Paleo Challenge!

WOW....what a fun and crazy adventure this has been!  I feel bad that I have not written every day, but with life so crazy, I will catch up by posting some pictures of dinners, telling you about the benefits, and hoping you are all doing well!

This has been a test of motivation, of self awareness and of sheer discipline.  There were many times when I wanted to grab "just one candy" from a basket on someones desk, or eat "just one hamburger".  It has helped me be strong and feel SO GOOD!

My work-out schedule has consisted of MON and WED zumba, TUES and FRI 30 minutes of weights.  I have been walking 10,000 steps per day as well, as our company has a challenge for this.

My breakfast consists of : 2 eggs with spinach, red pepper, onion and any other vegie on hand, or a shake with spinach, berries, almond milk and almonds.  Pineapple and mango or oranges are thrown in there on occasion.

My lunch is either leftovers from the night before, or a salad with spinach or romaine, cherry tomatoes from the garden, grilled chicken or tuna, a touch of feta cheese, pine nuts at times and balsamic vinegar and olive oil, or a squeeze of lemon and olive oil.

Here are some examples of dinners:

Roasted Cauliflower and onions with a slice of crispy bacon. Grilled Salmon with caramelized onions and a touch of that one slice of bacon on a bed of spinach with a lemon to squeeze...yum!

Beautiful Jacey turned 21 on September 14!  We had a fun BBQ, played games and had a great time.  There were some things I couldn't eat, but I didn't have to, because there were plenty of things I COULD eat and didn't feel left out at all!  I had my amazing garlic burger plain without the bun, some watermelon, fresh tomatoes out of the garden with lettuce and grilled onion, and it was great!

Here are some pictures from Jacey's party.  I sure love this beautiful lady...with a heart that is tender, a fun sense of humor, a quiet strength and a spunky nature, with a style all her own.  I am SO lucky to be able to call her my daughter!

I will post a few more dinners on this, then add a few each day:)

This is a simple "Make your own Chicken Taco night".  I had Corn tortillas for the family with fresh salsa, chopped garden tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, chipotle grilled chicken, lettuce, avocado, lime, cheese, lettuce and fresh mango.  My salad had the fresh lime, chicken, salsa, lettuce, both kinds of tomato, mango, avocado, and some nasturtium flowers and leaves out of the garden...they taste like watercress and give a nice bite to the salad...YUMMO

This is a simple Nicoise Salad with romaine, fresh garden green beans-steamed, chunky tomatoes, grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion slices, hard boiled egg and olives...with fresh lime for a squeeze.

Another easy dinner salad.  With the abundance of fresh produce out of the garden, we tend to each fresh, simple meals for dinner... This is a Southwestern salad with chipotle grilled chicken ( I grill a lot and use throughout the week to throw into lunches, salads, tacos etc...sun easy prep, which I mostly do on Sunday evenings.  I also bag and chop fruits and vegies to stir fry, steam, grill and for snacks...
this also has Spinach, chunky tomatoes, pico de gallo with roasted jalapeños and onion.  Lime for squeeze of flavor.

OK...here is the BEST PART OF ALL!  The last three weeks I have had more energy, felt better, and I have lost 12 pounds!  WOOT WOOT.  I have a silly thing that really works for me.  I have a nice diary that is flowery and cute and I write positive and uplifting things in this diary.  I record dreams, goals and things that are positive.  In this journal, I record every time someone says something about noticing my weight loss.  It was fun, because I had not seen Jordan, my sweet daughter in a few weeks.  She came in yesterday and said "Mom, you look so good!"  If you know Jordan, you know she doesn't mince it, and only says nice things when she means them.  IT FELT GOOD!  Lynsie also saw me at Erin's reception and said I looked small.  Their opinions mean a lot to me!

It is happening!  I am not perfect, but I am trying.  If I slip, I get back up and keep trying.  There were a few discouraging days when I was sick with a fever and cough and could not exercise and it felt lousy.

It is SO exciting to see that this is a long term lifestyle.  I will probably add a bit of whole grain food to my diet after this Paleo challenge, but I will never fall back into a sedentary unhealthy life style!

I want to thank Danee for being such a great example.  Laura ( my cute Canadian niece that came to visit with her amazing mother and my incredible nephew Jeremy) and I were talking about that last night about what a great example she is to us!  I will tell you all about our fun night with Laura, Jeremy and Jackie in another post!  SO MUCH to catch up on!

REMEMBER: Eat Right, Sleep Right, and EXERCISE!

CONFESSION~

Hello friends...

It has been a while since I have blogged, and here is my confession...

1.  I started eating sugar on Easter and have not stopped since
2.  My motivation was lagging as the end of winter kept holding on to my favorite season of all, SPRING.
3.  I have been quite stressed at work
4.  I have been worried about my beautiful children and hoping they will all find their happy spot.

Whew...done!

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, let me tell you some amazing things...
1.  I have been going to a lunch-break class at my work.  I am lucky enough to have a Sports Training department downstairs in my very building.  They have 30 minute lunch classes.  They switch off between Circuit Training, Weight-Lifting and Spin.  I am getting stronger every day and kept up in the spin class this week.  It is hard work!  I go back to my office with a red face and out of breath, but oh it feels so good to get strong!

2.  Sammy my wonderful little niece has been teaching Lynsie and I, along with a few of our kiddies some incredible lessons each Sunday!  She is becoming a life coach of sorts, and she has been helping us tap into our potential.  I love getting to know myself better, my kids, Lyns and her kids as well, and Sam has been great!  We have made vision boards, written down what we really want in life and execute it, we have a little drawing we each made of our own body with enpowering words in there that I look at EVERY morning to get those in my head...holy cow, it works!  Guess what?  I AM AMAZING...crazy huh?

3.  We have been eating healthy meals around here.  It is hard to cook for just a few as Riley and Jocelyn are the only ones home right now, and Riley is only here 1/2 the time.  We make it a point to sit down and enjoy dinner and conversation.  If you are caught with your phone at the table it gets taken away!  For those of you who know me well, you know that I have an addiction to my Iphone...eek ( this is a confession post, right?)

4.  Alot of people have been complimenting me on my weight, telling me that they can tell I am losing. I dont care how many times a girl hears that, it DOES NOT GET OLD.

5.  Guess who is turning 47 tuesday?  ME!  and guess who is going to greet 48 at 130 pounds...you've got it...ME!  I will never be in the TERRIBLE TWO HUNDREDS AGAIN...ONEderland...here I come!

Goal for this week:  Eat clean, stay focused, exercise 6 times, love my family and myself~

Wednesday Night ZUMBA!

Can I tell you that I have a new love?  I sauntered down to Springville tonight to the Sweaty Chix Fitness to see what all the rave is with the Zumba fitness that people are talking about.  There were a ton of people, and the lights were low and the music was bumpin' just like a dance club.  The CUTEST little babe was up on the podium dancin' away and the energy was contagious.  She had a twin sister that tag teamed a few songs and the hour went by so fast!
For a big girl that is working on getting small, this work out was fast paced, hard, but sure didn't feel like it was hard...just FUN!
Thank you Ani and Kathy...I will be back!  Thank you for taking the time to come talk to me:)

I am loving this journey!

Saturday Workout Madness...

I can't believe that I can type after the work out we had this morning!  We met at Amber and Steve's church gym and started with a run around to warm up.  We then split into 3 teams and did relay races with running, suicides, high skipping and alot of other crazy hard, but fun things.  We then did a boot-camp style work out with different stations to squat, run ladders, tension ropes, ab's with weights, free weights and step. WOW, Amber is amazing...talk about truly kicking my butt...thank-you!

My Weight for the week went DOWN 3.2 pounds!  I will take it:)

We had a great discussion on great things to eat and healthy cooking.  I will be posting some of my quick and easy recipes, but I do want to mention a great cereal that Lynsie told me about today.  It is Honeyville 9 grain cereal.  It has Red Wheat, White Wheat, Barley, Rye Oats, Corn, Buckwheat, Millet and Flax.  You can buy it at Good Earth for $22.99 for 50 pounds people!  She stirs it up into boiling water at night, covers it and it is the perfect them and nice and cooked by morning.  She chops a few almonds, half of an apple and puta a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of agave...guess what my family is eating for breakfast a few times this week:)

Sorry the pictures are  blurry and dark today...dang phone!

Before and after pictures from the Flab to Fab...

Before...

                                                                                     After...

This is my before and after picture for the first 12 weeks, talk about black-mail material!  It is good to know that I will never look like that first picture again!  Look at my poor little ankles.  No wonder they ache at night.  They are trying to hold up that big ole body on a little 5'2 frame.  I have a long way to go, but already I walk faster, I hold my head up more and I am proud of myself for taking better care of this body I was blessed with.