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...