Week One

Here I am, as promised. I've come prepared and have pics of my grocery cart, meal pics and recipe. Of course, to recap my goal for the weekend out on the road and in Beaver, small town USA was to not go overboard. And..well...I didn't go "overboard" but I certainly could have ordered a salad at Wendy's instead of a chicken sandwich. That being said, I also could have ordered a frosty waffle cone, and a burger with a soda. I didn't, I just had some lemonade and no frosty. As for the rest of the meals they weren't so bad. Fruits and veggies were present but I did also eat a small handful of cheetos and a half cookie :S I guess you win some, you lose some. However, I've got the rest of the week all planned out and I am excited to tackle it. Really, I can't wait to get to the end of each day knowing how great I feel about my food choices.

For Breakfast this week I'm sticking to oatmeal and bananas and lemon water. Just a 1/2 cup of rolled oats and half of a banana on top. I can not eat oatmeal straight up, but I actually do like it with some mix-ins. I sadly did not get a photo of my breakfast, but it's pretty easy to picture. However, days when I work out I will come home to a protein shake breakfast instead of oatmeal. My shakes are delicious and consist of 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, protein powder, half banana, water and ice, tsp of cocoa powder and a packet or two of stevia. I really do enjoy them but it took awhile before I was convinced, and lots of testing as well to get the right balance. Now I have it all down and don't even really measure anything out.

Today's lunch included left over homemade pasta salad from the trip. My Mom makes it every year, it's fairly tasty. Healthy? hmm...it has celery, egg, cucumber, shrimp, green onions and...mayo. Yeah. It's probably not that healthy, but there was a lot of it leftover, and all in moderation, right? Plus, it could have been much worse. I balanced it with a good serving of grapes and water. I won't be eating this all week for my lunches as the pasta salad probably won't last the whole week. My plans for the next few days include some tuna and pickle sandwiches, more grapes and carrots.

As far as snacks go, this week I've got some rice cakes that I plan to top with honey and almond butter or some smushed avocado. Pretty tasty. I have lots of possibilities for them in the future and can't wait to try them out (think: rice cake pizzas, cream cheese and strawberries, hummus and cucumbers etc.).

Above you can see my grocery cart and what I created from that cart just above. My grocery list included: orange bell pepper, quinoa, onions (green and yellow), lemons, tomatoes, olive oil, kiwis and arctic zero. 

I made a really delicious quinoa salad for dinner for the next few nights. I work Tuesday and Wednesday nights so I need something ready to take or I will be tempted to make not so good choices. I'll provide the recipe at the end of the post. 

I also picked up some Arctic Zero ice cream-stuff. It's gluten free and the nutrition label is readable (meaning not scary). Plus, the WHOLE pint is 150 calories. Um, yeah you heard right, the whole pint not just one serving. I decided to test out the very top layer after lunch and I was impressed. It's no Ben and Jerry's but it hits the spot. Plus, think how great the vanilla would be with some pb and dark choc. chips (not going overboard of course) or just some fruit.

I stay up pretty late some nights, with school work and boyf. time. And, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays it can be pretty tough. Eating dinner at 5:00 and then staying up till midnight is a pretty long time to go without any food. Lately I've been taking some strawberries to share with him around 10. I know my hours aren't great, and I always hear people saying you shouldn't eat after such and such time but that just doesn't work for me right now, so I've gotta make do and I think this is okay.

Okay, goals for the week:
-Obviously maintain the meal plans.
-Lift heavier. I'm going to try to go up the next weight set with the bench press. I am currently doing 20lbs, so to go up to 24lbs. (don't judge I'm freakin' weak). And not just with the bench press, I want to go heavier with my seated rows, tricep pull downs (whatever they are called) and leg press.
-Not skipping abs. I will admit that I sometimes skip out on the abs. Not good. So, my goal is to make sure I work them out during each workout.

I'll report back and we'll see how this week goes.

Quinoa Vegetable Salad with Lemon-Basil Dressing

1 cup uncooked quinoa
15 oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
3 roma tomatoes
1 orange bell pepper
1 1/2 cups corn 
4 green onions

For the Dressing:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. basil 

Cook quinoa according to label. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and basil. Set aside.Slice green onions, dice roma tomatoes and bell pepper.
When quinoa is done cooking, let cool. Then place all salad ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour dressing over top and mix well to combine.
Can eat immediately or chill before serving.

Recipe found here. I really enjoyed the salad, and really there could be so many other add-ins. Chopped carrots? Olives? Celery? I basically feel like quinoa and this dressing has so much potential and I know I will be making it often. 

Being Healthy and those kinds of things...

Just like everyone else in the world I want to be healthier, lose weight, wear a bikini. So, really this post is not going to be anything original but my health is my responsibility, it's all on me whether or not I finally fit into that bikini I bought a year ago. Here I am owning it, forcing myself to be more accountable. Two and a half years ago I was about 20 pounds lighter; I'm only 5' 1" and 20 pounds is quite a bit for my frame.

Until recently I still pictured myself 20 pounds lighter. I mean, when I looked in the mirror I could tell there was a difference, but when I started trying on my old swim suits a month or so ago I realized that um, I've got a problem.

I have been trying lately to change my habits and I have been able to take some small steps towards being healthier and I've noticed a change but I really have to commit to make the strides I'd like to. In the past 2 months I've lost a few pounds. So, things could be worse than they are at the moment but they could still be better.

I did recently run a half marathon, unfortunately there was a hiccup. I got a stress fracture in my foot from pushing myself too hard during the race.

I haven't been on a run since the race, April 20. I am surprised how much I miss the running. And, I don't think until the race I liked it again. In the mean time I have been lifting weights three times a week and using the stationary bike a bit. Boyf. knows his exercise stuff (if you've seen him recently you know what I'm talking about), and I had him help me put together a workout schedule (for weights). I've got the pictures below and yeah, they aren't great quality as they are just screen shots taken with my phone but hey, it works.

I've definitely noticed the difference adding weights has made in working out because I have never really focused on them before. Sure, I used to do some overhead tricep stuff but that's pretty much it.

I've got the boot off, and the Dr. says I can start running in about a week and half, but starting out with short distances.

My exercise has been a lot better than in the past (despite the break in running). However, my diet is not stable. I have days where I am able to eat healthy but then the weekend happens or I stay up late and get hungry or a friend wants to go get ice cream and I can't say no. This is where I really need to step it up and commit. I haven't had a hard time keeping up my exercise routine, in fact I look forward to it and how good I feel throughout the day after I've gotten in my workout, it's the food that's killing me.

I've decided to use my blog to help keep myself accountable. I used to post my weekly breakfast plans and that was fun and kept me thinking about it and planning them out. Instead of just posting my breakfast plans, I am going to post my weekly meal plan. As well as at least one weekly goal, small doable goals for the week to give me a little more push. Plus, I have some before pictures all raring to go for when I take my after pictures.

Not only am I going to post my Meal plans, a few coworkers and I are having a small contest to see who can lose 5 pounds or more by June 22 (coworkers birthday). This is just extra motivation.

I'm excited to get myself on track. I know how good I feel when I eat right, and I just need to remember that every time I get a craving for a treat.

Okay, so for this week I will have to wait till Monday or possibly Tuesday to post my meal plans, I'm going out of town tomorrow and won't be back till Monday night so I haven't gone to the grocery store or been able to plan out the meals for the week. But, this weeks goal is to keep myself on track during the trip. We'll be eating out for several meals and driving for several hours means that I'll be tempted to eat the licorice and gummy bears my Dad always pack. I'll post after the trip and report on my success as well as posting the meal plans for the week.

Do you have any great tips for being healthy, or a favorite healthy snack to share? I'd love any advice or tips or success stories to keep me going.