Alright! So here it is. My big announcement. I weighed in Monday morning and behold! I finally hit the big 25! That’s twenty-five pounds! Gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Elvis has left the building! Or at least 25 pounds of Elvis. =) I waited until today to tell you because I wanted to make sure I would maintain the loss, which I have, all week. I’m actually down 28 pounds as of this morning. But who’s counting? Ahhhh, I am!!!

When I first began kicking around the idea of starting a blog, I came up with the theme of Family, Fitness & Finances. Sort of like food, folks and fun; only different! =) My premise was that these three key elements in peoples lives are interconnected. A recent comment to one of my posts “I love the idea of putting physical health and finance together. What’s the sense of having money if you can’t live healthy and long enough to enjoy it. :-))” just about sums it up. Right on, Ms. Cheapy! My thoughts exactly.

Today’s post is more of a healthy snack than a recipe. On my journey to loose weight I have replaced most of my snacks with healthy alternatives. Vegetables are at the top of my new menu! I eat alot of raw vegetables with low-fat dips, which I will share in a minute.

I cooked my first stir fry back when I was thirteen years old. My mom bought one of those hand-hammered woks that used to be hawked on TV back in the eighties. Remember that? Thanks mom! Anyway, stir fry’s are one of my favorite dishes.

Now before you get upset, I’m not telling you to stuff the pie hole. I’m talking about bag it as in a brown bag or a cute little lunch box. Doesn’t matter, take your pick. Start packing little Johnny’s lunch today! His health depends on it!

Have you visited your child’s school cafeteria lately? It’s not exactly bursting with nutritional value! One thing my wife and I have noticed over the years is the total lack of variety. Not that there aren’t choices, but the choices are all about the same from a health perspective. In other words:

Back 1998, a year after we quit smoking, something strange began to take place. My wife and I had put on more than a few extra pounds! So started our ten year battle of diets and exercise to try and return to our former glory!

I had read somewhere that it was very important to drink plenty of water while dieting and exercising. Makes sense, flush your system and replenish your perspiration. Not to mention the fact that my beloved grandmother has never felt that I drink enough water. She makes a point to always offer me a glass. Armed with this information, I had an idea. Our family needed to drink more water!

 
In our family, wraps are extremely popular. I make all kinds of wraps. This is one of my Tex-Mex versions. As usual, it’s a low-fat recipe, but don’t be scared, it’s delicious! As always, when in season, use garden fresh veggies!

One of the highlights of summer is our vegetable garden. We grow tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, habanero peppers, eggplants, squash, zucchini and sometimes corn. Additionally, we grow cilantro, basil and other herbs. One of the wonderful creations that comes from our garden is my family-famous salsa. Below you will find one of my many salsa recipes.

As I write this I have lost 15 pounds. Fifteen pounds! That’s the equivalent of 60 quarter pound cheeseburgers. Fifteen, 16 oz rib-eye steaks. Or, thirty, 8 oz cups of cottage cheese…..Yuck!  No matter how you cut it, fifteen pounds is a lot of extra weight.