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New Year, New Goals (and why have I been MIA?)
| January 2, 2014 |
I know I have been a little MIA the past few months… let me explain. The past few months I have been on a roller coaster. One minute I am super motivated and eating right and the next I am picking up old habits and saying things like “tomorrow I will go to the gym” and “tomorrow I will be more strict on my diet” … but waiting until tomorrow is the oldest cliche in the book.
Yes, every day is a new day and new opportunity to start fresh and make good decisions, but every time you take another bite is a decision. You don’t have to wait until the next day to make a change. Why not start (or re-start) with the next fork full of noms?
I know very very well how temping the gooey artichoke dip can be or happy hour at the local sushi place. Trust me, I will admit that in the past 3 months I have gained 10 pounds. I felt like I couldn’t preach to the blogging world about my weight loss journey when all I was doing was gaining – sitting on my couch while eating Thai take-out. That’s not a positive journey at all – a journey to the dark side. I was feeling so guilty about my new habits but didn’t have the motivation to do anything about it. Even my trainer started to get more on my back about what I ate and my lack of exercise because it was noticeable.
So what happened? I had the right mindset and I was on top of my game…. life happens. No one said it was easy. If it were easy, there wouldn’t be so many people out there struggling with the same things I am. You have to make time for your goals because no one is there to micromanage your every decision.
I was talking to a friend of mine on new years eve who recently lost 50 pounds. There are no miracle diets or workouts any one person can do that works for everyone across the board, but the true secret to her success was and is her mindset. I know it sounds cliche but even I have said that in the past (when I was on my weight loss streak). She told me that every day she took some “me” time to keep her on track, just thinking about the future.
This leads me to my new year’s resolution:
I will wake up every morning and stretch. Side Tangent: I am not a fan of yoga. I’m going old school with traditional stretching because if your muscles are tight, you have a far higher risk of injury when working out. While stretching, I wont think about my scary long to-do list. This time is for reminding myself who I want to be. Where do I see myself next year and how do I get there? I am the only one holding me back from my goals. This year will be a year of change.
Also, from now on I am counting macros (macronutrients). So all my new recipes will have the fat, protein, carbs and fiber listed (throwing in fiber for good measure). My trainer Emily Mraule thought it might be easier for me and my creative cooking to calculate my macros rather than just tell me what to eat. So I am keeping a food journal to keep me on track. Too bad I didn’t get that food scale I wanted from Santa this year, haha.
Did you make a plan-for-sucess to keep you on track for your new year’s resolution?
Motivational Monday & Downloadable Menu Planner
| August 19, 2013 |
I have been on the biggest motivational downward spiral the past month or two. It’s normal to get burnt out and relapse back to old habits. The hard part is realizing it and then picking yourself back up and getting back on track.
[I’m about to admit a nerdy secret of mine]
I got a little addicted (or obsessed) to Survivor … you know, the show where a bunch of people get stranded on a deserted island in hopes of winning a million dollars? Yea, that’s the one. I can’t seem to stop. I’m streaming season after season, but my newly found nerd habit is a couch driven activity. Not to mention, I also find myself craving (and eating) the comfort foods they use as challenge rewards in the show more often than normal. This new obsession left me staying up late and missing my morning alarm to wake up early for the gym. Then after work, the last thing I wanted to do was battle rush hour traffic to head to my gym (that was over an hour away because of traffic).
You might be thinking, “just stop watching the show.” But really, the problem had been there even before the obsession. Since I moved into a new apartment further away from my trainer and got a new job closer to my house, the motivation to drive to the gym, spending more time in the car then the actual workout itself, was taking its tole.
One of my biggest struggles is making excuses. I realized after about a month straight of no gym time what I had been doing. I became a couch potato with a poor diet and no motivation to get to the gym. But I was willing to go to the gym if it was closer. So it was only a new excuse. It was time I put myself back on track!
Meet my new trainer: Emily
**Fangirl moment. I totally follow her on Instagram and realized that she’s not too far from me, so I booked a session. It feels like I’m training with an InstaCeleb! Haha. But in all seriousness, I’m super excited to get back on track. She’s kicking my butt and I’m slowly feeling more like my gym-obsessed-self again.
With new beginnings there’s new diet plans. So I made a printable menu planner that you can download (use the link at the bottom). I used to have a fridge tear pad but I have no idea where I got it and it’s all used up. But this was vital in helping me stick to my plan the last time I was following a strict diet.
When you plan out your menu, you’re less likely to have spur of the moment take-out meals or unhealthy home-made dinners. Seriously, if you’re like me, I feel so guilty when I have all the groceries and menu planned out and end up eating out instead. It’s like cheating on my fridge. I actually feel more guilty not using all my fresh ingredients than actually cheating on my diet.
But if you’re not like me, there’s still the benefit of being able to plan variety. It’s hard to think of creative things you can do with the same ingredients day after day if your stomach is screaming, “feed me!”
St. Patty’s Pancakes
| March 12, 2013 |
If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my photo a while back of my fatal attempt at making paleo pancakes. Once I tried to make the “just add water” Bisquick pancakes, let’s just say they were inedible. Every time I tried to make pancakes on my own, I failed miserably. But I really wanted to make green pancakes for St. Patrick’s Day so I volunteered the time of my handy dandy boyfriend, let’s call him the Pancake King for now, to help me out with this recipe.
My first attempt was just like any other. My pancakes would never end up on someone’s breakfast plate. The Pancake King told me I had two big problems: 1. my batter was too liquidy 2. my flame was too high. So I modified the recipe and lowered my flame and voila! The magic happened. It’s amazing what a little guidance can do!
Spinach Banana Pancakes for St. Patty’s Day
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 overripe bananas
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
Directions
Add the oats to a food processor or high speed blender until the oats are finely chopped – borderline powder. Then add the banana and spinach to the food processor until the banana and spinach have blended evenly into each other and there are no more chunks of anything. Then add all the liquid ingredients and blend. Next, all the dry ingredients. You can easily do this with a stand mixer as well. However, the oats, banana and spinach need a blender or food processor to get the right texture and I prefer to only get one appliance messy. My food processor did the job just fine.
Then use your choice of oil, butter, or non-stick cooking spray to coat your pan. Bring flame to medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, pour the batter in the center to make your desired pancake size.
Here’s where the Pancake King comes back in. I had no idea when to flip a normal pancake let alone a green one. A little tip on the flipping green pancakes, you can’t judge it by the golden edges because the green doesn’t really change color the way a normal pancake would. It’s best to watch for bubbles. When you see bubbles form on the top, flip!
If you don’t allow them to cook all the way through, they will be mushy. This was the other hard part to judge. I did it by taste testing the first one. Then I knew for sure the right timing for the right consistency.
This batch made about a dozen pancakes for me. It’s very easy to cut the recipe ingredients in half if you only want to cook enough for 2. You can top it with whatever floats your boat. Photographed, I topped it with fat-free whip cream and sprinkles. The Pancake King chose to top it with peanut butter. The options are endless.
