Happy Friday! Hope you all had a great week and are ready for an even better weekend! Right now all I can focus on is the fact I get to (kinda) sleep in tomorrow. Seriously can’t wait.
Breakfast was a little different this morning on account of the fact I was feeling a bit sluggish. I decided to give myself a shot of nutrients first thing this AM
Green juice containing: 1 orange, 3 large carrots, 3 stalks kale, 1/2 lemon
A few hours later I had some real breakfast. Oats loaded up with flaxseeds, naner, apples, dried cranberries and blueberries!
Don’t those bloobs look amazingly fabulous? Want to know why? Because they came off my tree!
This little baby is LOADED with bloobs. I get a handful off of it each day. I’m absolutely loving it!
Lunch #1 was my usual post workout smoothie
spinach, 1 naner, few berries, 1 scoop pp powder, 2 T cocoa powder, stevia, ice
After the smoothie and some quality time with icing my legs, I whipped up lunch #2
ww tortilla, pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, bell peppers, and spinach
I haven’t had a tortilla pizza in forever!! Seriously so delicious. The pesto really made this baby special.
After lunch I decided to make myself a little snack. My chocolate supply is running low in the house, and I like to always be prepared when that craving hits, so I whipped up this super fast and delicious dessert!
Chocolate Protein Pudding
Ingredients:
1 banana
1 pkg soft tofu, drained
5 T cocoa powder
3 T almond milk
dash vanilla extract
10 drops liquid stevia
Mix all and chill
Just right for that chocolate craving!
This makes a pretty large batch, so I have enough for the next few days. And it’s perfect with fresh strawberries as well!
Dinner was from Subway. I like that Ninja enjoys this place. It makes me feel a lot better than when he eats Taco Bell! I also love to get a salad there, They do a great job of packing on the goodness!
spinach & romaine topped with onion, tomatoes, olives, bell peppers, avocado, feta cheese, and chicken
This left me SO stuffed!! I couldn’t even finish it. Great job Subway!
P.S. I’ve been featured on Fitspo Friday over at Tara Burner. I’d LOVE for you guys to check it out!
Has a restaurant ever surprised you with the quality and tastiness of their food?
Happy WIAW! I’ve got a busy day ahead of me so lets get this party started! Thanks to Jenn for hosting!
Breakfast couldn’t be inhaled fast enough this morning. After my 8:30 game last night, I woke up seriously hankering for some grub
whole wheat bagel topped with cinnamon raisin pb along with some fresh berries
After my food settled, I got my gear on and did one of my favorite bodyweight workouts!
Bodyweight 10 in 20 squats jump squats bw lunge bosu hop over pushups floor jacks stab. ball knee in plank twists high knees speed skaters
Do 10 reps of each move. Rest 1 minute. Do as many sets as you can in 20 minutes.
Post workout I whipped up some lunch for myself. The weather has been pretty nice lately, so I’ve been all about salads!
romaine and spinach topped with 1 egg, cranberries, and sweet balsamic along with bagel crisps and wasa and steamed veggies in garlic oil
Can I just say, this lunch was everything my body wanted? It was SO amazing, and completely filling! It held me over a good 4 hours until snack time hit. Snack time a little bit later was one of my all time favorite summer fruit salads.
Cran-Apple Salad A delicious summer salad for any picnic or BBQ. Also makes a refreshing snack!
Ingredients:
1 apple, sliced into small pieces
2 T greek yogurt
2 T dried cranberries
2 T unsalted sunflower seeds
1 T flaxseeds
Mix all together and enjoy!
Apparently I was craving dried cranberries.
This salad is SO good. I love packing it up and taking it to work. It’s the perfect side dish or snack, and I always get people asking to try it.
Dinner was a bit unconventional. Bestie came over to hang out, and since I didn’t really feel like cooking up a real dinner, we just snacked on some of our favorite foods.
natural, lightly salted popcorn, wheat thins & bagel crisps with hummus and strawberries with cool whip
Kinda looks like a lot of food for two little girls doesn’t it? Well, we finished it up, no problem. Bestie and I are good at cleaning at our plates when we have girl’s night.
Ever have snacks for dinner? I guess ours wasn’t the most nutrient dense dinner, but it sure was tasty!
Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely Mother’s Day with your mommy’s! I took mine out for lunch and a movie yesterday, but Saturday night we had a family get together with Ninja’s family. We always have a potluck when we get together, and I’m always in charge of the dessert. SO, I decided to make up something special for Mother’s Day. I decided to turn on my creativity (which doesn’t happen a lot) and I think the result was pretty tasty!
Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes These cupcakes are a knock off of the traditional shortcake. With a whip cream frosting and fresh berries, the only difference here is the sweet white cake!
Cake Ingredients:
1 3/4 C all purpose flour
1 1/4 C sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 C soft butter
2/3 C almond milk
1 egg
1/3 C almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375. Mix together dry ingredients. Add in and beat butter and 2/3 C milk for 2 minutes. Then, add in remaining ingredients and beat for 2 minutes more. Pour into cupcake pan and bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Filling & Topping:
10 strawberries, sliced
1 container light cool whip
Once cupcakes have cooled, gently slice off the tops. Spoon a layer of cool whip on top of the cupcake, followed by 3 strawberry slices. Replace top and place a dab of cool whip followed by more berries. Continue with remaining cupcakes.
Aren’t they cute?
I had a blast making these, and I think they were just perfect for Mother’s Day! Everyone wolfed one down, and I may or may not of had two. Hey, I had to sample one to make sure they tasted good right?!
What did you do for Mother’s Day? Any traditions that you and your mom always do together?
Every once in a while I find a workout that seriously kicks my butt. Most days I can push through my workout no problem, but there are some that leave me drenched in sweat, panting, and on the floor. This is an old workout I revamped a bit, and boy did it knock me out!
Kettlebell Killer Circuit 1: Goblet squat – 15 Jump squat – 15 Pushup with knee drive – 10 total 2 hand swings – 20 Rest 30 seconds and repeat
Circuit 2: KB lunge – 10 each leg jump lunge – 10 each leg high pull – 20 1 arm swing – 10 each Rest 30 seconds and repeat
Circuit 3: Clean & press – 10 each side mountain climbers – 40 total Squat & press – 10 each side Speed skaters with 1 leg jump – 10 each side Rest 30 seconds and repeat
Once you have gone through each circuit twice, repeat the ENTIRE workout as one giant circuit. GET IT!!
There are some days I really have to struggle to get my mind right for a workout. I don’t want to FORCE myself to do it, but I do enjoy the feeling it gives me and what it does to my body, so I really do try to push myself to workout even when I don’t feel like it. And I know some of you may think that’s a bad thing. But for me, I think it’s the best thing I could do.
Because seeing results is what keeps me sane, and keeps me from going back to my dark place. Seeing results makes me realize WHY I am eating healthy and exercising. Seeing results keeps me motivated to be STRONG, not weak and skinny.
I AM STRONG, BRAVE, DETERMINED, MOTIVATED, DRIVEN, AND STRUBBORN.
The only one who can stop me is myself. And that’s not happening.
Breakfast lately has been about quick, simple, and nutritious lately, all in muffin form! I’ve been making these babies like crazy this week and loving every bite.
Quick Lemon Protein Muffin A delicious yet healthy muffin, made in the microwave in a minute!
Ingredients:
1 egg
1 T almond milk
1 T applesauce
5 drops vanilla stevia
1/2 –1 T lemon juice, fresh
1 T flaxseeds
1 T coconut flour
pinch salt
pinch baking powder
Mix all the wet ingredients. Add the flaxseeds and let sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients and microwave for 1 minute.
topped with light cream cheese and some fresh strawberries!
Yup, totally hits the spot every time!
After breakfast, I headed out for the usual grocery shopping errands. I came home, got my workout gear on and got to work.
Kettlebell Arm Focus Workout
1 arm swing (right) – 30 seconds
pushups with right hand on bell – 10
1 arm row (right) – 30 seconds
1 arm swing (left) – 30 seconds
pushups with left hand on bell – 10
1 arm row (left) – 30 seconds
sumo squat with high pull – 30 seconds
push press (right) – 30 seconds
push press (left) – 30 seconds
2 hand swing – 1 minute
REPEAT 3x.
Post workout lunch
greens topped with 2 hardboiled eggs, broccoli and a black bean salsa/hummus mixture for the dressing
I am so loving this warmer weather. Salads and smoothies are becoming a staple in my daily diet, just how I like it!
Snack time a few hours later
apple with chocolate hazelnut butter
And since I clearly didn’t have enough chocolate today, I made sure to get some in at dinner time as well!! It was pancake dinner night in my house!
spelt pancakes with a naner and my favorite coconut oil/maple syrup combo!
Looking back my day was lacking some serious veggie power, but I’m hoping tomorrow is better! Veggies are seriously the one area I really can never master very well!
Do you ever plan a breakfast for dinner night? We try to have one once a week just for fun!
Happy Monday!! First and foremost, thanks for the comments on my last post. I really appreciate all your kind words. And its nice to know that none of you are ok with that diet. That’s really what I wanted the post to be about, but it hit so close to home, I just kind of got carried away in my story!
Anyway, I’ve got big news to share!! Friday night Ninja and I added to our little family.
Meet our new baby girl, Jax!!
Look at her giant Rottweiler feet…
Proud papa!
she’s a funny sleeper!
Ninja has been wanting his “big” dog for a while now, and we finally got our landlords ok. Needless to say Ninja is very excited to have a manly dog in the house now!! Someone who isn’t too psyched about it?
My Opie
She doesn’t really mind Jax, she just doesn’t want Jax taking up all of mommy’s time. I’ve been really good about only playing with Jax a little bit and trying to shower Opie with love, but she still snaps at Jax when Jax gets too close to me. I’m hoping in a few days she will get over it!
Jax also isn’t too great at sleeping in her crate at night yet, but since she’s not potty trained, we don’t really have a choice. I slept on the floor with my hand inside her crate once because she literally cried for 2 HOURS NONSTOP. I thought Ninja was going to have a mental breakdown. But, as soon as I was there she went to sleep. My guess is she just misses her mama and siblings!
My eats were VERY simple this weekend on account of the fact I was exhausted and watching Jax the entire time. Is this what motherhood is like? If so, all you mommy’s get a gold star from me!
whole wheat toast with pb&j and some grapes
juice containing kale, 3 carrots, 1 orange, 1/2 lemon
lentils with steamed broccoli and salsa
pre-run snack
veggie enchilada casserole along with some corn
1 naner, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, spinach, 4 large strawberries, 2T cocoa powder, ice and stevia
grilled cheese with ketchup and steamed broccoli
As you can see, non of the meals required much cooking. The enchilada casserole was cooked in my crockpot, so all I really had to do was dump everything in there. I missed a few meals on account of taking naps, but I made up for it with snacking on grapes, apples with nut butter and carrots with hummus. I’m hoping we can get on to a steady schedule here soon!!
Off to wake up my snoring new pup
Any tips for getting a new puppy to sleep better through the night? We’ve tried the warm water bottle thing.
This articleis shocking. It’s appalling, frightening, horrifying, upsetting, and ridiculous.
But if this would have been offered to me 3 years ago, I would have jumped at the chance. Because 3 years ago, I was getting married to Ninja, and all I cared about was being worthy of him on our wedding day.
I wanted to stand up there and have people be in awe of us. To look at us and declare us a perfect match. And in my mind, the only way to achieve that was if I was thin. Who cared if we had dated 2 years? Who cared about all the battles we had fought together and won? No one in the church audience was going to be thinking about that right? It was all about how I looked. And to me, I was not good enough to stand there and become his bride.
I was too fat. Too hideous. Everyone would gasp in horror when the church doors opened. They would all feel pity for Ninja who had to marry this beast. Poor guy was going to be trapped forever with a monster.
Those are the kind of thoughts that would have driven me to be like the brides in the article. I would have been the first in line. Because even after 2 years of love, joy, and laughter, I didn’t think I was beautiful enough for Ninja.
Back then, all I cared about was losing weight for my wedding. I was so obsessed with looking good for Ninja that day. I was, after all, a virgin, and this was the first time someone other than my parents or myself would be seeing me naked. Yes, I was a traditional white bride.
Maybe that is what made my obsession even more intense, but either way, it was all I could think about. I could care less about the wedding flowers and table settings. That stuff just flew together easily, because I didn’t really stress about it. What I REALLY cared about was my weight.
I didn’t have trouble sleeping the night before our wedding because I was excited about the following day. No, I didn’t sleep because I was horrified of walking through the big church doors. I was horrified of standing in front of all those people, and having all their eyes on me. I can even remember sitting in the wedding room wishing we had just eloped.
So while this article may seem atrocious and absurd to you all, it makes complete sense to me. Because I have been there. I am in no way saying it is right. Of course it’s not right. But I know what it feels like to be so desperate to feel beautiful on that special day that you’d do anything. Even something as crazy as getting a feeding tube.
What are your thoughts on the article? Could you have ever seen yourself doing something like that?
Happy WIAW peeps! This has been a pretty good week for me so far, and I’m just trucking through excited for the weekend. I just can’t wait to sleep in!
Breakfast was the same old same old. I had been eating a lot of oats, but on days I really don’t feel like putting in any effort, toast fits the bill!
homemade wheat bread topped with pb&j along with some grapes
After breakfast I did my usual errands. Walked my mom’s dog Reese, went to the grocery store x2, and then came home and got ready to sweat!
5-4-3-2-1 Workout adapted from Pinterest
5 minutes: 1 min jumping jacks 1 min high knees 30 sec burpees 1 min jumping jacks 1 min high knees 30 sec burpees
4 minutes: 1 min db walk lunge 1 min db squat 30 sec shoulder press 1 min db walk lunge 1 min db squat 30 sec shoulder press
3 minutes: 10 pushups 10 tricep dips 10 db rows repeat for 3 min
2 minutes: 30 sec jump lunge 1 min side lunges 30 sec jump lunge
1 minute: elbow plank
Rest as needed and repeat!
I was literally dripping sweat midway through. I couldn’t believe how sweaty I was!
See the sweat all over my shirt?! You should’ve seen my sport’s bra. Holy smokes.
After I cleaned up I made myself some lunch to chow through
ww bagel, hummus, egg along with steamed broccoli and cauliflower
Midway through the day I was really craving something sweet. I decided to whip these cookies up, and I think they are going to become a staple in my house from now on!
Healthy Chocolate Chip Nibblets A healthy cookie? Yep, you read that right!
Ingredients:
2 T coconut flour
2 T mashed banana or applesauce
pinch sea salt
5 drops liquid stevia
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 T milk
chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Mix everything together. Scoop by tablespoons onto sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Makes 6-8 cookies depending on size
Want to know a secret? You could totally eat the entire batch of these babies and not overload your diet on fat, sugar OR calories. Sounds like a winner to me!
Ninja had leftovers for dinner, so I whipped myself up something quick.
lentils seasoned with basil, oregano and garlic along with sweet taters and cheesy broccoli and cauliflower
Has anyone ever made a PRETTY lentil dish? I swear they are the ugliest food to take pictures of!
DO you eat lentils? How do you cook them? I have an entire bag, I need recipe ideas!!
Happy Monday!! I hope you guys had a great weekend. Mine had just the right mix of relaxation, good friends, and fun.
We actually had a get together with some friends at our place Saturday night. I of course, volunteered to make dessert (am I the only one who LOVES baking?!) I have really been wanting to make a cake recently, but one completely from scratch. I’ve actually NEVER made a complete cake from scratch before, so I was really nervous about it. In the end, it turned out to be a big hit!
Lemon Filled Cake with Lemon Buttercream adapted from Better Homes & Gardens and The Joy of Cooking In no way healthy for you, but a tasty treat on those days you want to indulge! A custard like lemon filling and a light hint of lemon in the buttercream frosting, this cake is sure to be a favorite!
Cake Ingredients:
2 1/2 C unbleached flour
2 C sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/3 C buttermilk (made using almond milk and lemon juice)
1/2 C butter
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites
Preheat oven to 350. Mix together dry ingredients. Add buttermilk, butter, and vanilla. Mix well. Add egg whites and beat for 2 minutes. Pour into 2 greased 8 inch pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool.
Lemon Filling:
3/4 C sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/2 C water
2 beaten egg yolks
1 tsp lemon zest
3 T lemon juice
1 T butter
Combine sugar and cornstarch. Add water and stir well. Stir in egg yolks, lemon zest and juice. Heat on medium until bubbly. Heat for 2 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted. Removed from heat. Cover surface with plastic wrap and let cool.
Lemon Buttercream
1 pkg powdered sugar
1/2 C soft butter
1/4 C lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
Blend well together. Spread over cooled cake.
This lemon filling is AMAZING. So tangy and delicious. This stuff MADE the cake!
Please excuse the horrid pictures. It’s a little hard to take pictures when you have people lining up for a slice!
Overall, I was pretty happy with my first completely homemade cake!! I was actually worried people wouldn’t like it since it was lemon, but Ninja shocked me and had TWO SLICES, and everyone else kept commenting on how good it was, so I guess it was a winner!
I ended up giving most of it to this lady at the end of the night.
My Bestie is better than yours!
Ninja has requested I make a cake every weekend now, even if we aren’t having guests over. Sugar coma, here I come.
Have you ever made a cake completely from scratch? What is your favorite kind of cake/frosting/filling combo?
Great news!! My foot is NOT broken. False alarm thank goodness! The pain is almost completely gone now, except when I put pressure on it, which means it’s just a deep bruise. I’ve been able to do all my workouts as planned with no modifications needed, which is a HUGE relief. Got away with one there I think!
Now on to some goodness. I’ve been making these pancakes every day that I have a little bit of extra time in the morning. I guess you could say I’m a little bit obsessed. They are just so delicious!
Spelt Pancakes-Two Ways The base of this recipe is so simple, and so easy to add to!
Base Ingredients:
1/2 C spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 C + 2T almond milk
1/2 mashed banana
pinch salt
Choose which way you’d like your pancakes. Add in the additional ingredients and cook!
Chocolate Ingredients:
Add 3T cocoa powder to mix
Spiced Flax Ingredients:
1T flax
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
Both plates have been topped with my new favorite syrup combination that I could seriously drink. This stuff would be amazing on almost anything!
Coconut Oil Maple Syrup
1/2 T melted coconut oil
1 T PURE maple sryup
I could eat pancakes everyday for the rest of my life. I seriously love them! And these pancakes carry enough goodness in them to hold me over for hours, which is always a bonus in my book!
Do you put syrup on your pancakes or do you use something else?
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