Luscious Ladies Weight Loss

I made this cake on Sunday for a 4th of July BBQ. Almond cake, fresh lemon curd and berries - this is just a reminder that this was a holiday week and it was tough, tough, tough to stick to a diet plan.

Here are our first week results:

Heather - Lost 1 pound
Karen - Lost 1 pound
April - Lost 1.6 pounds
Mary - No weight loss
Kirstin - Lost 0.8 pound
Kelly - Lost 2.5 pounds
Caroline - Lost 1 pound
Stacey - Lost 3.0 pounds

Sexy Mommy Diet Round #2

Round two of our weight loss challenge started yesterday and we have some new participants!
Caroline is back for another round and this time, her sister Kelly (mother of three little ones and an ER doc - busy lady) is joining us. My sister Heather is back for round two and this time my other sister Kirstin (Koo is single and living in Portland, OR where she works in medical administration) is also participating. Also joining us this round, my good friend April (mother of four amazing children - we met my very fist year at BYU. She's awesome) and also my Mother, Mary (mother of 6, master gardener and very supportive Mom). And last but not least, beautiful Karen (also single and a friend from church) is joining us too.

We are all racing to lose 10 pounds again. Rules are the same - no fad diets, no diet pills just eating better and trying to exercise. We will be weighing in every Sunday.

Since we have several singles this time around, it has been requested that we re-name our program. Luscious Ladies Diet? Svelte Sisters Diet? Wow Women Diet ?
Do you have any any suggestions?

Photo above is a lunch option from this week. Frozen salmon burger pan seared and served spring salad and a whole wheat sandwich thin. For extra flavor, I mashed 1/2 an avocado with some salsa and spread it on the bun.

Sexy Mommy Fail

This week's weigh in is not pretty.

Caroline - lost 2 pounds! Total weight loss 5 pounds!
Susan - Abstained
Heather - Abstained
Stacey - lost 0.2 pounds. Total weight loss 7 pounds.

Heather had my sister in town this last week and went on a culinary tour of Salt Lake. She also had a birthday party for my cute nephew. Susan was worried about me and some crappy things I found out about this week and did some nervous/worried eating (that's kind of sweet of her huh?). I just did not do well. I'm thinking I am going to have to add exercising to my routine and finding a way to do that is kind of intimidating.

The kids finished school on Friday. We had a big Welcome to summer party - the kids are thrilled and I am . . . not prepared. My summer is going to be insane. I have 8 children here very single day with drop ins every week. I have a lot of older boys here all summer and I am looking for a basketball hoop for the cul-de-sac and a couple of soccer nest for the side yard. It is going to be a very, very busy summer. My car only seats 5 in the back which means we are at the mercy of friends if we want to ever leave the house. So far I have a friend who is going to drive my kids on Wednesdays so we can go to the free movies together and I am looking for someone who might be willing to drive my kids to the Art Park on Tuesdays so we could all go to the free summer kids programs there.

I have classes I need to take this summer for the daycare and I am expecting unannounced visits from the state and the food program this summer as well. My kids are going to spend some time out in Idaho with my parents in late July/August. Crazy. This summer is going to be crazy.

PS I ate the salad above several times last week. Spring greens, peppers, cucumbers, chicken and avocado with poppy seed dressing. Really good.

Sexy Mom Weight Loss Update

We are still in this race even though I have completely failed at keeping you updated. Here are the results from Sunday's weigh-in.

Susan - Lost 2.0 pounds this week! Total Loss: 6.0 pounds!
Stacey - Lost 2.0 pounds this week! Total Loss: 6.8 pounds!
Heather - Lost 2.0 pounds this week! Total Loss: 5.2 pounds!
Caroline - Lost 1.0 pounds this week! Total Loss: 3.0 pounds!

I am the first to admit this is hard. My plans on making new meals and photographing them for the blog fell by the wayside as I try and keep up with end of the school year activities and soccer. The reality of my life is there is little to no time for cooking other than preparing meals for all the kids - breakfast, lunch and after-school snack. My own kids usually have fruit, yogurt and a sandwich for dinner (if they are lucky) as we are running out the door to soccer. I buy a ton of apples and bananas and clementines because they are easy to grab when we are going to miss dinner. The other reality is that I am tired. The last thing I want to do at the end of a very long day is to cook an elaborate meal.

I have been eating much better. Lots and lots of fruit - especially strawberries and cantaloupe. I have had a smoothie almost every day and I need to find time to get back to Trader Joe's for more frozen pineapple. I am obsessed with Greek yogurt and eat a ton of it with fruit and dry cereal or granola. I have to pee all the time. I have found if I buy a rotisserie chicken at the store and remove the chicken into Tupperware, cut up peppers and cucumbers and other vegis and have them ready in the fridge then it is much more likely I will quickly throw a salad together. the trick is to be prepared.

I am having sweets once in a while. Last night was book club (I took the kids with me this time as Max's soccer was canceled due to rain - I hate bringing the kids to book club) and Tiffany made this amazing sticky pudding. It was a 10 on the yum scale so I ate every bite.

Here are a couple of things I've been eating. This is a fish taco - I just took some grilled white fish, tossed it with pineapple salsa and wrapped it in a tortilla with tomatoes and spinach.


This is a vegetarian lasagna that I made - the serving sizes are HUGE (and only 250 calories) and it is really good and filling.


Here is the basic lasagna recipe (I just made this up, so feel free to add different vegis) for 9X13 pan with high sides. This made 12 servings. For the sauce I sauteed an onion, a bunch of asparagus, one container baby bella mushrooms sliced and a red pepper (all chopped of course) in a little olive oil. Then I took one jar of roasted red peppers and garlic in water (drain) and pureed them in the blender. I also pureed three cans of stewed tomatoes. Combine and simmer with some fresh chopped parsley.

For the filling I used one thing of tofu drained and crumbled (I think I bought firm), one 10?15? oz jar part-skim ricotta, three eggs, a whole bunch of fresh spinach chopped, fresh dill, one cup shredded Italian cheeses, salt and pepper. Stir until combined.

To assemble you need one package of whole wheat lasagna noodles (do not pre-cook because it is a waste of time). Pour one cup sauce on the bottom of pan and add one layer of lasagna noddles. Then, take 2 zucchini and slice them lengthwise into long noodles. Layer them on and then add half the cheese/tofu mixture. Add more whole wheat noodles, cheese mixture, then the rest of the sauce and then on the very top, spread 2 cups of shredded reduced fat mozzarella. Bake covered at 350 for and hour. Uncover and keep baking until the lasagna noodles are cooked through and the top is a nice golden brown (about another 1/2 hour).

Let sit for about 15 minutes before cutting. This recipe freezes really well.

Weigh In and the Holiday Weekend

Holidays weekends are rough. I may have had a few bites of a frozen chocolate pie. I may have had a few red vines and milk duds while watching a movie with friends. I may be kicking myself right now BUT, I am not going to get discouraged. I may also have cramps today which is why I was in a sugar frenzy this weekend.

I do not have everyone's measurements from Sunday because my cell phone has issues (curse you TMobile!), but here's what I have and I will revise this post when I hear back from Susan.

Caroline - Total lost this week 2 pounds!!
Stacey - Total lost this week - 4.8 pounds!!
Heather - Total lost this week - 3.2 pounds!!
Susan - Total lost this week - 4 pounds!! (I do not have her exact number yet)

Pretty impressive first week! You see what can happen when you stop eating an entire bag of Twizzlers while reading a book at night?! I am sure week two is going to be tougher and frankly this weekend I had a few treats - it was a holiday! But, I am committed. Way to go ladies!!!!

I do not have a ton of photos of what I ate this weekend, but this is my new favorite smoothie. I had it for breakfast/lunch yesterday and today. Frozen pineapple and mango from Trader Joe's - about 2 cups. 1 cup water, 6-7 ice cubes, big scoop yogurt and 3/4 cup orange juice.


This morning I had a hard boiled egg and a hard boiled egg white for breakfast as well and as we were on the go, I took a piece of cold steak with me and ate it in the car while driving. We went to a BBQ tonight where I ate a corn on the cob (plain) and a half, one piece of grilled pineapple, a couple bites of grilled halibut and a serving of grilled Tuscan Bread Salad (tomatoes and fresh basil topped with balsamic vinegar, a little olive oil and salt and pepper - grill a loaf of garlic french bread and then cube the bread and toss with the tomatoes). Yum!

I'll get back on the daily posts tomorrow. Right now, I've got to get some sleep. I have a little baby here overnight through Saturday so life is going to be really busy this week!

Sexy Mommy Diet Day Six and Seven

So I'm a little behind on here and I got a little lazy with taking photos, so here's what I've got for you.

On Friday I ran 400 errands with only two kids. For breakfast, I had a bowl of vanilla greek nonfat yogurt (no one has told me why the Greek yogurt is so good for me and twice the price), Alpein cereal and cantaloupe and strawberries. Yum, yum, yummy. I could eat this every day and be a very happy girl.


Since we were driving a round at lunch time, I ran in Subway and bought a six inch turkey on whole wheat with no cheese, all the vegis and a little honey mustard and diet coke. The kids had McDonald's and I only stole three of their french fries.

At the Mall of America, I bought a strawberry/orange shake with only 144 calories. WHY do we not have one of these places near my house?! We also walked around the perimeter of the mall three times.

For dinner, I was so tired that I just finished off the yogurt, cereal and fruit combination.

Today I was a bit naughty - not so smart since we weigh in tomorrow!

I weeded for an hour this morning and got a sunburn on my shoulders. That's exercise - right? For breakfast I made a smoothie with ice, strawberries, the rest of the cantaloupe, 3/4 cup orange juice and a big scoop of nonfat Greek plain yogurt. This is my kind if shake - so delicious and tangy!


It made three servings this size and I drank all three for breakfast and lunch and ate a hard boiled egg.


After getting my hair cut and covering my gray hair (I feel like a new woman!), I went to a BBQ thrown by the McKinney family (they know how to throw a party!) and ate some fresh fruit, a piece of steak and a couple of bites of a bean, mango, blackberry salad - yum!

Here's the naughty bit. This evening I went to the Mall of America (again) with some girlfriends and we ended up going out for a late dinner. So at 9pm I ate a scallop appetizer (I only ate three of the four scallops) with Japanese bread crumbs and a little bacon and - I assume - a lot of butter. I also split a Chinese chicken salad with Kelly which seemed pretty light but could have had 500 calories for all I know.

Tomorrow I am making a vegetarian lasagna and weighing in. Yikes!

Sexy Mommy Diet Day Five

This was breakfast today: vanilla nonfat greek yogurt, cantelope and Alpen cereal. I was supposed to buy Alpen sugar free, but I could not find it. I was worried about this becasue I made it and then had to let it sit while a baby cried, another needed to be changed, I folded a load of laundry and loaded and started the dishwasher. I do not like mushy stuff. But, even after a good 1/2 hour sitting on the counter, the cereal was still crunchy! It was delicious even if I ate it with a screaming baby clinging to my leg.


I had some carrots and with dip at the park, a couple of bites of a Trader Joe's blueberry bar and then managed to really miss lunch. By the time I got most of the kids down for naps, I had people here for the next several hours so I just did not get to it.

For dinner, I had the last of the salmon salad in a warm pita.


One can diet coke today, crystal light, half a can diet 7-up and water. I am hungry tonight, but too annoyed with my ex to prepare any food so I am going to bed.

Sexy Mommy Day Three

Today it was even hotter and the humidity is overwhelming. I was hungrier today than I was yesterday, maybe because I kept the Diet Coke to one can instead of two McDonals large cups that I consumed yesterday.

For breakfast I made a quick shake. Ice, one cup strawberries, one banana, a handful of spinach, scoop of no sugar vanilla soy protein powder and half cup skim milk and water.


Mmmmm! Doesn't it look cold and refreshing?


It was . . . nasty. Seriously, it tasted like sludge. I could not even drink a glass full. I think the problem is the protein powder. It makes the shake grainy. The spinach in theory is healthy, but it tastes gross blended up. So, this was a huge fail and I will not be making it again.

I have not managed to get in any exercise so far and today was no exception. I had 8 kids under the age of 5 here during the day with 5 more at school so - no time. We did walk over to the school and back to watch Max's track and field day. It was HOT and the hour and a half we spent there killed me! After I got the kids down for naps, I put on a movie for Calvin and fell asleep on the couch for a half hour. I had some low-fat Cabot Cheddar during our field trip.

For lunch, I planned on cooking but was too tired so I had the salmon salad from yesterday with some red grapes. For dinner I had chicken breast and green beans. Hopefully tomorrow will be less crazy and I'll have time to cook something new. The scale said I was down a pound this morning! Hooray!

Sexy Mommy Recipes

Day Two: Monday

This morning I had a four egg white scramble with a slice of low fat Swiss melted inside along with one cup of strawberries and two slices toasted sprouted whole wheat bread from Trader Joe's. Thoughts: Very filling and tasty. I put the eggs between the toast and ate it like a sandwich but I could not eat this every day. For some reason I get egg overload if I try and eat too many eggs and then I cannot stand to look at them for months. This happened the first time when I was pregnant with Max. This bread was delicious though and low calorie though I'm not really sure why the sprouted bread is better for me.


For a snack I had a nonfat Greek Honey Yogurt - soooooo good! These suckers are quite expensive - why? What makes it Greek and is it somehow better for me?


For dinner I made Salmon and Artichoke Quesidillas.


These are divine. I doubled the recipe and have enough for three other meals.


They are supposed to be made with two whole wheat tortillas, but my tortillas (which I bought on Thursday) were moldy - yuck. Instead, I used 1/2 a whole wheat pita pocket and saved myself some calories. I still toasted the pita in the saute pan and loved the crunch. These are seriously messy to eat!


So, feeling pretty good about myself today except for the two large McDonald's Diet Cokes. It was freaking HOT today! I had a couple glasses of crystal light and some sparking non calorie fruit water as well. Cooking this recipe took time and that is my biggest challenge. I cannot cook a meal for both lunch and dinner so I will need to explore quick options for at least one meal per day. How are you doing?

Sexy Mommy Weight Loss Challenge

Summer has definitely arrived around here. Today the high got into the 90's and the humidity is hovering around 100%. It's nasty.

This post is introducing you to our weight loss challenge that started today - well yesterday really. Four women - all Mommy's - 13 children between us. We have all struggled to lose weight, eat healthy and exercise so we decided to have a contest. Simple rules and a really great prize.

First one to lose 10 pounds wins a $100 gift certificate to Nordstrom to spend on shoes - or something great. We all chipped in $25 dollars and it must be spent on something you would normally never buy. I am kind of obsessed with this bag though it is still too expensive even with the gift certificate. You could buy $100 worth of expensive make-up or a fabulous necklace or the pair of blue pumps I saw there on Saturday that called to me.

I just got everyone's weight and measurements today. When this one is over, we may do another based on percentage of body mass, but this time we just wanted to keep it simple. I will post everyone's weight loss on Sundays - but not our actual weight - because we are just not that adventurous.

The rules:
No fad diets. That means no cabbage soup, no liquid fasts, no diet pills, no South Beach Phase One etc. We are trying to make healthier food choices, eat more whole foods, drink more water, consume less sugar and find some time to move while taking care of our families and working.

The players:

Me (Stacey): Single Mom, three kids, Full-time Daycare with 14 children in and out from 6:30-6:30 every day. Three kids in soccer and two side businesses making cakes (somewhat detrimental to weight loss) and selling pretty crafty things.

Susan: Full-time Ophthalmologist (call her for glasses, eye surgery or botox!), mother of 5 children who are involved in 512 activities including traveling soccer, piano lessons, swim team, oboe lessons, gaming competitions (Pokemon) and I can't remember what else. She spends more time in her car than anyone I know.

Caroline: Mother of three including a nursing baby. Two of her kids are named Calvin and Sophie which means we were meant to be friends. She will be putting updates on her blog as well. Sister to Kelly.

Heather: My sister out in Utah, Mother of two including a nursing baby. Works part-time as well as taking care of her growing family. She will be updating her blog as well.

So, yesterday I started this challenge. I started even though I had a cake order being picked up that morning and had to make this.


But, I did not lick the bowls. I have two containers of ganache and frosting in my fridge. If anyone wants to come and pick them up to use on top of cupcakes, let me know.

I did not eat some chocolate covered strawberries.

I fed them to the kids for breakfast because I am a cool - yet chunky, Mommy.


Instead of chocolate, I have a bowl of Kashi cereal for with skim milk. It needed some fruit, but I was in a hurry to get to church. For dinner, I cheated (already!) and had a Trader Joe's chicken tamale. It was actually quite tasty and low fat and I could not face cooking as I was exhausted. More on meals and a recipe in the next post. So far, I have done really well though I have noticed that I have upped my intake of diet coke. This could be due to the weather or the fact that I am seriously behind on sleep.

Wish us luck and if you'd like to play along, let me know!