Own It

Sometimes you look back at your life and regret things. And then sometimes you look back and see how far you've come. This mind set totally depends on where you are in life and if you're aware of who you are. In the mornings, I fall in between both of these two places depending on the day, but I fully intend to end each day knowing who I am and that I'm an over-comer.

I am strong, I am bold, I am beautiful, I am a little crazy, I am kind, I am a child of God, I am empowered, I am a winner. I am also slightly crazy...

My managers at my job both work out at this gym in town and were always talking about how hard the workouts were, how sore they were, and how much, despite the hard work, they loved going. I'm very much about trying new things and challenging myself but have been not so great about that in the past year or so. Hence the weight gain. Half of what I lost I was well on my way to putting back on. So the smart person that I am, decided to sign up for a free trial. Cause, why not? I can't be that out of shape right? So so wrong.

The free trial isn't sugar coated, it's not watered down, and it's hard. But if you need someone creating a workout and telling you what to do, like I do, and if you can push yourself and keep going, then this place is awesome. Being true to who I am, I pushed too hard (during the warm up...) and pulled something around my hamstring, but I finished the workout.

I'm not sure if you all have heard of D1 and their bootcamps. If you've done them, you KNOW. If you haven't, you just. don't. know. You don't.

I am on day four if you don't count my trial run. I go to the 6AM bootcamp. I hate waking up to get sweaty. But it's so much better to get this torture out of the way when it's cooler in the morning as the gym does not have air conditioning.

I got really excited my first day because Andrew the trainer asked if everyone knew how to karaoke. I was like, yes! I do! How will that work though if we're running around the field? He gave me a puzzled look, which I returned because it was slowly dawning on me that his karaoke didn't involve singing... what he really said was carioca, otherwise known as the grapevine. So yeah, starting off on the right foot here.

I've been introduced to box jumps, box pushes, medicine balls that I've lugged down the field and back countless times, tires and hammers, SO MUCH RUNNING, and jump ropes. I can't even begin to tell you how much running. I hate running, but if it makes me better, I'll do it, begrudgingly. Also, I've skipped more in the past two days then I have my entire childhood. I had to seriously delve into my memories trying to remember if I actually did skip in my childhood and the conclusion I've come to is there is NO WAY I skipped back then. If I had, I wouldn't suck so bad at it now. Have you ever tried to skip backwards? No? Imagine that, well, we had to. I looked so special. I actually stopped a few times to ask myself what was happening, as it wasn't skipping, I'll tell you that.

I could go on and on about what I've been challenged to do, but I'll save some for later ;) Here's a little nugget to end with:

Own it. Whatever you're doing or want to do. Pick it up and run with it, no one else can do it for you. Pick it up and don't look back, because whatever is behind you doesn't matter. For me, keeping my eyes on who God says I am is the most important thing. He says I'm a winner, that I'm awesome and beautiful. He says I can do this and He's right there with me.

Weigh In Wednesday

What up my small crowd of friends and family?? It's weigh in Wednesday and I won't bore you with my internal monologue other than saying... down one more pound. Slightly disappointed but grateful that it went away.

I took some time off from work to make my long weekend even longer. I went up to the Dirty Dusky for some quality time in vacationland. It was a much better trip than the 4th of July, soo yay! During my stay, I dragged my butt out of bed both of my mornings off and went to the gym with my mom... she's a beast and we were there much longer than I normally stay at the gym haha, oops!

I also ate very well knowing that I weigh in for the work contest tomorrow morning! Below is a slew of delicious things I concocted and devoured. I guess my blog is turning into more of a photo journey than anything else, but a picture speaks a thousand words right?



Keto Pancakes (recipe found at the bottom of the post)



Chicken Salad Salad

Scrambled South Western Egg Whites with Bacon

I also went sailing a ton! So very excited that it was nice wind and allowed for beautiful photos of Cedar Point and sunsets!

View of Cedar Point

Sunset near Marble Head, Lake Erie

Ariel's beautiful sails :)

Baxter, I just got your card and I totally had to blink 50 thousand times to try to read it, that background was CRAZY! Muah! I so miss ya and can't wait for you to be back!!


Keto Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 Egg Whites (original recipe called for 2 whole eggs, I chose to keep it low calorie)
• 2 Tbsp of 1/3 Fat Cream Cheese (Kroger brand has the lowest carbs at 1g per serving)
• 1 Packet of Sweetener (Splenda for low carbers)
• Cinnamon (to taste)

Directions:

• Heat cream cheese for 10 seconds in the microwave while measuring out egg whites, sweetener, and cinnamon into a mixing bowl. Reheat cream cheese for another 10 seconds or so to soften it for easier mixing.
• Whisk ingredients together until as smooth as possible. If you have a blender with a whisk attachment... I envy you.
• Batter will be a watery consistency and more than likely will have some small lumps of cream cheese that refuse to give up the fight.
• Spray skillet with non stick spray and heat batter on low to medium heat. Flip when you start seeing "pancake bubbles" or when you can get your spatula under it without ripping. Use your fancy dancy flipping skills and let the other side cook for a minute and BOOM!
• Enjoy.

Starting the week off right!

I've been frustrated with my stall in weight loss, especially since I know I need to be down 5 more pounds by next Thursday for the weigh in. I was pleasantly surprised when I finally managed to get rid of that one pound that has been coming and going for the past week on top of 1.5 more! Total weight loss since beginning my Keto diet is 19 pounds in 38 days. Not too shabby. The real test will be at weigh in and finding out how much was fat vs. potential muscle loss.

I don't know if I started back on the downward slope because I went to the gym twice this weekend and walked the dog for a while yesterday, or if my body is just going through its cycles. Either way, I feel good. I'm back in ketosis after having a sugar binge last Thursday... oops.

I've been slacking in the creativity area when it comes to making meals. I've leaned heavily on my tuna and chicken salad and chicken and broccoli. I finally made my "gourmet" chicken salad this weekend. I baked my chicken tenderloins coated in a dry Italian dressing packet. I then threw them into the food processor with my EVOO and sugar free pickle relish. Boom, three days of snacks done.

Then it got crazy. Meat crazy. Observe... vegetarians, please avert your eyes.

 

I purchased ground beef and ground turkey and cooked the hell out of it this weekend. I then proceeded to get my carnivore on. I didn't even attempt to make it look pretty, I just wanted it in my belly. I threw some cheddar and ranch and then gorged on my meat bowl. The second photo depicts my need for mac and cheese... an endless gap of mine I'm hopelessly trying to fill. I'm totally down with the results of this attempt. 2 cups chopped zucchini, #howevermuchyouwantof lean ground turkey, 1/4 cup cheddar and a little bit of garlic salt. This will become a regular in the dinner rotation.

 

I'm meeting a new friend from church out for dinner tonight before our last newbie church meeting... the menu looks challenging, so it should be interesting to see what I end up consuming. But going back to church, it's been awesome to be able to get there every Sunday for the last 4 weeks. I'm going to miss it with my next three weekends of being out of town. Very happy to be apart of a modern church that posts it's sermons online to listen to when you can't attend! Yay Life Church!

 

Go make good decisions! Happy Monday!

 

 

Recovery

Last week sucked. Big time. Lots of work drama, lots of stress, no weight loss, lack of sleep, barfing dog... blah blah blah.

But I'm recovering, and trying to bounce back in both attitude, dedication, and of course, posting! It helps that I've been able to go to Church every Sunday and I've been attending some other group sessions to meet the pastors and other new members. Yay Life Church in Gahanna, Ohio!

Last weeks weight loss stalled, very disappointing after seeing the results that I did. I know most of that previous loss was water and adjustment to the low carb intake. but I was hoping to have seen at least a pound. On top of that, I gained a pound back. I have, as of this morning, re-lost that pound, so maybe more movement will happen this week.

This past weekend I went kayaking with my friend as we had yet to do anything "summer-esque" and summer is practically over. We had fun, I got a wicked ugly sunburn via sports bra/tank top... just in time for the upcoming wedding.

 

Alright, so these are my "tuna spoons"... I got sick of just eating my tuna straight from my Tupperware. Romaine leaf + tuna salad = fun snack time. Followed by my new favorite chicken recipe that I got from Ellen. Chicken dipped in my egg whites, rolled in dry ranch dressing, and topped with some parmesan cheese. And wrapping up the newest recipe additions, a revisit to mashed cauliflower. Having a food processor totally makes the difference. Throw in light butter, almond milk, garlic salt, and rosemary!

 

 

 

Now on to the craft hour ;) I've been itching to let my creative juices flow but hadn't had the time or the patience. I made room for the crafts and screw the patience, I never have patience when trying to achieve as close to perfection as I can get... my only character flaw.

 

I found these awesome pillow cases at TJ Maxx the other day and for $7 I couldn't pass them up. Especially because earlier that morning the sermon was on God's Love and what it means to us as Christians.

 

Then I started my throw pillow recovering project last night. I spent about three hours putting together this one aqua chevron cover... it took a while, but I had to match the pattern on all sides and I added a zipper closure. It turned out beautiful, now I just need to finish the second one. I'll be moving on to something flashier for two large accent pillows for my master bedroom.

TGIF!

It's finally the end of the week. Happy Friday to all. Although, I feel my weekend might be busier than the past week... and sometimes that isn't so awesome.

Just checking in for a quick update that I yet again weighed in this morning and for the life of me can't remember if I lost one or two pounds. I really need to get more coffee... Let's just go with 1.5, yeah? That means I'm so close to my first goal, I can taste it. It tastes like chicken, eggs, turkey, steak, hamburger, some cheese and Quest Bars :)

I made a quick dinner before jetting out to sub for a volleyball game last night (which was my first this summer and made me regret not signing up, major bummer). Brought back the low carb wrap filled with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and some pepperoni. Not quite as filling as previous meals, but chug a bottle of water and you'll be set.

Happy Weekend everyone, make smart choices and get out to enjoy this awesome weather!

Clean vs Not-So-Clean

So... how much of a difference does it make eating clean vs not-so-clean? For example: I really like cheese. Cheese is not clean, right?

Last night I made the most delicious "mac and cheese" with Kraft fat free singles and zucchini... and it was amazing. I will be making it again... soon.

So for someone who is not attempting to be a fitness model (I mean it'd be nice, but that's not me), can I continue to eat my cheese as long as I don't go over my daily caloric amount? Other than cheese, I'm pretty good at keeping things on the straight and narrow. I've fully adopted brown rice, stay away from bread no matter what (except at Brio... and Café Istanbul... and pita in general) I hardly eat pasta since I enjoy zucchini and spaghetti squash so much. I steam or eat my veggies raw, I don't drink milk and if I have to, it's almond milk. I've dropped soda for water, although a random can or two might make it's way into my hands during a rough week...

Ugh, I just feel stuck. But I went to the gym this morning and did my weights and tonight is insanity... so maybe I'll feel better after that.

No excuse for laziness

I have been so remiss in updating both the fitness and the Lent side of this blog... womp.

I also forgot to weigh in this morning as I was rushed to get the wild bush woman hair sorted so people at work didn't stare. I am now presentable, but wishing I knew if I lost any weight last week.

(A little less red than usual after running)

I did accomplish something extraordinary for myself. I ran 3.1 miles last night without stopping once... and I did it in 35:11. Wahoo! I'm paying for it right now though, my knees are killing me and towards the end of the run last night, my hips were protesting as well. BUT this gives me hope for the 5k at the end of April.

I made some mini meatloaves last night after dinner, they looked so good I wish I hadn't eaten earlier. Alas, I'll have to wait til lunch today to enjoy one of those awesome little balls of meat ;) Paired with steamed broccoli of course!

I'm working out with Heather tonight and hope that I'm not as grumpy as I was last week. It's so wrong of me to take my anger and disappointment in myself out of her. I hope she kicks my butt so I can feel that soreness that I love!

I'll be updating later this evening to make up for the days of Lent that I've missed. Stay tuned if that's your thing :)

Weighing In

2 pounds. After a week of pretty diligent watching of my diet and getting some form of body movement every single day, I've lost 2 pounds. I'm slightly disappointed as I was hoping for another 7 pounds loss, just like the last time this happened. I hit up the doctor today to see if I can find a solution to this problem. Fingers are crossed. I'll take a 2 pound loss over a 4 pound gain. I am taking the advice of Becky and going with a measuring tomorrow, so we'll hopefully see some differences from last time.

In an attempt to yet again, jump start this losing journey, I've agreed to take my one free class of boxing at Title Boxing Club with my friend Kelly. I'm going to convince her that before and after pictures are completely necessary. This club boasts that it's classes can burn up to 1000 calories. Sceptic that I am, I can't track my calorie burn as I don't have a nifty device like Kmae called the fitbee, or was it a fitbug? I'll just have to judge by sweat, and the look of death that might be on my face in the after picture.

I also worked out with Heather last night and plan to work with her again tomorrow. I asked her to push me as much as she can in 1/2 hour sessions twice a week to spread out my weight routine. Last night I learned how to do Olympic lifts? Those babies are kinda fun :) Mind you, I was using a little bar, not a full bar. Womp. I'll get there, it's a new goal.

I've also almost promised to do a second 5k with a friend here in Columbus. I've also almost said I would go on a trip to Spain with another friend... I kinda have a hard time saying no. It's getting me into a lot of trouble, le sigh.

Also, check this out. I have 9 weddings that I've been invited to for 2012. 9. As my friend Aziza pointed out, she's moved onto the friends having babies portion of life and I've hit the peak of the weddings portion. I'm having a vague sense of Carrie Bradshaw's baby/wedding dilema.

I'm off to grab some more coffee, make my snack of Aunt Millie's 35 calorie wheat bread with sugar free jam. I hope that you make and hit at least one goal this week, even if it's just climbing the steps at work vs. taking the elevator!

Day 1 - I can do it!

Today is my first day of learning to love running, or at least what it can do for me. I come from a family where most of my cousins are runners. Apparently it's contagious because my sister and a non running cousin were gobbled up and spit back out in those horrid short shorts and numbered racing shirts. While I admire their strength and speed, that is not what I am shooting for with this program. I am instead opting to live a more healthy lifestyle and of course, to lose some weight!

I have never enjoyed running, jogging or walking extremely fast... I am not a fast person. My parents used to joke about tying me to a car and hoping that would help with my base running speed... instead I still resemble the roadrunner with moving legs yet not going anywhere. I don't think I will be a sprinter by the end of this program either, just more fit and able to jog without dying after three miles.

I will be using the couch to 5k program everyone raves about and I already have my podcasts downloaded and ready to roll. It helps that it will be dark out by the time I get home from work, enabling me to hide my inept running from those watching in the nearby condos.

The hardest part is actually getting myself to start. I'm sure once I see how bad it really isn't I'll be fine, but until that time you're going to enjoy the rough ride right along side with me.

Wish me luck, cause here I go!