This time last year I was miserable and unhappy. I had once again made my same old new years resolution of getting in shape and losing weight. I said ok this year I am finally going to do it. I will finally loose weight. By summer I will be down 20 pounds I just know it. Of course January and February went like they did all the previous years. I would loose 10 pounds then gain back 20. This seemed like a never ending cycle, and I did not think I could ever break free from it. Finally on March 4 2013 my husband and I joined a gym and we signed up for personal training. I was excited and nervous about this. This was something I had never experienced before. I thought oh no I am not supposed to lift weights. I don't want to get too bulky. This is sadly a lot of women's thinking about lifting and is completely false!! With cardio of course you will burn more calories in one session, but as soon as you step off the machine or stop running you stop burning calories. With weights your body continues to burn calories 24-36 hours after you've stopped lifting. So which one sounds better to you. Anyways I digress. :) I found my love of lifting. I was very intimidated to step into the weight room surrounded by all these men and women who were in such great shape and know what they are doing. I think that if I did not work with a trainer for a few months I would not have gotten up enough courage to brave that room. I am so thankful I did.
I worked with him for 4 months, and they helped change my life forever. I changed the way I was eating along with getting in exercise. I started following their diet. Which was very helpful, but I realized I don't want to be on a diet. I know as soon as I go off of it I will go back to my old ways and gain all the weight back. I need to change my lifestyle and just eat healthy foods. One big thing for me was cutting out sodas and drinking at least a gallon of water everyday. I started researching lots of different foods and ways of eating. I was so surprised at the chemicals that were in our everyday foods. I finally came upon the concept of clean eating. This is not a diet. This is just a way to eat whole healthy foods everyday. I am not a nutritionist so I would never try to recommend ways that other people should eat. I know this is what works for me and my family. My advice to everyone is to research your foods. It took awhile to finally figure out my eating, but I finally figured out what works for me. Eating whole, clean healthy foods is what I do. I eat organic on most if not all of my foods. I look for non-GMO labels while shopping and also try to find local foods. I incorporate vegetables, proteins (not just meat, but other proteins as well), complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and fruits. I will enjoy the occasional treat meal. Let me say this is a meal not a whole day, but since I am not on a diet and this is just the way I eat what I want. I do not believe in ever depriving yourself. I take my old favorite recipes and make them over with healthy clean ingredients. So whoever says eating healthy is boring is wrong. I believe nutrition is 80% of our heath and wellness and the other 20% is exercise.
Like I said I worked with my trainer for 4 months. So July of last year I was on my own to stay healthy. I was a little scared, but knew I could do it. I had learned a lot along the way and gained so much confidence. I continued working out at the gym along with doing different challenges at home with a mommy fitness group I joined. During the spring of last year I also did the bikini body program from muffin topless. Which was very helpful to me as well. I started a Facebook page to help keep myself motivated and encouraged. This page turned out to be amazing. I have gained so many fitness friends. I have had people tell me I have encouraged, motivated and inspired them, but honestly it is the other way around. I am amazed by the people I have "met" in this fitness community. They are all amazing. I started doing T25 in November. Which was another great program that I have really enjoyed doing. Seriously you should try it if you are up to it.
So January of this year I did not make the same old resolution that I have made in the past and did not stick to it. I made myself promises that I was going to keep going on my healthy lifestyle. I am proud to say that I am sticking to this lifestyle. I enjoy finding what works and what doesn't work for me on my journey. I am looking at my healthy eating and fitness as a lifelong journey. Let me say for anyone that is on their journey whether just starting, months in, or years in be proud of yourself! Know that you are worth it, and never give up on yourself. You are worth it, and you can do it. Stick with it. You will have ups and downs, but it is a lifelong journey. So just keep pushing yourself. Also take good measurements and progress shots along the way. Most importantly surround yourself with good positive supportive people. I am always here to help motivate and support you if you ever need it.
I am happy to report that after a year on my fitness journey I am down 102 pounds and 70 inches.
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You ever have those days where nothing in the house sounds good? I am having that day today. I make my meal plans, and try my hardest to stick to them every week. Sometimes wrenches are thrown in to our plans though and makes it almost impossible to stick to it. Well in the middle of the night last night I was awoken by those dreaded words no parent wants to hear, "Mommy I think I'm going to throw up." Followed by the sound of said action. So my night was spent cleaning up and caring for a sick boy. So needless to say it was not a good night, and a giant wrench was thrown into my plans.
My husband stayed up with our daughter, and let me get a little more sleep in. So the morning was not too terrible. When I woke up the last thing I wanted to do was cook breakfast so I had a quickie breakfast, but when it came to lunch today I wanted something a little more filling and well quite frankly delicious. Looking over my meal plan nothing looked good, and browsing through the cabinets again nothing looked good. Until I stumbled up a bag of noodles I had purchased last week that I had forgotten about. So I quickly put together a yummy lunch. It was very easy and quick to make, and to be honest more delicious than what was on my original meal plan. So I think this will be going into future meal plans. I'm calling it quick noodle yumminess!! Ok I may need to come up with another name :)
Quick Noodle Yumminess (I am currently accepting new names for the recipe :) )
8oz package of organic brown rice udon noodles
1lb organic chicken breast
1tsp organic unrefined coconut oil
1tsp organic garlic powder
1tsp organic cumin
1tsp organic sesame oil
1 organic red bell pepper chopped
1 cup organic kale (ribs and stems removed)
2 organic Portobello mushroom tops
1 organic zucchini
Organic tamari
Cook your udon noodles as the package states. Coat your chicken in coconut oil, garlic powder and cumin. Grill your chicken (I just cooked mine on my George Foreman). After it has cooked for a little put 1tsp of tamari over the chicken. When the chicken is done cut it into chunks.
Warm up a pan with the sesame oil. Add your zucchini and kale first. After they cook for about 5 minutes add the peppers and mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes.
Mix everything together in a bowl and add a little tamari to each bowl. This should serve 4-6 people.
Quick and delicious. I think it took me about 15-20 minutes for everything. You could add different veggies if you would like, but these were the ones I had on hand. You get your protein, veggie, good fats and complex carbohydrate in one yummy bowl. Let me know how you like it, and if you added any other veggies to it.
