No Magic, Tricks or Fairy Dust Here

I've been getting approached a lot more lately on how I've been loosing my weight. The usual is wow, you've lost a lot of weight what are you taking or drinking?

At first, I thank them for noticing my weight loss, and then in my head I say to myself, "I'm just eating real food and getting off my butt and exercising," but I hold my tongue and answer... "I'm not taking or drinking anything, I am simply just working out and eating healthy."

It's funny how once I say that, they have some confused look on their face like I'm totally lying to them. Why is it so hard for people to believe that weight loss can be achieved with just good ole diet and exercise?

I guess it's because of how society. Everything is based on convenience, and while fad diets, wraps, supplements etc. will help you get results, they aren't a permanent solution.

Once you embrace following a healthy lifestyle of diet and exercise, you results will start showing and in the long run will help you keep off that weight you worked so hard to achieve. I have definitely not regretted my decision to make a lifestyle change and do not intend on going back to those old habits of mine.

Hopefully in the next few weeks, I will have officially lost 100 lbs. It's been a crazy ride to get to this point, but I've definitely learned a lot and enjoyed the ride so far. So, stay tuned my post when I hit that awesome milestone!

Guest Blog Post: Against All Grain: Strawberry Short Cake Cupcakes

A really good friend of mine had a birthday last week and asked me to bake her something healthy, and after some research, I came across the Strawberry Short Cake Cupcakes on Against All Grain.

You should definitely check her out. She has some wonderful recipes! Here is the pic of the cupcakes I made:

They we freaking delicious, and everyone at the party loved them! Here is the link to the actual recipe: http://www.againstallgrain.com/2012/08/27/strawberry-shortcake-cupcakes/

Enjoy!

Stuffed Pork Tender Loin

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Paleo | Soy- Free | Grain- Free | Gluten Free

This was definitely an easy and delicious dish to make!

Ingredients:

- 3 to 4 lb Pork Tenderloin (Boneless)

- 1 TBSP Finely Chopped Garlic

- 1/4 of Yellow Mustard

- 5 Strips of Bacon

- 3 Cups Fresh Spinach

- 1 Medium Apple of your Choice ( I used Fiji)

- 2 TBSP of Olive Oil (For Outside of Tenderloin)

- 1/2 TBSP of Fresh Rosemary, Salt and Pepper (For outside of Tenderloin)

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees

2. Butterfly the Pork Loin (about 1/2 inch thick-- you can YouTube it if you don't know how)

3. Spread the mustard in the inside of the pork loin, you can sprinkle 1 TSP of rosemary if desired

4. Cook Bacon in a pan till crispy, and keep bacon grease, once bacon is cooled break apart into small pieces and sprinkle on top of mustard

5. Cut and core your apple and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

6. Cook the garlic and the apples in the bacon grease

7. Once the apples brown a little, throw in the spinach and cook until it wilts, once that happens turn off heat

8. Spread the apple, garlic and spinach over the bacon and mustard

9. Now here's the fun part, roll the tenderloin and tie with butchers twine (If you don't know how to do this, you can find videos on YouTube

10. Once the tenderloin is rolled and tied, spread oil over the outside and sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary

11. Put tenderloin in over and cook for an hour or until your thermometer reads 145 degrees

12. Once it's done, let tenderloin cool for about 10 mins then it's ready to cut into and served with your choice of sides.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Shredded Coconut Muffins

Raspberry Shredded Coconut Muffins

Paleo | Grain- Free | Gluten- Free | Dairy Free

Dry Ingredients:

1 Cup of unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp of baking powder

1/4 cup milled flax seed

1/2 tsp of sea salt

1/2 cup of coconut flour (you can sift it if you want)

Wet Ingredients:

5 eggs brought to room temperature (you can leave them out for about 30 mins or put them in a bowl of hot tap water for about 15 mins)

1/4 tsp liquid stevia (you can use liquid vanilla stevia if you want)

1/4 cup of melted coconut oil

3/4 cup of applesauce (get the one with no sugar added or natural- they are the same thing)

1/4 cup of raw organic honey

You will need 1 and a 1/2 cups of Raspberries (or whatever nuts or fruit you want to put in- I used raspberries this time because they were on sale) leave aside to be folded in later on

Makes 12 muffins

Directions:

1. Set over to 350 degrees

2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl

3. Mix all of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined (I used a hand mixer)

5. Once the wet and dry ingredients are well combined, quickly add in the raspberries (batter thickens quite fast so, don't take your time to add in the raspberries

6. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into 12 muffin cups (you can dip the scoop into some coconut oil to coat it so the batter doesn't stick or use a scoop that as a lever

7. Bake for approximately 30 mins (you can use a toothpick to check to see if they are cooked through)

Let cool and enjoy!