Proud of My Spinach!

Today was a lot like today, minus the four hours of window shopping. I slept, the hubs and I ventured to a few places, and I was in the kitchen for a long time. Oh yeah, and we both made time to take a walk together. We both had a really good day.

My sleep was a little weird though; I woke up twice before 2:20pm (designated wake up time) feeling energized enough to wake up and do stuff. But, I made myself sleep until the annoying buzzer sounded. (And, that didn’t even happen! I woke up at 2:18pm. I’m quite good at waking up a minute or two before the alarm sounds. Maybe it’s because I hate the sound of my alarm and would rather not hear it…who knows.) Regardless, I got up and suggested that PJ come with me to Michaels to get some cake boxes and to Aldi to get some sugar and eggs.

Upon returning home, I headed straight for the kitchen and began making another batch of white velvet cake, another half batch of red velvet cake, chocolate chocolate chip banana muffins with pureed spinach, making the cake ball batter and covering them with white, milk and dark chocolate, and frosting the white velvet cupcakes; PJ started on lunch. (In a tiny kitchen, this is very hard!) He wanted soup and chicken, turkey bacon panini’s with pepperjack cheese so he added more vegetables to the leftover soup from yesterday creating yet another full pot of soup for us to dine on; it was still quite yummy except for the very surprising and unpleasant taste of the lima bean or pea that I bit into. The kitchen had a lot of action today.

The main thing about the previous paragraph that I want to highlight is the review on the muffins with spinach. Ya see, I don’t typically get a lot of iron in my diet unless it’s through the broccoli that I eat every other day. I knew we had some spinach in the fridge and I had the idea to put that in with my muffins. If you read the post yesterday, you knew that PJ wasn’t fond of that idea and was a little grossed out. Haha. I still wanted to try it so I pureed about 1 ½ cup of spinach in with ½ a banana and the amount of unsweetened apple sauce it called for. It pureed very well and I just added that to the creamed mixture of butter and sugar (1/3 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons butter). Once the batter was done and ready to be poured into the muffin tins, it looked a lot like baby poop. The green shredded leaves weren’t very appealing to the eyes but I figured it would look a lot different once baked. It did.

In fact, the ones with spinach looked almost EXACTLY like the ones without. And, the best part, they tasted the same too. I was hesitant at first because I tasted the batter before hand and it left a really funky aftertaste. Surprisingly, it was delicious! I’m excited to make more! I might experiment with kale too!

As far as my nutrition goes since being on exercise restriction, I’ve been eating healthy foods, snacking on lots of carrots, eating a lot of our low calorie veggie soup, and drinking a lot of milk. It seems that I’ve been getting hungry a little more frequently (apparently soup doesn’t fill you up for long) so I’ll grab a banana or much on some more carrots. I’ve also been trying to drink more water too because my desire for it has gone severely downhill (which I don’t like!) The only things I’ve been drinking are milk, water and caffeine free sierra mist. (More milk than water, and more milk and water than the sierra mist.)

After I finished up in the kitchen, I told PJ that I wanted to go walk for at least 15 minutes before I had to take a nap for the Audit shift. I wanted to get something in for the day even if it wasn’t much. We walked for about 25 minutes in the neighborhoods close to our apartment complex. We even saw 4 deer! It was fun and we enjoyed the time together.

I guess that’s the only information to update on. I don’t anticipate much sleep tomorrow, however, because I have 3 orders to deliver throughout the day, more things to make, church to go to J and at least 30 minutes of walking to do, plus some other household things. So, until next time. Be blessed!!

Singing Out,

SP!

Click here for the muffin recipe!

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

Today was a little hectic, but satisfyingly wonderful at the same time.

I couldn’t get to bed until about 3:30am on February 11, 2013 (It’s currently 2:17am February 12, 2013) and I woke up at the early hour of 8:00am. My sleeping pattern has been severely wonky this last week; I blame it on the fact that I haven’t been feeling well. I’ve gone to bed late and woken up early and still feel relatively fine, not extremely tired like I would have been 2 weeks ago. So, at least it’s not something that’s effecting my life too dramatically.

I wasn’t able to allot a specific time to walk because both PJ and I were pretty busy today. We had to go to a few places this morning and were gone from about 10am till 2pm; PJ wanted to stop by Petsmart and look at all the cute little animals too. We had an enjoyable time together; it’s been a while since we were able to hang out, even if it was just spent looking at chameleons, fishies, and a nasty hairy tarantula (eck!).

When we arrived home, we did some cleaning and I proceeded to make the red velvet cake for cake balls, white velvet cake for cupcakes, butter cream icing, cream cheese frosting all while maintaining the clean kitchen, and making another batch of chicken, barley and cabbage soup. (Btw, the only thing that I ate was the extra carrots that weren’t used for the soup. Not once did I taste the cake batters or frostings. Ok…I lied. I remembered I tasted the eggs whites and sugar syrup but then spit it out immediately once I realized that there was raw egg in there…and, then I remembered that it was technically cooked with the 240 degree sugar syrup.) PJ also made me take a bite of a raw spinach leaf.

“Here, taste this.”

 “Ok.”

“It tastes like blood, doesn’t it?”

*funny face/laugh* “Uh, not really, it tastes like a leaf.”

Lol. I wanted to steam some spinach to put in my chocolate chocolate chip banana muffins (for added iron) because I didn’t think it would affect the flavor much. But, when I found out that we didn’t have enough sugar or eggs left, I stopped thinking about making them. I thought it was a good idea, especially since spinach in smoothies doesn’t make that much of a difference, taste wise.

As far as the walk that I wanted to go on today, I didn’t get to it. By the time I was done in the kitchen, I had just a few minutes to rest my feet before we headed off to Mcalister’s to help donate to my church’s youth camp fund raising event. I had soup; a sandwich didn’t sound good and my stomach was hurting a little at that moment as well. So, I enjoyed my soup and several refills of lemon water, generously provided by the youth of my church. Once home, I headed off to rest for my Audit shift while PJ made a diet cake. (Just by using a diet soda in cake, you minimize the crazy amount of calories that come from eggs and oil alone. I definitely think this will be a part of our lifestyle change because the taste is fantastic.)

While we were out though, we purposefully parked clear across the parking lot so we would have to walk a good distance. I appreciated that my husband wanted to park far away from the entrance because he knew that I wanted to get some walking in. It wasn’t much, but it was more than if we would have driven around and around for a close parking spot.  

I woke up feeling hungry (the soup portion wasn’t very generous) so I packed myself some soup that I had made and a little portion of cake. That seemed to make everything better. I also had 2 cups of milk. J

Well, I suppose that’s all. Once my schedule calms down a little bit, (once the orders slow down a little bit) I should be able to create a walking schedule that I can stick to.

Until Next Time,

SP!

Struck Down, But Not Defeated!

I know, I know. It’s been a while since I last posted. The reason for this is because I haven’t been feeling well. My stomach has been hurting a little and I haven’t felt the need to move around a lot or try doing my normal exercises. (This has happened before with a sore back, arms, and legs and taking a few days off proved to be very beneficial.) It does kind of stink though that I wasn’t able to finish the rest of Brazil Butt Lift.

If you remember, Wednesday was that day that I started feeling kind of bad and then I didn’t even do my workout Thursday. The end of BBL was yesterday. I was literally 3 workouts away from completing. Oh well, I was planning to start again after the first round (which would be tomorrow). I will eventually finish then entire thing, I am certain!

Since I don’t just want to quit cold turkey, I’m going to try incorporating light exercises. I figure as long as I don’t exert myself too much (to the point of panting for air or becoming a little dizzy) I should be ok. Exercise is better than no exercise at all. It will probably even help me feel better. Of course, if that proves to be too much, I’ll stop for another few days.

Things you might have missed with my recent “not feet good” spell are that I made soup, diet cupcakes, and skinnytaste.com chocolate chocolate chip banana muffins. All were fantastic and all were eaten within three days.

The soup was especially wonderful since 1.) I made it…and I can make some good soup, 2.) it was very healthy, 3.) It made a lot…even though it was eaten in less than 2 days. I used a recipe for chicken and barley soup because I’ve never cooked with barley. I know that it’s really healthy and I wanted to start incorporating it into our food. I made 2x the recipe and only used 8 bouillon cubes. I didn’t use any salt so as not to increase the sodium and I didn’t have celery, so I used cabbage. I measured it all out and it made about 10 pounds. I ate 2 pounds that night and all that was literally 244 calories. I’d definitely say that was a win! I’m planning on making it tomorrow. (BTW, several people have asked for the recipe and I have failed to write it down…I will do this and then post it on here as well.)

Other than that, my nutrition hasn’t been on target. I haven’t wanted to eat much with feeling so crummy. But, to counteract the fact that I don’t feel like eating, I’ve been drinking a lot of whole milk. Maybe that helps a little bit.

Fear not though, lovely people, I’m calling a doctor tomorrow and hopefully setting up an appointment to get checked out. I’d like to get back on track as soon as possible and lose this tummy!! (arms and legs…)

Until next time,

SP!!

Bad Day! Tomorrow Will Be Better!

Today was an overall bad day. But one bad day doesn’t determine the course that the rest of the journey is on. All I have to do is pick up tomorrow and make it better than today.

It started with the workout. I didn’t wake up until 4:30pm today (from Audit) and then waited to do my workout till 5:00pm so that my husband could finish watching a movie. I popped in High and Tight and that was actually ok. It went severely south when I started to do Bum Bum, which is primarily a cardio workout that requires a lot of entire body motion, and thus, makes you very tired very easily!

This particular time seemed a little harder just because I was getting short of breath, my movements were a lot slower than normal and I couldn’t quite get the rhythm as well as before. I had to stop a few times, catch my breath, drink lots of water and even sat down for little break while I got myself together. With eight minutes left of the workout, I was spent and didn’t want to go on, but I knew that I could; so, I did. I knew it was almost over and I told myself that I only had a little left to go. Oh, the power of the mind.

In this exercise, I don’t enjoy the cool down, so I took something from my good ole buddies Tony H and Shaun T and decided to combine their cool downs for the BBL cool down. I think it’s more effective and it’s a lot easier to stretch your legs while they are both on the floor than trying to place one leg on your other knee (like in BBL) and stretch that way. It’s a cool down, so as long as I stretch the right muscles, I’m all set.

Another reason why this day has been horrible is because of my food intake. I only ate a handful of things that didn’t even add up to 1000 calories. Like I said though, tomorrow is another day and I plan to get myself back on track. (I’m actually planning to try my hand at chicken and barley soup [with carrots and cabbage!] I’m also planning on making some chocolate chocolate chips banana muffins from skinnytaste.com and some diet funfetti cupcakes! <<using sprite zero with cake mix, baking and then topping with a mixture of fat free/sugar free pudding and lite whipped cream. I’m sure the hubby will appreciate the desserts especially since we haven’t been eating many, if any at all, as in my case.)

Oh yeah, and after my workout, which is one of moments in which I weigh the most (because of all the water intake and the recovery drink and banana), I weighed myself. I don’t usually do this because it’s a little bit of a let down, but I decided to do it today. Last week, during the weight loss class, I weighed 175.2. On my scale, which is a little different, I weighed 175, including those 3+ pounds of water and milk. So, I’m hopeful but can’t be completely sure until Thursday. Fingers crossed that I weigh 3 pounds lighter. That would be amazing!

Until Next Time,

SP

p.s. I’ll take pictures of all the goodies I create and post them on the next post. ;)

..also, not sure why the picture from yesterday's post isn't showing up...:/

Life Lessons

Today began the 4^th and final week of Brazil Butt Lift and the only things that I can actually tell a difference, appearance wise, is that I now have an ab line, my obliques look a little more defined, and the muscles in my arms seem to be more apparent. I don’t think my butt is getting smaller though…sigh. Never fear though, I feel great and I plan on continuing with at least another round, plus a round of Zumba.

Today was a little different than most days. I had to do the Sculpt workout, which is 50 minutes and the Cardio Axe workout, which is roughly 30 minutes. Everyday before today had been about an hour, so the extra half hour was a mental barrier for me. Inwardly, I was acting like a child who didn’t get their way, stomping their foot and crying out “it’s not fair.” But, once I got over the internal hysterics, I decided that it wasn’t really that bad and I easily transitioned from one to the other.

As far as food is concerned, I’ve been doing well with this whole 2000 calorie thing. Since switching from skim milk to whole milk, I get an extra 70 calories per cup and I don’t have to eat as much peanut butter. If I’m ever lacking by the end of the night, I’ll usually drink enough whole milk to balance the day out. It’s usually no more than one cup. Today, I have had 1997 calories!! I haven’t looked at the scale much either because I want to see the changes and know that my body is transforming rather than getting upset because the number hasn’t moved.

I have realized though that even though the treats during the holiday season are delicious, it’s really not worth it! I’m still trying to lose the weight that I had gained from being a slacker during that last month of 2012. This year, I can look back and tell myself that I need to be eating carrots instead of cookies. But, life is a constant lesson and I have definitely learned mine!

I hadn’t planned for this to be so short, but it looks like it’s going to be. Keep being encouraged and just try to make everyday better than the one before it.

Until Next Time,

SP

Wecap (Week Recap)

It’s been a while since I last posted. This week got a little busier than most and I wasn’t able to post anything. But, fear not, because I’m bringing a fresh one today.

Since it has been a few days, I won’t bore you with lengthy descriptions of each passing day; instead, I will only briefly describe the days and expound if I feel necessary.

Wednesday, I came home from work, did my workout and went to church. That’s about all for Wednesday.

Thursday, I decided to put off exercise until after the weight loss meeting because I didn’t want all the water I would drink plus the 2 cups of chocolate milk and a banana to cause the scale to read inaccurately. So, I held off. The scale that day read 175.2, which is 3 pounds lighter than last week, but I still haven’t moved much from where I began.

Along with the busyness of the meeting, I also had to make 3 firefighter and 3 army man fondant lego people as well as a few fondant legos to put atop cupcakes. I’ve got another important thing to say about this particular day, but I’ll get to that later.

Friday was like many Friday’s. I got up early though because I needed to bake the cupcakes for the order on Saturday. I worked out, ate my recovery meal, took a nap, went to work, came home and watched a movie until I was tired enough to go to sleep.

Saturday, I woke up at 10am deliver the cupcakes, went back to bed and slept till 1:45pm. I missed my workout and ended up having a terrible nightmare. Then, went to work, got home, and went to bed.

Today, I woke up early so that I could fit in the workout that I missed yesterday. It was a really good workout and I’m pretty sure that I am seeing changes in my body that I didn’t see 3 weeks ago when I started BBL. Today was Sculpt, one of my faves, and I was able to push myself harder today than I’ve noticed in the past. I actually started the workout in my 2XL fleece sock monkey pajamas (pjs that I got for 2010 Christmas that obviously don’t fit me anymore. But, like I’ve said before, I get cold easily and I only keep these ones around because they keep me toasty warm. J) After about 5 minutes, the shirt came off and I did the remainder in my fleece bottoms. After that, it was off to church!

Something about Thursday that I wanted to give special attention to was the fact that being physically fit severely lessens injury. The weight loss class that we take every Thursday consists of about 25 older ladies, 1 older man, and my husband and I. These ladies ages’ probably range anywhere from 45-65 and the man is probably 45 or 50. (I’m not completely sure, but we are definitely the odd people out of the group, at ages of 22.) Before the class started, we got news that one of the women in the class didn’t see a step entering the door, missed it and fell; causing her to have to be taken to the hospital. It was at the moment that I realized that being physically fit goes a lot farther than just feeling and looking better, it’s also for your safety. This got the gears turning in my head and I literally imagined Tony Horton at his ripe age (lol) and how he probably doesn’t have ANY problem with doing everyday things because of how fit he is. That is what I want to achieve!

The only other real thing that I have is that I think I am seeing my body change a little. For instance, there is a line that I didn’t notice last week that starts just underneath my sports bra and goes down a few inches. I think this is my AB LINE!!! I’m not entirely certain but I do know that all the ladies on BBL have that line too!! I’ve also noticed that the area where the “cut” is possibly starting shape as well. Instead of just a round tummy, I almost see indentions starting above my hips and going downward to my pelvic region. I’m excited for things to come!!

Until Next Time,

SP

P.S I thought the picture was cute. If you've done P90X before, you know what I'm talking about ;)