5 Things I Couldn't do 5 Months Ago

Having a regular exercise program is crucial to weight loss. This of course requires the use of my favorite word: planning. Plan ahead to get the results you want. This is what works best for me and I suspect it will work for you, too. This is why I love cross fit- I can go to my gym's website the night before my workout and I know exactly what I'll be doing the next day. I go to my gym (IronTribe) 3 days a week at the same time, so I don't have to worry about finding time to work out. I've been doing this since the end of November and I've lost 30 pounds. Coincidence? I don't think so. I think having a workout plan is the best way to exercise and it's not as hard as it sounds.

Take a few minutes on Sundays to map out your routine for the week and see how that works out for you. If you have a plan it will relieve the burden of fighting with yourself over exercising. You know what I'm talking about: you go to bed planning to get up early to workout, then you sleep through your alarm and you are distracted all day as you try to talk yourself into/out of working out when you get off work. Then you don't do it, you feel guilty, swear the next day will be better... rinse and repeat.

 Plan. Brush your hands of the hassle of the daily exercise fight: done.

When I started IronTribe I could not do a "real" push-up, a box jump, or a full burpee. My pull-ups were not pull-ups at all; I had to jump up to the bar and fake it. Now I can do a pull-up with a resistance band. I also could not do full med ball sit-ups; I had to modify those, too. After 5 months I can do all these things. I credit having a regular routine. If I just sporadically went to the gym without a plan, I really don't think I would have been able to meet as many goals as I have.

I say give planning a try and see the positive results. Do it for 3 weeks and I am confident that you will feel less stressed and will start to look forward to your planned workouts. These workouts don't have to be anything crazy. Start small, like 30 minutes of walking on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Mornings before you go to work. Add 15 minutes of resistance on Tuesday and Thursday evenings after dinner. 

Examples of resistance workouts:

Once you get that routine down pat, increase the intensity of the walks by adding some jogging and add weights to your Tuesday and Thursday workouts.

Plan to get the results you want. 

So, to celebrate my success in workout planning and sticking with it, I decided to share a video with you of me doing all the exercises I couldn't do 5 months ago. In another 5 months, I fully expect to not need that band at all for the pull-ups and that box will be a 20 incher instead of 12 inches. Those are my goals and I will continue to plan like it's going out of style to reach them. 

105 Calorie Sweet Potato Latkes

These sweet potato latkes are basically a mouthful of awesome. In fact, they were so awesome, I will never make them again because I ate the entire batch in ONE DAY! That's right: I ate them ALL. In a DAY. In other words: I latke. I latke them a lot.

Amazing that THIS:

Can make THESE slices of heaven:

Ok, here's how to get started on your new starchy weakness. You'll need:

•1 pound of sweet potatoes. Which was two this size:

•2 scallions, chopped

•1/4 cup whole wheat flour

•6 tablespoons of liquid egg whites

•1 1/2 teaspoon of s and p

•3/4 cup vegetable oil

How To:

•Stir all ingredients together except for the oil. It will be a little runny, and might not stick together very well. If you have trouble keeping it together, you can add a little flour as needed, but I didn't need to.

•Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet over med-high heat (doesn't matter the size- it depends on your preference of how many you want to cook at a time. I used a small one, cooking 4-5 at a time)

•While they are frying, press down on them slightly.

•Cook until they are good and golden, and a little crispy (but don't burn them!). It took about 2 minutes on each side. 

•Immediately blot and drain on paper towels (or a napkin like me since I was out lol). This made 11, or 12 if you count the burnt one I cast aside. Ziggy got that one. 

All nutrition facts are approximate and they are based on latkes about 2.5 inches in diameter:

 105 calories per latke

7 grams of fat per latke

Challenge Accepted!

A little over a month ago one of my co-workers asked if I wanted to help her head up a weight loss challenge at the office. Well hell yeah! I am not one to turn down the chance to win at something! Not that I'm a fierce competitor or anything ;). A few folks were interested and then just like that we had a competition! The challenge consisted of 6 weeks of encouraging each other while silently vowing to push everybody else out of the way of the prize (kidding, but I did win 55 buckaroos). We emailed each other constantly with fun inspirational quotes and sayings to keep the momentum up, and on Fridays we shared how we were going to stick to our goals over the weekend. On Monday we checked in with each other to see how we did. We had a wellness coach come in twice to give us good tips, and we bonded as we worked together to shed some pounds. I'm proud of everyone for being courageous enough to share how much they weighed with people they barely know, and making themselves vulnerable to defeat. In the end I won (19 pounds lost during the challenge), but the real prize is finding that I have amazing supportive co-workers who are willing to put themselves out there with me as we strive to get healthy. I don't plan on stopping the supportive emails just because the challenge is over.... and I learned that sometimes an unexpected support group is just a few desks and a couple of toplines away. We are in this together and that means more than anything.

Less than 300

I was filled with lots of <3 this morning. <3 for my family, my friends, and YOU. You, my readers, who trust in my words and support me in more ways than you'll ever know. For that I <3 you big time.

So why was I filled with all this mushy gushy crap? Because for the first time in YEARS my scale dialed in at  <300. I don't even remember the last time my scale pointed at 200-something. I think it was like '07 or '08. I have been so uber frustrated since I got back from camp because I had not lost any weight. Well, I'm not sure what happened over the past few days, but 4 pounds went bye bye!

Drink mostly water, and lots of it. Eat often, mostly plants. Exercise until you're in a caloric deficit (burn more than consumed), and have faith. Work at this with me, friends! We got this!

10 Calorie Caesar Dressing

I almost lost my s**t when I found this 10 calorie Caesar dressing recipe. You have noooo idea how much I love that stuff! I made the most amazing chicken Caesar pita today that will make you slap your grandma.

The Dressing (from www.h3daily.com):

INGREDIENTS:

2 ½ cloves fresh garlic

1 cup skim or low fat cottage cheese

1 ½ cups fat free yogurt

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 oz. plus ½ Tbsp separate fresh squeezed lemon juice

½ Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

PREPARATION:

Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.

Store in air tight container and can keep up to 2 weeks refrigerated

Yield: 3 cups

Serving Size 1/2 ounce

Calories: 10

Fat Grams: trace

Here's what the dressing should look like once finished. Nice and thick:

After putting an ounce on half a pita (yeah, I doubled the serving size because it was just so damn good!)...

I had 10 ounces of dressing left. Holla! I know what I'll be eating this coming week!

I stuffed the pita with 3 oz of grilled chicken and mixed herb greens. It was the most amazing pita in America. Fact.

Citrus Splash for Greens

H3's Citrus Splash for Greens (www.h3daily.com):

This is an awesome recipe for a warm citrus splash to be served with greens such as spinach, rabe, or arugula. Really, any pungent greens will go well with this. This recipe is great with summer just around the corner- the perfect combination of heat and citrus!

Ingredients:

•1 tablespoon shallots, minced

•2 teaspoons garlic, minced

•1 teaspoon olive oil

•1/2 cup orange juice (I used fresh squeezed)

•Pinch of red pepper flakes

•2 tablespoons orange zest, finely chopped

Directions:

•Saute shallots and garlic in olive oil for minutes. 

•Add juice, peppers, and zest; simmer slowly for 10 minutes. Reserve

•I used a manual juicer and it worked just fine- no need to dirty up your electric juicer

 H3 says this is 4 servings and that the serving size is 1/2 a cup. After putting about 2 tablespoons on my greens (above), this is all I had left:

So, you might want to double this recipe if you are serving multiple people, or just want to make extra to store. 

Calories per serving (1/2 cup): 28

Fat grams per serving: 1

335 Calorie Chicken Enchiladas

If you are like me, you know that Tex-Mex food is the bomb.com. However, it tends to be loaded with cheese, grease, and carbs. I don't even want to know how many calories a chicken chimichanga packs in! Even the salads are loaded down with calories. I made a delicious chicken enchilada that won't leave you feeling guilty afterwards at all!

 It is pretty spicy, though- so I hope you're ready for it! I made this with my favorite spices, but you can spice it up however you want. Instead of the creole and jerk, you may want to use chili powder.
 
Serves 2, Approximately 335 Calories per Enchilada

- Pre-Heat oven to 350

 Ingredients: 
1 chicken breast (5-6 ounces, skinless, boneless)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of creole/blackening seasoning
1 tablespoon of jerk seasoning
1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce (no added sugar)
1 cup of water
A dash of salt and pepper
One lime
1 medium tomato, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced
2 cups spinach leaves, chopped
2 wheat tortillas
1/4 cup cheese (mozzarella or cheddar)

•Cook chicken however you want, just be mindful of added calories. I cooked mine on a flat pan with a little olive oil spray, half a lime, and a little salt and pepper. Cook until almost done, about 150 degrees. Chop into small, bite-sized pieces.

 •For the enchilada sauce: heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onions. Saute over medium heat until brown. This takes about 10 minutes. Add garlic and spices until spices are toasted. Add the tomato sauce and water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to low and simmer until thick. This took about 15 minutes. If desired thickness is not reached by 15 minutes, add a smidgen of cornstarch. Once sauce is done, strain in a mesh strainer, pushing down on the onions to get all the juice out. You can throw the onions in with the chicken and veggie stuffing, or toss them out. Your choice.

•While the chicken and the sauce are cooking, roast the tomato, spinach, bell pepper, one clove of garlic minced, and the juice from the other half of your lime in the oven for about ten minutes, or until the spinach is wilted. I did not add any butter or oil, I just let the veggie juice do its magic to keep it juicy. These will be stuffed in the enchilada with the chicken.

 •Once the stuffing is roasted, drain, and add chicken in separate bowl.

• Heat the tortillas up, just until they are flexible. Stuff them and roll them up to form the enchiladas. Place in baking dish, and cover completely with the sauce. Top with cheese, bake for about 20 minutes. Enjoy!!

I ate my tortilla with a spinach/carrot salad on the side with balsamic vinegar and lemon. Delish!