Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Megan's Weightloss Journey Begins

Let me start off by saying I have always had a weight problem. I have been overweight most my life, people have made fun of me for it, and let me say kids in middle and high school are cruel! I lost my Mom when I was in the 7th grade to colon cancer. Depression caused me to gain more weight as I took comfort in food.

But in High school I decided to change that when I started dating someone online and was terrified to ever meet him in person. So I started dieting and working out. I didn't diet correctly though, I basically starved myself :( I can still remember my calorie count for different foods I allowed myself to eat even 8 years later. 90 cal yogert and 70 calorie chicken and stars soup at hand cups by Campbell's were my typical choices for breakfast and lunch. Dinner I just ate the veggies and small piece of meat my Dad or Grandma fixed.

It worked... But eating next to nothing and walking a lot will work. Doesn't mean you should do it.
I had lost 80 lbs doing this in about 10 months


I started out at 230 and got down to 150
I could never get below 150 and it irritated me to no end!

But after I had lost all that weight suddenly in 10th grade I was getting noticed more... 
Guys were flirting with me 
(and I have to admit I had no idea that was happening, my older sister was the one who had to inform me that the guy that was talking to me at Seaworld was flirting XD)
I also became best friends with a wonderful guy at school. My relationship with online boyfriend started to fall apart. I ended up breaking up with him to go out with my best friend (who I now call my husband)
David (Wonderful man of my life) made me comfortable with myself and I started to eat normally again (chicken nuggets and french fries became a typical lunch for me) but I continued to exercise so I didn't start gaining weight again too quickly. But I was gaining it back.

2 years later David and I graduated early from High School and got married.


 In those 2 years I gained back 40 lbs. (Stress of exams and planning a wedding didn't help my mood eating) And Still I was happy with myself, I mean I wasn't thin, but I still felt good about myself.

After High School we continued to live with my Grandparents and Dad. I had a lot of responsibilities and I took them seriously. My Aunt who had Spina Bifida needed to be cared for and my Grandmother couldn't do it alone anymore. And my Grandfather who suffered from Dementia also needed constant attention.
Needless to say my weight was the least of my concerns. 

Sadly the health of my grandfather and aunt started to go bad. My Aunt passed away in 2009 and then my Grandfather in 2010. I grew depressed and took comfort in food.

There were several times when I looked at myself in the mirror and knew I needed to start dieting and exercising again. But I could start next week right?

Now in 2013 I am still living in the same place, with my loving husband, taking care of my Grandmother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's back in 2011, I am  taking back my life. I cut soda, white breads and rice, and my candy (that I still allow myself but on special occasions) and I lost 13 lbs! 
About a month ago I started to go to a doctor (for the first time in years) was diagnosed as Hypertensive (Very high blood pressure) from being so over weight (obese). So now it's not just my appearance that has been affected but my health.

After loosing the 13 lbs I am at 300 lbs. The heaviest I have ever been in my entire life. I can't believe I let myself get this far and it's no one's fault but my own. I am living up to my mistakes and on the road to good health. And this time I am doing it right.

I will do an update in a few months.

Would like to Thank my fellow Panda Rachel, my amazing husband, and my friends and family who have been giving me so much love and support (you know who you are)

2 posts this week, but I just wanted to put this out into the universe so maybe it will be a bit easier for me ^_^

Next week will be back to our regular food related posts! As you know Halloween is coming up and we have several treats to share with you!

A Sate ready to go shopping with Mommy!

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Rachel's Favorite Cheese Ball

Megan here! This past week we celebrated my birth ^_^ 
For the party Rachel insisted we have a cheese ball she had at another party.
She and a friend nearly ate the whole thing by themselves.
She tracked down the person who made it just to get the recipe only to find out it was ineradicable simple.
3 Ingredients... That is all for this delicious appetizer.
1 8 oz package cream cheese softened
1 can corned beef
1/4 cup  green onion

(I keep green onions in water on my windowsill. I use what I need and they just keep growing!)

(Looks a bit gross but Rachel says it's finger lickin' good)

We mixed the corned beef and cream cheese together. You can use a spoon... Rachel did not!


And add the onion.


Mix it up again and refrigerate for a few hours until it is hard.

Form it into a ball, serve with crackers, and veggies. 


It was very good. About half of it got eaten at the party. 
Rachel happily took the rest home to eat herself!

I also wanted to share the awesome cupcakes my Sisters made for my birthday!
It was an ode to my childhood (All the cartoons I was obsessed with as a child... and as an adult)

We have a page on Facebook for our awesome cakes,

This week we have for you a different pair of pets.
This is Kit and Twi. Aren't they cute?

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Quinoa Pizza Bites

Time for another healthy recipe!
This past week we had a fun little girls night at my little sister's house. Rachel and I decided to make a finger food to take over there. What better than healthy pizza bites?
We found this recipe here
Ingredient list
 2 cups cooked quinoa 
2 large eggs 
1 cup chopped onion 
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 
2 tsp minced garlic 
1/2 cup fresh basil or 1 tbsp dried
1 cup chopped pepperoni slices (We used turkey)
1/2 tsp seasoning salt 
1 tsp paprika 
1 tsp dried crushed oregano 
pizza sauce for dipping

(We thought about doubling the recipe and quickly realized 80 bites would be too much)

First step is to cook the quinoa. (Not pictured sorry)
We found a website that gives you Quinoa Cooking Tips which we found very helpful.

Chop up the garlic and the onions.

Here is the garlic, onion, and cheese. We added a bit of cheddar cheese to the mix. 


Add in pepperoni and herbs.


and mix up the quinoa and the eggs.

(This doesn't look appetizing but it smelled great!)

Spoon it into greased mini muffin pans and place in the preheated 350 degree oven.


When they come out you have a nice big stack of yummy!


They were a hit at girl's night! Serve them with pizza sauce (canned or homemade)

They kinda tasted like pepperoni flavored omelets on their own, but when dipped in the sauce it tasted more like Pizza. 

~Megan

This is how not so little Thorin eats his dinner.