Thursday, February 27, 2014

Now What?!?!


Do you ever just feel like "Hey, now what?!" "What is my next adventure", "What should I be doing with this grown up life of mine?"  Don't get me wrong, my life is very blessed and I wouldn't trade in any of the things I have for the next adventure, but instead of finding this "Nailed it... happily married with an adorable baby, awesome friends and a job I really find value in- feeling" I find myself struggling with an inner voice that is full of restlessness.  Life has always had a path with some major checklist milestones: High school, college, Graduate school, professional career, get married, have kids AND.... what comes next? What happens once you check all those boxes?  

I guess the really amazing and terrifying answer to "What next?"  is-  anything I want! And BOOM there it is .... the really big question. 

Time to set some new goals and find a way to follow through.  I have always been a procrastinator, I work best under pressure, so when there is no externally imposed deadline I kind of suck at follow through, which means all the things on my "to do " list just stay there... trapped, sad, wishing I would come along with my dry erase marker and free them from their months of purgatory on the white board in my office.   Time to start setting some goals and crossing them off, we only get this one beautiful life and I don't want to miss a minute of what it has to offer. 

What's the saying... "A goal without a deadline is a wish"  for this girl, it's time to wish less and do more.  


xo

Nic








Monday, February 10, 2014

Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

Hi All! 

It's been a fun filled weekend of just a little too much.  A little too much booze, a little too much junk food and a little too much time to recover.  Nothing like a cheat weekend to motivate your workouts for the week.  Getting a little too old for day drinking in my undies but we did it for a good cause- Cupid Undie Run- look it up!   



Just a quick post tonight for one of my go to recipes. 
Filling, protein and only about 115 calls per serving.  
I'll call it Broccoli Quinoa Casserole


Ingredients: 

1 cup Quinoa
2 cups Vegetable stock
1/2 cup shredded cheese ( I used organic sharp cheddar)
2 cups chopped Broccoli or one large head of broccoli - steamed 
2 eggs
small sprinkling of breadcrumbs
salt to taste
pepper to taste
garlic to taste


Prep: 
oven at 365
cook the quinoa in the vegetable stock ( 1 cup rinsed quinoa - 2 cups veg. stock) 
steam and chop the broccoli
combine all ingredients except the breadcrumbs
combine in greased casserole dish or 8X8 pan.  
top with breadcrumbs
Bake at 365 for 25-30 minutes 
Enjoy!! 







So good even the babe eats it! 


Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Patience Is a Virtue... just not one of Mine



Amen!  Quick google search of Motivational Fitness Quotes and this was the first one to pop up and it is exactly where I am.

I did it. I officially dropped all my baby weight!  Confetti did not shoot out of the scale and instead of feeling elated I have felt off for a few days.  I have been chasing this number on the scale since Sutty was born and was really hoping that my flat tummy and toned arms would just magically return at the appearance of this number ... however.... this is not the case.  My body is weird.  9 pounds lighter which is awesome but weird.  I have this band of fat around mid back where my bra is, my cup size is still enormous and not in a cute Pamela Anderson ish way- more in a "National Geographic, dear God thank you for Plastic surgeons" kind of way and my tummy looks, well like a baby used to live in there.  I am on a path towards fitness but apparently this is a slow path for me and I'm not a slow and steady wins the race kind of girl.  

So here we go - Phase 2 of P90X3 !  

Rockabilly girls night. Fake tats and chucks.

4 miles done in 9 degrees.  Yep. That happened. 

This kid. 

Anyone short on motivation this week- Keep going! We can totally do this. 
To those full of motivation- keep going! It's motivating to watch. 

xoxo 

Nic 





Monday, January 27, 2014

One Pound Away !



The Scale: 

I am officially one pound away from being done with my baby weight and that is no small feat considering I delivered my little dude at 198 glorious pounds.  Yep.  Almost 200 hundred pounds people!  I'm sort of hoping that confetti will shoot out of the scale when this major moment happens.  I have a total love hate relationship with the scale. I love when it moves, I hate when it doesn't. In those moments when it doesn't, I take a good hard look at what I've been eating and if I've been drinking enough water ( the answer is usually no).  In keeping track of my food right now, I realized all my snacking and bites of Sutty's food was not helping me have an accurate calorie count and I realized that on some days when I was busy being a mom and therapist I was eating way too little which doesn't help either.  This might not work for everyone, but weighing in daily and journaling my food is helping.

I've tried to lose this baby weight since Sutty was 6 months old he is now 14 months old, so needless to say I tried and failed many , many , many times before.

This time feels different. I feel like I am just living a healthy intentional lifestyle rather than a diet (cliche' yes, but also true).  I shoot for about 1,500 calls a day.  Sometimes more sometimes less. I still eat guacamole and the very necessary ice cream sandwich it's not always organic or homemade, but you know what life goes on and I'm only human.

The Food:

Shakeology! I cannot say enough good things about this.  Both the hubby and I are drinking it daily.  It's full of super foods and nutrient dense, I drink the vegan chocolate and strawberry.  It tastes delicious and is my go to quick easy breakfast when I need to get out the door with the kiddo.

My big secret in this department these days is ..... portion control.  Guess what, you can still have crackers but not half a box, or if you must ( and some days you must) have chocolate a single serving of Sundrops ("healthy" M&M type candies) is 180 amazing tasting calories and I always have them in my house to keep me from a Snickers bar binge.

I'm a vegetarian and a relatively picky eater, I could eat the same foods on rotation every week and often do. I read that people who are successful with weight loss eat this way.  I still have pizza, crab cakes, fish tacos I just make them at home so I can control the portions.  I follow lots of food blogs, food pages on Insta and FB to keep me motivated. I will post some of my favs soon.  My biggest change with food is I don't throw it all away on the weekends.  No more late night Taco Bell and huge stacks of pancakes for this girl.  I literally pulled a Kind bar out of my clutch this weekend on a group night out.  I was hungry so I ate- just not pizza.

A few go to meals from the day:

Veggie wrap. Lettuce, tomato, olive oil mayo (GASP), cheese, shredded carrots 
a few organic wheat crackers

Green Smoothie- this was in addition to my morning ShakeO. Blueberries, strawberries, almond milk, ice and spinach. So yummy! The kiddo drinks these too.  

Dinner: Risotto, quinoa burger, steamed broccoli, roasted sweet potato. 

The Workouts: 
My workout schedule has gotten a little more aggressive this week. My amazing sister has convinced me that getting back into running is a good thing.  We are running a half marathon together in Brooklyn in 13 weeks.  I've run a full Marathon before, so I have ran 13 miles many times but I stopped once I found out I was pregnant.  So for the next 13 weeks,  in addition to 6 days a week of P90X3  I am adding in three runs.  Two 30 minute runs and one distance run per week ( I follow the Jeff Galloway school of running).  It's a challenge for sure. I went out for my first distance run this weekend and it felt amazing. I did 3 miles and felt like I could have easily kept going much longer.  13 miles I'm coming for ya.  

pre run selfie... because this is my blog and I can :) 

Colorado is a beautiful place for a Sunday run. 



Whew! We made it to the end of the post.  Thanks for hanging in there.  

xoxo 

Nic 






Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Self Care and Learning to Say No.


I saw this on a friend's Pinterest a while back and I pinned it onto my board "healthy me" and never really gave it a second thought.  Then last week I had just an overwhelming week at work. I work as a  home based pediatric therapist.  Feeding therapy, behavior therapy, parent education and mental health. It's amazing but can be very stressful and very tiring.  Since having my little peanut, I do this very part time, which usually protects me from feeling like I have nothing left in the tank at the end of the week- but last week was a reminder that I need to get better at "saying no without explaining myself".   I have the hardest time saying NO to clients , the guilt of canceling a session makes me offer insane times that I don't really want to work or I end up working longer days and leaving my little guy in Daycare for a full day which I would rather not do.  After last week, I decided this habit of explaining my every no and apologizing profusely when I put me and my family above work needed to end.  

I'm focused on total fitness and total health and for me, that means self care and managing stress. 

Therapist, wife, mom , friend , daughter, sister, person.... they all take up their space in my day and that space isn't always peaceful.  

Stress used to mean watching TV and eating whatever chocolate I could find ( or if I'm being totally honest would go and get)  I used to think I was "decompressing"  but what I was really doing was just self sabotaging and completely checking out. 

I'm only into my third week of this adventure but the mental changes are a breath of fresh air and this space to just purge has been an accountability I truly needed. 


YOGA TODAY: trying to find my inner Zen and trying to figure out how the heck to do the crow without face planting. Baby steps!  

focused

"um how do you do that handstand"

sadly this is now all the hubby sees. workout clothes all the time! 


xoxo

Nic 




Sunday, January 19, 2014

Chubby Laundry

Don't you just love a Sunday?  Today's Bronco win made this one especially sweet.  

Let's sum up the week shall we?  

I'm down a total of 7 pounds in two weeks which feels great considering I'm not starving, I've had some (GASP!) chocolate and a delicious margarita.  I'm not really calorie counting, but I would guess that I'm right around 1,500 per day.  I've been weighing in daily, more out of curiosity than anything else- starting to notice what certain foods - um hello Gluten- do to my progress.  Shakeology is a staple of my daily routine usually breakfast and again in the afternoon if cravings are bad and I need something quick.  A friend asked me this week "why I'm so obsessed with the stuff"  I will dedicate a whole post to that this week - I know, I know the suspense is killing you.  

Okay as promised here's a brief summary of the rest of the workouts from the week: 

Day Four:  The Challenge
This is 30 minutes of push up and pull ups, plain and simple ( or not so simple... ) I am using the resistance bands with the over the door attachment -still getting a great burn in the back and chest since pulls up and this girl do not go together (yet!) You pick a number of push ups and a number of pull ups that you aim to do for all the sets and modifications. Standard, wide grip, chin ups and military are just a few of the variations you can expect.  The boys on this workout don't mess around, they are pull up machines.  I'm doing 10 push ups and 15 "pull ups" which leaves me so sore for two days that my blow dryer feels like the world's heaviest object. needless to say Friday was a dirty bun day- girls you know what I'm talking about. 

Day Five: CVX
LOVE This workout.  Cardio moves with a light weight. I'm using 3 pounds and Tony recommends no more than 12. This is all about getting a full body burn there's jumping and squatting  and doing jumping jacks while pressing the weight straight up in the air.  Everything is just a little bit wobbly when this one is done.

Day Six: The Warrior
This sucker is hard.  The hubs and I did this one together today and It was brutal.  This is the workout that Tony H. takes around to the military bases.  Upper, lower, core, cardio AND repeat.... If I could only fit one workout in a week It would be this one it's killer.  

Cue some pics : 

 Crab cake salad. Whole Foods 

 Pink pants helping me get through CVX. 

 Setting a good example for my little dude. Watching me do The Challenge 

Post The Warrior breakfast -Free range Organic eggs of course!


Feeling great going into week three.  The workouts are non negotiable and focusing on intuitive eating is getting easier and easier.  I'm determined to get this tummy flat again and live a healthy lifestyle that my kiddo can watch and follow.  Being tired and stressed and a wife, mom , therapist (you name it) can easily become an excuse as to why I can't be on the top of my own list and I tried that strategy.  Not taking care of myself started stealing the joy from my days,  I was only thinking about food, what I would eat next or how I "shouldn't" eat anything. The feeling of my jeans cutting into my tummy while playing on the floor with my kiddo is a sensation I decided I was ready to be done with - so here I am, airing my chubby laundry on a blog and it feels great!  

Happy Sunday everyone! 

xoxo 

Nic 





Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Day two and three.

Checking in on Day two and Day three of this week to review the workouts.  So far I'm down 6 pounds! Happy dance Happy Dance!  I'm not big on the scale and I know there are far far better ways to measure success like inches and pant size and mental and physical health ( all of which are also improving) but the scale and I have been fighting since my little peanut was born and to see it moving effortlessly toward my pre baby weight is so exciting.  

So.... 

Day Two: Agility X 
Other than Yoga this is my favorite. Two tape lines on the floor to help guide your moves. You're lunging, squatting, toe tapping and running around those suckers for 30 delightful minutes. This one is a sweat fest but the tush and legs feel just the right amount of sore the next day. There is a mix of speeds and modifications as needed. These tape lines are my new best buddies and our living room has never looked better ( kidding) 


Day three: Yoga 
I'm a yoga novice so I'm not sure the "type" but it flows from move to move relatively quickly and even has some tripod handstands included ( which for the record I cannot do).  I snuck this one in today with my kiddo running all over the place, so while I did get the workout done, I'm not sure I got the relaxing zen-like state I was hoping for. He's a pretty cute little yoga buddy if you ask me. 


Here's my most current photo ( Selfie alert!)  Starting to feel a bit smaller but this mommy tummy and I are going to have to battle it out I can just tell.  


Thanks for being on this adventure with me!  Holding myself accountable to this space is helping so much more than I could have imagined.  Horribly scary putting my life out here in this way, but in reality, my mom and my close friends are probably my only "readers" and they've already seen my mommy tummy. 

xoxo 

Nic