute walk everyday.  I figure that this is something that is easy to do time wise, it is a great place to start, and for me, honestly 10 minutes is more than enough to break a sweat.  I started my walks today.  I took a pedometer with me and walked just a little over 10 minutes.  Nothing earth shattering, but its a goal and an achievable one that is what I need...Baby Steps!  To quote Shrek..."One step at a time donkey"!  (I can be a jackass sometimes so this is very appropriate).

I hope that you will check back next week and I will get pictures posted soon!

Thanks!

The background details you may not know

Most of you know that I have struggled with my weight for a long time.  The reality is that now it is seriously affecting my health.  In the spring of 2007 I started having troubles breathing, sleeping and swelling.  My doctor told me that all of my symptoms at the time were symptoms of congestive heart failure, which my grandmother died from in 1998.  The doctor told me that I "HAD" to lose weight and my options were to either go on Medifast or have weight loss surgery to get some of it off quickly.  I opted with the Medifast which is an all liquid diet that is doctor supervised.  I tipped the scales at 324lbs. in May of 2007 and over the course of about 6 months lost 68lbs. I felt great!  But, I was done, time passed and I slipped back into my old habits and most of the weight found its way back to my hips.  An all liquid diet for me just wasn't going to work any longer and rather than find an alternative I ended up following my old habits.

On my birthday this year I decided that I had to make some changes.  You see not only have I gained most of the weight back, I have continued to have issues with my health.  In October of 2009 I found out I had  Posterior Subcapsular Cataracts http://dro.hs.columbia.edu/psc.htm, in both eyes but more significantly in my left eye and had to have surgery on both for lens replacement before the end of the year.  The Ophthalmologist then sent me to my doctor for an A1C to check for diabetes.  I was borderline at that point and told to follow a low carb, low fat diet and then we would check it again in 6 months.  The doctor said that based on my medical history and weight she was diagnosing me as diabetic with no meds at this time. In July of this year I developed 3 hernia's which need to be surgically repaired.  One more significant than the others, and going to be fixed first. I am waiting for cooler weather so that I can heal more quickly. 

I have a friend who started her weight loss journey with Weight Watchers in 2008 and she has made great strides at achieving her goals and blogging about her success.  So one day recently it just hit me ...that's what I need to do!  For me knowing that my close friends and family are out there reading my blogs and seeing my pictures I feel like I will be more inclined to work harder to reach my goals.  I am not only going to post pictures I am also going to post my weekly weight...thus the name ...Ups and Downs.  I realize that this will be an ongoing battle and some weeks will be better than others. I hope that you will join, follow and support me through this journey and that you will find tips to help yourself along the way!

And so in closing this beginning entry I leave you with this thought...

" If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves"--Thomas Edison