Day 4

Today seemed easier!  While I am still wanting that diet soda full of delicious carbonation I still have not had one!  I started off the morning with a protein packed breakfast similar to yesterday.  Then I headed to the gym to meet my friend for some weight lifting.  Today was a jam packed day and I had a hair cut appointment at noon.  I thought that I would come straight home afterwards and eat my left overs from dinner last night and then go pick up my boy from kindergarten.  However, my hair cut took longer than expected and because I live in Greenback I hated to go back home only to have turn around 15 minutes later to go back to Maryville.  So, I ate an apple and ran thru Starbucks for an iced coffee.

I had about an hour to spare; I called my husband to check in for the day and he suggested that I kill my hour at the mall.  What man tells a woman to kill time at the mall? An awesome one!  Anyways, I had worn a hole in my Zumba shoes and needed a new pair.  I scored some great deals at JC Penny; 2 new pairs of workout capris, 4 new t-shirts and a new pair of shoes from the Shoe Depot.  I am looking forward to getting to use some of my new gear at Zumba tomorrow!

As soon I got home I ate some meatloaf, I was pretty hungry.  For dinner I made a huge, hearty salad. Recipe is below.  There will be a separate post on pumping iron, coming soon.  Till then you can read my past post on compound movements here.

Chicken & Chickpea salad

• 2 large romaine hearts, washed and chopped
• 1 cup pulled cooked chicken breast
• 1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 3/4 cup sweet corn 
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1/3 cup cilantro, washed and chopped
• 1 small avocado, diced
• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, if desired

from ambitiouskitchen.com

Day 3

Well, I am still craving that one diet coke a day but I have been good and resisted the urge.  Even thought I know that they don't have sugar in them; I have read countless studies on how it tricks your body into thinking that it is real sugar and can still spike insulin levels.

Yesterday I prepped lots of food.  I had bought a 2 Lb pack of really lean ground chuck and I browned 1/3 of it with a little taco seasoning for a salad that we are going to eat later in the week.  The other 2/3 I made a meatloaf and that is what we had for dinner.  I also put a large package of chicken in the crockpot and let it cook on high for 4 hours.  When it was done I shredded it up.  Some of it will be used on the salad I am planning to make for dinner tonight and the other I am going to make up some chicken salad with grapes & nuts for lunches.

Last night I had Zumba and I neglected to finish the 45:15 challenge, but I am going to do it this morning and maybe I can do it again tonight to catch up.  Zumba was awesome!  We had 42 people and there was lots of energy.  I felt like I had spring in my step and I know it was a great workout.

So far, this hasn't been too hard yet.  I have bought some of the precooked crumbled sausage bites from Jimmy Dean and have been making that with one egg and a little bell pepper for breakfast that last two days.  It is yummy, fast, and high in protein.  Because I have been making fairly large dinners there have been left overs which I have enjoyed for lunch.

Headed to the gym soon to lift some weights and do the 45:15!  For those of you interested in my meatloaf recipe, here it is.

Meatloaf
1-1.5 pounds of lean ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1/2 C Oatmeal (I use old fashion but quick oats would work too)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 small can tomato sauce
1 egg beaten

Mix all the ingredients together and form into a loaf shape and put in a loaf pan.  Cook at 350 for 1 hour.  When I am not watching my sugar intake I also mix a little ketchup, worchestire sauce and brown sugar and pour it on top for the last 15 minutes.

Day 2

Today was definitely a little harder.  While I didn't really eat any wheat and only a very small amount of sugar I felt like I over ate other things.  2 helpings of salad, 1.5 apples with dip, extra handful of nuts, etc...you get the point.  It was good healthy food but you can still over eat those too!  I have also been trying to give up diet soda.  I don't drink many, 1-2 a day but they have always been my treat and that cold yummy goodness has probably been the hardest part.

I do love to cook though and I am making some great food.  Here are some of the recipes I ate today!

Autumn Salad
Romaine & Green leaf lettuce
2 pears sliced
1 C of craisins
1/2 C feta cheese
1/2 C chopped pecans
6 slices of lean bacon crumbled

Toss all of this together.  For the dressing you do 75% poppyseed dressing and 25% balsamic vinaigrette.  I use the Newmans Own light.  Shake those together and serve.  Sounds like a weird combo but it is really good.

Since my salad was lacking some good protein and I had some country ribs defrosted I decided to just bake some ribs in the oven.  These were boneless and so good.  I only ate one.  For those of you on a budget these can be delicious and are very reasonably priced.

Oven Ribs
Mix a couple TBSP dijon mustard with 2 tsp of liquid smoke
Coat the ribs with this
Then add a dry rib rub (you can make one or just buy a premixed)
Broil in the oven for 5 minutes
Then bake at 300 for 1.5 hours
Cover with a little BBQ sauce (I use sweet baby rays)
and cook a little longer or broil for a few minutes

They are so tender and taste so good.  A little high in fat but no carbohydrates and high in protein.  If you are are really worried about the fat content then you can trim the ribs better before you start.

Yummy Snack: Apple Dip

I pinned this recipe on Pinterest a long time ago and one of my friends told me about mixing the yogurt and PB together.  Today I tried it!  It is so good.  You should try some.  It makes four 2 TBSP servings and is about 65 calories.

Apple Dip

• 1 container of Oikos vanilla non fat yogurt
• 2 TBSP creamy natural Peanut butter
• 1 sprinkle of cinnamon
• 1/2 TBSP honey

Mix together and serve with apples!  You could also serve with banana.

Day 1

So I am making some realistic goals for the no wheat/no sugar.  I am cutting all wheat but still allowing myself natural sugars like in fruit and milk or sugar that is added to items like ketchup, salad dressing, cheese, etc.  But I will not be eating any refined sugar or anything that is a baked good, soda, candy, etc.  Today I watched sugars very carefully and still consumed about 35 grams.  I think as long as I keep it under 35 that is still good.   I am also allowing myself one dark chocolate square per day.  It is 35 calories and only 3 grams of sugar.

Tonights dinner was Red Beans & Rice.  It is so good and so easy that I have to share.  It is a recipe from southern living.

Red Beans & Rice
1 pound dried red kidney beans
3 celery stalks chopped
1 medium yellow onion chopped
1 green bell pepper
3 TBSP creole seasoning
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 Lb Andouille sausage, sliced into circles
7 Cups of water

Add all ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.  Serve with steamed rice (white jasmine or brown).

Another yummy favorite is berry oatmeal for breakfast, super easy but very yummy.

Berry Oatmeal
1/2 C frozen berry medley
1 half cup old fashion oats
1 tsp ground flax seed (optional)
1 C water
Serve with agave nectar/sweetener and 2 TBSP of half & half

You can either put all of these ingredients in the microwave for 3 minutes or you can cook the oatmeal on the stove and add defrosted berries.

45:15 Challenge

I also started a 45:15 challenge with some of my Zumba peeps and family members.  Here is how it works.  I will try to post a video soon for any of you who may not know what I mean by the names of these exercises.  The challenge is to do 10 minutes every day!  There is always time for just 10 minutes, right?  It is an interval set of 10 different exercises.  You are to do each exercise for 45 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds, move to the next exercise until all 10 are completed.  The best part about this is that it is super short, no equipment, gym or trainer needed.  Literally there are no excuses!  Is it too hard?  Start with 30 seconds of exercise and 30 seconds of rest.

The exercises:

1. Jumping Jacks (regular)
2. Burpees (feet together squat to touch hands to ground, jump feet out to a plank, back in and then stand up)
3. Butt kickers (run in place bringing your heel to your butt)
4. Speed skaters (jump side to side touching the floor in front of you)
5. Jump Rope (in place, no rope required)
6. Squat Jump (squat in place and then jump, 1 dynamic movement)
7. Shuffle jumps (shuffle in a squat position, step together step, 3x to right and then jump shot, then to the left)
8. Plank jacks (hold a plank position on your elbows and jack your feet in and out making a V)
9. High Knees (run in place lifting knees up as high as you can)
10. Mountain Climbers (with your arms on the floor and your body in an elevated plank position, alternate your knees to your chest like you are running)

I know these descriptions are vague but you can google most of these exercises for a quick description. Also i will try to get a video tutorial on here ASAP!  Any of you up for the challenge?  It is only 10 minutes but I guarantee you will be dripping sweat when you are done!

Good luck!

Hello Old Blog

Well, I am not sure why but I have been missing the accountability of my blog.  I still have not reached my goal of losing 100 pounds.  I have had lots of major set backs and some gains and have finally lost again and can start to see the goal in sight.  I only have about 30 pounds to go!  I was thinking that maybe if I started blogging about it again that I would keep myself more in check.  I am hoping to blog every day for the month of September.  I actually became a Zumba instructor almost a year ago and I need to prove to myself as well as to my students that this is the best way to live.  In order to kick start myself and it should be a hell of a quick start I have gave myself a challenge.

The past 10 days my mother-in-law, father-in-law and nephew have been visiting from Idaho.  My mother in law has recently given up wheat for many reasons and while I don't feel like it is a lifestyle change for me I do feel like it would help jump start me to give it up for a while.  I had read the wheat belly diet a while back and I do think that there is some validity to it.  However, my weakness has always been sugar!  So I know that I really need to put that in check too.

So here is the deal.  My MIL was so good with her diet while she was visiting.  We all ate sandwiches, and bread and homemade cookies and she totally refrained.  I never saw her cheat once.  I am so proud of her and the changes she made.  I on the other hand totally indulged in some of the yummy goodness. But...I workout a lot.  I cycle, teach Zumba, cross train, etc and my mother in law pretty much doesn't exercise at all.  This week while she was visiting we had her doing tons of walking, she came to one of my Zumba classes, went on a 5 mile bike ride, swam in the lake and more.  Her body is totally capable but its hard to get that first step out the door sometimes.  She lost weight on vacation!  Who does that??

I made her a deal.  If she would promise me to exercise for 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week for the whole month of September (like I have been doing)...then I would give up wheat and sugar for the whole month (like she has).  I was hoping we could help the other person with our weaknesses.

We are similar in size and can pretty much share clothes.  We took some before pictures and are working as a team to keep this going.  I'll be blogging every day about how I am feeling and what I am eating.  For those of you that see me, if I am grumpy this might be why!  Haha.

Wish me luck, I am going to need it :)