Handmade Crochet Jewelry Set - Necklace Bracelet Earrings Ring!

Yes, I am a artist at heart! I LOVE getting my hands covered in glue, my fingers pricked with needles, my clothes covered in paint! Below is a crochet set that I made & am super proud of! I love the sophistication of this look. The set is crocheted on a nylon cream cord with wooden brown beads. The necklace is super long (35") great for doubling or tripling. It also comes with a pair of earrings, ring & bracelet (which can be doubled as an anklet)

Please check out my facebook page: Two Hearts Boutique for credibility if you'd like!!! Just use the paypal button below to purchase. Cost includes shipping! How cool is that!!! This makes the PERFECT gift! 

Thank you everybody & if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at mytwoheartsboutique@yahoo.com or use the inbox function via my facebook page!

xo,

Nancy

Fat Burning Foods List

When I started my journey last September, I decided to some research & compile a list of foods that help burn fat. After the list was done, I realized that it is all common sense type foods!!! So, I wanted to share the list with everybody & hopes everybody can get some good use out of it!!!

I have lost a total of 95 lbs so far & I still have 65 more to go!!!

Almonds
Apples
Apricots
Artichokes
Asparagus

Avocados

Bananas
Barley
Bell Peppers
Beans
Beef
Beets
Berries
Bison
Blueberries
Broccoli
Brown Rice
Brussels Sprouts
Butternut Squash

Cabbage
Cannelloni
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cauliflower
Cayenne Chiles
Cherries
Chicken
Chili
Chives
Cinnamon
Coffee
Collard Greens
Cucumbers
Celery
Cod
Corn
Crab
Cottage Cheese (low fat)
Clams
Currants
Cranberries
Cheese (fresh)
Cardamom Oil
Cabbage
Clams

Dates
Damson Plum

Eggplant
Edamame
Egg Whites
Eggs
Enova Oil

Flounder
Fish

Ginger
Guava
Green Tea
Grapefruit
Grapes
Green Beans
Garlic
Greens

Honey
Honey Dew
Habaneros

Jalapenos

Kale

Leeks
Lean Pork
Lemons
Limes
Lobster
Lentils
Legumes

Milk
Macadamia Nuts
Mussels
Mushrooms
Muskmelon
Mangoes
Mustard Greens

Oranges
Oatmeal
Oats
Olive Oil
Onions
Okra
Oysters

Pine Nuts
Protein Powder
Peanut Butter
Pasta
Parsnips
Papaya
Parsley
Pears
Peaches
Peas
Pineapples
Prunes
Pumpkin
Pomegranates
Pearl Yams
Potatoes

Romaine Lettuce
Red Cabbage

Sweet Potatoes
Sardines
Spinach
Shallots
Scallions
Sauerkraut
Strawberries
Sorrel
String Beans
Soy Beans
Salmon
Sea Bass

Turkey
Tuna
Turnips
Tilapia
Trout
Terrapin
Tangerines
Tomatoes
Tofu

Water
Watermelon
Whole Grain Cereal
Whole Wheat
Watercress
Walnuts
Watermelon

Yogurt (low fat)

Zucchini

Enjoy!

xo,
Nancy

Plus Size Fashion From Thrift Shop Finds

I have been fat all my life; however I have had this somewhat inner passion for fashion. I used to draw sketches of outfits & attempt to hand sew aprons & skirts out of my mom's scrap fabric. Being a fat kid in the 90s was tough. I had been the only fat girl in my class all through elementary school, making me feel awkward & aware that I was different from everybody else. 

Then in middle school, it appeared that every elementary school in the area had at least that one "fat girl" and we were all consolidated into one middle school & then high school. Even though I was glad to be around a few girls who had my same shape, I realized I was still the biggest & the awkwardest. 

I would always go through my teen magazines & be in memorized by fashion & how clothes could make you look and feel. I would try out different hair styles, lip glosses & would try to buy some sort of clothing pieces I thought would make me look good. 

Well, growing up in the 90s, in Puerto Rico, finding clothing for ME was super hard. It seems that nowadays there are more fat kids/teens, therefore more clothing options available for them. 

In high school, I participated in a plus size model search, and was selected to participate in this huge event in Texas a few months from then, where I had the chance to meet model agencies, etc. At the time, this was the beginning of the plus size models & I was happy. Until I learned the total cost to fly to Texas, plus food & hotel. I never made it to Texas, however I still have that "what if" feeling sparkling in me.

I think when I moved to Florida in 2008, that spark kinda went away. Here I was, weighing 340 lbs & was just wanting to find a pair of jeans that fit & last for a while. It is hard to be fashionable at that weight, so I just got comfortable with being uncomfortable & mediocre in my life. 

Fast forward to 2012, where I have lost 95 lbs & I feel freaking fantastic!!!! I am feeling in love with fashion again & want to see what I can create (for me it's all about creating the perfect outfit...no I don't do a whole lot of sewing or sketching now! lol) with what I find. My journey is still not over; I am still have 65 more lbs to go, but I am excited.

So, because I am attempting to live sort of a frugal lifestyle, sales & thrift shops are my place to shop. My goal is to see how little I can spend! lol. I don't know all the fashion rules, but I like it all to be fun! At the end of the day, there should be no rules...just a great feeling inside that you look beautiful & fabulous!

I apologize for the long intro; but without further ado, my first 2 outfits!!!!

Outfit #1 

Black slacks - Goodwill $4 - I think they are Levi's.

White top - Goodwill $4 - Old Navy 

Black vest - Bealle's Outlet $4.24 - I forgot the brand

Black necklace - I bought this off of ebay a few years ago...probably spent $2 on it.

Bow earrings - Kohl's - $2

Outfit #2 

Stripe Pants - Marianne's - $5 - These are soooo old! I bought them while I was going to college lol.

Black Turtleneck - Goodwill $4 - And it's a LARGE!!!!

Necklace & matching earrings - Christmas present - I have had this set for almost 2 years & this is the first time I wore it!

I took this picture to show a close up of the necklace & earrings. I had gotten so many compliments of it all day that I had to show it off. I really loved this outfit, it made me feel sexy yet sophisticated. And of course a non messy Bikram yoga bun on top!!!

I plan on hitting more thrift shops soon! I mean, I have lost 95 lbs & NEED "new" clothing anyway...so this is definitely going to be fun for me!

xo,

Nancy 

My Paleo Diet - Day 7 - Conclusion

So, I don't have any snazzy jazzy pictures to show off what I ate for Day 7, but I do have my conclusion!

Day 7 was a busy day for me. I ended up taking Bikram yoga in the morning, rushing home to shower & then rush off to work. I had a hard boiled egg & grape tomatoes for brunch & then an apple for a snack during lunch. I ended my day with a big salad from Crispers & water. 

I did end up losing 5 lbs overall during the week, however I did feel myself a bit restricted when it came to choosing my meals. Yes, there are a ton of different foods you can eat while on the Paleo diet; however I just wasn't feeling it. I am not saying it's not a good diet, and I am feeling that the reason I felt restricted is because I never got a hold of almond or coconut flour (I LOVE to bake!) & I don't have a food processor, so there were just some types of foods I could have played around with while using the food processor but was unable too.

I did feel a bit cranky/grumpy/no energy on Day 3; however the feeling was gone during Day 4-7 & it was business like usual. Like anything you do, it will take your body some getting used too.

I still haven't discounted this diet as a worthwhile diet; I still intend to attempt it once a month for a week. In the meantime, I plan to just keep an eye on my carbs & try to stick to 1/4 during each meal like I had been doing this week.

xo,
Nancy

My Paleo Diet -Day 5 & Day 6

So, after Day 5, I am seriously getting tired of this diet! I am tired of feeling restricted. Cannot wait for Day 7 to be over & done with. Here is what I had for breakfast: 1 leftover meatball from Wednesday night, 1 starfruit & 1/3 cup sweet potato. 

And for dinner I had baked cauliflower with nutmeg, 1/4 cup sweet potato & chicken breast stuffed with broccoli.

Day 6

Today's breakfast was super easy! 1/4 cup of sweet potato, 1 hard boiled egg & cherry tomatoes.

For dinner, I had the same thing as I did on Day 4, except I also added a carrot.

Bon appetite!

xo,

Nancy

My Paleo Diet - Day 4 - Nutritional Information & Recipes

So, Day 4 seems to like me a lot better! A few of my Paleo friends suggested I added more meat to my diet (which is probably why I was feeling low on energy on Day 3). I am not a huge meat eater, so this would be my challenge. However I did have a huge salad for lunch (which had turkey AND bacon!) 

I had 1/4 cup sweet potato (note, you can have other starches on this diet, however I had 3 sweet potatoes that I didn't want to go bad...so I am stuck with them, 1/4 cup at a time! lol) 1 starfruit & 1 "deviled" egg! I saw this recipe where you take the yolk & add avocado (instead of mayo & such)...so I mixed in 1 tbsp of avocado & topped it off with paprika. It was super yummy! Below is the nutritional information on the "deviled" egg!

Calories 78
Total fat 5.7g
Saturated fat 1.6g
Cholesterol 164mg
Sodium 62mg
Total carbs 1.3g
Dietary Fiber .7g
Protein 5.8g

Good points

Low in sugar
High in phosphorus
High in riboflavin
Very high in selenium
High in Vitamin B12

Bad points

Very high in cholesterol

This dinner was sooo good! I made tostones (which are fried plantains) baked asparagus & turkey/bacon meatballs. 

After I cut off the tips of the asparagus, I coated them with a tad of olive oil (a little goes a loooong way) and seasoned with some garlic & baked at 350 for 30 minutes.

The tostones are made from green plantains. After you cut them in circles, you fry them for a couple of minutes on each side, then take them out, squish them with a tostonera (or with whatever you have around) and fry them again. I used 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil to fry them & I included that in the nutritional information. This is 1/2 a plantain.

Calories 349

Total fat 28.3g

Saturated fat 4.1g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 4mg

Total carbs 28.5g

Dietary fiber 2.1g

Sugars 13.4g

Protein 1.2g

Good points

No cholesterol

Very low in sodium

NO BAD POINTS!

Here is what I used for the meatballs. This gave me 8 meatballs in total & the information below is based off of 2.

10 oz lean turkey

1 egg

1 cup kale

1/4 onion

pepper & garlic to taste

2 oz bacon (no nitrates!)

Mix together & make balls. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Calories 150
Total fat 7.5g
Saturated fat 2.3g
Cholesterol 99mg
Sodium 261mg
Total carbs 2.9g
Dietary fiber .6g
Protein 18.2g

Good points 

Very low in sugar
Very high in Vitamin A
Very high in Vitamin C

Bad points 

Very high in cholesterol

Okay, so the turkey meatballs weren't the healthiest part of this diet so far....but they were sure yummy & adding kale made them slightly healthier. 

Bon appetite!

xo,
Nancy

My Paleo Diet - Day 3 - Recipe & Nutritional Information

So, Day 3 & I haven't gotten along AT ALL today! I felt weak & couldn't complete half of my Bikram yoga class. My muscles & entire body just felt like it was going to give up. I keep hearing that it's the Day 3 hump...so I am pushing through! Not giving up.

So, here is what I had for breakfast:

I had 1/4 cup of mashed sweet potato (with all natural unsweetened applesauce & cinnamon), 1 orange & then sauteed 1 cup kale, 1/4 cup asparagus, 1/3 cup cherry tomatoes & 2 oz of Hormel's Natural Selects turkey (NO NITRATES!)

I did the calorie analysis of the sweet potato on Day 1, and here is the analysis of the kale concoction!

Calories 146
Total fat 3.4g
Saturated fat 1.0g
Cholesterol 43mg
Sodium 72mg
Total carbs 10g
Dietary Fiber 2.6g
Sugars 1.9g
Protein 20g

Good points

Low in sodium
High in iron
High in manganese
High in niacin
High in phosphorus
High in potassium
Very high in selenium
Very high in Vitamin A
High in Vitamin B6
Very high in Vitamin C
High in Zinc

No bad points!

Dinner! I made something new: orange garlic chicken!!! It was sooo good & 7 sauteed brussel sprouts (don't judge, I LOVE them burnt! lol) and the same 1/4 cup sweet potato. All I did was cook the chicken breast (2 oz) in a pan (no oil, kinda just sauteing it) Once it was almost done, I squeezed the juice of 1/4 orange into the pan & garlic & just cooked. Below is the nutritional information on the chicken.

Calories 134

Total fat 4.3g

Saturated fat 1.2g

Cholesterol 50mg

Sodium 49mg

Total carbs 6.3g

Dietary Fiber 1.2g

Sugars 4.3g

Protein 17g

Good points 

Low in sodium

High in niacin

High in selenium

High in B6

Very high in Vitamin C

Bad points

High in cholesterol

Hope you all enjoyed! Bon appetite!

xo,

Nancy