A Quick Recipe!

A few nights ago I went over to my friend Sam's house to bake and have my hair done and I offered to bring over something to eat for dinner so as not to waste any time. I threw this together quickly before running over there. My apologies for the lack of measuring. 

1. Saute veggies in olive oil and garlic. I used: zucchini, cauliflower, peppers and celery. You can seriously use whatever you want. I had the veggies chopped up from the night before when I was making curry. 

2. Add cooked chicken (I also cooked this the night before!).

3. In a bowl, mix 2-3 eggs with some extra egg whites. Clear a bit of a area in the middle of your pan with the veggies and chicken, and add the eggs to cook. 

4. Add quinoa and brown rice (Also had this cooked from the night before. See now why this was so easy? Prep!). 

5. Add a bit of soy sauce and pad thai sauce, pepper and mix well! I used PC pad thai sauce cause it was in the fridge. Clean? Not really. Delicious? Yep. 

Sam and her man both loved it, and my co-worker commented on how excellent it smelled. Dishes like this are insanely easy to throw together on a weeknight when you have things ready to go in the fridge. 

A Healthy Eye Opener!

I've had a few eye openers lately that have made me realize that eating healthy is not as easy for everyone as it is for me. I forget that I've been doing this for so long now that it's second nature to me to food prep on Sundays and stock my cart with vegetables at the grocery store. It's made me realize that showing what I'm doing may not be enough, and a more step-by-step approach to getting healthier may be more helpful!

Seeing as the new year is coming, I'm hoping that this will be a good time to do it! I'm going to post tips in a few different posts so as not to make anything too overwhelming. Here's what I'm thinking...

1. Pantry staples (start stocking up now)
2. Grocery lists
3. Food prep
4. Meal plans
5. Easy go-to snacks and meals

This isn't about a diet. It's not about eating to lose weight. This is about eating to be healthy, which often leads to being happy!

Is there anything else you'd like to see a post on?

Winter Running Tips!

If you've read my about me page (which really needs updating), you know that I love running in the winter! Since I have started running outside again I thought I would share some of my tips for running outside in the winter...

1. Ease into it!
Even if you're really conditioned and have been running inside or in the warm weather, don't jump right into the cold in the middle of the winter. It's best to start running outside in the fall and ease into it to get your lungs accustomed to the cold weather. It's much harder to breathe (I find) in the cold . When I decided that I wanted to run this winter, I started up again before it got too cold!

2. Dress properly!
This one is a big deal - don't throw on sweat pants and a sweater and head out for a run. Years ago when I first decided I wanted to keep running through the winter months, I headed to a running store to talk to someone about what to wear. Here's what I had on this morning:

- A Nike Dry Fit Pro long sleeve shirt, (and my Nike sports bra)
- A Sugoi running shirt - it's lined with fleece. This layer doesn't have to be anything too intense, this is where you could put on a close-fitted sweater. 
- A Sugoi Cycling Jacket - again, this need not be anything intense, but this is my wind-breaker type layer. 
- Nike Dry Fit running pants. 
- (Not pictured) Lulu cropped pants - I don't always wear these, but it's about -15 here right now, so the extra layer is necessary!
- High socks - I need some like Taylor 
- Gloves
- Hat
- Sometimes I'll wear a scarf too
- My Polar watch, because I can't function without it.

The important thing to note here is that most of what is touching my skin is dry fit!

3. Wear bright colours!
This is especially important if you run in the morning (like me). Note my bright yellow running jacket - my mom bought this for me after getting sick of all my "I almost got hit by a car again today" stories. 

4. Run on the proper side of the road. 
Remember, run against traffic, cycle with traffic. I always stick to this when I run on the road, and in the winter I try to be diligent with it when I'm on sidewalks too. Never trust cars. 

5. Don't listen to music!!
I can't stress this one enough. It scares me when people run in the morning or at night with ear buds in. I used to do it but I stopped because I couldn't listen to music during my tris, and it's just not safe! It's SO important to be aware of your surroundings. 

6. Don't be a hero and be careful!
I've never believed that winter running is for setting PRs. It's slippery, it's hard on your body and it's cold!! I keep my runs short, and I run to keep myself safe. I walk when the ground is too uneven and covered in ice, and I go back inside if it's too cold. Be smart about it - if you walk outside and it's -25 and the world is a sheet of black ice, it's not worth it! 

7. Enjoy it!
Winter running is beautiful - what's prettier than snow?

Do you run in the winter?

Turkey Vegetable Soup

Alright, I had my fun with my Christmas post (don't think it's the last!!), but I thought I should share one of my favourite soup recipes. I've said it before, I'll say it again - soup is one of the easiest and most delicious things to make! I know a lot of people that don't think it counts as a full meal. Trust me - this one makes a good meal. 
As always, this recipe is totally modifiable to your tastes. 

Turkey Vegetable Soup

1 lb lean ground turkey
taco seasoning
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
garlic
EVOO

1 cup carrots
1 cup broccoli slaw (or cabbage)
1 cup celery
1 cup onion
EVOO

6 cups chicken broth
1 can beans (I used chick peas)
1 can Italian diced tomatoes (no salt)
(1/2 cup cooked macaroni - you can add this, I didn't)

pepper
basil
Italian seasoning

Cook the turkey with the first group of ingredients. Chop up your vegetables and add to your soup pot to cook. Once softened, add the chicken broth, beans, tomatoes and turkey. Add any additional spices that you wish. This is where it's fun because you can keep taste-testing and adding more until it's perfect!
Enjoy!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

This isn't really a fitness/health related post, but I will play it up for being all about my balanced lifestyle. This weekend we had our Hak Family Christmas Day! It's the first annual one, and included a tree hunt, Christmas movies, a gingerbread decorating contest, and more movies. 
I started off my Saturday morning with a quick run, knowing that there would be a lot of food and drinks all day. After that we headed out to meet my parents, Bran and Alyssa at the tree farm! 
Lee and I found our tree within about 38.2 seconds. Please note the boots. My mom and I have been wearing these matching boots for YEARS. 

In true Hak family style, we brought our new shotski and some fireball whiskey with us for when we found my parents tree..

Allofus together!

We got home and had some delicious chili my mom had made, and then got to work on our gingerbread houses! We teamed up in couples, and things got serious! We opened up voting to friends and family after we were done.

Lee and I won with our Griswold House! Note the ladder, the RV and the tree stump :)

In second place was Bran and Lys with their Las Vegas display, as we're going there in April!

My mom and dad came in 3rd with their chalet bar - they actually stuck mini wheats on the side, and got fake snow from somewhere. 

Sunday morning I was up early and watched Arthur Christmas before breakfast. Once Lee and I got home we decorated our first tree, and I wrapped most of our presents!

Although the weekend was great, I always look forward to being back into a routine and some healthier eating. My stomach was NOT happy with me on Sunday morning at all!
This morning I got up and went for a quick run in the snow - stay tuned for tips later this week on winter running!

Is your tree up?
Does your family have Christmas traditions? 

Keep up the Motivation!

Has anyone else been struggling with motivation lately? I think it's a common trend for this time of year. Being Canadian, I didn't just have Thanksgiving weekend, but it is cold here - especially at 5am when I leave for the gym!
I had a couple weeks that I was really struggling to want to go to the gym, so I thought I'd write a post about some tips for keeping it up!

1. If you need a break, TAKE ONE! If you've really lost motivation, you may be burning out and actually need the time away from the gym.  

2. Pick a workout program and stick to it. I'm on Week 4 of James Wilson's Body Earned and having the program to tell me when I need to workout is really helpful. I don't want to fall behind, so I go!

3. Try something new! Maybe you're just in a rut with your workouts and need to mix it up!

4. Set a goal or a task. This always gets me going (like my 23 mile challenge)! A lot of popular Instagrammers (is that a word?) post goals or tasks for the month, pick one and join! @ilikemyfitnesstaylored has one going on that I've been keeping my eye on. 

5. Go with a friend, or choose an accountability buddy!

6. Write down your schedule. I wrote down my workouts for the month in my planner - having it written down is like a commitment to yourself. 

7. Remember why you workout. You may be wearing more clothes now that it's winter, but you don't need to turn off your healthy lifestyle!

I hope these tips help a bit! In the end though, there's no sense beating yourself up over skipping a few workouts, life happens! And it's very hard to get to the gym when there are cookies to bake, trees to decorate and Christmas specials to watch. Speaking of cookies, another tip - treat yourself! Especially with Christmas treats, and even moreso if they're healthy! Like my chocolate muffins :)

I also wanted to share this, just for fun :)

Who makes everything better in your life?
How do you motivate yourself during the winter?

A Quick Recipe for Mama

I made these "energy balls" at Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving, which was over a month ago) that I never shared the recipe for. My mama asked me tonight where the recipe came from, and rather than sending it to her on BBM, I figured I may as well share what I remember here quickly!

1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup almond flour
2 tbsp flax
shredded coconut (2-4 tbsp)
chocolate chips
2 tbsp no sugar added maple syrup
2 tbsp honey
vanilla

Mix everything together and put in the fridge to cool for 20-30 minutes. Roll into balls and enjoy!
Now that she's reminded me of this, I'm going to try different Christmas variations! 

Chocolate Muffins!

Guys. I have to apologize. I've been holding out on you. On Wednesday night I made a new chocolate muffin recipe, and I'm only just sharing it now. In my defense, I had an unfortunate 3 days, but it's no excuse. These muffins are AMAZING!

I was confused by this recipe, but I decided to give it a shot anyway:

1/2 cup sweetener

3/4 cup oat flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

i cup unsweetened applesauce 

1 tsp vanilla

chocolate chips (desired amount)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients together and divide between 8 parchment paper lined muffin cups. Bake 20-22 minutes. 

ENJOY!

I also started my 23 mile run challenge Sunday morning! While I was running I was proud to think that I got up at 6:30am on a Sunday to head for a run before going to meet up with my cousin. 5km done!

One Month Countdown and One Word Wednesday!

No... not until Christmas. Even though I'm WAY more excited for Christmas than what's in exactly one month today... my birthday! Not that I'm overly concerned about getting older, or excited about the day (other than the Garibaldi Christmas, of course). BUT I had the realization this morning and it gave me the urge to do something. Thankfully, there's Colleen who suggested some kind of running goal. Since I'm still 23, I've decided that I'm going to run 23 miles before I turn 24! To make that make sense.. I'll be running 36.8 km. 23 km didn't seem like enough - even though I've barely been running so I may regret that. 
Most unfortunately, I just mailed my precious RX3 GPS to Quebec yesterday to get repaired, so I'm going to have to do this old school for a while. 

ANYWAY! Since I've been slacking again, here's a photodump from the last few days and since it's Wednesday, I decided to participate in my first One Word Wednesday! I learned about this from Peace Love & Oats, who likes to explain in Lindsay's words:

The only rule of “One Word Wednesday” is that you must label your pictures with one word. And it MUST be the first word that comes to mind (and yes, you can put two words together, hashtag-style if need be). If you can’t play by those rules, you probably should just sit this one out. Yeah. That’d probably be best.

Mondays

Bithday

Family

Typical

Love

Do you have a typical Monday meal?

Do you paint your nails? (I normally don't!). 

Giving up the Negativity

I can't even believe the response I got from Wednesday's post! Thanks everyone for all of the love! I can't believe how free and refreshed I feel right now. 
When I got to the gym this morning (at 5am, like every other morning) I was so happy to be there to do my thing. I'm not going to let food rule my life, but I'm still going to be in charge of what I want to do. Just because I've decided that I look great and I don't need to change doesn't mean I'm going to give up the lifestyle that I love. It means I'm going to love myself, love my balanced lifestyle and do exactly what I want to do all the time (except maybe from 7:30am-4:30pm M-F when adult life dictates I need to be at work. But one day I WILL be doing EXACTLY the kind of work I want to.).
Most days, I WANT to be at the gym at 5am. I WANT to prep my food for the next day every night. I WANT to fuel my body with good, whole food. And then sometimes I WANT to drink a caesar or a beer with friends and family, and I WANT to eat some dark chocolate covered raisins (you can bet that both of those things happened yesterday).
I'm not always going to join in on eating junk food and drinking, and if I don't it's not going to be because I'll feel guilty or I'm trying to lose weight. It will simply be because I still enjoy living a balanced lifestyle, and don't feel like eating processed foods or drinking and that's OKAY too.

Sometimes I'll eat food like this...

 

And then sometimes I'll eat food like this...

But from now on I will ALWAYS be positive about myself, my body and my lifestyle. When I was all happy at 5am today I decided that I'm going to start every day with a positive thought. Today was simple - I was proud that I had made it to the gym every morning this week, and finished up week 2 of body earned! 

 

When I left the gym today I had sore abs, a good pump and a smirk on my face before I went back out to my car in a hoodie, winter jacket... and shorts. 

Have you ever had a revelation like I did?
What's your lifestyle like? 

Sometimes I Need to Stop and Ask WHY?!

I've been struggling with something lately. I've been on more of a quest lately to be happy with myself, and my body and be comfortable with how I look. I have absolutely no one in my life that ever tells me I don't look great. Other than my brother. He doesn't count though. 
I know that the scale doesn't matter, but I still hop on about once a week just to see where I'm at. My body seems to like the range that I'm in now, fluctuating about 1-2 pounds either way, regardless if I've been good or I've had one or two too many cookies. I've been lighter than where I am, but I've also been WAY heavier than I am now. What does it matter if I'm not at my race weight from when I was training two hours a day? I can pick up really heavy things now. And then put them back down. Repeatedly. 
I feel like this post is going to go all over the place, my mind has been in shambles for a number of reasons lately. Here's a picture. Pictures make posts easier to read.

This was after the 5 day detox. I was super  strict for 5 days, and my abs came out to play a little bit. Was that cool? Sure. Did they go back into hiding again? Yeah. Do I look THAT different? Not really. If my abs were the only thing I got out of the detox (which is wasn't - I felt great overall), would it have been worth it? No.

Okay. Back to it. Lee pointed out the other night that golden oreos don't have any dairy in them. Gross? Yep. Did I eat one? You bet. Did I love it? Yep. Did I feel bad? Nope. 

So here's what I'm getting at. I look good. I'm not a fitness model. I don't want to be a fitness model. I wear clothes most of the day. Why am I so obsessed with the idea of leaning out? What am I going to do with that once I am lean? Be super strict all the time and get a food complex again? What's the point? Will I be any happier? Here's some truths:

1. I love the gym. 

2. I love food. All food. Except dairy. Dairy is the devil.

3. I feel good when I eat good food. 

4. Unless I eat half my weight in junk food, I normally feel fine after a small treat. 

5. Leaning out takes a LOT of dedication.  

6. Lee honestly does not notice ever that I look any different. He thinks I'm perfect no matter what. No one else matters.

So here's my new mindset:

1. Keep lifting heavy things. 

2. Start running again. Weekly. I'm a runner at heart and there's no sense depriving myself of that. 

3.  Therefore, balance the gym and the road. 

4. Continue to eat healthy things. 

5. Don't stress about treats. If I want to eat a cookie a day, I think I'll probably do just that. 
6. Therefore, balance my food.

7. BE HAPPY with who I am and ENJOY everything I eat and do. 

I feel like if I were to spend a bunch of effort trying to lean out, and then belean for a bit, I'm just going to get mad when I'm not lean anymore. For me, it's not maintainable or realistic. I don't want food to rule my life. Eating clean is so good for you and so healthy, but I don't think you need to be 100% clean to be healthy or happy. I know processed foods aren't good for me, but they're not going to ruin my otherwise healthy lifestyle every once in a while. I sometimes forget that I do what I do because I want to be healthy and not just because I want to look good. I need to be mentally happy as well, right?

Two more points:

1. This is what my stomach looks like on a normal day. WHY WASN'T THIS GOOD ENOUGH? It is now.

2. If all else fails, I know I have a good bum.

 

I also want to direct you to two posts:

1. From Peace, Love and Oats: Eat the Pizza. I LOVE this blog. You should too. One of my favourite posts from Katie. 

2. From #StrongNotSkinny, just read her whole blog. I've always thought that fitness modelling is crazy and unhealthy because of the food cycling and restriction before a show, but Taylor rocks and she has a lot of advice. She's VERY real and honest too, so just check it out. 

What are your thoughts on leaning out? 
Have you ever struggled with an unhealthy relationship with food?  

Spaghetti Squash with a Twist.

Something amazing happened in my kitchen on Tuesday night. I was in a "new recipe" slump for a while, and it almost seems like I'm out of it. I had leftover spaghetti sauce in the freezer that I took out to have with dinner in the usual arrangement - spaghetti squash for me, penne for Lee. 
The squash was particularly small so I only left it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 425. It wasn't as soft as it usually was, but this was for the best. I scraped out the squash and put it in a pan with a bit of garlic and olive oil to saute (I seem to be doing this a lot lately). I tossed it with a bunch of spices (chili powder, onion powder, pepper) and let it brown a bit. 
Before adding the spaghetti sauce to the squash, I added a spoonful of tahini on a whim. Best. Idea. Ever. After adding the sauce to it, it ended up so creamy and delicious. I already want more!

Would it be helpful for me to post a basic spaghetti sauce recipe? 

WIAW and a New Oatmeal Recipe :)

I'm not going to pretend that it's not a relief to be off of the detox. As helpful as it was (really!) it was very restrictive and I'm having fun mixing detox-type foods with my normal foods!

I didn't take a picture of everything that I ate, but here's the run-down:

1. Pre/Post Workout: Raspberry vanilla overnight oats (recipe below!). I ate half before, half PWO. 

2. Veggies, homemade hummus and grapes (not pictured)

3. Vegetable, kale and bean saute. I'm OBSESSED. SO GOOD. Go try it. NOW. :)

4. Pumpkin muffin and a hard boiled egg. (Not pictured)

5. A few snacks after work (crackers dipped in egg salad, cereal).. whoops! 

6. Leftover turkey and bean chili with cottage cheese and avocado. 

7. Two pieces of organic rice milk chocolate. 

It may not have been a perfect day, but I think it was definitely a balanced one!

Raspberry Vanilla Overnight Oats!

1/2 banana
1/3 cup oats
1/2 - 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
3/4 scoop vanilla protein
cinnamon
dash of vanilla

Mix everything together, cover and throw it in the fridge overnight!

What's your favourite kind of oats?
Have you made anything with kale that you love?

TWO New Recipes?? What!

Happy Monday! Bleh. How many more working days until Christmas vacation?

My weekend was busy, but enjoyable, and I even had time on Sunday to make a double batch of my pumpkin muffins and whip up two new recipes!

Hummus!

Thanks to Nikki's detox, I realized that hummus is super easy to make, and WAY cheaper to make your own than buy it. Obvious plus. I took her recipe and modified it to my tastes a bit. 

1 can chickpeas, rinsed
1/3 (or so) cup water
1 heaping tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tbsp chili garlic sauce (I use the brand that makes sriracha with the bright green lid -  huy fong foods)
big handful of spinach
fresh pepper
chili flakes to taste

Throw it all in a blender or food processor and voila! You may need to add more water, or more spices depending on your preference. 

Vegetable, Kale and Bean Saute

Again thanks to Nikki Sharp for the detox and inspiring this recipe. I bought a ton of veggies (as usual) this week, and kale. I struggle with kale. I want to want it and like it soooo badly, but it normally just doesn't do it for me. I tried again today and boom! It worked. I love it when random recipes turn out. 

1 onion
garlic
1 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 jalapeno 
+ any other veggies you want
1 head kale
about 10 mini potatoes (i used white, red and blue)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth to make this vegetarian/vegan!)
2 tbsp teryaki sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
pepper
red chili flakes

nuts - if you want. I added cashews and sunflower seeds.

Saute the onion with fresh garlic and a bit of olive oil. Add the other vegetables (except potatoes) and cook for about 4-5 minutes. Add the chopped kale and put a lid on the pan. Mix the sauces in a bowl and add to the vegetables. Add the beans. 
While the vegetables are cooking, cook the potatoes in a separate pan. I chopped them in quarters and cooked in a bit of olive oil with garlic, seasoning salt and cayenne pepper. Once the potatoes are cooked and crispy (you can also make them in the oven), add them to the other pan. 
Stir and enjoy! I'm so excited about this recipe! So much green!

Nikki Sharp's 5 Day Detox: Review

I finished Nikki Sharp's 5 Day Detox yesterday, wooo!! I'm proud of myself for making it the 5 days, mostly because my brother only made it 3. 
Before launching into how I feel about it, I thought I'd give a bit of background on myself for anyone that hasn't been following along this whole time. I went from a cardio-crazed triathlete training 2 hours a day, to a lover of the weight room and short bouts of cardio. My diet prior to the detox involved making sure I was getting as much protein as possible. That's definitely going to change. 
I went into this mainly because of my stomach. I'm lactose-intolerant and I haven't been as strict with avoiding milk ingredients as I should be. I meant to use this as a "reset" for my system. 

Due to the fact that the detox is an e-book that you can order online here, I can't give too many in depth details about the diet plan, but I can tell you my thoughts about it. 

I was wary going into this, since the protein was much less than what I was used to, and heavy exercise wasn't recommended. I decided to focus purely on nutrition, and not try to incorporate my normal gym routine. Here's how it went...

1. I was impressed with how full I was all the time! Reading over the detox plan I was concerned about the amount of food that you were supposed to be eating. Granted, I did add extra vegetables to lunch and dinner and I definitely ate more almonds than recommended but I still felt satisfied overall. The food was delicious too! I added it up yesterday, and I was still eating about 1700-1800 calories on the detox.

2. I had headaches on the second day and overall felt pretty awful. I think this was a really good sign though and I sucked it up. 

3. I found it relatively easy to combat my cravings, which didn't start until the third day, and were mostly provoked by wanting to stress eat for work. Even today, I don't feel ready to dive back into eating whatever I want. I want to take it slow. I was mostly looking forward to my coffee this morning, but now I'm almost ready for a green tea!

4. I lost 5 pounds! I went from 150.4 to 145.6. I didn't even do this to lose weight, but I'll take it. I'm curious to see about what's going to happen when I get back onto a more normal diet. I'll keep you posted about that. I'm really shocked with how much I lost considering I was still eating quite a bit. Nikki must know what she's talking about.

5. I love that it was just 5 days. It's a good kickstart to get back on track with clean eating. I'm looking forward to add some of my favourite clean foods back in, but this has definitely opened my eyes a bit. 

6. It helped with my digestion!! Happy dance! Milk is like a poison to my system, so being super strict and having none at all really helped. 
 
So would I recommend it? Yes. You need to be organized, and dedicated, but it's worth it. I spend so much time reading about what other people do and mimic it, that it's nice when I seem to find something that really works for me. I'm going to be making some changes to my normal diet thanks to this, so stay tuned! 

5 Day Detox, Day 3

I thought I'd give a quick update on the status of my detoxing. Thoughts so far:

• The food is good! I'm not feeling deprived or hungry. 
• I'm down 2.5 lbs - what??
• I've been feeling nauseous today, and had a headache all day yesterday. I'm trying to convince myself that this is good, my body should be reacting to a detox. 
• I'm starting to have hope that my abs might be peaking through a bit my Thursday.
• I miss coffee. A lot. I think I'm most looking forward to that on Friday morning. 
• I hope that after Thursday I let some of this style of eating carry over back to my normal eating habits. 
• I miss the gym a little bit. It's only been three days, but I feel the need to lift something - hopefully I'm still missing it on Monday so I can be extra excited for some body earned action!

I'll give a well rounded review of the detox on Friday, and then likely again next week to see how I'm doing!

Stay fit, friends! 

Let the Detoxing Begin!

Happy Monday! Bleh. Does anyone ever really mean that? One day I'd like to not dread Monday's and going back to work. At least I had a delightful and relaxing weekend... finally! 
Friday night I ended up on my own, since Lee went out for his friend's birthday. I was up at 3:30am on Friday morning thanks to our downstairs neighbour, and then had an awful day so I stayed in and did a lot of nothing. I ended up in bed super early and as a result woke up at 6am on Saturday! Crazy, but I took advantage of it and decided to start my day off with a great workout and some groceries. I even baked some muffins for my brother and parents, even though they're off the menu for me this week. The rest of the day was filled with a bit of homework, a lot of lounging, some visiting with family (including the little man!) and cooking! 
Even though I cook most days, I haven't spent the time to make a really nice dinner in a while. I declared Saturday to be date night, and I got busy in the kitchen to make all of this....

Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing
Roasted chicken and vegetables
Roasted potatoes
Clean (until I put the cool whip on) apple crisp. 

Lee told me it was the best salad he's ever had. That's more or less what I was going for with the bacon. 

Sunday I started Nikki Sharp's 5 day detox! After my brother only lasted 3 days, I went in with a lot of determination! Day 1 was a success. I was surprised that I was able to keep my cravings at bay, and that I was actually full with what was on the menu. I thought I would for sure be ravenous all day. The hummus was delicious, and the salad I made was so good! We'll see how the next 4 days go though...

Quick Update Post!

Hello? Anyone there? I've been slacking again - life got busy, work got busy, and there was beer to drink and football games to watch. Here's what's been up lately...

1. It was Oktoberfest time in KW, which meant lots of friends, beer, and guys dressed like this...

2. It was FINALLY time to celebrate Lee's 25th birthday, which meant an MSU game and the COLTS vs BRONCOS game! Yep, you can be jealous. It was the best day ever. I had to flex some pride for Luck!

3. Yeah - this happened. It snowed. In October. Just like when I was a kid. This hasn't helped my "being on track" thing. It's VERY cold at 5am when I head to the gym, which makes it very easy not to go and to stay in our nice warm bed! Granted, the snow didn't stay, but it's still cold.

4. I've been doing my own thing at the gym lately, it's nice, but I miss having a routine. I snapped this on Saturday morning when I trucked to the gym in the rain and worked out against my will. At least I went, right?

5. I started running again!! Something provoked me and I decided that I had had enough of the no-cardio business. I'm a runner at heart, and if I want to run this winter, I better start getting my lungs used to the cold now! I was surprised at how easily it cam back to me after doing nothing for a month.

6. It's soup season!! Hopefully once life slows down a bit (does that ever happen?), I'll have a time to post a bunch of new soup recipes, which I could live off of at this time of year.

That pretty much sums up what's been happening lately! What's more important is what's coming up. I have a bit of a plan in mind that I might as well share now, since who knows when I'll get around to writing again. 

1. I'm going to try Nikki Sharp's 5 Day Detox starting on Sunday. I normally don't really believe in detoxes, but this one is different. It's more or less just 5 days of super super clean eating. Since my diet has been all over the place lately, I hope it's a good kick start that will get me back on track!

2. I'm going to do a squat challenge for November! For the first 2 weeks it's 50 (body weight) squats a day, and the last two weeks is 100 a day. It doesn't seem like much, but I'm hoping I'll see a bit of change! Better than growing a stache, right? This idea came from @lifegain on IG.

3. I'm starting BODY EARNED again!! I'm so excited about this. I've been lost without this program. My plan is to start on Nov. 11, since the detox doesn't recommend heavy exercise. I've been a bit sick lately too, so I want some time to recover and feel great before starting this up again. Since I've had such an easy time skipping workouts lately, I need structure (and James Wilson!) to make me go. 

I'll try to keep this updated better.. but I'm on Intagram @balancingclean too, which I update almost daily. 

How has your routine been now that it's getting colder?
Have you ever done a detox?

Sweet Treats!

I've been trying really hard to focus on my nutrition lately, especially throughout the week. Unfortunately, I have the biggest sweet tooth ever and it tries constantly to take over my life. I am SO thankful that I can eat Lactose Free Cottage Cheese. President's Choice, you're my hero. 
I've been concocting a bunch of different recipes using it so at night I can have some protein at the same time as something sweet. It's been helping me stay more on track during the day knowing that I get something delicious before bed. 
As soon as I open up the container of cottage cheese, I immediately throw all of it in my nutribullet to blend it until it has the consistency of yogurt. Don't be fooled though, it does not taste like yogurt. 
Here are a few different ways I use the cottage cheese. These can all be modified to taste - more cocoa, more mint, less PB (yeah, right), so don't be scared to test it a few times!
I sometimes like to make it right after dinner and pop it in the freezer. Because it's cottage cheese, you have to take it out and stir it up a few times - don't let it freeze solid! It's also fine right from the fridge :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip "Ice Cream"

- desired amount of cottage cheese
- 2 tbsp PB2 or 1 tbsp peanut butter
- tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 packet sweetener
- chocolate chips
optional: small scoop (about a tbsp) of vanilla protein
optional: microwave the chocolate chips with some peanut butter to get a delicious drizzle!



Mint Chocolate Chip "Ice Cream"

-desired amount of cottage cheese
-1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla protein
- 1 packet sweetener
- mint extract to taste
- chocolate chips




Maple Walnut "Ice Cream"

- desired amount of cottage cheese
- tbsp maple syrup (if using no sugar added, add some sweetener)
- tbsp vanilla protein
- small amount maple extract
- walnuts

Peach Crisp with Vanilla Mousse 

I got this recipe from @thebrokehealthnut on IG. Very much worth a follow!

- 1 diced peach, sprinkle with cinnamon and microwave 30 seconds
in another bowl mix:
- 2 tbsp oats
- 1 tbsp oat flour
- cinnamon
- 1/2 - 1 tbsp maple syrup

Put the mixture over the peaches and microwave for another 45-60 seconds. 

I topped mine with my vanilla mousse (LFCC, vanilla protein, vanilla, sweetener)

What are your go-to healthy treats?

WIAW... Lately (New recipe included!)

This is going to be a quick post with some of my eats lately! I've been super busy at work and prepping for my test tomorrow, so this is a photo dump of all the stuff I've been uploading to instagram and not here... whoops!

 Steak (one of the best ever) and a VERY spicy stirfry.

Fajitas chez mom and dad's. They invited us over for dinner, but I ended up cooking because they were busy with the new bar outside!

Friday night dinner thanks again to Lee - homemade chicken burgers! BBQ season never dies.

Apple pumpkin cupcake with cottage cheese frosting. Yes, that happened. Yes, I'll post the recipe, one day.

Spaghetti squash with ground chicken and vegetable tomato sauce - topped with a bit of LF cheese :)

Dinner last night! Eggs, squirrely bread and KALE! I've never liked kale much, but I LOVED this!

Sauteed Kale:

Add a bit of olive oil and fresh garlic to a pan to heat up. Then add about a 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 4-5 cups of chopped kale, a bit of soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Saute until it's done (based on your preferences)!

And my new obsession - Mint Chocolate "Ice Cream". To die for.