Getting Summer Ready! 4/25/13

So, a few weeks ago, the beautiful miss Akilah posed a very good question: what do we need to do to get our bodies right for the summer?

While I’m a firm believer that there is no healthy or permanent ‘quick fix’ for any physical aesthetic issues we may have and also that one should maintain a healthy body year round, I know that this is a question that comes to the majority of women this time of year.  

First and foremost, I’d like to reiterate what I’ve already said about nutrition – it is single-handedly the most important part! You can go to the gym and sweat your ass off for two hours a day but if you come home and eat like crap, your body will still look like crap. Here are a few easy changes to make:

Sodium: Watch out for it! Sodium (salt) will make you retain water and look/feel bloated. You’ll find a load of this stuff in any pre-packaged or processed foods. This includes soups, instant pasta dishes, frozen meals, pre-mixed spices (aside from those made without salt), sodas etc. I don’t have to mention chips and stuff, right? Just don’t do it. Dining out can also be a big issue. There are tons of hidden calories and sodium in restaurant food… just think of where the food is coming from when the restaurant prepares it – are they using fresh ingredients or are they taking things from a can/bag/box and mixing them together? My rule of thumb for dining out? Don’t. While I love enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant just as much as the next foodie, it’s much easier to control what goes into your body when you are preparing the food.

Carbs: Oh, the dreaded carbs. While carbohydrates are absolutely essential for a healthy life – be mindful of how much you’re eating and where they’re coming from! Simple carbs like white rice, white flour, white potatoes (are you seeing a trend here? [hint – white]) basically turn to sugar when they process in the body and, when not burned, sugar turns to fat. Yuck, right? SO when you’re eating your carbs make sure that they are complex carbs and as whole as possible! I love to use quinoa (a complete protein as well as complex carb), brown or black rice on the occasion (black rice is a super food and is delicious!), and beans (I prefer black, again a great protein as well). Aside from the issue of simple carbs eventually turning to fat in the body, they will also make you bloat and retain water if eating too much. I like to keep my carbs at about ¼ of my total food intake. This is lower than the official suggestion of 60%, but with my goals, 25% or less works for me.

Fats: Okay, let’s get something straight – fat is not all bad. There are good fats and there are bad fats, we obviously want to stick with the good ones. Good fats can be found in extra virgin olive oil (make sure it’s extra virgin and of good quality!!), nuts (almonds, walnuts etc – be cautious of cashews, they’re like the French fries of nuts), good quality fish (if you eat it) like salmon, avocado etc. Stay away from anything that is ‘Fat-Free’ when shopping for foods. When they take out the fats, they supplement with extra sugar (in most cases) and you certainly don’t want that. Go for ‘Low-Fat’ instead although, honestly, I haven’t bought anything that needed to be ‘low-fat’ in QUITE a while. I’ll speak more on this in a minute.

Sugar: Stay the hell away. White sugar is the devil. It turns to fat and has been proven to cause cancer. Need I say more? While some foods (most fruits, for example) have natural sugars, you want to avoid added sugars. If an ingredient list reads any of the following: sugar, sucrose, corn syrup, glucose etc – don’t buy it. Especially if it’s one of the first things listed. Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that food packaging lists ingredients in order of proportion. So if sugar is the first thing listed, that means that that food item is mostly sugar. And you don’t want it. Also try to avoid artificial sweeteners as much as possible! That’s just like throwing a bunch of chemicals down your throat. If I absolutely need a sweetener for something, I go for raw agave nectar or brown rice syrup or something along those lines. Again, I avoid it like the plague but if I’m going to use it, it’s going to be from a whole, natural source.

Water: Drink the hell out of it! Seriously. Just don’t stop drinking it.

In general: I always always always recommend that you keep with a natural, whole diet. Eat as many fresh (organic, if possible) veggies and fruits as possible! Fill up on these naturally low-fat and low-sugar foods, then get your energy from whole and healthy carbs and proteins like quinoa, black rice, beans, or fish, lean poultry and egg whites if you eat it. When I said before that I haven’t had to buy anything ‘low-fat’ in a long time it’s this simple: the majority of the food that I purchase doesn’t have a nutrition label. If you were to see my grocery cart, you would see that it is 85% fresh produce. Aside from that, you’ll find beans, quinoa, sprouted grain tortillas, nuts, etc. Fresh, whole, healthy. J

OKAY – I’ll get off of my nutritional soapbox now and move on to fitness! There’s a common misconception that if you just go run for an hour, you’ll lose weight. Studies have proven that shorter bursts of higher-intensity cardio sessions will burn fat much faster than longer, lower-intensity sessions of cardio. This is called High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT. I absolutely LOVE this kind of training. Is it hard? Yes. But it works. Not to mention the fact that your cardio sessions are much shorter, and who doesn’t love that? I’m certainly not saying to NOT go take a long walk or a jog  or bike ride or whatever your pleasure may be – I’m saying to add-in some HIIT to ramp-up the fat-burning. A good addition to a routine is a Tabata. Tabatas are only 4 minutes in length – 20 seconds at max intensity, 10 seconds rest for a total of 4 minutes. Who doesn’t have an extra 4 minutes? Take caution though, it may sound easy enough but it is difficult and I recommend that you do some research before trying. J

In addition to cardio, you’re going to want to do some sculpting. There’s no reason that you have to go to the gym for this, you have your own weights between your face and your feet! Bodyweight resistance can be just as effective when your goal is to tone what you have. Here’s a sample circuit:

10 pushups

20 crunches

30 second plank

30 second wall sit

10 tricep dips

20 squats

10 lunges each leg

Repeat 3x

This shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes or so and can easily be done anywhere!

 

If you know that you have trouble areas that you want to focus on for the summer, then go for it. Worried about your arms? Start doing pushups, tricep dips and planks. Legs? Squat and lunge it out, girl. Abs? Planks, crunches, high-knees, leg raises etc. (all of this in addition to cardio – cardio burns the fat off so the toned muscles can be seen J)

 

I know this is a lot of information but what it all boils down to:

Eat healthy

Drink Water

Move your body

 

Really, it’s that simple. Any questions? Just ask. J

 

Keep on Keepin on! 4/22/13

Oh hiiii! Well hell, there sure have been some things going on! I have wanted to post for quite some time but I’ve been running a little crazy! Finals were last week and I also had to work every night so I was pretty much pooped and out of time.

 

Anyway – I’ve had some pretty good workouts lately! Saturday I got in the gym and did the following:

25 minutes run/walk on the treadmill (2m run / 1m walk)

Circuit (5 rounds): 10 pushups / 20 mountain climbers / run 1 lap

Stair Mill: 5 min (speed intervals – my legs were killing me)

Swim: 25 minutes

 

I went into the gym with the intention of strictly doing cardio but the issue with that plan is that, well, I hate doing cardio. Hence the reason I did a bunch of different things for shorter periods of time. Either way, the workout worked! It kicked my butt and I left there feeling sufficiently beat down… and then I went to bellydance for two hours! We have a special performance next weekend so we’ve been squeezing in practices as much as possible.

 

After dance, twas time for meal prep! Here’s what I prepped this week:

Breakfast:

·         1c cooked Quinoa w/ 1tbs raisins and cinnamon

Snacks:

·         1/2c sugar snap peas (delish – try them!)

Lunch/Dinner:

·         Tempeh Lettuce Roll-ups with roasted Broccoli and Purple Cauliflower

·         Roasted veg with quinoa

·         Mexi Quinoa Bowls

Yum!

 

I posted a picture of my meal prep from last week but never got around to posting what It was so here it is:

·         Bell peppers stuffed with quinoa, chickpeas, and other veg served with roasted broccoli and purple cauliflower

·         Poblano peppers stuffed with quinoa, black beans, tomatoes etc served with roasted asparagus, broccoli and purple cauliflower

·         Mexi Qunoa bowls

Everything was really yummy!

 

As I’ve said before – meal prep is so incredibly important! I think people tend to forget that your nutrition is even more important than your workouts. I’ve heard it 1 million times and it is completely true, “Abs are made in the kitchen.” It is so important to keep it clean and keep it lean, folks! A rule that I try to follow when shopping: if I can’t readily purchase all of the ingredients listed on a food, I don’t buy it. The foods that have all of the added chemicals and fillers are only going to hurt your body so, quite simply, stay away from them!!

 

I don’t have a ton of time tonight (as usual) but I will do my best to continue to post pictures and quick tips on my Facebook page!

 

Also, some work friends have begun a ‘Biggest Loser’ challenge! We’re all weighing-in every Monday and the person that loses the largest percentage of body weight at the end of the 3 month challenge gets the money! (we all paid $20/person + $1 for each pound gained at weigh-in) I didn’t really have a loss this week (.4lbs ha!) but I was beyond stressed last week and to be honest I wasn’t all that concerned. I’m far more focused this week and ready to see that number go down!

Alright friends, keep it healthy! If anyone ever has any questions, feel free to contact me via this blog, Facebook or my email thelosingpath@hotmail.com.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

It Feels Good to Feel Good! 4/2/13

Hello there! Man, today was a good day. I stuck to my nutrition yesterday and woke up and had a great workout (see below) and another great day with my nutrition!

Very exciting to report the following news: When I weighed in over the past week, I’ve been averaging around 240 – and even hit 244 during one weigh-in. After only 48ish hours of well-planned and disciplined nutrition, I weighed-in this morning (pre workout) at 234.6!! Oh HI 5ish pound loss! I’ll take that! I was beyond thrilled to see that number and actually stepped off and back on the scale to make sure that it was correct. J This just goes to show, AGAIN, how incredibly important nutrition is!! I have been preaching that for quite some time and it feels so good to finally be ‘practicing what I’m preaching’ again!

Here is my workout this morning:

Bent Over Row (barbell) 2x20x50lbs & 2x15x60lbs

Dumbbell Delt Flye 4x20x15lbs

Dead Lift 4x10x115lbs

Straight Bar Cable Pull Down 4x20x35lbs

Single-arm Cable Lateral Raise 4x10x10lbs

Delt/Lat Hammer Pulldown 4x15x55lbs

Treadmill: Run/Walk total of about 16 minutes… I got a bad cramp and had to stop L

Abs:

Dumbbell Side Bends 2x20x40lbs

Decline Bench Cross-punch 2x20x5lbs

 

Overall I felt great after my workout! I even took some flex pictures when I got home J See…

 

And on the menu today:

1 scoop protein w/ water immediately following workout

Breakfast:

2 scoops protein w/ 8oz coffee & 8oz water

1c cooked oatmeal w/ cinnamon and 1tbs raisins

Lunch:

Black bean burger patty w/ scratch-made pico de gallo, roasted asparagus and quinoa with hot sauce and chopped greens (spinach and various spring lettuces)

Snack:

½ banana w/ almond butter

Snack:

4oz roasted veg w/ 1tbs hummus and hot sauce

Dinner:

Roasted cauliflower steak w/ smokey tomato sauce, roasted asparagus and quinoa mixed with chopped greens and salsa

 

The whole day was quite nutritious and very delicious!! I have found (especially during downtime at work) that I am still snacky. Where I would normally grab shitty food (at work… pub chips, etc) I am instead taking a slice of cucumber and pouring some salsa on top. It’s tasty and basically free (nutritionally)! I am hoping that over the next week of being on my nutrition plan that my stomach will shrink down a bit so I don’t feel hungry all the time. I’m trying to also drink as much water as possible so that I feel fuller and don’t want the food. It’s not that I’m starving myself or anything, I just know that I feel mentally hungry more so than physically hunger far too often… and I’m trying not to feed that mental hunger. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I have a food addiction, and discovered that the best way for me to handle it is through restriction. I don’t know how to ‘just have a taste’ or have ‘only one’ of anything, to be honest. So, if I don’t think I should be eating it, I have to cut it out of my diet completely. And so I have. J Sugar is gone, fried foods are gone, breads and pastas are gone. Only nutritious and lean whole foods shall be passing my lips. Actually, I've taken on a 30 day sobriety challenge, as well! And I tell ya what, I’m loving it!

 

Let’s talk meal prep! Total time to get everything together was about 3 hours or so, which I didn’t think was bad considering I was cooking meals for an entire week. I didn’t do the different sauces as I indicated in my last post. I made the first Smoky Tomato Sauce and I ended up making enough for everything that I needed so I didn’t see a point in making another. Here’s a breakdown:

Item 1:

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

I took one large head of cauliflower, removed the leaves and sliced it through the stem into approx 1” steaks. I then poured enough low-sodium vegetable stock in the bottom of a baking dish to coat the bottom (with a little extra), placed the cauli steaks in the broth and sprinkled minced garlic over top. I covered the dish with foil and roasted at 375-400 for about 45 minutes, until the stock was dry. (I ate this dish tonight and the cauliflower was GREAT!) There will be excess cauliflower after getting the steaks (I got 3 steaks out of my head) and you can use the excess for roasted veggies!

 

Item 2:

Roasted Veggies

In addition to the cauliflower (broken down/chopped to appropriate-size pieces), I chopped red bell pepper, red onion and zucchini. As with the cauliflower, I poured low-sodium veg stock in a baking dish and poured the veggies in the stock (a bit more than cauliflower). I then seasoned the veg with cumin, minced garlic and smoked paprika, tossed it all together to coat, covered with foil and roasted alongside the cauliflower steaks, stirring occasionally.

 

Item 3:

Roasted Endive

I took four Belgian Endive heads, quartered them and then roasted them on the same baking sheet as my asparagus, tossed in the excess oil left from the asparagus. Roasted at 400 for about 10 minutes, turned and roasted for another 5-10 (tender-crisp).

 

Item 4:

Quinoa. SO simple! One part quinoa to two parts water, add in a cold pan together and bring to boil Once boiling, reduce to slow simmer and cover with lid. Simmer until liquid is absorbed, fluff with a fork and it’s ready!

 

Sauce:

Smoky Tomato Sauce

1can Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1tsp Agave nectar

1tbs Garlic, minced

1tbs Smoked Paprika

1tbs EVOO

½ small red onion, diced

Squeeze lemon juice

Blend everything together in blender, strain into saucepan and simmer over low/medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Taste to adjust seasonings.

 

For the asparagus, I roasted as indicated in my previous post. (EVOO, salt and pepper, 400 degrees, 20 minutes)

 

And that’s it! Nothing was overly complicated or time-consuming… but it’s all delicious! I portioned ½ cup quinoa with every dish as well as the accompanying vegetables/sauce.  Here’s my finished result:

 

 

Great, right?! I love it and can't wait to do it all again on Sunday!!

Alright kids, my bed time has come and gone and I am sreeeeeepy! Good night!! Here's to health and happiness. :)

 

Oh Happy Day :) 3/30/13

Hey there, hi there, ho there! I tell you what, I’m feeling great today! I’m not sure if it’s the beautiful weather we had in NKY today, the blooming flowers, the happy Easter holiday or what – but something’s working!

I decided today that it is time to lock it up. Again. I’m getting control of my nutrition and I am excited about it! I went to the grocery store and dominated the produce section! I got lots of delicious vittles for meal prep and options for healthy snacks. This is what I have planned for my meals this week (rotating):

Lunch/Dinner:

·         Roasted Cauliflower Steak with Smoky Tomato Sauce, Quinoa and Roasted Zucchini

·         Black Bean Burger, Quinoa and Roasted Asparagus

·         Roasted Vegetables with Chipotle Sauce, Quinoa

Breakfast (in addition to 2 scoops pea protein powder + water):

·         Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortilla, PB2 and Banana wrap

·         1 cup(cooked) Oatmeal with cinnamon, a few raisins and fresh blueberries

I must say, I’m pretty excited about all of it! I’ll post recipes for everything once I figure it out (though breakfast is pretty self-explanatory). J

I’ve noticed that I’m having a hard time keeping to my clean eating because I am letting outside influences take over. I’ve been blaming my work, my house, my schedule – everything. What it boils down to is just the simple fact that I haven’t been disciplined enough, but that’s changing as of now! It is beyond time for me to regain control of my life and my body. I know that getting to the gym is going to be a struggle for a while, due to the simple fact that I often work late (getting home between 11-1230 at night) and then have homework to do… which makes waking up at 5am quite difficult. I am going to do my best with it. Now that the weather is finally breaking and getting warmer, I plan to start running outdoors again, taking Nora for hilly walks etc… anything to get in as much exercise as possible.

I’ve been pretty down lately. Thus far, 2013 has introduced stress beyond my mental capacity and it has taken a huge toll on my health. I basically spent the first two months of the year sick – due to stress, lack of sleep and poor nutrition. I noticed myself getting on that routine again and got sick over the last few days but I am changing it all now. After being completely miserable yesterday with a migraine and feeling nauseas, I slept really great last night, ate better today and am doing something that is really important for my life: planning and preparing. With my schedule as crazy as it is, I know that if I am not adequately prepared, I’m screwed. SO, meals are planned and will be prepped tomorrow. My schedule is full this week but I plan to utilize my time as efficiently as possible to get good sleep every night. And I’m going to try not to get too stressed. I said try.

And now for a recipe!

 

Black Bean Burgers (adapted from Vegetarian Times magazine)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cans Black Beans, drained and rinsed (roughly 2 cups)

1 ½ cups Carrots, peeled and chopped fine or grated (roughly 4 carrots)

1 small onion, chopped (roughly 1 cup)

½ cup Rolled Oats (not instant)

¼ cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Chile Powder

1 tsp Smoked Paprika

1 tbs Garlic, minced

1 tsp Kosher Salt

Pinch Black Pepper

Procedure:

·         Pulse beans, carrots, onion, oats, cilantro, spices, garlic, salt and pepper in food processor until combined (not completely pureed).

·         Pinch the mixture to see if it holds together; if not, add low sodium vegetable stock or water 1tbs at a time until it does.

·         Chill the mixture 30 minutes to overnight before forming patties.

·         Shape into patties – size is up to you, I was able to get 7 out of this recipe.

·         Heat skillet (I used non-stick) or griddle over medium heat. Spray with non-stick spray and carefully place patties onto cooking surface. Cook 3-5 minutes (until browned and crisp in places), flip and cook another 3-5 minutes.

·         Serve with desired garnishes. (I ate mine without bun, topped with butter lettuce, sliced tomato and fresh black bean/corn salsa)

Black Bean Burger with Roasted Asparagus

 

Chill Out, Life! 3/26/13

Well kids, mama’s a little overwhelmed right now. The past sixish months have brought quite a lot to my life and it’s not slowing down any time soon. Brief re-cap: I’m in school full time (working to maintain my 4.0), working part to full time, taking care of Nora whenever I’m not doing those things, dealing with the ex and all of the nonsense that comes with him all while trying to maintain some sort of personal sanity. That last part has proven to be difficult. Unfortunately, with everything else that is going on, sticking to my fitness and nutrition plan has, well, not happened. Mostly due to the lack of time, I haven’t been going to the gym consistently, if at all, and my nutrition has had its ups and downs. I’m trying to get back into my gym routine and am consciously working on my nutrition (meal planning, prepping etc) but I am more or less maintaining at this point. I’ve continued to weigh myself and I seem to be maintaining between 230 and 240lbs. I’m not  necessarily happy with this (especially when it gets closer to 240) but I am glad that I’m not gaining it back – and I think I can give veganism a lot of credit for that.

I do have plans for myself: I plan to run a variety of 5ks throughout the summer and cap off the year with the Tough Mudder in October. I have quite a lot of training to do for all of these events but I am confident that I can prepare myself adequately, if I work hard to find the time to dedicate to the training.

Now, I certainly didn’t get back to my blogging just to complain the whole time… I am excited about some of the things going on right now! My culinary education is going really well and I am becoming all the more passionate about food and health. I’ll be sharing recipes again and look forward to creating some beautiful and healthy dishes to share! Today, a simple but delicious side dish:

Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients:

·         1 bunch Asparagus, ends trimmed

·         1-2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

·         1 tsp Kosher Salt

·         ½ tsp Ground Pepper (black or white)

 

Prodedure:

·         Pre-heat oven to 400.

·         Lay asparagus in even layer on baking sheet; drizzle oil over and toss to coat

·         Sprinkle salt and pepper and roast in oven until tender-crisp (20-25 minutes)

·         Enjoy!  

Seen below, served aside a Black Bean Burger (to be shared at a later date :) )

So at this point, my goal for this blog is the same as it was when it began: document my weightloss and share recipes, workouts and tips for any and all interested readers.  The biggest changes lie in the fact that I don't have quite as much time to commit to it as I did when I started and my personal goal is now the progression of my body, and not simply weight loss. I am working to become stronger and more overall fit and healthy, not just lighter. I hope that you will continue to follow my progress and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have; food, exercise or otherwise! :)

Here is a current picture, comparison of 4 years ago:

BTW I'm also on Instagram now! @amcrowdus

Going Insane 10/11/12

Howdy folks! It's been an interesting past week or so, a LOT of stuff going on.
Fall is into full swing and I love it!!! Aside from Christmas, this is my favorite time of year :) The boots, scarves, smell of cinnamon and spice, family-time, pumpkin patches, changing colors of the leaves... I absolutely adore it all! However, this time of year is quite challenging for me, nutritionally. When it gets cold outside I just want to cuddle up in giant sweatpants and eat warm pumpkin bread and drink mulled cider. Trying to stay focused and on track proves to be rather difficult, but as I've said many-a-time, I fully intend to enjoy my life while on this Path, and I most certainly have been enjoying. :)
Moving on, my workouts have been going really great. I decided that what I was doing wasn't enough so I added Insanity to the mix! As described on their website, it's "10 INSANITY workout discs packed with plyometric drills on top of nonstop intervals of strength, power, resistance, and ab and core training moves." In lamence terms, it KICKS YOUR ASS. Or well, my ass currently. I don't love working out at home but I can't tell you how many times I have been working out out and said out loud "come on!", "let's go!" or just shouted while doing this workout. It's crazy hard but it's not super long (average around 41 minutes start to finish), you get rest periods between work periods and I feel really accomplished (and pretty badass) when I'm done! So I've been doing my regular workouts in the morning, going to school and doing Insanity when I get home. It seems to be working out pretty well this way. With the Insanity schedule, I have switched my rest-day from the gym to Sunday so my weekly schedule looks like this:

Monday: 60min Cardio & Long Ab workout; Insanity
Tuesday: Chest & Back(strength), Short Ab workout, 30min cardio; Insanity
Wednesday: 60min Cardio & Long Ab workout; Insanity
Thursday: Legs & Butt(strength), Short Ab workout, 30 min cardio; Insanity
Friday: 60min Cardio & Long Ab workout; Insanity
Saturday: Biceps & Triceps(strength), Short Ab workout, 30min cardio; Insanity
Sunday: Ressssst.


I started Insanity last week but I was off schedule with the calendar that came with the DVDs SO I restarted on Monday to stay on track. Then I missed yesterday so I had to do 2 workouts today, plus my regular gym time this morning. Not gonna lie, mama's a little tired!
Like I said the other day:
"If you've got it, flaunt it. If you don't have it, go get it." The 'it' in that quote will of course vary as everyone has their own opinion of what is healthy/attractive; I know what I want, and I'm going for it. I joke around about it but I'm not aiming to be Olsen-twin skinny... I have a big head, a super skinny body would look ridiculous. I aim to be lean as far as body fat, but thick with muscle. I love muscle, always have and always will. The power of muscle has always fascinated me and I think it's absolutely beautiful on (in) the human body. I've been noticing some promising changes in my physical form... more defined quads, tighter and better defined calves, same with biceps and triceps... I love it!!
People make comments all the time like "I don't know how you do it!" "I wish I had your motivation!" I can honestly say that seeing these changes in my body has become my motivation. The reason I wake up at 4:30am to get to the gym, bust ass 6 days a week, sacrifice my social life... simply put, it's important to me. I realize that it may not be important to everyone else and my way certainly won't work for everyone but I do hope that more people start to see the importance of over-all health - and also understand what it means to be healthy.
I went to the doctor for a general check-up the other day and for some reason, was thoroughly shocked. I mentioned to the doctor that I was slightly concerned about my blood pressure being a bit high. Even after losing over 100lbs, it still tends to be a bit high. This is in thanks to heredity and too much stress in general. He immediately instructed me to "stay away from processed foods and canned soups... and to try to get some exercise, maybe try walking." I just sat there for a minute, I couldn't believe that he would assume that I would eat that shit or that I wasn't already busting ass. Then, I realized that most of the people that walk through his door DO eat that shit and DON'T move their asses... which is most likely one of the biggest reasons they're walking through his door in the first place! After leaving his office, I went to the pharmacy (within the grocery store) to pick up my birth control and ahead of me in line was a woman picking up a number of prescriptions, and I couldn't help but notice that her cart contained the following: white bread, boxed cookies, boxed pastries, lean cuisines and soda. HELLO? The ignorance (and sometimes just laziness) of the general population is depressing. I walked through the store to pick up some EVOO and every cart that I spied contained a generous portion of red meat, processed shit, soda, simple carbs and nearly NO produce or natural, healthy foods. It's frightening. I was sincerely upset when I left that store and immediately sent Branden a text message that read only as "We have to get Nora out of this place."
I am so beyond proud that my daughter will pick up junk food and say "We don't eat this because it has a lot of sugar and it's bad for our bodies." - and she isn't even 3 years old. She exercises with us and, honestly, has more knowledge of nutritional health than some adults I know. Of course, she is a toddler and will throw the occasional fit for a sweet treat but we make a point to let her know that although that treat isn't good for our bodies, it's okay to indulge on the occasion.
Some people criticize our parenting tacticts but honestly, I don't give a shit. Our goal is to raise the best person we can... and that's what I feel we're doing.

Okay, enough ranting... recipe time!
I made a new protein waffle the other day and it was delicious! I made a batch, froze them in zip loc bags (2per bag) and I've been toasting them and putting a little natural pnut butter on them for breakfast in the morning. I'm obsessed!

Protein Waffles
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 scoops Chocolate Protein Powder (I use pea isolate, natural chocolate from www.truprotein.com)
2tbs baking powder
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/8tsp salt
1 cup strong coffee
2tbs - 1/4cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (use to find correct consistency)

Mix everything up until the almond milk together.
Batter will most likely be thick, use as much almond milk as necessary to get the right consistency for waffles.
Cook on waffle iron.
**MAKE SURE you spray your waffle iron with non-stick spray VERY well! There is no fat in these waffles so they will stick. Be patient, pry them gently off of the iron... they're great. :)

Alrighty, I think that's about all I have for today! (I'd say it's enough!) :)
Here are a couple of pictures from the Alumni night that I forgot to post!

Good ol Glory Days! :)