Strawberry overnight oats!

Overnight oats get better and better each time I make them. I'm really in love with the ones I made last night:

Unfortunately these don't photograph well, but they taste amazing so that's all that matters! I combined:

-1/4 cup gluten free rolled oats

-1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

-a splash of vanilla 

-a shake of cinnamon

-1/4 a packet of truvia 

-1 tsp crunchy almond butter 

And then topped with strawberries. You can add the strawberries the night before or in the morning. This is the perfect serving to keep me full until lunch and I love that I don't have to make it in the morning! For more pictures, follow my Instagram @itslovelytolose :) 

P90x and protein smoothie!

Yesterday was my first day of p90x. It was chest and back and ab day and it was hard but I really really enjoyed it! They reccomend a recovery shake afterwards but I didnt buy the powder so I just made a protein smoothie. I put 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein, almond milk, vanilla greek yogurt, frozen berries and frozen mangoes.

 I also had half of a quest bar. I already feel p90x and I can't wait for my workout today! For those of you unsure about what exercises to be doing, do p90x! 

For more updates follow my Instagram! @itslovelytolose

Quest bars and polar watch!

A few days ago I received my polar ft4 heart rate watch and variety pack of quest bars in the mail! I was so excited because I've been wanting both for a while but not wanting to spend the money. I hate that I am now addicted to quest bars and will most likely not be able to repurchase for a while. 

Anyways, I love my polar watch! It comes with a chest strap that tracks your heart rate and calculates how many calories you burn based on your height and weight. I am obsessed with this because it is custom to your body and there's no more guessing when it comes to how many calories I've burned. Before I had it, I guessed that I burned about 100-200 calories each workout but after wearing my monitor, it was actually between 300-400! 

Here is the box 

And here is my burn after the first workout. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that can afford it! And it's really easy to use also. 

I got my 12 pack of variety quest bars also. I've heard so much about these and felt like it was time to try for myself!

 I'm saving all the chocolatey ones for last, so I'm trying the fruity ones first. I had my first one yesterday, the peanut butter and jelly one. I ate half of it normally and baked the other half. Both ways were really good and I loved it! I would definitely get this flavor again, too! It tastes exactly how you would expect it to. I'm going to try the lemon one today and Ill let you know how it is! For more pictures, follow my Instagram @itslovelytolose

Healthy peanut butter pancakes!

I have quite a few blog posts to catch up on! I'm going to start with my absolutely amazing peanut butter pancakes! These babies are amazing and are 100% healthy! 

Ingredients:

2-3 egg whites 

1 ripe banana 

A splash of almond milk

A splash of vanilla extract

A pinch of baking soda (trust me!)

A shake of flour if needed (you could also use protein powder to make protein pancakes!)

Cinnamon (as much or as little as you want, try atleast a shake or two because it boosts your metabolism!)

1 tbsp peanut butter or 2 tbsp pb2

A few chocolate chips (optional)

Combine all ingredients except peanut butter and blend. Pour batter on lightly greased ( I used Pam) skillet. Top each pancake with a shake of cinnamon or two chocolate chips. While pancakes are cooking, put the tablespoon of peanut butter in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds. You'll need to watch it to make sure it doesn't burn. Flip pancakes when you see bubbles. Put a little but of peanut butter in between each pancake and drizzle the rest over top. Enjoy! 

Happy national pancake day!

Today's breakfast was healthy pancakes in honor of national pancake day! These pancakes were amazing. And only 3PP for those of my weightwatcher followers! And yes that includes the syrup, chocolate chips, and almonds! Okay I won't make you wait any longer, here is the recipe! 

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

1 ripe banana 

A splash of almond milk 

A splash of vanilla extract

A pinch of baking soda 

A dash of flour if needed

Cinnamon 

6 chocolate chips 

3 crushed coconut almonds 

1/8 cup lite syrup

1. Combine egg whites, banana, almond milk, vanilla extract, baking soda, and flour if you're using it. I used a blender to thoroughly blend but you can also mash the banana and mix manually. 

2. Take the end of a butter knife and crush your almonds into pieces.

3. Pour mixture onto greased skillet and top wet side with chocolate chips, crushed almonds, or cinnamon. My pan made three pancakes per batch so I topped one with each topping. Make sure you push the topping under the batter so it doesn't burn and flip when it looks solid. 

4. Take pancakes off skillet and top with syrup and the rest of your crushed almonds. 

5. Take a picture and Instagram it with the hashtag #iltlhealthypancakes so I can see! 

6. DEVOUR!

So yes, this entire stack of pancakes is just 3PP, all inclusive. You can thank me later! Follow my Instagram for more pics, @itslovelytolose 

Quinoa pizza bites!

I know I've mentioned before that I have an obsession with Chocolate Covered Katie. I've made many of her recipes and haven't come across one I didn't like. The quinoa pizza bites were no different.

I made a few changes in the recipe, which can be found here. I used Weight Watchers string cheese as the cheese filling and used half tomato paste/half tomato sauce because I ran out of paste. They still tasted good, though!

Each of these delicious bites is only 1pp or 42 calories each. Katie's recipe said it yielded 8-10 but I guess I made mine too small because I got 24 out of mine! I'm not complaining though because that means I can have more than one! They were the perfect combination and actually tasted like pizza. You couldn't even taste the "healthy"! I will definitely be frequenting this recipe. Caution: may cause addiction!

Props to Katie, check out her blog, chocolatecoveredkatie.com or on instagram, @chocolatecoveredkatie. 

For more of my pictures, follow me on instagram! @itslovelytolose :)

The healthiest, yummiest snack ever!

I am obsessed with this new snack I've found! I have it for a snack after school and also for breakfast on the weekends. I think I'm addicted and I'm totally okay with that. All it is is one banana, sliced, and one apple, chopped into bite sized chunks drizzled in warm peanut butter. I put the peanut butter in the microwave on melt, and then watch it until it starts bubbling, usually about a minute in. After it bubbles, it's super important to take it out right away or else it will burn and harden. After I take it out, I drizzle it on my fruit and am one happy camper!

I'm going to try it with pb2 at some point to still get the flavor while cutting the calories and fat, but right now I'm loving it too much to change a thing! This could also be an amazing healthy dessert! 

Follow my instagram for more pictures! @itslovelytolose

Healthy on the go snacking

Snacking on the go can sometimes be tricky because you either grab the first thing you see, or end up buying something while you're out. Either way, you could be setting yourself up for trouble. Some of my favorite healthy, filling snacks to take along with me are: 

Luna bars! I love every flavor. 

Larabar ubers are super healthy and really good! 

And I am obsessed with these coconut almonds! They are SO good and don't have any more calories than regular almonds but you still get that sweet coconut taste. I'm pretty sure I have 5 cans of these around my house right now.

All of these snacks are easy to grab and go and eat in the car or carry in your purse! If you have time earlier in the week you could also prep little bags of fruit for easy access when you're running late! 

For more pictures, follow my Instagram! @itslovelytolose :) 

March 2014 goals: no more peanut butter?!

I posted a short list of goals of Instagram but thought it may be a good idea to expand on it because I was getting quite a few questions. 

Yes, you did read that right! I am going peanut butter free for the month of March (or trying to at least...). For about the first year or so that I was really committed to losing weight, I didn't eat peanut butter. I didn't have anything against it, I just wasn't really into it. Around the same time I started to eat peanut butter on a daily basis, I fell into a weight loss plateau that I have been stuck in for the past 6 months. I'm giving up peanut butter as an experiment to see if it's effecting my weight loss. It's going to be really hard for me because I have become obsessed with it, but someone's gotta do it! Today was day one and I completed the day without it so well see how this goes....

I added track everything to my march goals because I have been really slacking. I'm good about tracking my main meals but really struggle to accurately track my snacks. I track a cup and eat 2 cups, or take just a couple of something and don't track at all. I really need to focus on clean eating especially this month because I am not allowed to exercise for two weeks. I have inflammation in my knees and hips due to overuse and in addition to being in a lot of pain, I need to let my muscles recuperate. I have an x ray next week to make sure I don't have anything else going on. 

In February I ate out way more than I should have and way more than I'm used to. I'm really going to get back on track and my goal is to only eat out once in March. 

In addition to these goals, I'm going to continue to drink enough water throughout the day and exercise every day once I'm cleared! 

Follow me on Instagram for more pictures, @itslovelytolose :) 

Breakfast

I'm not one of those people that can just eat cereal for breakfast and be full until lunch. I need a big breakfast to keep me going! One of my favorites is overnight oats. It's easy and quick and it's lovely to have breakfast already made and ready to go in the morning. I tried it once and they ended up really liquidy and didn't taste good at all. The next time, I used an almost empty almond butter jar, which had about a tablespoon of almond butter left in it. I decided to adapt the recipes I had seen and cooked the oats before putting them in the fridge. I cooked 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats in 1/2 water and put it in the container. I added 1/4 cup of almond milk, a couple roasted coconut almonds (which I'm obsessed with!) and a couple chocolate chips. It was heaven!

Another breakfast I love is just regular oatmeal. There are so many ways to make oatmeal and it's easy to add variety. One of my favorites is the basic chocolate oatmeal from Chocolate Covered Katie. The recipe is here and I definitely recommend it, along with many of her other recipes. It's safe to say I'm obsessed with her and her recipes!

I also topped this with roasted coconut almonds and chocolate chips!

For more pictures, follow me on instagram! @itslovelytolose

Gluten Free restaurant style tortilla chips!

I have been craving chips and salsa all week, but we didn't have any gluten free tortilla chips in the house and even if we had, there are so many calories in so few chips that it's not even worth it. So, I decided to make my own! I cut up a gluten free corn tortilla and put the chips on a baking sheet greased with olive oil spray and popped it in the oven for 5 minutes at 450. They came out really good and were perfect for salsa! 

I made them again the next day and decided to make them in the toaster oven instead because it's so much easier. I put them on a greased baking sheet again but this time put them in for 3 minutes on 450 and then 4 minutes on toast. They came out even better than the first time and I was so excited to eat my new salsa! These are definitely my new favorite snack and they are such a healthy alternative to store bought tortilla chips. 

For more pictures, follow my instagram! @itslovelytolose

Snacking

I have a horrible horrible habit of crazy snacking. I'm trying so hard to break it but on days that I give in, I try to keep it healthy. When I'm craving something sweet, I go for a gluten free rice cake with crunchy almond butter from Trader Joes and topped with a couple semisweet chocolate chips.

It's so good and totally fulfills my cravings.

Another sweet snack is "Cookie Dough" yogurt. It's just vanilla greek yogurt (I used yoplait greek), mixed with 1-2 tbsp. peanut butter or almond butter (crunchy or creamy), and a couple chocolate chips.

Another favorite snack of mine is an apple! Sometimes I like to dip it in peanut butter, sometimes I like to sprinkle some cinnamon on and microwave it! There are so many options when it comes to customizing fruit and it's so easy to mix it up! Sometimes I like it just plain, you know what they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Another SUPER healthy snack I love is grapes. I like grapes served the regular way, but I love frozen grapes! Not only are they extremely delicious and healthy, but frozen grapes take longer to eat and let's be honest, who doesn't love an extended snack time?!

For more pictures, follow me on instagram! @itslovelytolose

My Favorite Dinner

My favorite dinner (or lunch) is salad! It's so easy and you can cater it to whatever you are craving. Most of my recent salads have looked pretty much the same. I put a bed of romaine lettuce, and topped with cucumbers, grilled chicken, pop chips, feta cheese, salsa and buffalo cauliflower. (The buffalo cauliflower is a tone it up recipe and can be found here). I just throw it all together and call it a salad. Previously, I have used dressing but since I had salsa in the house I decided to use that instead to cut down on calories and fat!

For more pictures, follow me on instagram! @itslovelytolose

The perfect overnight oats!

Last night I finally perfected my overnight oats!  Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats (important that they are rolled!)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 
• 1 packet trivia 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (trust me! I overdid it and it didn't taste good!) 
• 5 coconut toasted almonds 

Put it all in a glass cup or jar, mix and cover (I covered with press n seal).  They came out with the perfect thickness! I can't wait to make them again and maybe add fruit this time!  

Mini Trader Joes Haul

The other day I ran to Trader Joes because I was all out of almond butter (& I can't live without it!). I got the Trader Joes brand crunchy almond butter with no salt.  I ended up picking up some Luna Bars while I was there because I'm obsessed with them and I haven't had one in quite a while.

I got Nutz Over Chocolate, White Chocolate Macadamia, Smores, Peanut Butter Cookie, Chocolate Dipped Coconut & Caramel Nut Brownie. I would definitely recommend any of these flavors, I love them all so much I can't even pick a favorite. 

I also picked up some zucchini, which I made into zucchini noodles, and salsa. The Trader Joe's salsa is SO GOOD. I get it every time I go. The black bean and corn salsa is so yummy and I love to add salsa to salads. For more pictures, follow my instagram @itslovelytolose 

Smoothie Time! & Ninja Blender review...

I was really in the mood for a smoothie tonight as I haven't had one in far too long. I make the same thing every time I have a smoothie because once you have something good, stick with it right? In my smoothies I put

• frozen pineapple or mango
• frozen berry medley
• frozen strawberries
• 1/2 scoop designer whey protein powder
• 1 yoplait vanilla greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• a splash of almond milk

It always turns into the prettiest color and tastes so good!

Of course nothing is complete without chocolate chips, I love putting them in smoothies!

For more pictures, follow my instagram, @itslovelytolose :)

On a less happy note, I am extremely disappointed in my blender. I got a Ninja blender in November because I loved the idea of a single serving smoothie where I didn't have to clean the whole blender. I have not even had this blender for six months and already my single serving blade doesn't work. My blender doesn't detect the blade and therefore I have to hold it on there at a particular angle in order to make it work, and it still starts and stops ever 5-10 seconds. I was also very upset when after 10 minutes of struggling to make it blend, I got to the bottom of my smoothie and was greeted by a giant chunk of pineapple. I'm extremely frustrated because the Ninja Blender was expensive and I haven't even gotten good use out of it yet. I guess it's time to try a magic bullet instead! Sorry for the rant, I just wanted everyone to be cautious when buying a ninja blender!

Zucchini Noodles

The other night I made zucchini noodles for dinner. I recently found out I have a gluten intolerance and have been trying to find ways to replace my favorite gluten filled foods. I saw a post about zucchini noodles and decided to try it. The first step is to rinse the zucchini and then if you have a spirilizer, you can use that or you could use a peeler like I did. After you peel/spirilize the zucchini, you have the option to cook it or to eat it raw. I cooked mine just like you would cook noodles, in boiled water for 6-10 minutes depending on the way you like your noodles. I really liked them and I think it's an awesome alternative to regular noodles. I'm not sure if I would have liked it if I didn't have sauce on it, though.

I put the zucchini in the bottom, then topped it with 3 oz. of grilled chicken, some red onions, feta cheese, and organic marinara sauce. So good and so filling! I was still full more than 3 hours later!
For more pictures, follow my instagram! @itslovelytolose

Cucumbers and salsa

Last night I was craving chips and salsa. I had just bought a couple salsas at Trader Joes (mini haul coming tomorrow) and I was this close to giving in the temptation. I decided instead to have a healthier alternative and decided to have cucumbers and salsa instead. I got a little crunch in the cucumber and still got my salsa fix! It also kept me full until dinner. I love when I find healthy snack alternatives! This may be my new go-to snack.

I'm obsessed with this black bean and corn salsa from Trader Joes. SO good!

For more pictures, follow me on instagram! @itslovelytolose

Stack it Sunday- healthy protein packed pancakes!

After my workout this morning, I was craving pancakes. I haven't had them in soooo long so I decided to make some healthy cinnamon protein pancakes topped with almond butter.

These really hit the spot, and they're so guilt free!
Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana
• 2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)
• 1/2 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla designer whey protein powder) (you can omit)
• splash of unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
• cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. almond butter (or nut butter of choice)

1. Put the banana, eggs, protein powder and milk in a blender and blend until smooth. Shake some cinnamon in there if you want, too. Cinnamon is great for your metabolism! If you don't have a blender you can use a food processor, or whisk together.
2. Pour the mixture on a hot skillet and shake some cinnamon on top, wait until you see bubbles to flip. 
3. Put a tbsp of almond butter on the side of the plate, so you don't use more than you measured and put a little bit of almond butter on the bottom of the plate.
4. Take the pancakes off one by one and put a little bit of almond butter in between pancakes.
5. Top with almond butter (& syrup if you want!)

So yummy, and taste JUST like pancakes, but have nowhere near the amount of calories!

These are so protein packed, even if you omit the protein powder. The eggs and nut butter are filled with protein!

For even fewer calories, you can also blend just two eggs and one banana for banana flavored pancakes!

For more pictures, follow me on instagram, @itslovelytolose

Homemade Protein Bars

I've said it before and I will say it again, I am obsessed with Chocolate Covered Katie. I love that she makes healthy recipes that still taste good and she also posts the nutrition facts! A couple of weeks ago I made her Homemade Peanut Butter Protein Bars for the first time and I have remade them several times since! I love having one after a workout. The only downside is they need to stay in the freezer so they can't travel. It's okay though because the taste makes up for it! I used designer whey vanilla protein but you really can't taste anything except the peanut butter! I may try to make them with almond butter next time, I made them with Speculoos cookie butter once and while they were to die for, they were certainly not as healthy as they should be!

For more pictures, follow me on instagram! @itslovelytolose

All Natural Two Ingredient Frozen Yogurt

I have seen so many posts about the "banana ice cream" and decided it was time to try it out for myself! I cut up a banana and put the cut up coins in the freezer for about 24 hours. Then I took the frozen banana out and put it in the food processor along with 4 small frozen strawberries. I blended until it was 90% smooth and then put it in a cup and smoothed it down to ice cream consistency with my spoon.

This picture seriously does not do this justice! This is perfect for a snack or dessert, 0 weight watchers points, all natural, healthy, and delicious!! I'm obsessed.

For more food pictures, follow me on instagram! @itslovelytolose

My story

Growing up, I had always been the “fat kid”. I struggled with bulimia for a year and a half. There had been a few times I made myself throw up before it became a constant routine, but the first day of 8th grade really set the ball rolling. From the beginning of 8th grade until Winter Break of my freshman year in high school, I threw up a minimum of once a day, usually more. The hardest part was going through it alone. I didn't tell anyone, very few people know to this day. I quit on my own, cold turkey, which is one of the best decisions I have ever made. Everyday I ate so much that I didn't even lose weight by throwing up, it was a way for me to maintain. The side effects of the bulimia were horrible. I lost hair, my front teeth became almost see through because of the acids wearing down my enamel. It wasn’t until my freshman year in high school when I had realized how out of control my life really was. It was New Year’s Day 2012 when I decided something had to change. I was looking at pictures on facebook from the New Years Eve party and was so beyond shocked at how I looked in them. I cried for hours because of one picture. I don’t know how to even explain what happened, but something inside of me clicked. I was done living my life the way I had been. Done throwing up every day. I needed to make a huge lifestyle change. So I did. 

I’m not going to lie and say it was easy, because it is the hardest thing I have ever done. 2 years later and I’m still struggling to lose these last few pounds. However, looking back I see how depressed I was, trapped in a body I didn’t belong in. Now, I have never been happier, and I am living a life I deserve to live. 

Starting off, I made minor changes in my exercise routines and I also joined Weight Watchers. The weight flew off, because I had so much to lose. The first couple of months I was so motivated because of the results I was seeing. Then the summer came around and I hit my first plateau. There is nothing more frustrating than working so hard and not seeing the results reflect the work you put into it. I lost motivation, but I never stopped. There were days I didn’t try as hard, but I always knew that wasn’t the answer. By the end of the summer, I was losing weight again and I was excited to go back to school and show all my friends how hard I had worked. 

I continued to work out hard, from the comfort of my basement, with workout DVD’s, a set of dumbbells, an elliptical, and a treadmill.  It’s crazy to look back and see how unhealthy and how much I had been eating. I can’t thank Weight Watchers enough, I believe they are the main reason I lost all of this weight. Although I haven’t been tracking much these past few months, it was a tremendous help to get me going.

Fast forward to now, I am the happiest I have ever been. I eat clean and exercise for an hour or more a day. I have lost 115 pounds and only have a few more to go. I limit eating out and have finally joined a gym. I’ve become the person I was meant to be now that I have lost weight and embraced the body I was given.

Feel free to email me any questions at itslovelytolose@gmail.com and be sure to follow me on instagram! @itslovelytolose

Superdrink!

I often hear the word 'superfood' and wonder if it will live up to what it says it does. I have heard that green tea boosts the metabolism and has a bunch of major benefits so I decided to add it into my diet to see if it's true. 

OH MY GOSH you guys! I can't even believe the results I saw after only the first day. My tummy was tighter, and  I had broken my weightloss plateau that I had been stuck in for months. I have one glass first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, a glass in between breakfast and lunch, and two glasses in between lunch and dinner. I can't have caffeine after 4 because I will have trouble sleeping at night, and even though the tea I buy is supposed to be "naturally decaffeinated", I still stay away after 4. Anyways, for the past week I have had 2-5 cups a day, each cup with 2 tea bags, so 4-10 bags a day (crazy I know!) But it really works, and that makes it so worth it! Follow me on instagram for more pictures! @itslovelytolose

Healthy Valentine's Day Treat!

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great Valentine's day! I wanted to share with you what my mom made me for Valentine's day:

These are the Weight Watchers cocoa crispy bars. Each bar has only 69 calories and 2 g of fat. They are SO good!

Here is a link to the recipe, seriously go make them, right now!