Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Staying Motivated

I really struggle with staying motivated.  I feel like it's a never ending struggle and I wonder if it will always be like this, even when I reach my goal weight.  I've been trying to come up with ways to keep my motivation going and one of the things that seems to be working at the moment is putting together outfits that I wouldn't wear right now, but wouldn't hesitate to wear when I reach my goal.  I've been using Polyvore to create these uber cool outfits online.  Have you used Polyvore?  I'd never heard of it until last week.  It has rocked my socks off.  I love it.  For real.

Here are a couple of the outfits that I've put together.  Whenever I think about eating the wrong thing or not exercising I picture these outfits in my mind and it helps get me through.
I'd love to wear the first outfit while running errands on the weekend.  Right now I would never wear sandals that wrap around my ankles because I feel like I have fat ankles.  That little "believe" necklace is so dang awesome.  I need it....bad!  A little reminder around my neck to believe in myself and the things I've accomplished when I reach my goal weight would be killer.   I also just don't put that much thought into my errand running outfits, but I think looking cute even while running errands would be super.



Ummm...okay.  I would never not in a million years, not for a million dollars wear this outfit right now.  You need a smokin' hot body to pull of red skinny jeans and leather jacket.  One day I will have that smokin' hot body and then I'm gonna rock this little number.  I'm gonna walk my smokin' hot behind right next to my smokin' hot husband and feel great about myself and how I look.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Greek Quinoa Salad

I've been enjoying this little salad recently. I found recipe in a magazine that looked good and then made it my own and I have to say it was fabulous.
So if you want to try it for yourself go right ahead. I hope you like it. The flavors are strong and even more so the next day, but that's just perfect for me.

Greek Quinoa Salad

Ingredients
1 Cup quinoa rinsed well and drained
2 chicken breasts cooked and cubed
1/2 red onion diced
3 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 clove garlic passed thru a garlic press
Fat Free Feta Cheese
Kalamata Olives
Cherry Tomatoes
Chives

Directions
Bring quinoa to boil in 2 cups water and then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed.  Meanwhile in a small bowl mix olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.  Once quinoa is cooked spread it into an even layer on a baking sheet and put it in the freezer to cool down (about 10-15 minutes should do the trick)  Once cooled combine quinoa, chicken and onion in a large boil then add oil/lemon mix and toss.  Finally add the rest of the ingredients (use as much as you like here).  I used a small container of the feta, a small container of olives and about 10-12 cherry tomatoes and a handful of chives.  Nothing exact here.  Then just gently toss it all together. 

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Food and Exercise Log 14

Today I started my morning with coffee with unsweetened organic vanilla almond milk.  I didn't have anything else for breakfast.  Not a good start : (
For lunch I had some left overs from our picnic on Sunday.  Edamame Salad, Greek Orzo Salad and Strawberries and Blueberries.




After lunch we celebrated that the boys were done with school for the year.  Woohoo!!  Unfortunately the boys decided they wanted to celebrate with chocolate milkshakes.  So, we picked up milkshakes.  Yummo, but not a great choice on my part. 
Oh well.  Moving on.
For dinner I had some super yummy grilled chicken and roasted beets.  I've never had beets before, but they were so pretty at the farmer's market on Saturday so I picked some up.  The chicken was fantastic (I had marinated it in a garlic molasses marinade), but the beets were just so-so.  I think they just needed something more.  I got the recipe out of a healthy cookbook that I have.  First I cut the tops and roots off.  Then I drizzled olive oil on them and then sprinkled them with some garlic, covered them in foil and roasted them for about an hour.  Once they were done cooking  I peeled them, cut them up and put them on the plate.  That was it and they really needed something else.  I'm not giving up on the beautiful beet.  I just need to find some better recipes.



On the pan ready to be cooked

 After roasting, cut up.  Aren't they pretty?  Seriously, who knew a food could be so pretty?  I kind of want to decorate my kitchen in these colors.
 On the plate...

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Salmon and Roasted Turnip Puree

I told you guys I was going to do something incredible with those beautiful turnips that I got at the farmer's market this morning.  And oh boy did I!  I'd like to take all the credit for what I made with those beautiful turnips, but I can't take the credit.  The credit for the roasted turnip puree belongs to Beth and you'll find the recipe here.  Now I'll admit.  I've never had a turnip, not roasted, pureed or any other way.  I didn't really know what to expect.  I mean turnips tend to get a bad rap.  Who really wants to eat a turnip anyway?  But Beth peaked my interested and I decided to give them a try.  Oh.my.word.  I'm so glad I did.  First, they were so easy to prepare.  I just followed Beth's instructions and whipped them right up.  Ease is always a major plus for me.  For the salmon I just brushed a little olive oil on it and put some salt and pepper on it and threw it in the oven about half way through the cooking of the turnips.  I guess I cooked it about 20 minutes (until it was flaky).  Then I made the mustard vinaigrette.  Beth said she had a mustard vinaigrette with her fish and turnips.  I don't know her recipe so I just made up my own.   I just whisked together some Dijon mustard, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a little honey.  I just added a little here and a little there until I liked the way it tasted.  Once everything was done I drizzled the vinaigrette on top of everything.  It was all fantastic.  If you haven't tried turnips then I suggest you give them a try.  You'll love them.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Farmer's Market!

Today I ventured to one of our local farmer's markets. It was fantastic!  For $20 I got everything you see below.  A dozen fresh eggs, a big bag of baby lettuces, amazing bright beets, sweet purple carrots and turnips.  That's right folks.  TURNIPS!  Just wait til you see what I do with those bad boys.  We will definitely be going back next week.  It was awesome.  By the way...my camera is still busted, so I'm sorry about the crummy phone pictures.



 

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Food and Exercise Log 13

I feel much more on track today than I have in a while.  It feels good.  I think realizing yesterday that I wasn't turning to food during a rough time was a huge moral boost for me.
Today for breakfast I had coffee with Organic Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and a Lemon Zest Luna Bar.
For lunch I had salmon with roast corn salsa over lettuce (straight out of the garden : ) and an Apple/Carrot Juice with Raw Green Super Food Powder and TRI Cleanse.  The roast corn salsa was left over from dinner last night.  I'll share the recipe in another post.  It was so good : )
For dinner I made chicken salad from a rotisserie chicken.  Sometimes when I'm in a hurry the best thing I can grab is a rotisserie chicken.  Tonight I pulled off the skin and then chopped up the meat, added fresh bell pepper, celery, capers (drained and rinsed), some sliced almonds, plain greek yogurt and a couple of table spoons of mayo (made with olive oil).  Are you thinking "MAYO!"?  Don't get too worried.  It was like two tablespoons and it went into an entire rotisserie chicken, so it's really not much.
My camera finally gave out on me this weekend so I'm having to use my phone to take pictures of everything.  I didn't get a good picture of the chicken salad tonight so I'll take one tomorrow when I have the left overs for lunch.
I'm getting ready to do my yoga dvd and I've had 64 oz of water to drink and I'm going to get in a little more before bed.  All in all a pretty decent day.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Feelings...

Feelings....I have them.  Lots of them.  And some times they get hurt.  Having 4 little boys that don't think at all about what comes out of their mouths I've learned to let a lot of things slide.  But.sometimes.I.just.can't.  When that happens I usually turn to food.  Lots.of.food. 
The last three days of stunk.  Stunk big time and I've had lots of hurt feelings.  However, this time I haven't turned to food.  I'm not sure what's changed, but I just haven't done it.  It wasn't anything intentional, but it just hasn't happened.  Tonight I realized that through all my hurt I haven't once walked to the pantry and just started eating like I normally do.  That's a BIG deal for me.  A really huge deal for me.  The hurt is still there.  As a matter of fact I feel like crying as I write this and I probably should.  It would probably be good for me.  But when does a momma of four have time to cry?  Hurt feelings will pass eventually, and right now I'm feeling proud of the fact that I haven't turned to food.  It's nice to feel good about something in the midst of the hurt.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Sweet Treats

Over the weekend I decided to let my boys enjoy some sweet treats. We rarely have something sweet (other than fruit : ) and they had been really good and it was like 90 something degrees. So while the boys enjoyed this...
I had this....
Tazo Shaken Iced Passion Tea from Starbucks.  I'd never had this before, but I'm saying goodbye to my regular Chai Latte.  The lady that made it asked if I wanted it sweetened and I told her no.  The little sticker on my cup said "No Syrup" so I guess the sweetener is syrup.  Glad I skipped it, but next time I think I'll add my own sweetener (maybe a little splenda). 
So, my boys enjoyed  a scoop of ice cream from Baskin Robbins and I enjoyed a Tazo Shaken Iced Passion Tea from Starbucks for ZERO calories.  Woohoo!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Yummy Zucchini Burgers!!

I have a plethora of zucchini growing in my garden right now.   Luckily for me I ran across this recipe on Beth's Blog the other day.  I followed the recipe except for one thing.  Beth mentioned that the original burger that she was copying had bell peppers in it.  I had a jar of roasted red peppers so I rinsed one, patted it dry with a paper towel, and chopped that little baby up.  Then I just added it in with the other veggies.  I think you could also use fresh bell peppers (which I'm hoping will be ready in my garden in a couple of weeks) and it would give a little bit of crunch.  The feta gave them a little zing that was just right. They were super yummy.  Another bonus is that they're super easy to make.  You don't have to precook any of the veggies.  Just grate, chop and mix and you're ready to go.  I fed them to my family for dinner over Organic Spring Mix Lettuce with a side of apples and grapes.  Everyone loved them.  Even my meat eating husband thought they were great.  Now, I'm not going to say he promised to give up meat and eat zucchini burgers for all eternity, but he did say they were good and he'd eat them again.  So head to your garden, farmers market, or local grocery and pick up some fresh zucchini and the rest of the ingredients and whip these bad boys up.  You won't be disappointed.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Food and Exercise Log 12

Today I woke up feeling better about things and ready to move ahead.  Granted my stomach is starting to rebel from all the crap I've eaten over the past few days, so that was a motivator as well.
I only had a coffee with some unsweetened organic vanilla almond milk for breakfast.  Not a great start to the day, but it wasn't chocolate so I'm not complaining. 62 Calories
For lunch I still wasn't super hungry so I had a small Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortilla, Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese, Spinach, Spring Salad and 2 oz Smoked salad.  I could eat this almost everyday (if you look back at some of my logs you'll see that I actually do it a lot).  It's so yummy.  228 Calories
Later in the afternoon I started getting hungry and grabbed a Luna Chocolate Peppermint Stick Bar (no Lemon Zest ones in the house : )  180 Calories
For dinner we went to eat at a friend's house.  She made a wonderful dinner, but I'm not so sure about the calories.  I hadn't eaten much during the day so I wasn't too worried.  I had a spinach salad with strawberries and poppy seed dressing.  Oh my word.  The dressing was so good.  It was this dressing.  I was so disappointed when I got home and looked at the nutritional information.  160 calories and 14 grams of fat in 2 tbsp!  Seriously!  I need to figure out a recipe to see if I can make it myself for less calories and fat.  We also had  homemade shepherds pie.  It was good too, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't super healthy.  I mean it had veggies in it, but it also had ground beef, some sort of sauce and mashed potatoes.  I will say that I had a small portion, so I didn't eat a lot of it.  There were cupcakes after dinner.  I had one.  But only one. 
I didn't exercise today, but I played outside with my kids and worked in the garden.  That was really nice.  Speaking of the garden...we picked our first Cherry Tomatoes today.  Woohoo! 
Ready for a good day tomorrow!

How things are going

Things are not going well.  I don't know what has happened, but the past few days have been out of control.  I mean out of control eating.  I'm eating everything I can get my hands on.  It's not good.   Not good at all.  I'm going to take some time alone to sit down and really evaluate what I need to be doing.  Going to look at the people that are my motivators and see what's working for them.  Going to make a list of healthy recipes and stock the fridge and pantry with what I need to make them and get the junk out of the house.  Going to have a better exercise plan.
This will work.  It has too.  I'm not going to live my life as a big girl.  I want to live my life as a happy, content, joyful, loving, unselfish girl and that doesn't include being big.  I'm going to give my husband the best wife I can.  I going to give my kids the best mom I can.  This does not include being big.  It's time to move on from this part of my life.  Time to leave the big girl behind and become the best girl I can be.