Back in Action!

It's been awhile, so I decided to purge my old blog and start fresh. Stay current. Here's whats up... (Just a warning, This is a long one. BUT there is a recipe at the end...)

In September I was at my heaviest weight (176...eek!!) and was totally and completely over dieting to lose a few pounds, only to gain them and their friends back. I had pretty much given up on ever fitting into my size 10s again, let alone the 8s that sat in my drawers with a (figurative) layer of dust. 

Then, I reconnected with a friend from high school and started noticing her posts were filled with motivation and strength...and she looked FABULOUS. Her posts on Instagram were constantly directed @karenakatrina and #toneitup so I did some clicking around. The hashtags brought me to more happy, motivated girls, who all posted kind words to one another. I HAD to find out more. And I am so glad I did. 

I joined the Tone It Up! community and was immediately flooded with support from other girls. I started a TIU Sonoma/Marin Facebook page and have met so many TIU girls just like me. Long story short, I've gone from a size 14 back into my 10's and am seeing my abs again for the first time since my early years in college! What's even better though, is that I am not on a diet....I just changed a few things in the way I eat (I still get to enjoy my pizza and chocolate on occasion) and am exercising more. I have happily maintained my 18 pound drop for over 4 months, even through the holidays and vacations! 

I came back to this blog as a way to track my journey and post some of my favorite healthy, delicious recipes. I will post my "Before" and "current" pictures too eventually, but let's ease into that! How about some healthy (and delicious) muffins first?

I had some raspberries in my fridge that I thought would probably start getting fuzzy if I didn't do anything with them fast, so I decided some healthy breakfast muffins would work. Here is the original recipe, which I altered a bit to make them more "TIU approved". And below are some pictures along with MY ingredients and steps! 

Ingredients:

I ended up switching out the coconut sugar for honey.

1. 1/2 Cup Yogurt (I used Fage 0% Greek)
2. 3 TBSP Coconut Oil (melted)
3. 1 TBSP lemon juice
4. 2 Egg Whites
5. 1 1/2 Cups Oat Flour (I used my food processor and some Quaker Oats)
6. 3/4 cup Honey
7. 2 tsp. baking powder
8. 1/4 tsp. salt
9. 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
10. 1 Cup fresh Raspberries

    Steps:

   

1. 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease or line a muffin tin. (I used my silicon liners)
2. 2. Mix together the yogurt, oil, lemon juice, egg whites and honey.
3. 3. In your food processor, chop (blend? pulverize?) 1 1/2 cups of oats until it looks like flour.
4. 4. In a separate bowl mix together the oats, baking powder, salt and lemon zest.
5. 4. Combine both mixtures {but don't over mix!}.
6. 5. Gently fold in raspberries.
7. 6. Spoon into muffin tins and sprinkle sugar on top for decoration {this is optional}
8. 7.Bake for 17-20 minutes (mine took 20), until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on rack.  I couldn't resist and ate one of them before they were cool.

  THESE are good. I will be the first to say I've had some healthy muffin FAILS. This is not one of them. The honey rounds out the tartness of the raspberries and lemon nicely. I will be making these again...and again.

   Enjoy! :) 

    Diana

****edit: I just made these again to prep for the bikini series and these are even tastier with blueberries!