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.

Case of the Mondays?

This weekend was a quick one. I hate quick weekends. I don't feel rested, I didn't get to work out AT ALL, and I barely got my laundry done. Not working out was the worst part, I need to be able to get a little something in every day otherwise I'll suffer for the challenge weigh in. But overall, it wasn't the worst quick weekend, I got to spend a lot of time with friends that I don't seem often!

Friday night was a wonderful visit with a close friend, her husband and baby girl. They made me some delish chicken and mashed cauliflower! I haven't yet tried making mashed cauliflower again since I got my food processor... soo that is on the menu for this week, because it was awesome.

Saturday was bridesmaid dress shopping and a night out on the town with another friend. I promised myself I wouldn't drink. But I had a glass of Dark Horse Chardonnay and a Pinnacle Whipped Vodka with Diet Coke. All within my carb limit, but still not part of the plan for the weekend, as I knew it would slow my progress. As it did, no change on Sunday morning :::sad face::: We had a lot of fun, encountered the most awkward man in the world, juke boxed 90's music, chuckled, and people watched. We look like a pastel rainbow, and my hair is doing things in public that we discussed it shouldn't... it never listens!

I made it to church Sunday morning and then had a pool day with a college friend that came down to visit. We got burned, basked in each other's awesomeness, and ate pepperoni and sliced cheese as our poolside snacks (low carb pool side is definitely challenging).

So here are some meals I've enjoyed the past couple days. We've got some Southwestern Egg Beaters and Aldi Turkey Sausage for breakfast, nom nom nom.

 

This was my attempt at classiness without cracking open the wine ;) Paired with my staple of sautéed chicken, zucchini, red sauce and a crap ton of grated parmesan cheese. Bon appetite!

 

 

DID I FORGET TO MENTION I'M UNDER 200?!? #BOOM #GETERDONE

 

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!

TBT the college years

I really dig the TBT idea and am saddened by the fact that all of my awesome younger years photos happen to reside at my parents house. I'll have to settle for the oldest photos I have. This means going to my time line, clicking on "born", and scrolling til 2003, when I apparently came into the only world that truly matters, Facebook.

The College Years

 

 

Sarah and I first met at college orientation. We were put into the same vocal studio under the tutelage of Dr. Fralick (affectionately dubbed Fray Fray). We bonded instantly when I found out she was moving to BW all the way from Texas. If you are unaware, I was born in Texas, so that automatically made us BFFS. Please note her sensual pose while I attempt to keep a cowboy hat perched on my abnormally large head. We were, and are, awesome.

 

 

As you've already deduced from my previous statement that Sarah and I met because of our shared major in Vocal Performance, you'll know that we were most certainly involved with the annual operas and musicals. In this particular photo we were part of a most energetic and awesome chorus for The Marriage of Figaro. I wish I had more pictures, because we had so many good memories. We wore butt bumpers, and giant skirts, and pranced around on stage singing our little hearts out. Most fun I had in college, hands down.

 

I tried making brownies last night. It was an epic fail and the only conclusion I can come to is that God was trying to keep me from being tempted. So, despite their not so beautiful appearance, I brought in a Tupperware of the goop I managed to create and still gave it out to my fellow coworkers. Aren't I nice??

 

I did however, make a delicious dinner of parmesan crusted chicken tenders with sauteed zucchini and onions.