Monday Musings: Muffins!!

Hello all!

Please excuse me for my absence this past Friday. I thought I would try to make it up to you all with a delicious Monday Muffin recipe. This recipe was inspired by the delicious recipes on blogilates.com.

Alrighty. Here we go!

What you will need:

2 cups oatmeal

2 over ripened bananas

2 eggs

2 TBS light agave syrup

1 TBS vanilla almond milk

Your favorite berries (I used raspberries and blueberries. Yumm)

*Preheat your oven to 350º

*Add your ingredients other than the berries to medium mixing bowl

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*Blend ingredients together until smooth. You want to get out as many of the banana chunks as possible, but the mixture will still be fairly chunky because of the oatmeal.Chopping up the bananas may make this easier if you don't have a stand mixer. :)

*After your muffin mix is smooth, spoon it into a greased muffin pan. Fill them about 1/2-2/3 of the way full. I use a small ice cream scoop to dollop cookies and mix into pans. It gives you even portions and makes the process a lot easier. 

*Now its time to add the berries! Add your washed berries to each muffin.

YUMMY!

*Put your muffins on the middle rack in your oven and bake them for 12-14 mins. 

*Check them to make sure the middle is cooked thoroughly. Let them cool 10 mins and then enjoy!

(If you want you can also sprinkle a little Stevia on top as they come out)

And that's it! Totally easy and totally delicious. Let me know what you guys think!

Thanks for reading!

Monday Musings: Fooducate

Hello all!

It's Monday again and I thought I would do a review of one of my favorite apps in regard to my health. Before we go any further, though I'm sure you already know this, I'm not being paid by anybody to review this app. I just really like this app and I thought I would share it with everybody. :)

Okay, so this app has a ton of great features and great options to help you track your health. You can change the settings to make it specific to you and your needs/goals. I've provided a few screenshots below to help give you a small tour of the app and how awesome it is. Let's begin!

When you open up the app, this is one of the first things you will see. It is the home screen and it is pretty self explanatory.

From the home screen you can open this little side bar which allows you to do a ton more stuff. You can track what you eat and how much you exercise with you health tracker. You can set your own goals. You can personalize what you want the app to check for and notify you of such as GMOs, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, and gluten free.

This is the second part of the side bar menu. Here you can make your own lists of products you like or favorite, your own shopping lists, and you can check for products you have searched before. Pretty cool right? It gets better!

This is what the scan screen looks like. You place the bar code in that little frame. Yes, that is a blanket that I'm "scanning."

Here I scanned some Stax. I think this screen has some of the coolest options. Here it shows you what the overall food rating is of this product according to your interests, how many people like or recommend the product, the nutritional values...etc. It also shows some of the major points, good or bad, about the product. For example, this product has a high probability of GMOs so it is the first thing listed as that is one of the criteria I personalized the app to search. You can also rate this yourself (whether you like or don't like), add it to you shopping list, AND see alternatives if it isn't the best version of this type of product.

These are the Stax alternatives, They normally provide better alternatives.  Yummmm.

This is just a screen shot of the health tracker. Depending on how you personalize it, the app with give you a goal of calories. Then you can add what you have eaten, what you have drank, and how much you have exercised. This is like MyfitnessPal a little bit.

Then, if you don't have a bar code or are just curious about a certain food, you can just browse through foods, or search for something. :) So cool! AND to top it all off.....this app is FREE! YES! FREE! Woah! What more could you want?

So that's about it. Some more in depth info on my favorite little helper. I hope this inspires you to go check it out and make your own opinions on it.

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for reading!

Foodie Friday: Chocolate!!

Yeah you read that title correctly. Chocolate! And not just any chocolate, but clean chocolate! What?! I know!

I know the ladies out there often have a craving for this sweet and tantalizing treat especially around shark week. I can tell you now that chocolate is probably my best friend around that time. So I was sad when I couldn't find really any chocolate that met my standards of clean eating. I had to find another way. So what did I do? I made my own! And the following is the delicious outcome. 

Here is what you will need for your clean chocolate:

3/4 cup coconut oil (I use LouAna thanks to Megan! :D)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup honey (I buy local honey)

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp freshly ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

1/8 tsp freshly ground sea salt

Extras: Smart Balance creamy peanut butter, organic milk+, almonds

*In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients (except extras). You want to get out as many
clumps as possible. I try to warm up my coconut oil a bit to make it easier to mix.
*When everything is thoroughly mixed, spread mixture evenly out over a baking sheet lined with waxed paper.
*Next comes the extras. I sometimes like to sprinkle unsalted almonds over the cookie sheet to make almond chocolate bars, but the peanut butter was the biggest hit with my family. After I spread the chocolate out I took 2 TBS of the Smart Balance creamy peanut butter and dolloped it on top of the chocolate. I then took a butter knife and swirled the PB into the chocolate (like making a marble cake).
* Next, put the chocolate in the freezer overnight.
*Once frozen, cut up and enjoy!
+This chocolate is very dark. You can optionally add a splash of organic milk to the original mixture to make your chocolate a little less intense. 

This chocolate is very soft so I recommend cutting it and then putting in a seal-able container that you can keep in the freezer. This is because there is no paraffin in this chocolate to keep it hard at room temperature, we alleviate this (sorta) with the coconut oil. The chocolate will still melt quickly, but that shouldn't be a problem as I'm sure you will gobble it up lickety-split!

That is all for now! Let me know how your chocolate turns out!

Thanks for reading!

Monday Musings: 3 Months

Hello All!

It's a wonderful Memorial Monday and today also marks about 90 days that I have been on my fitness journey. I'm in shock at how much I have accomplished in the last 3 months and I can't even believe that my body is actually mine. I have completely transformed my lifestyle to one that has made me much happier and healthier in the long run.

I thought I would just try this for a few months and see where it left me or I would just drop it within a few days, but the results I've seen and the knowledge I've gained has invaluable. This has been an amazing learning experience and the knowledge I have will stay with me forever. I only hope that I can continue to learn more about my own body, my limits, my strength as well as teach others who wish to learn. This journey is not over by any stretch of the imagination though i think now this is almost purely just my lifestyle. I no longer believe that this is a "plan" or a "diet" or anything like that. This is just me.

I don't think i will always be training as diligently or as often and I don't think I will always be as strict with my nutrition, but I do think I will stay healthy and not allow myself to ever go back to the unhealthy life I was leading.

Well, I have a personal announcement to make. I'm done with my 90 day journey, but that doesn't mean I'm done. I could just stay healthy, but I'm setting some new goals for myself. Here, today, with all of you as my witnesses. My goal was to always be in a size twelve. I wanted to be in the average. The normal. Well, I'm pleased to announce that I made that goal! I went from a size 16/18 down to a comfortable size 12! Though I know this isn't the best way to track your progress, it is a good way for me to track my progress without using the number on the scale or using super expensive equipment to track fat loss.

I know I'm never going to be stick thin. I enjoy my curves and I'm so much more confident in my body. Hourglass figure. Check. No thigh gap? Don't care! I'm just happy I'm healthy and I'm so happy that I'm setting my new goal! Are you ready for this? Okay.....

I've always said I wanted to be a size twelve. Well, I'm there. So what's the next step? A size 10! Oh no! Craziness! Yes, I'm going to do it! My goal is to be in a size ten before I go back to school in August. That is about three more months from today. You think I can do it? Well I dropped almost 3 sizes in the past 3 months, I think I can go one more in the next 3. I'm a goal oriented person and I think keeping this goal will even further set my clean lifestyle and help me keep going. If I have something to work towards, I know I'm not going to be lazy. I know I can do it. Can you?

I sure think you can! I challenge you to do it with me! Set yourself a goal of one size difference or a couple inch difference or even just a piece of clothing that you want to fit into and feel fabulous. Make it a goal that you want to reach by the time school days come again. Make it a reasonable goal and then let me know what it is. We will do this together and end up more fabulous and confident than we already are!

I will keep you up on my progress and you can do the same with me. If you set yourself a goal, let me know what it is by leaving a comment below, tweeting it to me, or send me a shout out on Instagram. I'm hoping that your goals will motivate me and my goal/progress will do the same for you.

So go out and grab life by the horns. Let's do this!

This is me as a new Leah:

Thank you guys for reading!

Foodie Friday: Meal Prep Madness

Hello again everyone and welcome to yet another Foodie Friday! 

I know...you were waiting all week just for this moment. Well its here and today I'm going to be sharing with you some of my recipes and tricks for my meal preps. Leggo!

1. Chicken

Ok, so chicken is a major part of my nutrition. I love it and eat often. I'm also one to get bored easily so I need to have options. Normally I will defrost all my chicken for the week and then split it up. I usually take half and marinate it with one of my delicious chicken marinades that I talked about during our first Foodie Friday. You can find those recipes HERE. I will take the other half and season it with my spicy taco seasoning. I grill all of my chicken now that it is summertime because I love the flavor that the grill gives.

2. Sweet Potatoes

I LOVE sweet potatoes and I love to have them at least once a day. They have great vitamins and minerals, they are lower in starch than normal potatoes, and they satisfy my sweet tooth. Well they don't freeze well so to make them freezable I turn them into twice baked sweet potatoes. They are delicious and nutritious! 

3. Green Beans

Gotta have those veggies. I don't enjoy too many of them so green beans are my go to. I buy a large portion of them and cook them for the week in some water and low sodium veggie broth. Then I store them in the fridge for the week. Easy Peasy.

4. Awesome Flax seed Pancakes

Gotta have these things too! I love them and they are the perfect touch to my egg whites in the morning when I'm not feeling oatmeal. Topped with a bit of PB2 and organic strawberry jam they are perfection. I usually make a double batch and freeze them. Pop them in the toaster when I'm ready to chow down.

5. Rice

Make it with chicken broth to give it a little extra flavor.

Here's a BASIC run down of my daily meals:

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That's it for now! If you have any questions, leave me comment. :) Let me know what you think of the new look. I'm trying to make it all easier to navigate.

Thanks for reading!

*All recipes I didn't link will be posted later today under my recipes tab and then linked back to this post. :)

View Megan's Foodie Friday post HERE. 

The long ride

Hello all!

I figured that I haven't really introduced you guys to what my actual weight loss journey has been like. I've been posting and I feel like I haven't really introduced myself which is kind of the basis for this blog. So here we go...

When I was young, I was pretty thin and always super tan for some reason (Haha!). Then when I started to become a teenager, I found out that I had Hashimoto's disease. For those of you who don't know, it is a form of thyroidism. There is Hypo and Hyperthyroidism (underactive and overactive) and there is also Hashimotos disease and Graves disease (underactive and overactive) basically my body attacks my thyroid because it doesn't work correctly and my body thinks its a foreign object. To the left is a comparison:

From the point when I was about 12 I started to gain weight (some because of medication I had to take, some from my disease, and some from diet. We have a German family. German cooking). Rapidly. And I kept gaining up until high school where I hit 215lbs at the time of my graduation. After I got into college I gained more until I hit my max at 234lbs. I was so unhappy. I wasn't taking care of my body. I wasn't making good relationships. In general, it wasn't a good time in my life.

Around this time I went to the doctor and, thanks to modern medicine, I drop down to 204lbs. "Wow! This is great!" I thought. So I kept taking the medication at the intervals I was allowed and I ended up dropping to 197lbs. The first time I had been under 200lbs since the beginning of high school! I was so excited! I thought this was the end of my troubles. I was finally in a good relationship and I was losing weight.

Then I did something stupid...

Long story short, I tore my ulnar collateral ligament in my left thumb doing the splits. I had to have surgery the week before Christmas and this left me without a left hand for about three months. I had already gained some weight back before this, but then my surgery stunted me and gained back up to 212lbs. 

Well I already told about how Megan was my inspiration to get healthy. On December 13, 2012 I had surgery on my hand and on February 27, 2013 my surgeon released me from his care. Then, at the beginning of May, I started my fitness journey. My three month mark is fast approaching and I am amazed with what my body has accomplished. What I have accomplished. A few days ago I weighed myself and I was at 179.6lbs!* I haven't been under 180lbs since middle school! I am completely changed. I've said it once and I will say it a million times, I am never going back. I have come too far and feel way too good to turn back now. The skies' the limit!

So that's me so far. I hope you stay tuned to see me in the future. C:

buh bye!

*NOTE: I know my progress pictures say 182. Explanation: I weighed myself a few days before those pictures and, instead of weighing myself that day, I just took the number I already knew. I weighed myself the next morning and I was actually at 179.6.

My Plan...

Hello all!

As some of you may know, I posted some of my progress pictures yesterday. As a result, I got an overwhelming response from people asking me what I am doing to lose and keep off the weight. As I have said before, there is no magic or miracle involved in what I'm doing. There should be no mystery to the whole weight loss thing and it is not just one thing you can do. It is a lifestyle choice.

Before I go any further, I should put the disclaimer on this that I am NOT a doctor or a nutritionist and I am not a trainer. Every body is different and mine is no exception. So though this works for me, you may have to tweak things for it to fit you, if you so choose to do anything. 

Now that is out of the way, I feel that I should start out with my workout. I have been using the workout calendar from blogilates.com. This website is run and updated by a pilates instructor named Cassey Ho. She posts a free calendar every month with what exercises to do every day and she posts her workouts on youtube. So I usually just make a playlist of videos to do everyday and just do them. Her attitude is great and her personality is so infectious. I never get bored with her workouts and she kicks my butt. I love it! You can visit her website here. I figured I would also save you some time and post this month's workout calendar:

Because it is summer, I have also decided to add in some biking during the week or other forms of cardio during the week. This is inspired by lovemeganalexis and also the fact that since school is over and I'm not dancing anymore on a daily basis, my largest source of cardio is gone.

Ok. Now that the easiest part is over (and yes that is the easiest part to explain) it is time to talk about clean eating. What the heck is it? Well in the simplest terms it means you are trying to get as close to the food source as possible. This is really difficult to do in this day and age sometimes as many things are very processed before they hit store shelves. So, needless to say, the food I end up buying goes through a vigorous test before it ends up in my cart. Here are the criteria that my food has to meet before I eat:

• I have to be able to read most everything that is on the label: Honestly this is a little vague for my liking, but it is the simplest way I can state it outright. If you're like me, you can read everything on the label, but that doesn't mean you can understand what all of it is. So, I have to be able to read and understand what exactly is in the food I am buying based on the label. If I don't understand, I can usually search really quick for what it is.
• I can't have any artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, msg (monosodium glutamate), artificial preservatives (especially benzoate preservatives like BHT, BHA,...etc) and I have to try to stay away from genetically modified ingredients (GMOs). This is really difficult because companies are not required to list any GMOs that might be in their products. Thankfully, I have an app called "fooducate." It scans barcodes and tells you if there are artificial colors, sweeteners, preservatives, and GMOs! It is very handy and I recommend it to everyone.
• If I can make it, I try to do so (I say this because it does not always turn out the way I want it especially on the first try. I tried to make mayo and the first time, i failed miserably). So I make my own Italian dressing, marinades, soups, sometimes bread...etc. They usually turn out better than store bought things. It goes without saying that there are some things that are non-negotiables because of convenience. Like OJ. I can't live without it and juicing oranges every morning is exhausting (and now mayo. I've given up). But I try to stay away from too many things like that.
• All-in-all everything I eat must be minimally processed (the fooducate app also tells if something is highly processed. Awesome, right? I know).
• I also try (notice I say try because it doesn't always happen) to eat roughly six meals a day. I do eat every 2-3 hours.
• I also have a cheat day once a week. This is important. You should not be afraid of eating. It is fun and necessary for life. If you allow yourself a cheat meal or some chocolate every now and then, it can jump start your metabolism and keep you from going crazy. 

This is all daunting. I know. To see it written out is scary to me too, but the first step is the hardest. After you take it, everything eventually becomes second nature and you just do it. It becomes a chore no more. I started out by using Cassey's 90 day meal plan. Note that I used it as a starting point and I do not follow it exactly. Because every body is different and every life is different (I will say it till I'm blue in the face). I have changed small things to fit my own life and my own tastes. :) If you would like to start with that, I have provided the link below:

Blogilates 90-day meal plan 

*you will have to download the plan. It is an excel spreadsheet and has multiple pages. I just printed it out and hung it on my fridge to refer to C:*

I honestly do not count calories. I tried it. It is exhausting and I hated every minute of it. AND I didn't see any results. I am more free and happy with myself. I see more results and it doesn't feel like work. It just feels like life. Thus why it is a lifestyle choice NOT a diet. 

I know I wrote a lot, but there still probably a million questions floating around out there. So if you have any, please do not hesitate to comment and ask me. I will answer you as soon as I can and to the best of my ability. Plus it is always great to hear from people.

Okay, now that all of that is written out I challenge you to go out and do it! If you want it, you gotta do it and remember the first step is the hardest. If you take it, you are already one step ahead of all those couch potatoes. Drink more water, eat more veggies, and change your life! 

buh bye for now!