So I’ve had a “bad” last few days. When I say bad I mean just feeling down about myself. As luck has it, I have a great support system in my husband, friends and family, who have been here as I complain about my weight loss.

I just haven’t been happy when I look in the mirror. It’s that simple. I am not used to the spare tire that now sits around my middle, I’m not used to the missing muscle tone in my arms and back, and it’s sometimes hard looking at my reflection in the mirror. When the image staring back at me is one I don’t recognize I become frustrated and wish my body would change overnight. Realistically, I know it’s not true, and I’m playing the slow and steady wins the race game…which I’m happy to be healthy and true in my weight loss. No fad diets, no starvation, just good food and exercise.

One thing I’ve learned about myself is I have realized how much emphasis I put on what I looked like on the outside, and now I have to look within, which is proving to be really, really hard. Yesterday while I was working out at home, I began to say out loud things like, “I carried a beautiful baby,” “I exercised throughout my entire pregnancy,” “I did not eat for two,” and I began to get goose bumps by recognizing the positive things I have done for myself, my son and my fitness. I haven’t really done this before and the impact it had on me was powerful. I’m not saying I felt great about myself the rest of the day, but I need to remember the power of being positive. It will set a great precedent for the rest of post pregnancy body journey and I intend on being a positive role model for my little Isaac and his future siblings. My body image isn’t at its best right now, and it’s hard to think about my body changing again, but my love for my family is infinite, and I want to keep sharing my love.

I’m going to end this with “I love what my body is capable of.”
I doubted I could grow a little human, I thought it would be so hard, but I have him and wouldn’t give him up for anything.

Today marks my first day leaving little Isaac for the entire day. I’ve been dreading this day for a long time…it’s not my first day back to work forever, it’s just my first day gone from my sweet boy. I’ve been a substitute teacher for the last year while also holding an office position with my father in law at his business. Fortunately I can say “No” to any sub position and my office work is doable from home. In addition to these 2 positions, I hold a coaching position for teachers who work with children who are placed in out of home placements: halfway house, youth jail, etc…
So today, I’m off to drive about 2 hours away, coach my teachers, observe their classrooms, and head back home. I’ve been stressed about it! There’s so much planning that takes place! I wouldn’t be as stressed if I was feeding Isaac formula, but that’s not the case. I had to be sure and pump last week to have bottles ready for today, I also have to pump while I’m away…what annoys me is that most of my time will be spent in my car! I have a car adaptor but I found out late last night that it needs 10 double AA batteries. Hopefully I can make a quick stop and purchase those after I drop off my lil man!
One thing that isn’t stressing me? The caring of my beloved son. My mama will be watching him today…and truth be told it’s only until about 2:00, BUT I am still just anxious about it! I know he’s in good hands, I turned out pretty normal-ish

Food and Fitness have been on point!
I ran on Sunday outside! It’s been in the upper 50′s and it’s mid December! I’m hoping to take advantage of this beautiful weather the rest of the week. I took yesterday off, we just had an extremely busy day (getting ready for today basically), and tonight I plan on HEAVY legs, my favorite!

I’ve packed a ton of food for today!
Breakfast: 1/3c oats, 3/4c liquid egg whites+1 egg, whipped on the stove top with 1/2c water, the oats come out super fluffy! I added stevia+flax
Snack: 1 can of tuna, 1 tomato+mustard and almonds
Lunch: 5oz chicken, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and avocado over romaine with salsa and a Trader Joe’s dark chocolate peanut butter cup (mini)
Snack: 1 hard boiled egg, 2 egg whites and a babybel mini cheese

I have one road coffee ready to go, I’ll probably pick up one on my drive home!
Here’s to my first day without my little fella Wish me luck!

I’ve begun to take solace in writing. When I blogged before it was more to get information out. I wanted to talk about my fitness routine and share recipes in hopes that maybe it would motivate someone else. I also write because it’s my way of giving advice. I am pretty bossy. The people who know me the most can probably attest to this. I often say things like “You should do this, try this, I did it this way,” etc…
But today and the last few days I’m writing because I’ve found the quiet time to do so and I enjoy it. Isaac and Adam are sleeping right now, and it will be just a matter of time before the baby’s hungry and the day begins. Here I sit in our dim lit living room, all the blinds are shut, my coffee is before me, the Christmas tree stands in my view and I can say I’m happy, I feel good, and I’m so in love with my family.
A few things or changes I’ve noticed within our baby routine. No longer are we having to rock Isaac in front of our sound machine at every nap and at bedtime. We aren’t changing strategies as how to calm him anymore-what I mean is, I would attempt for about a few minutes before Adam would take him and we would do this back and forth roller coaster of shushing Isaac, rocking, swaying, dancing…we’re a lot less overstimulating now, and he isn’t as fussy. We are FINALLY going over the 2 hour mark for our feedings! This has been a recently new development, my fingers are crossed that it lasts. I am feeling a lot less anxious about leaving the house knowing I won’t have to ditch a full cart of groceries to leave and feed him! Like I said in my last post, things are getting better! His wake time is much longer as well. He eats, plays now for about 50minutes-an hour and then he snoozes and we continue that cycle throughout the day. He’s definitely smiling a lot too, nothing could be better!

On the fitness front for today:
Cardio for sure. I am going to run today, probably 20-25min and then get in a good shoulder workout.
One more little thing I want to add: I turn the microwave on everyday to warm up coffee, tea, food, etc…and every time I do I bang out 12 pushups, once my pushups are done I hold a plank. I at least do 36 pushups a day and probably hold a plank for 1min30 total in one day. Try it, it’s easy. I do it right on the kitchen floor!

Happy December my friends! Only 24 days until Christmas!

It’s true when “They” say things get better at around 6-8 weeks with the baby. Adam and I were talking about how much more fun Isaac is, how we’re finally over the overwhelming-ness of all that has changed in our lives. Isaac is our new normal. His grunting in the middle of the night is no longer a question of him choking, his silence at night doesn’t scare me into thinking I missed him choking on something, his noises are the choir that puts me to sleep at night. I have a healthy, happy, talkative baby and that’s all I can ask for.

Everything has gotten better. Breastfeeding is better, Isaac can go longer in the day and night between feedings. He’s got a little meat on his bones so his demeanor during the day has improved exponentially=less crying=happy mommy. Our routine is pretty much down to eat, wake/play, sleep and I’ll tell ya, I love the wake time. He’s cooing, smiling, talking and it melts my heart to pieces. He’s the best little guy and I’m thankful everyday that I got to be his mom. I feel so lucky.

Post baby body?
It’s going good. But I’m also an instant gratification girl, so I’m impatient, ewwww. Right now I’m mainly focusing on heavy lifting. I hate cardio, but I am getting it in there as I feel I will benefit from it greatly. I’m definitely not lifting weight-wise as much pre-pregnancy, but week after week I’m able to add a half pound or more to certain exercises, that in it self makes me happy. I am taking the slow and steady wins the race approach, but it’s not easy. I need to remember I’m only 2 months post partum.
Workouts-
I’m working out on average 5x per week. I do about 15-25min of cardio about 2-3 times per week. This has been in form of running, stair climber and the elliptical. I have to do cardio before I lift or it just won’t get done. My lifting is pretty consistent with what I did before…I do a split of back/bis, chest/tris, shoulders/abs and legs.

Food-
On point. Not a lot of sugar except fruits, and 2 pieces of dark chocolate daily. Lots of healthy carbs, fats and proteins. My caloric intake is pretty high because of breast feeding, but I’m eating as healthy as possible…that’s all I can do!

Lots of pics to come soon. Right now, I’m just writing to write and it feels good.

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I definitely have a lot to be thankful for this year. Isaac has given me purpose, fulfillment, and this emotional energy I can’t explain. I love him, my little family of 3, and our extended families and friends who’ve helped us get to where we are now.

I had a revelation this week. I no longer stress about being somewhere on time! If you know me, I am very timely, almost annoyingly. When we had Isaac’s first pediatrics appointment he was about 5 days old. In the few days leading up to the appointment I noticed our mornings were very haphazard and unscheduled. He would nurse sometimes for 10 minutes or 40 minutes, I would never know and couldn’t seem to make sense of his eating habits. So to have to be at his appointment at 9AM really, really stressed me out. Like big time. I set my alarm the morning of the visit for 5:30 (realistically I didn’t need an alarm with a new baby in the house). What actually happened was Isaac woke me up well before, he ate, I showered and began to get ready. Then of course his wailing stopped me in my tracks and he ate again, I continued to get ready, but between the feeding, diaper changing, rocking, showering, getting ready, it took me a full 3.5 hours to feel “ready.” EXHAUSTING. I all of a sudden couldn’t manage my time and this was one more change I was trying to cope with. I like to be in control and that sense of schedule and rigidity got thrown out the window once he arrived. I wanted it back, sometimes I still do.

Fast forward to the present (7 weeks later). How do I manage things now? If I have an early appt I pack the bags, the car, and shower the night before. If I have something to do later in the day, I usually can count on Adam to take Isaac while I shower and before Adam has to work…or I do it during nap time, sometimes my shower’s cut short because of crying, and the process takes a bit longer, but we’ve managed. Many times, I’m not showered too and that’s just reality.
My “Aha” moment came last night. I was getting ready, Isaac was playing on his playmat next to me when I realized I didn’t feel rushed, or worried. It takes all day sometimes for me to look presentable, but it happens in bits and pieces throughout the day. I knew I would get to my destination within minutes of being on time and that was finally OK with me.
So now that I can manage to be somewhere relatively on time, I now need to manage my anxiety level of when/if he’s going to be hungry…with breastfeeding there’s no measure of how much they’re eating. Hunger can strike at the most inopportune times. As a new mom it’s difficult to go to the grocery store, stop at a store to return an item, or go to Walgreens for 1 or 2 items. If I’m going somewhere it’s with a purpose and I better be coming home with a lot of shit that we need. Otherwise it ain’t happening!

Exercise and Eating:
Just to touch on this quickly. I started walking the week we were home from the hospital. I exercised lightly beginning week 3 and went Full Metal Jacket by week 6. I feel great. Running is a little awkard. I’m not a big runner to begin with but I always try to be, and there is some jiggle in places I’ve never jiggled…not a great feeling.
My cardio is slacking like always but in an effort to lose the weight I’m attempting at least 15-25 min 4x a week. I am lifting heavy though. For me, that’s what I feel will change my body the most, it’s what motivates me. I’m not lifting the amount of weight I used to, but I’m lifting what’s heavy for me in this moment. I can’t wait to gain my strength back! I’m feeling optimistic!
Eating-I’ve cut out most dairy (baby’s tummy), supplement with brown rice protein, lots of good carbs, and I find that I’m hungry at night too when I get up to nurse Isaac. I try REALLY hard to stick to healthy snacks at night and not eat what could amount to a meal. Nuts, fruits, hard boiled eggs, tortilla with a little pb or hummus.

In an attempt to lose the baby weight and keep my milk supply I aim to eat at least 6x a day, plus 1 good snack at night. I’m not sure how many calories I’m burning through my workouts, and I’m not counting calories, but I’m eating healthy, exercising, and feeling good, and right now feeling “Good” is sometimes equivalent to feeling “Great!”

A lot has happened since I last wrote. For some reason I’ve been feeling compelled to write lately. I’ve been hesitant, and unsure if this was the avenue I wanted to go down, but here I am.
My last post was January 26th of this year, which was just 2 days before I found out I was pregnant! My pregnancy was amazing. I felt whole, totally at peace, and actually enjoyed watching my body change…more than that, I accepted the change. I continued my exercise and healthy habits up until my due date. Because of exercise, I believe my symptoms were minimal and it’s something I’ll never regret.

This blog will still maintain its healthy living image, but this is also my life. So a little about baby!

So here I am today, at home with my almost 7 week old baby boy. He has become my world, but not without a huge learning curve. Some highlights from the last 6 weeks:

Sleeping:
I’ll say Isaac has been a fairly good sleeper. For the first 5 weeks he was being rocked for every single nap/bedtime, even in the middle of the night. This could take 10 minutes or anywhere up to an hour. His naps during the day last from 1 hour to a little over 2 hours. At about 6 weeks he finally took to the swing, sometimes falling asleep in there, or if I catch him getting tired I’ll transfer him to his crib. He is now able to put himself to sleep (most of the time) except at bedtime, which I’ve noticed is his witching hour. He does not sleep in his crib at night, he’s still in our room in the evenings.
As for me? I don’t nap often, and I’ve gotten used to it. I drink a coffee in the morning, and then have 2 decafs during the day…call it the placebo effect. I am switching to Teechino though. It’s a non-caffeinated beverage that tastes like coffee. I feel this will be better for my health and I just feel like I’m doing too much of the regular stuff.

Nursing:
Breastfeeding is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Taking care of the baby isn’t hard. Who doesn’t love to rock, snuggle and kiss a baby all day long? It’s the nursing that takes a toll. I was told in the hospital that babies eat every 2-3 hours, this isn’t true for breastfed babes. It’s sometimes every 45min, every hour and a half, which makes life very unpredictable. Making plans seemed impossible, it still sometimes is, but I’ve become more comfortable with feeding him when I’m out, and I’m more confident in being a mom. I will say this, it gets easier with time. The first few weeks I was feeding him for 20-45min at a time, with little breaks in between because of how often he was eating, and now at almost 7 weeks old, he eats no longer than 13 minutes at a time. The hormonal roller coaster didn’t help much either. Progress! I could go on and on about nursing…maybe another time though!

Crying/Fussiness:
It’s strange how when I was around a baby I never knew what the heck they wanted. What’s weirder is being around a baby 24/7 and you learn what they want. It’s a wonderful feeling. Isaac cries when he’s tired, or overtired I should say, hungry-if I can’t get to him fast enough his cry turns into a full on screaming fest, and gas. What’s worked for us?
*Our homedics sound spa and lullaby machine. I put it on the ocean setting, as loud as it goes, hold Isaac close to my chest and sway vigorously until he calms (Happiest Baby on the Block book). It worked wonders.
*Swaddling- The first night I put him in his velcro swaddler was the first night we had an extended amount of sleep. We went a little over 3 hours, and that’s where we’re still at. I use my Aden and Anais blankets for swaddling during his daytime naps.
*Shushing- Shushing in his ear super loud works. Funny I know…this is also from Happiest Baby on the Block.
*at 5.5-6 weeks the pacifier and the swing. FINALLY!
*Gripe Water and gas drops…you can never use too much of the stuff!

Books:
I didn’t read one book on pregnancy. I didn’t care, I wanted pregnancy to be my own journey. I did love reading how big he was on the bump.com and babycenter.com, but other than that I felt I didn’t need to know the answers to everything.
Upon Isaac’s arrival I felt that I would be a good mom, even though I wouldn’t know everything. I’ve been around children my entire life from babysitting, nannying, teaching, being an aunt, etc..But nothing can prepare you for having your own child. When Isaac was about a week old I realized I needed some help. I didn’t know exactly what his cries meant, or what he needed/wanted. I didn’t know if I was doing everything I could to make him comfortable. After several recommendations I bought The Happiest Baby on the Block used from Amazon. It’s basically 7 strategies on how to help soothe your baby and to help them sleep. While reading the book, I doggy-eared several pages and began trying the strategies. Pretty quickly I noticed some of them worked and some didn’t. The strategies include some of the things I mentioned above. At this point I finally felt like I knew what Isaac needed. I began to feel less clue-less, more patient and felt like there was some flow to our lives. I will never stop recommending this book. I actually bought it for my friend who is pregnant! I hope it helps her like it did me.

Today:
I 100% feel like I found my place in this world. I’ve struggled for so long to feel like I was making an impact or that I was even needed. Now I am doing something that I love. I feel more fulfilled than I ever have. Though the journey is long, I feel like I’m on the right path.

Do you love how I reappear magically from time to time? Yeah, me too. I always love when I can actually write, post pics, and truthfully I probably have the time, I just don’t always make the time. If people loved to read blogs without pictures, then I would have something to say ten times a day!

Hi friends! Making coffee at my parent’s house…believe it or not, see that Taster’s Choice Instant Coffee? That’s my parent’s FAVORITE! I think instant is extremely nasty, so I made a pot of coffee for myself, made up a nice steaming mug and put the rest in the fridge to enjoy cold, on the days that I stop over during the week!

Coffee addict…not so much the caffeine, but the taste! One of these is decaf, one was from the morning, and the other mug was left in my car from the day before. Oops.

I made this Oatmeal Apple Bake, it’s super good! Tons of protein, healthy carbs, and healthy fat! There’s baked apple on the bottom of the pan, which makes a warm, sweet, cinnamony crust! The pan makes 4 serving sizes, or you can cut 8 slices, and eat 2 for a meal. 1/8 of the apple bake is 133.5 calories, so 267cals for every 2 pieces, which makes for a great meal. Just top with natural pb or a little greek yogurt for extra nutrients like I did! Here’s the link to the recipe YUM. I took out the chia seeds and nuts cuz I didn’t have any, and I only had 1 apple.

Next up friends…red velvet cake protein bars! SO good! These for real do not taste healthy. I added a little greek yogurt with truvia as a topping, Sunbutter tastes amazing on them, and it tastes really good crumbled up in oats! Get the recipe here. The picture doesn’t do the taste justice, and the white thing…wet paper towel that I keep over the bars to keep them from going dry. Or shall I say everyone’s favorite word? Moist.

Crock pot lasagna! I had no clue it could be done, but it can, and it turned out better than I could’ve imagined. I honestly didn’t get this recipe from one single site, it was a little pinterest influenced, Cooking Light, and random google searches.

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground turkey (I used 93/7)
2 cans of Hunt’s Tomato Sauce- basil, oregano, garlic flavor
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1c chopped onion
Basil
Oregano
Italian Spice
Pepper
Salt
Garlic Powder
15oz Low Fat Ricotta Cheese
1cup Kraft low-park Skim Mozzarella
1 egg white
1 zucchini
Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles

Directions:
Sautee onion, garlic, and turkey, pour tomato sauce into pan, allow to brown and simmer, add spices to taste (I used the tomato sauce vs spaghetti sauce to eliminate some sugar and cut down cals)
Meanwhile, mix ricotta, egg, and cheese in another bowl
When meat sauce mixture is ready, spray crock pot, line bottom of pot with part of the mixture, then lay noodles to fit crock (about 3)…you will break a few to get them to fit.
Spread 1/4 of mixture on noodles, 1/4 of chopped zucchini, 1/4 of cheese mixture, noodles, and repeat until you’ve used all meat sauce and cheese mixture.
Cook for 31/2 to 4 hours, no longer! GREAT NEWS…You don’t have to cook the noodles before hand!
The lasagna was really good. Next time I may try cottage cheese, but I also may try butternut instead of noodles! Now that I’ve made it once, the possibilities are endless.

Adam LOVED the lasagna, like he couldn’t stop eating, and he doesn’t really like my “healther” versions! This was a winner for sure!

This is not the final product above…this is during the layering process!

Lastly, I played with soup! Butternut and Bean Soup.
Onions, green peppers, and garlic sauteed in a pan, while butternut (I roasted the night before for softness) 2 cans of black beans, and 1 can of chicken stock went into the crock. I let it cook for a few hours, and topped with fresh tomatoes, avocado, greek yogurt, and added some diced chicken!

You can add in whatever you like…corn, other beans, stewed tomatoes which I’ll do next time, turkey bacon bits, the list goes on!

The picture looks like poo, but don’t judge a book by its cover.

Man, it looks super gross…

I do not lack motivation to get to the gym, to have a great workout, or to eat healthy. To be honest, I like working out and fueling my body with food that has nutritional value. Success story right? Well, wrong. I do however crave the occasional cheesy, grease laden pizza, a HUGE piece of cake, or a bowl of ice cream to eat my cake with, and maybe pour a bag of peanut M&M’s over. But I don’t do any of these. Like not even a little bit. You might be thinking that’s a good thing…and it really is, in a clog your arteries kind of way, but in a reality type of way, is it? Is it healthy?

Here’s the deal. I shy away big time from foods that we label “Bad.” Even though professionals say there’s no such thing as “Good” or “Bad” food, I label food, and I bet you do too in some form or another. Why do I do this? I’ve convinced myself that my ass will look like the size of a bus after a cupcake, or my stomach will be void of all muscle tone after a piece of pizza. Clearly this is not true. One meal will not do this to me, nor to you, so why do I “Think” like this. Well, because if you think something so many damn times you convince yourself it’s true. Now do I sit on my couch all day imagining my food with devil horns and halos? No, I really don’t. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I didn’t think so hard about what I put in my mouth, and occasionally just went with it.

BUT, I know how I would feel. GUILT. I know, you know what I’m talkin about. Then the self talk chimes in, clouds your brain, and all you can think about is how you probably should be waddling home instead of walking because indeed you look 7 months pregnant after that pizza. Oh and of course you’ll be hitting the gym first thing tomorrow morning. You’ll be at the gym before it even opens to get on a machine and sweat the cheese right out of your pores…and you know what, you’ll be back to your old self, and that’s when it hits you, “I can eat a piece of pizza, workout, and look the same!” So why the guilt and negative self talk? Because, just like any other habit or routine, if you tell yourself something more than 21x it begins to manifest itself into a huge monster that won’t go away. What to do? Well, that’s what I’m going to be working on. Practicing to change the way I talk to myself.

The thought isn’t about abandoning my healthy tendencies. I am to the point where this is my lifestyle, to change it would be to change me, and that’s not I want. I’ve become too routine to make this all go away, but I’ve also become too routine to make any changes, that’s what isn’t OK.

I have more confidence in myself than I did 5 years ago. I’m confident in my ability to be healthy, to help my friends and family with a little bit of advice in regards to food/exercise/nutrition, to make healthy choices for myself, and truly, this post may not reflect it, but I’m extremely proud of my body. I love how strong I’ve become, and I know it’s from my hard work in the gym and in my kitchen. But I want to be better. I want to continue on my path of health and nutrition, but like my mom said, “There’s more to being healthy than food and exercise, there’s your overall mind and spirit too.” She helped me see that being healthy embodies the entire self, not parts, not just the physical, but the whole being. So I may not go for that pizza, cheeseburger, or cupcake just yet, but when I do it will be without all the negativity. How do I know this? Because if I tell myself that I will be OK more than 21x, then I will start to believe it.

My experience with workout buddies is limited but not completely non existent. When I first started working out I joined a gym with my sister and I knew nothing. I will always remember the day she laughed at me in the middle of the weight room because I was so un-coordinated.

Fast forward a few years later. I’m in Omaha, going back and forth to Chicago to visit my now husband, and I’m as efficient as can be in the gym. My routine is down, I can try new things without feeling like an ass at either gym, in both cities. Fast forward AGAIN. After a brief stint living in Chicago I’m back in Omaha working out with my sister in law. She has the same workout schedule as I do…workout 5-6 days a week. But our goals were and still are entirely different. She loves cardio. I hate cardio. We could meet each other at the gym, talk for a few moments, and that was that.

In the last 2 years I’ve been solo. Developing my own strength, reading blogs, looking up exercises, and truly becoming stronger, more dedicated, and confident. I’ve said before that I experience a high when I move up in weights or increase reps. Truly a wonderful feeling.

Currently, I have a workout buddy. My friend Kristin, a runner, decided to try out my gym for 30 days. I wasn’t nervous but just wondered how my routine would change. The gym is my place where I get to relax, think about my day, stew over anything that maybe pissed me off. Lifting heavy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea either, so to say I wasn’t apprehensive would be a lie. Regardless, I was just excited to have some girl time.

Can I say working out with someone has been something I never thought I would love, but do! It’s been 2 weeks, going on our 3rd, and we keep a great schedule, talk about meeting times every time we exit the gym together, and we’re both accountable. We’ve messed with our workout split a few times, we’re still trying to find something that works, but this is it. A few changes will obviously occur. We are doing an intro to pilates this Tuesday night, and I totally skipped out on Saturday. I’m even finding that I’m more willing to try new things…a pilates class, an organize spin class…all things that make the gym an obligation to me. With a buddy, it seems more fun and less ewwww.

So far it looks like this:
Mon-Back and Biceps
Tues-20min cardio+shoulders/triceps
Wed-Spin
Thurs-20min cardio+chest
Fri-Legs
Sat-Cardio

I’ve shared with Kristin my lifting journal from January to September. She can see how I played with reps/weights, and can visually see my workouts. I also wrote out the exercises I do the most, if she wanted to look them up online, or to come up with her own workout the days we can’t meet. She also has a list of exercises in her notebook that we’ve tried, and she’s been the one to get me to finally train my abs! The buddy system works!

Having a buddy keeps one accountable not only for getting to the gym, but getting through those last reps, and someone to share the ups and downs of everyday life with. We’ve brought each other homemade soup, and post workout cookies to keep our food goals aligned with the hard work in the gym. So far the buddy system has proven to be successful!

A few buddies, but Kristin’s got the Skinny Girl Margarita right in front of her…call it her post workout recovery shake!

It is 5 days into the New Year, the time for “January Joiners,” and the resolutioners. I actually don’t mind the business at the gym like some people. It’s refreshing to see people gung ho about fitness/health/nutrition, but what saddens me is how quick people fall off the wagon. I’ve been reading blog after blog where the writer is identifying their goals for 2012, and setting resolutions regarding their personal life, their health/nutrition, or something with their careers. Some people are so specific in their goals: drink 64oz water, workout 5x a week (jog 3x, yoga 1x, and strength train 1x), say “No” less often, plan 1 date night per week, see my family 2x a week…and the list goes on and on.

Is there something wrong with this? No, but am I judging that person? I could lie and say “No,” but hell yeah I’m judging them. I’m thinking, I barely have time in my life to do ALL of that…why not just go with it, try your best, and see what happens? Why not say, I hope to be more active, drink a bit more water, and exercise? Doesn’t that seem less hard? I sure do think so. But, I’m not perfect at all. I’m a planner for sure, and I feel guilt if I don’t see my family, don’t make it to the gym, or when I do say “No,” which I say often. I also pressure myself way too much in the area of gym, tan, laundry. Just kidding, more in just the gym and eating healthy. Control Issues? Clearly. So this year, what are my resolutions and goals?

I am not making any. I don’t want to “Stick” to anything. I don’t want to be accountable to anyone, especially to you guys. If I make a goal, you would see it, and you would wonder if I held up my end of the bargain right? Well, that’s just some more pressure I don’t want to deal with it. So I’m saying to hell with resolutions this year, and I’m going to try to be/do less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff.

What are your goals/resolutions for 2012?

Happy New Year friends! I’m a little late on saying “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays,” but that’s just how I do things.

So the next two pictures will indicate a few things. A: My lame excuse for holiday decorating. I bought the runner thing at Target last year post Xmas for $.99. That’s a freakin bargain. The green tray thing? That was a gift from someone, can’t remember who, it came with some candles, and now it’s storage for our remote controls.

Further evidence of our lame decor. Our artificial tree, already donned with lights…no hard labor there. Ornaments you ask? I’m lazy, no children to impress, no Elf on The Shelf bullshit, just a tree with an Elmo suitcase…awesome.

Now the second thing you will learn from these photos. How close our “Living room” is to our kitchen. Like 10 feet. Now wait…

This means, I was within seconds of all of these cookies for DAYS on end. For real. Those cooling? Cranberry with orange zest cookies dipped in white chocolate. Super good.

Because of all these cookies, I started doing this.

1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1/2 bag of baby romaine, 1/2 bag of spinach, juice from 1 lemon, bunch of parsley, bunch of cilantro, and water.  This made about 10 cups of a cleansing green juice. I drank one every morning before breakfast.

This was not meant as a cleanse by any means, but it was meant to feel “Cleaner” and not so gross. I made the juice 2 weeks in a row, drank it for about 10 days, and haven’t made one since. Do I feel more clean? Sure, why not, especially since I haven’t washed my hair for approximately 4 days. Shampoo frampoo.

Lots of baking and cooking in the last few days. I took all of Sunday to batch cook proteins, cut up veggies, cook a spaghetti squash and bake for the week! Doing this helps making lunches, and packing snacks 10x quicker! I can also make fast, simple dinners when the most of the meal is prepped!

Salmon. The mixture on top is so good and creamy. 1/4c Kraft Mayo with Olive oil, garlic powder, lemon pepper, salt/pepper, juice from a fresh lemon and parsley, spread over salmon and bake.Some of my roasted veggies: Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, Butternut Squash (my new favorite) fresh beets, Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo (seriously so good) goat cheese, balsamic and mango salsa to dress.Lean ground turkey mixed with taco seasoning, Fage greek yogurt, mango salsa, fresh tomatoes, avocado, carrots (I ate half of them before taking this picture) brussel sprouts, and Trader Joe’s Tomato and Basil hummus.

Then the baking occurred. First up, Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Those are DARK chocolate chips. I had to be a little healthy.

Then I made these. “These” are healthy Sunbutter Whey Cookies from Oxygen Magazine. 1T nutbutter of your choice, 1/2c oats, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 egg white, 2 packets of stevia/truvia, and 2T of carob chips, dark chocolate chips. Drop into little balls, cook at 350 for 20min!

For dessert last night I dipped a Sunbutter cookie into my healthy hot chocolate. 1/2c Almond Milk, 1/2c of water, 1T of Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa, 1 packet of truvia. Nuke for 2 minutes, and add 2T of light Redi-Whip. SO GOOD.

I worked hard for these cookies…Oops, totally forgot to grease the parchment paper. I had to cut out the cookies and scrape off the bottom of every single one. I’m not a food waster, I will save anything and everything. Trust me.

I super messed these Coconut Macaroons up too, and yes I kept them. They actually taste amazing. Lesson learned…BUY an electric mixer so your eggs beat stiff. I don’t have an electric mixer of any kind friends, so I had to whisk away until my arm was about to fall off. The macaroons are healthy, and good for you. I got the recipe here. My friend Lindsey is a hollistic health coach, and sends us a monthly newsletter for health/wellness and nutrition tips, as well as recipes. Do not be fooled by this picture friends. Check her out!

I allowed the macaroons to chill on the counter, cut around them, and cooled them in the fridge. This morning I added a macaroon as a topping to my Irish Oats and some Sunbutter…beautiful.

And then I broke my FAVORITE mug in the world. Adam and I received a gift card to William Sonoma when we got married. These mugs can hold the hottest liquid and feel cool to the touch. I’ve broke 3 of them in the last 3.5 years. Sad.

But then things turned around because I made all of this awesome stuff. Bon Bons for Baby Jesus. Inside these balls are Candy Cane Hershey Kisses OR Mint Truffle Kisses. You can find the recipe here. A little time consuming wrapping the dough around the kisses, but easy, and not very messy. If you have kids, nieces, nephews this would be a great little project for them!

Getting ready for the oven!

Mini Me? One batch cooling, the other going in. Not sure what’s going on with this photo.

I melted white baking chocolate in a bowl, then scooped it into a ziploc baggie, cut off the tip and drizzled over the bon bons.

Final Product! Ta Da! I’ve only had one in wrapped in mint truffle so far…I ate one and then said to my husband, “I think I’m gonna poop my pants.” For some reason he knew that meant they were super good. Is that weird?

And my last batch of cookies…Funfetti Cake Cookies!

And one last kitchen fail so you’re not totally jealous of my baking success. I realized a little too late that I forgot to put the pot (it’s below in the red) in the crock before pouring my chicken stock. BUT I was resourceful and grabbed the nearest pan, caught the liquid and poured it into my pot!

So now I have 80+ cookies and need to figure out who they’re going to and how many of them I wanna keep for myself! Happy Holiday week friends!

What’d you bake for the holidays?

Scrabble War. I always win, my husband quit when the score was 145 to 50. Sore loser. BUT, this was his starting word…thanks.

I won because of IQ and QI. Technically, IQ isn’t a “word,” it’s an abbreviation for Intelligent Quotient.  But he didn’t dispute! I got 11 points for each word, AND triple word score for QI. Winning!

Me. Winning face. Don’t mind the couch, it always looks like this. It’s “Super Couch.” All cushions come off, bring the ottoman over, and we sprawl on the couch with pillows and blankets every night.

Moving on. I made “Lean Chicken Fingers,” from Oxygen magazine for lunch.

Ingredients: 1 chicken breast, 2T of egg whites or 1 fresh egg white, 2T of crushed almonds, or a handful of non-crushed/sliced almonds, 2T of plain oatmeal. Spices.

Put chicken in a ziploc, coat with egg whites.

Blend/Process oats and almonds. If you can see to the left of the photo, I used Blue Diamond Wasabi and Soy almonds to add some more flavor! I added a little garlic powder and pepper to the mixture, add to ziploc bag to coat chicken. Bake at 350 for 20 min!

I was too hungry to snap a picture of final product! Sorry! I did however roast cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and butternut squash too. I’ve never roasted bnut squash, and loved the sweet flavor. I used olive oil to coat veggies, with a little cayenne, paprika, salt and pepper!

Super good.

Shoulder Workout and 30 minute intervals on the treadmill!

I subscribe to about 7-10 blogs, and I take the time to read them all. Sometimes my inbox gets super full after 2 days of not checking email, but I love having the wee hours of the morning to read a few blogs before for work, or taking up an hour on a Saturday morning while my husband is still sleeping to catch up on health tidbits. Well, I just finished up reading an entire comment section of skinnyrunner. Her latest blog linked to an article about readers hating on their favorite bloggers who monetize their blogs…reviewing products they would never actually use, or always hosting give aways of products companies have paid them to advertise on their blog. The advertising takes away from the bloggers actual goal, which is to reach readers based on their content. Well, the comments ranged from, “Your content sucks, you shouldn’t get paid,” to “You’re the best, you deserve to be on the Housewives Reality show!” My opinion? I don’t care if you get paid or not. I skip over the stuff that I don’t want to read, and read the stuff that I find relate-able. That being said, I’ve unsubscribed from a few blogs because there’s nothing I see myself doing/trying, or the blog isn’t a good fit for me. Believe it or not, I’ve had some un-subscribers. Maybe you want to be taken off my email list, but you’re my friend, and that may be awkward the next time we’re in the same room together…but I write this blog for myself mostly, and share things I have a gnawing feeling to get out that I don’t always want to say in a Facebook status update! I also like to share what I have found works for me nutritionally/health-wise, maybe it will help you too? Who knows.

Just had to get that off my chest! I don’t advertise, obviously, and I’m not attempting or trying to make billions, I just want to share myself with friends and family.

Anyways. I had no quinoa, no spinach, and 1 piece of bread left for a meal. Protein was lacking, and so were the vegetables. Lunch today ended up being sauteed cauliflower, broccoli, green peppers, and tomatoes, with an egg pancake. I made the pancake with a little salt, pepper, 1 egg and 1/4c of plain greek yogurt. The yogurt made the pancake super fluffy, and gave the egg a nice cheesy-ness taste. I topped the egg and veggie mixture with avocado, 1 slice of turkey bacon, and salsa…perfection.

No workout today, off day. I did however sweat it out a little on the stairmill for 40 minutes yesterday. I didn’t want to workout, didn’t feel like lifting, knew I was lacking in the cardio department, and knew I wanted something slow and easy. Elliptical sounded too easy, so I chose the stairs, set it at 55 steps per minute. This was not a hiit workout. This was an “I’m just gonna read magazine after magazine,” workout. I’m glad I went though.

Off to bed my friends. I just felt I owed ya one.