May Updates and PiYo

It's finally spring here in Connecticut! Although we really don't have seasons anymore here in New England. I'm able to finally be outside more, run on our local trail and walking the dog. 

I'm of course still following the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle and in addition to my walking and running I started a beach body program called PiYo.

I'm loving it so far! It's a combination of yoga and Pilates (hence the name) and you use your own body to sculpt your body. While I haven't necessarily lost any weight (I'm still maintaining), I feel like I'm definetly stronger and leaning out a bit. It's hard to tell right now since I'm feeling bloated with my monthly thang - but time will tell for sure.

Hope all is well in your world - will have some more updates and posts for you soon.

~Carly

Fuel Cycle Week Two (with a bump/twist)

Today starts week two of my Fuel Cycle.

Week one starting weight about 158.

Starting weight this week is 156 - up a bit from 155.6 from my planned date night the night before :) also I still have my period. Keep reading for my ending weight :) 

Week Two

Day 8 deep S

5:45 am Coffee and water upon waking 

8:00 am three eggs scrambled in coconut oil and sausage and more coffee with cream 

12:45 lunch deli roast beef with sautéed peppers, mushrooms and a few slices of onion and half of a deep s cake in a mug with ggms

1:45 coffee with cream - tired! And had to take my son to a birthday party

6:00 pm dinner - ate out at a Mexican restaurant and had carne asada with a side salad with a little cheese and tomato and a little guacamole that came with it and I forgot to tell them no. (Note: not supposed to have tomatoes or avocado on the fuel cycle per the book).

8:30 - snack of skinny pb cup chocolate made with peanut flour

Day 9 deep S

6:15 am wake with water and coffee

8 am breakfast scrambled eggs in coconut oil and sausage and another cup of coffee with cream

12:15 pm - Perrier water while out shopping at Bjs wholesale club

1 pm - lunch - snickers shake with chocolate protein with cottage cheese and pb powder ice and sweetener with vanilla and caramel extract - yum 

 

4:00 pm - snack 1/2 of a deep s cake in a mug and a piece of skinny pb chocolate and hot Shrinker tea

6:15 pm Dinner - turkey burger with roasted red pepper and mustard and kale salad and water 

8:45 pm - skinny pb chocolate  

Day 10 deep S

I think there was something off with my scale because I'm back up to 157.2 :/

Hmmm

6:15 am coffee and water after waking up

8:00 am breakfast eggs scrambled in coconut oil with ham, green pepper and a little onion and a smidge of cheese

 

9:15 am gym - walk/run on treadmill

10:00 am water and coffee with cream 

12:15 polar black cherry water 

1:45 lunch - turkey burger with bacon and mustard and roasted red peppers and a side kale salad

6:30 pm dinner - baked salmon with butter and sautéed squash and zucchini in coconut oil and water

Day 11 Fuel Pull

6:15 am wake up and have water and coffee with almond milk

7:15 am hungry and ate my overnight berry oats

10:00 am Snack coffee and water and a strawberry cheesecake quest bar

12:30 pm lunch big boy smoothie with added spinach and some cottage cheese for extra protein

3:00 snack - FP brownies 

6:00 pm dinner - buffalo chicken salad

Day 12 Fuel Pull

Note: very difficult day - night before found my daughter had somehow gotten lice and then my grandmother passed early this morning so off day due to all that was going on

6:15 am wake and have coffee and water

9:00 am more coffee

1:40 pm lunch progreso light soup with added grilled chicken and a piece of FP brownie

3:00 snack - coffee water and more FP brownies

6:00 pm egg white wrap with bacon bits and little cheese 

Day 13 E

Weigh in: 156 (down 1.2 from a few days prior)

6:20 am wake and have water and coffee

8:00 am Ezekiel toast with peanut butter and a half of banana 

12:15 pm - lunch at a friends house - salad with rotisserie chicken, light dressing, some black beans and a little avocado 

2:50 pm coffee and FP brownie and half container 0% Greek yogurt with polaner jelly 

5:45 pm - dinner left over chicken black bean and sweet potato chili I froze with a little sprinkle of cheese and I ate a few bites of a small slice of pizza - ooops and water 

Day 14 E

Weigh in: 155.4 Woohooo!

Note: I'm altering my last day since I am flying to Florida and had planned to do three weeks but may now be difficult and I really wanted an S breakfast.

7:00 am wake and have coffee and water

8:00 am breakfast deep s eggs in coconut oil and sausage and one piece of bacon

11:15 snack/lunch fuel pull brownie and a Greek yogurt with polaner probably an E with the extra carbs

2:00 pm coffee at airport and a Perrier 

4:30 pm quest bar and a few pieces of pineapple and water on plane 

8:00 pm dinner out - had a small Caesar salad and eggplant grinder and ate the eggplant and cheese only and a piece of my moms meatball 

Update: I'm writing this on Tuesday March 24, 2015 - this morning I weighed in at 154.4!!!! 

Granted I didn't eat as much over the past few days due to traveling and being emotional and not hungry but I brought quest bars with me and was able to stay on plan with one cheat of having some coffee cake after my grandmothers funeral service. 

Overall this two week fuel cycle was great! I would loved to have continued for a third week but it wasn't possible. I did a deep s breakfast today and will continue to freestyle for now using what I've learned again during this fuel cycle.

~Carly

Fuel Cycle Details - Week One

Hello! 

After a long winter and some holiday and vacation weight gain, I started another Fuel Cycle this past week. 

My starting weight was 157.6-158 on March 8th. Here are the details of my week:

Week One

Day 1 Deep S

6:45 am Snack - 1 piece of skinny peanut butter chocolate and cup of coffee with cream before my spin class

9:30 am Breakfast - three eggs in coconut oil with mushrooms, spinach, bacon strip and coconut oil and another cup of coffee

1:00 pm Lunch large salad with spinach and romaine, rotisserie chicken, bacon crumbles and cucumbers with olive oil and fruit punch GGMS and a few bites of deep S cake in a mug

3:30 cup of oolong tea 

6:00 Dinner -Breakfast for dinner - scrambled three eggs in coconut oil and sausage and water. A few more bites of a chocolate cake in a mug. 

Day 2 Deep S

6:15 am coffee and cream and water after waking

8:00 am Two eggs scrambled with butter and sausage and a small sprinkle of cheese and more coffee.

9:15 am 3 mile walk on the trail 

12:45 pm Lunch - roast beef sautéed with mushrooms and a few onions (note: onions are not recommended for deep S days but I didn't have any other veggies) and a large side salad with olive oil dressing and water

3:30 pm snack oolong tea, water and half a chocolate cake in a mug

6:45 pm Dinner - meatloaf and two heaping bowls of a kale and broccoli salad mix from Costco with some olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar dressing with water (note: I only made one meatloaf for my family so I did eat some of the thin tomato sauce layer on top but tomato products are not recommended for deep s days).

Deep S Day 3

Weigh in - 157 (down approx. 0.8 lbs)

6:10 Coffee and water upon waking 

8:30 am Breakfast - two eggs scrambled with sausage and a little cheese just like yesterday and coffee with cream

11:50 am Lunch - leftover piece of meatloaf and kale salad mix with olive oil and balsamic dressing and water 

Snack 3:45 pm half of chocolate cake in mug

Dinner 6:45 pm grilled chicken with sautéed garlic spinach in olive oil

Day 4 Fuel Pull

Breakfast 7:45 am overnight oats

Coffee with almond milk

Snack 10:20 am quest bar banana nut muffin and water 

Lunch 12:30 - was starving! Loaded fotato soup and a side salad with chicken and light dressing and fruit punch ggms

1:00 pm 35 minute walk

2:00 pm a small amount of Greek yogurt and polaner

4:00 coffee with almond milk and FP brownies

6:35 pm Dinner ham steak with large kale salad mix and light dressing and water and a piece of apple

Day 5 Fuel Pull

Weighed and got a little drop of 156.4 but double checked and it jumped back up to 157.2 so we shall see how the rest of the week goes but the scale is going down!

6:15 coffee and water after waking

8:05 am - breakfast egg white muffins a friend made and a big boy smoothie

10:20 am - snack fuel pull brownies with coffee and almond milk

1:40 pm - lunch grilled chicken wrap with buffalo wing sauce, lettuce and blue cheese dressing mixed with Greek yogurt to dip veggies in - carrots cucumbers and celery and water

 

4:30 snack coffee and FP brownies

6:30 dinner - FP pizzas and salad

8:30 FP brownies at my neighbor is ladies night and had a "shot"

Of red wine and a small taste of a few dips with celery and wasa crackers

Day 6 E

Wake with coffee and water at 6:15 am

I was supposed to go to spin class but I woke up with a stiff neck :( 

8:00 Breakfast - egg white scramble with veggies and Ezekiel English muffin and polaner and more coffee with almond milk 

11:00 snack 1/2 quest bar while out and about and some water 

1:15 lunch - chicken, black bean and sweet potato chili with a little sprinkle of cheese and if still hungry will snack on some veggies and a black cherry polar sparkling water

3:19 - really hungry so having a snack and made a snickers shake with pb2 flour and added some sliced frozen bananas to make it an E and had a bite of a FP brownie while waiting for it all to blend!

6:00 dinner - another small serving of the sweet potato chili and a large bowl of my kale salad mix with some lighter dressing and water

Day 7 E

Woohoo! Amazing surprise on the scale 155.6!!!!! My period came yesterday and I'm sure some of the weight was from bloat but it's on its way to being gone!

6:30 am Coffee and water 

8:45 am breakfast THM pancakes with 0% Greek yogurt and polaner 

11:45 am - early lunch of more chili and a small side salad and a half piece of a small FP brownie with water

2:45 pm - snack some apple slices and a little natural peanut butter and coffee

6:00 pm - dinner out for date night!! I ended up deciding to eat s and had a portobello mushroom stuffed with crab appetizer and a filet mignon and mixed veggies and a glass of red wine (note: wine is not recommended during a FC)

It was a choice I made and that's what I love about THM :)

So there's week one! 

Have you done a THM Fuel Cycle? 

~Carly

Recipe: BBQ Chicken "Pizza" (THM S)

Ahhhh it's Friday. 

Each week have been trying to do family movie night and we do home made pizzas. I buy or prepare dough for the kids and my husband and I would make speedy thin crust pizza for myself. 

But tonight I missed pizza - like real pizza. With good toppings. 

But then I thought about it and what I really missed was the idea of the convenience of takeout pizza. You order it, pick it up (or have it delivered), eat and boom - done. But then I remebered about how it made me feel after I ate it. 

And then I had an idea and decided to make something else super easy - and faster than takeout. This is something that I find I can do successfully now after being on THM for over a year. I know how good I feel when I eat "on plan" and when I eat foods that aren't I'm miserable. Both in regards to my body, mood and on that's always reflected on the scale. 

And since I did an hour long spin class tonight and have had a pretty good week eating and exercising I didn't want to blow it eating "real" pizza (which isn't a favorite of mine anyways).

So I decided to make a different type of "pizza" that I learned from Trim Healthy Mama that literally takes minutes to make. By using low carb products as a crust and toppings I am able to make a delicious concoction so I truly don't feel like I'm missing out. 

I have no idea what made me think of it but I tonight I wanted BBQ chicken pizza. So that's what I made.

I used Joseph's brand pitas which I cut I half. I microwave it for about a minute to harden it a bit and set it on the foil and get it ready for toppings.

Disclaimer: there's a recipe in the book for bbq sauce which tonight I had none of the ingredients needed so I used a low sugar bbq sauce instead. So next time I make this I will be more prepared but in a pinch this will do. 

I topped the pita halves with some red onion, roasted red peppers and took a few handfuls of rotisserie chicken tossed very lightly with the bbq sauce. I spread a small amount of sauce on the pita halves and added the chopped up toppings.

To finish, I used Mexican blended cheeses and mozzarella. Bake in oven for about 4-5 minutes at 400 degrees.

OH-EM-GEEE

This was seriously SO good. I added a few handfuls of spinach as a side salad with some balsamic dressing and it was just perfect!

Yum. 

For THM this version would be an S because of the cheese and the dressing I used. If you used less cheese it could be FP- especially if you use Mrs.Criddles Kitchen's recipe for bbq sauce which can be found here: http://mrscriddleskitchen.com/thm-bbq-sauce/

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Now, off to watch the movie :)

~Carly

 

Motivate Me Monday - 2/23/2015

Hello!

It's been a great Monday here. I hope your week is off to a great start, too!

Sometimes I need to read or see something presented or explained in a different or unique way to make it click. 

That's exactly what happened today when I saw what a friend on Facebook posted:

Click, right? How great is that. We are given this one body and this one life so why treat it with anything less than 100% respect?!?

I'm totally motivated to get and stay on track with my health and wellness goals and seeing this today just adds another level of motivation.

~Carly

Dreamy Sandwich

Hello!

I have to admit I had every intention of posting in December about being on the Trim Healthy Mama plan for a year but as always my good intentions fell to the wayside - but I'm still here, still on plan and still under my first goal weight and heading towards ultimate goal weight! Buuuuut - with holiday indulgences, a few parties and a vacation to Florida and Disney in January I've strayed a bit but am fully back on track now.  I've gained an lost the same 3-5 lbs but I'm ready to kick it to the curb for good.

Today I'm sharing my favorite sandwich - and yes it's dreamy. For real.

All you need are two slices of Ezekiel bread, spinach, your choice of protein, laughing cow cheese wedge in your choice of flavor and veggies you enjoy. You can make this warm or cold but I've been loving my concoction warm since its been like Antarctica here in Connecticut.

On this sandwich is 1-2 wedges of laughing cow garlic and herb, a handful of baby spinach, roasted red peppers and thin sliced deli chicken. I stuff it all in between the two slices of bread and put it on my George Foreman grille and make a panini style sandwich out of it.

It's really tasty. This is an E meal if you follow THM. If I'm still hungry I will eat it with some cucumber slices as my "chips" or slice up some apple. You could also pair it with any other E fruits including melon, berries or a small orange if you'd like. 

Mmmmm - it's a dreamy sandwich.

Enjoy!

~Carly

Motivate Me Monday - 11/24/2014

Ahhh Mondays. I love Mondays. I see them as a fresh start to the week. There's that long running joke about always starting a diet on Monday.  

Fortunately I can cross that one off my list since I've found Trim Healthy Mama and I've made a permanent lifestyle change. Next month - actually just a few weeks now - will be one year on the plan and I'll post a full and detailed update there but for now I'm the closest to my "ultimate" goal weight as I've been since pre-pregnancy. The first pregnancy.  It's crazy.  And, it is truly hard to believe because it's been a long journey.

So for today's motivation - I say to you and to myself:

I will persist until I succeed. 

Image found via Pinterest

Because if I can do it, any one can. And I'm so close to my goal!

~Carly