Spaghetti Squash recipe

What you will need:

1 spaghetti squash
1 yellow sweet pepper
1 red sweet pepper
1/2 onion
minced garlic
Italian seasoning
or any other spices you enjoy EXCEPT SALT..NO NO NO
can of low sodium or sodium free crushed tomatoes
can of tomato sauce- no sodium if you can find it
Low fat shredded cheese

Cut your spaghetti squash in half (length wise).  You CAN bake it whole but I used this method and it was quite easy.  Once cut clean out the seeds and such as you would a pumpkin.

Then place your squash on a baking sheet rind down.  I baked mine 50-60 minutes in a pre-heated over on 375

While you are waiting for your squash to bake. You can start your sauce.  This is where you can get creative but be careful if you want to keep it healthy.  I added red and yellow sweet papers (one small of each), half of an onion, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, spices (majorian leaves, italian seasoning, pepper, ground cumin and parsley.  I allowed that to sauté with just a spritz of 100% pure olive oil.  I covered and allowed the steam to do it's magic on low to medium heat.  When this mixture was soft I added about a half of cup of spinach.  Now before you say ewww TRY IT. My husband hates spinach and didn't even realize I had put it in there.  I then added a can off crushed tomatoes.  You may need to add more depending on the amount of servings you will be making.  Let this mixture cook on low for 30-45 minutes.  Stir frequently.

When the squash is done it will look like this.  You will notice the inside around the rind is very porous.

Take a fork and start to work your way length wise.  The inside peels off just like pasta noodles except these noodles are VERY carb and calorie friendly!

This is what the noodles look like after scrapped from the rind.

I then combined the noodles to the sauce and allowed it to cook around 10 minutes together.

I added a SPRINKLE of low fat cheese and a slice of avocado with a few leaves of baby spinach for presentation.

I can honestly tell you I will not miss regular spaghetti AT ALL!  I loved this.

TIP:  My husband thought the sauce was a little bland for his taste so to his I added a cup of heart smart spaghetti sauce.  

It's that time!

I can say that this week has started out with a vengence.  The week a female starts her period is rough on weight loss. Things from cramps to bloat can send even the strongest back to bed with her heating pad and favorite Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

I have searched a lot of web sites and they say the average woman can gain between 1-6 pounds during her period. Talk about something that can deflate your mood and confidence but hey at least now you know where the added weight is coming from.

I also have learned there are some things that you can do to help PMS but please note each woman reacts differently during her menstral cycle.

Here are some tips I learned:

• Yep, drink more water.  Water can reduce the amount of weight gain during your period
• Exercise.  Even if you have cramps from hell (which I do) exercising through them can and will help you in the long run.
• Eat plenty of potassium (bananas, carrots, spinach, raisins, tomato, low fat plain yogurt, salmon)
• Ignore the cravings they will go away on their own.  WILL POWER!!!!

Confessions of a mad fat woman!

Who hasn't seen a girl in the gym and thought, "She makes me ill." Lean, hair in a pony, no make up and she still looks like she could be on the cover of a magazine.

Does she really make you "ill"? I have had quite a few of those experiences and found myself watching them while I was doing my workout.  Normally they are running while I am on the elliptical or the bike and let me be honest.  There were time when everything about them seemed to annoy me.

"Look at her dressed up in her Nike gear just to impress the men at the gym"
"Why is her behind shaking when she's walking"
"She doesn't even need to be here"

Have you ever just been doing something and thought, "Holy crap, there is nothing wrong with that girl other than the fact I envy her." I realized that and the fact that people who are fit go through judgement just as we obese people do.


Quite honestly if I could I WOULD be wearing the cute Nike gear to the gym and not to impress the male population but to show off my hard work because let me just tell you weight loss is NOT easy. Further,  just because a person is thin doesn't mean they are fit and everyone deserves to be fit.

It is crazy what enters our minds and how we feel we are entitled to just slap a label on anything that we have a strong feeling for or against.  Yes while it is human nature it doesn't make it right.

I think using my own advice is pertinent here.
"Worry about the dirt on your own back porch."
I think if we all stopped worrying about our own problems we wouldn't have as many problems.  Think about it....What issues are NOT caused by others sticking their noses where they do not belong?

In regards to my personal thoughts I realized that I shouldn't be worried about anyone else in that gym.  The moment I realized my thought I was completely disgusted with myself. I needed to focus on why I was there.  I wasn't there for anyone else but myself. No one else what the reason I was there other than myself.  It wasn't their faults I had spent years of my life abusing my body by stuffing my face with garbage.