Still Learning!

I started the morning out right this morning. I waited for until I felt hungry and had a nice breakfast sandwich. English muffin with a veggie breakfast patty and one egg cooked with spinach. Filling and quite delicious.

I relaxed most of the morning and finally talked myself to heading over to the gym. I did a great 30 minute HIIT on the treadmill. It felt good and I was ready to eat. I decided to shower before eating lunch. I had saw an interesting idea from Abby at Eat, Drink and Be Aware it was a pear, cranberry and cheese sandwich. I had just made some delicious homemade cranberry sauce and this was a perfect way to use some of it. It was quite delicious and it hit the spot. I made a new cookie recipe to bring to a jewelry party my girlfriend was having this afternoon. I made some homemade pasta, showered, dressed and was out the door for the party.

It was nice to visit with everyone at the jewelry party and I with our financial situation I decided not to order anything from the party. I also decided not to have anything at the party to eat which ended up being a very bad idea. I left the party and was hungry. I decided to eat the last two cookie that remained that I had brought. I was ok with that but little did I know what was going to happen when I got home. I was hungry and started eating. Although I did not make bad choices I ate a lot more than I needed to. To help with the eating I decided to go ahead and eat dinner early. I ate the rest of the veggie pizza from last night. I ate the remaining four pieces and had a few more picks before I decided I needed to take action. I headed upstairs away from the food area. I began working on menu ideas for a possible client that want me to cook meal for her children. In doing this I was able to gain control. I am still learning and this was another day of it. I did some really good things and also thing I still need to work on .

I am ready for a great week ahead. I have my lunch packed: left over chili and cottage cheese with an apple.

I have a question for you: Do you plan out all your meals for the week? I currently only plan dinner but i am wondering if planning all meals would be helpful? I look forward to getting your input.

Homemade Pizza!!

I woke up this morning and was initial in panic mode. After all the eating last night I wasn't sure how I wantedy day to look. So at first I did nothing. I starting working on sprucing up the blog, what do you think? It still needs some work but I am having fun working on it. At about 10:00 I was hungry and had to make a decision on what I was going to do. So I decided on my favorite, oatmeal porridge: 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 5 egg whites and tablespoon flaxseed meal. I just love this meal and it always fills me up.

I proceed to have some leisure time with the blog and just relaxing. I decided not to go to the gym today and will go tomorrow to do a 30 minute HIIT. I worked my lower body hard on Friday and I felt my legs could use a break. So at about 1:00 I was getting hungry and decided to have this. Oh I just love beans burgers. I had gotten this recipe for Kath Eats Real Food. It was so good and so easy. 3/4 cup of black beans, 3 tablespoons wheat flour, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 3 splashes of Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Mash the beans and the rest of the ingredients. Form two patties and cook up in a nonstick pan sprayed with cooking spray. Oh I will definately be having this again. LOVE IT! I put it on a arnold bun with 1 tablespoon of barbecue sauce and broccoli slaw mixed with a flaxseed oil dressing. I finished up the grocery list and hubby and I did the weeks worth of shopping.

After putting the groceries away I decided to make some of my own almond butter. When I went to Costco the other day they did not have any Naturally More and I was SO disappointed. So I did the next best thing and made my own.

I roasted 2 1/2 cup of almond that were mixed with 1/4 cup pure maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. I baked it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. I cooled it for a little while and then threw it in the food processor. I had a few licks, ok several licks SO good. I was proud of myself I had a few licks and then put it away. I look forward to having some of it in my oatmeal tomorrow. If you haven't tried making your own almond butter give it a try. So simple and quite delicious.

I have also been dreaming of this and when I was at the store I pick up a package of lite silken tofu. After the almond butter I whipped up a batch of this for dessert tonight. One package of lite silken tofu (has 120 calories for the whole package), 2 tablespoon agave nectar, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Mix in a food processor until it resembles mousse. I threw in the refrigerator to chill. Of course I had to lick the remainders.

Now does that look delicious? Hubby and I decided to have pizza tonight. Since I had been watching my carbs very closely this was never in my diet and I looked forward to start living and eating... I would have liked to have had whole wheat pizza dough but I was willing to make a sacrifice and had the regular dough and opted to have no meat and just a little bit of cheese.

The dough is so easy to make. I have a bread maker and since I haven't been eating much carbs never felt the need to use it much until I saw that it has a setting for dough. I put all the ingredients in it to make the pizza dough and the let the machine do the work. In just over a hour and half we had delicious pizza dough. It was the best! If you have a bread maker that is gathering dust you might want to pull it out and see if you have such a setting. Hubby had a pizza with pepperoni and lots of cheese and I had a pizza with onions, mushrooms, red pepper, reduced fat mozzarella and cheddar. I had a huge salad with light dressing and two pieces of pizza and of course the mousse with raspberries.

Although the morning began with a panic it has ended on a happy note. I have decided to stay clear from the scale for awhile and just start eating healthy fresh food and see where it takes me.

It is great to be back blogging and taking pictures of all my wonderful eats! Off to watching a movie with hubby.

Blog world!

I love blogging and I enjoy reading blog as well. They give me hope and insight to what everyone is eating and how they handle food. There are some that are honest with their struggles and others that don't mention it at all. It is some times hard for me to believe that I may be a select few that have binges so great that I have to lie down with my pant unzipped moaning wish that I could just die or at least throw up. I did not want this blog to be about hiding my struggles but to put them all out there for the world to see. It is the hope for me that not only will I be able to write about my struggles but also touch others with the same struggles as well.
Case in point tonight was one of those nights. I worked until 12:30 had my lunch at work because I wanted to head to the grocery store and gym. I had a delicious homemade bean burger on a Arnold bun with 1 TB of BBQ sauce and broccoli slaw with a delicious flaxseed dressing. It was fabulous. I ran to Costco and then headed to the gym. Had a great work out and did 30 minutes of cardio. I made the mistake of getting on the scale and maybe that is what set things in motion. I had a protein shake while leaving the gym. I was still in line with the way I wanted to eat. That was before I set foot in the house then it went out the door. I wanted food and I didn't want to figure out why or attempt to stop. Although I did not eat to total discomfort it was not planned and was WAY more than I needed. So now I sit here after having just had a few pieces of toast with butter and an apple with peanut butter. I ask myself will this pattern every end for me? Is it so awful to do?
I will wake up tomorrow and will start my day like I do each and every day with a wonderful bowl of oats, because I love it! I just see so many bloggers just have so much self control with their eating having their perfect portions and I wonder am I the only one that seems to struggle so badly. Will I every be able to find peace and balance? I do know one thing that I will never give up trying and I hope for the day that I find it. I have come so far to give up now.
I think I will go see if I can get my little camera fixed so that I can start taking pictures of my foods. I love to do that so much and I really miss it.
I have a few great new recipes that I am eager to try and share. Thank you so much for reading and listening to me trying to figure this out.

Weigh or not to Weigh

Weigh or not to weigh has been a big question that last few days. As I continue on my journey to living a healthy and active life I have begun to look at this question among others.

Yes it is a choice and it does come down to personal choice but how do you know which is right for you? And is there a right way to do it in the first place? I am a BIG blog reader I love it and I get so many wonderful ideas and I feel so connect to others fighting there own fight on a healthy life style. Some encourage never weighing other say weigh once a week others say weigh daily. But as I sit here on "MY" journey I continue to struggle with this question. In one way I don't want to be glued to a number on the scale and it defining who I am but in another way I need to be accountable for what I choose to put into my mouth and one way is the scale.

I would love to get your input on this interesting topic: Weigh or not to Weigh? I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Thanks!

I just wanted to write and thanks everyone who made a comment to my last blog entry. It touched me deeply and I wanted you all to know that.
Yesterday was a good day in the eating front and I wrote down meals for the whole week this include all six meals each day. I think this will help me stay focused and no wondering what I am going to eat.
I am trying to keep cost down in our grocery bill and was worried that I would not be able to continue eating on my plan. I was pleasantly surprised when I went with a pad of paper and a pencil and wrote down everything there was available. I think we tend to think we don't have enough and this is probably why I way over spend at the grocery store. There is plenty to eat this week and I have a sense of peace around that. Thanks to Kim for always being there to support me. Not sure what I will do once I am done working with her in November but I am going to treasure all the time I have left.
It is Monday and it is chest and back day today. I love lifting weights but the cardio well that is another story. I am just dreading it. But I keep telling myself that it is only 35 minutes and then it is done. So I will go prepare my preworkout smoothie and head to the gym.
Thanks again to everyone for all your wonderful comments.

It has been quite some time since I have blogged and I have thought to do it many time but wasn't sure what to write. I feel like I continue to struggle with the same old things and the past few days have been no different. I have been adding additional food in my diet and today I am not feeling so good about it. But when does it stop? Does it every stop?
Do I feel good about the way I look? yes Would I like to continue to improve? yes.
But I also want to live a little... Enjoy food... Is there a way to have both? I continue to struggle with these questions.
I have eaten quite a bit of food today and not even sure how to pick up the pieces and move on. I guess I will start by having a chicken salad for dinner what I planned on having and just go from here. I guess that is all I can do. Beating myself up over what has already occurred is useless and serves no purpose.
I pray and hope and some point I will find a happy medium along the way.

I want it and I want it yesterday!!

How often have we wanted something and didn't want to wait to get it? Anything from a new dress, new book and even a new body. We start a new diet and exercise plan and want to lose all the weight that has taken months or even years to accumulate with in days. We feel that we have made great sacrifices and wonder why our bodies are not responding. Within weeks of not getting the results we feel we deserve we are on the hunt looking for a better plan, because of course its the plan that is not working. Seldom do we want to admit or even look at our part in the equation.

You may ask, "What part could I be playing? I am following the plan a 100% there isn't anything to look at." One part that we tend to forget, and one most important, is our mental thought. The things we think about ourselves. We place such high expectations on ourselves no wonder we get discouraged so quickly. I ask what would happen if you accept yourself as you are at this moment? Begin to love yourself as you are. Turn all the negative talk to loving talk. This can be as simple as find one thing you love about yourself. Acknowledge all the wonderful thing about you. Begin to turn your focus on all the good you possess.

Once you turn your focus you can begin to just enjoy the process. Work on making every workout count and making every meal enjoyable with fresh clean foods. Focus on correct form and challenge your body with each work out. Research and find new food to incorporate to your diet and new recipes to try.

Results come from consistent loving work both physically and mentally. Once these are achieved the rewards will be limitless!!