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

Recipe: Chai Shrinker

Hello! Happy Wednesday! 

It's about that time of day I need a little pick me up to get through the afternoon but also keep my hunger in check so I don't get the afternoon pre-dinner munchies. 

Since being on THM I love the shrinker and good girl moonshine (and some variations). 

So one day I decided to play around with the shrinker when I was craving chai.

This may or may not be created yet in the THM world with so many awesome ladies out there making recipes and tweaking things - so here's my recipe:

1 quart mason jar filled with boiling water 2/3 of the way to the top

3 prince of peace oolong tea bags

2 spiced chai tea bags at trader joes

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

A shake or two of nu nu naturals or 3-5 packets of truvia or sweetener of choice

1/4 cup almond milk - I like ton use unsweetened vanilla

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

Optional - cayenne pepper to taste (which I don't use but is called for in the original shrinker recipe)

Directions:

Brew tea bags until cooled but while warm ads cinnamon to help dissolve

add in other ingredients and fill reminding space in jar with ice. Cover and shake - then enjoy!

~Carly

Recipe: Apple Cake

Hello!  Long time, no post (again).

Anywhooo - Fall as arrived and we took full advantage this past weekend and went to Pumpkintown, USA here in Connecticut followed by some apple picking.

I scored some white pumpkins at the farm and then this week I found a cute "Give Thanks" sign at Target to enhance our family room decor - which can totally apply to both Halloween and Thanksgiving. Multitasking!  The leaves and foliage are really starting to come out and I'm loving Fall - in case you couldn't already tell.

My Fall Mantle - not done yet!

If you've visited here before, you may know I'm following the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating and I have had some great success lately after some pounds creeped back on over the summer and vacation in August.

I'm happy to be back on track and at an almost all time low weight and smaller inch-wise after I finished a three week Fuel Cycle.  I'm happy to report that I'm currently wearing today a pair of true pre-pregnancy pants - cute capri pants I haven't worn since ohhhh 2007 maybe?! I'm SO happy to see my efforts on the scale and in my clothing and how things are fitting!

However, this post is a recipe post so I'll post a full and detailed re-cap on that soon enough to share with you.

Onto the apple recipe!

I came across this recipe from Julia's Album somewhere (Facebook or Pinterest maybe? I get around...the Internet...hah!) and decided I needed to use up some of these fresh apples we picked.

I modified it to my THM guidelines and this would be considered an E (Energizing) dessert or snack.
So again, not my recipe but tweaked for my purposes!

Apple Cake - THM version
This recipe could also be gluten free if you use certified gluten free oat flour or grind your own gluten free oats!  The apple sauce and greek  yogurt make this cake very tasty and light!  

Ingredients:

• 3 medium apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into chunks
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar (NOTE: you can use a THM version of Gwen's brown sugar but I used a tiny bit of real brown sugar but it's up to you!) 
• 1 and 1/4 cup oat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup on plan sweetner - I used a combination of Truvia and pure stevia extract (original recipe called for 1 cup regular sugar)
• 1/2 cup apple sauce (original called for oil)
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 egg whites (original recipe called for 2 eggs)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and also grease a square pan - 9 by 9 or 8 by 8 is good

2.  In one bowl combine chopped apple pieces and cinamon and your choice of brown sugar - real or THM version. 

3. In another larger mixing bowl, combine oat flour, baking powder and salt.

Half the batter and half the apples

4. In yet another bowl - sorry for all the dirty dishes we are creating! - whisk together the sweetner of your choice, apple sauce, yogurt, egg whites and vanilla extract until combined. 

5. Add the dry items into the wet ingredients and combine completely - don't over mix!

6. Take about half the batter and pour into greased pan and take half the apple chunks and pour on that.  Then, layer on the rest of the other half of the batter and then top again with the other half of the apples. 

7.  Bake for one hour.

It smells soooo deelish in my house right now!  I can't wait to eat this recipe!  And a food blogger I clearly am not so I do apologize since as I am baking I'm all "oh hey, I should snap some pictures."

Finished baking!  Yummm

A food blogger wanna be I am - hot and fresh apple cake!

Wow, this does not disappoint!  It's warm, apple cakey goodness.  A must-make for sure!

Enjoy!
~Carly

Motivate Me Monday - 9/22/2014

Happy Monday!

I am always looking for some extra motivation and I always seem to come across the right type when I need it. 

Getting back on track (more like staying on track!) with exercise and diet has been my focus for awhile. I had a minor set back from our short vacation - up a few pounds that seemed to not want to go away without some major fighting!

But I won and am currently on week 3 of a Trim Healthy Mama fuel cycle and loving it.  So, here's my motivation and I hope it inspires you too:

You can't go back. You can only go forward. 

Made a mistake? No worries - just continue forward! 

~Carly

Labor Day and Update

Good morning and happy Labor Day!

I started an exercise challenge on a Facebook group and I've been going strong for the last few weeks. I went to spin class 4 times in the past week and have been incorporating weight training, circuit training and H.I.I.T. Training as well. I'm feeling pretty good and accomplished and have definetly made exercise a priority again and hopefully a permanent habit. 

I am up a few pounds still on the scaled from my vacation splurges but am still following the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle and plan to do another Fuel Cycle starting next Monday. 

I went to spin class yesterday morning and today I did a HIIT workoit I found on Pinterest:

I did it twice and really worked up a sweat and felt those jump squats and lunges. Whew!

That's all for now.

~Carly

Recipe: Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Spread/Dip

Wow - two months off and then two blog posts in one day?!?! Who am I?

Well, this recipe has been on my mind since my lovely friend Tracy made it and brought it to share one day at the pool club.  It is so yum. Then yesterday she dropped off a lovely eggplant for me and some red ripe tomatoes from her family's garden and I knew I needed to make this dip.

And, you already know I love eggplant so this was a no-brainier for me to make.

I found this recipe from Ina Gartner and I omitted the tomato paste.  However, next time I'd probably add it as it would give a little more substance to the dip itself.

A food blogger I am NOT but here are some pics regardless. Humor me  :)

All chopped and ready for olive oil, salt and pepper

My mom bought me these awesome grinders from Traders Joes

Ready to roast

Amazing how much it shrinks when it cooks

Into the food processor

All blended

Taste testing with a Wasa for all my fellow THM-ers!

I'd say this recipe is a win. I plan to make it quite a bit.  This is also THM friendly - I'd say it may even be used in an S or E setting depending on how much olive oil you use and how many servings you eat.  I bet it would be heavenly with Lavash Crackers or even as a spread on some of Gwen's Bread.

Oh boy...now I need to whip up some of that this weekend.  Happy Friday!

~Carly

Still going

Well hello! Apparently I've taken a two month hiatus from the blog world but I'm still going strong! Well, not without a few bumps in the road - or lbs should I say 😮 I've gone off my lifestyle plan a bit during social gatherings and a vacation with the family but I'm only a few pounds up from my lowest weight ever. However, if I had been eating my pre-THM fare I'd have to say I don't think the scale would be as low at all. 

As far as exercise, I had been going regularly to spin class and running but hadn't been incorporating weights really at all - though I had wanted to. So as a "get back on track" thing I'm day 4 or so into a new program incorporating cardio and weights. I'm using my three Jillian DVDs - 30 Day Shred, Ripped in 30, and No More Trouble Zones and will use the Lindsay Brin Pretty Fierce Weight Loss DVD set I have also. I will be doing cardio too and plan to exercise 6 days a week. 

Yep.

It's a lofty goal but I got this because I want it.

So I'm off for today's weights workout and I leave you with this...

~Carly