Chop by Chop

This is going to be a lot of work... but I'm getting there... and it is going to take some time. 

Today, I found what could be my favorite kitchen helper... my food processor. I purchased this quite a few months back, to make peanut butter and to make baby food with... little did I know what this little machine really can do, and I still don't know all angles, but I found the chopping method today! Last week, I made these vegetable bean burritos (Dr. Fuhrman's recipe) and they were delicious! However, they took FOR-E-VER to make, and having an eight month old, a four year old, and a six year old... I don't have that kind of time. Fast forward to today... I made the same recipe, and in waaaaaaay less time- maybe half the time today. I also did not have tortillas, and after taking the girls to the gym today, I really didn't want to take them out again... so I made them from scratch! Didn't turn out too bad.I was a little nervous to try this, but I was pretty happy with the results! (http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/05/26/recipe-whole-wheat-tortillas) 

This past weekend was pretty much a wash. Friday evening, we had decided to go out and were headed to a deli... got there, kids were a little off, and the parking was crazy, too close to baby's bedtime.... all equaled a disaster, so we ditched the idea... plan B... there really wasn't a plan b, besides another restaurant (panera) where we could stick to the plan, so on the way home we went to Taco Bell... ooops. But for me, I skipped it and luckily, we had leftover burritos from the night before... so I heated that up! Then Saturday came, and we went out of town, and really threw that day away. We had our Eat Your Greens Smoothie for breakfast, then the rest of the day we just tried to make good decisions. Figured out that fast food options are not very great when you're trying to be careful, but we chose carefully. 

Dinners are probably the most difficult part of this. I need to plan, and I'm not a great planner. For example, I have NO idea what we are going to have for dinner tomorrow... and I need to get to the store to restock the fridge, and in this weather, I have no desire to take the girls out more that I need to. Speaking of that... the last two days have been good for me, I've added in exercise. We joined the Y Monday evening, so yesterday and today, I did not give myself the option, and we just went. Tomorrow is going to be difficult because T has a two hour delay (she had one yesterday), and I think I have to go as soon as she gets on the bus at 8 to stick with KD's nap schedule. So, tomorrow is up in the air right now because she has another two hour delay.... so we will see. 

So, we've been doing this for a little over a week now, and it's not as difficult as I thought it was going to be- to ditch the sugar, that is. Our evenings would typically include sitting down and snacking on something... or if I got a bit stressed for some reason during the day, husband would make his daily call home after work, and ask if I needed anything... typical answer: CHOCOLATE, please. Not now... using some pretty good self control here- just not allowing it in the house now, to not even test myself, as that is a test I would surely fail.  Evening snack has been hard to break though, so we found an alternative: 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Smoothie (2 servings) 

1 1/2 C Almond Milk (unsweetened)

1 C frozen blueberries

1 banana

2 TB Cocoa Powder

about 1/2 C Peanut Butter 

Yummmmmmm 

Soup... I ate Soup... I ate BEAN Soup

I ate Black Bean Soup today for dinner... I do not like beans. I do not particularly like soup. Put them together and uck... but I did it... I ate it... and I lived....

Back to reality... T is back at school, after three weeks off (one thanks to the Polar Vortex/ Blizzard of 2014)... unfortunately that means she will miss out on a week of summer break... but we still enjoyed being froze-in! :-) .... her being back at school gives us the chance to get back to 'normalcy' (whatever that means with kids!) This normalcy is coming with some big changes... a big change in our eating habits.

Last October, the hubs had a doctor's appointment for a routine physical, and all was well, and they were discussing our diet. His doctor suggested Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book Eat to Live, mentioned that he had done it to help lean up a little. The hubs and I have been discussing our diet and cleaning up our eating habits a bit- nothing too drastic, but just clean it up and help us have healthier eating habits. So, I put this book on hold at the library, and waited for my turn. I received it about a month ago, and started reading it as soon as I had enough brain power to digest information. 

As I started reading, I automatically perked up and became very interested in the stats and studies he cited. Perhaps it is a scare tactic, but the information that he presented makes me really want to do a full diet overhaul. So here we go... taking dairy out, taking meat out (or very limited amount), sugar is vetoed, as is salt, and grains are limited. However, we can eat unlimited amounts of fruits and vegetables. That's great for me, because I actually love vegetables, but after three days... I can see this is going to be a whole lot of work! The preparation isn't easy, when they are 'new' foods for our family... more actual cooking and cutting/cleaning lots of veggies. So here we go... trying to juggle a baby, four year old, six year old in school, a husband who has just started a new job and coaches high school swimming, and a whole new way of eating.... the challenge is on... 

Day one: Monday- Breakfast was Eat Your Greens Smoothie... lunch was a huge salad & piece of bread w/pb... and dinner was Bean Enchiladas 

Day Two: B- Eat your Greens Smoothie   L- salad, piece of bread w/peanut butter  D-  had eaten the salad super late, and had some Creamy Fruit and Berry Smoothie, so I cheated and ate a couple handfuls of chocolate chips :( then followed those up with baby carrots dipped in Guacamole 

Wednesday: Day three... today, I woke up feeling GREAT! I had stayed up late last night waiting for the hubs to get home, so we decided to not wake up at 6... slept in until 7:30, did not have a headache, and felt very well rested! I had energy today like crazy, and was able to keep up the good mood/good feeling all day, even while waiting for the car to get the oil changed (an hour)... however, the Keurig sitting in the corner of the waiting room was calling my name the whole time I was there... and I finally caved... so here was my day... Started the morning with our Eat Your Greens Smoothie, lunch was a huge salad (spinach, romaine, mushrooms, tomatoes, green and red peppers, dried currants topped with shredded carrots and raspberry vinaigrette) and drank a Creamy Fruit & Berry Smoothie. Dinner was a recipe a friend actually posted on FB today (great timing) for Panera's Black Bean Soup. I left out the salt, and used coconut oil to cook the veggies, topped it with a little dab of salsa... and done. Paired it with a huge salad and a piece of homemade whole wheat bread, and a large glass of water. I was pleasantly surprised, and actually looking forward to the leftovers. Tonight I cheated again, and had a couple handfuls of chocolate chips again... I think the evening snack is just a habit I need to break. I wasn't hungry... well, I felt like I was a little... but I'm sure I wasn't because I was completely full after dinner. But at night, we had always had a little snack of some sort, and I just had an urge to have a snack.... NEED TO BREAK THIS HABIT! 

Anyway to get it in

This morning, baby let me put her in the swing! I had my breakfast (whole wheat English muffin w/pb), made a cup of coffee... Cleaned up a little, got the older girls eating breakfast... Baby was still chillin, so I jumped right into my workout, fully expecting to have an upset baby before I was done... So I did not take the time to dress... Probably not a good idea! 

Being a nursing mom, those girls need support, especially doing mountain climbers! Annnnd, doing them barefoot on carpet, not good on the skin :-/ 

Coffee is cold, big toe skin tore a bit, BUT... I got my workout in and I know it's going to be a good day! 

Here's my 'gym' equipment (stairs included) 

Lets do it!

I really enjoy getting Women's Health Magazine's emails and following them on twitter! Some great exercises are posted! Here's a link to ab exercises 

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/ab-workout-women?cm_mmc=Newsletter-_-1362064-_-07152013-_-GetaFlatBelly_ReadMore

Hope that link works! Otherwise I will add a link to the right.

Happy Exercising! 

Today is the day

Today is the day I begin my journey of getting my body back! After having three kiddos, it shows! But I am motivated to get myself to where I always wish I could be. Having a five year old, three year old, and a two month old... Time is limited, so I must be creative and use that time wisely!

I have a goal number of thirty pounds. Seems like a high number, but bit by bit, pound by pound, it will come off!

Why now? If not now, if not today, then when? Why push it to Monday? I'm embarrassed at how I look. Our family is complete. We want our kids to grow up active and healthy, and they need a good model. Having three girls, I want them to have a healthy body image. I don't want them to grow up seeing their mom shying away from the camera, avoiding social gatherings... I do not want them to grow up watching their mom 'diet', but rather living a healthy lifestyle.

The beginning of this journey will not see a huge change in diet as I am still nursing... So I can't limit calories too much, but I can change where some of those calories come from! 

So, here we go... My journey to getting my body back...

This picture is from June 13, 2013... Kenny Chesney concert