Update on Life, Natural Pinkeye Remedy, Stress, and Tuna/Salmon Salad Recipe

Hello strangers!  Sorry I've gone MIA again.  I've entered a time in my life where stress has reared its ugly head and I'm trying really hard to find the balance amidst it all.  I've taken on a few too many projects, and I think all these projects would work out a lot better if I were tackling them about a decade later.  Because let's face it, taking on personal projects is reeaaaalllyyy hard to do when you have two small children to take care of.  Or for me it is, anyway.  I'm not a very maternal person, believe it or not, so honestly I think of all the stressors in my life, parenting is the hardest and the one getting to me the most.

Other than that, business has been BOOMING.  I have some amazing clients that I am soooo so grateful for.  One major thing I need to do business-wise is learn how to schedule time for my secretary (a.k.a. me), my bookkeeper (a.k.a. me), and my cleaning lady (a.k.a. me).  Sometimes I feel like all I have is a massage therapist on staff, as my files are piling up, my birthday coupons are weeks overdue to be sent out, and dust bunnies are nesting in my corners.  It's overwhelming I tell you!  Though, like I said, I am so grateful that this is the problem I have, being so busy.  It's definitely a good problem.

I've been doing an alternative market once a month too, which has been going very well.  I spend a the day (and some of the day before if I time it right) baking some of the recipes you find on this blog, as well as making pre-mixed packages of my paleo tortillas, cookies, and pancakes.  That evening I sell them at Market on Main in Red Bud, and I've gotten a lot of great feedback from my customers!  It's been very fun and rewarding, yet takes a lot of thought and planning making sure I get the ingredients I need as well as figuring up prices for my items.

Another project I've taken on is a 5k.  This idea started towards the end of last year when Justin and I were talking about the year a member of our community created a "Pay It Forward" run, which was an unofficial 5k that happened once a month, and she'd choose a different charity to donate to each time.  We'd donate whatever we felt like, she'd tell us the route, we'd take a group picture, and off we'd go.  Justin and I tried to make it to each one, and that was the year both of us were in our best shape.  We wanted to try to get back into running again, so I said how about we try to recreate the idea of the Pay it Forward run?  Not long after, Terri Liefer and I were talking about her new charity, Love Abby, in honor of her step daughter who's life was taken too early by a drunk driver.  The charity donates items to foster children in the local area, as well as homeless and women's shelters.  She said if I had any fundraiser ideas to let her know, so that's when I told her about my thoughts about a 5k.  It took off from there!  We're going to try to meet once or twice a month from April to October, and each time we'll collect items to donate to the Love Abby charity.

Maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew?  The first run is next Saturday, the 16th, and the only thing I have done is a 3.5 mile route planned out.  I intend to create a 5 mile route for bikers and more advanced runners, and a 1 mile route for walkers or novice runners.  I need to print maps, run copies of the printed maps, and create markers to put along the routes to direct people who don't do well with maps (or I'll just have to tell people to deal with it, ha).  But, at this point in time, I'm going to keep the routes the same each time.  So the next times, I wont have to think as much.  Just show up.

In amongst all this I'm still trying to keep my family eating healthy, manage the mundane tasks of homeownership like bills and cleaning and planning for the next projects we want to tackle with this new house, and raise these two lovely yet demanding children.  I've had to keep Harlee's karate schedule straight in my head, which I've screwed up a few times, and Elliot is at an age where I simply can't take him anywhere lest I go insane.  He refuses to talk at his ripe age of 20 months old (I could have full conversations with Harlee at this age), and lets me know with an adamant shake of the head that he's uninterested in vocally communicating with me, thank you very much.  And instead cries or whines or yells to communicate.  I'm so over it.

Natural Pink Eye Remedy

On top of all that, this has been the year of the pink eye at our house.  UGH it's relentless!!  What is up with that??  In case you're interested, I've cured it naturally every time.  But it seems like once I get rid of it, only three weeks later one of them will either bring another case home from school or daycare.  It's soooooooo contagious.  To treat it I put colloidal silver in their drinks, which is a natural antibiotic.  It's silver particles suspended in water, and bacteria cannot live on silver, and silver kills bacteria on contact.  I'm still working on researching how exactly that works, but I've known about it for decades and you can see it in action if you host a Norwex party.  I found this article, for starters, if you want to look into it yourself.  Anyway, I continue that a couple times a day until symptoms are gone. I follow up with lots of probiotics (I just break a capsule into their drinks), as you want to keep that beneficial bacteria thriving in your gut - that's what makes up most of your immune system!  I also use homeopathic eyedrops (they need to contain Euphrasia) 3-4 times a day until symptoms are gone.  Believe it or not, you can get these eyedrops at Walmart.  I've had it beat in no more than 3 days each time, usually it's gone within a day and a half.  If you choose to treat pink eye naturally in your own home, the rules according to our doctor are to wait 24 hours after symptoms have cleared up before returning to school or daycare.  I'm currently dealing with it again - Harlee brought it home from school and I had it kicked in a day and a half, but of course he shared it with Elliot, and I am still treating that.  That then messes up the schedule, as they have to stay home from school and daycare, which only adds to my stress with having to reschedule clients and find back-up to watch the boys (my mom has been a lifesaver).

So, that's where I am in life.  Not to mention it's getting nice out, so we've begun gardening, we've got lots of chickens, and we're getting ready to start landscaping and spend some tax return money on cabinets for our home office/mudroom (and hopefully get a little more organization into our lives).

Stress

One of these days (or weeks or months) I'm going to write a decent article about the effects of stress on our well-being.  Because I am totally experiencing that first-hand.  I've maintained a workout schedule, which amazes me to no end, yet I've been noticing the scale creeping up little by little.  Not cool! Especially after all the hard work I've put in to get it down!  I've been eating as healthy as I can, but I believe the stress in my life has thrown off some of my hormone production/transportation, as I've noticed with other symptoms going on.  I've been super bloated, feeling feeling fatigued during the day, I have a really hard time getting up out of bed in the morning, I'm craving junk food, my brain isn't firing on all cylinders, and I've been increasingly crabby despite the supplements I'm taking that I've always had success with.  I decided to start a mild cleanse.  I purchased a 14-day herbal cleanse kit from our local health store which basically contains two different herbal supplements to help detox your organs as well as a fiber supplement to help flush everything out.  I'm trying to focus on eating healthy during these two weeks as well as exercise regularly like I have been.  I'm on day 3 and already my fatigue is gone!  I actually got up with Justin at 5:30 this morning and did some basic stretching and yoga poses to start my day.  It felt really good!  Usually right about now I'd be ready to crawl back to bed for a nap and I'm still going strong!  I really hope I'm onto something!

It's almost time to pick up Harlee from school.  But before I wrap this up, I wanted to share a recipe with you, since it's been a long time since I've done that.  It's a tuna or salmon salad that I've made similar to my favorite chicken salad.  I've made it a few times both ways and it's been delicious every time!  I like to scoop some onto a bed of mixed salad greens and just eat it like that.  So good!

That's all for now, it was great to finally get to write again!  I miss this!  Hope you've been well, and I look forward to writing again!

Tuna or Salmon Salad

Sorry, can't come up with a more clever name.  It's got a lot of goodies in it!

2 cans tuna or 1 can salmon
1 boiled egg, chopped
1/4 cup real mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard (whichever kind you like)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2-1 stalk celery, finely diced
1/2 small yellow onion, finely diced
handful of dried berries
handful of chopped pecans or walnuts
(I didn't measure the berries or nuts - just put however much you like in there, or omit completely)

Mix ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Enjoy!

Love Yourself!

So we finally got the boys to bed, Justin crashed since he has to get up earlier than me and I went on to finish cleaning the kitchen and switch out the laundry.  I went out to the garage to turn the light off and caught a snippet of Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" on the radio (which plays all the time out there... I keep forgetting to ask Justin why he likes to leave it on) and then it got stuck in my head.  So as I was folding laundry I sang it to myself.  And reflected on how there's been this big body-loving movement going on encouraging everyone to love yourself no matter what size you are. Which is pretty awesome.

I'm on Instagram a lot - I use it as my online health journal.  Yep, I'm the person that posts swelfies after a workout or pictures of my super healthy meals.  If you don't like it, don't follow it (the glory of Instagram).  That being said, I follow a lot of like-minded people using IG as their online health journal as well.  I read the stories of people going from severely overweight to fit, and I read their stories about their journey, and find them so inspirational, then I go on to read some of the comments from other followers who say things like, "Your story makes it sound like fat people are bad."  Or, "What you said sounds a lot like fat shaming."

I've posted before and after pictures along my way too, and I always think, gee, I hope nobody thinks that of me.

I've worked my butt off to get to where I am (literally!).  Does that mean I think heavier people (is that the "politically correct" term?) are bad?  No.  I got to thinking about this whole concept as I was folding laundry...

What it all boils down to is self love.  Why did I want to lose weight?  Because I wasn't happy where I was before.  I lacked confidence, I felt sluggish, I felt fatigued, I felt weak, and I was depressed.  Diet and exercise changed all that for me, and while I lost weight, the most important thing is that I found happiness.

A lot of people have complained about themselves and their size or shape around me.  It sounds like a lack of confidence, but there's definitely a lack of self love. (I always liked the quote, "Would you talk about your best friend the way you talk about yourself?"  Think about that...)

So here's the thing.  There's nothing wrong with being fat, or skinny, or anywhere in between or beyond.  There's only something wrong with it if you're not happy in your skin.  And if you're willing to do something to change how you feel about yourself, no matter what amount of effort and hard work it takes, then do it.  If you're not willing to put forth the effort to change, then find a way to love yourself for who you are and what you are.

Better yet, do that anyway, even if you do have full intentions of embarking on a health or fitness journey.  It makes the journey much more successful, trust me.

Let's all practice self love this year!  And reap the benefits!  Quit comparing, quit shaming, and quit putting yourself down.  You are you - own it and rock it.

That's all!  Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, by the way.  I've been too busy juggling my business, preparing for adventures in 2016, organizing things from 2015, doing the family thing, recovering from the holidays, making it a priority to work out regularly, obsessing over trying to break my sugar addiction (which was my Christmas present to myself, hooray.) and trying to eat healthier.  I'm getting back there.  Maybe I'll blog about that next...

Anyway, I felt like sharing my musings from a late-night laundry folding session, short and sweet though it may be.  Hope everyone's 2016 is off to a great start!

Mother's Day Weekend Wrap-Up, Motivation, Lemon Caprese Pasta Salad and Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Recipes

Hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!  I had the best one yet (out of all four I've celebrated so far).  It was my first one as a mom of two, and my first one as a complete family.  I kicked it off with a trip to Paducah, KY, to run the Iron Mom 1/2 Marathon Relay with a group of awesome gals, and it was a blast!  It was great to get away for an overnight trip too (and Justin did just fine with the boys on his own!).

On Sunday the four of us went out for sushi for lunch (well, Harlee and Elliot didn't have any but Justin and I indulged - we love sushi!), did a little shopping, and got frozen custard later.  Yum!  I'm pretty sure I added back all the calories and then some that I burned off on the run... but oh well.

Now I'm back to the grind.  I did a crossfit workout this morning, then I came across an awesome post by Felicia Newell, a nutrition coach I follow on Instagram and Facebook.  I wanted to share her post with you and reflect on it a bit, both for my own benefit and maybe yours, if it resonates with you.  Here's the link to her post, but I'll copy and paste it in case that link doesn't work.

One of the very first (and most difficult) steps to making a lifestyle change is finding the motivation.

Do you, like many others, struggle with self motivation? Having a hard time getting yourself to your regularly scheduled workouts? Finding more and more reasons to cheat on your healthy diet?

Guess what? You're not alone! We all struggle with motivation sometimes, but I have some tips that can help you self-motivate and reach your goals.

A healthy dose of motivation coupled with determination will get you almost anything in life. So how do you know if you’re genuinely motivated?

- Motivation will tell you to get to your workout no matter what.
- Motivation will nag you to put down the doughnut.
- Motivation makes passing on fries a reflex.
- Motivation makes a sweat drenched workout exciting.
- Motivation constantly reminds you why you do what you do.

Self-Motivating Tip #1: Find Your Motivator.

Motivation stems from having a goal. What is your goal? Why do you want to get into great shape and/or make a lifestyle change?

Once you uncover your personal motivator you’ll find that motivation flows quickly your way.

Take a minute to really uncover the reason that you want to lose the weight. Don’t say something vague like you want to 'Be thinner' or 'Look more attractive.' Dig deeper – there is a very specific motivator in your life, you simply need to uncover it.

Here are some possible motivators…
- I want to have more energy to keep up with the kids.
- I want to improve my health through weight loss to extend and improve my life.
- I want to lose 15 pounds before my vacation.
- I want to restore my confidence to wear sleeveless shirts.
- I want to regain my figure to impress and attract my significant other.

Self-Motivating Tip #2: Make It Official.

When you write something down it suddenly feels official, doesn’t it? Write down your motivator for getting into great shape, and post it where you will see it often—next to your alarm clock, on the bathroom mirror, or in your car.

Each time you see your written motivator take a moment to visualize yourself accomplishing your goal. Try to make the scene as clear in your mind as possible. This is a powerful tool for maintaining your focus and direction.

Self-Motivating Tip #3: Be Practical.

It’s game plan time. You know what you want, and now you need to map out exactly how you’ll achieve it. It is important to be practical in your planning, rather than throwing out ideas that you know you won’t stick with.

With any weight loss goal it is important to 1) maintain a healthy low-calorie diet, and 2) participate in a consistent and challenging exercise program.

Plan a routine that will fit into your schedule and you’ll be more likely to stick with it. Also choose an exercise program that you enjoy—don’t force yourself to jog everyday if you hate jogging.

Self-Motivating Tip #4: Call For Backup.

Enlist the support of your friends, family and co-workers. Tell everyone about your goal to lose weight and get fit, you’ll be surprised how supportive most people will be. By being open about your goals you’ll likely be an encouragement to others to make healthy changes in their own lives.

I really liked that post, and it got me thinking about my own motivation.  I struggle with motivation to work out on my own, to go for a run on my spare time, and to eat healthy as often as possible.  Swimsuit season is fast approaching and I've just felt kinda "eh" about it.  And I know I won't feel that way when it's time to actually go swimming, so to do something about that I need to start NOW.  Apparently I need to dig deeper than the swimsuit though.  What is my motivator?

Feeling good is a motivator.  I came to a realization in the last couple days - when I eat foods that contain a lot of gluten, I have allergy attacks out of this world.  I feel like I have glass in my eyes, my nose is constantly running, sneezing, the works.  If I watch what I eat, I can tolerate the great outdoors without much trouble.  And I've been finding that it's not worth the great taste of food with gluten in it to put up with allergy attacks like that.  Added to that, I feel better all over when I eat right.  I have more energy, I have more mental clarity, I have more balance when I eat right.  Motivation.  And that's my step #2 mentioned above - writing it down.

What is your motivation?  I don't often get comments on this blog.  Feel free to comment your motivation!  Let's work together and fulfill #4!

So how about a couple recipes?

Remember that vegetable spiralizer I mentioned in my last post?  Yeah, that thing has been getting a workout!  I made classic spaghetti (though I just took a shortcut and made meat sauce instead of meatballs) and it was like the real deal.  Honestly, now that I have this spiralizer, I doubt I'll ever mess with a spaghetti squash again.  These zucchini noodles are way closer to the real thing.  They're awesome.

Sorry about the bad lighting...

Yellow zucchini squashes turn out even closer to the look of real pasta!

Basic Spaghetti Meat Sauce

1/2 lb ground beef (or venison in our case)
~ 30oz tomato sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp basil
1/2 tbsp oregano
1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the beef in a skillet and drain off the grease.  Meanwhile, combine all remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat.  Add the beef and mix until well incorporated.

I added about two zucchinis worth of noodles to this recipe and cooked it all together until the noodles were soft enough to my liking.

And it was delicious.

So this morning I was feeling inspired and decided to pluck some of my basil growing outside and use up the last of my zucchini  noodles with some of cherry tomatoes we had in the fridge.  Allow me to share my recipe!

Lemon Caprese Pasta Salad

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese cut into 1/2" pieces
2 zucchinis, peeled and cut into noodles

Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper together (I used a glass measuring cup).  Add the basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese and stir until combined.  Let sit while cooking the zucchini noodles over medium heat in a dry skillet, about 3-5 minutes.  Don't overcook or the noodles will become mushy!  Once they get a bit of a transparent look to them take them off the heat immediately.  Let cool, drain off the water, and add in your lemon caprese mixture.  Toss until well combined and enjoy!

Cooking the noodles a bit

Lemon caprese mixture

Tossed together

Serve!  Yummy!

A Week in the Life of Jami - Karate, A Paleo Meal Break-Down, and Discipline

I am mighty proud of the week I've had.  I've decided to write about it too, in hopes that I can maybe provide some inspiration.  I understand my circumstances are different from a lot of people's, but maybe you can adapt some of my advice into your lifestyle.

Last week Harlee started karate. I'm super excited about it, and he's enjoying it too (and he's adorable!).  I can tell this is going to be good for both of us. I'm a free-spirited person - routines, structure, and sometimes effective discipline aren't really my thing.  Bedtime and naptime is whenever they're tired, dinner time is whenever they're hungry, and as far as chores go, well, we have some general ideas of chores, but nothing that's enforced.  I encourage him to put his clothes in the hamper, to put his shoes away when he takes them off, to put his toys away when he's done with them, and to collect the eggs from the chickens, but sometimes his clothes are all over the floor (just like mine), his shoes are not on the shelf (also like mine), his toys get left out (much like my stuff), and I make up excuses for him and just collect the eggs myself.  This karate thing is all about focus, discipline, respect, structure - all that stuff I feel we need to work on.  I'm still not going to be very structured in every aspect of life, I'm just not that kind of person, but I feel with this he's getting a balance.  But I must say it is actually encouraging me to be a bit more routine at home, and to find structure.  This was his second week of karate, and my first week of structure and discipline in my own life.  Bedtime has been at 9pm every night, consistently including brushing our teeth, changing into pj's, reading a book, and going to sleep.  And it feels kinda good, which I wasn't expecting...

But the best part for me has been the new structure I've found with meal planning.  First of all, karate is at 6:10.  I pick him up from the sitter and we drive up to karate and are on the road home by 6:45.  I REFUSE to be a drive-through family.  REFUSE.  The first week we went to Dairy Queen the first evening and Subway the second.  That in itself was enough of a kick in the butt for me to figure something out.  That second evening, we stopped at the store on the way home and I had Harlee pick out his very own lunch box.  He found one he liked and was super excited about it.  But what was I going to put in it?  Let's face it, Paleo is tricky enough when it comes to feeding kids, and even harder if meals happen on the road.  It was looking like I may have to resort to sandwiches.  But I haaaaate store-bought bread.  Since cutting bread out of my diet, it all smells like chemicals to me now.  Probably because it is.  Well, turns out we have a bread machine that we got as a wedding present, that hasn't been used since going Paleo, and I thought, perfect.  I'll make the bread.  And for you haters out there muttering "overachiever" under your breath at me - seriously, it takes 5 minutes.  If that.  Load the ingredients, and push a button.  That's IT.  I do it at night, we have fresh bread in the morning.  It's stupid to buy bread.  Get a bread machine, and I don't care how busy you are, you do have time to bake your own bread.

Anyway! I digress.  So this week was super successful.  Justin has been on night shift so I didn't have to really think about a family dinner, but I know I've been needing to think about my diet.  I gained weight over the holidays, and apparently decided to extend the holiday season on into Easter.  I kept making excuses - I'd get back on the Paleo wagon after New Year's.  Then after my birthday in February.  Then once I started personal training in March.  Then after Easter.  Excuses excuses.  Now I guess I'm not THAT bad - I don't eat bread or pasta, but we'd go out to eat and I'd get a burger without the bun but eat all the fries.  Kinda defeats the purpose.  Going out to eat was becoming a problem, whether with Justin, friends, family, or even by myself.  Oh and don't get me started on all the Easter candy.  Plus I was only working out two days a week and that's it.  I completely stopped all physical activity in my basement gym, which totally sucked.  And I was feeling it.

I guess in the spirit of discipline and self-control that was being exercised in karate, and my determination to not swing myself and my kid through a drive through twice a week, I finally cracked down.  Lunches packed for Harlee, and stir-fries like they were going out of style for me and Justin (usually salads would be my go-to but they just seem super boring and unappealing lately).  And protein shakes for supper for me.

Monday I ran a mile and worked out in the basement.  I had bacon and eggs for breakfast, and for lunch I started working on meal prep for the rest of the week.  Most people meal prep on Sundays.  I prefer to keep holy the sabbath day.  Haha just kidding I'm not religious you know that, but I do like some time off.  Monday feels like a good day to kick start a good week.  I had thawed out some pork chops and cut them into cubes, and I started prepping veggies.  Fresh green beans got trimmed, broccoli got split into florets and stems cut into small pieces, brussels sprouts trimmed, and everything got put into bags.  Carrots, onions, cauliflower, snow peas, you name it.  That way I was ready for the week - grab a handful of whatever veggies sound good, throw them in the skillet, and voila.  So Monday I had pork and a bunch of veggies, olive oil, red wine vinegar, a drizzle of maple syrup for a bit of sweetness, and some spices - garlic powder, salt and pepper, basil and oregano.  I like to play around.  I made enough for me to eat for supper and for Justin to take to work that evening.  I work late on Monday nights so that evening I made a protein shake - I like Jay Robb's Chocolate Egg White Protein - because there are 5 recognizable ingredients in it instead of a long list of ingredients I can't even pronounce.  A scoop of that, a scoop of Barlean's Greens Chocolate Silk (I like chocolate, can you tell?), a scoop of almond butter for extra calories and flavor, and I blend it all up with a handful of spinach and almond milk (though I'm going to be switching to coconut milk once I run out since it's better for you).  Yes spinach - I love it in my smoothies.  Personal preference.

Tuesday I actually got up early enough to make a 3-serving stir-fry - one for breakfast for me, one for lunch for me, and one for Justin at work.  I used the last of the pork and whatever veggies sounded good, and did the same thing with the oil, vinegar, syrup, and spices.  I then made Harlee a turkey sandwich, filled a cup with carrots and cherry tomatoes and another cup with grapes, and packed it in his cool new lunch box.  I also made another protein smoothie for that evening.  I had personal training that afternoon, then that evening we went to karate and Harlee was thrilled with his packed supper.

Wednesday I had bacon and eggs for breakfast.  I ran almost 3 miles that morning, and since I was home that afternoon before evening clients I made another double-batch of stir-fry, one for me for lunch and one for Justin to take to work that night.  Then I made a smoothie for supper and headed to work.

Thursday was pretty much the same as Tuesday, only I decided to mix things up with the stir-fry.  I made chicken and added some tomato sauce, some Italian seasoning, Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, and made it pizza style.  It was delicious!  Next time I'll add pepperonis and black olives to it.  I made Harlee a ham sandwich, packed a cup of tomatoes and carrots and another of blueberries, packed it in his lunch box, blended up a smoothie, and headed to work.  Personal training that afternoon, karate that evening.

And today is Friday.  I'm off on Fridays.  I made my almond flour pancakes for breakfast (yum!) and then made a broccoli/chicken stir-fry for lunch with a cheese sauce made with unsweetened almond milk, arrowroot powder, and freshly grated cheddar cheese.  Garlic powder, salt and pepper, YUM.  To top it all off, I got out my vegetable spiralizer and made some zucchini noodles.  Seriously, invest in a spiralizer, these things are great!!  And zucchini noodles are even better than spaghetti squash, not even kidding!

I'll admit, I haven't been perfect - pretty much every day I snuck in some candy, and occasionally a sample of that homemade bread.  But I've gotten better - while Monday I feel like I grabbed chocolate and munched on it all day long, today all I've had were a couple of jelly beans.  The main thing is I'm not going to beat myself up, and every day is a new day - tomorrow I'll try harder.  But I'm focusing on my accomplishments - I made food for me, my husband, and my kid every day and I kept it pretty healthy too.  I exercised every day too, which is a great feeling.  And ya know what?  I'm seeing the difference!  I feel good, and I'm finally starting to LOOK good.  My clothes and the scale are both finally showing me that I've made progress.  And that's got me motivated to keep up the good work next week too.

So that's my week.  Hope it provided some inspiration!  Now off to snuggle in for a movie and not go to bed at 9 because it's the weekend.  Cheers!

Snow Day, Getting back on the Healthy Wagon, and Turtle Fudge Cheesecake

Both the boys are snoozing and the snow is still blowing around outside so I've finally got a moment of free time to share with you yet another AMAZING "cheese"cake recipe.  I'm addicted to these things!  It's my new favorite dessert.  I think I may have mentioned before that Elliot really doesn't seem to have a dairy intolerance anymore - I've been eating it and he's handled it just fine - but I can't stop making this dessert.  The first time I made it was because I wanted something to make me feel like I was still kind of eating a cheesecake even though I couldn't eat cheese.  And it turned out so freaking amazing that I just haven't stopped.  And there are so many different ways to make this, too!

So far the "cheese"cakes I have made include:
Cookie Dough
Pumpkin
Cherry
Chocolate Heath
Lemon-Blueberry

The lemon-blueberry has been my favorite so far.  But I'm a sucker for that flavor combination, and those flavors by themselves.  Girl Scout cookies came in and so far I've resisted busting into the box of Savannah Smiles and eating the whole thing all in one sitting...

On a side note, I actually haven't busted into the box because I've finally cracked down on my diet.  Like, gotten serious about it, for REAL this time.  Remember my first post of the new year?  I admitted that I'm human and have made mistakes, I totally fell off the Paleo wagon and have been gaining weight steadily and feeling crappier and crappier about myself.  And I said in that post that I'd try to do better, and I haven't.  It's March now, we're a quarter of the way into the year, and I haven't changed.  I've been slacking in my workouts more and more, still eating way more carbs and processed food than I care to admit, and it's been showing.  My skin is blotchy, I feel tired and run-down, and my "spare tire" keeps growing.

A few things finally hit me, which I'll probably write about in a future post, but I finally found the motivation to crack down and stick with it.  One thing that helped was starting up personal training again.  I'm just the type that needs that sort of exercise.  I need to be on someone's schedule, I need to have accountability, I need someone to tell me what to do and how to do it.  I'll put it on my calendar and show up.  This time, it's with a totally new trainer, in a totally new location, with a totally new system.  I got soooo much out of Flex and had such great success with Derek, but the timing just wasn't there this time, and I'll admit I've been nervous about trying something different, coming from knowing what he came up with for me worked so well.  But at the same time I'm excited about the change of pace, the different scenery, the different trainer - it's mixing things up a bit for me, giving me something new to look forward to, and that helps keep me motivated.  My first day was Tuesday and I'm sore today!  I felt so happy after I left - I'm back on track, getting back into the swing of things, and there's a light at the end of a tunnel that I dug myself into - a tunnel that just kept getting longer and darker the more I fell into the clutches of my bad habits.

And with this new exercise routine, I'm feeling a sense of motivation.  She took my weight, measurements, and body fat percentage, and being able to have tangible numbers in front of me made me feel determined to keep those numbers changing.  I want to burn off the body fat, regain my confidence, and most importantly, my good health.  But that's not a goal that's met in the gym, and I know that.  These are goals that will only be met if I behave in the kitchen too.  I guess the realization set in that I really do need to take the bull by the horns and crack down.  So all day yesterday I've been gluten-free, and all day today I've been 100% Paleo.  I'm going to focus primarily on gluten-free, as I'm sure non-paleo carbs will sneak in here and there, but I'm going to do my best to keep it as Paleo as possible.  I'm already feeling better, it's amazing what just two days have done.

Anyway.  That's where I am right now.  I'm excited and motivated and feeling really good about the future.  Bring on bikini weather!  (No seriously, please bring on bikini weather, this snow is getting OLD.)

Here are some snow pictures:

My brother Joel and I with our Buddha snow sculpture

Justin built a snowman

 Us with our friends Clay and Barbi with our igloo that we built in the front yard of my office

Alright, now for that "cheese"cake recipe!  It was Mom's birthday on Saturday (happy birthday, Mom!) and I told her I'd make her one of my cakes, and I threw some ideas out for what types I'd like to make, and she requested turtle fudge.  I was totally okay with that idea!  And ooooh my goodness it turned out great!!  We went over Sunday and played in the snow, then went inside for lunch and then to indulge in this fabulous dessert.  It tasted sinful.  I'm just blown away by how delicious it was, without having anything bad in it!  Of course it was chock-full of calories... I guess we can't get off THAT easy... but at least it contained a fraction of the carbs of what the SAD (Standard American Diet) version of this cake would be.

Doesn't that look heavenly??

So this was almost-vegan.  You can definitely make it totally vegan if you want, but I didn't want to.  It was also involved.  It took a few days of prep-work and had a lot of different steps involved.  But I'm telling you, it was SO worth it.  Plus Harlee got a kick out of helping me, as usual.

First, I made dairy-free sweetened condensed milk.  I found this recipe on The Detoxinista.  It's super easy to do, here's how:

Sweetened Condensed Milk being poured into fudge mixture

Dairy-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk

You need:
1 14oz can of full fat coconut milk
1/4 cup honey (or sweetener of choice)

Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, about 5 minutes.  Whisk it while it's heating so it doesn't burn, and watch closely so it doesn't boil over.

Reduce heat to a simmer, and pour in the honey, whisking until it's dissolved into the milk.  Simmer for about 30 minutes, until the milk is reduced by half and thick.  Let cool.

I put it in an airtight dish and kept it in the fridge til I was ready to make the cake.  This is an ingredient for the fudge, which I made after I made the crust for the "cheese"cake.  The crust was pretty much like all the other crusts, only this time I used both almonds and pecans:

Crust

You need:
2 cups pecans, ground into flour
1 cup almonds, ground into flour
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt

Mix all ingredients until combined.

Line a springform pan (or 8x8 glass baking dish) with parchment paper.  Spread the crust mixture out evenly on the bottom, pressing flat.

Now that the crust was done, I was ready for the next layer: Fudge.  I actually got this idea when I happened to catch an episode of Giada at Home on FoodNetwork, and she made Cinnamon Fudge.  I got online and realized, I can totally Paleo-ify this!

Yummy melting fudge

Paleo Fudge

You need:

1 recipe Coconut Sweetened-Condensed Milk (see above)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups dark or milk chocolate chips (I used a combo of both)
3 tbsp butter or coconut oil (I used butter)

Combine all ingredients in a glass bowl, and place the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.  Stir the ingredients until melted and smooth.  Remove from the heat and, if you want just plain fudge, spread it out in a baking dish lined with parchment paper.

Or, in the case of this cake, spread it out over the crust mixture and let cool.

K, so you've got a crust, a layer of fudge, now you need the "cheese"cake!  That part hasn't changed, only this time I added an extra cup of cashews so I could have a little more :).

"Cheese"Cake

3 cups raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt

Discard the water the cashews were soaking in and place in a food processor or blender along with the other ingredients.  Blend until smooth.

I spread this mixture out over the fudge, then I sprinkled on more chocolate chips as well as chopped and whole pecans.  Then came the last step.  Caramel.  I got this recipe from Simple Roots Wellness and modified it to what I had on hand.

Paleo Caramel

1 14oz can full fat coconut milk
⅓ cup honey (original recipe called for coconut sugar - that would have worked better but I didn't have any on hand)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp coconut oil (or butter)
¼ tsp salt

In a small saucepan add coconut milk and honey.  Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring the whole time.  Once boiling turn down heat and stir continually at a slow boil, careful not to let it burn.  Continue boiling until sauce has reduced and thickened, about 25-35 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, oil or butter and salt.  Mine was light in color compared to regular caramel.  I'm sure using coconut sugar would have changed that.  But it still tasted awesome!

Drizzle this all over the top of the pecans and chocolate chips and pop the whole thing in the freezer for at least two hours.  Transfer to the fridge to thaw and soften, and dig in.  And marvel at how amazing it is.

More Vegan Cheesecake (Cuz It's My Birthday!)

I love birthdays.  I've probably mentioned that before.  I made two vegan cheesecakes for my birthday too and I'm SO happy with the turn-out!  By the way, I've been eating dairy little by little and Elliot has shown no adverse reactions to it.  So I'm thinking we are in the clear from his former dairy allergy!  I still don't eat it a LOT because I've noticed I personally feel better when I avoid it (and my skin is clearer, too, among other things), but sometimes it's hard to pass up (like in the form of cheese or milk chocolate...).  However, even though I don't HAVE to avoid dairy, I'm not going to stop making this dessert.  Seriously, it's THAT good.

This has been a great birthday weekend so far.  I couldn't have asked for better weather for February, thanks Mother Nature!  Friday night I had some friends over - I decided it's easier to just have everyone come to me rather than going out, that way we can hang out at our own leisure and nobody has to worry about getting sitters for their kids or anything like that.  Plus Justin makes pork steaks that rival anything I've had at a restaurant so I'm always happy to stay home if those are on the menu!  Everyone brought a dish and we had a great evening.  And I'm pretty sure everyone gave the thumbs-up on my "cheese"cakes!

Me, the girls, Elliot, and his two little buddies on the way :)

Saturday we took Rachael with us to the St. Louis City Museum, because you're never too old for that place, and I wanted to do something I don't normally get to do.  We got sushi for lunch and then played the rest of the day.  It was fun!  And a little rough on the knees... The weather was so perfect, though - which worked out great for playing outside!

Sunday Rachael and Cassie came over for a birthday party workout, which was so much fun!  I really liked this one - Rachael surprised me with the line-up, so it was nice to not have to make one up myself.  It was a rough one though!  We started out doing 86 lunges... which we immediately decided to change to 86 front kicks and did 19 lunges instead.  My butt is sore from all that leg work...  I really liked that it was a 29 minute AMRAP though (As Many Rounds As Possible).  It forced us to get a good half-hour workout in, when normally my crossfit workouts have been done in 5 minutes.

Later we took the Harleys out with Clay and Barbi and rode up to Bully's Smokehouse in Columbia for a late lunch.  Ooohhh I've missed the bike... We hardly rode at all in over a year, being busy with the house and me being pregnant with Elliot, so it was nice to finally get a good ride in.  Hope we can get more in the books this spring and summer!

Justin and I watched The Giver after the boys fell asleep.  Holy crap that movie was powerful.  Or at least I thought so.  I read the book a loooong time ago so I kinda forgot what it was about, but I remember liking it.  Don't remember it being that intense though...

After a busy weekend, I spent today, my actual birthday, not doing anything too exciting at all.  We went to the chiropractor, then I had to get blood drawn to check my thyroid and adrenals (more on that some other time), happy birthday to me... Then we did a little shopping.  We did eat at Olive Garden, per my request, and now I feel lazy and sluggish from the breadsticks and pasta.  Good reminder why I try to keep my diet clean...  Clay and Barbi are coming over again this evening for pizza (yeah, I'm doing it to myself again!) and that's a wrap for my birthday!  It was a great welcome into the last year of my 20s!

Here's the recipe for my "cheese"cakes!  I'll start with the lemon-blueberry.  That was originally going to be my only cake, as I'm a sucker for lemon and blueberry flavors, but it's not a favorite flavor combo for everyone, so I did a back-up cake with a chocolate-heath flavor.  It was way less healthy... but so freaking good regardless... haha :)

Lemon-Blueberry "Cheese"cake

For the crust:

2 cups pecans, ground into flour
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt

Mix all ingredients until combined.

Line a 7x11 (or 8x8, which is what I used) glass baking dish with parchment paper

Spoon in crust mixture and flatten evenly

For the filling:

2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
2-3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt
2 tsp lemon extract

3 tbsp lemon juice

 

Discard the water the cashews had been soaking in.

Combine soaked cashews, coconut oil, vanilla, maple syrup, and salt in the food processor.

Blend until creamy and smooth.

 

 

For the topping:

2 cups blueberries, frozen or fresh
1/2 cup honey
1-2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the blueberries and honey in a sauce pan and bring to a boil while adding the lemon juice and vanilla.  Simmer about 5 minutes and add the arrowroot while stirring until it is all combined.  Simmer on low until thickened and take off the heat. 

 

Take half the filling a set aside.  Mix the other half of the filling with some of the juice from the blueberries.  Swirl the two halves of filling together and spread out in the baking dish.  Top with blueberries, place in the freezer for a couple hours to set, then move it to the refrigerator to soften before serving.  Enjoy!

 

 

Chocolate Heath "Cheese"cake

 

For the crust:

2 cups pecans or almonds, ground into flour
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt

Mix all ingredients until combined.

Line a 7x11 (or 8x8, which is what I used) glass baking dish with parchment paper

Spoon in crust mixture and flatten evenly

For the filling:

2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water overnight
2-3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
Dash sea salt
1 tbsp cocoa powder

 

Discard the water the cashews had been soaking in.

Combine soaked cashews, coconut oil, vanilla, maple syrup, salt, and cocoa powder in the food processor.

Blend until creamy and smooth.

Spread filling out over the crust, top with melted chocolate and Heath toffee bits, and freeze for a couple of hours.  Move to the refrigerator to soften for a couple hours before serving.

Confessions of a Human and New Year's Wishes

I can't believe I haven't posted ANYTHING for a whole MONTH.  It's been a crazy busy month, though.  To the point where I haven't really been able to make time to sit and write.  We hosted two Christmas gatherings plus New Year's Eve, so the month has been spent catching up on little projects around the house plus decorating, gift shopping, all that jazz.  I attempted to make cookies and candies but for some reason they didn't turn out... I wasted a lot of ingredients in the process too, which was a total bummer.  I made chocolate covered peanut butter balls, though, and they were a success - I'll try to post that recipe before Valentine's day, if you don't mind the wait!

I have so much to talk about, because so much has happened!  So hopefully this means a lot of exciting posts for 2015.  This past month I've learned more about essential oils, I'm about to acquire a salt room so that I can offer salt therapy at my office (awesome for respiratory ailments as well as skin conditions from minor to acute), I'm selling homemade soaps so I'm excited to tell you why those are better than store-bought, and I cured two earaches (never got them diagnosed as infections so I can't say that) and a case of pink eye using natural remedies!

To kick off the New Year, however, I decided to write a simple post admitting that I am human, just like everyone else.  The only thing I've succeeded at this past month is sticking to my drug-free way of life - no pharmaceuticals were used to treat any ailments we came across, including the two ear aches and pink eye mentioned above, a furiously teething baby, several sore throats, coughs, runny noses, etc., plus a case of sciatica that decided to randomly revisit me (hadn't had to deal with that since my pregnancy with Harlee...).

I wish other areas of my life were as second-nature to me as avoiding conventional medicines.  Like diet and exercise.

I have a confession to make.  I've been experiencing a growing case of burn-out...  I stopped going to Flex sometime in November, because I could feel it coming on and didn't want to force myself to do something I was slowly losing interest in - I do NOT want to lose interest in CrossFit!!  It changed my life, it's a fun and effective way to burn fat and build strength, and it makes me feel good both physically and mentally.  But I've been doing a lot of the same thing, and because of the weather I'm now confined to a spot in my basement rather than being outside.  I look forward to Sundays when Rachael and Cassie come over, because working out in a group setting still keeps me going and I thoroughly enjoy it just like I always used to.  But, I must say, I'm becoming more and more amazed that I did what I did while pregnant.  I'll crank out 20 burpees without stopping and imagine having a big pregnant belly hanging off of me while doing that.  I did that.  I push-pressed 95lbs of weight over my head WHILE in labor.  I did that.

And now I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight and I don't even feel like push-pressing a bar over my head.  Or cranking out one burpee.  Okay okay, who wants to do burpees anyway, really?  But they're a great form of exercise and I like working them into a WOD under normal circumstances... What's happening to me??

And diet.  Oooohhh have I fallen off of the Paleo wagon...  I try not to beat myself up TOO bad - I mean at least one meal every day has managed to stay completely Paleo.  But I think snacking on candy all day, or loading up on carbs the many times we've gone out to eat, and the way-too-frequent trips through drive-throughs we've made, completely negates that one Paleo meal a day.  Added to the fact that I haven't been working out anymore to burn some of that junk off... well...

Yeah.  That's pretty much me.  I look in the mirror and TRYYY so hard to say, yeah, I look good for being 5 months postpartum!  Because in comparison to 5 months after Harlee was born, I look pretty good!  But when I look at pictures of myself at just a couple months postpartum after having Elliot and see that I look BETTER than I do now... that's just sad.

But it's not just about physical appearance.  I know that's a big thing right now - social media is trying to help people feel better about themselves no matter what kind of body they have and stop comparing ourselves to photoshopped celebrities in magazines, which is awesome, and I do want to focus more on my health and well-being rather than just my appearance , but regardless, physical appearance does play a huge role.  I don't expect to look like a photoshopped celebrity.  I don't want to, anyway.  I'm perfectly fine with the stretch marks on my belly.  I'm perfectly fine with my droopy boobs.  Why?  Because I worked my ass off a couple summers ago and I felt REALLY good about myself and my appearance.  I know what I CAN look like, and I was almost back to that just a couple of months after Elliot was born.  And because of all the crap I ate this past month and my lack of exercise, I'm losing my progress.

And I feel like crap.  I've been tired and sluggish, I've needed to get back on St. John's wort to help manage my moods when normally diet and exercise do that for me, and I've been noticing aches and pains creeping in - my knees have ached, I had a sciatica flare-up, my wrists have been sore, and some days I've just felt sore and achy all over.  I know it's because of the junk I've eaten.

I guess it's a good reminder of how much diet really does affect us.  We are what we eat.  If we eat junk, we'll feel and function like junk.

So, I'm going to challenge myself.  The holiday celebrations are finally behind us, so there's no reason for me not to get back on the Paleo wagon.  I'm going to experiment with different things, like meal prep so I have lunches pre-made for me throughout the week, and menu-planning so dinner is thought out ahead of time.  I need to go back through and flush the house out of junk food.  I'm a chocoholic, there's no hiding it.  I just need to manage it a little better.  I'm sure I'll still grab a pack of peanut M&M's when I swing through a gas station, but I don't need a bowl of them sitting on my counter to eat every. single. day.  And I need to remind myself that it takes work to get rid of the cravings, but eventually they will go away.

I'll share my stories as I go, too, so maybe you'll feel inspired to try simple things to make your lifestyle a bit healthier.  Mainly, though, don't beat yourself up if you slip up.  That's what I've been working on.  I'm trying not to be too angry with myself for being a complete slob with my diet and exercise all month.  I know I can get back on track, and I will.  And so can you!  We all have to start somewhere.

So, it's a new year.  Time to hit the reset button and strive to be better than we were the year before.

Before I sign off, I have a few New Year's wishes for you.

I wish you motivation to try something new to get your body moving - join a gym, buy a new piece of exercise equipment - kettlebell, dumbells, jump rope, or even a hula hoop! (I bought one and it's actually a blast!)  Try something you haven't tried before - running, weight lifting, spinning, skiing, whatever!  Find something you enjoy so you'll stick with it.

I wish you creativity to make healthy eating just as delicious and achievable as eating junk food.  And it truly can be!  Stick with that, and eventually healthy foods will taste even better than drive-through or take-out food.  And learn ways to plan ahead, like I have been, so you'll be prepared on busy days.

Last, but not least, I wish you courage to ask questions.  This is something I'm wanting to delve into more in future blog posts.  Take responsibility for your health and the health of your family.  Don't rely solely on what you're told by doctors or healthcare providers.  Take charge of your body.  Take time to learn more about ways to be healthy.  With that knowledge comes great empowerment, knowing that you can heal yourself or your loved ones and not need to run to a doctor for every little thing.  When I healed Harlee's earaches and cured Elliot's pink eye without once having to consult a doctor - that's an awesome feeling.

Ask questions.  It can get you so much farther ahead than where you ever were before.  Before you pick up a drug from the pharmacy - What is in this?  What are the side effects?  Are there safer alternatives?  Before you agree to get on a prescription - How long am going to have to take this?  Is this drug just masking the symptoms of a problem rather than addressing it?  Or if it's controlling a problem, are there healthier ways I can control it on my own?  Blood pressure or cholesterol, for instance, CAN be controlled by diet and exercise.  You do not need to rely on drugs, and you'll be that much better off if you avoid them.  And before you or your children get a shot - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read the package inserts.  They should be given to you at the office, but can also be found on the CDC or FDA websites.  Don't just get a shot because you're told to, because everyone else does it, because of the fear tactics used to make you blindly do it without question - read the ingredients of what you're injecting into you or your child's body.  Read the possible side effects.  Sometimes side effects include seizures, paralysis, even death.  Ask your doctor to look you square in the eye and promise your child won't experience any of those side effects before you agree to anything.  This is something I'll talk more about in a later post, but I at least want to put the thoughts out there, to encourage you to take your health into your own hands and advocate for yourself because your health is, well, YOURS.

I hope to spend more time blogging this year, I have so much to say and share with you.  But I also have a family to care for and spend time with, a business to run and grow, and a new house that still needs its finishing touches, so be patient with me if I slack a bit...

I hope your year is off to a great start!