this and that

I planned to write a post about my second half marathon this season, but honestly I'm so over my race play by plays, so I figured throwing in some race info along with other tidbits was the way to go.

::  So yes!  I did it!  Survived half marathon number two of the season.  It went pretty well, and I got to run half of it with my friend Laura, which made it infinitely more entertaining.  We started off with the 2:05 pace group, but about half way through Laura wanted to slow down a bit, and I was feeling good and wanting to speed up, so we split up.  The course had one pretty significant hill, but otherwise was flat or slightly rolling and went by pretty quickly.  The worst part honestly was the last mile, it seemed to drag on for no apparent reason.  But I finished in 2:04:03.  Laura completed her first half marathon and Meaghan also ran!  It was a good day.

::  After that weekend I bit the bullet and ate Whole30 compliant foods for a week.  I had been enjoying all the Halloween candy and my new found love of Dominos pizza WAY too much, and I needed to do something about it.  It was amazing how quickly I just felt better.  Of course there were days that I wanted to say screw it, if I'm only doing it for a week, it isn't worth it.  But I stuck with it thank goodness.  With Elsie getting sick and not really eating Monday or having my food and stuff prepped Tuesday I'm already way off track again, but back at trying to make healthier food choices.  The right food just does too many good things for me.  Plus I know Thanksgiving through Christmas is going to be tough so every day counts!

::  I love to read, but I rarely do it.  Partly because once I pick up a book I just can't put it down.  I absolutely have to know what happens.  So when I started reading Maze Runner, I ended up plowing through all four books in the series in like six days.  It was ridiculous.  I just couldn't stop reading.  I wasn't super happy with how the story line played out, some parts kind of pissed me off.  But it was definitely something that kept me engaged and was entertaining.  I also read Four: A Divergent Collection.  I can't say I really loved that one.  While it was interesting to see Tobias's perspective on some things, I felt like I wasn't all that interested because I knew where it was going.  Next on my list of things to read is Gone Girl, because I just have to read books before I see the movie.  It is just the way I am.

::  Who decided that this was put your Christmas tree up three weeks before Thanksgiving year?  All of the sudden my instagram feed got bombarded with Christmas decor shots.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and the decorations and all that good stuff.  I've been debating holiday wear and headbands and leggings for far too long already.  But it is not put your tree up time.  It just isn't.  Plus then I just have to fight with my kids and my cats about not touching the damn thing.

Well little miss sicky is refusing to nap (%#$@^%!) so I guess I'm done.  Wahhhh.

I thought I could fight it.

That evil beast sugar?  I totally thought I could fight it.  And yet, here I sit DYING to stuff my face with ice cream and chocolate and cookie butter and all sorts of terrible (but oh so good) things.

Sometimes I feel so embarrassed that food and eating is such a huge thing in my life.  Something that is constantly in the back of the mind.  It is ridiculous.  Why can't I be one of those crazy people who doesn't have a sweet tooth?  Who doesn't ever feel the need to snack?  This is that time where a Whole30 advocate would say something to the affect of just do another round, you can get a handle on your cravings and issues.  And maybe that is true.  But I am just so tired of thinking about food.

If I haven't set it up well enough for you yet, I didn't last more than five days eating strictly compliant foods.  Basically I went Monday through Friday last week eating compliant, except for a sip of Ryann's Juice Stop because she really wanted me to try it and what is one sip of a smoothie going to do to me?  Saturday we went out to breakfast and I did really good, I ordered an omelet with no cheese and didn't touch the delicious looking pancakes on the table.  There was some deli turkey in  my omelet that I can almost guarantee wasn't compliant, but I just didn't care.  And I added some honey to our chicken marinade because the recipe called for it, and I didn't feel like leaving it out.

Yesterday?  Well, yesterday Chris took Ryann on a little lunch date to Cheesecake Factory (she loves the bread and chocolate milk, she could care less about anything else), and brought home carrot cake and cheese cake.  I decided I wasn't going to pass it up and shared some with him after the girls went to bed.  Because I've only got one life to live and I might as well enjoy the cheesecake.  But now I'm back to GIVE ME FREAKING DESSERT NOW OR I'LL CUT YOU.  Seriously, one dessert and now I'm a lunatic.

Obviously looking back at all that my eating habits really aren't all that bad.  All of my actual meals have been compliant, that doesn't bother me one bit.  Sure some nights I just want to order a pizza, but because I'm lazy and don't feel like cooking.  Not because I actually want pizza.  Finding the right balance seems impossible.  I can't decide what would make me happier, losing a few more pounds or just eating the stupid ice cream.  Maybe I can have both.

My goodness I'm ridiculous.

Still going to try and keep my meals as compliant as possible.  The desserts, well...

I finished the Whole30!

This post is a bit overdue, I completed my Whole30 June 27th.  Woot woot!  I wasn't perfect in the sense that I did snack occasionally, which is supposed to be avoided during the month.  But every morsel of food I put in my mouth was compliant.  I truly didn't think I could handle it for 30 days straight, but I did it!

Some of my favorite meals in the last week and a half...

Top left was salmon cakes from It Starts With Food.  I was completely grossed out by the salmon coming out of the can, thank goodness Chris was home and could handle mixing that one up.  I was worried I wouldn't like them at all just because I was so grossed out by the prep, but they surprised me and I loved them.  They were even better once I made some homemade mayo and created a dipping sauce.

Top middle was compliant chicken salad made with my homemade mayo.  Guys, seriously, make some mayo.  So tasty!  I loved the chicken salad on top of some romaine.

Top right was an open faced omlette with leftovers from a mexican skillet meal the night before.  Leftovers are an amazing tool while doing a Whole30, and this just shows you don't have to eat the 'same' thing over and over.  Use your leftovers but switch it up.

Bottom left was basically shrimp scampi.  I sauteed the shrimp in ghee, lemon juice and garlic.  Heck yes, it was very good.  I've discovered I don't really like ghee on my veggies, I'm not sure why, but it didn't bother me in this one bit.

Bottom middle was a grilled mahi mahi fillet (frozen, the Simply Balanced brand from Target) topped with a fresh mango salsa from Whole Foods and steamed asparagus.

Bottom right was my last meal of the Whole30, made by my mama.  She did the tarragon cream sauce (except she didn't have any tarragon, whoops, but threw in italian seasoning I think?) from It Starts With Food.  Oh my gosh SOOOO good.  Seriously.  I would like to have that again soon.

My Whole30 Results

I know that the majority of the people who are interested in doing a Whole30, are looking for the weight loss factor that generally comes with it.  I was.  What you get out of a Whole30 is so much more than that, it is different for everyone, but since I was shooting to lose weight here is my before and after.  Well the morning of day 29 anyway, I wasn't going to be home on day 31, so I took my pictures early.

Numbers wise, I lost 6.5 pounds.  I was really hoping for 9, but we all know the scale isn't everything.  And it is obvious that I lost a lot of bloating and some inches.  I never took any measurements (should have, I know) but it isn't a huge deal.  The photos are what I care about, and even though the results weren't drastic, I was happy with them.

I never got any 'tigers blood', but I felt good.  My energy levels are a lot more stable when I'm eating real foods, and my anxiety and temper are a lot easier to manage.  Granted there is a whole different sense of anxiety when I worry so much about meal planning and doing the extra dishes, however it was worth it.  And guys, seriously, I love all the food I was eating.  Sure sometimes (a lot of times) I wanted sweets, but I could handle my cravings.

So what is life looking for me after Whole30?  Well I wish I could say I've continued my excellent eating habits with no problem, but that isn't the case.  I didn't follow the reintroduction phase because I wanted to enjoy our anniversary dinner without worrying about what I was eating.  And I definitely enjoyed it, plus some cheesecake.  And then we had friends over for dinner and they brought some non-compliant foods.  Then we had a patriotic play date, and while I provided compliant foods, there were some desserts available that were not, and I took full advantage.  And then there was the Fourth of July and several days with lots of unhealthy food choices and holy heck.  I feel like I just erased my month of hard work.

The truth is that is just life, and I still need to figure out the balance.  I'm very much a black and white person, I'm not good at finding middle ground.  Right now I'm toying with eating Whole30 compliant foods until the first weekend in August (which includes my 10 year reunion, Chris's birthday and a baby shower).  And if not strict Whole30, then strict paleo.  I don't know.  When I'm planning meals for myself now, I have no issue with creating compliant, healthy and nutrisious meals.  It is making the right choices outside the home (or saying no to things when they're brought over) that is going to be the difficult part.

The only other reason I question whether or not I stick to a grain free diet, is because I've had some AMAZING runs the last 10 days, and I don't know why.  Maybe it is because on those days I've gotten a little more sleep, or maybe it is because there are some carbs in my life.  I'm not really sure.  But the morning after my first non-compliant meal I set out on a 6 mile run, and felt so good that I ended up running just over 8.  On the fourth I participated in the 'run around the lake' in my parents neighborhood, a 6 mile (I believe anyway) race I've done before.  And ran the whole thing in 51:54.  That is roughly an 8:40 pace.  I haven't run that fast in a LONG time.

Right now the only food that really bothers my body that I can tell, is sugar.  Surprise surprise, I knew that going in.  I expected to have more of an issue with gluten and dairy, but didn't.  I haven't really had much soy, it has been surprisingly easy to avoid.  I may not be making great food choices all the time, but I still don't eat a ton of packaged food, so unless I cook with it, I'm not getting it.

So...... until further notice I'm taking on Whole30 round two.  Well, a whole 26 I guess, since I don't intend to stay compliant at the reunion.  Goodbye tasty desserts, I'll miss you the most.

where's my tiger blood?

And everyone who read my post title is all what the heck is wrong with this girl?  No worries, I haven't completely lost my mind.  As far as I know anyway.

I'm currently 19 days in to my first Whole30.  It has been hard, but not THAT hard.  Sure it takes a little extra planning, and some will power (my husband was laying in bed eating animal crackers and m&m's last night... grrr...) but it isn't impossible.  I haven't even touched the surface of all the recipes and ideas available.  But I have yet to hit that point where I feel like I have 'tigers blood' as they call it in It Starts With Food.  I know a lot can happen in 11 days, and maybe my body is still working stuff out, but I honestly don't feel all that wonderful.

That isn't to say I haven't seen any benefits.  I lost 5.5 pounds in the first two weeks (you're not supposed to weigh yourself, I don't care, I did anyway).  I don't have headaches anymore in the afternoon from too much junk.  I can go without snacks between meals and not feel like I want to slap someone (hanger is real people, Elsie and I are both evidence of that).  And I don't have an upset stomach as much anymore either.  I've discovered that nuts make me extremely bloated, and almond butter makes me feel sick (lame!).  But they aren't the only thing bothering me.  I just haven't figured it out yet.

My runs have also been pretty miserable.  I anticipated the first week being bad, and it was.  It was quite horrible, my body was having a very difficult time providing enough energy to keep me going.  I felt shaky on runs.  I've found that eating a banana or a Larabar before a longer run definitely helps, so some homemade Larabar bites might be in my future to pop before all my runs.  But on Friday I went out for a six mile run and it was AWFUL.  I walked probably a good mile spread throughout there.  My legs felt weak, my stomach was a bit of a mess and my back was killing me.  I don't know what is going on.  If it's all in my head, if it is just because I need new shoes (I really need new shoes), if I really need to strengthen up my legs more, what.  But right now nothing seems to be working.

I feel like it sounds as though I am not enjoying this process and the Whole30.  That isn't true.  I don't feel deprived, I'm eating lots of good food, I'm never truly hungry.  Honestly if the people around me weren't eating off limits foods, I don't think it would be a huge deal at all.  But currently the girls get a 'sweet treat' (a few m&m's or chocolate chips) if they finish their meal, and dishing out m&m's without eating a few is kind of agonizing for a few seconds.  Or just reminding myself not to eat the crust off Ryann's sandwich, or a handful of whatever snack I'm getting them.  Overall the experience has been positive, and I look forward to hopefully moving our family toward a clean eating or paleo lifestyle.  It will just take a while to figure out the balance.

If you care what some more of meals have looked like, here you go...

I'm pretty sure some combination of sweet potatoes and chicken apple sausage has become one of my favorite breakfasts.  So tasty and so filling.  Today I added spinach and it was great.  The second photo is an Asian Almond Chicken Salad.  I liked the flavor, but wanted more of the sauce.  Directly underneath that photo is a Chili Lime Chicken Burger from Trader Joe's.  I really liked it on top of a portobello with guac.  Chris wasn't as impressed but he said they were good.  I don't know what I would do without Trader Joe's.  They have some great clean options.  To the right of that photo is a Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad.  I really liked it, and would eat it more often if I wasn't too cheap to buy the good shrimp.  And that very last photo is an example of how much I fail at making omlettes.  They taste fine, but I can't figure out how to make a pretty one for the life of me.

I'm challenging myself to make at least two new actual recipes in the next 11 days, instead of just throwing compliant crap together and calling it good.  The recipes I've used have been delicious, but I'm not a very good meal planner so we haven't had all the ingredients for stuff.

hills and rain

There are some things that make me want to not go for a run, or stop running while I'm out.  I don't necessarily like running in the dark (though I will), I'm not a fan of temps above 75, snow is pretty much a heck no from me, and temps below 25 definitely make me reconsider.  I hate running hills and despite knowing it's good for me, will usually run my routes so I can avoid them at almost all costs.  But what will certainly keep me from starting a run is rain.  I hate being unnecessarily wet (the reason I despise giving the girls baths, I always manage to get wet!).

Guess what I got for the Hospital Hill Run Saturday?  As if my post title didn't give it away, hills AND rain!  Bah.  I freaking HATE rain.  In my opinion it should only rain between the hours of 2 and 5am.  Get everything a little wet, and then get the heck out of my life.  I don't like rain.  When I checked the radar Friday morning it said there was 70% chance it would be raining at 7am.  By Friday evening that had increased to a 90% chance.  And Saturday morning I woke up to storms, rain, thunder and lightening, and a 100% chance it would be raining through 8am.  BOOOOOO.

I most certainly considered staying in bed and telling Chris to go by himself (he was working the medical tent), but that $60 entry fee was enough to push myself out the door.  I'm not one to be wasteful!  About certain things anyway... So we got ready, and I followed him in my car downtown.  It was windy, tough to see, and yeah, more lightening.  We parked and started walking towards the medical tent, it was about two blocks maybe?  By the time we made it we were absolutely soaked, even though I was wearing a trash bag and Chris was carrying an umbrella for the two of us.  My shoes and socks were completely saturated.  Nothing like starting a race with an extra pound or so of water squishing in your shoes.  Yay.

The race ended up being delayed for 30 minutes because of lightening.  The rain actually let up right around 7:10, and I really wish we could have just jumped out there and started going.  There was a little window of nothing, and then just a sprinkle, but less than two miles in to the race it was definitely raining again.  On the bright side, the miles went by faster than I thought I was running.  Even though I was only running the 10K, I stuck with the 2:05 half pacer for as long as possible before the split.  I made it through the first few hills (SERIOUS HILLS) without too much of a problem, but by the very last two I just couldn't convince myself to run up them all the way.  Thankfully the race finishes with more than a half mile of downhill, so I came in pretty strong.  The volunteers were kind enough to hand us wet towels at the finish line :o).  And I'm not knocking the volunteers, they were standing out there in the rain for us, but come on.  What's the point?

I grabbed a water, my medal and a banana and went to say goodbye to Chris.  He wrapped some dry towels in one of those solar blanket things for me, and I headed back to my car.  Naturally, while getting my key out, I dropped the towels.  #winning  When I crossed the finish line the clock was at 1:01:29, so I had my fingers crossed that my chip time was under an hour.  Got on my computer to check, and 59:19!  That puts me at a 9:33 pace for the race.  The last time I did Hospital Hill I managed to finish in under 54 minutes, but seeing as several of my runs have been averaging 10 minute miles lately, I was very very happy.

I'm still trucking along with Whole30.  The last few days I have been a little overwhelmed trying to coming up with different things to eat.  I know there are TONS of recipes out there, but I haven't yet ventured in to making my own broth or mayo or all that jazz, so that limits stuff a bit.  Not to mention we were at my parents a bit this weekend, and there was artichoke dip and chocolate chip pancakes and bacon (with added sugar in the ingredients) that I couldn't have.  That I really wanted to eat.  But I stayed strong.  On Friday I picked up some dried pineapple and plantain chips from Trader Joe's.  It is crazy how not having added sugar or really any snacks for 10 days can change your perspective.  The pineapple tasted like candy to me.  Hence the reason I probably won't be buying any more of that until after my Whole30.  I hit that bag HARD.

I haven't been taking photos of all of my meals, I figured chicken + veggie + fruit on repeat would get pretty boring.  But here are a few of my favorites lately.

Scrambled eggs with sweet potatoes and Aidells chicken apple sausage.  I love this breakfast.  Especially the sweet potato sausage part.  Very filling, I definitely don't feel the need to eat between breakfast and lunch anymore because my meals are so satisfying.  We also had Chipolte (twice now! I get tired of cooking...).  The only meat that is Whole30 compliant is the carnitas, so I got a bowl with carnitas, lettuce, fresh tomato salsa and guac.  Not too shabby of a meal.  Steer clear of the fajita vegetables even though they seem like a good idea.  They are cooked in a non-compliant oil.

And then there is the steak.  Because Chris was working the race and I was running, my parents opted to take the girls Friday and have us come to Topeka to get them Saturday.  Therefore we were left without the children overnight for the first time since Elsie was born (only the second time I've been childless overnight since Ryann was born!).  Unfortunately we spent a good chunk of the evening driving downtown to pick up my race packet, but when we got back Chris grilled up some delicious steaks.  Honestly I'm not 100% sure what was on them, but I know it included garlic and cilantro, just because we had it and why not?  I cooked the asparagus and onions in ghee, and honestly couldn't really taste the difference from butter.  It was a great meal and a very nice night.

This week I'll be on my own for dinner, but I'm still hoping to try out some actual recipes to switch things up a bit.  I know some of you are jumping on the Whole30 train, so excited to have other people on this journey with me.  Good luck!

Whole30 Eating

Those who follow me on instagram know that I have recently started a Whole30.  What's Whole30 you ask?  The short version?  Eating whole foods for 30 days to heal your insides and create a better relationship with food.  No sugar, alcohol, grains, dairy, legumes and a few other things for a month.  For the entire breakdown on the program you need to visit The Whole30, or buy the book It Starts With Food.

I first heard of Whole30 from Kristal a little over a year ago.  She took on the challenge and had some great results.  But at the time I was like oh hell no.  I am not giving up all that stuff.  Not even for a month.  Nope, no way in hell, can't do it.  It popped up on a variety of my social media outlets here and there in the last year, and finally I decided why the hell not.

I was eating like crap (way too much sugar for no good reason) and feeling like crap.  And not liking what I was seeing in the mirror.  For a while I went back and forth, thinking I didn't want to do it, and being really driven to change my eating habits.  But a 30 day period where I didn't have any real big commitments or holidays or birthdays or anything of that nature scheduled showed up on my calendar, so I decided to go big or go home.

Though the program is not designed as a weight loss program, I'd be lying if I didn't say that was probably my biggest motivator.  All of the other benefits are great too, I'm already capitalizing on not having a headache in the afternoon from eating junk, but truthfully the hopes of looking a little better in a swimsuit the rest of the summer is what really got me going.  We're also getting to that point where another baby might be on the horizon, and I want to start a pregnancy as fit as I can be.

Why did I think a Whole30 was a good fit for me now?  Well we've done a pretty good job of cleaning up our diets in the sense that we've cut a lot of grains, rarely eat out, usually eat meals of protein and veggies.  I don't have a soda or coffee habit that I need to break.  I don't drink milk or eat a lot of yogurt or anything.  My only vice is sweets.  And I'd done a month without sweets in January, so I knew I could pull that off if I really tried.  So at this point, a Whole30 didn't seem as daunting.  Don't get me wrong, right now I'd probably kill for a chocolate bar.  Today (Day 6) is the worst it has been for me.  The first couple of days were a breeze in terms of cravings.  It has gotten progressively worse as my storage of extra sugars has been depleted.  I'm hoping that my body will soon figure out how to function without it.

Aside from the sugar cravings today, the hardest part so far has been having to cook nearly every meal.  Part of that is because I didn't really plan ahead, and decided I would start the day after we got back from vacation.  So I've just been kind of winging it.  And I still have yet to completely finish It Starts With Food, so I'm regularly having to flip through the book to make sure I'm doing it all 'right'.  Trying to come up with meals that only contain compliant ingredients has been somewhat stressful.  Thankfully, even though he isn't fully participating, Chris is supporting my little adventure and eating the same stuff I am at home.  I think the longer I stick with it, the more second nature the cooking will become, and the more products I'll discover that are compliant.

I've posted a few of my meals on instagram, but some people requested all my meals.  So here is what I've been eating the last six days.  Before you get all excited, remember I'm not all that creative with food and I am absolutely NOT a food photographer in my horribly lit dining room with my scratched up table.  Ok?  Ok.

DAY ONE

My first meal was an egg scramble with spinach and mushrooms, blueberries and grapes on the side.  Meal number two was hot dogs (don't laugh!) baby spinach with berries and some watermelon.  Applegate makes hot dogs that are compliant and they are good for something quick and easy.  Plus it would be a good way to help your kids participate in a Whole30 with you.  If they ate hot dogs of course.  Ryann, naturally, does not.  My third meal of the day was grilled chicken with sweet potatoes and steamed green beans.  The potatoes ended up being really good.  I just roasted them in the oven with a little olive oil and Trader Joe's garlic salt.

DAY TWO

Day two started off with another egg scramble, this time adding onion and red bell pepper to the mix, with a side of berries.  Meal two was leftover chicken and green beans with some cherry tomatoes.  Because I planned to do my long run the next morning, I figured I should throw in a snack?  I have no idea, but I ate a banana around 3:00.  And for meal three Chris grill up some Trader Joe's 100% Grass Fed Beef burgers and I made some veggies in the wok.

DAY THREE

I woke up early and set out for a seven mile run.  Oh my word, one of my worst runs EVER.  The book says the first week you will have less energy while your body learns to fuel itself with fat instead of sugar.  I couldn't believe how terrible I felt running.  I was exhausted and felt completely out of sorts.  It turned in to a four mile run, and another 2.4 mile struggle to walk/jog the rest of the way back to my house.  I had to sit for a long time before I felt up to getting myself water and a banana.  A little later I was feeling a bit more perky and attempted to make an omelet.  I always fail at that.  So egg scramble it was (with some spinach) and some berries.  For my second meal it was more hot dogs, leftover veggies, tomatoes and cantaloupe.  Meal three was grilled salmon, steamed asparagus and cauliflower rice.  Which tastes almost nothing like rice, but I do like it!

DAY FOUR

For my first meal I attempted to make sweet potato hashbrowns.  Ha, egg scramble with a side of sweet potatoes and onions.  Sunday was Ryann's first dance recital and I was a little anxious about getting her ready to go, so I wasn't in the mood to eat.  Therefore meal two consisted of leftovers and an apple.  After the recital I was feeling hungry so I ate a Larabar.  Chris grilled us some pork loins for the third meal of the day, and we topped it with guac, because guac makes everything better.  Threw in some broccoli and bell peppers as well.

DAY FIVE

Meal one, a huge surprise I'm sure.  Another poor attempt at an omelete with some berries, and a banna because I was extra hungry.  Meal two was leftovers.  Meal three was spaghetti squash topped with ground turkey and mushrooms in Classico's tomato basil sauce.  Oh and for the record, my run this day was four miles of no fun as well.

DAY SIX

After yet another not so wonderful run (but maybe slightly better than the last two?) the thought of cooking eggs made me want to vomit.  So I attempt sweet potato hashbrowns again (fail) with some Aidells chicken & apple sausage and berries.  I found my sausage at HyVee, I know other people have picked it up at Costco.  Meal two I threw a lot of random stuff in a bowl and called it a salad.  Chicken, avocado, apples and yellow bell pepper.  I have yet to make my own dressing so I just drizzled it with a little olive oil and called it a day.  I really loved the apple in there.  The sugar monster hit hard and I may have snagged a couple handfuls of raisins this afternoon.  For meal three we had grilled chicken, sauted veggies and cauliflower rice.

People on instagram are making all sorts of interesting and delicious looking recipes, and hopefully I'll get brave enough to attempt making them, but for now this works.  Prep is definitely key and I feel a lot more confident about getting through the day when I know I have compliant food in the fridge ready to go.  Having all sorts of Whole30 photos pop in my instagram feed also helps.  The one that really inspired me to get started was @jennaskitchen.  If you have any questions feel free to ask, I'm no expert but I'll do my best!

Only 24 more days to go...

shoot. it's working.

Sorry (not all that much really) for the lack of a post last week.  I'm having more fun working on first birthday party details (even though I am in denial that E will actually be one) than I am blogging so I went with it.

Anyway.  So I've tried giving up sweets before.  I've even lasted a couple of weeks before giving in, maybe a little longer.  I'd have to go back and read my posts and well... too lazy.  But even though it was good for me, and helped with things like headaches and such, I never saw what I was really hoping for, which was progress on the scale.  However this time?  I've managed to lose 6 pounds in the last three weeks with little effort.  All of a sudden I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight.  BAM.

I'm not counting calories or denying myself anything.  I've had my fair share of chips and guacamole.  And bread and butter.  And other random things that I probably should cut down on.  Just goes to show that I was eating WAY too many sweets.  I have had to straight up cheat moments throughout the month.  The first I already mentioned, when we were celebrating Christopher matching to a sports fellowship.  The second, well, after a not so fantastic morning with insignificant but annoying things going wrong, I managed to run out of gas.  On the highway.  With both girls in the car.  AT LUNCH TIME.  I'm pretty sure I don't have to say that didn't go over very well with them.  The good news is AAA was awesome and got to me in 25 minutes or less, were super helpful and got us on our way.  But after that adventure I needed a chocolate pick me up.  So I split a chocolate chip cookie with Ryann.  Totally worth it.

Now I also have been having some sort of cheat nights.  My friend who is also going a month without sweets told me she had been sort of cheating and having this Chobani Greek yogurt, raspberry with dark chocolate chunks.

 

Usually I can't stand Greek yogurt by itself.  Mixed in to some sort of recipe, sure, but on it's own it makes me want to gag a little.  But I was desperate and raspberries and dark chocolate are two of my favorites so I decided to give it a go.  The first time I tried I still couldn't stand it, just the slightly tart taste and the thicker texture, I can't do it.  But I wasn't going to give up, so I stuck them in the freezer.  When I went to eat one I had to let it thaw for a good 20+ minutes or so, before I could remotely get a spoon in, but I could handle eating it.  And since then I'm getting a little more and more used to the taste.

So yeah, I guess I'm kind of having sweets.  But I feel like the point of this little venture for me is to change my relationship with sweets, and that is happening.  And I'm seeing a change in my body.  And if eating some yogurt with a few chocolate chunks in it is what it takes, then that is what I'm going to do.  Currently I'm extremely tempted to cheat and eat some little pretzel chocolate treats that Ryann made while she was staying at Grammy's, but I only have to make it five more days before I've finished out the month that I've committed to.  I can do it, right?  After that I'm not quite sure what my plan is, but I can't go back to eating junk whenever I want.

Running everyday has probably also contributed to my weight loss.  I have ran every day in January so far, and even though my knees might be starting to protest a little, I WILL make it to the end of the month.  I've covered 73 miles, and I hope that I can add 10 more to that total.  Starting in February I think I need to exchange one day for a rest day or walking, another day for a strength workout (I still have yet to do any this year, fail) and add a little bit of strength to a shorter run day.  I may weigh what I did when I got pregnant, but I definitely don't have near as much muscle.

 

How do you approach sweets?  Do you eat some each day?  Only on certain days?  Whenever you want?

Link up health and fitness related posts below!

i want ALL the chocolate.

Twelve days.

Ok eleven days.  How about we say eleven and a half days.  That is how long I've gone so far without any sweets.  We did make a little pit stop at The Melting Pot for dessert after celebrating Christopher matching in to a fellowship, and I absolutely don't regret that one little bit.  But aside from that I haven't had any sweets yet this year.

Originally I had planned to just go the first week without any sweets with the hopes of kicking the habit yet again of essentially eating half a bag of chocolate chips one handful at a time throughout the day.  But then with some of my friends shooting for the whole month I felt a little guilty about stopping after one week.  Not to mention my craving for sweets hasn't really lessened at all.  I figured for sure by now I wouldn't be missing it.  But no, I stand in the middle of the kitchen after nearly every meal torturing myself, toying with the idea of giving up and just eating some damn chocolate.

I so wish I didn't have such a lame relationship with food.

Running at least a mile every day in January is going well.  It is helping at least keep my weekly mileage up a tiny bit.  I'm doing nearly all my running on the treadmill right now and I have to be in just the right mood to convince myself to stay on that thing longer than 3.5 miles.  Oh well.  Hopefully when I need to start training for a half a couple of weeks from now the weather will be slightly warmer (HA) and I'll get to do a little more running outside.

Other than that nothing exciting to report.  I think I've lost two pounds, but I still fluctuate a lot so it's hard to tell.  But I'll pretend it's true.  Hoping to be down another two by the end of the month!

 

Link up your health and fitness related posts below!

i'm not a good summer runner.

Well hello Monday.  First things first, I wanted to comment a little bit on last week's post and the feedback I received.  Most of it was completely positive, and I appreciate all of the 'you look great already!' and the 'you've had two kids, you look awesome!'.  Really, you guys are too sweet, and it puts the biggest smile on my face to hear I've inspired some of you.  And I'm not hating on my body.  Yes, I have body image issues often, I touched on it a tiny bit in this post, but I think a lot of it stems from having naturally little friends and growing up in the dance world.  No one ever said I was overweight or made a comment to me being bigger, but I'm not blind.  It was easy to see who the biggest one was among our group of friends, and there is no hiding anything in spandex hot shorts.

Right now I'm ok with my body.  It HAS birthed two children.  I weigh 20 pounds less than my highest weight (not pregnant), 10 pounds less than when I got pregnant with Ryann.  But I worked SO hard to get to where I was before I got pregnant with Elsie.  And I was happy, proud of what I was doing health and fitness wise.  I'm not completely unhappy right now, but I don't want to settle either.  I never want to get back to where I was after Ryann was born, physically or emotionally.  So I think there is nothing wrong with striving to get my 'old self' back again, eventually.

What concerned me with a few of the comments that were left last week, is that my desire to be a better me, should not make anyone feel less about themselves.  Let my want to be better and do better be an inspiration to be the best YOU that you can be right now.  Health and fitness goals and where you are with either should not be measured against anyone else.  They should be personal.  If you want to be better at something, try and be better than you were.  Not better than your neighbor, or another blogger or your spouse.  Sure a little friendly competition is always good, but don't let something I post make you feel less or inferior in any way.

My goal is simply to be the best me that I can be.  And right now?  I'm not there.  I'm doing a pretty good job.  I'm raising two kids and trying to take care of my body.  But I don't have it all figured out yet.  I'm working on it.

Ok, jumping off the soap box.  Sorry!  I've discovered a new favorite veggie to snack on.  Not new that I've never had it, but new that I've never really thought to keep it around the house as a snack.  Hello blanched sugar snap peas.

Seriously.  I'm not sure what it is about these little green guys, but they are SO good blanched.  I probably like them so much because they have a higher sugar content than most veggies damn sweet tooth, but there are only about 70 calories per cup of pea pods.  I'm going to guess that eating a cup of sugar snap peas is a much better choice than a handful of M&Ms.  I was eating the peas with a veggie dip that my mom had leftover, but it was sour cream based so that's no good.  Well, actually, the dip was REALLY good.  It tasted like it was probably sour cream mixed with maybe taco seasoning?  I'm not sure.  Something like that.  I would love to try and make my own with greek yogurt, but my little puke monster is back in full force so I'm trying to keep the dairy to a minimum.  Boo.

I managed to meet my goals this week.  I got in four sweat sessions:  one barbell class and three runs.  Barbell seriously left me sore for DAYS.  That is the class I will miss the most (I suspended my gym membership until further notice, read why here).  Anyone know if there is a video similar to a class like that (which I think is the equivalent of body pump at some gyms)?  My runs were pretty meh.  The first one was on the treadmill, and after the first mile I kind of wanted to bang my head against a wall, so I switched to intervals.  The second two were outside after not a whole lotta sleep and it was already 75+ degrees at 6:15am.  My pace wasn't what I would have liked and I took some walk breaks.  So there's that.  But I kind of hate summer running anyway, so I'm just trying to keep plugging away and survive until fall :o).  Also, the scale surprised me this morning, and I'm down 4.5 pounds.  Yeah, I'm going with water weight for the most part.  I know I made better choices this week, but I can almost guarantee you I didn't have that kind of calorie deficit.  Oh well, I'll take it!

My goals for this week:

three runs

lose one pound

30 minutes of core work

Hopefully I can have another successful week.  Our five year wedding anniversary is on Friday and I fully intend to enjoy our nice dinner out.

Link up your health and fitness related posts below!

detox time.

Hello?  Anyone there?  Well, I didn't intend on completely disappearing for a week, but we had a heck of a lot of fun on vacation.  I had some spare minutes that I could have used to toss up a blog post, but instead I read Insurgent (the sequel to Divergent, check them out!) and laid on the couch with Chris watching Game of Thrones.  Important stuff I tell you!

While we were having a good time, I completely threw in the towel on being sugar free, dairy free and eating clean.  And I am paying for it, big time.  A couple weeks ago I had the littlest bit of cheese, and there was chocolate in those brownies I made.  Shortly after it seemed like Elsie was spitting up a lot more.  I assumed it was the dairy.  So I did what any great mom would do... decided I was going to binge on dairy for a bit before going cold turkey again.  Surprisingly, the extra spittiness only last for a little bit, and now Elsie doesn't seem affected by the change in my diet.  So who knows what causes her to spit up.

Anyway, between the dairy, sweets and being in the land of all things fried, as well as a weekend enjoying wedding festivities, my body is hurting.  I had more alcohol in the last week than I've had in the last year.  It only took a day of poor eating for me to feel lethargic and just plain gross (which you think would have encouraged me to eat better, but fried pickles...).  Christopher noticed it as well.  We were amazed at how quickly we noticed the change in our diets.

So now?  It's back to business.  There is no way I'm stepping on the scale anytime soon.  I can tell you it won't be good.  I'm retaining water like it's my job AND I ate way too much.  Not going to beat myself up about it though, just going to jump back into a healthier lifestyle!  Which leads me to some of our favorite ways to have healthy options on hand.

Really eating healthy isn't all that hard, it just tends to take a little extra prep work.  My favorite way to be prepared for a healthy lunch, is by having dinner leftovers in the fridge that double as salad toppings.  Which in all honesty, you can turn almost anything into a salad topper, but I have a few favorites.  First up?  Taco filling.

Such an easy peasy yummy and healthy meal.  First I cook a pound of ground turkey, throw in some taco seasoning, dump in a can each of corn, black beans and diced tomatoes and warm it all up.  Then you can serve it in tortillas with your favorite taco toppings, or over a bed of lettuce.  I usually choose the salad route for a nice filling meal.  Make sure you toss in some avocado too :o).

Another great protein for topping a salad is grilled chicken.  A while back Chris made a rub that we like to put on chicken before sticking it on the grill.  So lately we have been cooking a couple extra chicken breasts, slicing them up and putting them in the fridge.  Warm up the chicken (or leave it cold if that is the way you like it), put it along with some other veggies over lettuce and you have yourself a quick salad.

I'm also a huge fan of shrimp and warm veggies on my salad.  For dinner we'll put together some sort of stir fry, or sauteed shrimp and vegetable meal.  The next day, warm up some leftovers, put it over lettuce, and you've got yourself a great salad.  Usually thanks to the seasoning and little bit of oil we've cooked in, I don't even need a dressing.

Right now those are my three favorite leftovers to have in the fridge.  What are your favorite meals that provide healthy leftovers?

 

Link up your health and fitness related posts below!

i'd rather run for an hour

Hello Monday.  I wish you weren't here.  The weekend was wonderful and I wanted it to last forever!  I got to see lots of family and friends, and best of all, my husband had the ENTIRE weekend off for the first time in I can't even remember how long.  The weather was great.  Seriously, it was nearly the perfect weekend.  Per the usual the kiddos could have slept a little more, but what are you gonna do?

Saturday we celebrated my lovely friend Laura's upcoming nuptials with some bachelorette fun.  To kick of the day we had a private class at Title Boxing.  I was so excited that I was able to attend, because it is a workout I'd been interested in trying, but hadn't had the guts or the time to get around to it.  Laura has been boxing for over two years, and after taking the class I am more impressed than I already was.  The class was no freaking joke, I was exhausted!  I literally said I'd rather run for an hour then take that class.  I was living for the laps between what I'll call five minute sets.  The laps I could handle.

Seriously, the class was very humbling.  I know I'm not in the best shape I've been in my life, but I'd still consider myself relatively in shape.  And I STRUGGLED through this class.  Granted I was running on four hours of broken sleep, but it was tough.  I really did enjoy punching the bag though.  A great way to get out some aggression.  Other than the laps, my favorite part was the very end of class, where we hung from the bags in sort of a bear hug for 60 seconds.  I could handle that.  If you've never tried a boxing class, and have the opportunity, take it.  Again, I'm much more confident and comfortable running for an hour straight, but boxing was a great workout and I did have a good time.

With the bachelorette festivities and mother's day, my food choices weren't the best they could have been this weekend, but they also weren't terrible.  Slowly but surely I've found that it is much easier for me to deem a food 'not worth it'.  Mini vanilla cupcakes?  No my favorite.  A month ago I would have eaten one anyway, because it was there.  But now I know it really just isn't worth it.  I'd rather put fruit in my body than a cupcake that I won't love.

I did indulge in some bruschetta (mmmm so good), chips, brownie bites and zucchini brownies over the weekend.  But looking back overall I really didn't do that bad.  I said no to bread and potatoes yesterday at lunch, AND strawberry shortcake (mostly because I couldn't eat the ice cream).  Something that was hard to pass up was the chocolate milk after the Mother's Day 5k yesterday (which I will recap in a separate post, it went well!).  Chocolate milk is one of my favorite post race treats.  It just tastes great, and is an excellent way to refuel.  But I figured after eating cheese Saturday night, straight milk might be pushing my luck with Elsie.  She hasn't really reacted to any of my indulging though, so I'm thinking we'll be out of the clear sooner rather than later.

I'm finally seeing some of the benefits of my healthy eating.  My skin is super clear, and I've actually lost a couple of pounds.  Still four to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight, 9-12 to go to hit my goal weight (I haven't decided my official goal) but I'm happier with where I'm at.  I'm struggling at being ok with my body right now, just because my belly is still so soft, but I can get there.  I CAN DO IT.  Just have to keep telling myself that and remind myself that this body grew two healthy beautiful babies.  It is amazing no matter what it looks like.

Oh, and planking is getting tougher, but going well.  Last night I lasted 2 minutes 8 seconds!  It is getting SO hard.  But it is fun to keep working at it.

 

I hope to get a little 5k recap up in the next couple of days, and next week I want to focus a little more on how we are making healthy eating easier for us.  Have a good one!

move it... tuesday?

I apologize that 'move it monday' wasn't up yesterday.  I know that no one is judging whether or not I post, but I still like to!  I've actually got a couple of design projects I'm working on, so the little free time I have that I'm working on those or trying to keep my house from looking like a complete disaster (ha, it almost always looks like a disaster).

The good news these days?  We finally reached the end of Christopher's hell month, so his schedule is much more pleasant.  The bad news that goes with that?  I don't have my parents around as much, so I actually have to figure out how to squeeze a workout into my day without someone to watch the girls.  And with that, I'm finding more and more excuses to not workout (especially a strength workout!).  No good.

Last week I got in a 4.4 mile run, a 2.5 mile run, a 3.8 mile run and a 1.4 mile walk pushing the girls in the stroller.  Pushing that thing is no joke.  I have the Baby Jogger City Select right now, and it has been great in the mall and such, very smooth and turns really well.  But an inline while walking on crappy sidewalks with 40+ pounds of kid?  I struggle to keep it going in a straight line.  I'm still toying with the idea of getting a double Bob so that I can run with the girls, and I think walks would be easier, but running with it sounds daunting.  I've never run with a stroller at all.

Also this month I've decided to attempt the plank a day challenge.  I saw a couple people doing it on instagram, and it seemed like a good and somewhat easy (ha) thing to tackle for the month.  I like that it doesn't take very long, and I can randomly do a plank in the middle of the day whenever I get a chance.  It is easy in that sense.  But OUCH.  My planks are getting tough!  I started at about a minute the first day, and as of yesterday (day 9), I planked for 1 minute 45 seconds.  I increased my time pretty quickly in the first few days, but it is a struggle to up it now.  I'm definitely hoping to be planking for over two minutes by the end of the month.  And I'm glad some of you are at this challenge with me!  Fun to see the progress on instagram.

Cleaning up my eating habits and being sugar free has still been going pretty well.  I did enjoy chips and cake on my birthday, and since there was leftover cake I had a piece the next two nights, but I've been sugar free again since Thursday morning.  I'm still not perfect on the non processed foods, but only in the sense that I'll eat the crusts off Ryann's bread, or I'll use a salad dressing or soy sauce or something in cooking.  But I'm not eating the junk that I used to.  Finally I'm starting to see some of the benefits.  My skin is clear, I don't really get headaches (unless it is related to sleep deprivation) and I don't crave chocolate or sugar quite as much.  I could still use more vegetables in my day, but I'm getting better at that too.  I've discovered that I love carrots with peanut butter, or guacamole.  I'm also working at eating at least one salad a day, a great way to get a bunch of veggies all at once.

I feel like I have more to say, but there are about 1000 other things begging my attention.  Hopefully I can squeeze in a stregnth workout and two runs during this week, and I have my first 5k post baby on Sunday!  I'm very excited and hope I can post a time that I personally feel proud of.

 

Link up your health and fitness posts below! 

it isn't all or nothing

Want to hear something crazy?  I have gone an entire week without chocolate.  And not just chocolate.  But an entire week without any sort of sweets.  Nothing.  Also I've been limiting all processed foods and anything with added sugar to minimal amounts.  I honestly can't believe I've made it a whole week.

I think what helped me finally just suck it up and try to go sugar free, is the fact that I finally accepted a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to be an all or nothing kind of thing.  Just because I'm not hitting the gym everyday doesn't mean I'm not working out.  Just because I haven't cleaned up every inch of my food intake, doesn't mean making good choices as often as I can won't make a difference.  No, I'm not giving in to chocolate cravings, but I'm trying not to be too hard on my mom's food :o).  The girls and I have been staying with my parents, and while my mom has been trying to be more than accommodating to my new eating habits, there are some things she just isn't up for changing, or isn't interested in doing right now, and, um, I'm going to eat the food she makes me.

For the most part, I've been trying to stick to foods that fit into the Paleo and Whole 30 rules, but I'm not opposed to things that still fall into the 'real food' category such as whole wheat pasta, breads and tortillas, things of that nature.  That is another place where I really had to make peace with my decision.  I was feeling like if I didn't go all out and eat strictly whole foods what was the point of changing my diet.  But eating that way 70% of the time is surely better than eating that way 20% of the time, or something like that.

When I have a spare five minutes here or there, I've been scouring pinterest and the internet for new recipes and ideas to help with this new food regimen.  Slowly but surely I'm collecting a list of things I'd like to try.  Last night for dinner my mom humored me and made a quinoa salad, and it turned out really good.  Even she liked it!  I think it is a great thing to whip up that can be used as a side dish one night, and as a lunch option throughout the rest of the week.  I prefer it warmed up, but it was intended to be a cold salad.  You can find the recipe here.

I won't lie, I still crave chocolate after lunch and dinner.  I'm guessing that is because I haven't been absolutely strict about making sure there is zero added sugar in everything I eat, and because I'm definitely compensating by eating a lot of fruit.  I'm also over eating nuts such as almonds and cashews.  I'm just not a vegetable lover, so snacking on vegetables and incorporating more of them into my meals is the tough, but I'm working on it.  My goal this week is to try one new vegetable.  Any suggestions?

As for workouts this week, I managed four.  A 2.3 mile run, a 3.6 mile run, a 3.25 mile walk and one 30 Day Shred workout.  I finally got back on dailymile (find me here) to start logging my workouts again.  It is incredibly motivating for me to see the numbers add up, and I like seeing what others are doing and cheering them on as well.  My goal in the exercise department this week is to do two strength sessions.  I really want to tone up a bit before a wedding I'm in Memorial Day weekend, so I better get cracking!

 

Link up your health and fitness related posts below!

making a plan

Good news, at my six week check-up my doctor said everything was all good.  I have full clearance to resume all activities.  Woot woot!  Which means I have no excuses not to squeeze in a workout.  Well, other than limited time and lack of sleep... but you know.

So now I'm just trying to come up with a plan.  A plan for how I'm going to squeeze in a workout, and a plan for how to adjust my diet.  Because that certainly hasn't happened yet.  As far as exercise is concerned, I really hope I can get in four good workouts a week.  I know that might be wishful thinking right now, but at the same time it seems like it shouldn't be that hard.  I just have to decide what my priorities are.  In my alone time I have to choose between chores, blogging, exercise and if he is around, spending time with my husband.  Plus any other random thing I might want to do, like crafting... or online shopping...  I think I could pull off a short workout while Elsie is awake.  Surely watching me do the 30 Day Shred would be highly entertaining for her, right?

Now the diet thing, that is a whole different ball game.  I want to eat healthier, I really do.  But right now I'm lacking the will power.  Thankfully Christopher is on board with trying to clean up our food choices, it is just a matter of implementing it, and deciding how strict we want to be.  I've browsed a bit about Whole 30 (eating whole foods for 30 days), looked a little at Paleo, and started exploring the 100 Days of Real Food website.  Initially I wanted to go all out and do the Whole 30 challenge, but ultimately I don't think that is going to work for me or my family.  There are too many times I'd want to cheat, and after a few cheat times I'm sure I'd just give up.  Focusing on eating real food, or less processed food seems like it will be much more promising.  I never see us giving up dairy, legumes or grains completely.  But we can be better about which ones we choose to eat.

I can't bring myself to immediately toss all of the current stuff in my home.  That just seems too wasteful.  But Chris and I have both agreed to stop bringing overly processed food into the home, and once what we have here is gone, it's gone.  Right now it sounds easy enough, but I know I am going to be SOOOO tempted to buy junk (I can already hear mini cadbury eggs and cookie butter whispering to me from the stores).  Thankfully after Easter there aren't any holidays that come with candy for a bit.  For some reason the holiday stuff really gets me, "But it is only going to be around for a little bit!!"

A huge reason I want to cut out the processed food from our diet is because lately Ryann has been eating way too much junk.  She won't eat meat or vegetables, but loves fruit snacks and chips.  She is a good fruit eater, but when she knows that crackers or something is in the house as a snack option, that is what she wants.  I want her choice to be between blueberries or carrots, not fruit snacks and cheddar bunnies.  Those things don't bother me in moderation, but the amount she consumes isn't great.  And I can't blame her, I can only blame myself (and Christopher, but hey).   Again I also know cleaning up my diet will probably be better for Elsie.  Good enough reasons to work on it.

This is looking like I'm going to start rambling and making no sense (I probably already have) so I'm just going to wrap it.  I've had a six week grace period, now it is time to start cracking down.  Time to get healthy and get fit and get back to loving my body and being confident in my skin.  I want to lose 12 pounds.  I want to run another half marathon.  I want my arms to look great in tank tops this summer.  I want to be a good role model for my daughters.  Let's do it.

 

Link up your health and fitness related posts below!

chicken sausages with peppers

This meal is pretty much a staple in our house right now.  It meets almost all my requirements, tastes good, easy to make, and doesn't take too many ingredients.  The only negative is that Ryann won't eat it, but if I only made meals Ryann would eat, we would be having meatballs at least five days a week.  No thanks.

Another great thing about this recipe is that really, you can throw in whatever vegetables you want or have on hand.  The original recipe only calls for an orange pepper, a red pepper and an onion, but I frequently throw in mushrooms.  One time we had some asparagus that needed to be used up, no worries, just toss them in.

Chicken Sausages with Peppers
adapted from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 3 bell peppers, julienned
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic*
• 1 package (12 ounces) fully cooked apple chicken sausage links**, cut into 1/2 inch slices

Directions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion and peppers (and any other veggies you have) in oil until crisp-tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Stir in sausages; heat through.

 *Use whatever amount works for your family, I may or may not put in a tablespoon of minced garlic.  But we're garlic lovers.  And I use garlic from the jar, not fresh.

**You can really use whatever flavor of chicken sausage you like, but we love the sweet and salty combo you get from the apple.

Enjoy!

corn, bacon and potato chowder

Please please please go look at the photo on the site where I originally found the recipe.  It looks much more appetizing, and might make you actually want to make the soup!

I LOVE soup.  A lot.  I'm not sure why but there is just something about it.  Especially more of a creamy soup.  I'm the dork who will be ordering the broccoli cheese soup at Panera in July when it is 102 degrees.  I love soup that much.  I don't think Chris likes soup as much as I do, so we rarely cook it as a meal.  But this had potatoes and bacon in the title, so I figured it wouldn't be too tough to convince him to eat it.

I'll admit, when I first started putting the ingredients together, I thought, ok so I have a whole bunch of vegetables in some hot milk.  Stellar.  I'm sure that will be delicious.  But you know what?  It was.  The corn gives the soup such a nice flavor.  Don't mind the fact that we used frozen corn and not yukon gold potatoes.  I'm sure the yukons would have made the soup even tastier.  I actually wanted more potato in my soup, so maybe throw in an extra as well?  Or one that has just been chopped as opposed to mashed...

This chowder was good enough that our friend Chris, who generally gives vegetables and anything besides pizza or chicken tenders the side eye, ate two whole bowls.  I was astonished!  Did you hear that Jennifer??  Chris pretty much ate two bowls of vegetables.  Impressive!

Overall I highly recommend this dish.  It was incredibly easy to put together (just takes time to chop up your veggies) and was great leftover the next day.  The site also notes you can feel free to use your favorite fresh veggies like asparagus and broccoli instead of (or in addition to!) the red pepper

Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder
from the Weight Watchers website

Ingredients

• 1 medium uncooked yukon gold potato
• 1/2 cup uncooked celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup uncooked onion, chopped
• 4 pieces corn on the cob, kernels removed with a knife (or 2 cups frozen corn kernels)
• 1 cup sweet red pepper, diced (or 1 cup frozen diced bell pepper pieces)
• 4 oz uncooked Canadian style bacon, diced
• 2 cups fat-free skim milk
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste (I omitted this)

Directions

1. Pierce potato in several places with a fork; microwave on high power until tender, turning over once, about 8 minutes.  Allow to cool; peel and mash.
2. Meanwhile, coat a large saucepan with cooking spray.  Add celery, onion, corn and red pepper; saute over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
3. Stir back and milk into saucepan; stir in mashed potato and mix well.  Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; stir to combine.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes (do not allow to boil).

Enjoy!

its not a diet...

...its a lifestyle change.

I'm sure you've heard that before.  But it is so true.  Successful weight loss can not stick if you don't change your current eating habits, FOR GOOD.  Yes, you can slip here or there, indulge a little bit, but if you are unhappy with your body while still continuing to eat the way you've always eaten it will be incredibly difficult to see the results you want.  You can't just 'diet' for 4 or 8 or 12 or whatever weeks and plan to go back to whatever you were doing.

Last week I received a couple of questions, this first from a new reader.  "So I was wondering, how did you lose 33 pounds so quickly?"  The short answer?  Running + counting calories + a serious amount of will power.  You can also check out some of my older posts by clicking the mcfatty monday label to your right!

The real answer is a bit lengthier, and ties into the other question I received, "I know from reading you run a lot.  But I was wondering, you are always cooking up some awesome yummy looking dishes.  Do you make sure you cook healthier?  Any secrets you have learned?  Or do you just cook and eat whatever since you run?"

I made some drastic changes to my diet when I first started my journey towards a healthier lifestyle.  You know how a lot of people have to give up soda?  For me it was orange juice.  I've never liked pop, but I LOVE juice.  Do you know how fast the calories in juice add up?  Fast.  Now I mainly drink water and lemonade light (5 calories a can).  I can't tell you the last time I had a glass of juice.  After that I sort of discovered that I really don't like wasting calories on liquids.  I would MUCH rather eat my calories.  What I'm getting at is I also rarely have an alcoholic beverage anymore.  That is partly for the calories, and partly because my body just functions better without the alcohol.  I'm definitely not saying I'll never have a drink again, but I have to really REALLY want it for me to give in.  Because it just doesn't feel good to get up and run in the morning after I've had a few drinks.

Other changes that have really helped... we switched from white to whole wheat bread (including hot dog and hamburger buns), also to whole wheat pasta.  We don't eat as much red meat, mostly chicken, turkey, fish and pork.  I switched my favorite treat from full fat ice cream to fat free frozen yogurt.  We rarely eat fast food anymore, unless it is something like Subway.  If we are going to eat out, I try and find somewhere that has nutritional information online, so I can consult that and make a meal choice before we ever go (Side note, if there is a California Pizza Kitchen in your area, try the roasted vegetable salad.  Bonus points if you get it with shrimp.  SO GOOD.  A half order, which is filling, is only 394 calories.  And that is if you use all the dressing.)  Ask for salad dressings on the side. 

And the big one?  Our meals are generally dominated by vegetables as opposed to carbs.  I LOVE a great pasta dish.  Love it.  But the calories can add up so fast.  I also love to eat in large volumes.  Portion control is still something I'm not great at, so to make it a bit easier on myself I just eat tons of vegetables.  I can pretty much eat to my hearts content without making a huge dent in my calorie budget.  I almost always double the vegetables and halve the amount of noodles called for in a pasta dish (unless it is already a 'healthy' recipe).

When looking for recipes, if it is a one pot meal kind of dish I look for things that are under 400 calories per serving.  If it is a main dish with sides I try and find recipes where the main dish is under 250.  Lots of recipes on allrecipes.com list the nutrition facts, and skinnytaste.com is also a great resource for lower calorie recipes.  For the most part I focus only on the calories.  Even though other nutritional items are also important to your overall health, weightloss tends to boil down to calories in < calories out.

But overall, what has been the biggest help for me, is out of sight out of mind.  When I first started this lifestyle change I managed to have amazing will power.  Saying no to this and that, walking past the chocolate bowl at my moms house without picking up a piece.  However that will power has started to slip.  I do think it has a little bit to do with running, after putting in five or six miles I know I have a little leeway in my day.  But do you know how quickly you can eliminate a 500 calorie deficit?  Pretty dang fast if you're not careful.  Especially when your favorite indulgence is dark chocolate covered almonds.

On average you burn 100 calories per mile, whether you're walking or running.  So if I only go for a three mile run, I only have approximately 300 extra calories for that day.  Grab a brownie and a glass of orange juice and that is gone.  So no, I know I can't just eat anything I want, whenever I want it.  But all of the running has allowed me a few more indulgences.  It is those indulgences, however, that have stopped me from losing any more weight.  Sometimes you have to pick what you want more.  For the last couple of months I felt like I needed to relax a bit on the strict diet, but I think I am almost ready to pick it back up again.  To see if I can make any more changes.  It is a rough time of year to do it, but at least keeping that in the back of my mind might make me think twice about eating too many holiday cookies.

Link up your health and fitness related posts below!

you don't have to count calories...

...but calories count.

A couple weeks ago I read that on Monica's blog, and I thought it was such a great way to think about healthy eating and calorie counting.

Although exercise is very important to a healthy lifestyle, what you put into your body can be even more so.  It can seem rather daunting to calculate the calories for everything you eat during the day, and no, I bet no one really wants to do that everyday for the rest of their lives.  But the truth of the matter is that weight loss (or gain) is highly dependent on the ratio of calories in vs. calories out.  So even if you don't want to be a calorie counter, it is necessary to be aware of the calorie counts in various foods.  And remember that every nibble/bite/quick handful counts.

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Some of my favorite healthy foods, almonds and avocados, happen to be pretty high calorie (go figure) so it is important to eat them in moderation and really pay attention to portion sizes.  If you are interested in losing weight, I definitely suggest tracking your calories for at least a week.  You might truly be surprised at the amount of calories, high or low, in certain foods.  Get on restaurant websites, see what your favorite meals add up to.  Find out how many calories are in the things you eat everyday.

When I started my weight loss journey, I downloaded Calorie Counter Pro by MyNetDiary on my iphone.  It was one of my most important tools I used throughout this process.  Now I don't necessarily track everything I eat, because I'm pretty aware of what most of my meals add up to.  But if I plan on splurging on something here or there, it is awesome to put in that calorie count, and see how I need to adjust my eating for the rest of the day.  Something else that was really helpful, was putting in what I planned to eat the following day, before I went to bed.  I could see how everything added up, and if I was lacking any nutritional elements.

Through this process I've also learned that I really like to eat large volumes of food.  I'm not really satisfied with a small portion of a slightly higher calorie food, so I'm finding ways to get more, without sacrificing calories.  For example, I've taught myself to like egg whites.  At first I was eating two scrambled eggs for breakfast, then I switched to one egg + two egg whites, and now I'm eating three egg whites.  I add a little milk and garlic salt to keep them from being too bland, but the calories I save are huge, not to mention the cholesterol (however the cholesterol is not something that is a major concern to me).  If I decide to give in to my craving for Panda Express (like I did last night) I get mixed veggies instead of rice. In order to still eat the pasta dishes I love, I've swapped out half the pasta for more veggies.  And to tell you the truth I like it that way a lot more! 

I challenge you all to track your calories for one day.  Did you find any surprises?