K, so this morning I had the TV on while I was cleaning my house and Maury Povich’s show came on.  Holy crap.  I haven’t seen his show in like 15 years…SO when in the heck did he become the next Jerry Springer!  So sad.  It was one of those child paternity test type shows and it was so sad.  It made me grateful for things I never knew I was grateful for, I tell ya!  Poor little Maury should have just retired. 🙁

On that note….Happy New Year to you all!  I love the New Year!  The holidays are so hectic, so when the New Year finally comes, I welcome the simplicity it brings.  I love to take the opportunity to reevaluate my life and make changes as necessary.

So, I made some New Year’s goals that I will share with y’all.  BTW, I made these goals for the month of January instead of for the whole year.  Then, at the end of January I will reevaluate and either keep the same goals or tweak them for February.  Short-term goals are more motivational to me.

• I am not going to have ANY treats!  Wahoo!  I was a little pig the last two weeks of the year, so I’m so ready for this goal!  Right before I went to bed on New Year’s Eve, I looked around my kitchen and thought, “Are there any last minute treats I want to eat!?”  I quickly thought, “HECK no!” “I’m so dang sick of sugar and crappy food!”  Bring on the New Year!
• I’m going to strive to exercise 6 days a week.  This is a tough one because my life is SO hectic!  However, Gold’s Gym recently opened a new Gold’s Gym Express near my home so it makes it a little easier!
• I’m going to add a ton more fruits and veggies into my diet!  Yay!  Eat to Live really inspired me!  I’m going to try to have fruit or veggies with every meal and have at least one salad every day.
• I’m going to floss my teeth 3-4 times+ a week.  I know I should do this every day, but some nights I just….don’t.
• I’m going to get as much sleep as possible!  I should put more specifics with this goal, but I’m going to take it one day at a time.  There are just some nights when I can’t go to bed early, BUT I’m going to give it a good shot every single night.

So, there ya go!  I’ve been eating well for 3 days now and I LOVE IT SO MUCH!  I feel so good.  It’s tough because I really crave treats and sugar, but I’m happy to be moving in the right direction again.

On New Year’s Day, we went out to dinner with our good friends Jeff and Gwen.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory and it was so good.  Cheesecake Factory has a Skinnylicious Menu that I love so much!  Most of the things on the menu are under 590 calories (which is good for restaurant fare) and the portions are still huge!  It’s so nice to eat (a lot) of yummy, healthy food that I don’t have to make myself.  Yay.

I ordered the Tuscan Chicken and it was so flavorful and yummy.  Here is the description from their website; Grilled Chicken Breast with Tomatoes, Artichokes, Capers, Fresh Basil and Balsamic Vinaigrette. Served Over Fresh Vegetables and Farro.

Kev ordered the Skinnylicious Soft Tacos and he really enjoyed them.  Jeff and Gwen both ordered off the Skinnylicious menu as well.

Jeff got the Skinnylicious Chicken Enchiladas and Gwen got the Island Grilled Chicken.  We all said it was nice to eat SO MUCH food and not feel overly stuffed and gross.  I <3 Cheesecake Factory!

Jeff and Gwen ordered cheesecake for dessert, of course.  Their cheesecake is the BEST, but I didn’t have any!  It was tough because it looked so dang awesome.

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Moving on.  I thought I would share some of the yummy, healthy things I’ve been enjoying the past few days.  I made a yummy dinner last night, but I will share it in a separate post.  Here are some things I’ve had for breakfast and lunch;

My fav Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal with chopped bananas.  I never get tired of this.  I also had some scrambled egg whites on the side, but I didn’t take a pic.

1 whole egg + 4 egg whites scrambled with onions and peppers and topped with homemade salsa.  I served it with a side of grapefruit sprinkled with a little stevia.

I had this for breakfast today.  OIAJ (Oats in a Jar!) with a side of eggs.  I used 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites and just fried them in a little olive oil.  The Oats in a Jar were just my typical Chocolate Peanut Butter oatmeal.  Yum.

This was lunch yesterday and I’ll probably make it again for lunch today as soon as I’m done with this post!  I made a quick salad out of Romaine, apples, nuts and leftover ham and cheese from my mom’s New Year’s party.  I topped it all with a little Brianna’s Poppy Seed Dressing.  It’s not low calorie or low fat, but it’s full of high quality ingredients and I don’t use very much!

I’ve also been snacking on this…

Yum!  My mom let me bring this home from her New Year’s party as well.  It’s from Costco, I believe.  I eat most of the veggies plain or use just a little dip.

Well, that’s the latest for now!  I will keep y’all posted on my New Year’s goals progress, of course.  I hope you have all made some goals and are having success as well!