59 Days (Jennie)

August 1st already! This year is really flying by at a breakneck pace, it's crazy. A family friend once said that the years pass by quicker as we get older since each subsequent one is less of a fraction of our total life. It is amazing to me, I remember the school year feeling sooooo long when I was a kid- now it rushes by, summer rushes by. My oldest baby is getting ready to start 3rd grade, yet it feels like I was just taking her to kindergarten the other day.

I'm baking cookies tonight, peanut macarons with chocolate ganache filling.

Hi gorgeous!

I absolutely love baking, which is one of my biggest challenges for trying to keep weight off. It is a great stress reliever for me, and makes me lots of friends at the office too. I do try to sub in healthier items whenever the opportunity presents itself, some work beautifully and others, not so much. Subbing coconut flour in for regular flour was a disaster.

A few friendlier substitutions:
- Substitute 1/2 the oil called for in a recipe with applesauce or plain yogurt. It keeps the moisture in baked goods while reducing fat and calories naturally.
- Pumpkin puree can be added to many baked goods, it's low in calories and high in fiber.
- Unsweetened almond milk for whole milk (unless you're using it for whipping)

These are suggestions that have worked well for me and not had a detrimental impact to the final product. I look forward to finding more to share! I am a self-professed baking snob in that I want what I eat to be delicious, if it tastes "low cal", it's not worth it. I don't substitute where there would be a big noticeable difference to the taste of the item, such as removing butter or replacing all sugar with a substitute. I'd rather have a tiny bit of the full-fat wonderful thing then a bigger serving of the overly-substituted artificial counterpart. Food is fuel, but it's also enjoyment. And one forkful of something amazing is better than a plateful of something so-so.

Food for the day
Breakfast: post-workout smoothie with waaaay too much spinach (it was starting to turn and I didn't want to waste it- so dumped it all in the mixer!), vanilla protein powder, unsweetened almond milk and a banana
Morning snack: running late for work, so I grabbed a Greek yogurt from the fridge (fruit kind) and a handful of almonds
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing, granny smith apple
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: cheeseburger- caught me a bit by surprise that hubby wanted to go out tonight, but he had a rough day at work and we both got home late. Our usual stomping ground (Chipotle) had a line wrapping around and out the door, so we went a few doors down for a burger instead. Thankfully I had a good workout this morning, so still under my calories for the day!
Dessert: nothing really- although I did sample tiny bits of macaron batter and chocolate ganache as I was baking tonight. So add a few calories there- but they were worth it!

Total calories in: 1930
Calories burned: 2500
Workout: P90X Plyo and a 2 mile walk

62 Days (Jennie)

Sooooo... exactly 2 short months from today, I will be (hopefully) recovering at home from a successful battle with the all mighty Tough Mudder. It's a scary thought... 3, 4 or more months still feels like tons of time. Tomorrow means officially less than 2 months, which feels more like right around the corner. So much going on at home with the kiddos about to start school again, soccer season about to begin again, so much going on at work, big user conference around the corner to prepare a presentation for... just wow. One day at a time. Or as one of my favorite consultants once told me: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time..."  Gross, yet so true. It used to be when things would get crazy at work, the workouts would tend to be the first thing to go. I was too tired, needed to rest, needed downtime... pick appropriate excuse here. I've finally come to the realization that I need this. Working out is obviously great physically, but it's powerful emotionally. It's truly my "me" time: whether it's helping to ease the day's frustrations, helping to center and focus on the day ahead, and helping me feel more comfortable in my own skin. Sure, I'd love that extra hour of sleep. But it's not worth the other 23 hours I spend kicking myself for missing the workout.

Food for the day
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with about 2 cups spinach, 2 T salsa and 1/2 an avocado. Turkey bacon, coffee and a small piece of french bread (BIG breakfast- but big workout after!)
Lunch: granola bar and a Starbucks lime refresher- we had a light late lunch since we had a big late breakfast
Afternoon snack: lime refresher from Starbucks while out walking- yum!
Dinner: We had dinner at an Italian place tonight celebrating my sissy's birthday with the family (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINDY!). Unfortunately, not a heck of a lot of options that were paleo-friendly. I gave in and had the pesto pizza. It was very good, fortunately light on the cheese and hubby ate 3 of the 8 pieces.
Dessert: a few bites of creme brulee and coffee. Darn I didn't need that, but it was good!

Thankfully, Monday really brings a sense of order back to the diet routine!

Total calories in: 2000 (although I think I am over-estimating the pizza at 930 cals)
Calories burned: 2450
Workout: Walk to park with the fam, 1 hour of basketball with hubby

66 Days (Jennie)

66 days and counting! This morning was day 2 of P90X, Plyo. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about going back to Tony Horton's plyo workout after finishing a few rounds of Insanity and Asylum. It's definitely tough, but a different pace. I do adore Tony Horton, but sometimes find the slower pace (and resulting 60 minute video) to be mildly frustrating. This morning went well though and I burned a lot of calories, added bonus! I was able to get in a short walk at lunch as well, we have a brand new farmer's market near my office. Great deals on all sorts of wonderful organic local produce. I bough peaches, nectarines, corn and tons of spinach (in case you didn't notice how quickly I go through it). Two big bunches for $3, hooray!

Food for the day
Breakfast: smoothie with spinach, blueberries, almond milk, vanilla protein powder and a banana. I normally don't do the banana and should have kept it that way. It made it way too sweet for me. Lesson learned!
Morning snack: turkey bacon and coffee
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing
Afternoon snack: granola bar and a small handful of almonds
Dinner: scrambled eggs with spinach and blue cheese. Hubby went to catch the new Batman movie with a friend after work. I met up with him to pick up the kiddos and they went to grab a quick bite before the movie. He grabbed Taco Bell, the kiddos wanted McD's as a special treat. I wasn't wanting any of that, so scrambled up the eggs instead once we got home. I struggle sometimes to cook for myself on the fly, but I could have done much worse.
Dessert: Greek yogurt with peaches (I earned my extra calories today!)

Total calories in: 1935
Calories burned: 2450
Workout: P90X Plyo

96 Days (Jennie)

Oh Monday, you always come too soon. Today went fairly well. I had a dentist appointment this morning and was up earlier than normal to get the workout in and get to the appointment by 8. I was a bit worried that my energy level would be pretty bad after a very busy weekend and not a lot of sleep, but I did okay thankfully.

Today's rundown:

Breakfast
Spinach protein smoothie (spinach, vanilla protein powder, blueberries, unsweetened almond milk)

AM Snack
Banana and string cheese

Lunch
Lots o' salad (romaine, mushrooms, red peppers, turkey, cheddar, tomatoes, corn, avocado, jalapenos and a little ranch)

PM Snack
Granola bar

Dinner
Grilled chicken breast, roasted asparagus, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes and grilled peaches. Our little peach tree has been working overtime and the birds were kind enough to leave a few for us, so they hit the grill.

It's grilled fruit!

Dessert
Fresh berries with a little whipped cream. The beauty of making whipped cream is to be able to control the sugar or add a more glycemic-friendly sweetener.

This morning's workout was P90X Kenpo. Total calories in is 1685 and burned should be about 2200 by end of the day. Tomorrow I'm aiming to get a lunchtime walk in to get this calorie burn up!

Ayurvedic Secrets (Jennie)

I am a huge Dr. Oz fan, he's my guilty pleasure whenever I have a day off from work and the kiddos are in school. I recently caught his show about Ayurvedic secrets of weight loss, featuring Sunita Mohan, a Homeopathic doctor. I have mixed feelings on homeopathic treatments at times, but overall believe that there is a lot it can potentially offer as well as serve to complement conventional western medicine. The doctor mentioned a recipe for hot lemonade which is supposed to assist with detox and digestion that I wanted to try. I love all the ingredients independently, so why not combine the three?

Daily Ayurvedic Detox
8 oz hot water
1/2 fresh squeezed lemon
1" fresh ginger root, sliced
1 T raw honey

The smell of it is rather interesting... but it's good! I started this about a week ago, I don't know yet if it's made any kind of significant difference in my life, but it's easy enough to do that I'll stick with it for now.

Cheers! 

The Beginning (Jennie)

At the urging of a certain sister of mine (who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent), I am overdue and posting my intro finally!

Like most moms, I struggled to lose baby weight after having my daughters. My girls are close in age, and I didn’t have much time to get the weight off with my oldest before I was pregnant with my youngest. While on maternity leave with my youngest, I decided that it would also be a great idea to go back to school and pursue my Masters degree.  So began a 2 year journey with a 3 month old, a 21 month old, a full-time job and school. Needless to say, exercise was really on the back-burner during those two years. Once I finished school and life calmed down a bit, I decided it was time to take control of the weight and get it off. I had some success, but then would inevitably gain a little back by the holidays. Last year I officially kicked things into high-gear, tracked everything that I ate and made it a point of incorporating exercise as well. I finally dropped those last pesky 20 lbs.

My goal is to be less concerned with the number on the scale and more concerned with my overall health and fitness level. Once upon a time, I actually went to school to become a dietitian (how I ended up in Finance I still wonder…). I love nutrition and finding healthy things to make at home, especially things the kiddos will eat. At the end of the day, I know what’s good for me and what isn’t, yet it’s still tough to stay on track. But I work best when I have an end-goal to strive for and that’s where Tough Mudder comes in.  And I’m dragging Mindy along for the fun of it too!

That’s a little of me in a nutshell. Cheers to good health!