All about my 2 day "bender"....:(

Well....things were SO on track...working out every day (or early morning) eating great, feeling great.......

then.......I made a terrible mistake......

I decided to make the kids I look after during the day.....PANCAKES.......and that's all I remember



I think there was pudding (yum), pizza,chips and hamburgers mixed in there too over the 2 day blur.....

AND ZERO EXERCISE!

Usually, my "benders" last a few days longer....luckily this time it was only 2 days and I was starting to feel yucky, tired and gross....so...this morning I got UP (at my usual 5am) and did a 30 min Turbo Fire workout and started breakfast with a healthy It Works shake!!

And I feel.......FANTABULOUS!

Also on my "schedule" for today...cleaning out my fridge and freezer and maybe(?) my cupboards....I start "grocery shopping" at home and then I'm able to compile my grocery list.....with the fall coming I'm more partial to soups, chili and pasta....but this winter I will be replacing MY pasta with spagetti squash and using butternut squash instead of french fries/potatoes.

 (looks good, doesn't it!)

In the end....it's all up to ME to eat and exercise properly in order to see the changes I really want....I can sit around and continue to "binge" and have no energy, OR I can TELL myself that I just need to DO IT!!

Right now with my schedule, I have decided on 30 minutes a day minimum of exercise......that's it. And if I happen to get more in...then that's just an added bonus....baby steps are what works for me I think.

Hope everyone has a fun and Healthy Friday!!

happy health

My new found LOVE for CARBS!....

...that's right!

This weekend was amazing weather wise...so much so that Friday, Saturday AND Sunday I was able to get out my rollerblades and blast some major calories! What did you do this weekend for activites?

I also managed to log pretty much my whole week last week on MyFitnessPal...something that I think makes a big difference for me, because if I'm really wanting to eat something and I put it into my schedule....it really makes you make wise decisions when it comes to food choices!

The biggest difference for me (and what I think is making the process easier) is that I'm adding CARBS back into my food menus!! Yes....carbs in the form of brown rice, brown rice pasta, whole grain/whole wheat bread and last night I had baby red potatoes...yum.



The following is taken from dummies.com...it explains what carbs are for and WHY they are important in our diet!

Carbohydrates Do More Than Make Energy for Your Body

Making energy isn’t the only thing your body does with the carbohydrate nutrients in your diet. Carbohydrates also protect your muscles. When you need energy, your body looks for glucose from carbohydrates first.

If no glucose is available, because you’re on a carbohydrate-restricted diet or have a medical condition that prevents you from using the carbohydrate foods you consume, your body begins to pull energy out of fatty tissue. Your body's next move is to burn its own protein tissue (muscles). If this use of proteins for energy continues long enough, you run out of fuel and die.

A diet that provides sufficient amounts of carbohydrates keeps your body from eating its own muscles. That’s why a carbohydrate-rich diet is sometimes described as protein sparing.

What else do carbohydrates do?

• Regulate the amount of sugar circulating in your blood so that all your cells get the energy they need.
• Provide nutrients for the friendly bacteria in your intestinal tract that help digest food.
• Assist in your body’s absorption of calcium.
• May help lower cholesterol levels and regulate blood pressure (these effects are special benefits of dietary fiber).

So carbs are good, right? So how does pasta ends up on your hips when too many carbs pass your lips? Your cells budget energy very carefully. They do not store more than they need right now. Any glucose the cell does not need for its daily work is converted to glycogen (animal starch) and tucked away as stored energy in your liver and muscles.
Your body can pack about 400 grams (14 ounces) of glycogen into liver and muscle cells. A gram of carbohydrates — including glucose — has four calories. If you add up all the glucose stored in glycogen to the small amount of glucose in your cells and blood, it equals about 1,800 calories of energy.
If your diet provides more carbohydrates than you need to produce this amount of stored calories in the form of glucose and glycogen in your cells, blood, muscles, and liver, the excess will be converted to fat. And that’s how your pasta ends up on your hips.


So...when I said I've added CARBS back into my foods...I don't eat it at every meal...AND I'm selective WITH what carbs I'm eating!

Since adding carbs BACK into my life, I've had less "headaches", less grouchy, and have had less cravings then when I only kept my "carbs" in veggie form (yes, there are carbs in veggies)

Our bodies are pretty much fine-tuned machines that work well on their own....we are the ones choosing what "fuels" to put in it...imagine having a diesel car, and you go and put regular gas into it.....do you know what will happen??!
(hint: it won't work and will wreck the car!)...imagine that being the same for our bodies....our "cars" need to have the RIGHT fuel to work well and the tanks need to be filled often (our metabolism doesn't get the best mileage!)

I hope with this blog to get a bit more organized and post some recipes of things I've done, tried , hits and misses, as well...feel free to follow my food journal on MyFitnessPal...

happy monday! I'm off to make myself a whole wheat turkey, lettuce and cheese sandwich to have for lunch:))

happy health

Keep on Keepin' on!

Yup.....I'm going strong!
Ate pretty good all week (though I DID have pizza last night....but I had my fat fighter to help me digest some of it) and did all my workouts (except my Stretch 40...which became a house cleaning mission instead!)

Just finished a Turbo Fire 30 and Stretch 10...and I am STILL sweating....but I feel great!

Now... I am sitting down with the grocery store flyers and planning out my meals for the week (for me, my fam and the daycare...phew).....I try to keep everything healthy and "real".
I did also try to get into "couponing" for groceries, but now only do it for "household items" (toilet paper, cleaning items, toiletries) because I don't want ice cream, chocolate bars or other junk food items...

(WARNING: rant coming!)

I'm noticing more and more every time I go to the grocery store, that there's less "real food"...know what I mean?
And it's so frustrating because it takes me so long to get thru the store, just to get my "real" items of food....when I'm in a real mood (haha) I grumble to myself and wonder HOW these companies can say that what they make is "food"...when a lot/most of the time it's a main contributor to why people are overweight! These companies KNOW that we don't have any self-restraint...and when you put something on sale for $.50 of COURSE it's going to be bought in multiples...and then eaten a box at a time (eg. Oreos....yum those little devil cookies;)

I think the stores totally have it backwards.....my opinion...price the junk food HIGH and the good foods LOW...bet they wouldn't have to throw out as much fresh foods at the end of each week as they do now!

And don't even get me STARTED on strategic marketing and placing of certain items in grocery stores....we are all victims of the good "sale" at the end of the aisle...2 for $1 bag of chips....yet we also have to pay at least $2 for a bag of carrots....see something wrong there?...and nothing like standing in the checkout line, just to stare at chocolate bars and candy! grr....rant done;)

off to have lunch and plan my grocery shopping!
happy weekend and happy health!

M.I.A....

Yup...so I've totally been Missing (In Action)...there have been ups and there have been downs since my last post. Unfortunately my weight has been one of the "ups" (and NOT in a good way)

BUT.......I have just paid my money and signed up for a "small" group of ladies that are doing the "biggest loser" challenge. Its for the next 3 months, with a weigh in each month. It's exciting....because there's $$$ on the line!!
I've done this a couple of times before...would have a first great few weeks..just to fade out.....THIS time I'm NOT going to let this happen (and if any of the ladies are reading this...don't let it happen to you too!!! Keep going!)...THIS is becoming my "lifestyle" with great food choices and excercise.

I've been experimenting quite a bit in the kitchen lately (just wish I had pictures with it!)...I find this time of season harder to eat healthy....salads don't quite taste good to me, and I'm ready for soups and warm dishes (like lasagne, pasta)

The other night I tried brown rice noodles....not bad...(even my husband ate and enjoyed them)....so they are now on my "list"

...I made it with Honey Dijon Chicken and just put the extra sauce into the noodles with veggies.

Here's my "recipe" (which really comprises of me throwing things together and hope they work!!)

Chicken Breast (use either bone in or boneless, doesn't matter)

Honey

Dijon

Parsley

Epicure's Garlic Herb Salt

brown rice pasta

bell pepper (any colour)

broccoli

onion

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Parmesan

 

Take about 1/2 tbsp olive oil and heat in a skillet. Add chicken(use Epicure Salt on chicken first) and cook on low until browned on both sides (this is what takes the longest...if using boneless...make sure heat is LOW so that the chicken doesn't dry out, but is nicely cooked)

Mix together the honey (anywhere between 1/8c and a 1/4c, depending on how many chicken breasts you are using...for only a couple, use a smaller amount, and for more (up to 6) use the larger amt) and dijon(2 tsp) and parsley.

Once chicken is cooked, pour honey dijon sauce over chicken. Continue to cook and turn over a few times to ensure all chicken is coated in sauce...I usually cook until the honey becomes a thickened sauce in the skillet. Remove chicken and sauce from skillet.

 

Cook brown rice pasta (I do 9 minutes and drain)

Add veggies to skillet with 1 tsp oil and a bit more Epicure Herb Garlic Salt OR use garlic powder...cook until tender crisp.

Add noodles, parm cheese and sauce from chicken.

That's it.

I had started doing a pasta primavera, because I didn't know what sort of sauce to put ON the noodles...just know I didn't want a tomato sauce.....and this yummy dinner was the result (again...wish I took pictures...)

Then, last night I did the same thing (minus the honey dijon and chicken and brown rice pasta) with sausage and quinoa primavera...LOVE.

 As well....I'm back into my workouts....YEAH!!! I find it makes the BIGGEST difference for me....my body needs to move in order to get results.

What's on my workout schedule today? Fire 30 and Stretch 10!
When WILL I do this?...after coming back inside with the kiddies and after they are all settled after snack (so around 10:45/11:00am)

Also...still using MyFitnessPal for tracking all my activites and meals....want to view my diary?
Here's the link...http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/simplebeauty

happy health