Turkey Lettuce Wraps (In a Bowl) & Other Things That Are Working

Well... some of you may not know this (if you've just met me in the last year or so), but this...

is what I looked like at the end March of 2011... & then I gained some weight back...and then I got pregnant & gained A LOT of weight...& now I'm at the very bottom of a very large mountain that I feel like I was already at the top of, fell down & now I have to pick myself up & crawl back up it...one step at a time.  Most of the time I feel very defeated & depressed about it...which was leading me to eat the things I shouldn't & therefore prolonging the time it was taking me to "get on it", so to speak.

But lately, I've been more focused & dedicated & have realized a few things... a) This weight is not (as much as I'd like it to) lose itself... I did this to myself (well, partly, I did have a baby), & now I've got to undo it.  b) I've done it before, I can do it again.  I know I said that to myself all through out my pregnancy, nonchalantly saying it as I'd be downing Marble Slab or whatever, "Oh, I can lose the weight all over again", like it was no big deal.  But it is a big deal.  It's hark work & dedication.  It's wanting to succeed more than I want chocolate or ice cream or sweet potato fries (with double dip)...

So I've been working at it.  Day in & day out, trying to make more good choices than bad.  And wouldn't you know it, I feel better on the days I work out & eat well (DUH!)

I've been Eating Clean, (tried Paleo...just couldn't do that many eliminations from my diet on a consistent basis...but I do have a few "Paleo-esque" meals from time to time.)  Today I had a perfect Eat Clean Day.  I had a Green Smoothie & egg whites with fresh (low sodium) salsa,  snack was an apple with some almonds, lunch was my new fave invention...Turkey Lettuce Wraps (but in a bowl) (recipe below), 2nd snack was a Babybel cheese triangle & some cucumber slices & baby carrots.  Dinner was turkey breast "chicken nuggets" & sweet potato spears.  Got some time in on the elliptical this morning & managed to get lots of housework done too!  It was an awesome day!  Hopefully many more to come & I'll be in the 230's soon :)

Turkey Lettuce Wraps...in a bowl!

Turkey sausage (the kind I found at Superstore only has 1.5g fat & 80 calories) but you could also use ground turkey breast or ground chicken.  Seasoned & sauteed w/ 2 garlic cloves (minced), onion (I used red) & 1 jalapeno (1/2 seeded, 1/2 w/ seeds). 

Then, saute a variety of veggies (I did orange peppers, zucchini, & tomatoes (fresh from the garden!)).  If I was actually going to put them in lettuce wraps I would have diced them instead of just chopping them.  

I put all of that in a bowl & then topped that with about 1/4 of an avocado (healthy fats!) & then around the perimeter of the bowl, I put one of my fave "dressings" a mix of fat free greek yogurt & low sodium salsa.  On top to that I placed loosely torn pieces of butter lettuce. 

It was sooo good... I should've taken a picture.  Maybe next time!

Anyway...things are going well...just climbing back up that mountain, one good choice at a time :)