Another possible benefit of Milk...a better, fitter body? #Positivisimo

BEFORE: One year ago!

Many of you know I have been on and off of Weight Watchers  for yeeeeeeeears. As I look at my progress over this last year in particular, I can see that my success is directly linked to my meeting the plan's daily "good health guidelines".  These guidelines include water servings, fruits and vegetables, etc. But the one I always seemed to have trouble meeting was the requirement of 2-3 daily servings of dairy. WHY? I don't know, I just got lazy about it I guess.

Every year I participate in a fashion show to benefit TACA (Talk About Curing Autism). The photo above was taken right before I went onstage in last year's show, in December 2010. 

I hadn't looked at this photo in a while, but recently pulled it up because this Saturday is this year's TACA fashion show. I was very pleased to see how much healthier and fitter I look now. I KNOW it's because I've been faithfully following the good health guidelines-especially my daily milk!

I have not missed my servings of dairy (usually skim milk on my cereal and some greek yogurt) for even ONE day since October 1st! I don't know *exactly* what the milk is doing, I just know I started having more stamina and could work out harder and for longer stretches of time once I started getting those daily servings in. Is it the milk? I can't say for sure, but I know it can only be helping!

I could NEVER have done this before I started drinking my milk!

The results so far? Well, here's me in an outfit I'll be wearing in this year's show:

I'm so pleased with how much better I look and feel now than I did a year ago. I know it makes ME want to stick to my daily 2-3 servings of milk-especially through the holidays! I couldn't have done it without the Master of the Glass Half Full and his magical white elixir-MILK!

May we all experience the healthiest holiday season ever!

Follow the Master on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ElMaestroDelVasoMedioLleno?ref=ts

And on Twitter: www.twitter.com/maestropositivo

Wishing you love with extra cheese-

Nacho Mama

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor's Board and Latina Mom Bloggers

Hanging with the Momfia on "He Said She Said" #HSSS

Aaron, Me, Beth, Theresa and Ophelia Later on "He Said She Said" Photo via hsss.tv

I don't know about you but I am SO FULL!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family and friends-I hope yours was as lovely and relaxed as mine was! If you're like me and are too chicken to brave the mall today, take a moment and check out the most recent episode of "He Said She Said"-my fave local web show! Hosted by hunky Aaron Heier drag diva Ophelia Later, this week they dish with my friends, Momfia founders Theresa (@RockOnMommies) and Beth (@HipMamaB) and ME about boobs, bullies, blogs and um, other "b" words.

Click HERE to see our whole segment!

Wishing you a happy recovery with extra cheese-

Nacho Mama

PS-did you know today is National "Eat Pie for Breakfast" Day? It's true!

From the Archives: LAST MINUTE THANKSGIVING CRAFTS

So you've done all the shopping, all the chopping and all the prep for your holiday meal. But your table is lacking a little zazzle? Never fear! I've got some easy, fun last minute Thanksgiving crafts from times gone by that you can whip up alone or with your kids!

I'll be gracing my table with this cute table runner that my daughter and I made last year....originally posted over at Rock On Mommies

And, if I can squeeze it in, I'm going to be making these cute little pumpkin people again too!

Hope you and your family and friends and a beautiful, EASY Thanksgiving!

Wishing you love with extra cheese-

Nacho Mama

From the Archives: My Big, Fat American Thanksgivings

This post was originally published at Rock On Mommies in 2010

I grew up in a BIG Mexican-American family. And we did everything BIG. Especially holidays. And ESPECIALLY Thanksgiving.

It was probably our biggest and most difficult-to-navigate holiday.

Christmas was easy: Christmas eve with Dad’s side of the family and Christmas Day with Mom’s side. But Thanksgiving was a NATIONAL holiday. A day to celebrate alongside our neighbors, regardless of color or creed, as AMERICANS. Splitting up Thanksgiving over two days would be un-American! 

So here’s how I spent every Thanksgiving of my childhood:

First, we’d head to my dad’s parent’s house. All the adults would squeeze into the living room and they’d drag picnic benches into the kitchen for us many, many kids. Dad’s family usually served the meal around noon. (I know!) The food? Was SO. GOOD. We’d gorge ourselves on the rich “American” fare we truly only ate once a year: Turkey, Yams, etc. Everything swimming in butter. Only “American” music would be played: big band, Mathis and Doris Day. After my Aunt Maria’s delicious homemade pumpkin pie, we’d end our festivities with, what else? A BIRTHDAY PARTY. Oh, yeah! Several family members had late-November birthdays and my grandparents would take advantage of having the whole family under one roof. So we’d bust into the 2-hours-old “leftovers” and then, naturally, we’d have cousin Becky’s butter-filled layer cake for dessert!

(My dad, left, and his brother Jess with their post-Thanksgiving birthday cakes)

Then we’d head over to Mom’s family home. You know, for Thanksgiving.

It was a short trip from East Cedar Street to West Cedar Street, where my mom’s parents lived. They served the meal at 4pm-which meant we had to leave the birthday party early. Mom’s family was just as big and it was just as tight a squeeze to seat everyone. Only problem? The food was better at the first house. It was! With Mom’s family, you could bet that the giblet bag had been baked inside the bird. Or that the mashed potatoes would be too thick to penetrate with a steel serving spoon. Or that the bread could be used to shatter the windshield of your worst enemy. (Before you get insulted, Aunt Sheila, may I remind you that they literally could not slice that bread with a saw.) And we were SO FULL. But we HAD to eat! So eat we did. And the fact that the food was so much better at the first house was always very quickly mitigated by the fact that the laughs were so much bigger at the second house.

By nightfall, my parents, my sister and I would be too full to sleep. We are blessed to eat and we are blessed to laugh, but take it from me: over-eating and over-laughing should only be mixed on very, very special occasions. It’s the American way.

What were your crazy Thanksgiving traditions? I can’t be the only one!

Wishing you love with extra cheese-
Nacho Mama