Day 34 of 120 – Totally Messed Up

Well it is Day 34 of 120 Days of Les Mills Pump. Tomorrow is the final day of Te Were – phase 1 then onto Panoni – phase 2.

Today we took the kids along some extra kids to the pumpkin farm. Everyone had a great time. It was a wonderful day to share with our family and friends! I do have a confession to make while we were there I ate like total CRAP! I had a doughnut, some fries and a soda. Yikes. Honestly packing something healthy did not even come to mind. It was dumb to assume that there would be a healthy option at a pumpkin farm. To top if off when we got home I had a slice of pizza. Granted I only went approximately 200 calories over my daily set amount. But I did it by having a little junk and not enough good stuff. The only healthy thing about today was my breakfast and I had a bunch of water.

Once we got home and all of the kids that do not belong to me went home it was fairly late. Not to far after Mr. Baby’s bedtime routine needed to get started and then Emma decided to go sleep over somewhere so I had to pack her up. Once she left I was pooped. DH wanted to rent a movie and veg out so he ran put to pick up a flick and i went and got my pjs on. Then it was time to join the real world again and tell myself that I ate like crap and did not workout. A couple hours of walking around while baby-wearing doesn’t count as an actual workout. So Immediately I went downstairs and did my daily workout. In my pjs mind you. Had to do it and right at that moment because if i sat down it would not happen. So here I am after 45 minutes of Pump and Shred. Sore and tired as hell. But I did it. May of been reluctantly but  it still counts. It was not done half assed either.

Now it is time to veg out and watch our movie. Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday!!

Clean Eating Pumpkin Apple Oatmeal Bake / Food Scale

Today my DH bought me a new kitchen scale. After weighing my dinner portions I figured out that my guessing on how much to eat has been way off.  Not that I am eating too much, I am actually underestimating and not eating enough. and when you don’t eat enough your body stores it. Gah!  Oh well, with the new scale the problem is solved. Until I get back to properly portioning food on my own the scale it is.

Something I have been slacking on in the worst way is eating breakfast. So I have breakfast for the next few days in the oven now.  The only thing I will have to do is pop some in the microwave and grab a piece of fruit. Easy peasy! With the gloomy fall weather today pumpkin came to mind. Nothing says fall like pumpkin, and who doesn’t love pumpkin? After looking through the pantry Pumpkin Oatmeal Bake is what I came up with.

Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:

2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons molasses
2 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 1/2 cups steel-cut oats
1 cup diced apples
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp coconut oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Grease 8 x 8 baking dish with the coconut oil.
2. In a large bowl beat together the pumpkin, honey, molasses, eggs, spices, salt, baking powder, vanilla, milk and yogurt until smooth.
3. Add in oats and apples and mix until incorporated.
4. Put into greased pan, sprinkle pecans over the top of the mixture and cover with foil. bake for 35 minutes then uncover and bake for 20 minutes more.
Serves 8.

Can’t wait until the morning to try this!

Dessert without guilt: My Healthier Chocolate Cake Recipe!

It is possible to eat something sweet and not feel the need to beat yourself up afterwards. It is okay to treat yourself every once in a while, it is even better to do it and still feel you made a far better choice than you could have. This was me last night. I wanted, chocolate, I wanted crunchy and I wanted salty all at the same time. So I hit the kitchen and threw together a microwave chocolate cake. It was far healthier than any processed snack and still fell within my clean eating guideline so I was pleased with myself and my craving was satisfied. I still don’t harbor any guilt over my choice either. That is rare for me. So here is a picture of my delicious creation and the recipe. This is a single serving recipe.

Oh so tasty!

Clean Eating Chocolate Cake:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon dark chocolate cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons 100% unbleached whole wheat graham flour
• 2 teaspoons agave nectar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 packets Stevia In the Raw
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut
• 2 teaspoons applesauce
• 3 tablespoons skim milk (you could substitute with milk of choice)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon dark chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon unsalted shelled sunflower seeds
• 1 pinch course sea salt

In a small bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients (minus the chips and salt) and Stevia well. Add wet ingredients and stir well. After it is fully mixed pour into mug or ramekin add chips reserving a few, sprinkle remaining chips, seeds and salt on the top of batter. Place in microwave and microwave on high for 1 minute. It did bubble over just a tiny bit so I would recommend placing it on a microwave safe dish or paper towel.Let cool for a minute then enjoy! I am yet to calculate the nutrition to an exact but my rough calculation rounded it out to about:

• Calories: 170
• Fat: 2 grams
• Carbs: 35 grams
• Fiber: 6.5 grams
• Protein:5.6 grams

I feel like I am running on E today. I slept less than two hours. I am so temped to grab a Sugar Free Red Bull so I can function. So far I have resisted but have accomplished nothing. I rarely have caffeine via doctors orders. Apparently caffeine and Sleep Deprivation Disorder is not a good mix. Who would have thought, huh? Right now I am having a smoothie in hopes that it give me some up and go. If not, I will be naughty and have some caffeine. After I blog I am going to have an egg to so I get my protein in. Thank goodness today is an easy workout day. Yoga and C25K!  I think I will do LMP Flow and some Gaiam Energizing Yoga too, get the blood flowing before my C25K. Yawn!

Already looking tasty!

Hope this gives me some energy!

What was in my smoothie?

• 1 mango
• 1 kiwi
• 1 handful spinach
• 2 mandarin oranges
• 1/2 cup FF Greek yogurt
• 1 handful ice
• 1 handful of mixed berries: blueberries, raspberries and blackberries
• 1/3 cup FF milk

 

Does my ass make my ass look big?

Yesterday was rough for me. It seemed that everything I put on make me look like a heifer, even all the new size 12’s I bought last week. How is that there was no weight gain and even a bit of inches lost and I saw myself as fat as I was when I stated all this? Anyhow, everything I tried on I hated. I liked the clothes, but they didn’t look right to me. Being that discouraged made me want to throw in the towel, I had this feeling that all this hard work has been for nothing. Why did I do that to myself? it is not like I wanted to feel that was, self sabotage was not my plan at all. Some of the unhappiness I have been feeling over other things must be wearing me down. Not to worry though nothing is permanent.

So today is Wednesday, it is day 79 of Les Mills Pump, I still love it on day 79 just as much as I did on day one. I am still grateful that I gave it a go. If there were live classes around here I would get a gym membership in a second. I think that I am finally to the point where I don’t feel too fat for group fitness. Shyness is something that really came with weight gain. I am getting back to my more open outgoing, who give a damn what you think self again, I know it sounds strange after the first part of this blog. Yesterday was a rough day for some reason, that’s all.

The carpet people are coming to measure today! I went and confirmed what color and pile I wanted, sugar cookie.  Why is it that I always like the most expensive of everything. Even before I have a clue what the price is I always find that I gravitate to items of a higher cost? I must have good taste 🙂 I did find a new chair I really liked. I need to find a couple more I like so there are choices. And no luck on a TV/media stand. I think we need to make the two-hour trek to Ikea maybe. Haven’t even started looking for shelving for the archway wall.  The house is a huge mess. Furniture all over, the stuff from the walls strewn about which leads to making more clutter. How does that happen? Things will be in order soon enough. I can’t wait for the living room, Purple room (sitting and treadmill room right now but soon to be an office), steps and hallway to have it’s pretty new floor coverings!

Time to get going with my day. The kiddo is off to school, time for me to get going on part one of my workouts. I am super starving today, I can’t wait to eat breakfast. I don’t think I got me calories in to calories out ratio right. I had a major calorie burn yesterday, just about 1000 cals! That must be why I am starving.

Just one more random thought. I really, REALLY want a sashimi lunch from Hello Sushi. If they were open right now that would be my breakfast. I have been craving sashimi for a week now at least!

Have a great day everyone!

 

I want a do over!

Got up this morning and got Emma off to school as usual. I got half ready to make my pre-run breakfast. I didn’t get any further along. I maybe slept two hours last night. Between the storm freaking out the dog and me having a hard time falling back to sleep I may of been better of just staying up. Tico my beagle mix is usually never afraid of storms, the cracks of thunder that freaked him out must of sounded like fireworks or gun shots. Those two things scare the pee out of him, literally. My bed is screaming my name, loudly. Thinking of answering it’s call. Working out with no sleep is not good and I don’t want to take a day off just because my dog was freaked out. Round one is so close to being done, now is not the time to mess it up! So back to bed I go for a two hour nap and some much needed sleep. My body needs it, my run and Pump Extreme kicked my butt (in a great way) yesterday.

My Scaredy Beagle

I don’t miss you..

..SODA, CIGARETTES, FAST FOOD, PROCESSED FOODS, BLEACHED ENRICHED FLOUR & REFINED SUGARS!

These are the main things I have given up in order to create a new healthier me… What have you let go of?

Soda: I gave this up before I started with my diet and fitness regimen. It has been 180 days. I have had a few glasses in that six months but in diet and in very small amounts. But going from a 2 liter a day to maybe 6 glasses in six months is a big change. If I feel the need to have a soda I have some sparkling water with some fruit. Does the trick and is far better for me.

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Smoking Cigarettes: It has been 85 days since I quit smoking. I honestly do not miss it and will rarely ever have a craving. I do have an electronic cigarette that I fall back on here and there but I don’t see a problem with that. I use the lowest level of nicotine mixed in with a no nicotine formula. I haven’t even touched it this week. Most of the time I don’t. I never smoked in my house so the smell there was never an issue but it is really nice not having my hair and clothes smell like it. And it has freed up money for other things, like having to constantly buy smaller clothing to wear!

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Fast Food: It has been 78 days since I gave up fast food. This was the easiest thing to give up. I have figured out ways to eat on the run if needed. Even at McDonald’s I can order a salad with no meat and some apples with water if needed. Or any other fast food joint that is. The smell of most fast food grosses me out now. I tried a couple of fries just over a month ago and holy cow did they taste freaking nasty to me. I never imagined the day that McDonald’s fries would taste bad! In a pinch I have even popped into a gas station and bought unsalted nuts and a water, and some even sell fresh fruit so I can grab an apple too sometimes!

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Processed foods: 72 Days have passed since processed foods have left my diet. Pretty much everything I eat is from scratch. I sometimes luck out and find a good organic mix, and I refuse to make my own mayo and love the mayo made with olive oil. I don’t always want to make condiments so that is an exception for me. I do sometimes, maybe not often enough but we are condiment people around here! Most of my time would be used whipping up mustard and ketchup constantly. I still let Emma have her cereal too. She is taking to most of the other food changes pretty well so I let the cereal slide. I can’t expect her eating habits and taste buds to change over night. She has been a trooper with this. Especially for being six. She has opened up to so many healthy foods she wouldn’t eat before. I am proud of her and her expanding palette.

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Bleached, enriched flour: It has been 72 days since I made this change. No more white bread, flour tortillas, white English muffins, cakes made with white flour, you get the point. Even crackers around here are whole grain. This was a super easy change. I still get my breads but just swapped out for healthier options. No one in the house was bothered by the change and texture and the nuttier taste of breads. With baking I have switched to whole wheat unbleached unenriched flour and rice flour. Swapped out white rice for brown rice or quinoa, replaced white pasta with rice or whole wheat .

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Refined Sugars: 72 days; how long I have switched my sweeteners! No more white sugar, no more corn syrup, no more artificial sweeteners. I now use honey, agave nectar, brown sugar or Stevia In The Raw to sweeten things now. I don’t notice a difference at all. No one in the house has complained either.

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Things I have gained:

Better workouts

A smaller figure

Endurance

Strength

A better attitude

I smell better 🙂

More confidence

A go to attitude

Broader list of foods I love

A healthier family

The ability to say I am doing the right thing

Goals

And an all around good feeling

Rambling on a Monday (recipe too)

I’ve kept pretty busy today, feeling great now that I have bounced back from the terrible bout of self-inflicted dehydration. Got up, got Emma off to school, then made my breakfast. I found the recipe on Pinterest through a friend and was intrigued. I would definitely make it again. It is called a 1 Minute Clean Berrylicious Microwave Minute Muffin, I made some changes so here is the recipe. Also here is the link to the original recipe. Click for recipe.

 

1 Minute Clean Berrylicious Microwave Minute Muffin JoAnn Style

1/4 cup quick oats
1 egg
small handful of frozen mixed berries (blueberry, blackberry and raspberry)
1 teaspoon of Agave nectar
1 tablespoon of FF milk

Mix oats, egg, agave and milk together in a coffee cup or a ramekin (I used a ramekin), then put berries on top and press into mixture slightly.
Put it in the microwave for 1 minute, check it then see that it isn’t done and microwave for another minute. I think it may have taken longer because I used frozen berries in place of using fresh.

I served it with a sliced Bartlett pear and 8 oz of FF milk. It was very filling and quite tasty!

Isn't it cute?!

After breakfast I got two miles done on the treadmill, I was able to up my jogging and running speed by 1 MPH so I was happy. My inhaler was not even needed. Maybe all this clean eating is resolving my exercise induced asthma issues. I know the asthma was not from being out of shape because I was diagnosed with it as a child. Maybe it was all the chemicals and altered foods? Who knows, I’m not a scientist or a doctor. anyhow, it was a great run and I got to enjoy my new water bottle that my friend Heather brought me the other day. It is so cute! I also realized I need a new set of ear buds, I was getting tired of them popping out mid run and distracting me. So annoying. almost as annoying as the dog pouting any time I get on the treadmill. he hates the thing and doesn’t like people to use it. he stares and pouts and comes up and sniffs you to see if you are okay and it is a distraction. He’s a dog though and doesn’t get it so I forgive him.

Lets see after my run I started dinner. I had left over black beans and ground turkey from last nights black bean burritos so I threw it in the crock pot with a ton of veggies and spices and it is now chili! perfect dinner for tonight. It is chilly and rainy out and Emma has a game to play tonight. May as well put something warm, hearty and healthy in us first. It smells wonderful and I can’t wait until dinner time.

All of my errands were run after that, I enjoy being out running though. Got new rugs for the camper, a new bat and bat bag for Emma. They are both pink of course! I also solved the pesky ear bud issues and got some sport ones. I can’t wait to try them out in the morning tomorrow! Now I need to get my Pump for the day done, have dinner and get the kiddo off to her muddy baseball game.

The Countdown Begins! (and a question for runners)

My next step into fitness 😉

I am in day 70 of my first round of Les Mills Pump, that means I have 20 more days to go. Where did the time go? Truly it does not feel like that much time has already passed! In about a week I will have to order the Les Mills Pump Ultimate Cross Training Deluxe upgrade. It sounds kind of scary. I have never been the deluxe kind of girl. It will be fun though and I will be able to do it. It was surprising to me that I even got this far without quitting. Quitting is not something that I have even thought of. Surprising myself feels good.

Tomorrow I weigh in, there is no obvious changes in my opinion, but with the weeks happenings I didn’t always make the right choices, I don’t think I ate enough, I had missed some workouts, alcohol was consumed a couple of days and I didn’t sleep much. There were a lot of happenings this past week. Life happens and I just got to get on track and get off this plateau. This week we had showings, a funeral, friends come into town, a birthday and Little League season officially started, as well as all the normal stuff.  Really, I don’t think I budgeted my time well. All in all I don’t think I did bad, just not good enough to show change so if I don’t gain pounds or inches when I weigh and measure tomorrow that will be good enough for me.  Tomorrow starts a new fitness week and I will rock it. (Today too!)

I haven’t eaten yet so I better get onto making some breakfast then I am going to get in my C25K before I run errands then do Pump after.

Quick question for all you runners out there. Are Compression socks something you would recommend for races? Do you use them and how have they benefited you.

I may eat this everyday…

for breakfast! so today I tried something new for breakfast so I figured I would share while these kids are happy, quiet and occupied. They were pretty wound up for the funeral showing and dinner after this afternoon and evening. Boredom affects a 5 and 6 year old like 20 Redbulls would a full grown adult. So I brought mine plus one other back to my house for part of the late showing for board games to wind them down before we head back.

So for breakfast I made Quinoa with berries and pecans. It was amazing and I think I may eat it daily.

Here is the recipe:

• 1/4 cup FF milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1 cup mixed berries I used a mix of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 1 teaspoons agave nectar
• 2 tbs FF Greek yogurt

In a saucepan combine quinoa, milk and water, bring to a boil then cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. While quinoa is cooking toast pecans in a dry skillet for 2 to 5 minutes, set aside. Put berries in a microwave safe dish and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes until the berries start to soften and break down a little, set aside. When quinoa is done fluff and put in bowl, top with cinnamon, then fruit, then yogurt then pecans and last drizzle the agave on top and enjoy.

I found a similar recipe here and adapted it to my own tastes and needs as I listed above.

Bon Appetit!

Why the Easter Bunny forgot the Reese’s Eggs..

Easter Pornography, these things make me so hot.

Mom is weak, that is why. A basket full of Reese’s will undo everything I have been working for. The Bunny will not win, I banned the Reese’s Eggs. They are not allowed here. The kid can do without. You know what? She didn’t even notice because she was so spoiled with other things. That is a good thing because I could go through a pack of those bad boys in 60 seconds or less, and I am not talking one I am talking the ENTIRE freaking pack. Weight loss crisis adverted. Also, I want to know how a bunny can lay an egg, let alone an Egg so delicious that it could be the candy of the Gods?  I need to catch that Rabbit, he has to have some magical power that I could and should use in my favor. How can he not? Or at minimum I can use him to strike terror into thousands of little boys and girls. Have you ever noticed most kids look like they think they are going to be eaten alive in those Easter Bunny pictures us parents force them to sit through? I think kids are more afraid of the Easter Bunny than they are of Santa Clause.

Emma playing Skylanders

So far Easter Sunday has been a success. I did not eat the candy and have not even had the slightest inclination too. All the eggs were found minus one that I obviously hid far too well. I am sure that one of the cats will find it and roll it about the house, then I will find it. I am pretty sure it is just jelly beans so I know it won’t start smelling funny or melt and seep out of the egg so I can just worry about it later. Emma did not seem to mind that one could not be found. She was too worried about getting on the Wii and playing with her new Skylanders that were left in her basket this morning. She of course just discovered this game and there are so many characters that are out of production and cost 4 to 10 times the original amount. Should of jumped on the bandwagon a while ago. I honestly did not even know this game existed until less than a week ago. This is going to be one expensive hobby. I am sure we can pacify her with the $10 in stock characters for now. the guy she really wants the most is no longer made and selling for 60 plus dollars on eBay. Ouch! Maybe one day, kid, maybe one day. This is another reward I can give her for completion of tasks and chores around the house.

I hope each and every one of you enjoys your Easter Sunday with Family and Friends. And all you other “dieters” out there try your best to be good! We can do this. I am making dessert to take so I know I can have some. I am making an Angel Food Cake with a No-Sugar Added Fruit Compote with light whipped topping. See, you can still behave and have your dessert!

Time to have a late breakfast and get my workout in before I get to making my cake. Can’t miss a day of Les Mills Pump.