Identifying Areas of Improvement

Well, for the most part I’ve had a very good week.  Yay.

I ate really well all week except for one meal I had last night.  Kev and I went on an impromptu date to TGI Friday’s.  Very fun.  We ended up ordering a couple appetizers to share.  It was yummy, but sadly I wasn’t even all that hungry!?  I left there stuffed and bugged that I ate crappy food.  Oh well.  Live and learn, I guess.

I did really well on the exercise front this week.  I went to my regular 4 classes at the gym and ran twice.  I’m supposed to run 5 miles today, but haven’t done it yet.  My baby woke up at 5:30 this morning and I left for the gym at 6:30, so I’ve kind of been draggin’ all day.  It’s also been extremely windy outside and I hate running in the wind!  Seriously, I would rather run in the snow, sleet, rain or hail…..but not the wind.  Sooooo, I think I’m going to end up treadmilling it.  I’ve been subconsciously (or consciously) putting it off.  Blah.

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Moving on……

The other day I was thinkin’ about my life.  I tried to identify areas where I could improve.  There were plenty, but I narrowed it down to 3 that I’m really going to try to work on.  Here they are:

• Get my sleep!!  I’ve struggled with this one my whole life!  I know it would help me SO MUCH if I could just consistently get 7-8 hours every night.  Soooo, I’m really gonna try to work on it.
• Eat more protein!  I exercise quite a bit and work my muscles very hard!  I realized I might not be eating enough protein to support my muscles.  Sooo, I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to improve.  I’ve been trying to eat a protein shake every day and eat healthy sources of protein with every meal/snack.  I’ve read in numerous places that you should strive to eat 1 gram of protein for every pound you weigh.  So, I’m going to try to do that!
• Up my running!  I’ve been a little inconsistent with my running lately.  So, last week I decided to change that!  I’m going to try to run 3 times a week, with my longest run on Saturday.  It’s always hard for me to get out the door and run, but once I’m out there….I love it!  Running is SUCH a great way to exercise and lose weight.  Love it!

So, that’s what I’m going to be working on.  I really think all of these things will help me so much.  I love to periodically “check” myself and find areas where I can improve.  I don’t like to be stagnant.  🙂

I thought I would share a short video clip that I love.  It’s an interview with Tosca Reno (I love her!) and she shares 3 things that can help us to be healthier.  I have to laugh because her #2 (ironically) tip is “Go Poo.”  You’ll have to watch it.  Very good advice too, btw.

Till next time……xoxo

My New Year’s Plan!

Well, I told you all I was cookin’ up a “plan” for the New Year!

Yay!

I finally put it all together.

I’m basing it loosely off of Tosca Reno’s Eat-Clean Diet Stripped Plan.

Love this book, BTW.

I love all her books, however I really love this one.
It’s geared toward those who are trying to lose the last 10 pounds, but it’s obviously helpful for anyone.

She has a one month plan in the back of the book that inspired me to write my own.

Her recipes are awesome, but a little too “gourmet” for me.

I’m all about simple, easy, practical and convenient.

So, with that being said, click below for my “Healthy Eating Plan” for January…

One Month Healthy Diet

Sorry, I couldn’t figure out how to fit it all on this little blog post.
I hyper-linked menu items to recipes on the web, so if you press Control and click on them, they will take you to recipes either on my site or other places on the web.

K, I want to emphasize that this diet plan is obviously customized to ME and what I like to eat!

You can easily customize it to what YOU like to eat!

If there are things on my plan you don’t like, feel free to sub it out for something similar.
If you have questions about comparable substitutions, feel free to comment or send me an email and I’ll be happy to give you my two cents. 😉

ALSO, you can switch any of these meals around.  So, if you really like omelets and want to eat one every day for breakfast, that is fine.  You can have the same snack, lunch, etc. every day too if you like.

I just made a different menu every day for variation.

Also, if I find I have oodles and gobs of leftovers, then I’m going to use them as my lunches/dinners until they are gone…or I guess I can freeze them.  I’m going to play it by ear.

I hate wasting food.

Anyway, I’m excited to start this endeavor.

Yay.

Also, here is my exercise plan for January.

I’m going to strive to exercise 6 days a week.

Monday: Bootcamp Class at gym
Tuesday: Run
Wednesday: Muscle Works class at the gym
Thursday: Power Flex class at the gym
Friday: Run
Saturday: Either Cardio Interval or Power Flex class at the gym.
Sunday: Rest

There ya go!  I love New Year’s and New Year’s Resolutions!

I’m excited to start!!!

Yay!

Be Empowered!

Sorry guys, I’ve been a little MIA…

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I just dropped off my 12 year old for his first day of Middle School this morning!!

I’m kind of freaking out.

Time flies, ya know???

It seems like he was just a little baby a few years ago…

and I feel like I was just in Middle School a few years ago!!??

How does that happen?!

!?!?!?!?!!!!

I guess it’s just another reminder that I need to seize the day and get a handle on my health and my life before I’m a little old lady, huh.

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I have always valued health.  I haven’t always been committed to it, but I’ve always known it’s important.

I’ve exercised fairly regularly most of my life.

When I was 14 or so, my sister and our friends would workout to Jane Fonda videos in the basement.

It was fun.

I joined my first gym when I was 16 and loved it.

For most of my life I’ve usually either gone to the gym, done exercise videos, or created my own workouts at home.

I also started running about 3 years ago…LOVE it!

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However, I must say that sometimes I’ve been an exercising slacker.

For big chunks at a time too.

Like the last few months of pregnancy or when I have little tiny babies at home.

At those times, just surviving is about all I can handle…;-)

Or sometimes, I just really don’t feel motivated to exercise…at all.

But, I love it in a weird sorta way.

I don’t love the time commitment, hard work and effort it takes…

But, I do love the physical and emotional satisfaction I feel afterward.

I love pushing myself and feeling strong and empowered.

I love feeling disciplined.

It is worth every minute I put into it.

My body will thank me. 😉

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I’ve been a pretty decent eater most of my life.

I’ll admit, my idea of “healthy eating” has changed quite a bit over the years.

When we were first married, I tried to include vegetables with dinner every night.

I ate whole wheat bread, brown rice (although I always made white rice for Kev!), chicken, eggs and had cereal for breakfast most mornings.

I thought I was A-OK.

About 4 years ago, I really started to discover what it means to eat healthy.

My sister introduced me to a book by Tosca Reno called “The Eat-Clean Diet.”

LOVE it!

It’s basically a straight-forward “eat real food” kind of diet.

It seemed to make sense to me.

It intimidated the heck out of me though.

The book introduced me to things I had never heard of like Agave Nectar, Kefir and all kinds of funky grains and flours.

I started to improve my diet and take a lot of her advice, minus all of the funky intimidating stuff.

I eventually started to include a lot of the funky stuff too.

Now, I think it’s kind of fun to discover new healthy ways to eat.

I love checking health books out at the library, reading health magazines, searching the internet and learning more and more.

Sooooo, I will share what I learn with you!

If I ever use a “funky” ingredient, I will tell you everything you need to know so it won’t be so “funky” anymore.

K?

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With that being said, here are a few (not so funky) things I’ve been eating lately.

I’ve been feeling very very worn out and run down lately, so I’ve kept breakfast pretty simple and “comforty”….

Egg whites (with a little ketchup) and a side of fruit

OR

Cereal with Fruit

These are some of my favs...Uncle Sam (bought at Walmart) and Flax Plus (Costco).

Uncle Sam is an amazing cereal!  10 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein and less than 1 gram of sugar!  WOW!  Love it! 

Oh, and the ingredients are: Whole wheat kernels, whole flaxseed, salt, barley malt.

That is it.

It’s pretty tasty too.  I eat it topped with a little fruit or mix in a little Flax Plus to sweeten it up sometimes too.

Flax Plus is pretty awesome itself (5 grams fiber and 6 grams protein).  It does have a higher sugar content (10 grams), but it contains all real and healthy ingredients.  I just use it as an accent.  Oh, I also love any cereal made by Kashi (Go Lean is my fav!) and Fiber One cereal is good too!

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For lunch the other day, we had BLTs!  Yummy!

I used Turkey Bacon for the “B”,

Jennie-O Natural (no nitrates/nitrites) Turkey Bacon. 40 calories, 2 grams fat, 6 grams protein per slice! Not bad!

Iceberg for the “L”, and tomatoes from our garden for the “T”.

I put all the yummy ingredients on these yummy sandwich thins I found at Walmart.

Served with a side of veggies.

Guess what I had for lunch the following day too???

BLT+C Salad!

I just threw leftover iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, crumpled turkey bacon and cucumbers (because we have a million of them in the garden right now!) together and topped it all with a little mustard.  Very yummy!

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The other night we had a crazy night….so I just made breakfast for dinner!

Healthy Whole Wheat Waffles with egg whites!

I topped mine with a little Smart Balance spread, sugar-free syrup and fruit! YUM!

Easy, yummy, and the kids loved them!!!

I gotta go to bed….I am draggggggggggggin’