Carb is another four letter word...

It's been a while since i've posted and I thought I would post about something that i've been getting asked about a lot.  Lately Brock and I have been on a no-carb diet and we've both lost a good amount of weight! We started in May, and to date, i've lost 25 pounds, and he's probably lost between 30 and 35 (grrrrr) but people keep asking me why i'm doing it and how i'm doing it. So i'm going to answer those questions here...

We both had put on some extra weight during our first year of marriage (the newlywed 20??) and after we got our fill (pun totally intended) we were looking for something to do about it.  We didn't want to diet though, we knew that if we wanted to lose a good amount of weight and keep it off we had to do a lifestyle change.  So Brock did some research and we decided to try a (eventually) low-carb diet, but since we wanted to drop some serious weight, we had to start out NO carbs. then gradually introduce carbs back into our diet.  We keep it light, with fish, vegetables, beef, and chicken.  We've also chosen to give up dairy (except for cheese) and sugars. Luckily Brock is an awesome cook or else I would have gotten bored with it and gave up a long time ago!! haha! He's come up with some great recipes that keep it fresh when we have dinner.  For breakfast and lunch we're on our own since we are both at work.  Sometimes we have enough left overs from dinner that we can bring the next day but usually it's so good we eat it all up!! In the morning I usually eat scrambled eggs, and a couple pieces of bacon, then for lunch I have a chicken ceasar salad, then for dinner its usually whatever Brock comes up with.  Some good steak, or chicken recipe.  One of the recipes we do is something we call "Chicken Stuff" it's a dish that we actually had at Brock's brother's house one holiday season, and it was so good and easy, we decided to make it ourselves! I wrote it down as best I could, but the beauty of making your own recipe is that you can add or take out anything you'd like! So feel free to use this recipe as a base for something you can create yourself!

Items:
*4 Chicken breasts seasoned to taste (we used cayenne, salt, and pepper on ours and it spices up the rest of the dish)

*3 cans of chicken broth

*2 cans of diced tomatoes in juice

*½ blue carton of mushrooms sliced (or more if you like mushrooms)

*approx 4 cups of Artichoke hearts (we use the Costco ones that are marinated in oil already in a jar, but you can marinate them with whatever you’d like before putting them in)

any other vegetables you may want to put in, we’ve used squash before (right before the end or it will get too smushy)

you can also add basalmic vinegar if you want- depnding on how much you like vinegar

Directions:

1) Cook whole chicken breasts in separate skillet until it is almost cooked all the way (it’s going to fully cook when you mix it with the other items)

2) When the chicken is about half done, or towards the end, put all the rest of the ingredients together in another pot separately and let cook while the chicken is finishing.

3) When chicken is almost done, chop it into chunks and add to pot with all the other ingredients.

4) Let cook for about 30 – 40 minutes.

5) Enjoy!

If you want to make the dish a little heartier, you can get frozen cauliflower out of the bag, steam it, and then dice it very finely (almost like you would an onion) and have that on the bottom of your bowl before putting the rest of the stew on top. The cauliflower acts like rice and soaks up the juices, it just doesn’t add the extra carbs to your meal!

When we want to have carbs, we'll cook some cous-cous and put the stew on top of it when we serve ourselves.  ITS YUMMY!!!

Another recipe we use a lot is one that Brock found on AllRecipes.com   it's called Coconut Chicken Curry.  Now I don't like anything with coconut in it and I had never had curry before so this dish already had 2 strikes on it when I had it, but it was DELICIOUS!!! I don't know if it's the actual recipe or if it was the Brock-ness spin he put on it, (because he always does) but it was amazing!! It does have brown rice in it, so we don't eat it as often...but it's become my new "comfort food" meal....too bad it makes our house smell for about 3 days if we don't have enough windows open when we cook it.  Here is the link for the recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/curried-coconut-chicken/detail.aspx

I've put it a lot more time at the gym as well, at least once a day, sometimes twice a day. I do either straight cardio, or i've added Piloxing into my routine as well.  It's fun, but a little pricey for me, so I don't do it all the time, although there is a dvd you can do at home in the meantime. Brock has a set of weights that he uses at home during any free time he may have since he's trying to gain more muscle as well as lose fat. We both have a goal we want to get to, and then once we're there, we'll add more carbs into our diet.  We still eat out with family when there are special occassions, and when we go over to someone's house we'll eat before we leave, or we'll just eat whatever is there.  We don't want to make someone else not eat something or not serve something just because we've chosen a particular diet.  We just try to control it as much as possible when we do have the choice of items to eat.  When I started to plateau and wasn't losing any more weight, i cut out cheese too and that helped kick my body back into gear.  We've substituted milk with Almond Milk (which is reallly yummy!) and have found a new love for macadamia nuts!

It probably sounds so cliche, but i've noticed that i've felt a lot better while being on this diet.  I don't feel as bloated, I don't have nearly as many stomach aches as I used to, and I just overall feel better.  It's almost like i don't feel as heavy. I've been sleeping better, and I don't have some of the health issues anymore that I did before! It's weird too how I feel so sluggish after eating a lot of carbs.  So say we go to BJ's Pizza for a night out one night (our favorite restaurant) we'll order our favorite pizza and maybe split a pizookie for dessert. While i'm there, it tastes amazing and I feel great....until I go home that night or wake up the next morning.  Then im battleing with an upset stomach or just feeling like i need to take an 18 hour nap and it usually lasts for a couple of days. That actually makes me stick to my diet more because everyime I "cheat", I actually feel worse in the end so....ya! That's pretty much it! Feel free to ask me any questions if you're more interested in what we're doing but thats pretty much all there is to it.  I NEVER thought I would be able to give up carbs, but I guess you can't knock it until you try it! :)   To see how we've changed....here's a picture of us last December at Disneyworld....



and here's one that was taken of us about a month ago:



and here's one taken of us from last week with our friend Kristine

I don't have one of us standing, but that will come soon!  I do however have two of me by myself...

The picture on the left is of me on our anniversary last October, and the picture on the right is of me at a bridal shower about a month ago...

So that's that.  I'll keep you all posted on my progress as im only 15lbs away from my goal weight.  I do however need to remember to add strength exercised to my routine though to start toning.  But that's a whole other project :)

-Heather

the juices are flowing!!

So I don't know if you know how much I love Lady Gaga, but I do....A LOT! I've been playing her music non-stop for the past couple of days and it made me want to write again.  I'm always jealous of people who can just write whatever they're thinking and sometimes it comes to me and sometimes it doesn't. Today it did, and I wanted to post it somewhere...so here ya go!  P.S...don't look too much into it, it's just a poem..lol

"The Dark Knight"

Where did you think you were going when you came into my heart?

Did you have a plan to leave it all and put me back into the dark?

I thought with you I was through with all the blue and black that I had felt thus far

But then you dug me even deeper into a hole where I couldn’t see the light at all

Brilliance is beauty but pain is true colors that come out when you least expect it

You had my world all in your hands and it took only a few seconds to crush it

Did you know how much power you had? You could have made everything right

Instead you left me to suffer alone crying throughout the night

After all is said and done I have nothing left but remains of what you left with me

I have my strength and my sorrow and that’s all I can count on without you.

Someday I hope you get to see how much you left when you left me.

Why are we on crack?

Anyone ever notice how when people that are from California are portrayed on TV or in movies, they're always on the beach or just coming in from playing a "rousing game of tennis" or doing something leisurly instead of working or cleaning or being productive? But as I look around more and more, I see that is DEFINETLEY not the case.  People are so anxious and so high strung that people still need medication to relax on a daily basis. Isn't this how we are supposed to be?

 So why are we all on crack??? Everytime im in line somewhere there is always a person behind me tapping their fingers on the counter in a "lets hurry this up" kind of motion and for what? so they can get 3 seconds of their life back? Or when you're on the freeway and the person behind you is on your tail because you're going "too slow" when there is another car right in front of you?  So the car behind you goes around you because obviously you don't know what you are doing, just to be less than one car length ahead of you?? because THAT'S a genius idea!! Oh my goodness...*breathe in....breathe out...*

Whatever happen to the times when you could actually take a lunch for 30 minutes and not have your boss hounding you to see where you are and what you are doing? Or when you could take a day off work and not feel guilty for calling in sick? Especially with facebook and twitter, people are getting in trouble for more things in the work place than ever. I remember watching shows like Saved by the Bell or California Dreams and thinking "it's never like that!" when they showed them hanging out at the beach and just chillin, well....maybe in high school it was.

But I thought things were supposed to get better as an adult? I mean, we can drive now without any restrictions? So why not drive all over and go to the beach and the hollywood sign? I think it's a true crime that I have lived here my whole life and I have never been to the hollywood sign! Bah-Humbug! I need to make a new bucket list!!  Let's just hope Britney Spears isn't an indication of what can happen when someone gets "California-ized"

I can't BELIZE it!! Brenna's Back!

Bren-na's Back ALRIGHT!! (sang a-la Backstreet Boys style) :)....So my little sister Brenna put her big girl shoes on and went to Belize for 3 months along with an organization called Help International to do some good work people less fortunate than we are here in the U.S.  While she was gone there wasn't a lot of opportunites to contact here other than email and facebook since she had no phone :(  Here is a picture she posted of her in Belize.

I'm glad she went because it's something she got to experience and something that not everyone gets to do, but I can't say I wasn't worried about her being in a foreign place without a quick way to contact someone.  Now that she's told me some stories of the people they were with, I know she was protected but i'm still glad she's back within a calling distance :)

On Wednesday night we went to go pick her up at the airport and welcome her back to the States.  I'm sure the most excited person to see her was her momma! They didn't leave each other's side the rest of the night! I would too!!

So what does someone do when they're a California native but has been gone for a long time?? They go to In-N-Out the first opportunity they get!!! Now I was never that crazy about In-N-Out until I was about 15, but now I LOVE it and i'm proud to be from it's home state.  Now it's being more spread out around the west coast states, but we'll still be the home town! 

We hung out and had good food while Brenna shared stories from her travels.  Even my parents and cousin came by to welcome her back! It's so great to have her back!!!! Now we just have to plan our first beach trip of the summer...oh darn! :)



Carma Carma Carma Carma Carma-gedd-eon....

This weekend was a delightfully unexpected couple of days of shopping, saving, and sleeping (now that's my kind of alliteration!). As you are probably aware, this past weekend was the host of the most hyped traffic non-incident ever. Carmageddon!! The 405 was closed near the 101 and it was supposed to cause all kinds of trouble for travelers near and far.  Cars were supposed to be on fire, people were supposed to be running out of water, and there was something I heard about zombies running around?  I don't know. Sounds to me like another Michael Bay trailer, but that's another story  Anywhoo... 

I decided (like the rest of LA and it's surrounding areas) to stay home and get some things done near my house.  First on my list was to finally use all these coupons I had been saving up.  I finally took the time and look at the circulars last week and I emailed myself a list of deals that I wanted to take advantage of. One my list was Albertons, vons, and target.  My biggest deal was at Albertsons, they were giving away (on saturday only) FREE 2-liter bottles of my favorite soda, Diet Dr. Pepper!!!  Also, they had a sale on the laundry detergent I like to use.  Normally it's like 7 or 8 dollars for a bottle of All brand detergent, but it was on-sale this week for $3.50!!! AAANNNNDDD I had a $1 off coupon for All detergent so it was a whopping $2.50!!!!  So i got 5 bottles of soda, and a bottle of laundry detergent for $3.50..I was ESTATIC!!  I didn't get a chance to make it to Vons or Target that day, but it was okay, they're deals were kind of mediocre and the type that I could get later on so I was good.  My savings day got even better when I went to Costco later that day.  Now Costco is also known as "the 200 dollar store" because it seems almost impossible to come out of that store not spending a whole bucket load of money.  Today was my lucky day!! It seems we had forgotton about some rewards checks that Costco had sent us in regards to our membership and once we found them, we went to use them on our next trip.  I got all our usual items hoping that these rewards checks would lighten the load off our wallet, and when I got to the register I was beyond delightfully surprised.  Our grand total for our groceries...(drum roll please.......) $1.35!!!!! I almost fell over right there!! I could not believe it!!!!

So what does a girl do with all the money she saves?? Buy SHOES!!! I was planning on going shoe shopping anyways soon and decided to hit up my favorite shoe store....Marshalls!!! It's ironic because my grandma was always notorious for buying everyone's christmas/birthday/whatever gifts from there but they were always the wrong size, out of season, or just bizarre!  Maybe it's because I was only 10 or so and so I didn't understand that value of a gift, but I wasn't amused.  Now I LOVE going to Marshall's because they have all the name brands I love and are wayyyyyy cheaper than department stores.  The only thing with them is that it's hit and miss.  Some days it's a goldmine, other days its a rat hole. Today was definetley a goldmine day!  I bought a total of 5 pairs of shoes for cheaper than what my groceries would have cost me at Costco if I had paid for them! Annnnd they're all brand names!! They include a pair of patent leather black Coach heels, a pair of pink leopard Paris Hilton heels, 2 pair of black Rampage heels, and pair of gold/silver Nine West heels. Now that's what I call a successful trip!! Now i'll just have to go back and find some cute dresses to wear with these shoes...oh woe is me!! :) here are some pictures of just a few of the shoes I got :)

One of my shoes even made the style blog at my work!  Check it out: Kost Style Blog


 

It's a small world afterall...

I aplogize in advanced if you have that song stuck in your head for the next 3 days after reading that title but this weekend it proved to be so true for me.  When we're young and in our little bubble of homelife and school, people tell us how "it's a huge world out there" and "this is just the beginning", or my favorite, "you have your whole life ahead of you!"   What they don't tell you, is that actually the world isn't THAT big and you can never fully run away from your past, wheather you want to or not.  Especially now with the internet and all the social media that is available, connecting with people has never been easier! It's just a hop, skip, and a jump to that ex boyfriend you want to spy on or the girl your current boyfriend used to like just to make sure that you are doing better than them. It's amazing how one little phrase on the computer screen such as "mutual friends" can bring you to say "WTF??? how does person A know person B????"  What always trips me out is when I meet someone and I tell a story about " a friend of mine" and then somewhere along the line they go "wait what's your friend's name?" followed by a "oh my gosh I've known them since ___(Fill in the year, event, or place they used to work at here)____.  

This past weekend I had a similar experience but on the more positive side.  I went to a bridal shower for a friend of mine that I recently got reconnected with thanks to the wonderful creation of facebook and it was great to see a whole group of people I hadn't seen since I was a "Highlander" in high school.  Flashes of memories came flooding into my brain when I saw someone pull up with a license plate frame with my alma mater's slogan on it and I knew what I great time I was in for.  The only problem with that, is that all those stories you tell people that make you think in the back of your head "it's okay to tell this story because there is no way they will actually meet the person im talking about" can backfire on you.....but I wouldn't know about that *~wink~* ..    A great time was had by all and I can't wait for future adventures with these friends.  So what's the moral of this story?  If there is anything I can take from this it's don't forget the 6 degrees of seperation theory, and with all the new ways to connect in today's society, your past may be closer to your future than you think :)

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Hey Everyone,

I hope you're having a great 4th of July just like I am.  This weekend has been so crazy and its not even over yet! It all started on Friday when my mom, sister, and I went to the NKOTBSB concert.  Yes you read right...New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys come together for an AMAZING show. My sister was crazy obsessed with New Kids, and I was crazy obsessed with BSB when I was a teenager. I swore I was going to marry Nick Carter...and Brock kind of looks like him the more I think about it...haha...anyways it was so fun because it was like all of us coming full circle.  My sister with her new kids, me with BSB, and my mom remembering going through both right there along with us. We sang our hearts out and danced like crazy until midnight, just to drive home singing all the songs again. It was the best ever and a great way to start off the weekend.

The next morning, Brock and I started our weekend off with a Massage Envy massage which was GREAT for me since I woke up crazy sore from the night before....(guess I brought "Backstreets Back" a little too much..oops!) then we were off to huntington beach to hang out with Brock's aunt's and uncles at their home there.  It's always great going there because it's so relaxing and it's just a walk across the street from the beach.  Once we got there, we ate, changed, and headed over for some fun in the sun...where I fell asleep in under 5 minutes of lying on the sand. I guess I was still re cooperating from the night before. After that we hung out there the rest of the night and then made the treck up to Lake Arrowhead.  I've been calling it our All-American SoCal weekend, I went from LA, to the beach, to the mountains, then to my parents, and back home. Whew!! It sure was tough thinking about that gas bill, but it's been a lot of fun to make up for it.

This morning we hung around and basically slept and ate all day which was wonderful as always. Then we went out to the boat dock around 7pm to get ready for the fireworks. Lake Arrowhead always has a great firework show on the lake and the surrounding atmosphere just makes it that more relaxing and different.  You're right on the water, watching all the boats, the lights are on in the stores of the Village and then the fireworks go off. It's a great patriotic way to celebrate this wonderful holiday.

Tomorrow we're heading down to Upland for fireworks show number 2 and then heading on home.  Tuesday should be interesting and will probably include lots of coffee for me, but at least i'll have some great memories to look back on.  I hope you've had as great of a weekend as I've had, if not better and that you have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July!

Here are some pictures of my weekend so far