Remember today

As most Americans will for the rest of their lives I remember exactly what I was doing on this day 12 years ago. I was 18 years old still living with my parents. I remember waking up and walking in the living room seeing my dad watch the news and tell me what had happened. I did not at first fully grasp what was going on. I kept watching the news horrified about what had happened. I was watching as they showed the 2 plane hit. I just remember crying. My younger brother was a senior in high school. Shortly after seeing this we went to pick him up from school. I remember going to the store with my mom later that day, and everyone seemed to be just a little bit nicer to each other. All of the stores closed early that day. I do not think as a nation we have ever been closer to each other then on that day. I remember them playing I'm proud to be an American over and over on the radio, to this day I cannot listen to that song without tearing up. I have seen countless videos, footage, photos, remembrances of that day and every time I see them they make me tear up. This morning as we woke up I tried to explain to my 4 and 6 year old sons the significance of today. I told them what happened, not in gruesome detail but something that a 4 and 6 year old could understand. They said why would someone be so mean. They both seemed upset. So we took a few moments of silence while they were both sitting in my lap, and prayed together. We prayed for the country, the families that lost loved ones, the loved ones lost, New York city, the police men, firemen, and EMT workers, and also for the "bad guys" (that is what they said in their prayers). I was touched that my children could be so thoughtful. I know they do not fully grasp the situation, but just having them even for just a few moments think about others and pray for them was very heart warming. So please take this day to remember the ones who lost loved ones and the loved ones lost. Take today to love each other and do something for someone else.

I was at school last year on September 11. We spent our whole class time talking about where we all were, watched videos and prayed for everyone. This video here really touched me a lot out of all the videos we watched.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZFkZiwMLZ4

Tasty Tuesday

Since fall is coming up I know a lot of us will be pulling out our crock pots to do some easy cooking, although I must say I use mine year around. So today's recipe is going to be a crock pot recipe. Now we do not eat beef that much in my house. We prefer to eat the lean meats, we mainly eat chicken, turkey and fish. Occasionally we do have beef or pork. It is a "special treat" sometimes. So here is a beef recipe for you that is yummy, easy and healthy.

Beef roast

3-4lb grass fed London broil (I like to get mine at the farmer's market, but anywhere that you can find one is fine) with all the fat cut off
1/2lb portabella mushrooms cut in half(you can use a different kind of mushroom, but this is what I like)
2 cups low sodium organic vegetable broth (you can use chicken or beef and you can also make your own)
1/2 purple onion chopped
4 organic carrots chopped
1tsp garlic powder
dash black pepper
1tsp oregano
1tsp parsley

Add your broth first, then mushrooms, carrots and onion. Place the roast on top of this and add seasoning to the top of the roast. I put it on high for 2 hours then low for another 3-4 hours. Now if you are putting this on in the morning before work or something you can just do low for about 6-8 hours or so. I will check it about 30 minutes to an hour before serving and mix it up and make sure it is all shredded.

My whole family loves this especially my picky husband and picky 6 year old. They usually have seconds on it. I have served it with a lot of different things. You could do sweet potatoes, brown rice, wild rice, whole grain pasta or quinoa pasta. Typically we will have steamed broccoli with it (that is my husband and 6 year old favorite veggie), but you could really do any kind of veggie with it. The best thing is with having a bigger roast there is typically leftovers. It is actually much better then next day. You could eat the leftovers the same way or try it as a sandwich. You decide what the right size roast is for you. You can do a smaller one just make sure you cut everything in the recipe down, or you can do a bigger one just make sure you are adding more of everything else as well. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. As I said we do not eat beef often so this is a treat meal for us.

This is a pretty good broth to choose, but the best would of course be homemade. I will get together a recipe for that to post.



Motivation Monday!!

You know one thing that motivates me to keep going? To be able to go into a store, and buy any outfit I want and not just the ones that are in my size. I never again want to have to go to a "special" size or store. I do not want to see that little W after the number or an X in front of another letter. I want to walk into a store, and if I like something just get it. I do not want to just settle for the clothing that is in the larger sizes and will help hide my body.

Treat yo self!!

When I was younger I used to love wearing heels. The more weight I gained the less and less I would wear heels. I eventually got to pretty much wearing just flats and tennis shoes. I do have a boot with about 1 1/2" heels, but they were not very comfortable with my extra weight. Now with losing weight I have found my love of heels again. I can finally wear them again. Now they will not be an everyday thing because chasing 3 kids around in heels no thank you, but I do really enjoy wearing them again. They make me feel good when I wear them. I'm sure most of you ladies can agree with me. I posted the other week about some pretty red heels I treated myself to. I love them they are so comfortable. Well tonight I treated myself again, well really my wonderful hubby did :), to another pair of heels. What makes it even better is I scored them for $16, marked down from $70. Pretty awesome! I am slowly but surely building up that shoe collection again.

Strength Sunday

Todays strength post is not about a specific workout, but rather where you gather your strength from. I think this is very important not only in your fitness/health life, but in your everyday life. We all have those days where we just feel as if we cannot do anything. In those times we need to look inside and see where we get our strength from. What is it that keeps us going?

Everyone has something different that drives them and gives them strength. I have several things. First for me I gain my strength from my faith in God. I know that I am able to do even the things that I find the most difficult through my faith. This makes the impossible seem possible. Things may not always work out exactly how I want and when I want, but they will always work out. When I feel as if I can't go on I turn to God, and then I get my strength to keep going.

I also gain strength from my family. I want to be a good role model for my children, as I have said many times. They need to see that I always have the strength to get up and do it again. I do not want to make promises and then break them. I do not want to disappoint my family. I want to be their inspiration, and help give them strength. I know I can get up and do it because they are all rooting for me to. With my family by my side I know I can achieve anything.

 

 

 

I also gain strength from myself. I think inner strength is beautiful. You should always believe you can do it, and somehow you will. I have struggled with this for a long time. I am doing this for me. I am getting healthier for me. I have the strength inside me to keep going. Nobody can ever take that away from me. When I feel down I just look inside, and tell myself yes I can do it!

 

 



So there are a lot of things that give me strength. Some things that I did not mention, but these are my main three. What gives you strength? How do you keep going when you want to just give up?

Why??

My husband tells me I am a little obsessed over my fitness journey. The thing with me is that I get hot and heavy in something, and then will fizzle out. I have done it a lot with a lot of different things. I know that if I do not keep it on my mind everyday the same thing will happen. I am not dieting, I hear this a lot from people especially some family members, "oh your on a diet". No I am not on a diet. I chose to cut the unhealthy things from my life. I lost weight I never intend to find the weight again, and I never intend to add those unhealthy things back in my life. To me a diet is a temporary thing where I am depriving myself from certain foods just to lose some weight. Once the weight is off then I go off the diet. Of course when you do that you gain it all back. So no I am not on a diet, no yo-yo fad diets for this gal. I prefer to just eat whole clean foods.

So for me I must keep eating this way everyday. Also it is important for me to keep my motivation to talk about it with others. I get inspired by sharing my story with others, and hearing theirs. Or by motivating others. So why do I want to exercise and eat healthy? I am doing to make myself happy and healthy. I want to be an inspiration to others especially my children. I want them to have me as a positive role model, and have someone to look up to. I want to be healthy to be around for all the important things in their lives. I want to challenge myself everyday to do something to make myself a better person. Yes I am a little obsessed, but I say I would rather be obsessed over being healthy than some of the unhealthy things I was doing before. So why are you doing it? Why is being healthy important to you?

Scrumptious Saturday

Is breakfast the hardest time for you to get in a healthy meal? I know it always has been for me. I was never a breakfast eater until about 6 months ago. Now I always eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up, but there are some mornings where I just do not feel like making anything. So I stick to my quick and easy healthy recipes on those days. Most people love pancakes right? The problem is when you load them down with butter and syrup and use all that white flour in them. They are pretty unhealthy. Well here is a recipe for some healthier pancakes that are delicious and very quick to make.

Protein Pancakes (makes 2-3 pancakes)

1/2 cup oats (or another grain of your choosing)
6oz plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 scoop vanilla whey isolate protein powder (you can use a different flavor if you prefer and you can also use a different protein whey, soy, rice, pea, hemp etc...)
3 egg whites
1/4 cup almond milk (can use coconut, soy, low-fat milk etc...)
1-2tsp vanilla extract

In a blender or food processer add your oats. They will look like flour once you grind them up. Then add the rest of your ingredients. I use a griddle for my pancakes and spray with a little bit of olive oil. Then add your batter it should make about 2-3 pancakes. If the batter looks to thick for you add a little more milk to it. You of course can double or triple this recipe or more. They will cook quickly so I suggest about 3-4 minutes on each side. Once they are done I usually add a little agave and maybe some fruit.

There are about a million different variations you can do with how to eat serve them. You could add 1-2 tablespoons natural peanut butter to the batter and top with some bananas, or you could add the bananas in the batter if you prefer. You could add any kind of berries to the batter. Cut up apple slices and add some cinnamon for a nice fall pancake. Also pumpkin puree and cinnamon would be good. Some dark chocolate chips in the batter would be good as well. You could also do a savory pancake and add shredded zucchini and some onions (of course in this one I would eliminate the vanilla and probably choose an unflavored protein powder and add some black pepper). Try these pancakes out for a quick breakfast or snack. Let me know what your favorite pancake combination is.