Rice sticks cooked in the microwave with a bowl of water for 3 minutes.

Add onion soup mix and a mix of preferred veggies. I broiled my veggies for 10 minutes today for some added flavor.

Baked avocado and egg

One avocado cut in half.
Remove the pit.
Crack an egg and pour it in center of each half.
Add chili pepper, onion, salt and pepper or other seasoning on top.
Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes or until egg is cooked.

As a note… Don’t scramble the eggs before pouring them into the avocado. Keep the yolk whole or you’ll have a nice mess in the end.

Add frozen cherries to your green smoothie and well….

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A favorite new meal at our house – mirin glazed salmon with (turkey) bacon wrapped green beans.

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Have you noticed the All Natural Effect yet?

No, we’re not talking about my high school band, All Natural, (although this might have explained our overwhelming popularity… I kid!), we’re talking about All Natural labels on our foods.

There’s this amazing laser like tractor beam that draws people in towards all these products with pretty All Natural labels on them.

And yet when you simply look at the ingredients you may walk away with a different impression – watch the video and see what I mean.

Brisket tacos with blue cheese cole slaw from @TimLCprductions awesome! My taste buds love me right now

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I officially started the challenge June 24 and as of today, Aug. 1, I’m down 13.4 lbs.

My big changes have been doing DDP Yoga 2-3 times a week along with counting calories again via MyFitnessPal — which essentially comes down to being aware of what I’m eating.

I find it’s super easy to mindlessly open the pantry and grab a handful of the first thing you see (which is typically some sort of chip or cracker in our house). Before you know it you’ve eaten two or three handfuls – or 3 or 4 servings at 120+ calories a pop.

But the more mindful I am at tracking my intake (especially before I actually eat it) the more likely I am to reduce the crap.

The more I focus on eating the good stuff – veggies, complex carbs, low-fat meat (if any) – the less desirable the crap food becomes.

I’m working towards eating even less meat when possible, eliminating simple carbs and cutting back on dairy as well (I’ve found Silk soy milk to be an awesome substitute).

I’m trying not be legalistic about it – but remain flexible when needed and more importantly – more aware of what I’m eating.

It’s a work in progress, but it’s definitely doable.

Here are a few photos showing my progress so far:

Cooking up Chicken Littles tonight – a family favorite… Well for Laurie and I.

We’re seeing if the boys like this as much as we do and/or as much as ChickFila.

And no… These probably aren’t too #50byDec friendly…

Our discussions usually start with me saying “Sushi,” “Grilled veggies” or “Asian.”

What about yours?

Last month I decided to start a mini-year resolution – no more (flavored) sodas for the rest of the year.

So far so good. Only tea, water, coffee and carbonated water for me… And maybe an occasional fruit drink.

Today I decided I’m upping the resolution. 50 pound weight loss by Dec 31.

Sounds daunting but when you break it down I’m gonna be upset if I don’t hit the goal.

8 lbs a month – 2 lbs a week – now till Dec 31?

We got this.