The Time Has Come

My purpose for creating this blog was to share ideas, tips and recipes to hopefully inspire others to create a healthy lifestyle for their entire family.  I feel just as passionately about this purpose as ever.  In fact in the past few days I have been praising the warmer weather because we have been able to go on a few bike rides together as a family.  I think that teaching and modeling healthy habits is one of our responsibilities as parents.  Especially in this day and age!

However, my own little family has and always will be my number one priority.  Within the last few months, we have made the difficult decision to take our daughters out of public school and start homeschooling them. It has been a wonderful experience so far and I'm excited about the way things are going.  However, it is also pretty much like I have started a full time job.  I spend many hours a day either teaching or preparing for the next day's lesson.  When I'm not doing that, I still have a household to run.  So while we are still cooking healthy foods and working out alone and as a family, I simply do not have time to blog about it anymore!

I'm sure from time to time I will post a recipe or idea on here, but as you can see by the volume of my posts over the past few months, it will probably not be that often.  For those of you that are interested in the rest of my life outside of running, biking, swimming, lifting and cooking, feel free to visit my family blog at www.snacksizedfun.blogspot.com.  I'm sure I'll post about my racing adventures on there as well (signed up for my first 1/2 marathon this year!)

Thanks for being faithful readers and supporting me through the thick and the thin (QUITE literally!)  :)

How'd ya do it??

So, KC asked me how I went about losing 5.1 lbs. in one week.  (Technically it was 5 days.)  I'm glad you asked...

First of all, I weighed myself again this morning and it had gone back up a bit--so the grand total as of this morning was 3.7 lbs. lost in five days.  That seems a bit more reasonable to me, although still pretty good, right?

Secondly, I am NOT a water drinker.  So this challenge that has me force-feeding myself over 64 ounces a day has really been a struggle.  But the more water you drink, the less water you retain, so I'm sure some of my rapid weight loss was water weight.  I would guess that will taper off as I continue the challenge and my body gets used to consuming so much water.  (I really HOPE my body gets used to it.  I had to go to the bathroom THREE times on our Costco run today.  THREE.  TIMES.)

Okay, so now to the rest of my dirty little secrets.  I am not eating very many calories.  When I went to the endocrinologist a few years ago, she confirmed what I have always suspected--it really is just a matter of calories in vs. calories out.  So along with being hyper-vigilant about recording each and every thing I put in my mouth, I'm just not putting much in there.  The massive amount of water sloshing around in my stomach helps me stay full.  Oh yeah, I've pretty much cut wheat from my diet entirely.  I think I have a wheat allergy/intolerance anyway, but it also really helps with the "not eating too many calories" thing.  Oh and no sugar/treats, of course.  And working out.  Hard.

Here is my basic diet every day:
Breakfast: plain oatmeal with cinnamon and honey and a dash of almond milk
Lunch: a can of Progresso Light soup that I add vegetables to

Snack: apple and maybe a light string cheese or a few almonds
Dinner: Green salad, 1/2 chicken breast and more veggies

Whenever I start being really good about what I eat, I always am reminded how little I need to keep me satisfied.  Whatever works!  Tonight I'm off to the JUSTIN BIEBER concert with my girlies!!  We are going out to dinner first, but I have already scouted the menu and know just what I'm going to get.  Baby, baby, baby!!

Here is the "Sunday on the Scale" picture I tried to post yesterday.

I'm BAAAACK!

I know you were all so worried, right?

A full month of sickness.  Ugh.  It turns out my nasty respiratory infection morphed into a raging case of bronchitis, which finally went away around Christmas day with the help of some heavy duty anti-biotics.  Sorry for the long absence, but it is a bit tricky to write a healthy living blog when you are not feeling remotely healthy (through no fault of your own.)  And then we went to my parents house for Christmas and have been just trying to get back into the swing of things since getting home.

I'm so glad to be back!  Back to the blog, back to my life, back to being able to walk up a flight of stairs without the need of an oxygen tank.

To start this year off with a BANG, I am doing a fitness challenge with a group of cyber-buddies (never thought I would use that term...)  I am loving it!  I feel like it is just what I need to get my life back on track.  Spending a month resting, especially the month of CHRISTMAS, doesn't do good things to your body.  I sucked it up and stepped on the scale recently and was not shocked, but not happy either.  So I am hitting the ground running--working out about 90 minutes a day, being super-vigilant about what I eat (and don't eat) and even drinking 64 oz. of water a day (NOT my favorite part of the challenge.  It really puts a damper on longish car trips.  And it's kind of embarrassing to have to go to the bathroom FOUR times while your in-laws are over for dinner.  They probably think I'm pregnant.)

Anyway, I don't know what the heck is going on with the scale, but after one week of the challenge I am down 5.1 lbs!!  That seems wrong, don't you think?!  I thought you could really only safely lose 2 lbs. a week.  I guess I have been practicing UNSAFE WEIGHT LOSS, but with results like those, I'll keep it up!  Ryan thinks I am losing weight simply because we are no longer at my mom's house.  That could have something to do with it...

Starting Sunday on the Scale...again!!!  And for some reason I can't get the picture to upload.  So you will just have to imagine me...Happy New Year!

Christmas List

Dear Santa,
I have been very good this year.  I try to eat healthy and feed my family good foods.  I have run in some fun races with some fun friends and I have improved in many areas of my  life.  All I am asking for is one tiny little thing for Christmas...that is to GET BETTER.  I have been sick since November 27th.  I still can't go up the stairs without getting winded.  I haven't been able to go to my swim conditioning class in weeks now.  My chest feels like it is full of jello.  I want to be able to breathe again.  I want to be able to get on the elliptical for more than ten minutes at a time without having a coughing attack.  I want to have energy and not feel like all I want to do is sleep.  It's not too much to ask...
Sincerely,
Lindsay

A FUN 5K!

Yesterday I ran the Ugly Sweater Run with a few close friends and about 7,981 others.  It was so much fun! Considering the way I have been feeling (health-wise), it was probably one of the stupidest things I have done in a while, but I wouldn't have missed it!

There were Santa hats and fake mustaches for all...

as well as hot-chocolate stations, snowball fights, bubble/foam machines, Christmas music and lots and lots and lots of UGLY SWEATERS!!

Don't let the sunshine fool you, it was COLD!!  Somehow or other I was able to run it, though, despite my complete lack of a voice and horrible cough.  I think the best part of the race was watching Becca photo-bomb other people's group shots.  She is the master.

And this brings me to my new conclusion on racing.  If it's not fun, I don't want to do it.  Luckily I have plenty of fun friends to race with--even when I am sick!  (I pretty much crashed for the rest of the day yesterday...I'm starting to wonder if I should go to the doctor at some point--I am really not doing well.)

After our race we all went to our church Christmas party in our hats and sweaters.  I felt just a tad bit conspicuous...

Update

Still alive...just barely breathing.  I have been fighting a losing battle with a nasty upper respiratory infection for a week now.  No swimming, no strength training, no running...I did go for a walk yesterday, and that was great considering walking up and down the stairs leaves me gasping for breath these days.  I'm supposed to run a 5k on Saturday--might be walking that one too!  :(

Thanksgiving--our style

  On Thanksgiving morning I went on a nice long run with Becca.  Our original plan had been to do a turkey trot, but we never got around to registering we decided we wanted to push ourselves and go farther, so we did our own thing.   Last Saturday we had done an EASY four miles, so we thought doing twice that would be no problemo.  We neglected to take into account that our route last Saturday included NO HILLS.  Needless to say, our 7 miles yesterday were a bit rougher than we had anticipated, but it was still a great way to start the day.  After I got home and cleaned up, our  family spent the morning together in the kitchen--everyone pitching in to make the dinner.  We let the kids take turns being the family photographer, so we got some great shots!

Can't start without a DC!

Isaac made the Green Bean Casserole

Pie duty

White potatoes--for shame!

Measuring...something.

She looks like she is up to no good.

I'm sure he was up to something.

Things got a little wild...

Pie!

Diet Coke Break!

Hello, gorgeous!

Apples for our clean pie.  It wouldn't be a normal day at our house if someone hadn't put some sort of costume on.

Ryan needs to eat!

Dinner time!

 We ate our relatively clean Thanksgiving dinner in the afternoon, cleaned up and took a nice long walk together, then came back and had some relatively clean pie. Perfect day!

Off on a walk/scooter/run after dinner!

I read that in order to burn off the amount of calories that the average American eats for their Thanksgiving meal, you would have to run a marathon.  Becca and I didn't quite get to 26.2 miles in the morning, so I was determined that I would not overdo it!  I altered every recipe I made and kept my portion sizes in check and I feel pretty good about the day!  I was thinking this post would have been a lot more helpful if I had done it before Thanksgiving...but that would have required me to do Thanksgiving before Thanksgiving and I'm only up for one Thanksgiving a year.

My Thanksgiving plate.

I had seen a few different menu ideas online for a clean Thanksgiving dinner, but they were suggesting having salmon and asparagus for dinner.  Um, no.  Nope.  Sorry, but I am somewhat of a purist and I kind of think that turkey is important on Thanksgiving.  So I just did my own thing.

Our menu...

Turkey
Green Bean Casserole (made with unprocessed, homemade cream soup and those yummy onion things)
Sweet potatoes (sweetened with honey and just a touch of brown sugar--we still put marshmallows on top, but I did not partake)
Mashed potatoes a la Pioneer Woman (with my changes--fat free cream cheese and about 1/3 of the butter she uses)
Gravy
Rolls (again, about 1/2 of the butter the recipe called for--and I only ate 1/2 of one!)
My famous cranberry sauce (this stuff is to die for!  This year I used honey instead of brown sugar and it was awesome!  No guilt when smearing it all over my turkey!)
Lemon Meringue Pie
Cherry Pie (sugar free cherries)
Apple Pie (sweetened entirely with honey)

I'll post some of the recipes in the next few days.

I am thankful for so many things!  My family, my friends, my health.  Even though things don't always go exactly as I wish they would (like my inability to lose weight no matter what I do) I am so grateful for my life!

Yummy, GLUTEN-FREE Banana muffins!

These aren't just good for those of you with Celiac's or wheat allergies/intolerance.  These are just good.  Like really, really good.  Clean, healthy and tasty to boot!  We devoured them--even my pickiest little eaters.  And that is saying a lot!!

2 3/4 cups oats (uncooked)

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 egg whites

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 ripe bananas

Mix all ingredients together in a blender or food processor.  (It is easier to do the oats first and then add the rest of the stuff.  And be prepared to stop the blending and push the stuff down in there with a long spoon every once in a while!)  Put batter into well sprayed muffin tins or silicone baking liners (the paper ones don't work well with this recipe.)  I made about 18 muffins with this recipe.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

***One word about the Gluten free thing--check the labels of your oats carefully.  Although oatmeal is naturally gluten-free, there is sometimes cross-contamination at the plant where the oats are processed, so make sure you have gluten-free oats if that is a health concern for you.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I am alive and kicking.  We've had a lot of stuff going on in our lives that have sucked the free time right out.  I have still been working out daily.  Which has been hard due to the difficult marital problems we are going through.

Namely, my husband can't stop snoring.

I think my Halloween costume will be easy tonight:

 

That is, if I am awake for Halloween.

A poem for my readers

A fun 10K 

On a Saturday

What a great way

To start the day.

Don't you love this blog?  I mean, really, I not only give great, healthy tips on how to keep your entire family healthy, but I expose you to high quality, original poetry.

Amy and I are doing at least one race a month through the winter to keep us going.  Yesterday was the Galloping Goose.  Don't really know what is up with the name, but we had a fun time running a beautiful race together.  And we even got cool medals with GEESE on them!!

Kayla has requested Sunday on the Scale.  My scale is broken (DARN!) but I did take a picture this morning.  Unfortunately it made me look six months pregnant so I'm not really wanting to post it. 

I've got major things going on in my life right now--sorry if my posts aren't quite as regular as they used to be!  Big changes, big decisions, big expenses...hopefully not a big weight gain. :)

Addiction

You can be addicted to a myriad of things.  Good and bad.  Food.  Drugs.  Alcohol.  Spending money.  Exercise.  Diet Coke.  Losing weight (I've done that one twice.  Kind of wish I could do it now.)

Here is the first time.  No matter how thin I got it wasn't thin enough.

And the second time.  Apparently I am also addicted to sunglasses.

Here is my newest addiction.  Definitely the first time I have ever been addicted to an item of clothing.

I really wish I had more pairs of compression socks.  I wear them all the time.  I am in love.  With my socks.  Have you seen these compression suits they make for horses?  Where can I get one for me???

Maybe someone can put in a good word to Santa about stuffing some compression sleeves into my stocking this year.  Because then I could get the benefit of the socks and still wear flip flops.

And life would be complete.

Simple Pleasures

On Friday we had planned to go out for one last camping/biking trip of the year.  I don't know what is up with our weathermen lately, but I think they are all smoking crack.  All day Friday I watched the dark clouds and wondered where the mild weekend in the mid-70's had gone.  When Ryan was out in the pouring rain making the final adjustments to our stuff I thought, "What on earth are we doing?"  We cancelled it and came inside our warm house with the fire that turns on with the flip of a switch.  It turned out to be the right choice, though--the thunderstorm that night was INSANE--the thunder woke me up and it hailed like you wouldn't believe.

I was hoping on Saturday that things would clear up and we would still at least be able to do a family ride, but it just wasn't in the cards.  It stayed drizzly and cold the whole day long.  It was a day to cozy up next to the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a warm chocolate chip cookie.  But wait--I'm supposed to be eating clean!!

Never fear--I sent Ryan out into the cold to buy chocolate chips and sugar because I had none in the house and I busted out the best chocolate chip cookies EVER.  Because sometimes it is okay to enjoy the simple pleasure that comes from homemade chocolate chip cookies.  And I don't want to deny my children (or myself) that pleasure!

So here is the recipe--but be forewarned--there is NOTHING healthy about it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grind oats in a blender until fine.  Combine ground oats with flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla and lemon juice in another bowl.  Add the eggs and mix until smooth.  Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well.  Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well-blended.  Put heaping spoonfuls of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until cookies are light brown.

p.s. Wouldn't you know it?  Today is a high of 78.  It's gorgeous out there.