Healthy Choice introduced 11 new meals and You can WIN!*

Staying on track with your healthy lifestyle can be hard between work, gym trips, school, sports and busy family schedules. To help you step away from the “diet” food and toward foods that’s not only good, but good for you, Healthy Choice introduced 11 new products to its Café Steamers, All Natural Entrées and Select Entrées product lines.

With four new varieties of Café Steamers, four new All Natural Entrées and three new Select Entrées, consumers can eat great tasting food every day of the week.

New Mediterranean-Inspired Café Steamers

Building on the popularity of the Grilled Basil Chicken recipe, the new Mediterranean Inspired Café Steamers such as Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp and Balsamic Garlic Chicken add fresh-tasting meals options to your daily routine. And with Healthy Choice All Natural Entrées Tortellini Primavera Parmesan and Select Entrées Spicy Caribbean Chicken, consumers can enjoy delicious foods, while maintaining their healthy lifestyle.

More Information

All new meals are nutrient-rich, contain no preservatives and are available NOW at grocery stores nationwide for a suggested retail price range of $2.00 to $3.29. Please see below for a complete list of new entrées and a press release announcing these new meals. You can also visitwww.healthychoice.com for more information.

Healthy Choice All Natural Entrées:

• Tortellini Primavera Parmesan (new recipe)
• Lobster Cheese Ravioli (new recipe)
• Roasted Red Pepper Marinara (new recipe)
• Creamy Basil Pesto (new recipe)

Healthy Mediterranean Inspired Choice Café Steamers:

• Balsamic Garlic Chicken (new recipe)
• Grilled Vegetables Mediterranean (new recipe)
• Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp (new recipe)
• Grilled Basil Chicken

Healthy Choice Asian Inspired Café Steamers

• Chicken Pad Thai (new recipe)

Healthy Choice Select Entrées:

• Pineapple Chicken (new recipe)
• Ravioli Florentine Marinara (new recipe)
• Spicy Caribbean Chicken (new recipe)

FROM ME : I am officially in love with Healthy Choice Meals. I eat them ALL the time, and I am so thankful I was introduced them.  In my mission to eating more healthy and also living a more healthy lifestyle all around, they have helped me IMMENSLEY to stay more on track. The meals are low in calories and have so many great vitamins in them. I love that I can eat good food and it is so healthy for me, and a cinch to cook!

My favorites from the new dishes are the Pineapple Chicken, Balsamic Garlic Chicken, and the Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp. The flavors in these meals just blow me away! They taste like fresh from the farm! Seriously! who would’ve thought a frozen meal or any microwaveable meal could be so good!  But you don’t have to take my word for it, now you can have a chance at winning a  VIP coupon to try a meal on me!!!

Here is how you can WIN!!!

1. Comment and let me know what Meal from the list above catches your eye and makes your mouth water that you would love to try FREE on me ?  = 1 entry

2. Fave my site on momfaves – comment and let me know you have = 1 entry

3. Fave  Healthy Choice or Conagra  on momfaves – comment and let me know you have = 1 entry per fave

4. FAN my Facebook page : you can do that by clicking on “Follow this blog” over on my sidebar or by going to Facebook and following The Plus Size Mommy.- Comment and let me know you did = 1 entry.

5. Use stumbleupon, technorati, digg for this site/post. – comment letting me know which you have done = 1 entry per way.

6. Tweet the following on Twitter – ” Win a Healthy Meal from @HealthyChoice on @plussizemommy ’s Blog here :http://twurl.nl/vs2rp2    ” – Tweet up to 3 times per day = up to 3 entries per day. Please comment leaving tweet thread, and please leave separate comments for each entry.

This giveaway starts NOW and ends on St. Patty’s Day ! Luck o The Irish to ya my friends ! This will end at 8PM EST.

3 Winners will each receive a VIP coupon for a FREE Healthy Choice Meal  Winners will be posted to this site and not emailed directly, so if you enter, please check back, I have been getting a ton of unclaimed prizes lately.

Winners will all be chosen via random.org. Winners must be subscribers to this blog to win. Winners must reside in USA.

Thank you all for entering and Good Luck!

The Plus Size Mommy

* I was sent some free meals to try thanks to Conagra, also the prizes for the giveaway are all provided to me free of charge from Conagra. I am however paying postage to the winners on my own expense. All thoughts and comments about Conagra Healthy Choice Meals are my own unbiased opinion.

Your Shape For Wii; A Review*

I have been using the Your Shape for Wii fitness program for a little over 7 weeks now. I can definitely tell a change in my energy and have been feeling more active. I have changed my diet and been keeping track of my calories more and have been drinking a ton of water everyday, walking, and also cut wayyyyy back on soda.  My new healthier living lifestyle along with the Your Shape workouts have helped me to lose 12 pounds!

The your shape program puts a twist on all other Wii fitness programs. This one has a camera that hooks up easily to your Wii and you can see yourself side by side along with Jenny McCarthy on your television screen. It is really neat.  Seeing myself on camera and against Jenny’s fit body, motivated me to work out even more and to look like Jenny as a goal.

The only problem I have run into with this program has been the camera. It sometimes doesn’t pick up my moves and so it gives some wrong results, about how accurate my moves are. I do not let it frustrate me, I just modify my moves and keep on going with Jenny and keep with the work out.

I like that I have been able to use this program in my home. I am in PA and it has been a rough winter, so I haven’t been able to get out so much to do work outs or goto the gym as much. I enjoy being able to do this right at home. It has very modern, upbeat music that you can work out to. My children have sometimes even joined in.

Another of my favorite things about this program is how it has MANY different exercises. Do not get frustrated about not getting new ones right away, the more you use Your Shape, it seems the more you get to do. It took me a little while to figure this out.  Getting to do a new exercise is nice too. I like it to change it up a bit.

If your looking for an easy fitness program, this one may not be the one for you, however, if your like me, you can still do the work out with Jenny and just do it at your own pace.  Then as your more comfortable with it and get better at it, you can then start doing it at Jenny’s pace. Do not think that just because this is a “game” that it is going to be an easy peasy work out, cause that is not so at all! You WILL feel the “burn” and you will sweat, and you will see results with the Your Shape.

Some other equipment that I suggest you to buy along with this game, for maximum usage would be a body ball, weights (small hand type), and a step.

The Plus Size Mommy

* I have been sent the Your Shape for Wii by Ubisoft on behalf of my relationship with Collective Bias. I am in a 12 week challenge with a group of ladies who are all a part of Collective Bias. I also receive incentive gifts and gift cards for my time as part of the challenge. All of the thoughts, idea’s, and reviews and weightloss that I post are all my own honest results,opinions, and info.

Your Shape Challenge Week 6 Update*

I am at week 6 in the Your Shape Challenge. Using the Your Shape fitness program from Ubisoft on the Wii to lose weight and get healthier.

This challenge has been tough for me. As you probably already know, losing weight is not just all about exercise. It is a lifestyle change complete with an all new way of eating. Which brings us to the week 6 Challenge that we were given : Finding Healthy Snacks.

Here is the exact challenge we were confronted with :

We were all sent a gift card to cover the cost of this week’s challenge.

Your mission: Find and/or create a healthy snack for yourself each day. Use your giftcard to shop for yourself at Walmart and find some great, healthy food to snack on.

Here are the Healthy Snacks I bought :

Banana’s – which I love, and I learned as I was in agonizing pain with pulled muscles, that these help to alleviate some of that.

Craisins – I bought the regular ones. These are dried Cranberries. They were al great tasting snack (as you can tell, since my bag is empty). I also was able to use them as toppings for yogurt.

Fiber One bars – I bought the peanut butter kind. These are delish. And eating just one, was able to curb my appetite till the next mealtime. They are very fulfilling.

True Delights Blueberry rice cakes- These are so good, they have a texture of a potato chip almost and taste very blueberryish, which I love. I had a coupon for these so I picked this to try, and I was very happy with this purchase.

Nature Valley Nut Clusters – Can you tell yet, that I LOVE peanut butter? These nut clusters are very good. I love the crunchiness and they are very satisfying after just a few.

Planter’s Peanuts with Sea Salt – Again, I love nuts, and I was watching Dr. Oz the one day and he was telling how great nuts are for you, and that ones with sea salt are very much better for you than regular salt.  I was able to eat these plain or use as toppings.

I think I am much more a salt eater than sweets. I am not that into chocolate, which is amazing to most people. Every once in a while I will crave a piece of chocolate or a candy bar. Chips and pretzels and anything salty is my downfall though. So that is why I tried to chose healthier snacks that had a lot of good things such as fiber, and iron in them, that were able to satisfy my “salt- tooth” at the same time.

I also bought some bottled water with my snacks and this :

A new addition to my exercise equipment that I can use with the Your Shape. A Body Ball. I haven’t tried it yet, because to tell the truth, I am feeling a bit nervous, that I will blow it us and get on it, and it will pop and I will fall to the floor on my face! But I am going to blow it up for Week 7 and get to using it. I am also excited to see what new exercises Jenny McCarthy will have for me to do on/with it. So this is my motivation.

As far as the weigh in goes for this week, I lost nothing this week  But I didn’t gain either. I must say, I was less active this week due to having to stay in because of the yucky weather here in Pittsburgh. I still did my 30 min. with the Yourshape 4 days this past week but I am thinking I need to switch it up a bit. By using the Body Ball this week, I should be able to accomplish this, plus I am hoping for better weather so I can get out and get moving more.

I think I may have done a little too much snacking this week and not enough exercising. We shall see what Week 7 has in store for me

How is your weight loss, fitness, get healthy goal going? Comment and tell me about it. How was your past week, and what are you going to change this week?

The Plus Size Mommy

* I am participating in the Your Shape Challenge through Collective Bias , I received the game for free and I am also receicing fun prizes and perks. Your Shape is from Ubisoft.The weight loss and any idea’s are my own. I received a gift card for this weeks challenge.

I tried to be good, I really tried*

Well, it is the start of week 6 of my 12 week challenge using the Your Shape fitness program for Wii by Ubisoft. I totally have been trying to be good, I swear, I am trying. But.. yes the But, which will end up on my BUTT, then some things happened.

I went away to a conference. I still tried, I had water and lots of walking. TONS of walking. We were at the Opryland Hotel for goodness sake, and well, that place is HUGE. I tried to eat as well as I was able, and watch my portion sizes.

But they had goodies there, and like an alcoholic with a smell of beer passing their nose, I crashed… and well, it wasn’t pretty. Can you say Potato Bar, where yeah, you add cheese, bacon, and so many other great toppings. Then a Friday night movie night, oh my, a TABLE FULL of candy. Popcorn, and soda. I couldn’t hold myself back.

Then I come home to a winter Blizzard, and have been cooped up in my house, and arguing kids, and stress, can you say STRESS. Yeah, Stress is DEFINITELY a trigger for me to eat.

I am not a happy camper at all, but I will get my car back on the race track. I feel like one of those racing cars that crashes into the side wall at 140 miles per house, and looses it’s tires and the pit crew needs to come and fix it all up and get it going again, WHERE IS MY PIT CREW? lol

A lot of the bloggers in this challenge have gotten off track, and it isn’t a wonder with that darned conference, lol and a lot of travelling going on right now. (by the way the conference was wonderful, and I learned a ton, and yeah had fun).

So we need to be each other’s Pit crew and get the tires back on and dents pounded out, and fluids replenished (via H2O) and we will be ready to roll this week.

Week 4 for the challenge was : Steps

Steps: Did you know that 10,000 steps a day is equal to 4 miles? This week, wear your watch (pedometer) daily. Making yourself more aware of how many steps you are getting in each day may actually help you exercise more.

I didn’t add up how many I got in this week, but I know I was not the highest stepper. Although I was proud of myself, when one day I got over 11K. That was excellent for me.

Week 5’s challenge was : Get Out Side

With the Blizzard we had here in Pittsburgh, I wasn’t able to go out as much as usual, not even back and forth on errands, since the roads were a mess. So I did get some outside time cleaning off cars, and one day I went over to my moms home and trekked up a SNOWY hill up her driveway. And the snow was up past my knee’s, so needless to say, THAT was exercise.

So we are now 1/2 way through. I didn’t lose any weight this week, but I didn’t gain any either, which is amazing considering the junk I have been eating and lack of exercise. I am happy to have Jenny to at least get me moving a few times this week. Since I am inside looking at snow and ice, which is not nice, at least Jenny is prettier to look at.

So we are at the start of week 6, and I have lost 10 pounds so far. I guess I am happy with it, cause without being in this challenge, I would still be at least 10 pounds heavier. So I guess I am okay with this.

Stay tuned to see what Week 6’s challenge will be and see if I can loose a few more pounds this week. Say a Prayer for me too This isn’t easy, even though I tried, I really tried to be good!

The Plus Size Mommy

* I am participating in the Your Shape Challenge through Collective Bias , I received the game for free
and I am also receicing fun prizes and perks. Your Shape is from Ubisoft.The weight loss and any idea’s are my own.

Winners!

The winner of the Q-tips nursery boxes and the silver elephant bank is :

JENNIFER C.

Congrats ! Please email me at plussizemommy@gmail.com within 48 hours to claim. ENJOY

I had to do a re-draw of one of the Weight Watchers snack cake winners due to an unclaimed win. The new winner via random.org is :

anna_haddley

please email me within 48 hours to claim at plussizemommy@gmail.com

Thank you to all who entered and Congrats to the winners !!!!

The Plus Size Mommy

Week 3 update-#Yourshape Challenge*

This week was bitter sweet for me. I was able to drink my water (looking into my food journal, I actually took in about 96 oz. of water per day), I did my workouts everyday, and I upped them to 30 min. from 15.  I have been doing very well staying on my 1500 calorie diet too. The only thing is, I think I overdid it a bit. I hurt my left knee doing exercises at the gym and also my back. I had a whole day where I was laid up in bed with a moist heat pad on my knee and the pain was unbearable, only comparing to that of childbirth!

I think I strained some muscles. And lemme tell you, this hurts BAD. I am doing MUCH better now, but this week, although I am still going to keep everything going as usual, I am not going to push myself so hard.

One of my teammates in the challenge has told me  not to go too fast at this, cause if I am hurting, I am going to want to quit soon. And that is the truth. I have to remember getting to be obese didn’t happen overnight, and even though I want to be healthy and skinny overnight….unless a miracle happens, it too will take time to get my weight off

Amongst the pain, however, I have had a TON of joy this week. I lost 4 pants sizes! And now today when I weighed in I lost another 4.2 pounds !!!! YIPPEEE

I do not understand though, how I lost only 8.2 pounds so far (total) and I lost the 4 pants sizes ? This is confusing to me. But I am thinking maybe my weight redistributed. Also my leader Stacie says I will get muscle by working out, and that can actually cause gain.

Although I haven’t gained weight, I am still kinda sad I didn’t lose more, but again, slow and steady,,,right?!

I have gotten so SO many supportive comments from everyone and even stirred up some people by motivating them to try the #yourshape  program, and also get back into the getting fit groove.

I THANK YOU to everyone who has been cheering me on, I need this, it motivates me so much.  I think part of getting fit and being on this journey IS the support. Without it, I may have already given up. So, please feel free to keep your virtual pom pom’s going for me  and for everyone in the group.

• Toni from A Daily Dose of Toni. @totally_toni
• Kim from Crafty Mama of 4. @craftymamaof4
• Amy From Selfish Mom. @SelfishMom
• Lori from A Cowboy’s Wife. @ACowboysWife
• Claire from The Mom Claire. @TheMomClaire
• Elizabeth from Busy Mom. @BusyMom
• Kelli from The Centsible Life. @CentsibleLife
• Stephanie from Mommy Musings. @MommyMusings
• Jodi from Multitasking Mommy. @JodiGrundig

Sometimes your motivation, and me knowing in my mind that I have to report to everyone online is the difference between buying and eating that candy bar….or NOT.  I have been VERY good on my diet this week, no straying, and I am proud of this.

Here was this past week’s Challenge :

Add 10 Challenge: This week add ten minutes to your exercise routine. Challenge yourself to complete those extra ten minutes each day that you exercise.

Not only did I add 10, I actually added 15, going from 15 min. workouts with Jenny to 30 minutes. And some days I did over an hour. So I met this challenge

In the beginning I thought for sure Jenny was going to “kill me” with upping the time, but I survived, and actually it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I think my stamina and strength has been building up.

You can follow the #Yourshape challenge here : YourShapeChallenge.com

Have you met your weight loss goals this week ? What were your goals ? What shape are YOU in today ? #yourshape

The Plus Size Mommy

* I am participating in the Your Shape Challenge through Collective Bias , I received the game for free
and I am also receicing fun prizes and perks. Your Shape is from Ubisoft.The weight loss and any idea’s are my own.

Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger = #Yourshape*

So, I couldn’t wait to do this blog post tonight. It is going to have to be a quick one because I promised a few giveaways over at twitter.

Anyways,

I made a huge announcement over on Facebook and Twitter today. So, I decided to make sure I shared it here as well.

As most of you know already, I have been in a 12 week challenge using the Your Shape fitness “game” for the Wii. This is the end of week 3, and we weigh in tomorrow night/Monday morning. And if you have been following my challenge, you may see the sidebar of my blog and following how much weight I have lost so far. In the first week of the challenge, I was thrilled because I lost 4 pounds !!! Well, then week 2 came and I was in a slump, I had no change in my weight.

But Still I persevered after all,  potentially the  whole world can be following me, and I cannot let everyone down and make a fool of myself. So I decided to step it up this week.  Not only have I added an extra 15 minutes to my #yourshape regime, I also have been working out at the gym for 1 1/2 hours a day, and also counting my calories much better ad closer.  I am doing 1500 calories. So, needless to say, this week was HARDER. My muscles have ached, my knee killed me, at times I feel like I have spaghetti legs, and I have ever cried, yes cried.

But today, TODAY, I felt a ton BETTER… today I was going shopping with the hubby and kids. And i decided to try a pair of jeans on that JUST MY SIZE sent me that I was bummed because when I got them, they didn’t fit. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t even get a leg in them. They were 4 sizes smaller than the size I am currently in. I am now wearing !!!

YES, you read it right, I got on jeans today that are 4 sizes smaller than what I started the challenge wearing !

I was so excited, still am. This is so amazing to me. Only 3 weeks and already smaller clothes!

I am feeling so much BETTER and have so much more energy.  I can also tell that my arms and legs are STRONGER too.

This feeling I am having of such accomplishment makes me want to run a marathon. I know, I am not quite THAT ready yet, but I feel as if I could.

This week (week 4) I have vowed to go at it a bit slower since I did hurt my knee and was in bed practically 1 whole day this week in severe pain. As one of my fitness partner’s told me, don’t start too hard and then get hurt and want to stop quickly. So I am going to take her advice and take it a bit easier this coming  week.  It just feels SOOOO good.

I cannot wait to weigh in, I am so tempted to do it now, but I won’t cause I want to be surprised. Besides it doesn’t count for the challenge till Monday

I hope that you will continue following my weight loss journey with me. I have some wonderful “cheerleaders” who have been following me and encouraging me on twitter and facebook. I love giving updates and hearing them say WTG Beth, or even when I fail (or feel like a failure) they grab me by the hand and raise me back up.

Thank you to everyone, and I am feeling so Blessed to have so many people having my back. It is a wonderful feeling

The Proof is in the pudding

Old Jeans :

NEW JEANS :

You can follow everyone participating in the challenge by visiting this site : YourShapeChallenge.com

The Plus Size Mommy  (cannot wait for the day to sign this, Plus Size No More Mommy )

* I am participating in the Your Shape Challenge through Collective Bias , I received the game for free
and I am also receicing fun prizes and perks. Your Shape is from Ubisoft.The weight loss and any idea’s are my own.

Winners of Weight Watcher’s Snack Cakes

Congrats to the 3 winners of the Weight Watcher Snack Cakes :

ROSE

Pamela M Kramer

Ivette Muller

please email me your info. to plussizemommy@gmail.com within the next 48 hours to claim.

Thank you to all who entered.

ENJOY !

The Plus Size Mommy

Week 2 of #YourShape Challenge – Feeling the Challenge*

Week 2 of the #yourshape challenge, has been just that challenging to me. I haven’t weighed in yet this week, but I am predicting it won’t be as good as last weeks. I was in a slump this week and feeling the toughness of change.

I haven’t had a lot of time to do the work outs this week due to other things going on. I also got an attack of a craving when I went to the store and the chocolate covered peanut butter eggs were looking me dead in the eye at the check out. So although I only ate 1, to me that day I failed.

I listened to what my co – challengers were telling me though and up’ed my work out the next day.

I have still been making my small changes too, as far as parking further away, and I still have been using steps when the choice is there.

So far the only obstacle with using the steps has been lugging my kids up them with me. If it were only me, it wouldn’t be so hard. But with a 4 yr. old and an 18 month old, it is pretty rough and tiring. Also, I have to be careful due to my bad back and knee. I am not trying to make excuses, but in reality, carrying an 18 month old baby up flights of stairs is very hard. She weighs about 33 pounds. So it is her and my purse and then also keeping track of my 4 yr. old all at the same time. ROUGH!

I also had to take it easier this week on the work outs I did because of my knee. I may have over did it the first week wanting to dive right in and loose big. Well, now this may set me back a week cause some of the movements Jenny does on the #yourshape game were too painful for me this week.

I have been working on warming up and taking it easier this week and doing more stretches so that my muscles and bones are better prepared.

The floor exercises that Jenny does are a killer to me too. Especially getting up and down and up and down. Reminds me of church. I get into many an argument when Jenny starts with those. (arguing with Jenny on the tv, lol)

All in all I am still loving the challenge and loving getting tips from all the other gals in the challenge, and even on Twitter I have gotten a ton of great tips.

Here are WEEK 2’s Questions from the Challenge :

Water: Are you getting your 8 glasses in on a daily basis? I love water, especially icy cold, so I am sure I am getting in all my water I need.

Track your progress and report back. I kept tally marks in my food diary, when I would drink my water, which I usually use a water bottle, I would mark it down .

Any suggestions for tracking your progress? everything I have been putting into my mouth, even gum, I have been marking down, this tracks all food and liquids, and if it is water, I make a tally mark.

I have also been paying attention more to calories on food packaging I been eating and also, been tracking calories I burn every time I do the #yourshape work out. So, I know what I am putting in and also what I am knocking off

So, soon I will be weighing in and you can check my right sidebar to see where I ended up.

Remember, go take a look at these ladies sites as well, and see how well they faired for week 2 :

• Toni from A Daily Dose of Toni. @totally_toni
• Kim from Crafty Mama of 4. @craftymamaof4
• Amy From Selfish Mom. @SelfishMom
• Lori from A Cowboy’s Wife. @ACowboysWife
• Claire from The Mom Claire. @TheMomClaire
• Elizabeth from Busy Mom. @BusyMom
• Kelli from The Centsible Life. @CentsibleLife
• Stephanie from Mommy Musings. @MommyMusings
• Jodi from Multitasking Mommy. @JodiGrundig

The Plus Size Mommy

* I am participating in the Your Shape Challenge through Collective Bias , I received the game for free
and I am also receicing fun prizes and perks. Your Shape is from Ubisoft.The weight loss and any idea’s are my own.

Learn More about #YourShape by Ubisoft for Wii*

Here is another video from the #YourShape by Ubisoft for Wii Fitness program.

* I am participating in the Your Shape Challenge through Collective Bias , I received the game for free
and I am also receicing fun prizes and perks. Your Shape is from Ubisoft.The weight loss and any idea’s are my own.

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