The momentum that we have to move through our lives and through our work is driven by different things for everyone. Some may be motivated by goals, rewards, money, while others by compliments, pleasing people, or love. But I believe that our passion is what drives our hearts forward. I'm not referring directly to romantic passion (though this would be on the list,) but passion for everything that you do that you feel like you can put your WHOLE being into. Some people are passionate about politics so they put their WHOLE lives into advocating and rallying (I think this is what they do but I have no idea for sure, not one of my passions :P ), those who are passionate about customer service give their best to every single person that they encounter 100 times over each day, ensuring that each person is provided with the best service possible. Counselors are driven by their passion for helping other people heal from the inside-out, teachers by their love for students and education, stay at home moms and dads by their children, whatever your heart decides it is passionate about - DO it!
If you have a choice, what a HUGE waste of time for our short little lives to be in a job or a stage of life that you hate! Waking up and dreading going to work or starting the day is not a satisfying way to spend even the smallest portion of your life.
I have felt myself ebb and flow with my passions over the course of my entire adult life. I am an incredibly passionate person (about things that I LOVE and things that I HATE.) I never do anything halfway. It is really frustrating actually because if I am annoyed at something I don't just get "kind of irritated." There is no way to hide it for me. A gift from my mother :) (love you!) One of my friends pointed out to me last weekend that I don't just KIND OF feel anything, I REALLY feel everything. This made me laugh and gave me something to think about.
This story is redeeming though and I don't want to toot my own horn, but after having a conversation with one of my first challengers that I've ever worked with who has been doing the 21 Day Fix for about 7 months now to assist her along her journey, she facebook messaged me this morning and said "Hannah! I was 1 lbs away from my goal weight on the scale this morning!!!"
Wow. Just WOW!
She continued to share how her confidence has been coming alive since working within the support of the challenge groups from not only me, but from all of the people that have walked with her the entire way. And THAT is when it struck me that I am in this for the long haul.
We continued to talk about how funny it is when people hear that I am an accountability coach but we are in different states. People are weirded out by how that works. But she went on to tell me that "we mostly want an observer on our journey." Someone to celebrate the successes and to stumble through all the road blocks together.
I went through a short period of time along my journey of being a coach where I wasn't sure if I made the right decision.
What do other people think about me?
What do they think about Beachbody?
Am I annoying people with all of my posts all of the time?
Do I want to be THAT person?
And the truth is that I focused on all of these things SO much that I got very distracted from all of the reasons that I SOUGHT out the opportunity to be a coach in the first place. I was not recruited by anyone, I was not approached or invited to become a coach or join anyone's team. I found the opportunity, researched RELENTLESSLY for weeks, "interviewed" with about four different coaches to see who would be the best fit for me, and then finally DOVE head first into becoming a coach. And what a ride it has been.
All of the time and passion that I wasted thinking about what other people thought about me could have been time spent helping more people!
My passion for food and clean-eating. For all of the preventative health reasons that exercise and nutrition play for EVERYONE. And my deep, intrinsic desire to be the accountability partner for everyone who wants me the way I NEEDED mine through my journey last year, led me to this place. NOT a promise of money or rewards.
I have gained friendship.
I have gained confidence in myself and also the work that I do from conversations like the one referenced above.
I have gained a thicker skin.
I have gained an irreplaceable group of people who have trusted me to walk with them through their journeys and beyond after the time they have met their goals.
And MOST importantly, I have finally found a way to take my passions from HOBBY to VOCATION.
My heart is exploding with happiness (because I don't go halfsies on my feelings!!)
I just wanted to take this moment to thank all of the amazing people who have touched my life since I became a coach this past December, new friends, Kaelyn - my success partner, Kati - my AMAZING coach and friend, everyone who has reached out to me to support the work that I do including the letters in the mail and messages, and especially my husband who has been SO amazing and supportive throughout this ENTIRE process, never doubting me even when I doubted myself. :) I am so so so grateful.
I came, I doubted myself, I got my fire back, and I'm not going anywhere. Whether anyone likes it or not. :)
p.s. HERE IS MY ANNOUNCEMENT - for those who kept reading to the end of this blog - I have officially enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition! By the end of my school year I will be a CERTIFIED Health Coach! I can't WAIT to share my journey with all of you!
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
The Uncut Truth
My typical teenage-girl awkward phase was hammered in even further, in part from a very negative, self-sabotaging high school experience in which I sought acceptance but never felt like I had it from anyone. Other than my family (who have always had an endless amount of love for me) and a couple of close friends from that time (because names are deserving here - Laura, Anna, Abby, and Raquel), I was never able to trust that anyone could possibly like me for me. They were all liars in my mind. I convinced myself that everyone was talking about me and paranoia/hyper-sensitivity set in like a disease that was festering. It took everything from me, including so many relationships because of how self-conscious I was and how negatively I saw myself. I pushed so many people away.
Writing these words down now makes me realize how literally sick and twisted my mind worked. How could anybody think so poorly of their self?
On and off throughout high school I attended a youth group from another church, a Baptist youth group (I identify as a Mennonite Christian and yes I have electricity.) That youth group is the only place I found life within myself and I didn't realize how significant it was for me until this moment. I often reference it as one of the only highlights that I can remember from my growing up years. People came together to Praise Jesus with their arms unapologetically lifted high in the air as we sang together, and hugs all around. I dearly love the Mennonite Church, but this group was exactly what I needed at that time. I saw Jesus in those people.
After a more positive senior year (in which I 100% attribute to regular youth group attendance), and a very welcomed end to high school, I moved to a new state and spent all of my time alone or with my family.
We moved to Virginia where I found beauty in the mountains, the trees were more green, and the air was just more fresh. I could breathe, and I could see clearly. My heart and spirit began to heal. With that healing, natural changes of treating myself better came along with them. I began on a journey to loving myself completely from the inside-out.
I am writing this portion of my life down because I have never put it to words before for anyone, including myself. Whenever people talk about high school memories I always breeze by mine with "I don't remember anything," or "I had a really negative high school experience." And I had a tendency of blaming it on something out of my control ([birth]daddy-issues, bullies, drama,) but the truth is it was entirely my fault. The truth is the only things that I do remember about high school is how much I couldn't stand myself and how surprised I was that the Baptist kids actually liked me.
Writing this now brought out the ugly cry because I so mourn this girl that I am writing about. She was a smart kid, who got better than average grades, had empathy for others, and talent in music. She had loving and supportive parents and a huge family team behind her cheering her on, teachers liked her, her brother's ADORED her, but she still didn't see it. She lost friends and wasted so much time lost in side her head that she never realized that she was beautiful and special and didn't need to change a thing except her mind. If only I could tell her this now.
I mourn for this girl. So deeply.
This moment feels like a crossroads in my life and I believe that it has made itself clear to me coming out of this past week being surrounded by vulnerability and where people were celebrating their brokenness and healing. I was broken but never totaled. I thank GOD so much for the healing that has come into my life through my youth group, my experience at Eastern Mennonite University, the group of friends that I found in college, and even now the friendships that are maintained and the memory of those previously mentioned relationships with Laura, Anna, Abby, and Raquel, my family who has seen every side of that girl and me and always made me feel like I belonged. And most of all my relationship with my husband who I KNOW loves me more than anything in the world except for Jesus.
Tears of sorrow, healing, and of new life have been shed.
I own my story and love that girl, but she is not me.
I am.
Whole.
Monday, April 20, 2015
My Little Garden!
Hi! What is happening in your world? I'm feeling a little behind as I haven't posted in a few weeks. With work picking up for me elsewhere I haven't had as much time to sit down and spend doing some of the things that I love most - including writing!
A lot has happened for me in the past few weeks and the thing that I am MOST excited to share with you about is my new little garden! I have been researching and planning it for about a month and even went to the store a couple times to get things I needed, and then came home empty-handed because I didn't feel quite prepared enough. It is my first time planting my own garden, let alone BUILDING one!
Growing up, my birth-dad and step mom had a very large garden, a couple goats, rabbits, and lived on a little tiny farm. Though I don't have a lot of memories of my growing up years, one of my favorite memories was helping him pick the produce in the garden! It may be because my chores didn't involve taking out the trash or sweeping the floors, but I absolutely LOVED chores. They were feeding the animals and learning to work with the land (very part-time as I jumped back and forth between households.) One thing that I always knew that I wanted from helping out around the farm house was that I wanted to do the same thing myself some day! I don't have any desire to have cows, goats, or rabbits again, but I would LOVE a tiny piece of land with plenty of space that I can have my own little garden and chickens. Small house, and just enough land is my idea of a dream :). In the future I want to raise kids who LOVE being outside, learning to work with the earth, and enjoy being grounded in nature. What better and more rewarding way than with a produce garden?
SO - like I said. This is my very first time ever planting a garden of my OWN without anyone telling me what to do. We rent our home that has a large lot, but is very deep and narrow. We are also surrounded by trees and the whole back half of the lot is wooded over. This left few options for where to put our garden, but thankfully the place where it will receive about 6 hours of direct sunshine per day is exactly where I would have chosen to put it anyways!
Since we rent and I don't know much about knowing whether our soil is good or not, I decided the easiest thing to do would be to have a raised-bed garden. I researched many different types of gardens and fell in LOVE with literally all of them. Container gardens, raised gardens made out of wood, tiny little "high-rise" gardens that you can put on a porch and are decked out with built in irrigation systems, etc. And as tempting as all of these fancy things were, I kept thinking about how simple gardening SHOULD be because it is something that has been around literally forever. Therefore, I do not need any of these fancy kits or decked out gear to get going, all I need is some good soil, a little space, and of course my plants :)
I wanted a tiny 4x4 that would give me 16 sq ft of planting space, which has PLENTY of room to feed two people. I decided to build a cinder block garden and ended up using 6x8x15 inch cinder blocks, stacked two high, which would give us a little over 4x4. I'm sure if you wanted it to be bigger you could easily make it so, but I wanted ours to be small enough that I wouldn't need to walk through anything to get to the middle of it! I also love the gardens like this that have numerous 4x4s (this would be futuristic though for us, as one is plenty at this point :) )
See - my future:
Anyways...
To build our garden we purchased...
32 - 6x8x16 cinder blocks at 98 cents a piece
7 - 40 lb bags of organic raised bed soil at about $7.50 per bag
We also laid down cardboard and stacked the blocks on top of the cardboard to help keep the weeds out! I'm not sure if this will actually work or not (remember it's my first time :) ) but I read that this was an easy (and free) way to do it instead of buying that black mesh stuff to put on the bottom. Also the cardboard will disintegrate eventually!
10 - plant starts! I chose to use starts instead of seeds because for many types of seeds you have to start them indoors weeks in advance, and since I didn't, this is the route I chose to go. I also learned that the first day or two in a transplant of a plant from container to garden bed are crucial and you'll quickly find out if it was successful or not. I'm on day three and all of mine look healthy so as long as you're careful and tuck them all nicely in to bed you shouldn't have any problems. :)
I spent a lot of time selecting my plants and figuring out how much space I needed between everything to make sure certain things don't kill other things (or take over the world as I've heard cucumbers do...) It was very overwhelming, I'm not going to lie. But I kept reminding myself that it is my first time on my own, so I'm being cautiously optimistic about how it will turn out. We have had three successful years of marriage without a garden, so if I get one dinner out of it this year I will be happy!
We chose:
-Green Beans
-Sweet Corn
-(1) Cucumber
-(2) tomato plants (cherry and heirloom)
-sweet onions
-sweet red peppers
We also are going to grow strawberries in a container (the plants on the side without a home) and put mint in a separate area (also pictured.)
The nice thing about this garden being so small and above ground is that I can very easily cover it with a tarp when the weather isn't cooperating. For example, this morning it has been POURING for the past few hours, and since I don't know how well the drainage for this is yet I left it open for awhile and then after consulting with my father-in-law (who has an epic garden of his own), I decided to cover it with a tarp. I will also do this on nights when there is a chance of frost.
It was SO much fun building this with my husband, planting it, and spending time outside together. There is something about this weather that makes everything about life better. :) It is amazing how much my mood improves when the weather is nice!
So there it is! Our garden plan. I'm sure it is seeping with rookie mistakes - but that is to be expected! I am anxious to learn and grow as a gardener for many years to come!
Next step...chickens?
A lot has happened for me in the past few weeks and the thing that I am MOST excited to share with you about is my new little garden! I have been researching and planning it for about a month and even went to the store a couple times to get things I needed, and then came home empty-handed because I didn't feel quite prepared enough. It is my first time planting my own garden, let alone BUILDING one!
Growing up, my birth-dad and step mom had a very large garden, a couple goats, rabbits, and lived on a little tiny farm. Though I don't have a lot of memories of my growing up years, one of my favorite memories was helping him pick the produce in the garden! It may be because my chores didn't involve taking out the trash or sweeping the floors, but I absolutely LOVED chores. They were feeding the animals and learning to work with the land (very part-time as I jumped back and forth between households.) One thing that I always knew that I wanted from helping out around the farm house was that I wanted to do the same thing myself some day! I don't have any desire to have cows, goats, or rabbits again, but I would LOVE a tiny piece of land with plenty of space that I can have my own little garden and chickens. Small house, and just enough land is my idea of a dream :). In the future I want to raise kids who LOVE being outside, learning to work with the earth, and enjoy being grounded in nature. What better and more rewarding way than with a produce garden?
SO - like I said. This is my very first time ever planting a garden of my OWN without anyone telling me what to do. We rent our home that has a large lot, but is very deep and narrow. We are also surrounded by trees and the whole back half of the lot is wooded over. This left few options for where to put our garden, but thankfully the place where it will receive about 6 hours of direct sunshine per day is exactly where I would have chosen to put it anyways!
Since we rent and I don't know much about knowing whether our soil is good or not, I decided the easiest thing to do would be to have a raised-bed garden. I researched many different types of gardens and fell in LOVE with literally all of them. Container gardens, raised gardens made out of wood, tiny little "high-rise" gardens that you can put on a porch and are decked out with built in irrigation systems, etc. And as tempting as all of these fancy things were, I kept thinking about how simple gardening SHOULD be because it is something that has been around literally forever. Therefore, I do not need any of these fancy kits or decked out gear to get going, all I need is some good soil, a little space, and of course my plants :)
I wanted a tiny 4x4 that would give me 16 sq ft of planting space, which has PLENTY of room to feed two people. I decided to build a cinder block garden and ended up using 6x8x15 inch cinder blocks, stacked two high, which would give us a little over 4x4. I'm sure if you wanted it to be bigger you could easily make it so, but I wanted ours to be small enough that I wouldn't need to walk through anything to get to the middle of it! I also love the gardens like this that have numerous 4x4s (this would be futuristic though for us, as one is plenty at this point :) )
See - my future:
 |
| Image from The Modern Gardener |
Anyways...
To build our garden we purchased...
32 - 6x8x16 cinder blocks at 98 cents a piece
7 - 40 lb bags of organic raised bed soil at about $7.50 per bag
We also laid down cardboard and stacked the blocks on top of the cardboard to help keep the weeds out! I'm not sure if this will actually work or not (remember it's my first time :) ) but I read that this was an easy (and free) way to do it instead of buying that black mesh stuff to put on the bottom. Also the cardboard will disintegrate eventually!
10 - plant starts! I chose to use starts instead of seeds because for many types of seeds you have to start them indoors weeks in advance, and since I didn't, this is the route I chose to go. I also learned that the first day or two in a transplant of a plant from container to garden bed are crucial and you'll quickly find out if it was successful or not. I'm on day three and all of mine look healthy so as long as you're careful and tuck them all nicely in to bed you shouldn't have any problems. :)
 |
| The muscles behind the operation :) AKA my husband |
 |
| I'd like to take a second to recognize how incredible it is that our tiny little hybrid (Honda Insight) was able to hold 28 cinder blocks, 7 bags of mulch, and all of our plants...(we had to go back to buy 4 more cinder blocks because of a miscalculation - rookie move.) |
I spent a lot of time selecting my plants and figuring out how much space I needed between everything to make sure certain things don't kill other things (or take over the world as I've heard cucumbers do...) It was very overwhelming, I'm not going to lie. But I kept reminding myself that it is my first time on my own, so I'm being cautiously optimistic about how it will turn out. We have had three successful years of marriage without a garden, so if I get one dinner out of it this year I will be happy!
We chose:
-Green Beans
-Sweet Corn
-(1) Cucumber
-(2) tomato plants (cherry and heirloom)
-sweet onions
-sweet red peppers
We also are going to grow strawberries in a container (the plants on the side without a home) and put mint in a separate area (also pictured.)
The nice thing about this garden being so small and above ground is that I can very easily cover it with a tarp when the weather isn't cooperating. For example, this morning it has been POURING for the past few hours, and since I don't know how well the drainage for this is yet I left it open for awhile and then after consulting with my father-in-law (who has an epic garden of his own), I decided to cover it with a tarp. I will also do this on nights when there is a chance of frost.
It was SO much fun building this with my husband, planting it, and spending time outside together. There is something about this weather that makes everything about life better. :) It is amazing how much my mood improves when the weather is nice!
So there it is! Our garden plan. I'm sure it is seeping with rookie mistakes - but that is to be expected! I am anxious to learn and grow as a gardener for many years to come!
Next step...chickens?
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Favorite Crispy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries
I have tried MANY sweet potato french fries in my day and these are by FAR my favorite, and they are SO easy to make while fixing up the rest of your dinner! Last night we were really feeling Springy, I even opened up the door to let the breeze freshen up our home. It was perfect. :)
Serves 2-3
Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 45-60 Minutes
3 Medium Sweet Potatoes
1 Egg White
Salt
Spices of choice!
1. Slice the potatoes into thin strips, feel free to make them as long or as short as you want! I like having different sizes because you may get some that are chewy and some that are more crunchy. The thinner the fry, the crunchier it will be.
2. Soak sliced potatoes in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. You can also slice them in the morning and soak in the water in your fridge all day until you're ready to make them!
3. Preheat Oven to 425 degrees
4. Lay out french fries on a towel or paper towel and dry thoroughly, mopping up as much excess water as possible. I usually use paper towels a few times.
5. Crack egg white into a bowl and then beat with a fork until frothy and bubbly (about a minute.)
6. Add potatoes to the bowl and use clean hands to mix potatoes in with the egg white, making sure the potatoes are coated.
8. Arrange evenly on a baking sheet. It isn't as important that they don't touch as you may think, but do the best you can. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
10. Flip fries over and bake for another 15 minutes on the other side.
11. Turn down the temperature to 200 degrees and continue baking for another 20 minutes or until crispy, turning occasionally.
12. Voila!
I serve these whenever we are in the mood for something a little more than plain old sweet potatoes (which I LOVE,) but this gives us our fix for something a LOT unhealthier than it actually is :)
Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Pick your spice!
Spices!
The most wonderful things in the history of ever. When you seriously cut down on sauce and condiments, spices are KEY to keeping the delicious flavors.
Andy and I have our three favorite spices - he probably couldn't tell them to you because he doesn't add any of them to anything, but they are the three staples in 85% of the things that I cook:
-Garlic
-Cumin
-Paprika
Adding spices to dishes that you whip up in no time makes a little effort go a long way when it's being eaten. Instead of serving leftover shredded chicken, why not throw it in a frying pan with a little olive oil and some spices and voila - you have a brand new dish, no leftovers in sight!
Here are a few of my favorite Wednesday night fast meals!
Veggie stir fry:
Prep in 5, ready in 15
1 Zucchini, sliced and cubed
1 Large Bell Pepper, chopped
1 Large Onion, chopped
1 Tomato
1 Handful of Spinach
Directions:
-Heat 1 TB olive oil on medium-high heat
-Add onion and pepper, stir for about a minute
-Add 2 tsp Garlic, 2-3 tsp Cumin, and a shake of paprika (or other favorite spices) + salt and pepper to taste
-Add Zucchini, continuing stirring for about 5 minutes until zucchini tenderizes
-Add spinach and and tomato and continue stirring for another minute or two
Serve as a main course, over 1/2 C of black beans, as a filling in fajitas, or with chicken on top! It is so versatile!
One Dish Chicken, Sweet Potato, & Green Beans:
Throw together in 10, ready in 60
1 Pound Chicken Breast, cut into strips
2-3 Cups green beans
2-3 Medium/Large Sweet potatoes, chopped & cubed
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Lightly oil a glass 9x13 dish
-Lay raw chicken breast strips down the center, lengthwise, with favorite rub
(I used smoked paprika, chili powder, and black pepper.)
-Put fresh green beans on one side of the chicken
-Put diced sweet potato on the other side of the chicken
-Drizzle everything with olive oil
-Sprinkle garlic powder on green beans
-Lightly sprinkle salt over the whole dish
-Add about 1/2 inch of water
-Bake uncovered for 1 hour
Breakfast for Dinner: Veggie Omelet
Throw together in 5, ready in 10
For me:
1 Egg + 2 egg whites
1/2 tomato, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 handful spinach
1/2 pepper, chopped
salt to taste
For Andy:
2 Eggs + 2 egg whites
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 pepper, chopped
1/4 avocado
1 oz mozzarella
-Heat 2 tsp olive oil over medium/high heat
-Sautee Onions & Peppers for 4-5 minutes
+at this point I remove half of the onion & pepper mixture and put it on a plate, and add the tomatoes and spinach
+continue sauteeing for another minute, and the empty the tomato mixture on another plate
-Spray pan
-Pour in egg mixture for one omelet (Andy's)
-Add onion & pepper mixure on top
*Pro tip: add 1 spoonful of water and then cover and cook until eggs are no longer runny on top!
-Flip the omelet, put sliced mozzarella and sliced avocado on half, fold and serve!
- For the second omelet (mine) I do the same thing with my ingredients.
Yum! Serve with 1 slice of sprouted multigrain bread, toasted! Other good sides are:
Yogurt
Fruit Salad
1/2 Banana
What are your favorite fast meals?
The most wonderful things in the history of ever. When you seriously cut down on sauce and condiments, spices are KEY to keeping the delicious flavors.
Andy and I have our three favorite spices - he probably couldn't tell them to you because he doesn't add any of them to anything, but they are the three staples in 85% of the things that I cook:
-Garlic
-Cumin
-Paprika
Adding spices to dishes that you whip up in no time makes a little effort go a long way when it's being eaten. Instead of serving leftover shredded chicken, why not throw it in a frying pan with a little olive oil and some spices and voila - you have a brand new dish, no leftovers in sight!
Here are a few of my favorite Wednesday night fast meals!
Veggie stir fry:
Prep in 5, ready in 15
1 Zucchini, sliced and cubed
1 Large Bell Pepper, chopped
1 Large Onion, chopped
1 Tomato
1 Handful of Spinach
Directions:
-Heat 1 TB olive oil on medium-high heat
-Add onion and pepper, stir for about a minute
-Add 2 tsp Garlic, 2-3 tsp Cumin, and a shake of paprika (or other favorite spices) + salt and pepper to taste
-Add Zucchini, continuing stirring for about 5 minutes until zucchini tenderizes
-Add spinach and and tomato and continue stirring for another minute or two
Serve as a main course, over 1/2 C of black beans, as a filling in fajitas, or with chicken on top! It is so versatile!
One Dish Chicken, Sweet Potato, & Green Beans:
Throw together in 10, ready in 60
1 Pound Chicken Breast, cut into strips
2-3 Cups green beans
2-3 Medium/Large Sweet potatoes, chopped & cubed
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees
-Lightly oil a glass 9x13 dish
-Lay raw chicken breast strips down the center, lengthwise, with favorite rub
(I used smoked paprika, chili powder, and black pepper.)
-Put fresh green beans on one side of the chicken
-Put diced sweet potato on the other side of the chicken
-Drizzle everything with olive oil
-Sprinkle garlic powder on green beans
-Lightly sprinkle salt over the whole dish
-Add about 1/2 inch of water
-Bake uncovered for 1 hour
Breakfast for Dinner: Veggie Omelet
Throw together in 5, ready in 10
For me:
1 Egg + 2 egg whites
1/2 tomato, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 handful spinach
1/2 pepper, chopped
salt to taste
For Andy:
2 Eggs + 2 egg whites
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 pepper, chopped
1/4 avocado
1 oz mozzarella
-Heat 2 tsp olive oil over medium/high heat
-Sautee Onions & Peppers for 4-5 minutes
+at this point I remove half of the onion & pepper mixture and put it on a plate, and add the tomatoes and spinach
+continue sauteeing for another minute, and the empty the tomato mixture on another plate
-Spray pan
-Pour in egg mixture for one omelet (Andy's)
-Add onion & pepper mixure on top
*Pro tip: add 1 spoonful of water and then cover and cook until eggs are no longer runny on top!
-Flip the omelet, put sliced mozzarella and sliced avocado on half, fold and serve!
- For the second omelet (mine) I do the same thing with my ingredients.
Yum! Serve with 1 slice of sprouted multigrain bread, toasted! Other good sides are:
Yogurt
Fruit Salad
1/2 Banana
What are your favorite fast meals?
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Giving up and letting go...Is it really that important?
Storage. What a strange concept. Purchasing or holding on to things for years and years and never actually using them...I think about my attic, filled with boxes of books from college, music books from my days of piano lessons, Christmas Decorations, clothes that don't fit, random decor that I change out once in a blue moon...things that we don't necessarily need or even love, but are just not parting with. No offense college, but we are probably not going to read those textbooks again...(did we read them in the first place? OF COURSE WE DID ;) ) But we paid a lot of money for them, and now there are new editions and these won't sell but we don't want to just let them go because of how much we paid for them...random things like that.
I've been thinking a lot recently about the concept of having too much and have been struggling pretty deeply with it. I have never been a sentimental person. There are very few things that I form an attachment to that I cannot imagine giving up;
1) My wedding ring, obviously
2) My Grandpa's Bible - filled with his post-it notes and writing
3) My antique bookshelf from my grandparent's lake house
4) Hubert, my stuffed black lab that I got in third grade that slept with me every night until I got married (Andy made me put him in storage :( )
5) My piano that was a wedding gift from Andy
I'm talking about things that if I never used them I would have no problem giving them up. What is the point of keeping things? I have never understood boxes of old things that MIGHT, but probably will not, be used some day...and yet I have them! It drives me nuts.
My journey with the 21 Day Fix Extreme has turned into something far more than I actually anticipated it doing so - within and aside from the actual program. The concept of giving up, and letting go. It's not just certain foods I'm [not] eating for the technical duration of the program, 21 days, it's been giving me the space to examine the importance of things, and it has actually made it easier for me to have the motivation to let go. It has been enabling me to shift my focus from food to things of more importance.
The following is a deeply personal reflection that is from my own experience:
I feel like this experience so far has been exceedingly appropriate, and completely unplanned on my part to start the 21DFX over Lent, but it has been a very significant one for me. In large part in the spirit of "giving up" things we love and denying ourselves of certain luxuries, fasting from things of little value, and shifting our focus toward practicing spiritual disciplines - traditionally; fasting, praying, and service (time, money, community, etc.)
I have heard of many different things being given up for Lent. Over the years I have heard of and have practiced some of these myself; meat, chocolate, television, sweets, alcohol, social media, spending money (other than on essentials), cussing, smoking, etc. The list goes on and on. In my experience in the tradition of Anabaptism we are supposed to REPLACE the time or focus on things we are fasting from with time and refocusing our energy on our relationship with God. It is SO easy to let devotions and prayer fall by the way-side when life is going on...honestly - and I don't think I am alone in admitting that!
But how many of us when considering giving up things for Lent have a thought-process that goes a little something like this: "I know, I'll give up meat! Good plan. No meat for forty days. I can do that. I do love meat. A lot. Can I do that for forty days? Do I really want to do that for forty days...what would I eat? Where would I get protein? Shoot, I need protein to live. Meat would not be a good idea. Maybe I should pick something I still love, but would be easier and less of a necessity...hmm...Bacon. That's more specific, I LOVE bacon so I'll give that up, but then I'll still be able to eat chicken for dinner or steak when I go out to eat, and I'll still have protein. That sounds better and more doable. I can do that. I love bacon. I won't eat bacon for Lent."
[replace "Meat" with anything in the above scenario.]
...
I am not alone right??? That has happened to me so many times! High hopes, high expectations for myself, and then water it down to make it a little easier. Here is the question - why NOT pick something that is difficult? Why water it down? Better yet, why not let the THING that holds your heart hostage the MOST choose for you...Sure Jesus wandered around the desert for forty days without food or water, but that doesn't mean I should/would/could/will give up _____, does it?...
One of the (many) things that I have learned from Andy who, though hasn't directly said to me "Hannah you should spend more time reading your Bible, " but rather, has been a beautiful example to me of spiritual discipline. He is so diligent in spending time alone with God. It is so inspiring to me, and a constant reminder to myself that it IS the most important thing, growing in my relationship with God. Instead of waking up and spending my first 20 minutes on Facebook, that is TIME that I could be spending in prayer, or reading my Bible - pretty much doing anything that is more important then Facebook.
So to bring it back around...yes food is important. I LOVE food. But is it really something that there are types of food out there that are important enough to me that I just cannot let go of? When I think about it that way it puts so much into perspective for me. I have to eat to live, but do I have to eat popcorn to survive?...Chocolate?...Cheese? No. They give me joy, but I do NOT need them...just like I do NOT need the large box of curtains I will never use currently in my attic, or the old clothes that no longer fit me...
After reflecting on this and the challenge I have had in my own journey even in the past week, I am choosing to be thankful for the opportunity and challenge to "give up and let go." Easy - it is NOT! And I think that is the point. If deprivation was easy it would NOT be called deprivation. During this time of "giving up and letting go" my prayer is that we can surrender the big and small of our everyday lives for a short period of time, and remember the big that is Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
I've been thinking a lot recently about the concept of having too much and have been struggling pretty deeply with it. I have never been a sentimental person. There are very few things that I form an attachment to that I cannot imagine giving up;
1) My wedding ring, obviously
2) My Grandpa's Bible - filled with his post-it notes and writing
3) My antique bookshelf from my grandparent's lake house
4) Hubert, my stuffed black lab that I got in third grade that slept with me every night until I got married (Andy made me put him in storage :( )
5) My piano that was a wedding gift from Andy
I'm talking about things that if I never used them I would have no problem giving them up. What is the point of keeping things? I have never understood boxes of old things that MIGHT, but probably will not, be used some day...and yet I have them! It drives me nuts.
My journey with the 21 Day Fix Extreme has turned into something far more than I actually anticipated it doing so - within and aside from the actual program. The concept of giving up, and letting go. It's not just certain foods I'm [not] eating for the technical duration of the program, 21 days, it's been giving me the space to examine the importance of things, and it has actually made it easier for me to have the motivation to let go. It has been enabling me to shift my focus from food to things of more importance.
The following is a deeply personal reflection that is from my own experience:
I feel like this experience so far has been exceedingly appropriate, and completely unplanned on my part to start the 21DFX over Lent, but it has been a very significant one for me. In large part in the spirit of "giving up" things we love and denying ourselves of certain luxuries, fasting from things of little value, and shifting our focus toward practicing spiritual disciplines - traditionally; fasting, praying, and service (time, money, community, etc.)
I have heard of many different things being given up for Lent. Over the years I have heard of and have practiced some of these myself; meat, chocolate, television, sweets, alcohol, social media, spending money (other than on essentials), cussing, smoking, etc. The list goes on and on. In my experience in the tradition of Anabaptism we are supposed to REPLACE the time or focus on things we are fasting from with time and refocusing our energy on our relationship with God. It is SO easy to let devotions and prayer fall by the way-side when life is going on...honestly - and I don't think I am alone in admitting that!
But how many of us when considering giving up things for Lent have a thought-process that goes a little something like this: "I know, I'll give up meat! Good plan. No meat for forty days. I can do that. I do love meat. A lot. Can I do that for forty days? Do I really want to do that for forty days...what would I eat? Where would I get protein? Shoot, I need protein to live. Meat would not be a good idea. Maybe I should pick something I still love, but would be easier and less of a necessity...hmm...Bacon. That's more specific, I LOVE bacon so I'll give that up, but then I'll still be able to eat chicken for dinner or steak when I go out to eat, and I'll still have protein. That sounds better and more doable. I can do that. I love bacon. I won't eat bacon for Lent."
[replace "Meat" with anything in the above scenario.]
...
I am not alone right??? That has happened to me so many times! High hopes, high expectations for myself, and then water it down to make it a little easier. Here is the question - why NOT pick something that is difficult? Why water it down? Better yet, why not let the THING that holds your heart hostage the MOST choose for you...Sure Jesus wandered around the desert for forty days without food or water, but that doesn't mean I should/would/could/will give up _____, does it?...
One of the (many) things that I have learned from Andy who, though hasn't directly said to me "Hannah you should spend more time reading your Bible, " but rather, has been a beautiful example to me of spiritual discipline. He is so diligent in spending time alone with God. It is so inspiring to me, and a constant reminder to myself that it IS the most important thing, growing in my relationship with God. Instead of waking up and spending my first 20 minutes on Facebook, that is TIME that I could be spending in prayer, or reading my Bible - pretty much doing anything that is more important then Facebook.
So to bring it back around...yes food is important. I LOVE food. But is it really something that there are types of food out there that are important enough to me that I just cannot let go of? When I think about it that way it puts so much into perspective for me. I have to eat to live, but do I have to eat popcorn to survive?...Chocolate?...Cheese? No. They give me joy, but I do NOT need them...just like I do NOT need the large box of curtains I will never use currently in my attic, or the old clothes that no longer fit me...
After reflecting on this and the challenge I have had in my own journey even in the past week, I am choosing to be thankful for the opportunity and challenge to "give up and let go." Easy - it is NOT! And I think that is the point. If deprivation was easy it would NOT be called deprivation. During this time of "giving up and letting go" my prayer is that we can surrender the big and small of our everyday lives for a short period of time, and remember the big that is Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Clean-Eating
A couple weeks ago I hosted a FREE clean-eating challenge group for anyone who wanted to join. It was a 7 day challenge that gave people meal planning ideas, grocery lists, and recipes if they wanted to use them. It was a sample of what a week in our household looks like and it was really fun to put together and share with other people - and receive feedback!
There is a startling statistic that I know you've heard if you've read my blog, or sure you have heard elsewhere, that weight loss comes 75% from nutrition and only 25% from exercise. That is CRAZY to me! Every single time I hear that I am startled all over again. But it's so true. When I got my knee injury last year from running, I KNEW I needed to make a change in my own body, if for nothing else than to be easier on my joints because if I was starting this young with joint pain I would be bound to have problems later on in life. Changing my nutrition was pretty much majority of my weight loss journey. I am a huge advocate for exercise (obviously - you see my posts all the time about the things I'm up to,) but the thought of simply tweaking the way that you eat and the things that you put in your body and gaining almost complete control over your weight - that is AMAZING and TERRIFYING in and of itself. Amazing because we can make such small changes (ditch the sodapop and chips) and see such huge results - but terrifying because often times it can be too overwhelming to begin because of no idea on how to start! This can turn into a sick cycle of having INFORMATION OVERLOAD. THAT is what my clean-eating challenge group was for. It is very cut & dry information - not telling you to "buy organic, local, this, that, yada," though I believe that is the way to go (most of the time,) it is NOT a good place to start.
Not only that, but food is a very passionate and sentimental thing for so many people. Traditions, past-times, reminders of childhood, chocolate on Valentine's Day, Cinnamon rolls on Christmas (that's my family anway), pumpkin and pecan pie for Thanksgiving, most traditions revolve around food! And a GOOD family time spent is often associated with GOOD food being shared. It is something we fellowship over. So as you can see, food habits can be a pain in the butt to even WANT to change because these lines run SO deep! I'm not saying it is bad at all to indulge on holidays, definitely not! I'm saying that I think it's time we step back and take a look at how MUCH we indulge on the holidays - and THEN take a step back ever further and take a look at how much we indulge all the other times of the year...Friday night indulgence? Monday evening indulgence? Rewarding yourself with a splurge or two after a tough day - what if every day is a tough day - and then we wake up years later and think "when did this happen?" Weight gain doesn't happen overnight. And neither does weight LOSS.
The thing about making the decision to lose weight or getting healthier in general is that it should not be considered a diet. Starving yourself isn't the answer. It is time to take a look at and re-examine the foods that you are consuming on a regular basis. How many packages do you have to open per day? How many lids do you have to take off? How much trash are you throwing out each week? The goal for my clean-eating challenge group was not for anyone to starve, simply eat different foods, more simply...
I decided to publish the graphics that I created and used for my group so that everyone can check them out and use as much or as little as they'd like! For me - accountability is everything - so I function best in a group. But for others, it can be a very personal and independent journey. That is okay! Use these as much or as little as you'd like and if you ever decide you want help or accountability, I would love to work with you! I was SO excited to hear multiple people in my challenge group report back that they lost anywhere from 2-5 pounds in their first week just from making simple changes! It works people! :)
Thanks for spending time reading this! Let me know what you try :)
There is a startling statistic that I know you've heard if you've read my blog, or sure you have heard elsewhere, that weight loss comes 75% from nutrition and only 25% from exercise. That is CRAZY to me! Every single time I hear that I am startled all over again. But it's so true. When I got my knee injury last year from running, I KNEW I needed to make a change in my own body, if for nothing else than to be easier on my joints because if I was starting this young with joint pain I would be bound to have problems later on in life. Changing my nutrition was pretty much majority of my weight loss journey. I am a huge advocate for exercise (obviously - you see my posts all the time about the things I'm up to,) but the thought of simply tweaking the way that you eat and the things that you put in your body and gaining almost complete control over your weight - that is AMAZING and TERRIFYING in and of itself. Amazing because we can make such small changes (ditch the sodapop and chips) and see such huge results - but terrifying because often times it can be too overwhelming to begin because of no idea on how to start! This can turn into a sick cycle of having INFORMATION OVERLOAD. THAT is what my clean-eating challenge group was for. It is very cut & dry information - not telling you to "buy organic, local, this, that, yada," though I believe that is the way to go (most of the time,) it is NOT a good place to start.
Not only that, but food is a very passionate and sentimental thing for so many people. Traditions, past-times, reminders of childhood, chocolate on Valentine's Day, Cinnamon rolls on Christmas (that's my family anway), pumpkin and pecan pie for Thanksgiving, most traditions revolve around food! And a GOOD family time spent is often associated with GOOD food being shared. It is something we fellowship over. So as you can see, food habits can be a pain in the butt to even WANT to change because these lines run SO deep! I'm not saying it is bad at all to indulge on holidays, definitely not! I'm saying that I think it's time we step back and take a look at how MUCH we indulge on the holidays - and THEN take a step back ever further and take a look at how much we indulge all the other times of the year...Friday night indulgence? Monday evening indulgence? Rewarding yourself with a splurge or two after a tough day - what if every day is a tough day - and then we wake up years later and think "when did this happen?" Weight gain doesn't happen overnight. And neither does weight LOSS.
The thing about making the decision to lose weight or getting healthier in general is that it should not be considered a diet. Starving yourself isn't the answer. It is time to take a look at and re-examine the foods that you are consuming on a regular basis. How many packages do you have to open per day? How many lids do you have to take off? How much trash are you throwing out each week? The goal for my clean-eating challenge group was not for anyone to starve, simply eat different foods, more simply...
I decided to publish the graphics that I created and used for my group so that everyone can check them out and use as much or as little as they'd like! For me - accountability is everything - so I function best in a group. But for others, it can be a very personal and independent journey. That is okay! Use these as much or as little as you'd like and if you ever decide you want help or accountability, I would love to work with you! I was SO excited to hear multiple people in my challenge group report back that they lost anywhere from 2-5 pounds in their first week just from making simple changes! It works people! :)
Thanks for spending time reading this! Let me know what you try :)
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Grocery 101
Happy Tuesday, everyone, it is FRIGID this week! I am sitting in our living room in front of our tiny heater with my flannels on, hood up, and I'm still cold. I was foolishly tricked into believing we may just skip over winter right into spring. Mother Nature had other ideas though.
This cold weather made grocery shopping especially fun yesterday. There is literally nothing I hate more then dry hands inside of gloves, but when I opt to not wear gloves the combination of pressure from holding bags against wind chill is just so not fun.
I have had quite a few people message me recently and ask me about what this whole clean eating thing involves and how it fits in with weight loss. So I wanted to address some of these questions today as well as offer some grocery list changes that you can make to kick start your own journey.
First of all, no one should EVER be embarrassed to ask questions to anyone. Surfing the web for answers can be intimidating because there is so much out there.
I specified in an earlier post what exactly clean eating is, most basic ingredients, one ingredient is best, no chemicals, etc. But a lot of people have been wondering what changes to make. It is really daunting thinking about all of a sudden "giving up everything you love" and finding a whole new routine for things. If you can go cold turkey and make the switch 100% in one swift movement, more power to you. But for a lot of people it takes time. And I think by making simple changes to start, and gradually merging over to a new way of eating is what works best for most people.
When I first started losing weight I had no idea where to begin because I already felt like I was eating healthy. Here is what my day would have looked like prior to beginning my weight loss journey:
Breakfast-2 eggs with cheese, 2 pieces of whole wheat toast, sometimes bacon or yogurt
(another favorite was 2 eggs in a flour tortilla with cheese and baked beans, Andy discovered this delicious combination!)
Lunch-sandwich on whole wheat bread with lunch meat, sometimes peanut butter & jelly, yogurt, cheese & crackers or chips & salsa.
Dinner-6 oz meat, potatoes, bread, corn or peas and sometimes green beans sauteed in butter or something of the like.
Snacks-apple/banana/pita chips & hummus/ice cream/and I would always indulge if there was cookies/coffee cake available for a work/school thing.
The problems I see above:
-The amount of bread I consumed in a day, 2 for breakfast, 2 for lunch, and 1 for dinner? That is almost half a loaf per day and TONS of carbs. At this point I was not buying whole grain either (more on that later.)
-Too much cheese. I never measured how much cheese I was putting on my eggs in the morning, cheese for lunch on a sandwich, and typically some cheesy sauce for dinner. Cheese is OK for you in moderation, but when used as above that is a lot of fat.
-Too much starch for dinner. Potatoes? Corn? Bread? Meat?
-No restraint with avoiding available food.
-Where is the color? Fruits and vegetables of different colors provide different nutritional benefits including different kinds of vitamins and minerals that are necessary for optimal body function! All of my foods above are white and yellow!
-Too much peanut butter. You can't see it because I didn't list portions of peanut butter, but it was not unusual for me to use 1/4 C on a sandwich, and again later I would sometimes scoop it out of the jar or eat it with a banana.
The foods we were eating, like I said, not necessarily unhealthy (to an extent...) but; A) Portions, B) Variety, and C) Color are the three most important lessons that I needed to learn, and I would imagine many other people could use as well!
The steps I took to achieve my goals:
1) I decided I wanted to change.
2) I COMMITTED to change (no matter how miserable I was for the first two weeks at least. I'm not kidding. I was really hungry.)
3) I cut my portions almost in half and paid attention to "serving sizes" on labels.
-Breakfast then looked like: 1 egg (no cheese), 1 piece of whole grain toast, and a banana or handful of berries.
-Lunch then looked like: a sandwich with one piece of bread, lettuce, tomato, and turkey, with raw carrots/peppers and hummus, and an apple on the side.
-Dinner then looked like: 3-4 oz of lean protein, and one or two greens on the side, often steamed and then stir-friend for a few minutes in 1 tsp olive oil with garlic.
-We also now eat a lot of Mexican food with corn tortillas, black beans, homemade salsa, and avocado!
4) Started tracking my food. I used Weight Watchers to help me figure out how to eat better (while avoiding their pre-packaged foods,) now I use MyFitnessPal, which is a free calorie counting app that ALSO let's you set your Carb/Protein/Fat goals for the day and has a great visual for showing how your day balanced out. I HIGHLY recommend recording food for anyone trying to make changes!
5) Things I almost never consumed while trying to lose weight:
-Cheese
-Crackers
-Chips
-Pasta
-More than 2 TB of peanut butter at a time
-Breaded anything (but I did eat actual bread...) does that make sense?
-Butter & Jelly on toast (instead I'd make an over easy egg and serve it directly on top of the toast.)
-Granulated Sugar in my coffee (switched to Stevia and LOVE it!)
-Alcoholic Beverages other than wine (red wine is actually great for your heart, when it's not abused!) I have never been one to drink my calories (store-bought juices, milk, etc.), but if we were going out for Mexican or having people over, having a Margarita was not unusual.
6) I Broke up with baking (unless it was for someone else or homemade bread)
7) Quit late night snacking, and if I really wanted something, I would make stove-top popcorn.
8) Spent more time meal-planning ahead of time, and cut up/washed fruits and veggies ahead of time. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book that I'm sure you all heard. Before, I was like "Psh. I don't need to pre-cut/wash, if I want them it doesn't bother me to do it right before I eat." NOT TRUE! If it's there, you will see it, you will eat it.
9) Donated many of the foods I knew would be tempting for me to the local soup kitchen, did not throw anything away. (Hubby was SO supportive because he wanted me to succeed, even if it meant not having potato chips/pretzels in the house!)
10) Finally, had an accountability partner who wanted to lose weight too. She was AMAZING and so uplifting. We checked in with each other twice a week just to see how each other did for the previous 3-4 days, good/bad/ugly. All of it.
You could be in the gym 7 days a week, and working hard with 2-3 hour workouts per day, and still not see results unless you employ food changes. Weight loss is 75-80% nutrition, and 20-25% exercise. Once you recognize that, and use a combination of the two, I have no doubt that results will be achieved! Obviously both are so important to weight loss, but if you had to choose one between nutrition and exercise, nutrition would definitely be key.
Here is a list of foods that make it on my grocery list every single week (other things not listed in random rotation):
-blacks beans!! (a household favorite)
-PB2 - I buy 2 lbs of this stuff on Amazon every month. It is a much healthier option than regular
-Peppers, Carrots, cherry tomatoes, yams, green beans, onions, kale, spinach (even if you don't like the leafy greens, you can't even taste them in a smoothie!)
-hummus
-Chobani Greek yogurt (plain is best, I buy Vanilla Simply 100 which is sweetened with Stevia.)
-Stevia (if you like sugar in your coffee) this is a natural sweetener, no chemicals added. Be careful because some store bought versions contain dextrose. The liquid extract version is my favorite, though I always carry packets in my purse.
-Apples, banana, berries, tangerines, etc.
Produce usually makes up about half of my weekly budget.
-Coconut Milk/Almond/Rice Milk. We go in spurts.
-Alvarado St. Bakery Sprouted Multigrain bread. It is more flavorful than Ezekiel and has better texture. At least in the Richter household we think so :)
-Large bags of frozen fruit for smoothie making (even better if you can freeze it yourself in the summer!)
-Hot sauce for hubs.
-Rotisserie Chicken. Every Monday I purchase it, let it cool, peel the skin off and shred it in a tupperware for sandwiches for the week. We use this instead of deli meat. Organic is best, but non-organic is still better than deli meat because it is nitrate free.
-Not every week, but usually once a month I buy a large amount of chicken breasts, cut them up into 3 oz servings, bag them individually, and then freeze them. They make quick lunch/dinner options as all you need to do is put the bag under hot water for a minute or so to thaw (since they're so small it doesn't take long), throw them in a microwave safe dish, add seasonings, fill with 1-2 inches of water, cover, and microwave for 7ish minutes. Super easy.
And finally, snack ideas! :) Because we all need pick-me-ups! Most of these are from the list above!
-Greek yogurt with 2 TB PB2! Makes a mousse consistency and is a great kick of protein to hold you over til the next meal time.
-Raw veggies with hummus. Peppers, carrots, and cucumbers are our favorites. I lied, Andy only likes carrots.
-An apple or banana with PB2.
-A smoothie with 1 C of leafy greens (spinach, kale), broccoli, 1/2-1 C frozen fruit, cinnamon, 1/2 C of dairy-free or dairy milk of any kind, and 1/2 C of water. This makes a delicious, healthy snack, and think of all the servings of veggies your getting in this that you otherwise probably wouldn't eat!
-Shakeology. This is a personal favorite. It is expensive, but at $4 per serving and having it fulfill most of your daily nutrients needs, it makes a MUCH better option than the $4 you could be spending at a drive-thru, Starbucks, or gas station...(Sheetz, Wawa anyone?)
-POPCORN! This is my favorite. Literally my addiction. Not a lot of nutritional benefits but you can eat a lot of it with zero guilt!
If you're trying to lose weight, do yourself a favor and skip the pretzels, chips, and crackers.
It's as simple as that.
Obviously we all have different habits, and you may not have a lot of the habits that I did before. But if you are trying to lose weight, I would suggest looking at the list of 10 things, picking 1 or 2 to start, and gradually continue to add items from the list until you find a routine that works for you and more importantly, you see results! Losing weight is not a comfortable journey to start, I felt like I was starving for the first couple weeks. But as soon as my stomach caught up to my brain, I began filling up very easily, and things just came naturally.
Please feel free to contact me via FB or e-mail about anything! I am ALWAYS available and would love to help you meet your goals!
Remember, it took more than 1 day to gain weight, so it will take more than 1 to lose it.
This cold weather made grocery shopping especially fun yesterday. There is literally nothing I hate more then dry hands inside of gloves, but when I opt to not wear gloves the combination of pressure from holding bags against wind chill is just so not fun.
I have had quite a few people message me recently and ask me about what this whole clean eating thing involves and how it fits in with weight loss. So I wanted to address some of these questions today as well as offer some grocery list changes that you can make to kick start your own journey.
First of all, no one should EVER be embarrassed to ask questions to anyone. Surfing the web for answers can be intimidating because there is so much out there.
I specified in an earlier post what exactly clean eating is, most basic ingredients, one ingredient is best, no chemicals, etc. But a lot of people have been wondering what changes to make. It is really daunting thinking about all of a sudden "giving up everything you love" and finding a whole new routine for things. If you can go cold turkey and make the switch 100% in one swift movement, more power to you. But for a lot of people it takes time. And I think by making simple changes to start, and gradually merging over to a new way of eating is what works best for most people.
When I first started losing weight I had no idea where to begin because I already felt like I was eating healthy. Here is what my day would have looked like prior to beginning my weight loss journey:
Breakfast-2 eggs with cheese, 2 pieces of whole wheat toast, sometimes bacon or yogurt
(another favorite was 2 eggs in a flour tortilla with cheese and baked beans, Andy discovered this delicious combination!)
Lunch-sandwich on whole wheat bread with lunch meat, sometimes peanut butter & jelly, yogurt, cheese & crackers or chips & salsa.
Dinner-6 oz meat, potatoes, bread, corn or peas and sometimes green beans sauteed in butter or something of the like.
Snacks-apple/banana/pita chips & hummus/ice cream/and I would always indulge if there was cookies/coffee cake available for a work/school thing.
The problems I see above:
-The amount of bread I consumed in a day, 2 for breakfast, 2 for lunch, and 1 for dinner? That is almost half a loaf per day and TONS of carbs. At this point I was not buying whole grain either (more on that later.)
-Too much cheese. I never measured how much cheese I was putting on my eggs in the morning, cheese for lunch on a sandwich, and typically some cheesy sauce for dinner. Cheese is OK for you in moderation, but when used as above that is a lot of fat.
-Too much starch for dinner. Potatoes? Corn? Bread? Meat?
-No restraint with avoiding available food.
-Where is the color? Fruits and vegetables of different colors provide different nutritional benefits including different kinds of vitamins and minerals that are necessary for optimal body function! All of my foods above are white and yellow!
-Too much peanut butter. You can't see it because I didn't list portions of peanut butter, but it was not unusual for me to use 1/4 C on a sandwich, and again later I would sometimes scoop it out of the jar or eat it with a banana.
The foods we were eating, like I said, not necessarily unhealthy (to an extent...) but; A) Portions, B) Variety, and C) Color are the three most important lessons that I needed to learn, and I would imagine many other people could use as well!
The steps I took to achieve my goals:
1) I decided I wanted to change.
2) I COMMITTED to change (no matter how miserable I was for the first two weeks at least. I'm not kidding. I was really hungry.)
3) I cut my portions almost in half and paid attention to "serving sizes" on labels.
-Breakfast then looked like: 1 egg (no cheese), 1 piece of whole grain toast, and a banana or handful of berries.
-Lunch then looked like: a sandwich with one piece of bread, lettuce, tomato, and turkey, with raw carrots/peppers and hummus, and an apple on the side.
-Dinner then looked like: 3-4 oz of lean protein, and one or two greens on the side, often steamed and then stir-friend for a few minutes in 1 tsp olive oil with garlic.
-We also now eat a lot of Mexican food with corn tortillas, black beans, homemade salsa, and avocado!
4) Started tracking my food. I used Weight Watchers to help me figure out how to eat better (while avoiding their pre-packaged foods,) now I use MyFitnessPal, which is a free calorie counting app that ALSO let's you set your Carb/Protein/Fat goals for the day and has a great visual for showing how your day balanced out. I HIGHLY recommend recording food for anyone trying to make changes!
5) Things I almost never consumed while trying to lose weight:
-Cheese
-Crackers
-Chips
-Pasta
-More than 2 TB of peanut butter at a time
-Breaded anything (but I did eat actual bread...) does that make sense?
-Butter & Jelly on toast (instead I'd make an over easy egg and serve it directly on top of the toast.)
-Granulated Sugar in my coffee (switched to Stevia and LOVE it!)
-Alcoholic Beverages other than wine (red wine is actually great for your heart, when it's not abused!) I have never been one to drink my calories (store-bought juices, milk, etc.), but if we were going out for Mexican or having people over, having a Margarita was not unusual.
6) I Broke up with baking (unless it was for someone else or homemade bread)
7) Quit late night snacking, and if I really wanted something, I would make stove-top popcorn.
8) Spent more time meal-planning ahead of time, and cut up/washed fruits and veggies ahead of time. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book that I'm sure you all heard. Before, I was like "Psh. I don't need to pre-cut/wash, if I want them it doesn't bother me to do it right before I eat." NOT TRUE! If it's there, you will see it, you will eat it.
9) Donated many of the foods I knew would be tempting for me to the local soup kitchen, did not throw anything away. (Hubby was SO supportive because he wanted me to succeed, even if it meant not having potato chips/pretzels in the house!)
10) Finally, had an accountability partner who wanted to lose weight too. She was AMAZING and so uplifting. We checked in with each other twice a week just to see how each other did for the previous 3-4 days, good/bad/ugly. All of it.
You could be in the gym 7 days a week, and working hard with 2-3 hour workouts per day, and still not see results unless you employ food changes. Weight loss is 75-80% nutrition, and 20-25% exercise. Once you recognize that, and use a combination of the two, I have no doubt that results will be achieved! Obviously both are so important to weight loss, but if you had to choose one between nutrition and exercise, nutrition would definitely be key.
Here is a list of foods that make it on my grocery list every single week (other things not listed in random rotation):
-blacks beans!! (a household favorite)
-PB2 - I buy 2 lbs of this stuff on Amazon every month. It is a much healthier option than regular
-Peppers, Carrots, cherry tomatoes, yams, green beans, onions, kale, spinach (even if you don't like the leafy greens, you can't even taste them in a smoothie!)
-hummus
-Chobani Greek yogurt (plain is best, I buy Vanilla Simply 100 which is sweetened with Stevia.)
-Stevia (if you like sugar in your coffee) this is a natural sweetener, no chemicals added. Be careful because some store bought versions contain dextrose. The liquid extract version is my favorite, though I always carry packets in my purse.
-Apples, banana, berries, tangerines, etc.
Produce usually makes up about half of my weekly budget.
-Coconut Milk/Almond/Rice Milk. We go in spurts.
-Alvarado St. Bakery Sprouted Multigrain bread. It is more flavorful than Ezekiel and has better texture. At least in the Richter household we think so :)
-Large bags of frozen fruit for smoothie making (even better if you can freeze it yourself in the summer!)
-Hot sauce for hubs.
-Rotisserie Chicken. Every Monday I purchase it, let it cool, peel the skin off and shred it in a tupperware for sandwiches for the week. We use this instead of deli meat. Organic is best, but non-organic is still better than deli meat because it is nitrate free.
-Not every week, but usually once a month I buy a large amount of chicken breasts, cut them up into 3 oz servings, bag them individually, and then freeze them. They make quick lunch/dinner options as all you need to do is put the bag under hot water for a minute or so to thaw (since they're so small it doesn't take long), throw them in a microwave safe dish, add seasonings, fill with 1-2 inches of water, cover, and microwave for 7ish minutes. Super easy.
And finally, snack ideas! :) Because we all need pick-me-ups! Most of these are from the list above!
-Greek yogurt with 2 TB PB2! Makes a mousse consistency and is a great kick of protein to hold you over til the next meal time.
-Raw veggies with hummus. Peppers, carrots, and cucumbers are our favorites. I lied, Andy only likes carrots.
-An apple or banana with PB2.
-A smoothie with 1 C of leafy greens (spinach, kale), broccoli, 1/2-1 C frozen fruit, cinnamon, 1/2 C of dairy-free or dairy milk of any kind, and 1/2 C of water. This makes a delicious, healthy snack, and think of all the servings of veggies your getting in this that you otherwise probably wouldn't eat!
-Shakeology. This is a personal favorite. It is expensive, but at $4 per serving and having it fulfill most of your daily nutrients needs, it makes a MUCH better option than the $4 you could be spending at a drive-thru, Starbucks, or gas station...(Sheetz, Wawa anyone?)
-POPCORN! This is my favorite. Literally my addiction. Not a lot of nutritional benefits but you can eat a lot of it with zero guilt!
If you're trying to lose weight, do yourself a favor and skip the pretzels, chips, and crackers.
It's as simple as that.
Obviously we all have different habits, and you may not have a lot of the habits that I did before. But if you are trying to lose weight, I would suggest looking at the list of 10 things, picking 1 or 2 to start, and gradually continue to add items from the list until you find a routine that works for you and more importantly, you see results! Losing weight is not a comfortable journey to start, I felt like I was starving for the first couple weeks. But as soon as my stomach caught up to my brain, I began filling up very easily, and things just came naturally.
Please feel free to contact me via FB or e-mail about anything! I am ALWAYS available and would love to help you meet your goals!
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Passionately & Thoroughly
What a year this has been. It has overall been amazing and filled to the brim with change. There have been so many good things that have happened, and many lessons learned along the way. I experienced so many life-changes that have dealt me a completely new set of cards, and half the time I really felt like I was holding on for dear life to keep up with what this journey had to offer. It truthfully has been very hard.
One of my goals for the upcoming year is to be less ashamed of some of the lessons that I have learned and struggles that I have overcome. I have spent so much time worrying about what other people think about me, my choices, everything, even though in reality, the person being hardest on me always ends up being myself. Does anyone else struggle with this? Insecurity is what stops so many people from pursuing something they love or vocalizing their passions.
From here on out, I choose to be ashamed no more. I am on my own path and I need to walk it with confidence. There are always going to be people out there who question things and spend their time talking about others, I know that. That will likely never change. So my commitment to myself is to silence those voices of negativity and fear of judgement in my head, and surround myself with positivity and support.
When reflecting on the list to follow, I have crystal clear memories of all of the words and phrases that I concocted in my head of what I thought others were saying about me. Why do I do this to myself? It adds no value to my disposition or my ability to positively affect others, nor should it affect the way that I choose to live; passionately and thoroughly.
This year I...
Graduated from Massage School.
Started my own Business (short-lived because of our move).
Moved to Pennsylvania.
Received my Pennsylvania License for Massage Therapy.
Started THREE new jobs.
Struggled with my faith and spiritual disciplines.
Had some scary months financially.
Had a little bit of an identity crisis.
Experienced some very high highs and low lows in relation to changing states and adjusting to a new area.
Took back my health by losing 33 pounds and re-establishing my love for cooking and exercising.
Made a lot of new friends.
Experienced a lot of guilt.
Said goodbye to a lot of people.
Continued to torture myself with thoughts of negativity.
I can look back at this list and be proud because these took strength. All of them-including identifying the problems. I am strong, and capable.
All of this to say - I LOVED 2014. It provided so many fresh starts, opportunities for growth, and concluded many chapters that I am happy to say "goodbye" to.
I am ready for 2015. I am ready to begin this year with confidence. I can't say that I'm prepared to handle everything that it will yield, because I have no idea what that is, but what I can do is choose to enter it with a grateful heart and a positive mind.
This year I will...
Enjoy the journey without worrying about the destination.
Be less of a consumer.
Spend more time reading - for fun, and for growth!
Keep a gratitude journal.
Be confident in my own skin.
Pray daily.
Not fear or try to hide my struggle.
Stay organized (and not get anxious when I'm not.)
Pay off my student debt.
Play with my pup more.
Be an encourager and motivator.
Run a Tough Mudder or other challenge course.
Put myself out there without fear of judgement.
And here is the song I will remember for this year :)
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