Monday, January 16, 2012

Knock Your socks off Loaded fruit & veggie muffin recipe

I am headed out of town this weekend for a SimplyFun incentive trip and leadership training. I'm a little nervous to say the least. I've never left Fiona for more than a few hours - I'm sure she and Craig will get along fine, despite my wanting to believe that they would be reduced to a life of microwaved tater tots and chicken nuggets. In my own personal quest to feel like a good mommy and wife, I'm preparing some food for them to eat while I'm away. I wanted to make something that Fiona and Craig could both eat and that would be easy - that is definitely key for husbands... food must be able to be prepared in 2 minutes or less, have no more than 3 ingredients and be in plain sight.

Another important factor is the quality of the food - this is typically more my concern - "how to get the vegetables in the mouth" and not have Fiona feed them to Rigby. Which she figured out all too quickly, is her escapegoat for less-than-favorite foods. Feeding your family healthy food, fast is always on my mind... and because I also love to cook rich food - like "paula dean" rich... who, not-so-coincidentally just admitted to having type II diabetes - this should be a big "RED FLAG for me and my love to cook unbelievable rich fabulous food - I even plate my nice dinner all fancy and have been known to smack Craig's hand if he dares disturb my masterpieces.

In my journey, I'm finding it's going to be not just me having to redefine my exercise routine (I'm even standing while I write this so I don't get lazy on the couch), but having to redefine one of my loves - for cooking. I've subscribed to a bunch of paleo friendly websites who spit out recipes 10x a day - which is great. It gets me thinking about healthy alternatives. Is Paleo something I will probably do 100%... no. I've done it in the past, it is fabulous and I felt great - but it is very time consuming and not so realistic when feeding my hungry husband and a picky toddler. But it does have really important nutritional emphasis such as "if you can eat it raw, it's probably ok" "If you can't hunt it or gather it, don't eat it"... "eat fruits, vegetables, proteins & nuts first" So, back to my point, which evidentally I lost a long time ago... I'm trying to learn to love cooking super healthy and lean - find joy and excitement out of healthy, lean recipes.

So, trying to make an easy, quick fairly healthy breakfast for Craig to warm or serve while I'm gone... I came up with this recipe for muffins... and holy crap, it is deeeeelicious - the most moist,  flavorful light muffins. MMMmmm

4 eggs -
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup coconut oil - softened or warm
2/3 cup applesauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 and 1/2 large bananas - very ripe
3/4 cup carrots ground on a microplane
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbl cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg,
1 tsp allspice

2 cups fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries - fresh, washed and dried.

Beat the first 6 ingredients together in a mixture until thoroughly mixed, then add in carrots, bananas and zucchini. Once blended add dried ingredients and mix - if batter is too thin or thick add applesauce or wheat flour until you reach the consistency you desire. Fold in fresh berries.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

You should make these... you can thank me later ;-)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

1 week in - some ups, some downs, and some donut holes

Well, it's officially been 1 week on my severely reduced calorie diet. I'm "netting" around 12-1300 calories a day. So what that means, is on days I work out - say 30 minutes on an elliptical, I might add somewhere between and extra 200-400 calories in. I need to make sure I eat enough to stay motivated, strong and healthy. After a week, I think I'm past the "urge" to eat everything. I'm on a pretty good pace now and feel good.

I did have some hiccups this weekend. Had a bunch of drama at home, didn't eat enough during the day, went out starving and ended up eating some delicious donut holes on Saturday night. I'm not gonna lie, it was worth it. I think the key to any diet is to let yourself slip sometimes, but don't punish yourself for it. It's so easy, and has been MY personal downfall, that when I slip up a little bit, I let it ruin my whole day. So, if I maybe had a piece of a poptart, I'd get the "well, today is shot. I'll start tomorrow" mentality. But this time I didn't. I had my fun - had some donut holes and a couple drinks. Drank plenty of water when I got home and then kept on my routine - it does help that really I had very few calories before the "donut incident" so I really didn't go WAY over, but never the less, it was a triumph for me to not spiral out of control.

Working out is a little bit of a struggle right now. I do not work out at home - I just look around at all the stuff I should be doing - cleaning, painting, laundry, etc and half-ass my workout while staring at a blank wall completely unmotivated. When Craig is out of town, it's tough to make it to crossfit - because as I said before, there's no where to stash the kid who wants to be in everything. I do have a friend that will watch her if she can, but typically I end up not crossfitting during Craig's out of town weeks. So, this is where I would be compensating by going to the Y - well, that would be too easy. Of course, the kid got sicko. Oi! I'm hoping she gets over it soon, but I don't think anyone would appreciate me bringing in Fiona with snot volcanoing out of her nose - I know I would be pissed if I were on the receiving end of picking up my healthy kid who's putting toys in her mouth the sick kid was just holding. So, alas, I am just realllllllllly watching my diet closely while I'm on a short hiatus from the gym. Lots of protein & veggies. one meal supplemented with a high protein shake - I'm still chuggin along.

So, ultimately I'm down 3.5 lbs this week. Which I feel like is great, especially since I only really worked out two days - twice both days, but still.

Okay, I'm off for now - time to get some of that cleaning, painting, laundry stuff done ( I just realize that I sound like the Jersey Shore guys - Gym, Tan, Laundry... except mine goes "gym, diapers, cleaning, laundry"... and I get paid a lot less than they do.

Man, it's a good thing those donut holes are far away right now ;-)....

Thursday, January 5, 2012

My aching legs, Ohhhhh my aching legs!

Well, I'm in the middle of day 3 - and I feel like I've been beat with a mallet. My schedule went a little something like this so far:
Monday - Eat the last of the cookies & dump out the last of the egg nog ----- whiff as much of the egg nog as you can as it goes down the drain - smelling it is zero calories.
Tuesday - Crossfit in the afternoon where we did the WOD focusing on thrusters... and I can tell you my legs haven't hurt this bad in YEARS!
Wednesday - 35 minutes of a cardio at the YMCA in the A.M and a little big of free weights - but I was over that clausterphobic area in a hurry. A little core work and a little more complaining about the burning fire inside of my quads. Crossfit in the afternoon where we did an 20 min AMRAP (As many reps as possible for you noncrossfitters) plus a pre-amrap workout and our warm-up. It's true that Crossfit's warm up is most people's workout. Our warmup currently consists of joint mobility warm up,  10 situps, 10 pushups, 10 inchworms, 10 wallballs, 10 dumbbell thrusters, 10 box jumps, a 200 m run and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I mean, I'm huffing after the warm up. Anyway, our workout yesterday, Rick so lovingly wrote as "push up heaven" and all of us refer to as "pushup hell"It was torture, after the warm up we did 3 rounds of a bunch of different typs of pushups - 5 regular, 5 divers, 5 hand release, 5 knee pushupand 5 negative pushups.... so if you're counting, that's 75 pushups before we even start our actualy AMRAP workout - The amrap consisted of 5 plank to pushups, 10 of these crazy pushout things where you start in a pushup position, and twist your body around to put your hips pointing upward - if you're coordinated it looks a lot like breakdancing, if you're like me, you look like a rolly polly bred with a fish out of water. Anyway, then 20 hollow rocks, and 30 American style Kettlebell swings.... it whooped my butt. I think I layed on the floor for a good 2 minutes. I got 4.5 rounds in, which I felt okay about especially since my legs felt like they were falling off. I did end up having to sub out regular full situps for the hollow rocks because my legs were screaming so bad, I couldn't hold them up. Oi. Oh, the life of an out-of-shaper.


Thursday - did a circuit training STRIVE workout/tutorial at the Y - took about 40 minutes, of that, I'd say there was about 20 minutes of a workout. I think that this will be a great addition to my Crossfit & cardio routine - to work this in a couple times a week. I've always been in the best shape when I incorporate circuit training. I've never done it on a system, just on my own - weights, run, weights, run etc etc.

So anyway, this brings me to my entry. I'm not gonna lie, it's been hard breaking a piece of a poptart off for Fiona and not eating the rest myself... but I keep telling myself  that I'll have to tell all you folks that I broke down and scarfed down a blueberry poptart and be ridiculed... and let's be real here, no one can eat just 1 poptart. It's impossible.

How do I feel? Mentally, I feel awesome - keeping busy helps with my other ailments like my motor tics. If you don't know what those are, they are a bastard. So, kind of like how people with teurettes tic... you can also tic from other things - anxiety, stress, diet... who knows why I tic, but I do know it's mostly started when I'm stuck at home. I think the lack of stimulation and repetitiveness gives me anxiety and now I tic. It really is just annoying - the tic, but what really sucks is my tic is in my brow line/forehead. Which means, when I do it, I get wicked headaches and by the end of the day I want to scratch anyones eyes out who crosses me. But it's been better. Keeping active and busy really helps. And I feel accomplished - I've always been someone who works best in a busy schedule. I do well under pressure - I don't like it, but I do perform better.

This morning it was tough to get myself motivated to get to the Y, so I was glad to have an appointment there at 9:30. My body is so tired and sore I think I could have stayed in bed for a week - if it wasn't for that sweet girl crying to be let out of her crib. This is the time that it's hardest to stay motivated I think - after the first couple days where you feel like "oh, I did it" it's easy to think "it's enough for this week" as your body is screaming at you. It's easy to lose motivation and take a day or two off, which for me, ultimately turns into weeks. I'm the queen of black and white - I'm all in.... or all out - this is also probably why I don't play poker - I can't bluff. I have to stay in it - I'm not saying don't take a break, it's important to take a rest, but even going for a mile walk instead of the gym... the act of doing it... getting busy, getting active, staying in the routine of "this is my workout time".

I've also started monitoring my calories, fat, carbs, sugar, sodium, etc. I use myfitnesspal app on my phone and iPad - as well as my menu planner. Last night I cooked some of Craig's venison and it was actually very good - seared it with a light coating of panko crust - topped with my homemade marinara and as a side, a home made caesar salad, complete with home made dressing, croutons & parmesan crisp. It was very good, and the dressing had enough kick to use very little. I'm really looking forward to it for today's lunch. Those croutons (which I have measured out for my caloric restriction) have been calling my name all day.

So, my point for today is, don't stop, don't let your aching muscles keep you from keepin on. It's takes a few weeks to get back in the routine and make it a habit. Let's do it... oh and I'm down 1 LB so far - which really doesn't account for much - I don't really consider it weight loss until I'm past the first 4-5 lbs - which I consider water retention & "cookie weight" - which comes off fast. It's the real fat that I'm after - the "I'm-not-here-on-a-vacation-I've-moved-in-on-your-thighs" weight.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Getting my Groove back... or, errr... started

I am at the hardest part. The beginning. Trying to change my habits, my way of thinking, and my lifestyle. It's a kick in the mouth, but really that's what I need.

I've been married 3 1/2 years. I say that because when I got married I was in close to the best shape of my life. I worked a job on my feet all day, and then worked out regularly and watched my diet. And here comes the But.... and now it's a BIG butt... But then we moved. The moving wasn't my downfall - it was getting a job in an office, sitting 9 hours a day, going to school another 3 hours after that, having no lunch break and instead being fed by my 450lb boss who would bring Chiles, Applebees, pizza, to the office for us. It was my complete lack of willpower - I freely admit I have very little. There's a reason I don't buy snack & junk food for my house... because I eat it - and I am the epitomy of the "you can't eat just one" mentality.

On top of this, I have this insane, irrational thought that I have to be the best - and being a newly wed, well, I felt like I "needed" to cook big dinners and be home and take her of my husband, and not myself. Which is totally screwy, because that's not what he wants at all. I mean, of course he loves the a wife that's a wiz in the kitchen - but me being a bitchy wiz in the kitchen because I'm unhappy with my body is not what he wants - he wants me to be happy, which ultimately benefits him because I'm a whole lot nicer when I don't feel like I'm carrying a whole lot of junk in my trunk. So, what do I do about it? Well, I start.

I start with my diet. See, what sucks about my situation, is I've battled my weight my entire life. I look at a donut and I gain 4 donuts worth of weight. However, the plus side to being someone who has seen the ups and downs on the scale is that I know how to be healthy. I've never been a yo-yo dieter because I have always believed healthy is more important than weight. There are lots of people out there that are assumed "healthy" because they are skinny - but I've seen first hand those same skinnies downing cheeseburgers off the $1 menu at Jack-in-the-Crack. I eat organic when I can, I try to eat balanced meals when I'm actually thinking clearly, and I limit toxins - well, except coffee & creamer - without that toxin, I would probably bite your face off if I saw you before 11 am. Don't judge me, I'm not perfect. So, back to my point. What sucks, is that I know how to be healthy. I know exactly what I should be eating - how to balance my carbs, sugar, sodium, calories, fat... blah blah blah. And I know what works best with my body, but damn it I love to bake cookies. So, I find myself in this vicious cycle of beating myself up because I know how to "get my groove back" and then I eat one small cheat and beat myself and end up blowing my whole day. I think a lot of us fall into this pattern. I'm trying to find that balance between 1500 calories a day, healthy eating, and stuff the other members of the house will eat. I don't think it's recommeded to have my family limited to chicken, cucumbers & protein shakes - although that would be much easier for me ! haha

The 2nd thing I am starting is exercise. I've been attending a crossfit box here in Meridian that I absolutely love (on and off - I've recently been absent for 2 months - read about my 1st week back later this week). It's the first time I've found something that I love - I do ALMOST love to spin as much - but the people here are much cooler than the bicycle-short, funny-shoe wearing spinners :-) I love the community of crossfitters. I love that I can tell my coach that I'm going to throw up on his car and we all laugh because we've all felt the "I'm gonna hurl" moment. I love the athleticism - I miss my ipod a lot though - because I do work harder when I have my ear buds in... mostly because then I can't talk to people, because evidentally, I have a lot to say while I'm working out. However, Crossfit does not have anywhere for my sweet 16 month old daughter, which limits my ability to get that long fat burning cardio session in. So, since my darling daughter is getting older and we are stuck in the house by ourselves a lot of the day - I've decided that we need to go somewhere she can be social, play and mommy can have an hour of "spin like a maniac". So, we are joining the YMCA - where there's also a huge pool and I swim off some of my jiggle. I plan on doing 2-a-days for as much as I can during the week, with the hubs travelling on and off. Morning cardio at the Y - and then early evening I'm-gonna-hurl workout at Crossfit.

So, this is my plan - I'm gonna work hard, get my diet in line - and reclaim my life, my confidence, my swagger ;-) I plan on maintaining this blog in hopes that maybe it will help motivate even one other person - or at least I'll pretend it does to help keep me motivated - I wouldn't want to let you down, of course (you imaginary readers, you). I wanted to start this blog so we can share the humor, the struggles, the triumphs and ultimately the "after" photos of this not-so easy journey. Here we go - I'm gonna keep it real