Time Management

This post is somewhat of a continuation from my post last week - There will always be critics.  When I tell people about my workout regimen, I usually get the "I don't have the time for that" excuse.  Even though my diet was total crap before September 24, 2011, I have always exercised.  I love cardio.  I was a cheerleader in the 8th grade, I did drill team in 9th grade.  In high school I remember doing Denise Austin aerobic videos before school and situps before bed.  When I went to college I took advantage of their gym and went to step/aerobic classes.  I started running after I had a breast reduction in 1996 (I know, boo hoo!  I am 5'2" and before my surgery I measured a FF bra size).  I guess that I really started in 1997 because I had to heal and all that jazz.  I started gradually with a run/walk program and I eventually lost the 15 pounds that I had gained when as a freshmen.  During the first 10 years of my marriage, I either ran or walked on and off with friends, went to the gym when I had a membership, or did workout videos at home.  In 2007 I became friends with "J-wanna," aka Tara Scott.  We call her J-wanna because she always starts out a conversation with "you wanna ...?"  She talked me into running my first 1/2 marathon in Ogden, Utah.  We had so much fun!  We stuck together through the whole race, pushing and encouraging each other.  I guess that I should mention that Tara has done about a million marathons, so this distance was a piece of cake.  A few weeks after the race she tried to convince me into running a marathon and I told her that I never would run a marathon.  Well, I was wrong.  I have now run 3 marathons and 7 half marathons.  Tara also talked me into doing an all women 100 mile road bike ride last year.

As for strength training, I have finally learned to like it.  I still don't love it.  I still prefer to run, but I see how strength training is sculpting my body and I do love that.  I was an off again/ on again strength trainer, but now I make sure that I do it 4 times a week plus Monica's Tabata Class, which also include resistance training.  Right now I am averaging 10 hours of exercise per week.  Monday-2, Tuesday-1, Wednesday-2, Thursday-2, Friday-2, and Saturday-2.  In a few months my mileage will increase, so my Thursday and Saturday hours of exercise will increase as I prepare for my marathon in June.  I also am currently working about 20-25 hours per week and I have 2 very busy children.  How do I do it?  First of all, I have a very supportive husband (which means he's scared of me), 2 low maintenance children (again, scared of me), and I have a difficult time sleeping in past 6 am.  Since Mondays and Thursdays are my days off, I get up around 5:30 or 6 am and I start laundry, today I cleaned my bathroom and dusted before I had to get the kids going.  I seem to be doing laundry all day on these days and cleaning. Last year I had some bulging discs so I wasn't able to vacuum.  My husband actually likes to vacuum, so he has taken up the vacuuming and that has helped out immensely.  My children also help out, but I usually have mostly everything done by the time they get home from school so they can chill a little before they have to venture out for their other activities.  

As for food, when I tried to do all of my food prep in one day, I found it overwhelming so I use Mondays to get ready for Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday to get ready for the rest of the week.  On the days that I work, I pack my cooler and get my breakfast ready the night before to allow me more time to exercise in the morning.  As a general rule, I do not like getting up before 5 am, so on the days that I have to leave for work by 7 am, I cut my workouts down.  I have to allow myself an hour to get ready because I don't like to be rushed.  When my husband is home he will either make dinner or help me out with dinner and cleaning up.  I don't make elaborate meals, even on my days off.  I try to stick with simple, clean ingredients and make meals that we all enjoy.  I try not to leave housework for the days that I work, because I'm usually beat.

What all of this comes down to is time management.  I don't watch TV while my kids are at school unless it's while I am folding laundry.  I listen to books on my iPhone while I do housework and then I will read, blog, etc. in the evenings during our quiet time.  Or right now, while I had a few minutes before my daughter comes home from school and dinner is in the crock pot and laundry is waiting for me to fold it.  I don't do much shopping during the week, except for groceries.  I actually don't enjoy shopping that much so I usually have to force myself to go.  I do love online shopping though, which is not good for my piggy bank.

As for finding time to workout, I sit down on Sunday and plan out my week in my Exercise Journal that I made for myself.  I look at my marathon training schedule, my HIIT schedule, and my strength training schedule and then I plan out what I am going to do for the week.  I also decide what time of day I will be exercising and for how long.  I have 5 runs scheduled for this week, so I will do one of those as a HIIT (speedwork), one as a long run, 2 short runs, and one easy, whatever I want it to be run.  I have split my strength training into 4 days, to do on my lighter run days.  On Friday, I plan on doing a HIIT at home, similar to what I did on Saturday.  I also leave these plans somewhat open to change, then I won't get overly stressed if something doesn't go according to plan.  I prefer to work out as early as possible, so I set it as #1 priority for every single day.

I have often told people that anyone can run a marathon.  I honestly believe it.  I think that anyone can do anything they put their mind to.  If I have enough time to do all of this, anyone does.  All you have to do is make it a priority.  Tell your family that you are taking time for yourself.  If they don't understand, then you have not made them scared of you and that's your problem. Just kidding!  Seriously though, I know that I am a much nicer mother and wife if I have had time to do something for myself for 2 hours and then I can devote the rest of the day to my family.  You might have to sacrifice your love for Pinterest or TV or cooking crazy, extravagant meals, but in the long run everyone will be happier.  I honestly believe that my health is more important than anything else in my life right.  When I am healthy I am happier and I am able to do all the other things that are vitally important much more efficiently and with a smile.  Also I am showing my children that my life has value, too.  My husband really is so supportive and that is the key.  He gets it because he loves to be fit too.  And really, he is a little bit scared of me!

End of 2 of the 12 week challenge

I really finished up week 2 with a bang.  Please refer to my earlier post:  "Hi, my name is Lisa and I'm addicted to sugar."  Seriously, I have a problem with that white stuff.  It is my crack, my drug.  Yesterday, I had finished out my week with a 30 minute HIIT and then a 5 mile run on tired legs.  My HIIT was a 50 seconds work with 10 seconds rest split.  I did a total of 80 burpees, because I have been doing a burpee challenge this month.  I also did mountain climbers, dips, thrusters, renegade pushups, high knees, butt kicks, lunges, squats and 5 minutes of abs.  My run was good and even though my legs were tired, I was able to complete it in under 50 minutes.  I ate my normal pre and post workout meals.  My daughter and I had a baby shower to go to for my nephew's baby in my hometown an hour away.  I packed up snacks- apples, protein powder, boiled eggs, and a 60 calorie prune packs.  My sister made most of the food, so I knew that she had made ground beef slidder patties and a veggie tray that I would be able to eat for lunch.  I was a little wishy washy on dessert though-that is problem number 1!  When we got there I saw that the dessert was mini cupcakes.  I thought - Nope, not worth it.  Then I took a closer look.  There was red velvet and chocolate, which are my favorite cakes.  After eating some sliders and veggies galore, I decided that I would have one of each.  I hadn't had any sugar in 2 weeks and I figured that 2 mini cupcakes would be ok.  And then I lost all sense of reason and control.  I ended up eating at least 8 and then 2 chocolate chip cookies.  WHY?!?!  Why do I have such a love/hate relationship with sugar?  I thought that giving up Diet Coke/Dr. Pepper would be hard, but I can have one can a month and then have no desire to drink it again for a very long time.  But sugar, that is a different story.  I crave it every single day.  EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

I'm not writing this to beat myself up over this total lapse, I already spent last night doing that.  I know that it was only a short period of time, especially considering how well I had done for the 2 weeks prior.  I'm writing this somewhat as a confession.  But mostly this is my way of saying that I have an addiction.  Sure, it's not an addiction like alcohol, drugs, porn, or sex (my husband would like that one though-was that TMI?).  But I feel like it is still serious.  Not just for me, but for many Americans.  I have been watching The Biggest Loser and I see how these people are put into essentially a quarantine of sorts.  They have all these like minded people, with the same goals surrounding them.  Sure, they can make poor choices, but the repercussions are great.  I can't put myself in a bubble.  I can't force my family to change.  I can't make people not bring sweets to parties.  The only thing that I can change is myself.  I have done awesome! I have come a long ways.  The old Lisa would have eaten all of that, but she also would have also eaten dessert every day the 2 weeks prior.  I'm not that Lisa anymore.  Sometimes the old Lisa pokes her evil head out and gets me into trouble though.  I need to get rid of her once and for all.  Good thing that this is a process or a journey or just plain life.  I will conquer this addiction!  I will get the body that I want.

Day 12 (where did 7-11 go?)

This has been an interesting week of ups and downs.  I look in the mirror and I see that I actually have a butt.  Seriously, there is some nice "shelf" action going on there.  I think it's because the majority of the weight I lost has been in my back, so I am not just a square from my neck to my thighs now.  Then I turn and look at my belly-not pretty!  Will I ever have a flat stomach?  Honestly, is it going to take surgery?  As of Monday, I have lost 15 pounds since September.  That's pretty good, right?  But I still have a ways to go.

This week I followed Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer program.  I'm actually on week 3 of the program.  The first 2 weeks only had 4 days of lifting, so I continued with what I had been doing, which was a five day program.  This week, however, I followed her plan.  I had to improvise a bit because I lifted at home this week.  Monday was "legs" and since we did a ton of squats and lunges in Tabata class, I just ran on the treadmill and then walked forward, backward and sideways (with leg bands) at 30% grade.  The rest of the days are as follows - day 2:back and biceps, day 3:chest and triceps, day 4: legs, day 5: abs and shoulders, days 6 and 7: rest.  I will rest on Sunday, but the other "rest" day I will use as a long run day.  What I really like about this program is that Jamie Eason said that you can mix up the days to accommodate your schedule.  This works good since sometimes life can get crazy.  She also recommends adding the muscle group that needs the most work on to another day, three days after you worked it.  For example, on Tuesday I worked my back and biceps.  My back is very week and my biceps need more definition, so I am going to add those on with abs and shoulders.  We purchased one of those pull up bars that you put over the door frame, so I'm just going to work on trying to get a wide grip pull up.  You can also do close grip chin ups and pull ups on it, which I can do about 1 of each.

Emotionally, I am as unstable as ever.  Like I already said, this week has been full of ups and downs.  I haven't had any added sugar, including natural sources like honey, for 12 days.  Last night I walked by my daughters bag of sour patch kids and I thought about just eating one, but I refrained.  I haven't even been eating dark chocolate.  I have also kept all the other aspects of my diet "tight."  I have been following Tosca Reno's stripped diet.  This means that I eat 1-2 fats, 1-2 starchy carbs, and 1-2 fruits per day.  Everything else is lean protein and vegetables.  Today I did splurge a little and had a banana, berries, and an apple.  Usually, though, I only have 1/2 a banana or 2 TBSP applesauce in my oatmeal and then either berries in my smoothie or an apple as a snack.  As for starchy carbs, I have oatmeal every morning and then maybe a sweet potato for lunch.  If I eat a pumpkin protein bar or turkey meatloaf meatballs, I count those as my other starchy carb since they have oats in them.  As for fats, I put flaxseed oil in my shakes and then I will either put balsamic vinaigrette on my salad or have nuts/nut butter.  What is frustrating is that  after all of this, after everything that I'm not eating, I look in the mirror and I don't see any change (except for my back).  My "mommy's belly" is not going anywhere, my inner thighs are still "fatty," and where are all those muscles I have been working on developing?  I could go on, but I am going to quit boobing and complaining and get over myself (yeah right).  Even though I am frustrated, I am glad that I committed to this 12 week challenge.  It is what is keeping me from going to Costco and buying a red velvet cake and eating the whole thing by myself.  I know that I just have to keep it together.  The time will pass whether or not I stick with it and looking back in 12 weeks, I will be so glad that I stuck with the tight diet and didn't fall off the wagon.   I just hope that I don't look like an idiot in the "after" picture!!!

There will always be critics

Today as I was making what my family lovingly calls my baby poop smoothie (the combination of pumpkin and greens does tend to make that color), I started to think of all the people that have told that they could never eat clean.  I was one of those people before I started on this journey.  I thought that I would never be able to give up my daily 44 oz fountain beverage, sweets, and eating out three to four times a week.  But guess what, I did.  Yesterday, my husband went on a lunch date to my favorite Mexican restaurant.  It was my one "cheat" meal for the week.  I think I ate about 3 chips with beans and salsa and I even drank a diet coke.  I felt a little bit naughty, but it was a good naughty.  One that will keep me going.  I'm not sure about the soda though, I kind of feel dehydrated and I have a headache today.  I order carne asada and I ate half my plate and brought home the other half.  My son gobbled it up immediately, leaving no temptation for me.

Yes, I struggle.  Yes, I have moments of weakness.  Yes, sometimes I want to scream at my naturally thin, fit husband that life isn't fair (seriously that man can put food away and it doesn't cause him to gain fat)!  But I still continue to plug away.  I keep telling myself that Tosca Reno didn't even start eating clean until she was 40 and look at what she has achieved.  I can do it, you can do it, anyone can do it!  There will always be those people that are going to criticize your lifestyle changes, but there are also a lot of cheerleaders out there that will be your lifeline.  I don't know what I would do without my husband who reminds me that the guilt isn't worth the cookie (he just doesn't want to hear about it for the next 2 days), my clean eating and exercise obsessed friends Priscilla and Monica, and even my children (they hide all their junk food from me).  Even my family that are not clean eaters and are not exercise obsessed like me, are being more supportive all the time.  They see the changes that this journey has had on me.  The other day Monica even told me that she thought that I seem happier.  It is true, I feel great.  That's what is the most important thing, feeling and performing better.  The looking better is just an added bonus!

Yesterday marked the completion of week 1 of this 12 week challenge.  I feel really good about the week.  I kept my diet "tight" and I am going to continue to get the most out of every single workout.  Priscilla's determination to master the chin up bar has inspired me to do so too.  I read something about standing naked in front of the mirror and really assessing how you want to change your body.  Of course I want to get rid of my pudgy tummy, but when I did this I concentrated more on assessing my muscle definition.  I want to be able to see more definition in my biceps and I want to work on developing the V-taper.  In order to do this I need to really work on the upper back area (trapezius) and pull the shoulders out and up.  I'm not sure if they slant because of poor posture or not, but I need to work on that too.  I think that the only way to do this is to continue with lifting heavy and adding an extra back day into my routine.  And also mastering the chin up!

Clean Eating Deliciousness

I sat down to eat this salad and I couldn't get over how beautiful it was so I had to share it. I really like Newman's Own balsamic vinagrette. It has 45 calories per TBSP. Super yummy!!!

Chia Pudding
I found this recipe in Oxygen Magazine. There are tons of clean carbs you could add with this pudding as a snack or "dessert."
1 cup almond milk
1 scoop protein powder
1/4 cup chia seeds
Blend together and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until the chia seeds start to gel together.
Makes 2 servings

Today I made it with cookies and cream protein powder and added chopped strawberries. I'm thinking of eating the second serving for a dessert tonight and add blueberries.

12 Week Challenge: Catching up on days 2-6

I don't know why, but I have had absolutely no interest in sitting down and writing this blog this week.  All week I would think of what I would write, I kept notes in my weight training and food journals, and I stuck with my program.  However, I never got down to composing posts throughout the week.  I'll just sum it all up.  I lifted heavy weights (for me), I ate nutritious foods and I did not eat sugar or sweets of any kind.  The only splurge I have had is applesauce in my morning oatmeal, this is my new favorite.  2 tbsp is all I add and it is super delicious.  I have almost gone through 5 dozen eggs this week.  I have really been focusing on getting my veggies in and cutting back on fruits.  I have also found that my body doesn't like nuts.  I have been getting terrible stomachaches since I started clean eating.  I used a process of elimination to try to figure out what was causing the problem.  When I cut out the walnuts from my oatmeal and nuts as a snack, the problem did not occur.  I have also cut out dark chocolate, which I think was also contributing to the problem.  I'm wondering if it is the fat in these foods that my body has a hard time processing.

I have spent this past week obsessing over whether I am eating enough or too much and whether or not I am doing enough weight training and cardio.  I have heard and read about how our bodies like to eat muscle when we are trying to lose body fat, so this makes the eating and exercise even more important.  I struggle with making two dinners-one for me and one for my family.  Often I can just make a variation of mine, such as last night I made pasta with ground turkey marinara sauce.  Instead of pasta, I put mine over grilled zucchini and I ate a side salad with lots of veggies.  Other nights I just made what was easy, trying to keep it clean for my family, while I ate some of my pre-made foods.

I have had quite a bit of self doubt this week (as usual).  I have questioned why I have done this challenge.  I dread getting my picture taken again in 11 weeks and there being no noticeable change.  I have had to constantly remind myself that I did this to motivate me, that this is for me.  I really did need a kick in the butt since I have started to plateau and I wasn't really doing anything to change that.  Now, I seriously scrutinize every single bite that goes into my mouth.  On Tuesday, there were cinnamon rolls and orange rolls and dark chocolate cupcakes at work.  Pastries are not my first love, so I was able to pass those over without a second thought, but those cupcakes are divine.  I decided that I wasn't going to have one, not even a taste.  So when my coworker asked me if I wanted to split one with her, I was able to say no and that I wasn't even going to have one bite.  I decided that one bite wasn't worth the hours of guilt I would feel later.  I also have been sticking to what I bring in my cooler.  On Wednesdays I try to go to Kettlebell class at the gym after work.  It was a super busy day and I was so hungry by 5 pm.  Luckily, I did have some decent snacks in my car, but they were not the best choices.  I learned from that experience that I need to make sure that I have one extra clean meal in my cooler.

I really hope that I am doing enough, pushing myself hard enough and eating right.  I initially set out to do this on my own, but really I have had a ton of outside help.  I am constantly getting advice from Priscilla, my clean eating and running buddy.  I have also used my friend Monica, an instructor at the gym, and Evelyn, a trainer at the gym, as resources.  Most of all, I read Tosca Reno's books.  I just got two more of her books this week.  One is for weight training and the other is my own copy of her clean eating diet (I have borrowed Priscilla's in the past).  Hopefully I am figuring this whole thing out.  I just wish that I had more time, this last week went by way too fast!

12 week challenge: Day 1

Today was the first official day of this 12 week challenge. Last night I had book club and I gave into peer pressure and ate dessert, but that is my last dessert for 12 weeks, period!!! Today I decided to do a little cleansing just to kick things off. It was a good day for cleansing since I take Sunday off from any exercise. Actually today was spent laying around most of the day. This morning a drank 24 ounces of water with the juice of 2 lemons right when I got up. I didn't eat breakfast until 9:30 because of my laziness. I made a smoothie out of vanilla protein powder, spinach, pumpkin, flaxseed oil, almond milk and spices. For lunch I had egg whites, chicken, and salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I had another smoothie for my mid afternoon snack, but I added almond butter instead of the oil and chocolate protein powder. Dinner was salmon and sweet potato chips. I make them by slicing up a sweet potato as thinly as possible and tossing it with olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper. Then I baked them at 425 for about 20 minutes per side or until a bit crisp but not burnt. I was hungry later in the evening so I had 2 egg whites and some of the leftover sweet potato chips I feel like my body is now ready for this new challenge.


I heard once that if you feel hungry, but you don't want to eat an apple, then you probably aren't really hungry. I decided to change it from an apple to an egg white, since I love apples and right now they seem like a delicious treat!. So whenever I feel like snacking on something, I'll get out the egg whites (good thing I boiled a dozen yesterday).

Week 2: Experimentation

This week I walked around the weight room at my gym trying out the equipment.  The majority of it I have used in the past, so I mostly just had to reacquaint myself with things.  What frustrates me the most with this area is that I have to wait for other people to finish using whatever equipment I had planned on using next in my routine.  I also get distracted talking to friends.  These two factors greatly increase my time at the gym.  What I have decided is that I will continue to use the assisted pull up machine, free weights, and cables at the gym when I have extra time, but on my work days I will do my strength training at home.  I have found it is so much more convenient and less time consuming to pump iron in the privacy of my home gym.  On my days off, I may get up before my kids, do my strength training at home, and then go to the gym for cardio when they are at school.

Week 2 workouts:
Monday I ran 2 1/2 miles on the treadmill and then I went to Tabata.  This was my leg day, but we did a ton of lunges and squats in Tabata, so I mostly spent this day trying out the different leg equipment and experimenting with how much weight I could lift.

Tuesday I warmed up on the rowing machine and then I did an interval run: 10/200 meters, which actually ended up being 1 minute of an all out sprint and 1 minute of walking.  Strength training was shoulders and abs.

Wednesday I warmed up on the rowing machine again (I love that thing) and then I did back and biceps.  I used the assisted pull up machine.  Using the assisted pull up machine makes me feel like a huge wimp but I don't have a spotter and I guess I need to start somewhere, right.  I still want to figure out a way to construct a pull up bar in my basement, but we haven't figured it out yet.  After work, I was able to run back to the gym and try out the kettlebell class.  I had to leave a half hour early to get my son to an activity, but it was worth the half hour.

Thursday the weather actually was nice for a few hours (by a few hours I mean that about 30 minutes after my run the temperate dropped, the wind started blowing and it started to snow) so I parked at the gym and ran a 6 mile loop. I called it a LSRUAH (long slow run up a hill).  Since when did 6 miles feel like a long run?  That's what I kept asking myself at least.  Then I went back to the gym and tortured my legs some more with weighted step ups, lunges, ham curls, glutes, and inner/outer thigh strength training.

Friday I stayed home and did a circuit focusing on my chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs.  It was a great workout and I totally kicked my own butt.  My legs were exhausted from the week, so all the burpees and mountain climbers I threw in did not make them happy.

Saturday was supposed to be a 10 mile run with my favorite running buddy.  We haven't ran together in so long I don't even know if I would recognize her (just kidding, that's what facebook is for).  The weather was nasty, with temperatures below 0, with wind and snow.  We decided that frostbite would be unpleasant, so we did our own thing.  I went to a 2 hour spin class.  It was really fun, but I haven't done any biking since the early summer so my bottom is sore today.

What I fed my family this week:
Chicken Noodle Soup
I used the "chicken broth" left from when I cooked chicken in the crockpot.  I followed a recipe that I found on The Gracious Pantry blog. You can look it up or just follow a recipe that you have using clean ingredients. It was really good and my family loved it.  They were even disappointed when the leftovers were gone.  Abby has a small thermos that keeps food warm for about 6 hours.  I felt really good sending her with clean chicken noodle soup, instead of Spaghetti O's (which her dad sent her with earlier in the week).

Almond Butter and Oat Protein Balls
This is a recipe that I got from Priscilla.  I made some changes though and they were still  a big hit.  They only lasted two days and yes I was a huge contributing factor to them disappearing so quickly.
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup oat bran or wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flax
2 scoops protein powder
1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup honey
Combine the dry ingredients. Warm up the honey so it's easier to mix, then stir the honey and the almond butter before adding to the dry ingredients.  Add almond milk until you get the desired consistency.  Roll into balls or press into a 8x8 pan.  Refrigerate.

12 week challenge- call me crazy!

Today I signed up for the 12 week challenge at my gym, but that's not why I'm crazy. I'm crazy because I actually let a photographer take a picture of me in a sports bra and my tankini bottoms (they are a bit less revealing than bikini bottoms). I told the guy checking me in that the only ones I have ever let see my stomach are my husband and my gynecologist. He wasn't impressed. I'm really trying not to think negatively about myself. I just hope that I will be able to change my body enough that my after picture won't be embarrassing. Hopefully that, in and of itself, will keep me on track. When I think about going without sugar for 12 weeks it seems like forever, but when I think about getting that after picture taken in 12 weeks-it doesn't seem like very long at all.

Food Prep

I honestly believe that the most important thing that I do all week (related to this process) is my food prep.  These past 2 weeks I have slacked off on my food prep, which resulted in my family eating out more and me not eating as nutritious as possible.  Today I made Turkey meatballs and Protein pumpkin bars, you can find the recipes at http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/get-lean-eat-clean-with-jamie-eason-main-page.htm. 
I also chopped up a bag of mini peppers, half I sauteed and then froze to use later for fajitas and the other half I will use in salads.  The carrots are on top of celery that I chopped up for chicken noodle soup and the tomatoes are also for salads, fajitas, or whatever.  Not pictured is a dozen eggs I boiled on Saturday and  two pounds of chicken I cooked on Sunday.  I also ground up extra oats to use later.  It was a busy day, but I'm so glad that I can just pull out snacks and meal starters at any time.  It makes my week so much easier.
Also not pictured are the "dirty" chocolate chip cookies that I made for my family.  My husband made a big deal about me not doing any substitutions.  So don't tell him that I substituted 1/2 the sugar with sucanat and I used oat and wheat flour too.  He just told me they were delicious, so let's not ruin it for him.

I need to add a little side note to my last blog:  I wrote that I thought that the nitrate free ham was a good alternative when I needed a quick protein.  Lunch meat is full of sodium, so I wouldn't eat it often.  Actually, I hadn't had lunch meat in a very long time.  These past few weeks, I did not do my food prep, so the ham was actually the best choice I had at the moment.  Now, I can simply warm up a few turkey meatballs (for something savory) or pull out a pumpkin protein bar (for something sweet) when I need something quick and easy.  They are so yummy!

Week 1 recipes and workouts

Recipes

I feel like I was super sneaky this week with my food.  Believe it or not, no one complained about what I made. I keep thinking that I need to add a disclaimer here that these are not the cleanest meals that I ate all week, but the purpose of this is to clean up the recipes that my family loves.  For example, I have a recipe for Broccoli soup that my family loves.  I made it for a family dinner we had on New Year Day, but I cleaned it up a little bit.  The recipe calls for cream of broccoli soup, so I adapted a cream of mushroom soup from the Gracious Pantry website http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-cream-of-mushroom-soup/.  I  followed the recipe from step 4, then I chopped up frozen broccoli and added it to the chicken broth.  I blended it to the desired consistency before adding the rest of the ingredients.  I think that this recipe could be adapted to make all of the "cream" soups.  Thickener, like flour and corn starch, could be used if you wanted a thicker soup.  I just used less water in my soup recipe.  The Broccoli Soup recipe is a cleaned up recipe.  I don't eat very much dairy, but the cream cheese really adds a creaminess to this recipe.

Broccoli Soup
1/2 a batch of Cream of Broccoli soup recipe (I used 1 bag of cauliflower and 1 bag of broccoli)
1 medium carrot shredded
2 tsp dried minced onion
1 block cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat, I'm not sure if there is a clean subsitute)
Diced, cooked chicken
The recipe calls for 1 pkg. wild rice cooked.  You could substitute quinoa or brown rice too.  You would need to season to taste.
Mix everything, warm and enjoy

I also made taco soup this week using a recipe I found in Clean Eating Magazine.  Really the only idea I used was instead of using Campbell's Tomato Soup, I used 2 TBSP of tomato paste mixed with 1 cup of water.  I cooked ground turkey with onions and garlic and then I combined the tomato paste mixture, 2 cans low sodium diced tomatoes, and 1 can of black beans.  I used taco seasoning, even though it's not as clean as just adding spices, but I think that it makes the soup taste better.

I am really proud of this last recipe.  It needs some tweaking still because it had a little too much tang to it,  probably from the Greek yogurt.  I realized later that I probably could have used a banana instead of the yogurt.   I also want to try it with some protein powder next time.  After I baked the cookies and ate a few, my husband and I left the kids at home to run some errands.

This is what we came home to, obviously the cookies were a hit!

Outrageously Clean Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/4 cup Sucanat
6 packets Stevia
2 1/2 TBSP honey
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup natural nut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup flour- I used whole wheat pastry flour because I was too lazy to grind any almonds or oats, but I'm sure either would work great, too.
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips (raisins would probably be yummy as a substitute)
Before I cooked them, I smashed them down a little bit with a spatula because they stay in a tight ball when they cook.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

The regular recipe called for 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup of butter and all-purpose flour.  Omitting these cut about 40 calories per cookie.  Plus the benefit that the cookies are pretty darn clean.

I also found a new page on Facebook that I "like." http://www.facebook.com/CreatingAFamilyOfLettuceHeads?ref=stream
I found some great meal and workout ideas from her page.  She used some nitrate free ham on a salad, which I copied and loved it.  Sometimes I get tired of chicken and turkey breast, so I thought that was a great, quick substitute for a hectic day.

Workouts

On Monday I went to Gold's Gym to try out my friend, Monica's, tabata class.  They gave me the whole sales pitch and I ended up rejoining.  I got my butt kicked in Monica's class.  Afterward, I tried to run 3 miles, but by 1/2 mile into the run, my legs were like jello so I went home.  On Tuesday I did a dumbbell upper body routine and then headed to the gym for a short run on the treadmill.  Wednesday, I had time after work (while my daughter was at gymnastics) for an interval run, squats, lunges, abs, and the stair climber.  Thursday I ran "Heartbreak Hill" or the treadmill version of it and then headed home for more upper body.  Friday I did a circuit workout that my husband developed.  I didn't make it a cardio workout like he does,  instead I focused on legs-burpees, step-ups, lunges, and squats.  Saturday I had to be to work by 8, but the gym doesn't open until 6 on the weekend, so I did an extra upper body workout until 5:50 and then I went to the gym where I did 10 minutes on the row machine, 40 minutes of hill intervals, and then I tried out the assisted pull up bar for the first time.  The upper body workout that I did on Saturday was one that I found in the Oxygen Magazine.  The concept is to work a muscle group to fatigue.  For instance, I started with pushups- the first set was with my feet up on a bench until I couldn't do anymore, then I went to a normal pushup to fatigue, then to my knees and then finally with my hands on the bench.  Lateral shoulder raises-10 pounds to 8 pounds to 5 pounds. Back: Single arm rows- 30 #, 15#, 10#.  Triceps: dips, 10# kickbacks, 8# kickbacks.  Bicep curls- 15#, 10#, 8#.  I did about 15-20 reps for each one before going to a "easier" weight.  I'm also doing a Burpee Challenge that I found on the Creating a Family of Lettuce Heads Page

I'm probably nuts.  Today I did 30 burpees as part of my warm up since tomorrow is Sunday and I'm taking the day off from all things physical.

Overall, it was a good week.  The temperatures have been below zero every morning, which is crazy!  I ran through the winter last year and loved it.  This year, not so much.  I haven't ran outside for 2 weeks because of the cold. The last time I ran outside was when I was visiting my sister in Arizona.  I'm hoping that next week it will be at least 10 degrees in the morning so that I can get off the treadmill and onto the roads.  I loved the tabata class and I'm looking forward to getting in some spinning and kettlebell classes too.

Week 1: Clean Eating 2013

As part of my nutrition resolution for 2013, I wanted to share my clean eating lifestyle with others.  I was first introduced to clean eating in September of 2012 by my friend, Priscilla Bake.  You can follow her blog at http://amarathonmom2b.blogspot.com/  She introduced me to Tosca Reno and lent me her book Just the Rules.  I highly recommend it as a starting place.  I actually have purchased several of her other books, but if you want to learn more than just the basics, The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged! is the next book I would recommend.  Unlike a lot of books that I have read on this subject, her books are very comprehensive and written in a way that is easy to understand.  The third book that I would recommend is Your Best Body Now.  This book is just inspiring.  Included in it are pictures of women, at all ages, that went from overweight to totally ripped.  As you will find though, these are not quick 12 week programs.  Yes, you can lose a ton of weight and body fat in 12 weeks, but the women in these books took years to transform their bodies.

My personal clean eating tips:
1.  I don't skip breakfast. I start my day off with a bowl of oatmeal or teff and a banana everyday, sometimes I add blueberries too.  This is my one high carb meal of the day.  Of course, I also add protein to every meal, so I will have walnuts with my cereal or some type of eggs.  I usually don't eat any other grains during the day.  I flavor my cereal with Stevia and cinnamon and add almond milk to the desired consistency.  I also drink a cup of hot water and lemon.  I love breakfast and I honestly look forward to it.

2.  I add flaxseed oil to my mid-morning smoothie and I drink green tea.   These two items are what keeps my system functioning properly, if you know what I mean.  Seriously, if I skip either one of them, I am miserable!!!

3.  I eat 6 meals a day.  I have always been a grazer.  I start grazing around 4 pm, so I make sure that I always have almonds, almond butter, or string cheese and an apple or celery sticks at hand.  It also helps to have herbal tea available, my new love is Peppermint tea.  It really helps to eliminate any cravings I always have for sweets.  I also will eat 85% dark chocolate if I am really needing something sweet.  I eat a carbohydrate and a protein with every meal.  After breakfast, the only carbs I eat are fruits, vegetables, and maybe quinoa (it's not my favorite thing to eat).  I really focus on getting as many veggies as possible.  I love fruits the most, so including veggies is sometimes a struggle.  I limit my fruit to one banana, 1/2 cup of berries, and an apple a day.

4.  I have "liked" lots of inspirational women, magazines, and groups on facebook that keep me on track.  My favorites are ones that show what delicious and clean foods they are eating.  It reminds me of what I CAN have, so I won't focus on what I CANNOT have.

5.  I have to admit that I struggle not to have too many splurges.  I would eat dessert and popcorn every night if I didn't cause me to have additional belly fat.  I guess that's how we all feel, right.  Well, maybe not my husband who can eat just about anything he wants.

6.  I avoid processed foods as much as possible.  I don't eat white sugar or flour, unless I am splurging.  I also eat the foods that I prepare as often as I can.  I do have a large extended family that I spend a lot of time traveling to visit, which makes it difficult to only eat my own food.  When I eat out, I order what I think would be the closest thing to what I would make for myself at home and I take as much clean food with me as possible.  I have cut out diet soda from my diet.  I do drink it still occasionally with my cheat meal, but I try not to make a habit of it.  I hate to admit it, but I miss Diet Coke and sugar immensely.

This list is not all inclusive, but they are the things that I have found to be the most helpful in this journey.