Throwback Thursday

I find that I am torn with looking at my old photos. I like looking at them for two reasons. One to see the memories I have made with my amazing family. I am so happy that so much has been captured in my children's lives for me to cherish forever. Two to see where I was and how far I have come. I do not like looking at them because it is hard for me to see where I was. I cannot believe I ever let myself get like that. I do know looking back on these though that I will never be there ever again so they do help keep me motivated.

These two pictures were taken on a trip my hubby and I took with my brother and his wife. We had a fantastic time. I honestly can tell you that I did not feel as big as I look. I knew I was big, but not that big. These are hard to look at for that reason. These were actually taken just a few weeks before I started my journey. I said the whole trip when we go next year I am going to be healthy and fit. Well I can happily say that I am well on my way there. I am excited to see our pictures next year from our trip.

Clean eating staples

The decision to eat clean was one of the best ones I have ever made. The thing is before I started eating clean I was a very big couponer. I could get $300 of food for under $100 it was so exciting. I loved going to the store with my big binder of coupons, and seeing the dollars come off my total. The problem was I was buying processed, fat, sugar filled crap. I was basically killing myself and my family. So the choice was kill my family with unhealthy crap to save some money, or pay a little extra and have a healthy family. The answer was obvious. I can sometimes find some coupons for clean eating foods, but for the most part they are for processed foods.

One part of living a healthy lifestyle is to have it in every area of our lives. It is essential that we live on a budget. So yes I want my family to eat healthy, clean foods, but I also have to be realistic about it. We have to stick to our budget to keep a healthy lifestyle for our bank account. The question was where do I begin. I had never really eaten like this before. Obviously I had eaten fresh foods, but cutting out processed foods? That was a challenge for me. I thought I would be spending $600 or more every two weeks, that is how often I go shopping other than odds and ends, but I have been very surprised that I do not spend anywhere near that. Yes eating clean can be done on a budget!! You just have to be willing to put a little work into it.


The best place to begin is to first figure out exactly what clean eating is. It is exactly what it says. You want your foods to be clean. They should be the way they were intended to be found in nature. Your meats and dairy should be antibiotic and hormone free. Preferably grassfed or even grain fed. With my fruits and vegetables I try to buy fresh organic produce mostly. Obviously everyone's budget is different. I cannot afford to buy everything organic. So I try to stick to the clean 15, dirty 12 as much as possible. Now if I find something off the clean list that is organic at a great price. I will go ahead and get that as well. I do buy some frozen vegetables or fruits, but I look at the label and if anything other than that fruit or vegetable is in there I do not get it. I never buy canned. For my carbs I only get complex carbohydrates, no white pasta, bread or rice. You want to try to get those unprocessed if possible. I look for the non-gmo label on my products as well. The best tip I can say is try to buy as many foods as possible without a label. That way you know they are fresh. If there is a label you want a very small list of ingredients, and make sure you can pronounce everything. You don't want a bunch of crap in your foods. Try to stick as much as possible to this. Now obviously like I said everyone's budget is different. Try to make as many healthy choices as possible while still sticking to your budget.

So now that we know what clean eating is where do we get started. I found that the best thing is to gradually wean yourself off of the unhealthy stuff. You may very well be able to cut it all out cold turkey and not have any problems at all. That was not the case for me. I had to start slow. I am still working on "cleaning" up some areas for our family. Snacks are the biggest area we struggle with. A good idea is to start building a stock pile of basics that can go for a lot of different recipes. Yes spending $10-15 on a grassfed roast, but if you can split that into 2-3 meals. It is actually not that much in the end. Obviously shopping at whole foods and earth fare are great options for clean eating. The problem for us is 1) we do not have those stores in our town, they are about 45 minutes away. I do try to go to them to get things, but it is not the main place I go. 2) I do not have the budget to buy everything at those places. I find that a lot of the grocery stores around us have great prices on the foods we are now eating. I go to the farmer's market, Aldi, Sam's club, Publix, BI-LO, Target, and yes even Wal-Mart for our clean eating. Sometimes I will go to Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or Earth Fare, but like I said that is a bit of a drive for me, and dragging 3 kids 45 minutes for groceries does not sound fun to me. You just have to look in the right places at these stores. My big advice stick to the outside aisles. Do not go up and down the processed food aisles. There are things that I buy down these aisles, but the main things are from the outer aisles. I try to buy staples monthly and then fill in the other things throughout the month. I do have a big chest freezer. So I can make some things ahead of time and freeze them for later which will definitely save you money in the long run. I used to think making things from scratch was so time consuming and expensive. That is totally false. It is actually cheaper to make things from scratch as long as you have your staples. For your staples think of the things that you can use in multiple recipes.



Clean Eating Staples

quinoa
flour (whole grain, coconut, oat etc. I like the King Arthur brand)
Oil (coconut, olive, sesame, grapeseed etc.)
seeds (chia, flax, sesame etc.)
nut butters (peanut butter, almond butter, sun butter. I try to get the organic versions of these)
Pasta (quinoa pasta, whole grain pasta, brown rice pasta)
Rice (brown or wild)
Oats (oatmeal, oat bran, steel cut oats)
couscous
millet
frozen veggies (the biggest one I get frozen is broccoli or cauliflower, but look for no sodium for your frozen veggies and no other ingredients, just do not buy canned)
frozen fruits (look for the organic frozen fruits if possible. Trader Joe's has a lot of good options)
Milk (coconut, almond, if you are doing cow's milk try to get the milk without antibiotics or hormones. I know milk can be a big expense)
Nonfat plain Greek yogurt (I like Fage the best, I use this in a lot of things so I buy the big container and it goes very far)
Breads (Ezekiel brand or Rudi brands are good ones. They are in the freezer section. Although my hubby loves my homemade breads. Which you are using some of the staples you already have on hand :) )
Salt (sea-salt, I like no-salt it helps me watch my sodium intake)
Sweeteners (agave (this goes very far as you don't need a lot), raw honey, organic sugar)
Beans (black, pinto, chickpea etc. You can buy the organic low sodium beans in the can, but they are of course a little more expensive. The bagged ones are going to be very budget friendly. They just take a little more work to use.)
Meats (look for lean meats, chicken, turkey, fish, certain cuts of beef and pork. As I said look for meats that are grassfed or grain fed, no hormones or antibiotics, and very little fat on them). This area is probably where I spend the majority of my budget. We try to get proteins in a lot because that is what has helped us with our weight loss. Protein is essential to this process. Obviously there are other areas that we can get protein than just meats, and we do eat those things. For our meats though I have planned in our budget for this area to be 1/3 of it by itself. That way I am not worried about feeding my family hormone ridden meat. I also will find when there is a good sale on these meats and buy a lot of it and freeze it. I know that some of the nutrients are lost when we freeze them, but like I said budget is a factor as well. I have to buy what is best for our budget. I also will prepare some meals before hand with some of the meats and freeze those to pull out for easy meals later.
I don't buy any condiments other than ketchup (my kids love ketchup. I want to find a recipe to make my own). We do not eat salad dressing, mayo, mustard etc. If you do look for one's that are organic maybe with low sugars and low sodium and low fat.
Raw nuts (almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans etc. I get the ones that are unsalted)
Fresh fruits and vegetables (try as much as possible to look at the dirty/clean list)


I know there are a lot more foods that I did not address in this list. This is a basic list to get you started. I suggest meal planning and meal prep. Those are essential. That way you are not buying a bunch of stuff that you will never use. Feel free to comment with any questions about clean eating or send me an email sadie822@hotmail.com

Dinner yummies

We rarely eat red meat anymore. For the few times that we do I always try to get grassfed beef that is low in fat content. Well tonight we had some. I got some organic grassfed steak that was very low in fat. I made stir fry with it, and it was delicious!

Steak Stir fry

1lb grassfed steak
2 tbsp. organic coconut oil
1 yellow squash
8 asparagus spears
1/2c chopped red cabbage
1/4c kale
1/4c spinach
1/2c organic baby carrots
1/4c sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. ground flax seed
1/4c chopped green bell pepper
1/4c chopped red bell pepper
1/2c all natural, gluten free Thai noodles
1/8c chopped onion
1/8c agave
1/8c liquid aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)
pepper
no-salt


Cut the steak into either strips or cubes. In a baggie add the agave, liquid aminos, steak, pepper and no-salt. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Cook the steak in 1 tbsp. coconut oil. In 1 tbsp. coconut oil cook all the chopped up vegetables and add flax seed. Cook the Thai noodles in a separate pot. Then add them to the vegetables after they are cooked. You can add different vegetables if you would like, broccoli, pea pods, baby corn, zucchini etc. would all be good. I think next time I may add some fresh squeezed orange juice to the marinade on the steak. It was a very yummy and easy dinner. Like I said we don't eat red meat often, but this meal I did not feel guilty about at all.

Workout Wednesday

I think it is important to have a variety in what you eat. That will help keep you interested in the healthy foods you are eating, and you will want to keep eating them. I think it is just important to have a variety in your workout routine for the same reasons. If you are doing the same exercises all the time you will get bored with them, and want to stop doing them. Now we all know that I prefer strength training. That is what has gotten me to my goals, but the other evil (for me it is evil :) ) end of the spectrum is cardio. One great and fairly simply form of cardio is running. You do not have to have a lot of money to do it, belong to a gym, have equipment, or a training partner. You just grab some shoes and go outside and run.

Even though I do not like cardio I will never deny there are benefits from it. That is why I do incorporate it into my routine as well. I try to run when I can even if it is just for 15-20 minutes at least I got some in. I know a lot of people say that running is a great stress reliever for them. You can just get out there by yourself, and be alone with your thoughts. It is great for your cardiovascular health as well.

We cannot deny those are all great benefits. The best thing to do in running is try to incorporate interval training in. Run sprints you will definitely get that heart rate going. You will improve your mood, burn calories, and increase your cardiovascular health.

 

 

 

I try to do 45-60s of running then 75-90s walking. Repeat this for at least 15-20 minutes. You will get in a great workout for sure. If you can breathe at the end of it go for more :) Obviously you are not going to get off the couch today and run a 5k for your first time running. So just like with everything else take your time and do it at your pace. Start with a program like couch to 5k or something similar. Here is an easy routine to follow to get you started as a runner.

 

 

 



So go grab your shoes and raise that heart rate!!

Treat yo self!

I decided to treat myself yesterday because I felt very happy about myself, which I haven't in a long time. Looking at my progress I realized how far I've come. I still have a long way that I want to go, but I can see some progress and it made me feel good.

I know I shared both of these pictures here, but looking at them side by side made me feel good about my journey so far :) So with that good feeling we have to treat ourselves right. Well instead of going and celebrating in an unhealthy way I decided to do so in a healthy way. Last time I got some new running shorts, this time I went for something fun too. New shoes, a girls favorite thing right :)

I'm excited to wear my new treat to myself!!

So make sure you treat yo self too!

The most important meal

I know we have all heard it, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Well it is true. I never used to eat breakfast. I would go until almost 1 or 2 in the afternoon most days without eating or drinking anything. Then I would binge on everything around me, and eat and drink crappy, unhealthy foods until bedtime. Then I did not have any energy, and not want to do anything the rest of the day. That is probably why I got up to almost 270 pounds.

I have never, ever been a breakfast eater. My mom said even as I child I did not really like breakfast. I just could not eat when I first woke up. I never really correlated it to my weight gain and unhealthy lifestyle. I never really though it was that important. I had always heard I should eat it, but just ignored it. Until I sat down with Torey, my trainer, he asked me if I ate breakfast I said no never. He explained it to me like this. He asked would you drive your car for 3 hours with your kids in it with your gas light on? Obviously I said no of course not. He said well that is what you are doing to your body everyday. You are "driving" it with no gas in it, and expecting it to work. I had never really had it explained to me like that before. Something clicked after that, and I have not missed a breakfast since that talk in March. I have felt so much better, and had more success ever since I have started eating breakfast. Now I know that all the things combined are what has led to my success, but each day I am able to do what I need to because I eat a healthy, nutritious breakfast.

You should eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up. Breakfast is exactly what it sounds like you are breaking your fast. You have slept all night, and now you need to refuel your body. So start it off the right way early. You will feel better the rest of the day if you do.

Breakfast provides you with the energy and nutrients that lead to increased concentration.

Studies show that breakfast can be important in maintaining a healthy body weight.

Hunger sets in long before it's time for lunch, but because it's not convenient to eat properly, many people who have not eaten breakfast snack on foods that are high in fat and sugar.

People who skip breakfast are unlikely to make up their daily requirement for some vitamins and minerals that a simple breakfast would have provided.

Breakfast provides energy for the activities during the morning and helps to prevent that mid-morning slump.

I always try to get a protein and a complex carb in with my breakfast. I with either get a vegetable or fruit in with breakfast, sometimes both. Then I typically try to eat about 3-3 1/2 hours after that again. Also drink at least 1 glass of water before consuming your breakfast, and at least 1 glass of water afterwards. I find that actually helps me feel full longer.

 

 

I know in the mornings when I first wake up most of the time the last thing I want to do is cook a big breakfast. So I try to go for things that are easy to make most mornings. Some of my favorites are kashi cereals, they have protein and carbs in them and are a good clean eating cereal, with either coconut or almond milk and some fruit, egg whites with veggies, and avocado on a whole grain tortilla or toast, oatmeal with fruits and greek yogurt (a good source of protein), quinoa (a good source of protein and complex carb) with fruits. I eat other things for breakfasts as well, but these are my four easy go to breakfasts. Protein pancakes, protein smoothies, oatmeal smoothies, and protein muffins are also good easy breakfasts. Comment with some of your favorite healthy breakfasts.

 

 

 

 

 

Some good places for recipes are:

 

http://housewife2hostess.blogspot.com/

 



http://savegreenbeinggreen.blogspot.com/2012/09/7-ideas-for-clean-eating-breakfast.html?m=1

Tasty Tuesday

I don't know about you, but breakfast has always been the meal I have struggled with. I am not a morning person, and as much as I like to cook I really do not want to do it when I wake up first thing in the morning. So some easy healthy breakfasts sounds like music to my ears. One really easy nutritious breakfast is overnight refrigerator oats.


Overnight Refrigerator Oats

1/4c oats (old fashioned or steel cut)
1/2c milk (your choice I usually use coconut or almond, but you can use fat free milk)
1/3c plain nonfat Greek yogurt (I usually use Fage)
1/2 tbsp. chia seeds

Mix all ingredients together in a mason jar and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. You can add a little more milk and warm up some if you like warm oatmeal better. I usually just eat it straight out of the refrigerator. Add whatever toppings you like. I have done almond butter and banana, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, honey, agave, etc...The possibilities are endless. I like the almond butter or organic peanut butter because it gives me a little more protein in the morning. That's it. Simple yummy breakfast.