My Healthy Plan: Week 2

Happy Monday, friends!

This weekend absolutely flew by! It was a busy one for our family so I was especially tired when the alarm sounded at 5 am but day 1 of week 2 was completed and a great way to get myself energized!

I've been open on here that I have some big goals with my program and what I want to achieve. So for the purpose of full disclosure, I thought I would tell you how my weekend nutrition went. (Weekends are typically my downfall)

Saturday morning I had an early morning meeting. I got a few things done around the house, made my boys cinnamon rolls and then headed out the door arming myself with my chocolate Shakeology. I was pretty proud of that.

I had a baby shower early afternoon and then our family had a wedding reception open house that evening before meeting my in-laws for dinner. I squeezed in some laundry and my workout before getting out the door!

Warrior workout! So tough but finished!

I grabbed a larabar (cashew cookie--only two ingredients). At the baby shower I had some water and fruit. And at the reception I had some veggies and nuts. I was pretty hungry by the time we got to my in-laws.  They ordered from a local spaghetti house which is AMAZING but I had a chef salad and only a small slice of the garlic bread because, balance. My father in law also made homemade ice cream and I had a small scoop of that. It wasn't a perfect day but it wasn't a bad day either!

Anyone else love getting dolled up??

Sunday our family did late church because we were going to friends' to swim. I knew I wanted to stay on track so packed the makings of a vegetable tray and some fresh salsa and gluten free chips. Since we did late church I made omelets and Ezekial English muffins (only halves) for breakfast. Those English muffins are thee best in my opinion! So good!

Our friends grilled some awesome hamburgers and hot dogs. So for lunch I had a hamburger (no bun), lots of veggies with greek yogurt cucumber dill dip, fresh fruit and some chips and salsa. Still full from dinner my husband and I had our shakeology for dinner.

It wasn't a perfect weekend but it was far more on track than many this summer have been!

Today it was back to to the plan and pushing even more water since the weekend I lagged a little with all the busyness.

It is definitely not about being perfect. It is about balance, making the best choices you can and always pushing ahead.

How to Meal Plan As a Busy Mom

Failure to plan is planning to fail right?? 

Nutrition is always the tougher component when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.  In the last three years I have learned a lot about what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, how MUCH to eat. My issue has always been in the follow through. Allowing one too many treats, or deciding that what I planned for diner really isn't sounding good so just going with Plan B. 

Not anymore! My mindset is different. I want to succeed like never before. I know my body deserves more. I know I am made for more than just mindless eating. I've read Lysa Terkeurst's Made to Crave and know how deeply God doesn't want me to succumb to food cravings. 

Since I said I was going to be using this blog as a way to stay accountable, I figured why not share what I'm eating. Maybe nutrition is a struggle for you too! Maybe you don't know where to start or how to plan. Maybe you need some accountability. Whatever the case, here is the menu plan I am following this week. 

A few notes:

- The menu is color coded because I am using the 21 Day Fix portion control containers to help me stay within my portion parameters. I don't want to overeat; which, can still happen even if the food is healthy! 

-Shakeology: It counts as a serving of protein but know I mix in some other ingredients to increase the calorie count. Depending on the day, if I need more greens or purples, I add in spinach or 1/2 a banana. I always add in all natural peanut butter, ice, and water. YUM!!

-It's simple! I don't h ave time for a fussy menu plan. I won't stick with it if it isn't yummy, takes too much time, or leaves me feeling dissatisfied.  This menu combats all those feelings! 

If you are interested in more specific details of the recipes used in the menu, head on over to my Pinterest page and hit follow or shoot me an e-mail! I'd love to connect! 

Let's Get Crockin'!

Hey y'all!

Happy {almost} fall! The weather around here has been absolutely gorgeous. Blue skies, mild temps, sunshine. My boys and I have walked almost every day. I like to save our walks for after dinner when Dad is home and we can do it all together.

I love summer but when the temperatures start to drop just a little, I am completely falling for fall! And when that happens, I want to cook for fall! Do you know what I'm saying???

Stews, soups, warm, hearty, filling, delicious, comfort food foods! The only problem is that sometimes all that comfort food undoes all of my effort from eating well or my workouts. And then those winter pounds slip back on.

Not anymore! I have learned that you can eat yummy, filling, healthy foods you love. You can even make life simpler by using your crock pot.

I am hosting, alongside some of my teammates, a FREE 5 Day Clean Eating Crock Pot group! It all begins Monday, September 28th and we would love for you to be part of it too!

You will get a grocery list, meal plans and recipes for all five days that will give you 3 meals and two snacks, all dinners done in your crock pot! PLUS you will have tons of positive support from multiple coaches! It doesn't matter where you live because it is all through Facebook!

Interested? I know--it's hard not to be. The only thing that could make it better is if someone would do the grocery shopping for you! ;)

If you want to join this group, comment below! I will get in touch!

Grain Free Recipe Reviews

Hey all!

Is it just me or is everyone going a million miles a minute? I love this time of year and we are doing so many fun things but it never seems to slow down!

My family is continuing on in our gluten free journey.  However, it appears that we are going more grain free than gluten free.  And after a friend shared some articles, I feel even more confident in this decision for our family.  {If you are interested in reading the articles, I posted the link to my Facebook page so you can check them out there}

Many dinners I make are already grain free.  And honestly, eating a grain free meal can be as simple as we want.  But I also know my family, and myself, like some variety, so I have been trying out some great recipes! In the midst of the busyness, I haven't been able to photograph them all but let's be honest, I don't take the best foodie pics anyway.  Instead, I am sharing with the link the original recipe and my family and I's opinions of the meal and if we changed the recipe at all!

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Strips

I served this main dish with broccoli sprinkled with parmesan.  It was a busy Friday night.  My husband has been working out of town a lot and was getting in. I wanted to make a meal that he would love but to get dinner done with my three littles is not always easy.  This meal was SO SIMPLE to make! It took no time to prep and was on the table in about 35 minutes.  

We all ate this dinner up! It was delicious.  The flavor of the chicken was amazing.  Really juicy; had the yummy taste of bacon and the honey sauce brushed on was the perfect addition of sweetness.  I used {what little} leftover strips in a salad the next day for lunch and they reheated and were awesome on my salad.  

My husband said he could eat them every week. And that is coming from a man who likes variety! 

Italian Sausage and Potato Quick Skillet

This dinner! Just make it! Tonight!

Like I said above, my husband has been traveling.  Which means it is me solo against the world...or my three boys, whichever.  On Mondays, my oldest has soccer at five.  It's just a half-hour intro to soccer because, I mean, he's three.  But by the time it is over and we have bundled up and driven back across town, we are nearing six.  For us, that is past the dinner hour and Tuesdays are preschool days.  I have learned that dinner needs to be simple and quick.  

On this night, I did all the prep work before soccer.  It took me about 10 minutes or so to chop everything up.  When we got home from soccer, my mom {bless her} gave the little two a bath while Hudson got a quick shower.  I had time to dump it all in the skillet per the directions and had it done in about 15 minutes.  This meal was full of flavor and texture.  It was hearty and filling.  

It calls for 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes.  I like spicy and so do my boys.  This meal was pretty spicy however.  If you are not a fan of spice, I would leave the red pepper flakes out or use less.  

Other nights we had really simple meals. I made chilli with 50/50 venison and ground beef.  We always have leftovers when I make chilli.  Another night was a simple meat/starch/veggie combo.  Sweet potatoes are generally are go to starch and are really versatile.  

Point is, if you have any issues associated with grains or gluten, or maybe you want to live a clean and healthy lifestyle, look into if grain free is a good choice for your family.  

Good-bye November

Hello friends! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends! This time of year is my all time favorite and we certainly filled our long weekend with lots of family time and traditions to kick off the season!

This past month has been a crazy one for my family.  We moved out of our home Halloween weekend and into our new home in our new (technically old since we moved back to our hometown) town that Monday.  I left that Thursday (three days later) for a leadership training event in Dallas (you can read about that here) until Sunday night.  Then it was painting, a funeral, a birthday party for our middle guy, more painting and well--Thanksgiving hit!

To say November was a whirlwind would be an understatement.  All of that led to a pretty poor workout routine for this mama.  My workouts were spotty.  And if my workouts were on--my nutrition was OFF!

You see we all have triggers.  My husband is currently commuting as we transition so has been spending large parts of the week away.  I found myself with a lot of responsibility in addition to my usual routines and I can be a stress eater plus I hate to be alone.  Can we say triggers? But enough is enough.  I used to be blind to the fact that I was sabotaging myself or that I was getting bigger but I am so aware of how junky I feel when I don't have my clean eating and workout routine in order.

Tomorrow--new month, new Monday, new me!! I am getting back on track (along with some other ladies!)  I am really excited about it. I will be following the 21 Day Fix nutrition plan (ASK ME about that if you don't know because it is awesome) and starting T25.  I know I can easily fit in 25 minutes sometime in my day and the HIIT training is exactly what my post-partum body needs!

Check out my meal plan for this week! Talk about yummy!

You may notice everything on this menu is gluten free.  This is another added "new" in my journey.  Last week I began to transition  my family into a gluten free lifestyle.  There have been indicators for me that I may have an intolerance and there are some indicators we are seeing in our oldest based upon the research I have done, what I have read, and after talking with some other people who have transitioned to gluten free.  It is scary because I know I have lots to learn but also exciting because I think it can mean some great things for our family, especially our oldest.  I will be sharing recipes I find that our family loves with you all too! So I am looking forward to that! And I am definitely open to hearing some recipes you love! 

This time of year can be tough as we strive to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  But I am committing to it.  I know I need to for myself and my family.  Anyone else wanting to commit? 

Menu Revamp

On Friday I was a little disappointed in my weight loss, or lack there of, for the week.  I know I have lost inches the past couple of weeks but I really want to see that number drop too.  

For me, when that scale doesn't move in the direction I want, I look at my food choices.  I know my work outs had been good because I hadn't missed, I had gone harder and I had increased weight. Plus, we all know our results are based largely in the food choices we make (right, right? That is a must know). 

Although I had done well with clean eating, I felt my carb load might be a bit high.  So I started adjusting my plan.  I wanted my carbs to come from the fruits and vegetables I was eating more than the starchy carbs.  I also upped my protein.  I wanted my protein to be a larger part of my diet. I started doing this on Thursday.  I noticed by Saturday that I was increasingly hungry by the end of the day but I attributed this to me not eating later and the higher protein maybe helping my metabolism be more effective.  I also noticed when I woke up my tummy felt flatter.  

I am really excited to see where these adjustments take me this week.  I know I have to be making progress because today I put on a pair of pants I couldn't button last week AND because my husband said, "Wow, that is the thinnest you've looked.  You are definitely thinner than you were two weeks ago!" 

I will take those non-scale victories! 

What are your goals for the week? Any changes you are making to meet them?