Middle of the Pack

So part of the challenge is the Leaderboard.  Crazy overachievers are out ahead, then there are people who after a week and a half in haven't logged a single point.  THAT was a waste of $50 page 221!  Then there's me, happily plugging away on page 165 right in the middle of the pack.  Just average and ok with that. Likely I will never be at the front of the leaderboard but I sure as hell won't let myself slip to the back either.  I've found GREAT enjoyment in trying all kinds of different foods.  Some have been a HUGE hit....CAN YOU SAY FUDGE BOMBS!!!! (recipe later, I promise!) and then there are some that I will eat, but likely won't make again (Balsamic Chicken in the crockpot).  I love food and I love eating and I love cooking and watching my kids enjoy healthy foods that don't spike their blood sugar and yes, you may have a fudge bomb BEFORE dinner because there's no sugar or appetite spoiling CRAP in it.  In fact, you could have fudge bombs FOR dinner if you really wanted to! LOL.  One thing I noticed yesterday while enjoying said fudge bombs was that I didn't have this overwhelming urge to devour every single one.  I had a couple here and there, but it wasn't any big deal.  Yes they were good...ok good isn't the word...AMAZING is much more fitting, but it wasn't like the crack chocolate that is found in manufactured, brightly packaged, "food" that spikes your blood sugar and leaves you wanting NOTHING else but more of the same thing.  It's absolutely amazing to have a treat like that.  In fact, so much so that I went to the grocery store and bought a TON more dates to make more of them for a party I'm attending this weekend.  I don't plan on enlightening ANYONE on HOW healthy they are until after they try one and fall in love like I did!

Another one of MY favorites were the Mexican Mini Meat Loaf Muffins...say THAT three times fast.  They had SUCH amazing flavor to them without any chemicals, preservatives, etc.  I will NEVER go back to prepackaged/premixed seasoning EVER again!  I'm hooked on making my own!  The aroma and the taste of making your own surpasses anything I've ever had in the past and considering I don't have to worry about getting cancer or any other gross weirdness from them...EVEN BETTER!

So here my friends are my two favorite recipes of the challenge so far.

Mexi Mini Meatloaf Muffins

1 TBSP olive oil (or fat of choice)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped or pressed
2 eggs, beaten
2 lbs of ground beef (I only used one because it's all I had thawed, but did not alter the other ingredients)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp corriander
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cayenee for added head if you desire (mine turned out too spicy for the kids, but *I* loved it!)
2 carrots, grated (I used my chopper instead)
1 bell pepper, grated or finely diced (chopper again and I used 3 mini peppers)
1/4 - 1/2 c fresh cilantro (I totally forgot this part *pout*)
1 can/jar pizza sauce (I used some leftover red pasta sauce I'd made a couple nights prior)
1/2 jar of salsa
1/2 c nutritional yeast (has a cheesy flavor) - this is my own addition

Heat over to 400

Sautee onions and garlic in fat of choice until browned, set aside

Mix red sauce with salsa, set aside (to top muffins)

Grease muffin tins

In a mixing bowl, whip the eggs and spices together, add meat, carrots, peppers, cilantro, and onion/garlic mixture.  Mix well until combined.  My daughter LOVED this part - she got to get messy (we used our hands).  Top with sauce (I forgot to top mine prior to putting them in the oven, so I topped them when they came out)

Press in to muffin tins and bake for 30-45 minutes.

Next time I plan to make them in to meat balls and dip them in the sauce.  Either way they were amazing.  I questioning what in the world I was going to have with them because there were already so many vegetables in them, but I added some steamed veggies on the side.  You can never have too many veggies, right?

Alright folks, here's the next one - a chocolate lover's dream come true, but you have to kinda play this one by ear and I'm sorry if you are not the improvising type.  I had to play around a little bit and add some stuff to this one....

FUDGE BOMBS!!!!!!!!

1 c whole pecans (I used already chopped ones)
1 1/3 c pitted dates, about 16 dates
1 tsp vanilla extract (I skipped this because I didn't have compliant vanilla and didn't miss it)
4 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
to garnish: coarse sea salt, shredded coconut
2-3 Tbsp peanut butter (my own addition and I used my homemade kind)

Put dates, vanilla, and cocoa powder in a food processer and process until "dough" is created (this is where my peanut butter came in, because mine didn't make anything close to dough).....add peanut butter as needed to create desired consistency.

Add pecans to processor and process until nuts are finely chopped (I will NOT be doing this step next time - mine ended up crumbly because of the nuts I believe, so I'll garnish with them next time instead).

Roll in to balls - I pressed mine in to mini muffin tins and garnish.

Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes

Enjoy!

Well there you have it.  It's Wednesday and I'm in the office tomorrow!

Whole Life Challenge updates and recipes

Well I have officially completed 7 days of the Whole Life Challenge (today is #8).  I've tried a lot of different yummy recipes and only just yesterday did I earn and keep all of my points.  Let me explain.....for each serving of "non-compliant" food you eat you lose a nutrition point and you only start out with 5 to begin with, so there was one day I licked the knife after making the kids PB and apple sandwiches for lunch and it was a non-compliant PB (contained sugar and honey). A couple days I had a drink of Izabella's non-compliant Almond Milk (has artificial ingredients/preservatives), I can't remember what else.  Nothing that I would consider a "bad choice", but definitely some non-compliant slips.  I did REALLY well yesterday though.  It helps to have a well stocked kitchen!  I did a grocery shopping trip and spent a LOT!  My facebook status that day was "You know it's going to be expensive when the cashier has to ring up some of your groceries to make room for what's still in your cart".  YIKES!  BUT, it will make me successful in the long run, so it's all good.  There were two items I couldn't find at Cub Foods.  One being coconut flour (for baked goods) and compliant coconut milk.  Luckily I have an amazing little grocery store in the same building as my office that sold the coconut flour I was seeking and a stop at Trader Joe's got me the coconut milk I needed.  So now I'm all set for a compliant birthday cake for my little guy's party.

So here are some of the things I've tried that I really love:

Last night's dinner was Pizza Stuffed Sweet Potatoes....super yummy....bake a sweet potato in the oven until soft, cut it open and squish a little, fill with pizza toppings (I seasoned some ground turkey, added some sauteed onions and mushrooms, homemade italian red sauce, and some nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor), but you could do whatever you like.  Pop it bake in the oven for a few minutes to make sure everything is heated through and melty.

I also tried Salsa Chicken in the crockpot one day:
Boneless skinless chicken breasts coated in taco seasoning (I made my own without all the junk of the prepackaged ones at the store), place in a crockpot and top with a jar of salsa.  Cook on low for 4 hours.  This recipe can be done in the oven as well at 350 for 25-30 minutes. When we came home that evening we shredded the chicken and put it in romaine lettuce leaves with some smashed avocado and it was VERY good!  Next time I'm going to try the baking method with fish and some mango pineapple salsa.  I've heard it's pretty amazing.

Some meals have been a simple combination of snacky type foods.  One day for lunch I had a snack baggie of peanuts, sunflower seeds, and unsweetened coconut.  I paired that with celery sticks and an apple.  VIOLA!  Perfectly balanced meal and still felt like I was snacking.

Another day I was in a rush to throw a breakfast in my lunch bag to take to work.  I put peanuts, slivered almonds, coconut, and sunflower seeds in a snack bag and tossed a banana in my bag intending to eat them together but separately.  Then....the magic happened.  I got to work, sat down at my desk and unpacked my breakfast.  It was like the Heavens opened up and the angels sang "aaaaahhhhhhhhhh" I dipped my banana IN the nut mixture before biting it.....HOLY HANNAH I'VE JUST DISCOVERED MY NEW FAVORITE BREAKFAST!!!!! AMAZING!

This morning's breakfast was actually the remaining half of my pizza stuffed sweet potato....most of the sauce and onions and mushrooms were gone but there was plenty "sausage" and potato left, so I scrambled some eggs and tossed them in there with what was left of the straggling toppings and it was delicious!  VERY filling too!  One reason I LOVE sweet potatoes!

Yesterday I finally got back to the gym too!  I was there long enough to get my 10 minutes of stretching in and also my base line 11 minutes workout, but man that was enough for me.  Especially after slacking for several weeks!  No slacking anymore, I'm back at it.  Today we'll be heading to my mom's to visit and we're gonna bring yoga DVDs with and we'll be swimming there as well.  Tomorrow I work at my more physically demanding job and will get my stretching in prior to working because the car wash attendant spot in the store actually make me work up a sweat and is definitely a little bit of an arm workout - THAT will be my workout tomorrow, then Monday it's back to the gym bright and early in the morning!  Thursday when I'm in the office I plan to do stretching after work with the kids and will do my best to get at least a yoga routine in after the kids go to bed.  If not, it may be a 10 minute gorilla workout from the app on my phone.

This weeks plans for meals include a creamy chicken casserole, zucchini tomato stew, steak and buffalo roasted cauliflower, crockpot balsamic chicken, mexi mini muffins, taco salad, and chili.  I'm also going to attempt to taste test my son's banana birthday cake with coconut milk OR avocado frosting.

It's gonna be a delicious week!

PS - I gained a few lbs after Christmas, but I've lost 8 since starting the Whole Life Challenge just one week ago, so I'm definitely headed back in the right direction!  How about you?  Are you over the holiday slump yet?  Back in to the swing of things?  How are the 2014 goals coming along?

ICEMAN AND WHOLE LIFE CHALLENGE!!

Alright folks, I've officially joined and started the Whole Life Challenge.  Originally I thought of this as just a way to jump start the new year, but I've learned that it's much more than that.  I'll be forced out of my comfort zone on a few different levels, so here's to the next 8 week adventure!!

There are three different levels to the challenge.  Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced.  I've been working on my healthy lifestyle for a LONG time and know most of the basics so I was going to shoot for intermediate, but then I talked to Tiffany.  Man I love that girl, but the things she ropes me in to!!!!  Anyway, I'm going for Advanced....all or nothing right?  So you say "What's the difference?"  Well the biggest difference is the foods you are "allowed" to choose from.  ZERO artificial ingredients in the advanced level except Citric Acid (Vitamin C) and Calcium Chloride.  In today's world we all know how tough that is.  And if you don't....check out the ingredients in any bottle or box in your house and see what unknown, unpronounceable items are in that list.  I know....there's a lot more than you expected!  There sure was at my house!  I'm going to list what I CAN have instead of what I can't for every curious little person out there.  Gotta keep it positive right?

Protein: Almost any meat except deli/cured meats, bacon, anything from fast food, and anything pre-seasoned or marinated, Eggs, Seafood/Fish

Vegetables/Legumes: ANY vegetables/legumes EXCEPT corn, potatoes, soybeans/edamame, taro, and yucca

Fruits: ANY FRUITS....YUP ANY!!!!!

Nuts/Seeds: ANY EXCEPT corn nuts, corn oil, soy nuts, soy oil....NO SOY AT ALL!!!

Dairy: Butter....yup, that's it.  Butter is a fat and not "technically" a dairy.  Other dairies are very hard for your body to process.  My little dairy sensitive girl is SUPER excited that her brother and mommy will be eating the same as her!

Grains and Starches: Sweet Potatoes, Yams, and Legumes (Beans - except soy)

Alcohol, Soda, and Juice - Carbonated water, Vegetable Juice, Lemon Juice, and Lime Juice - YUM! LOL - I'll stick with my spring water!

Ok so not too bad right???  Here comes the hard part for me......

Sweeteners and sugar - THE ONLY SWEETENER ALLOWED IS STEVIA!  Not honey, maple, or any other kinds of sweeteners....just stevia, which I've never used so this will be a fun new thing for me to work with.

And the last and most challenging part of this is going to be the Artificial and Processed Ingredients.  Citric Acid and Calcium Chloride is IT.  NOTHING ELSE.  They are just too hard on our bodies and they are in EVERYTHING!  If I threw out everything in my house that had one of these, I would likely have room for the fresh fabulous foods that are going on my shopping list!

Speaking of shopping lists - here's mine.  Now keep in mind it's been a while since I've shopped and my fridge is pretty bare already and then I'm adding in all these new things to try too...here goes:

Stevia!!!
Sweet Potatoes
Chicken Stock
Chicken Breasts
Balsamic Vinegar
Bananas
Black Berries
Strawberries
Blueberries
Coconut Flour
Coconut flakes (unsweetened of course)
Slivered Almonds
Apples
Clementines
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Cucumbers
Mushrooms
Romaine Lettuce
Carrots
Black Eyed Peas
Zucchini
Sausage (to make some pizza stuffed sweet potatoes!MMMM)
Coconut Milk (unsweetened without additives)
Bell Peppers
Pumpkin Puree
Avocados (to make salad dressing)
McCormick's California Style Garlic Powder (I use this in pretty much everything!)

I'm  sure I'll be adding to this list as well, but here it is for now.  Nothing TOO out of the ordinary...well maybe a couple little things.

Tomorrow will be the big grocery shopping trip, so I'll post pictures of my before and after cupboards and fridge and will share recipes as I go.  I also plan on making my own taco seasoning, chili seasoning, salad dressing, and peanut butter.

Anyway, how does the challenge work?  Basically there are goals for each day and you get points for each goal you meet for the day.  If you don't meet that goal you lose a point and there ya go....count your points at the end of each day or beginning of next day and get as many as you can.  Points are earned for staying on track with the food list (5 points, but minus 1 for each choice made NOT on the food list), 1 point for working out, 1 point for 10 mins of mobility (stretching, yoga, etc), 1 point for drinking 1/2 oz of water per lb of weight you carry, 1 point for taking vitamins/supplements, 1 pt for getting sleep.  If you don't do any of those things you don't get the point....it should be fun to see how many points I can earn.  You can also earn bonus points for reflections/journaling each day.  It could be something as simple as "loving this!" or as complicated as a big long shpeel about how you are feeling.  Anything counts and after 5 reflections in a row you earn 2 bonus points.

Sound like fun?!?!?!  I'm sure there will be another one shortly after this challenge ends!  I'm going to do my best and get as many points as I can and I'll keep you all updated.

Oh!  IceMan!  I almost forgot....it was hard and cold and wet and super uncomfortable but I survived and lived to say I probably won't be doing that one again.  (Sorry Tiff!)

It was fun because I was with fun people, but they are the ONLY fun thing about it.  The obstacles themselves were borderline lame and the biggest obstacle was just WALKING in the snow....FORGET running!  There was very little running done by most people I would say.  The snow was deep and soft so dragging your feet/legs through the snow was LITERALLY the most challenging part.  At one point both my gloves were filled with snow and my fingers burned, but that was fairly quickly relieved thanks to the warm-ish weather we had (25 degrees or so).  HOWEVER using a porta potty in those temps was also NOT on my list of things to EVER do again.  Made me wish I was a man so I could stand up to pee.  Oh well!  It was a nice wake up call I guess.

HUGE shout out to the girls that rocked this "race" or "nightmare" (whichever you prefer) with me!!!  Made some new buddies too!  Can't wait to get to know them and continue on the healthy lifestyle journey with them all!

I just have to give a special message out to my girl, Kasey!!!  This was her VERY FIRST 5K EVER and it was one of the toughest I've done.  Excited you'll be along side me for many more to come! :)

It's ok

I had quite the revelation this morning and it hit me so hard upside my head, it may have actually changed my entire life.  I know that sounds pretty profound, but it was just two little words "It's OK".  Well how can those two little words change someone's whole life....let me explain....

First let me give you a background of my life to this point....I'll try to keep it brief.  Every time I made a mistake whether it was something I ate or something I did, etc I was always scolded by SOMEONE.  "C'mon Becky you can do better than that!"  "Why would you do that?!?!"  "I can't believe you ate that much!"  "No wonder you're so fat!"  "You need to work harder" "You need to try harder" "Should you be eating that?" and all I heard was "You are not good enough"  "You don't try hard enough" "You keep messing up".  I NEVER recall any kind of positive reinforcement in my life from anyone and if there was any it was VERY scarce.  Of course I'd identified this a long time ago through therapy, etc and had vowed to NOT do that to my own children and to try to eliminate as many people as possible that DO do it.

So you all know I have a private group on Facebook.  Just me and my good friend and we confide in each other, share our goals, share our slips, and celebrate our NSVs together and so many times I've said I was pissed because I ate something I shouldn't have or didn't make it to the gym as many days as I'd wanted or didn't feel like I worked as hard as I should've and her response was "and guess what?  It's ok".  So at first I wondered if this was her condoning my behavior and kind wished she'd said something a little more motivating or gave some encouragement to do better next time, but nope just "it's ok".

Fast forward to last night while I was making dinner.  I opened the cupboard and there was a 1/4 of a bag of Mike and Ike's left from the movie I took the kids to last week.  I ate them.  I did it.  I ate every single one and they were DELICIOUS!  However, then the guilt crept in and instantly I had the urge to throw in the towel, give up on my goals and devour every piece of sugar I could find in the house to get rid of it and then in the back of my head I heard my wiser than wise friend say "Guess what?  It's ok".  Almost instantly the craving to hunt for chocolate and inhale it faster and with more power than the Dyson in my porch was lifted. It's ok, It's ok. It's ok....it played over and over and over again in my head and it turned from "it's ok" to "it will BE ok" and finally in to "YOU are ok" and I went about my evening.  Ate my grilled fish and roasted veggies I'd prepared for dinner and didn't think about that handful of candy I'd eaten again.  There was no shame, there was no guilt, there was no emotional attachment to the candy or the drive to "show it a thing or two" by eating ALL of the sugar in the house.  I was ok and I survived a handful of candy.  And I AM ok!

For once in my life I feel like I am not a bad person for a few pieces of candy.  It will NOT destroy my life, it will not make me gain back the 180 lbs I've lost so far, it will not wreak havoc on my efforts thus far.  IT. WILL. BE. OK. and just knowing that helps me curb the desire for more.

My biggest NSV of the week, month, year, or my lifetime is that I feel like I'm a step closer to concurring emotional eating and THAT is an amazing feeling!

Happy Hump Day ALL!

New Year New You right?

How many commercials have you heard with that line?  LOL!  Probably every gym commercial, every diet plan, every meal delivery, every personal training system, every workout DVD, ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE.

Why?  Because they are counting on the fact that most of the population has outlined unrealistic expectations for themselves by resolving to "get healthier", "workout 5 days a week", "never eat chocolate again", and on and on and on.

So by now you've probably guessed that I didn't make any resolutions this year.  HOWEVER, I'm ALWAYS setting goals for myself and the beginning of 2014 is no different.  It's a time to reflect on the past year.  What do you wish you would've done differently?  What can you do to change the reflection for NEXT year?  What do you want to proud of?  What do you want to ACCOMPLISH?  And even more importantly what is going to drive you to achieve those goals.  I asked my boyfriend yesterday if he had any goals for 2014 and he said he didn't make resolutions and I explained that I don't think resolutions and goals are the same thing.  A resolution is something you PROMISE to do and when you fail after a couple months or you slip and make a mistake, you give up.  A GOAL is something to work toward, which can be measurable and you can check in with yourself throughout the day, month, year, etc.

Last night the kids came home from school both talking about resolutions.  I heard things from them like:

"I'll try to think before I speak"
"I'll try to be respectful"
"I won't get ANY shots this year!" (my 4 year old) lol
"I will work less" (again the 4 year old)

I mentioned things to them that we less specific than I will share with you, but also didn't put myself down or reflect a negative image on anything.

"I want to eat healthier"
"I want to be a better listener"
"I want to be a better mom"

Just then my daughter interrupted me and said "HEY!  I have one for you mom!"  Curious, I asked what her opinion was.  She said "You really need to work on not worrying so much" and boy is she right!  I worry and stress about a lot of things and my kids are even aware that I take a prescription for "worrying" (aka anxiety).  Not because I flat out told them, but because they asked if I was sick and why I take medicine every day.  I explained that it just helps mommy not worry so much and they seemed to understand that.

So goals are something I do EVERY SINGLE DAY!  It could be as small as "stay out of the snack shop at work" or "stretch when you get up".  In fact, most of them ARE that small, but it's the small differences each day that make the biggest difference.  I've found, the day I don't set an "intention" or "goal" I tend to give in to temptation, skip a workout, etc.  I am a VERY goal driven person and I LIKE being held accountable.  The moral support group I've created on FB with my good girl friend has been an absolute God send!  I check in with her, she with me and we post our goals, NSVs etc.

I will constantly be adding to my list of goals, but here they are for today....it's a start

Goals for 2014
1. Try a new healthy recipe each week
2. Complete IceMan 2014
3. Complete Go Commando 2014
4. Complete 3 other 5Ks during 2014
5. Get back in to my size 11/12 jeans by the end of the year
6. Spend more time just listening to the kids and observing them from a distance
7. Make time to stretch every single day
8. CALL someone to TALK (not text) once a week
9. Save $4000 over the course of the year
10. Increase my credit score by 100 pts

Again, all of these are GOALS for the YEAR and will be posted on my fridge to keep them at the forefront of my thinking and this obviously does not include my daily goals I set for myself.

I'd LOVE to hear who else has set goals for 2014 and what they are.  I'm here to support and encourage you :)

Happy Friday!