Time to get connected...

So it has been 8 solid months of healthy eating habits, writing down everything in my food journal and trying to maintain the social aspect that comes along with food, alcohol and calories.  Since I am leaving for the Cayman Islands in 3 days I figured it was a good time to try a juice cleanse.  I am intrigued by how this process is said to help develop a closer connection with my body (something I've been on a quest for since mid 2012).  Men's Magazine stated that this is a good way to shed light on how our eating habits have become conditioned and we can improve mental clarity, sense of well-being, weight-loss and better digestion.  It's nice to know that these days my main goal isn't just weight loss (as it may have been in the past) rather so much more than that.  I've come to realize that weight loss is actually the easy part.  The part of this process I'm most intrigued with is the connection I look forward to having with my mind and the challenge I feel it will be to drink juice for three days.  I have a feeling I will have never felt better boarding that plane on Tuesday morning for the Caribbean.  I'm picking up my juices in 10 minutes!  Stay tuned!!

Toning time...

Left = 11/29/2012   right = 3/8/2013

Interesting to see side by sides.  Unfortunately, since I didn't even realize I was going to be getting super into fitness, I didn't take a legitimate "before" photo.  It would have actually been very interesting to see myself, 40 lbs heavier.  In any event - Tray has become a fan of taking snaps of me every once in awhile and I made a Diptic of the same tricep work out from my birthday (when I hit my 29 goal) and today at 40 lbs.  So - about 3 months and 1 week later and 8 lbs.  Can you tell the difference? :)

The final 10.

I have decided.  The final 10 lbs is the worst and will be the hardest!!!!  This is the time to remember to keep going, don't eat that huge awesome sour dough baguette tonight (even though it looks so tasty and you'd love to put a bunch of garlic and cheese on it and throw it in the broiler) and remember the hard work it took to get here - and how amazing I feel.  I definitely enjoy myself, don't get me wrong - but there is a time when the going gets tough that the tough get going and it's time to work hard. 

A++++

I had a perfect diet day yesterday...couldn't get much better than my Thursday.  No late night snacking, no fro-yo and 5 small meals a day with 4 servings of veggies and 2 huge bottles of water (72 ounces!)

Thursday 2/21 =
5:30 AM = Trayning
8:15 AM = 3 egg whites with spinach
11:00 AM = Turkey jerkey (4 pieces - all natural, low sodium)
1:30 PM = 1 cup quinoa (spinach, zucchini, bell pepper with hot sauce) and 1 cup spinach / zucchini soup
6:00 PM = 45 minute sauna session
8:00 PM = 8 pieces sashimi (light soy sauce and only a little bit)

THAT'S IT!  so proud of myself :)

Pre cooking for the week - veggie style!

It's been a bit of a hectic week.  Since getting into my 'goal weight' last Wednesday I've been moving and shaking to Palm Springs and back - definitely enjoying a bit.  I've come to realize that pre-cooking is the number one way to success and always making sure you have food available to eat every couple hours is important.  I decided to cook for the week and came up with some great recipes to share below.  I also roasted a whole head of cauliflower which is simple and good for snacking.  on a pan just cut the cauliflower so it's in little flowerlets, drizzle with olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper and throw in the oven at 350.  You can see when it's browned on top.  When done, pull out and package up to bring to work for an afternoon veggie fix!

Spinach and Zucchini Soup

What you need:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
big pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups potatoes (2 medium) cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 1/2 cups zucchini (2 medium), loosely chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
4 cups fresh spinach leaves, loosely packed
1 cup cilantro, loosely chopped
one lemon

I did a variation of this soup adding celery and carrots although I do not recommend.  I often feel celery and carrots to over power the flavor and turn everything into a celery and carrot soup.  I also was not generous with the salt as I am trying to be as low sodium as possible to not retain water for weigh ins so I did not add salt (but I would recommend as the soup could be a bit bland).

 First in a large stock pot I added the carrot, celery, onion mixture with olive oil and cooked until the onions were a bit translucent.  I then added the zucchini and potatoes (although my potatoes were already cooked) and LOW SODIUM vegetable broth.  I brought this to a pretty good boil for about 7-10 minutes.  Once cooked, I threw a bag of spinach leaves in the soup and mixed until wilted (which only takes a minute).  With my handy IMMERSION BLENDER (WHICH I TOTALLY RECOMMEND) I mixed it all up.  Notice - this soup is pretty veggie forward.  I'm into that sort of thing because I am trying to eat 5 servings of veggies a day but you'll want to add salt and negate the carrots and celery if you make on your own.  I drizzled the top with a bit of olive oil.  Also, I used the quinoa from the rice cooker with the soup and it was actually awesome....

Jen + Parker's AMAZING quinoa recipe!!

1 1/2 cups of organic WHITE quinoa (you can get RED but I don't like as much as it tastes a bit gritty)
1 can Cajun black beans (Trader Joes are awesome)
1 jar fire roasted yellow and red bell peppers (again, Trader Joes although you can go fresh if time allows)
1/2 bag of spinach
1 can green chilis (Traders....)
3 small zucchinis

I cook my quinoa in a rice cooker (this time cooking the quinoa with vegetable broth instead of water).  The rice cooker makes it very easy and cooks perfectly every time.  Once cooked I throw in a large pan with all the stuff above.  I usually use only 2/3'rd the can of cajun beans and 1/2 the jar of bell peppers as well as 1/3rd the can of the green chilies as they're a bit spicy!  I cook the spinach separately as well as the zucchini and add to the skillet after.  I cook the quinoa for about 15 minutes constantly stirring around.  This recipe will make a LOT but I eat this throughout the week as it's the best snack.  Also I add hot sauce (Tapatillo, Chalula, Mucho Aloha....it's the best on the quinoa!)

UPDATE on Goal wEEEEEK....

So I made my goal.  Back in the day (7 months ago when I started on this venture), Tray told me "man, the 130's are going to look so good on you"....me, because I was in my largest weight at the time and tired and bloated about 90% of the day thought "You HAVE to be kidding me...130's?  What are you smoking?" but low and behold --- hard work and dedication paid off.

This brings me to a business venture....

Is there anyway you can "rent" designer jeans because my new black Paige denims are too big now haha

Goal wEEEEEK....

So this week is going to be an interesting one.  Since I've been in a silly plateau not losing much since my birthday (a couple lbs) we've decided that this week is the week to get to that next level.  In order to do this I need to drop those pesky 2 lbs that have been annoyingly hanging on to my mid-section.  This is going to take serious will power because I have a MILLION things planned in terms of dinners and events.  It's hard enough when you're eating what you want and can control your meals...every two hours, small meals, planned out...but when you go to your sister's house for dinner on Monday, your boyfriend's uncle's 60th at Ballpark Pizza on Wednesday, your mom's birthday at Boiling Crab on Thursday and Palm Springs for the weekend how do you swing not eating salt and getting your work outs in?  I'll tell you one thing that will happen..morning work outs!  I'll be at the gym w a long sleeve and a sweatshirt getting to my end goal by Friday because I know I can and I love a good challenge :)