Whole30 - Day 22

Like, woah. I cannot believe how many days have passed and how good I feel on Whole30.

I'm probably down quite a few inches, I'm way less bloated and I bet I have lost a few pounds! I cannot wait for my measurements on day 30 - or maybe will do it on day 31!

I plan to continue this way of eating and eliminating dairy, gluten and alcohol for maybe another few weeks. I truly feel really great! 

I will check in again soon with my updated totals for this Whole30!

~Carly

Summer Hiatus and Whole30

Yes. I took another hiatus from blog-world. But, I'm back after a long summer. It was great - but long!

As I type I'm in Starbucks (kid free) drinking my black coffee (yup - get to that in a minute) re-reading It Starts With Food (wait, no Trim Healthy Mama??) and had a lightbulb moment. An A-Ha! 

Okay, maybe I need to rewind. Last year and even before spring of this year I was down on the scale - closer to my goal weight. In the late spring and over this summer my weight crept up again. Like, not just a normal fluctuation. Like ten - yes - 10 pounds. Needless to say last week, I was like "Ok Carly. Kids will be back in school. Summer is over. Health game will be back ON." So what happened exactly? Well, alcoholic beverages, eating less than every 3 hours and snacking on things I don't normally eat, laziness - well, you get the picture. I had been exercising consistently but then kind of fell off the wagon with it again. 

But you have to do that - check in with your self to keep it real, right? I was straying from my Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle a bit and while I wasn't necessarily eating terrible foods - I was indeed not clearly staying on track from the path I wanted to be on. 

Ok, well since I'm being honest I did have a few burgers..with buns. And french fries. On more than one occasion 😁 

So, again before summer I was eating the well and exercising. Because of that I truly felt the affects of it and was waking on my own, had lots of energy all day and slept well. However, as the summer went on and I enjoyed some foods and extra drinks, getting up in the mornings became harder and I felt tired and groggy and I was a little crabby, too.

About a week and half ago, a woman who I admire and respect that I found on Instagram and am in a few Facebook groups with started talking about Whole30. I had read the book awhile back with some others - Wheat Belly, etc. It really does align well with the THM Fuel Cycle which I love! The only part of Whole30 that would be tough is the stevia use I have been enjoying the last 3 years or so. For the last week or so I am now using no stevia or cream in my coffee - which for me is cray-zay!

So now that I've filled you in - Back to sitting here at Starbucks...

After reading a few pages into this book again - I am having these "duh"

and "A-HA!" moments. My summer shenanigans were proof that it was COMPLETELY the food I began to eat again and for the past week and few days is just re-affirming how good I'm feeling. I just realized after sleeping in, the past two days I am able to wake again on my own after cutting out the bad stuff again. 

So, I'm extremely happy to be back on track, exercising again (ran yesterday!) and being in tune with my body. Eating whole foods and enjoying it again. 

I took my measurements and weight at the start and am taking pictures - EEEEEEEEEEK!! 

I know you're not supposed to but I did peek at the scale and it's moving in the right direction. Looking forward to the next few weeks!

~Carly

Summer, summer, summer time! Updates and recipe!

Happy Monday! The weather is lovely here in Connecticut and it's officially Summer!

When it's warmer, I naturally tend to lighten up my diet - I started with some spring cleaning of all the things, including my diet and body.  I had been running about 3 times a week pretty consistently and re-started Kayla Istines BBG program.  For the life of me I just couldn't stick to it.  I'm continuing to eat THM style but have strayed and crossed over but am still consistent with my weight.

A few months ago now, I went to lunch with my cousin at a restaurant called Brio Tuscan Grille. I had a quinoa chicken dish that was delicious (Note: it was not entirely on my Trim Healthy Mama diet since I don't know the exact nutritional content).  Of course, in true Carly fashion I decided I needed to somehow re-create this deliciousness at home! 

So I opened the pantry and the fridge and used what I had and pretty much came up with something new. And today, made it again because it's SO delicious, simple and healthy!!

Recipe: Bowl of Goodness - THM E

Ingredients:

Spinach, arugula, or greens of choice (I highly recommend the arugula! I was out but plan to use next time)

Chopped veggies: cucumber, tomato, red onion, peppers - your choice! You could add a small amount of carrots since this is for an E setting 

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1/4 garbanzo beans (chick peas)
Grilled chicken breast

Juice of one lemon

1 TBSP feta cheese (more if lower fat)

1 small drizzle of olive oil 

Salt & pepper to taste - may also add other spices if desired like garlic or onion powder

Directions:
1. Grill chicken and cook quinoa per the package directions and let cool.
2. Drain garbanzo beans and measure out portion for one salad (or use full can for two servings)
3. Wash and prepare greens and veggies.  Chop and set aside.
4. Mix greens, chopped veggies, beans, feta and chicken in large bowl.
5. Juice the lemon, add the olive oil and spices and whisk in separate bowl.
6. Pour liquid mixture over salad, combine and enjoy!

Add greens to a large mixing bowl

Chop and measure all the ingredietns

All mixed and ready to eat

YUM

I could eat this pretty much all day, any day! It's light, refreshing and filling.
It's also super easy to make and quick for me to take along with us to the pool we go to every day.
Salads are my main lunch most days.

Let me know if you decide to make this!
~Carly

Happy Leap Day & Update

Good afternoon on this "extra" Leap Year Day!

To take advantage of it, I decided today I  am all about getting back on track with my healthy living goals, life and work. I just want to get back to what's important and that includes being more mindful & becoming more of a minimalist. I'm finding when you have less clutter in your mind, home and body it's amazing what that "space" can do for you. I have de-cluttered quite a bit around our home but still need to do more. 

After a longer walk/run this morning I went grocery shopping so I can menu plan. I'm still following the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle and eating my Juice Plus everyday. My focus is on whole and minimally processed foods. I did gain a few pounds back the last few weeks and I want to lose them again ASAP. I want to continue to avoid gluten and dairy and have been trying to do so since I did The D14 back in December.  I plan to do another round very soon - stay tuned :)

Something else I added into our daily life last fall was essential oils. I still use them essential every day and am loving them with every use! I just ordered more of my favorite from Plant Therapy called Germ Destroyer from their KidSafe line. Between our Juice Plus and the essential oils I really feel that's why we've been staying as healthy as possible over the winter. 

Speaking of winter, I'm ready for it to come to a close and am very much looking forward to spring cleaning!

Enjoy the day!

~Carly

Recipe: DIY "Farmington Valley Salad" - THM (E)

Well helloooooo.

Yes, yes - I took another hiatus but I'm back and I promise you won't be disappointed with this recipe I've returned with! 

But first a quick update with where I'm at. I'm bouncing a bit weight-wise but still feeling really good. I'm taking my Juice Plus every day and using my Complete shakes sparingly as I'm going to do the D14 in a few weeks again! I'm staying as much gluten and dairy free as I can and I have to say it's keeping me feeling deflated most of the time which is great!! 

Ok enough about that. On to this new salad I'm obsessed with. Not sure I've mentioned this before but I grew up in Farmington, Connecticut. There's a bakery in the corner as you come into our town and it was called Ann Howard's. It's now called Truffles and they also have a location in Avon, CT which is where I first had the Farmington Valley Salad with my BFF, Dana.

It's delicious! And of course a salad made by anyone else but you always tastes better - am I right? Yes - it's just true. Since I live close to the area but not quite close enough to get this salad as often as I crave it I decided to experiment and create my own. 

Well, clearly certain ingredients aren't hard to re-create...ya know like lettuce. Heh. Sorry - I'm silly. However it's always the dressing that is the hardest to re-create. But thanks to the wonderful world of people on Pinterest I found a really great recipe for the balsamic dressing that I love!! Yay!

So here is the recipe for the dressing from Brianne at Cupcakes and Kale Chips.
 

I'm just going to tell you now to double the ingredients because you're going to be sad when it runs out. Trust me. Speaking from experience here :(

I used 0% plain greek yogurt and only had regular yellow mustard.  I added garlic powder to mine as well. I whipped mine up all in the food processor.

For the ingredients for the salad, you'll need:

1. Any kind of lettuce or greens you like.  Here I used romaine and baby spinach.  The salad at Truffle's comes with mixed greens so next time I will make sure I use those :)
2. Grilled chicken
3. A handful of red grapes sliced in half
4. A pinch of dried cranberries
5. A tablespoon or two of feta cheese or any other type of hard cheese (remember for THM it's an E setting so have to watch the fat grams!)
6. 1/4 to a half of a granny smith apple chopped
7. The delicious, glorious, creamy balsamic dressing recipe
Note: The original salad comes with sliced almonds but I omitted them because I had none and I kept the fat content down for the Trim Healthy Mama E meal.
 

Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl to toss

 

All tossed with the dressing - snapped the pic while eating!

This salad is colorful, crunchy and just so tasty.  I will definitely be making this quite often.

For THM it's an E with the added fruit and the lower fat dressing.  Be mindful of the honey in the dressing, too.  I tolerate it well but you can add any sweetener of your choice if you do not wish to use honey.

There you have it - let me know if you make it and what you think!
~Carly

Ouch!

I'm so sore from legs day one of my BBG restart! 

I went for a walk today with my friend and our dogs for my LISS and my legs are sooooo sore! I've been ouching all day.

So I leave you with these funnies:

 

And a little Yoda :)

Sitting hurts. Stairs hurt - especially going down them and any sort of pressure on my legs hurts.

Call me crazy but I kind of love it!

Who am I?

~Carly

Sunday Musings

Good morning!

It's a dreary, rainy Sunday here in Connecticut but I will take it!

I am re-committing to a more active lifestyle and re-starting Kayla Itsines' BBG program and I did Day 1 today and woah. Sore already. I got to about week 5 last time I started but got sidetracked - always seems to happen. 

I'm not going to let that happen.

I'm going to clear my mind of can't.

I've accomplished a lot in these last 6 years of losing the baby weight and I'm still a work in progress. 

Another mantra of mine is a negative mind will never give you a positive life. 

I truly believe this. 

What are you ready to accomplish?

~Carly