Tastes like an M&M McFlurry (my favorite treat) buuuuut... it's 390 calories!

1/2 cup of this amazing fro yo = 180 cals

1/4 cup (this is a lot) of Mini M&Ms = 210 cals

430 cals are in a snack size M&M McFlurry (7.3 oz), 860 are in a 16 oz sized.


Sub those for the recipe above, stir& enjoy guilt free :)

Sugar Free Hershey's!

These mini chocolate bars are 32 calories each!  &they actually taste  like something from Hershey's.

*I know it says not a low calorie food... but, it's still less calories compared to the ones with sugar :)

I have found the elusive cheese!!!

I searched high and low for this stuff when I was making my low cal pizza, but it was nooo where to be found. Now that I'm back at college, I'm by my beloved "the good Wal*Mart". And the good Wal*Mart had the No Fat Kraft Mozzarella Cheese :) It is simply amazing. Definitely a new favorite.  1/4 cup of this cheese is 45 calories. That may not sound like much, but trust me it's more than you think. It was more than enough for my 1/2 a sandwich small meal today.

           

120 calories 1 ounce turkey, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/2 of a honey wheat sandwich thin

43 cals! 2 ounces of carrots, tbsp of FAT FREE sour cream mixed with 1/2 tsp of ranch mix

Secret #7: Carrots!

I am hear to sing the praises of the carrot. Maybe it is considered rabbit food,but it is one of the few vegetables I really love.  I especially love petite carrots with low cal ranch dip. Simply amazing. Plus it wards off my chip cravings, because it's super crunchy and gives me the satisfaction of dipping.  It's like the super healthy, extra crunchy chips& dip!  Turns out we could learn a lil lesson from the rabbits.  

These are sooooo good!

170 cals? Yes please :) 

This is my pasta fix! 2 ounces of pasta and 1/2 a cup of sauce = one serving of amazingness

240 cals

Only 5 lil cals! 

Secret #7: Low Cal Ketchup! 
Even the little things add up, especially if you use ketchup like I do. I swear this one tastes even better anyway! 

Cuties for Cuties

Secret #6: Cuties! These lil oranges are amazingly delicious and healthy.  So healthy in fact, I don't even count them in my calories intake.  (Technically they are 40 calories.)  The commercials say that kids love them, because Cuties are easy to peel and seedless.  I love them for the same reasons, AND because they curb your appetite in a low cal style. Plus I think the name is adorable.  So feed the little kid in you and grab a cutie!

Thank you for backing up my number one secret.  http://weightloss.allwomenstalk.com/weight-loss-myths-you-should-know-about-to-stop-doubting-and-start-losing-that-weight/

(more secrets to come soon, pinky promise :)

I love ice cream.  But I love the high calorie, rich, magical Ben&Jerry's stuff.  So I've been scooping (ha! a third of a cup is hardly a scoop) out a little of the good stuff into a tiny measuring cup.  This works just fine, I stay in my budget and get a lil taste of my favorite ice cream.  However, what's more satisfying than pretending calories are nonexistent and finishing an entire carton of ice cream?  With this you can have the best of both worlds! (This is in no way a Hannah Montana reference.)  I found this in the 4th store I tried on my fat-free cheese for the pizza hunt.  Ben&Jerry shouldn't be too worried, but Skinny Cow is surprisingly filling and very chocolatey.  Find your favorite flavor! I'm trying cookies 'n cream next.

150 cals. Yeah. Go ahead, eat the whole thing.

 

Decaloriefied Pizza!

Decaloriefied Pizza! Ok I have bolded, underlined& super sized this for a pretty amazing reason. Drum roll please...one slice of this pizza is 150 calories! On average, a slice of a 14 inch cheese pizza cut into 8 slices has about 280 calories.  That's over a 100 calorie difference! This is possibly the lowest calorie legit "pizza" in existence. This pizza is actually good for you and tastes amazing. 

So how did this ridiculously low calorie marvel come to be? Earl Nightingale said it best,  "You'll find boredom where there is the absence of a good idea." I accompanied my mom on a trip to the doctor today, The Help in hand, diet mountain dew in my system, I was prepared for a long morning of waiting.  But before I even started to pick my wonderful book back up (Read The Help if you, haven't. Yes, even if you've already seen the movie.), I was struck for the craving of pizza.  But then quickly rolled my eyes.  Pizza in a low calorie diet? Ha! Besides, I had already had a McDonalds breakfast and was more than likely going to eat fast food again for lunch.  There was no way I could have even one slice of pizza without blowing  my whole day...or was there? I proceeded to spend the rest of the 3 hour wait on my iPhone giving google a workout.  After searching the lowest of the low, I found this homemade wheat crust recipe and a good low calorie pizza sauce recipe.  (This wheat crust is simply amazing, and I can't take all the credit. This is where I found it http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1180485.)


Will Make You Burst into Song 14" Wheat Crust
2 cups whole wheat flour 
1 cup white flour
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 cup of warm water
1 packet of yeast          
This recipe makes 2 14" pizzas.  Half the dough& save one pizza!             
           Trust me it tastes so good, you will want to eat it again.

Tantalizing Tomato Sauce
14.5 oz petite diced tomatos
4 oz tomato paste      
1 tbsp Pizza& Pasta Magic (seasoning) 
1 tbsp McCormick Roasted Garlic& Bell Pepper                  
Also for 2 pizzas! Half and save again.


Mix all crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and with a dough hook, mix on low for 10 minutes. I am in awe of the mixer.  Can you imagine beating that dough yourself??? Maybe this is why oh so many technology deprived years ago women didn't have to go to the gym to burn calories. Then after the dough looks like it's all combined, turn up the speed and mix for another 10ish minutes.  Dough should look smooth and well, doughy by now. Preheat your oven to 350 for 5 minutes and then turn it off.  Place a damp hand towel over the bowl that holds the dough and place it in the oven for 10 minutes. (Don't worry the towel won't burst into flame!) Half the dough and save one. Spray your pan with non stick cooking spray and spread out one half of your dough. Now, pause to take in the warm, Italian aroma of the dough. Amazing :)


MIx all sauce ingredients in a bowl! (I used a magic bullet to dechunkify the diced tomatoes.) Have fun with it and play around, add whatever spices and herbs you want! I even think a touch of sugar would be good, just be sure to account for any extra calories.  Spread your tomatoy concoction evenly onto your crust waiting with open arms. 


Now the final touches! I used 1 1/3 cup of Finely Shredded Low-Moisture part-skim Mozzarella Cheese.  Now there is a cheese out there that is less calories AND you can use more! I went on a Fat Free Shredded Mozzarella Kraft Cheese hunt through 4 stores supplying cheese in my little town and sadly, failed.  *If you can find the elusive cheese I highly suggest using it*  


For my toppings I used an ounce of ultra thin sliced chicken breast, an ounce of ultra sliced oven roasted turkey breast, and 1/2 a cup of lil pineapple bits.

Put your decaloriefied pizza in 450 degree preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. 
Now grab a slice of your pizza and feel completely guilt free!

*Cut your pizza into 8 even slices

WARNING: This pizza will more than likely fill you up with just 2 slices.  Even my above average of a man dad was content at 3!
Looks like Mr. Nightingale was right.  I turned a potentially mind numbingly boring morning into an amazing low calorie recipe! And I had so much fun making this.  Making food from scratch really makes you appreciate every flavorful bite and notice all the little details that go into a home cooked meal. This pizza is simple and fairly quick (if you're not easily distracted like me) to bring to life in your kitchen.  In a dorm? I have access to a little kitchen in my dorm building and am definitely making this one night and sharing it with my hall mates!
ANOTHER WARNING: This is known to cause a huge confidence boost from making a meal from scratch instead of popping something in the microwave, lots of praise from family and friends, and extremely thankful taste buds.



   

Donkey from Shrek: "You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious!" Donkey says it all. This taste amazingly sweet.

Yogurt Parfait from McDonalds 160 Calories with Granola!

Secret #5: mix ins! Water is the best thing for you to drink obviously.  But where's the taste??? Add low calorie (we're talking like 5 or 10 virtually nothing)    mix-ins to your water for practically any taste you crave! My favorite is Crystal Light Lemonade. I could live off that stuff. 

Lemonade!

Peach Tea!

Strawberry Kiwi!

Fake Chinese Food! I loooooove chicken fried rice, but a little plate of it at an average Chinese restaurant is at least 600 calories.  So I made up my own low calorie recipe to satisfy my Chinese craving :) You need Minute Brown&Wild Rice and Hillshire Farm Grilled Chicken Breast.  You can easily make this quick meal in a dorm room.  Just pop both the rice and the chicken in the microwave for a minute. (I love this chicken not only for the great taste, but also I don't have to deal with raw chicken which makes me cringe ew!)

Taste better than any of the Chinese takeout I've tried around campus!

  

Only 379 Calories including 3Tblsp of soy sauce 

 Add soy sauce& salt!

Attention Viewers! I would absolutely love to hear from y'all if you have any challenges or ideas for me to try. I am willing to be your guinea pig (within reason) so take advantage& use me! Just send your suggestions to sarahashton11@yahoo.com prettiest please.

Now that I have lost those 15 pounds that were holding me back, I'm starting a new 6 week challenge for my second Freshman semester.  Abs.  I'm not talking an intense, bulky, fear me 6 pack, but just that completely flat stomach, girly abs look.  Lots of America's Next Top Model reruns and my Julianne Hough dance DVD have inspired this challenge. 


I have never in my life been called fat or considered overweight, even 15 pounds heavier I was still considered average.  However... my average self was not going to be seen in a bikini. I'm pretty modest, but come on even I want to have that "wind in your hair, I feel like a supermodel" confidence and all while sporting an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow polka-dot bikini.  


I am making myself stick to this 6 week ab building workout& hopefully at the end of next semester I'll have results to post :)  (conveniently just in time for swimsuit season)

Lots of Love&Support to one of my college hall mates Miss Katelyn Miller the fabulous! Check her blog out for more inspiration :) untilimproud.tumblr.com

Secret #4: Weigh Daily! This may seem daunting, but it is the best way to know the effect of your daily calorie intake.  You can see that it is really working.  It's simple.  Stick within your daily calorie budget, and the scale should go down.  Exceed your limit, the scale will go up.  Now the fluctuations in your weight should not be drastic from day to day.  We're talking tenths of a pound here.  But every time you get to record that you weigh a little less, it is a little victory and a huge step toward your overall goal.  After a while, I would actually jump out of bed in the morning to jump on the scale.  I couldn't wait to claim my lil daily victory.  


The most important thing to do is pick a certain time to weigh yourself and stick to that same time every day.  (You weigh the least in the morning when you first wake up:)

Temptation.  It's everywhere. But one of the hardest temptations to beat is when it walks right into your kitchen!  My brother helped me find a way to beat it though.  After school my sixteen year old brother comes home with a Wendy's bag.  I watch him pull out 5 cartons with 5 spicy nuggets each and a large fry.  I stare at the enormous amount of food and back at my brother.  He's 6 foot and doesn't have an ounce of fat on him.  Propelled by the unfairness of the situation, I'm suddenly gripped with the overwhelming desire to steal just one of his fries.  (yeah right, like you can really eat just one fry)  He sees me staring down the salty, starchy goodness, and it registers with him that I am about to steal his food.  He breaks into a ninja leap and yells, "CALORIES!!!" at the top of his lungs.  I pause.  And then break into laughter, and successfully walk away from the fries.  Now every time I am tempted by something like this, I replay this hysterical bit and again, I walk away. 

"Eat not until you're full, but until you're not hungry."

1/2 cup = 270

1/2 cup = 180
&This one tastes even better!

Ok, so it is no secret that 2 guys are responsible for making a low calorie diet very hard to stick to.  And there names are Ben&Jerry.  However, the boys have come up with a magical, low calorie alternative. FroYo.

Secret #3: Turkey! Yes ladies and gentleman, Turkey should shine on more days than just Thanksgiving. 2 ounces of simple Oven Roasted Turkey you can by straight from the deli section is just 50 calories.  My favorite thing to do is eat it for breakfast.  This may not be the conventional on the go pop tart, but turkey beats the pop tart in every way.  It is a quick fix, very low calorie, it is actually filling, and the best part...extremely energizing!

180 Calories!

This breakfast gives you plenty of energy till lunch and taste amazing.  Crystal Light Lemonade, Active Light Peach Yogurt mixed with 1/2 a piece of oats&honey granola bar, and turkey (aka: the magic food).

Sweets for Breakfast? Sure!  
Mix 1/2 cup of strawberries with 1 crushed oats&honey granola bar, sprinkle it with truvia& Poof!  A simple, sweet, low calorie breakfast.  Add some peach tea to enhance the fruity sweetness.  

150 calories

Secret #1: Count Your Calories!

That's it. Bottom line. This is what works.  If you keep up with the calories you eat everyday, you will get results. WARNING: This is a major eye opener to how much you eat, and how much you should eat.  I know it blew my mind.

This can get tedious and seem a bit obsessive (just ask my mom who has been putting up with me spitting out how many calories are in everything), but I pinky promise it works :) The best thing to do is download a free app to your phone that keeps up with your calories. I like MyFitnessPal and Lose it!.  
Both programs have built in weight loss plans in them.  You simply put in your current weight and your goal weight, and it calculates your daily calorie intake using a calorie calculator such as this.  click here!


This isn't even technically a "diet".  Eat whatever you want, just keep up with it and see how it adds up.  You could have five small meals a day or you know go to Chilis and eat the cajun chicken pasta (my favorite) and max out your limit in one sitting.  
Play around with it and see what is best for you! 

Secret #2:  Substitute!

Let's take lunch.  A turkey sandwich sound good?  2 ounces of oven roasted sliced turkey is only 50 lil calories.  Now add some bread. But doesn't that counter act the magic of the turkey, using bread that's 200 calories? Then if you dare to factor in cheese and condiments, you can easily put on a 100 more plus calories.  So now you have a not so low calorie sandwich for lunch and it is not so filling.  Still hungry you add some chips to your sandwich.  It's a small bag, not so bad right? 1 ounce of regular potato chips is 160 calories. Now grab an 12 ounce coke from the fridge to complete your meal. (another 140 cals)
This brings your lunch to a total of 650 calories.  


Now this is just more than I'm willing to spend on my lunch based around a turkey sandwich.  Keep the turkey, SUB the bread with Honey Wheat Sandwich Thins, SUB the cheese with 1/2 a slice of 70cal swiss cheese, SUB coke with coke zero, and SUB the chips with potato straws. Grand total: 316 
This is less calories, more food, and I promise it taste even better! Now you try :)

We've all heard of the Freshman 15 right?  I was terrified of it.  As summer ended and college quickly approached, I decided there was no way it was going to happen to me. So I challenged myself to do something different. Redefine the Freshman 15 -Losing 15 pounds my freshman year.  I was very happy with this decision, but where to start??? There are unlimited ways to lose weight! Tons of fads, workouts, trends, diets all claiming to give major results and fast.  I've dedicated myself to finding out what really works.  So I am going to share daily tips&secrets of what I've found so far :)