Monday Mommy Transformation

-What was your life like before you started your journey to better health? 
Before I started my journey I was a very athletic person, so I just played sports and being fit just came without thought. I could eat whatever I wanted and it never really crossed my mind if it was good for my body or not.

-What motivated you to make a change? I first started to make my change around my junior year of college, I was 21 years old.  I was not playing sports in college so I had really put on some pounds and I could see on the scale and in pictures but also in the fit of my clothes and my mood. At that point I just started eating healthier things and making it a point to get the campus gym in between classes each day during the week and I was successful for a while until I got married and moved to Florida.  My husband and I would cook all the time and I didn't add a ton of weight back, but it was definitely noticeable and then I got pregnant and I was one of those people who had that thought "oh I am pregnant so this is a free pass to eat whatever I wanted and just to sit around and relax". (Never time around, I will have a totally different outlook!!) So then I had my son and when he was about 3 months old I still had a lot of weight on my body. With the pregnancy I gained about 50 pounds and at that 3 months mark I had only lost about 20 of it, so that is when I made the decision then to make a change not only for myself but for my son and husband. At that point I was extremely out of shape so I started walking with my son in the jogging stroller everyday and I would slowly increase the amount of time I was jogging and I would do some light lifting at home with hand weights. After that I decided I needed more so I joined a gym with one of my friends that offered childcare while I worked out, this gave me more time and more options when it came to working out. I also really concentrated on my food and picking healthier options.

-How do you involve your family in your journey?  Now that my son is two and is really active, I take him to the park at least twice a week and run the 1.75 loop around the park with him a couple times with the promise that he gets to play on the playground after and he loves it and I get a great workout in.  When it comes to my husband I just had to explain to him what my goals were and how he could support me because when it comes to him he is one of those people that have a really high metabolism and he can eat whatever he wants and do whatever and still remain skinny. He has been very supportive with helping me cook healthier meals and watching my son so I can go to the gym. And as our son gets older we are trying to incorportate more active activities into our lives as a gamily.

-What is your biggest accomplishment so far? My biggest accomplishment so far is not eating any fried foods for a year and a half.  I made this resolution for myself and have stuck to it. Also, I am 4 sizes smaller than I was in highschool/pre-baby!  I also ran my first 5K when my son was about 7 months old and have been running them ever since.

-Who inspires you? My son is my biggest inspiration. When I am fit and active, I feel happier and healthier and it all rubs off on him because he deserves to have the healthiest and happiest mommy.  Also, all of my friends who have decided to live an active and healthy life. I love to read about their journeys, what they are doing and to take from their experiences things that I can incorporate into my own life.

-When your in a slump what do you do to shake it?  I plan. I sit down and plan out my meals and workouts. It makes me feel more in control of everything and it helps me focus. Then once I accomplish everything on that first day, I check it off and have that feeling of "I can do this!"

-What future goals do you have for yourself? Have a couple more babies and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle before, during and after pregnancy. I am at a weight that I am happy with right now, so I really would like to just get more toned!

-How did you do it? At first just running with my son and doing at home workout videos and light lifting. Now I continue to run with my son but I also go to the gym and cross-train on different cardio machines and weight light 3 times a week. Food wise I tracked all of my food at first to see the types of nutrients that I was consuming and how many calories I was consuming. Now I just make healthier choicess and really examine everything before I eat it since I have more knowledge on more foods.

-What is one of your favorite recipes? Turkey stuffed peppers, Turkey chili, Teriyaki pineapple chicken sandwhiches, Chicken & veggie kabobs on the grill and ANY crockpot recipe that I can tweak to be clean and yummy!!

Meal Prep

This MEAL PREP post can be found by clicking:

Roasted Veggies

Today for lunch I wanted something quick and easy and was craving eggplant...did you know you can still crave items while breastfeeding? Who knew! I've never roasted anything before so I was praying I wouldn't ruin all the fresh vegetables Id just cut up. This was so satisfying! I kept thinking how amazing it was that I was eating all vegetables and they were so good!

1 Eggplan
1 Golden Zucchini
1 tomato
1Tbs Coconut oil
Seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash tomato basil)

Preheat oven to 425. Slice and place all vegetables in a bowl. Add coconut oil and seasonings, stir to coat. Lay in a single layer on pan. Cook for 30-40 minutes. turning half way through.

Paleo Chicken Curry

I've realized I dont really like following recipes...kind of makes my brain hurt! lol I mean I'm sure there are hardly any real original recipes anymore but I like to think I can come up with some good ones on my own! Tonight was one of those times! I had chicken defrosted and wanted something comforting to eat. I had curry and coconut milk...thats all it took.

3 Chicken breasts cut up
3Tbs Curry powder
1 Large onion
1C Mushrooms chopped
1C Carrots chopped
1C Cauliflower
1Tbs Coconut oil
1C chicken stock
1 Can coconut milk

Place oil in pan and add onions and carrots, saute until soft. Add chicken. Cover and cook through. Add stock, cauliflower and mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes. Add Coconut milk and let cook on low for 10 minutes.

I put some cauliflower in the food processor and blended to make "rice" but didnt cook it..not the best idea. My son and I did not care for it! I may cook it a bit next time!

I did cook up an acorn squash in the microwave (cut in half, in a dish with 1/4c water covered for 10 min) and the curry tasted great over that!

Stuffed Cabbage

                 If there is one food I absolutely love its cabbage! Last year I was trying out some recipes with cabbage and I made stuffed cabbage one night. It was really good! This year I went to make it again and could not find the recipe! Don't you hate when that happens? It finally dawned on me that I used turkey just last week for stuffed peppers, why not use that recipe?

I used pretty much the same recipe and it tasted great! I cooked everything and boiled the cabbage. Did I mention I love cabbage?

Stuffed Cabbage

• 1lb Ground Turkey
• 1 Onion
• 4 cloves Garlic 
• 1 Head Cabbage
• 1 can Tomato paste
• 1 cup Kale 
• 1 cup Tomato Puree
• 1Tbs Worchestire sauce
• 2tbs Apple cider vinegar (optional)

Boil entire head of cabbage for 40 minutes. 

Pre heat oven to 400

Saute diced garlic and onion,a dd Turkey and brown. 

Add worchestire sauce. Mix in 1/2 can of paste and chopped kale. Stir until combined. 

Let cool.

Once cabbage is finished separate leaves and lay flat. 

Scoop turkey mixture onto each leaf and roll, tucking in the sides like a burrito. 

Pour puree into bottom of baking dish. Add cabbage rolls. "Butter" the tops of each roll with remaining tomato paste. pour apple cider vinegar over rolls (optional).

Bake for 30 minutes.

This Week in Workouts

Now that I am close to being cleared at my 6 week check up I wanted to start sharing This Week in Workouts with everyone! I had my son on September 16 and took 4 weeks to relax, re-coop and spend everyday with my husband loving on our babies!

Morning Routine!

I knew starting after being out of it for a month would be a lot so I needed to start slow and work my way up. The old me would have taken off running. Here is a look at what went on in my week!
Its not much but it'll do until Im cleared...1 week left!

Monday: 2.5 mile walk
Tuesday: 2.5 mile walk
Wednesday: 3.1 mile walk
Thursday: 3.4 mile walk
Friday-Sunday: bowling and family time!

Hopefully this next week we'll go farther. I think the only thing that puts a damper on things is the heat! I worry about the baby more than anything.
Hopefully this next week we'll get some clouds and a break from the heat!

LINKING UP:
Me Plus My Trainer

Little Girl in the Big World

Stuffed Peppaaas

Whenever I have ground turkey I am always so conflicted with what to make! I have so many ideas and recipes that I want to try that sometimes its hard picking one. Then I remembered I got bell peppers on sale and should probably use them (I bought more than my fare share). These turned out so well! I was quite impressed with my "winging it skills" so I wanted to share!

Stuffed Peppers

• 1Tbs coconut oil
• 4 Bell peppers
• 1lb Ground turkey (any meat will do)
• Onion-chopped
• 4 Garlic cloves-choppped
• 1C chicken stock
• cumin
• worchestire sauce
• 1/2C tomato paste
• 1C Cooked Brown Rice (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put coconut oil in pan. Add garlic and onion and turkey. Cook through. add 1/2 cup of stock and tomato paste. Cook for 5 minutes. sprinkle some cumin and a splash or two of worchestire sauce. Stire

Wash then slice peppers in half long ways (so you have 2 boats). Clean out and fill with turkey mixture.

Line pan with tin foil and pour remaining broth in pan. Place filled peppers in pan cover tightly with foil (I fold up the sides of the bottom foil to keep the stock around the peppers and crimp it to the piece of foil on top)

Bake for 35 minutes and top with cheese (I broiled the cheese) ...and you can leave the cheese off and top with more tomato paste if you'd like to keep it clean!

Chocolate Peanut butter bite

Usually in the evenings I crave sweets! Im sure Im not the only one so I wanted to come up with something that was easy to make but tasted great!  Heres what happened last night!

PB Bites!

Mix a scoop of casein with almond milk or water till you get a paste almost like pudding.
Spread on wax paper.
Freeze for 10 min.

Mix 2tbs Pb2 with 1tbs water and spread over casein.
Freeze for 30 min-1hr
Slice and eat!
Great with a cup of tea!

Winner winner...guess whats for dinner!

This past weekend I headed to the grocery store for some sweet potatoes for meal prep. Well, I ended up buying everything BUT sweet potatoes! I was so irritated but it was rainy and late in the day so I decided to make do with the 2 that I had.
I have seen people posting about making fries with them so I hopped on Pinterest and looked up a Paleo recipe! I found a couple but the one that seemed easy enough was from Paleo Diet Lifestyle.

I dont really care for french fries in general so when I wanted to make some of my own I had mixed feelings about it. After trying these sweet potato fries- I am in LOVE! These are so delicious and its a nice snack to have and because one sweet potato makes so many fries it feels like you're eating a lot!

• Oven @ 425 F. 
• Coat sweet potato slices with coconut oil, salt, pepper, and herbs (I used a chipotle seasoning I had)

• Put on a tray in one layer evenly
• Roast for 30 minutes
• For crispier fries cook for another 5-10 minutes and test again

Salsa Chicken

When I was putting together meal prep for the week I decided to do something a but easier and change up the grilled taste a bit! I wanted to do a crock pot dish that makes zero mess and I could just put it in and forget about it! Heres the recipe!

Click photo to enlarge

Food Prep

*UPDATE: I have added to my food preparation tips HERE!

TE

Its Sunday! Today we get our food prepped for the rest of the week. 

This is just some of the chicken and all the veg I cut up so we could just grab and saute or throw in a salad! A couple weeks ago ago I got a great deal on a 50lb bag of onions so I chopped them up and froze them in gallon ziplocks. On Friday they had chicken on sale so we bought almost 20 packs! We filleted and marinated them before grilling (marinade recipe is below). I also have the brown rice cooking for the week! 

Makes life and meal time so easy!

Happy New Year!

I know there are quite a few of you about to start the trainer as their New Years resolution so here are a few tips that I have found to help me hit it hard everyday and fill my body with what it needs.
1. Make a plan: "If you fail to plan then you plan to fail." Know when you will be eating and what you will be eating. Schedule your workouts in a calendar or on a white board...Seeing them written down helps! Make grocery lists and a supplement guide. Each will help you prepare for the week ahead of you.
2. Take before photos and measurements: You look at yourself in the mirror everyday, You may not see a difference but the before and after photos and measurements is where you will watch your progress!
3. Prep your meals: Take time once a week to prep and plan all your meals. Slice up all your veggie, Make your muffins, protein bars and chili and divide it into individual containers or zip locks. This will Help you grab and go thru out the week.
4. Keep track of your workouts/food: Having a binder with all your daily workouts helps! I have a notebook I write down each work out in and then notate the amount of weight I use so I can then see when I improve. I also keep track of the food I eat online. I use myfitnesspal.com but there are a number of food log sites. You can use this to either count calories or just to hold yourself and others accountable!