Ditch the scale

I'm serious. Get rid of the scale. Or, just quit weighing yourself every day. Did you know our weight naturally fluctuates up to 2 lbs daily?
Those 2 lbs used to drive me CRAZY.

I was recently told by a sister that she couldn't believe I weighed as much as I do. I'm 5'7, I weigh 147, and I am between a size 4 and 6. When I was in high school, I weighed the same. BUT, the big difference was my size. I was between a size 9 and 11. Weigh is on the scale does NOT matter, and I know it's SO hard to focus on that. What I work with people on is measurements. Measurements are SO much more accurate of fat loss than weight loss is. So, if you are working on losing weight. Focus on fat loss, take pictures, and take your measurements, and use those as a guide, not the scale. 

Low fat vs Full fat... The award goes to...

I'm obviously on a roll about sugar this week. So here is another little tidbit for you. If you are eating things like cottage cheese and sour cream, go for the full fat version. LOWFAT = Chemicals added... Here is an example of full fat cottage cheese and low fat cottage cheese. See the difference in the ingredient list? 

Now, because I advoate cutting sugar does NOT mean I think people should use sugar substitutes, those are EVEN worse for you than regular sugar, STAY away! 

If you are worried about cholesterol in full fat dairy, not to worry. Studies have shown no correlation between cholesterol in food and cholesterol in your body. It's all genetics, not food related. Full fat dairy means they aren't adding in nasty chemicals to make it taste like it's full fat. Way better to have the fat as part of a healthy diet, than chemicals any day. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/10/feds-poised-to-withdraw-longstanding-warnings-about-dietary-cholesterol/

This summer I went on quite a few trips.  I went to Summit, which I will post about when I have more time. I was Camp Chef for our church's girls camp, and right after that, I went to see my sisters. One of the days, while I was staying at my sister's house, I was cutting lettuce for salad for dinner. The knife slipped, and I sliced my hand, between my thumb and index finger. Thankfully my brother in law, who is a nurse, was there and was able to tell right away that it needed stitches.  I headed to the ER, with my husband and brother in law, and got stitched up, BUT I was a little irritated!  I JUST got my new PiYo program that I brought with us on vacation and I wanted to keep going. 

I knew that Chalene Johnson created it because she was battling her own injuries, and I figured, if she could do her workout while injured, I'd sure try as well.  

And it worked!  I had to skip a few of the workouts and work mainly my legs, but I still was able to get my workouts in each day on vacation.  Hurt hand and all. 

Since we've been home, my husband has religiously been doing PiYo.  He is NOT a flexible guy, but he's starting to be more flexible and it's helping with his triathlon training. He loves it. 

Ice Cream!!!

 Ok, I'm super excited to share this recipe!  But first, a little about me.
I LOVE to eat.  Seriously, love it.  That's partly mostly why I started exercising to begin with. I once had a race entry I had to fill out that had the sentence "I run for..."  Mine was cookies. I run for cookies, I ran so I could eat more cookies than I was already eating. 
Things have changed since then.  I'm now gluten free, so my cookies have changed a bit (but yes, I did already figure out how to make gluten free chocolate chip cookies, it was pretty high on my priority list).  I've also made some pretty big changes with my diet; I try to follow the 90/10 rule for eating clean; and try to push it up higher to 95% most of the time.
Anyway, Saturday night I really, REALLY, wanted some frozen yogurt. So much so, that since it didn't close until midnight, I was trying to think of a way I could justify going at 11:00 at night.  I didn't end up caving in, mostly because my hubby already ate his dessert, so I'd be eating alone while he watched (awkward!)...  I'm also lactose intolerant and knew I'd regret it not too long after I ate it.
So today I found a recipe that worked for me!!!
It's from the blog called Whipped Baking, and the ingredient list is VERY short.  Lucky for me, I had everything already on hand!  (ok, I modified the recipe I found, because I'm a chocolate girl too, so add in some cocoa powder!)

Mix everything in the blender.  I ended up mixing in 6 frozen bananas, 2/3 cup of coconut milk, 1 tbsp peanut butter, and 2 tbsp cocoa powder. Oh, I did throw in some chocolate chips just for fun, because like I said, I like chocolate.

Mix it all together, and either eat right away, or stick it in the freezer...
Then... Enjoy!

And yup, I totally had some after my workout!  Here is the link to the original recipe, let me know if you make it and what you think!

By the way, if you are doing the 21 Day Fix, this would totally work for one of your treats!!!

Clean Eating Granola

This is my absolute FAVORITE granola recipe.  I found the original recipe off of the blog 100 Days of Real Food, but I changed it up a bit to suit our family's taste. 

Clean Eating Granola

Ingredients

• 3½ cups rolled oats (you can mix in steel cut oats as well as rolled oats)
• 1 cup raw sliced almonds
• 1 cup raw cashew pieces
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp Pumpkin pie seasoning
• 6 tablespoons coconut oil
• ½ cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Also need – parchment paper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry oats, almonds, cashews, walnuts, seeds and spices together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla and salt.
4. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.
5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.
6. The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces (if making bars) or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag (if making cereal). Store in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Transformation

I decided the first transformation I am going to share is my own.  I did 2 rounds of T25 and loved it.  I ONLY did 25 minutes a day, and didn't even follow the eating plan, I just started eating clean (cutting out processed foods).  I think the BIGGEST thing that helped me was participating in my coaches online Challenge groups.  I LOVED being held accountable and having to check in with my eating and working out.  It was exactly what I needed.

Beachbody Coaching

I hate parties.

And by parties, I mean, things you get invited to, where you are expected to spend money.  Mary Kay (although I LOVE some of the product, I won't go to a party to get it), Pampered Chef, Scentsy, Jewelry, nail stuff, photobooks, etc...  The list goes on and on for parties for Network Marketing companies.  I swore years ago I would NEVER get involved with a network marketing company. Now, the company model isn't terrible, but if I want something, I don't want to have to go to a party to get it, if I have to wait, I'd rather go to the store.

When I was first introduced to Beachbody I had NO clue what it even was.  Then my coach mentioned P90X...  Yeah, I knew what P90X was, I had even attempted it a few times(SO not for me!)  But running wasn't working with my weight loss anymore like it always had in the past, and just because I was now in my 30's didn't mean I was going to let myself go and just start gaining weight. I was determined to do SOMETHING about it.  When I first started talking with the person who ended up becoming my coach, I was interested in the program, and I liked the Challenge groups she did. I needed something that was going to keep me going, and I thought that her Challenge group was a good fit; but then she mentioned Shakeology.  Yeah, I don't do Shakes, either. And I told her that.  But then she send me a link about Shakeology.  And it was completely different then what I thought it was. It wasn't just a low calorie shake, it was a Meal Replacement designed to help control cravings, assist in weight loss, increase your energy and feel healthier, and improve your digestion and regularity.  I figured I would try it out for a month, and then decide if I it was something I wanted to continue on with.

So I ordered in August of 2013. I got the Tropical Strawberry Vegan, and I thought it was disgusting. It had a VERY chalky taste that I couldn't keep drinking it, I sent it back in to the company after 5 days, because they have an amazing 30 day - bottom of the bag guarantee. So since I didn't love it, I sent it back in for the regular Chocolate. It came and I still hated it.  But I just mixed it with water at first. So I tried it again, this time with almond milk.  It was better, but I hated how thick it made it with the almond milk, so I tried Coconut milk and BINGO, LOVED it. And I've never turned back from it.

I ended up losing 15 lbs with T25 and Shakeology BUT, I also lost inches, over 25 inches, and I went down 2 pant sizes.

So I decided to pay it forward and become a coach as well, because I've learned SO much in my journey that I want to share what I've learned and what worked for me.  So yes, I did end up joining a network marketing company, but I don't do parties. ;)