Catching Up and Weekly Check-In

1-12-15 Eats:
Breakfast- leftover salmon and eggs
Lunch- leftover chicken legs
Dinner- fried oysters (made with coconut flour) and sweet potato fries

1-13-15 Eats:
Breakfast- smoked salmon, avocado, and fried eggs
Lunch- turkey, avocado, remoulade' lettuce sub
Dinner- Cracklin' Chicken, steamed veggies and half a sweet potato

1-14-15 Eats:
Breakfast- bacon and salad eggs with hot sauce
Lunch- turkey, bacon, avocado, remoulade' schmaleo sub
Dinner- Slow Cooker Chicken and Gravy with mashed cauliflower
After Dinner Snack- cut up banana, almond butter, toasted coconut flakes

I've really slacked on my water intake the past few days. I've gotten almost all the way once, the other few days I've only drank about half a gallon. I have had my oils in the morning and my ginger shot. And of course on Day 14 of my Whole30 I'm feeling pretty damn awesome.

The kids and I are headed out of town on an impromptu mini-vaca, and I'll be eating out. But lucky me, Northwest Arkansas has plenty of options for finding clean food. Meet you back here in a few days. In the meantime make certain and post your weekly update. The more you participate the more likely you are to win prizes!

#8WTF Days 10 & 11

Whoops! I was so darn tired I totally forgot to post last night.

Yesterday's eats went like this:

Breakfast- prosciutto and egg muffins
Lunch- roast & veggies
Snack- Larabar and banana
Dinner- shrimp and asparagus


Today's grub:

Breakfast- bacon, eggs, leftover salmon with spicy mayo
Lunch- more leftover salmon with spicy mayo
Dinner- Hot wings and sweet potato fries with spicy mayo

Hmm...lots of spicy mayo, very little veggies. I'll have to fix that tomorrow.

I've reached my water goal for the day but didn't get my oils in or my ginger shot.



I know most of you aren't doing the Whole30 but I thought I would write a little bit about how I go about it. Almost everyone will tell you to prep, prep, prep! Take Sunday or whatever and cook up a storm, slice up all your veggies, pack lunches. Some easy things to prep are frittatas, chicken thighs, seasoned ground beef, chicken legs, chili, paleo mayo, and deviled eggs. These are regular go to things for our family. But honestly I don't do a whole lot of prep. I am home all day most days of the week so I have plenty of time to cook our three meals. I just make sure and cook more than we need so there are lots of leftovers for those hungry people who wander in the kitchen and stare into the fridge as if it holds the answers to all life's questions. Since my husband is participating in this Whole30, I make extra sure these leftovers are available.

Let's take a look into my Whole30 fridge. Mind you I just went shopping today so its pretty packed. And of course you will see a lot of non-Whole30 food and a lot of non-Paleo food. My kids still have to eat. They mostly eat what we eat but there are times in between meals or when I'm not hungry myself and don't want to cook, but they still want to eat. Just overlook those items. I'm sure I've missed a few things but what I've listed is my most often used items.

9 Miles In and it's Only Tuesday...Wait, it's Monday???

• Wooohoooo! Super duper awesome 6.3 mile run on Monday morning. 1 hour exactly. Longest I have ever ran in my life! Phyllis is the perfect running partner. No, you can't have her.
• 3 miles in intervals this morning, hill walking and strength training tomorrow. Longish (maybe 4-5 miles) run on Wednesday. Two days of rest to follow.
• Cause ya know what? ------ The Dam Night Run is on Saturday! Hoop hoop! So excited for this 5K. It will be my first chip timed race, they supposedly have a great afterparty and....it is all downhill!
• Hopped on the scale this morning. 130.5lbs even. Well that goal wasn't hard to reach. What do I set if for now?
• I had three pieces of Squash Pie for dinner. 120 calories a piece. Does anyone want the recipe? Southern savory cooking at its best.
• Also, someone got mentioned in a little list of running blogs on a great site called Traxee. Check it out, yo.

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Embrace the Tomato

As a kid I was not fond of tomatoes unless they were garden fresh, icebox cold, and covered in salt.

But yesterday and again today, I deliberately put tomatoes on my sandwich. After years of picking them off every fast food burger, deli sandwich, and Italian style pizza. My BLT's were always just BL's. Don't get me wrong, I love some marinara sauce, and spaghetti, and you know my adoration for SALSA. I just didn't like tomatoes in their purest form.

I've come around folks. Tomatoes and I are now fast friends. As is the case with beans (which I previously loathed), SALSA (I never hated but didn't really care for it), fruit in general (it always seemed like too much work) and multitudes of other good for you eats. Just yesterday I snagged a recipe for Squash Pie that looks amazing and I can't wait to show you. Fair warning it also involves sausage and Parmesan cheese but hey! no crust so lower in carbs than regular pie, right?

And just to prove how head over tomatoes I am about SALSA, here is what I've had the past two days. Breakfast both days was scrambled eggs and white with cheddar cheese, sour cream, SALSA, and extra hot sauce. Dinner was grilled chicken breast topped with SALSA. I was sad that I couldn't put salsa on my sandwich today at lunch but will surely make up for it at dinner by eating something and SALSA!

What do you find yourself eating since adopting a healthy lifestyle that you previously didn't care for?

P.S. You could totally play a drinking game with this post and the word SALSA!

Good Eats

I'm on the road today, hoping to find a salad for lunch! But I just had to show you last night's dinner and this mornings breakfast. The idea came from her. She is so cool and eats so well. Quite a bit of difference in L.A. and Arkansas. Although I like to claim I live in L.A. Ya know, Lower Arkansas. Haha! Not funny? Okay, moving on then.

Cal: 516 Carb: 39 Fat: 28 Protein: 31

Seriously y'all, I took one bite and ran to get my camera. I hadn't even planned on sharing this but it was too amazing not too! I fooled with Rebecca's version just a tiny bit. I was out of salsa so I used Tapatio Picante Sauce. I also added sour cream.


1 serving cooked quinoa
topped with:
1 scrambled egg plus 2 scrambled egg whites
1 oz. cheddar cheese (shredded)
fresh cilantro
1/2 sliced avocado
1 tbsp light sour cream
Tapatio Picante Sauce


I will be making this again. And again. And probably again. This is a new staple in my diet.

BREAKFAST!

But not for me. For the babes and hubs.

I needed to use up some overripe bananas (but no worries I saved one for my morning smoothie!), so I made Banana Blueberry muffins. These muffins are super moist so I didn't substitute any apple sauce for sugar. But I did use whole wheat flour. They were a hit!

3 bananas, mashed

1 egg

1/2 stick butter, melted

2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin tin. Add the egg and butter to the mashed bananas. Stir well. In separate bowl whisk together all other ingredients except blueberries. Add dry ingredients to banana mix incorporating until just blended. Then stir in blueberries. Scoop into 12 muffin cups and bake 25-28 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Achieving My Goal and Now What?

Yummy! Asparagus is almost out of season

so I'm eating it all hours of the day.

Calories: 255 Carbs: 18 Fat:15 Protein: 13

Today's breakfast: 1/2 english muffin

3 spears asparagus

1 egg

1 slice swiss cheese

1 tsp olive oil

Saute' asparagus in olive oil, meanwhile toast muffin. When asparagus is tender, fry egg in leftover oil. Assemble on toasted muffin and top with a slice of swiss cheese and ground pepper. Enjoy!

******

A few days ago I stepped on the scale (actually my Wii Fit the only scale in the house) and low and behold my goal smacked me right in the face. The number read 134.8, the exact number the Wii Fit had set for me as a healthy weight. My BMI coming in at 22.89 which is also healthy. I was shocked. Which I realize is a strange reaction to finally achieving something you've been working for.

I've been on this fitness/health/weight loss journey since August of last year. It has taken me almost exactly 10 months to lose 32lbs. That comes out to 3.2lbs of weight loss a month. But that is deceiving. Some months I dropped 10 lbs. Other times the scale didn't move for over a month. And then I have to take in account all the muscle I gained from running and strength training. I had my holiday setbacks (cheesecake anyone?) and many a birthday party and girl's night occasion. I also like to drink. That will definitely slow down the dropping of the pounds.

Back to my reaction though. As I said, I was shocked. I could not believe I had actually done it. But it is real. The proof is in the size tag in my new shorts. A six! I haven't seen a size 6 since before my first kiddo was born. I've gotten to an eight, once and only for a short time before getting pregnant again. It wasn't a toned eight either. More like I can stuff myself into a pair of eights but I should really be wearing a ten for the benefit of the people around me.

Despite my shock, I am elated. And also, kind of scared. How do I maintain this? I know that my activity level will probably continue to increase as it has been doing. I've got plans to train for a 10K and maybe (I keep saying this) a half-marathon. But the eating? I've worked so hard to change my eating habits and I still count my calories religiously, but I find myself cheating more and more. I make sure and write down all my cheats and my bad days but that is not doing much to deter me from doing it all over again a day or two later.

Is this a normal reaction to finally reaching that magic number?

Sometimes You've Just Got To Have Pasta

Good evening all!

I'm feeling especially cheerful today. I've had a great day health wise. I'm talking stellar, top notch, couldn't have done better.

Before we get to the details of today though, let's backtrack to yesterday. I put in a little over two miles on the treadmill. One quick mile and another mile of hill walking at a 10% incline speed set at 4. It was brutal and I was dripping in sweat even in the nice cool a/c.

Anyways, I had my eating all lined out and had only consumed 550 calories after lunch. Then I got a call that instead of picking up my eldest son at our normal location, I was going to have to drive an additional hour past there to where his Dad lived to get him. His Dad and step mom had come down with a stomach bug and were in no shape to be traveling and I wanted to get him out of there before he caught it! No worries though. I was excited at the prospect of a trip to Fayetteville. I lived there 6 years before moving back to the boonies and was positively giddy with all the dinner options presented to me on Sunday evening.

So when I got there and swooped up the kiddo, we proceeded to meet a friend (and swoon over her darling newborn) for dinner at Noodles.

I LOVE NOODLES!

I missed this place like no other. I'm not even going to pretend that what I ordered was healthy, but it was sure good! I had the Parmesan Chicken with Jalapeno Cream Sauce. I like my food spicy and it did not disappoint. Of course our dinner also included bread and dipping oil along with salad. Oh and I also indulged in two cosmopolitans. I promise that I did glance at the low carb options but that just didn't seem like any fun.

Noodles is a restaurant that demands carb overload!

The kids split a Chicken Spinach Alfredo pizza and I cross my heart I did not even sneak a bite. Not that it would have mattered anyways, cause on the way home we hit up Sonic for ice cream and I had a Mocha Java Chiller. What? It was a two and half hour drive and I needed coffee. Yes, I am aware I could have had it sans ice cream but I had already blown the bank for the day. And you know what? I don't feel bad at all.

On to today, and I am coming in at a calorie total of 1205. Wooohooo! I also went with my buddy Dala to do her C25K and got in 2.5 miles and then when I got home I rocked out on the treadmill for another 1.10 miles. I'm feeling fit and healthy today.

I began the morning with a smoothie. This one included spinach, almond butter, chocolate powder, banana, strawberries, and almond milk. Snack was a Sargento Pepper Jack Cheese stick wrapped in a piece of low fat ham. Lunch consisted of grilled chicken breast salad on romaine with salsa as dressing and a little bit of shredded cheese. I also whipped up some hummus from scratch and enjoyed that with my lunch and then again with carrots and bell pepper strips as a snack. Dinner was grilled white fish, corn on the cob, and sauteed spinach, onion, and bell pepper. A good good eating day!

Did you indulge this weekend? If so, are you back on track today?

On Eating

I like to think I eat pretty well. Especially well compared to how I used to eat. No, I don't eat entirely clean or always get in the recommended amount of fruits & veggies daily. And I have my slip ups. I love chocolate. What can I say? Oh and cheesecake. Ummm, and ice cream. Yikes. Let's just say I have a sweet tooth and leave it at that.

I want to share a few of my favorite foods that have been truly beneficial to me in my battle against the bulge. You might not agree with all my choices but these have worked for me and kept me satisfied and happy. We are all different, our bodies are all different machines and our food is our fuel. It is so true that what we put into our body is what we get out.

Clif Bar Minis. I love these because they are only 100 calories. I throw
one in my purse and eat it right after I run. This is about the most
prepackaged processed food I eat and it is all organic so not too shabby.

I eat a ton of eggs. Mainly just the white but I always keep hard boiled ones
for a snack and almost always have egg whites at breakfast.

Asparagus is so yummy and abundant at the store right now.
Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt. Roast in oven at 400
degrees for 10 minutes.

Avocados are a necessity in my house. Stella and I eat these
at least every few days. The boys haven't quite caught the 'cado bug but
we're working on them. I put these in my salad, fajitas, plain on the side, or
whip up some guac. These are full of the healthy kind of fat.

I also eat grilled chicken once a day. By itself or as part of a salad.

Spinach=love. I heart spinach. It goes in my eggs,
in my salads, on my sandwiches, or as a side.

I finally started buying fresh pineapples and the whole
family is enjoying their deliciousness at least twice a week now.
In fact, I'm about to go cut one up right now.

Strawberries also = love. I eat strawberries every single day.

A few other things I keep on hand all the time:

• lean round steak (Red meat, I know. but I'm a carnivore, I can't help it.)
• almonds
• olive oil
• peeled, deveined shrimp
• broccoli
• mushrooms
• peppers
• skim milk
• low fat string cheese
• corn tortillas
• some type of sandwich thin
• romaine lettuce
• salsa
• lean ham
  

I cook three meals a day. Every single day. On the rare day we are out at mealtime we try and hit up Subway or an actual restaurant where the options are a little more varied.

For example, this morning I had a Thomas Everything Bagel thin (toasted), with two slices of ham, a slice of cheese, and an egg white on it. With salsa on the side for dipping. A Clif Bar Crunchy Peanut Butter Mini for morning snack. Lunch will be leftover grilled round steak on corn tortillas (2) with lettuce and salsa on top. Pineapple for an afternoon snack. Dinner is grilled chicken breast fajita style on a salad of romaine with avocado and cheddar cheese and salsa as a dressing. I'll probably eat some strawberries after dinner to satisfy that sweet tooth. Oh and in case you didn't notice, I'm having a love affair with salsa. Only 15 calories per 2 tablespoons and it adds so much flavor. I better be careful though and not burn out on such a healthy condiment option.

What do you love to eat?


Coincidentally Jen @ Prior Fat Girl is having a Subway giveaway. Head on over to enter to win one of 3 $10 gift cards.