Tag: clean eating

The Back Up Plan For a Veggie Funk

Nina Chapman13 Comments

Guess what?! My biceps hate me.

But that’s okay because when I braided my hair in the mirror today I saw them winking at me.

Good times… I can’t wait to be buff.

fit chick

I’ve been talking to some friends from Crossfit Littleton who are doing a Whole 30 challenge for the month of May. They are super excited about it. If you want to join them you can join their Facebook page May 2013 Whole 30… You’ve been officially invited, I double checked.

I’ve been thinking about it all weekend and despite a little peer pressure I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not going to do it. This officially makes me the not cool kid.

I’m sure it’s great and if you give it a try you will benefit from it. But it’s just not for me.

You can do anything for thirty days but I think it would screw with my head. I’m kind of a perfectionist… the problem is I screw up all of the time. Can you imagine the turmoil this causes?!

This is how the Whole 30 would go for me…

It doesn’t start until May 1st which is Wednesday so I would spend the next few days leading up to that point gorging myself on whatever I felt I was going to be deprived of, even if I didn’t want to eat it. I’d gain a good 5 pounds and already be worse off than if I had never done the damn thing.

I would be all gung ho on Wednesday until I screwed up three hours into it. I would eat like crap for the rest of the day because I was going to have a redo the next day. But then I would screw up again…

You get the point.

I don’t fall off wagons, they just completely fall apart. Then not only do I have to get back on the wagon but I have to rebuild the whole damn thing too.

fell off the wagon

This might sound like a defeatist attitude but it is my reality. We all have to acknowledge our limitations. Taking away food options just isn’t my thang. This whole journey is about finding balance. I can’t tip too far either direction or my whole equilibrium will be thrown off.

That being said, I do plan on tightening things up a bit.

Instead of taking things away I am adding things in the hopes of crowding out the crap. I did this back in late February when I did the Veggie Challenge. During this time I had to drink a ton of water and eat veggies with breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a four day challenge and it worked.

I’m not much of a meal planner because I don’t like feeling like I’m stuck eating something I’m not in the mood for…I’m a brat, we know this.

However, I do have a few back up recipes on hand just in case I get in a veggie funk…

1. Chicken Parmesan Zucchini Meatballs on top of zucchini noodles and marinara sauce. (I bought a zucchini spiralizer and I’m dying to use it.)

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2. Raw Kale and Brussel Sprouts Salad with Tahini-Maple Dressing. I have tahini in my pantry. I have no idea how it got there.

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3. Cauliflower Crust Pizza– This just looked too yummy to pass up.

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I’ll probably be eating several Whole 30/paleo approved meals but I’ll also be eating my signature afternoon snack of greek yogurt, strawberries and chia seeds. I eat it. Every. Day. I love it!

With that said I better hit the hay, I’ve got some fat to lose and some muscles to build.

What are you doing to get ready for the upcoming summer season?

Week 17 Weigh-in and Monthly Progress Pics

Nina Chapman10 Comments

Today is weigh-in day and boy did that sucker sneak up on me…

We had guests over the past week and while I didn’t eat great I didn’t eat all that bad. However, I wasn’t able to workout like I usually do. So after indulging in sushi and wine… and Chick-Fil-A, I weighed myself to check in on the damage.

The scale said 207.2…

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Needless to say, I freaked out. I immediately wrote a blog post about my hatred of anything cute and cuddly. I was in one of “those” moods.

Usually when I have a setback like this I’ll say, “Screw it!” and eat whatever I want in the form of a pity party. I really wanted a pity party…

If I had done this I would have carried on until I gained another five pounds and then realized that I really need to do something about this weight… a novel idea right?

I knew going down this shame spiral wasn’t an option. So despite this setback I made myself go to the gym and get right back on track. You know what? I felt better instantly.

So this morning I did my obligatory strip down/weigh-in. I weighed in at 199.8

Phew… The moral of the story? Soy sauce is not my friend… and I seriously need to stop weighing myself during the week.

I was so relieved that I didn’t really care that my hair was super messed up from sleeping with it wet last night. I just wanted to take these monthly pictures and be done with it.

Keep in mind, my photographer is 10…

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Yeah… so things are pretty much looking the same. I also took my measurements and you can find them under the measurements tab.

I’ve only managed to lose one inch around my waist this month and an inch in my boobs. I’m so ready for those suckers to shrink!

This little bit of shrinkage has caused my favorite Lululemon pants to shimmy down every time I run in them. I want to be happy about this, but I LOVE those pants!

I’ve only got 4 weeks until summer so I’ve been doing some soul searching as to what I need to change to be more successful. The obvious is to forgo sushi and Chick-Fil-A but I don’t think that is my only problem.

I’ve toyed with the idea of participating in the Whole30. Another blogger directed my attention to it. It lasts for thirty days meaning I will have completed it just in time for summer. It sounds crazy restrictive but what drew my attention to it was the fact that it’s supposed to help balance out your hormones. Since I struggle with PCOS ,a hormone disorder that causes me to gain weight, I’m thinking it might be a wise choice.

My reservations about it lie in the fact that I feel like it’s only a temporary fix. There is no way I could sustain that way of eating forever.

In the mean time I’ve finally renewed my prescription of Metformin which is supposed to help with my insulin resistance. I go back in a month for blood work to see if I need to see an endocrinologist.

Until then I’ll keep chugging away…

Have you ever heard of the Whole30? What are your thoughts?

And how did your week go? I’d love to know.

Seeds of Change

Nina Chapman2 Comments

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Hey, look who decided to make an appearance! Aren’t they adorable?

The weather here has been crazy as of late. Super sunny one day, blizzard the next, followed by sunshine then freezing temperatures. I wish spring time would quit toying with my emotions. I don’t know whether to hibernate or lay out and get a tan.

tulips

My tulips are like thwarted debutantes waiting for the chance to come out and show how pretty they can be.

Today is a different story, it’s absolutely beautiful outside!

I haven’t been able to go for an outdoor run in so long. I can’t wait to lace up and head for the park. It’s the first thing on my “To Do” list. I’ve also got more bulbs to plant and a raised garden bed to prep. I’m hoping the wiener dogs next door will have suddenly gone deaf so that they will leave me in peace. (Funny fact I always misspell weiner…see?)

Unfortunately, I’m not the only one with animal enemies. Scout’s biggest nemesis is a squirrel who taunts him from the tree. Every time he stands at the back door to growl Penelope toddles next to him and joins in the growling fun. It’s pretty funny actually.

I’m so excited about my garden this year! Every time I think about it I do this high-pitched giggle. It’s the only reason I’ve tolerated the unending snow. I’m hoping this will pull us out of drought mode so that I don’t have to let my grass die in order to water my garden.

This is what I’ve planted so far…

strawberry patch

A Strawberry Patch… Scout already dug up one of the burried plants 😦

garlic

Garlic Bulbs

shallot-plant

Shallots

dahlias

Dinner Plate Dahlias

gladiolas

Gladiolas

daylillies

Daylillies

In my starter box I’ve got…

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Rainbow Heirloom Tomatoes

basil

Lots of Basil… Can you say caprese???

sweet peppers

Sweet Pepper Mix

hot peppers

Hot Pepper Mix

Once it gets warmer I plan on planting…

rainbow carrots

Rainbow Carrots

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Mixed Pole Beans, purple, green and white

zucchini

Zucchini

pumpkin patch

Pumpkin patch

Can you just imagine how beautiful my salads are going to be this summer?!

I’m following the directions on the seed packets and doing research on what will work and what won’t work. I kind of compare having a successful garden with being successful with weight loss. I always doubt that it will work…

When I planted those seeds I seriously didn’t think they would pop up. A part of me haggled with the thought of even trying. Was it worth it? What if I put in all of that work and nothing happened?

I knew I would be sorely disappointed.

That’s why I was so excited when I saw that my starter seeds were indeed starting. All of this hard work is going to be worth it in the end… I can just feel it!

humble beginnings

The Great Debate and Other Fun Stuff

Nina Chapman15 Comments

Hi friends! I hope you’ve had a great weekend!

We spent some quality time with family and friends celebrating Penelope’s first birthday party which was a ton of fun!

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Apparently this is a look I make when I’m having a blast. I never knew because my eyes close every time I scrunch up my nose to cackle.

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I made the cakes myself so that I wouldn’t feel bad about throwing away the leftovers. I’ll spare you another sugar in the trash shot and entertain you with unadulterated cuteness instead…

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When family comes to town we usually eat like crap so I’ve been trying my best not to over do it. During this time I’ve been having a little internal debate with myself.

The greatest debate I’ve been having recently is whether or not I should count calories. Kelly, my hottie body guru, has always told me not to and my husband concurs. I’ve been doing some research and talking with different people and I’m totally confused on the matter.

There is a new school of thought that claims that some people aren’t losing weight or reaching their fitness goals because they aren’t consuming enough calories… weird right?

I’m used to the older way of thinking that promotes calories in vs calories out. It’s such a simplistic way of thinking. It works because the number of the scale drops but if you don’t eat the right foods you will sacrifice hard-earned muscle which ultimately keeps your metabolism revved up. So in the long run you weigh less on the scale but along with some of the fat you lost you tend to lose muscle mass along with  it and you’re still left with the fluff you were trying to get rid of in the first place.

This has happened to me in the past. I would look at super fit chicks and wonder why I couldn’t see my muscle definition like you could see their’s. Was I just doomed to be fluffy?

This has caused quite the dilemma in my head. I don’t want to be fluffy but I don’t want to waste time by not counting calories and not getting to where I want to go.

You would think that I would listen to Kelly because she’s super fit. At the same time it’s easy for someone who doesn’t need to lose weight to say that. They have nothing to lose if they stay the same way. I however, feel like it’s time wasted.

It doesn’t matter how many times I’m told to stop counting I can’t help myself. I feel blind without it.

I’ve been trying really hard to lose weight and it is slithering off so slowly. Now I’m wondering if it is time for me to take a leap of faith.

During Penelope’s birthday party I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had decided to just give this no counting calorie thing a shot. But then I caught some video of myself and you could see my overhanging belly in plain site. I thought I had it well covered. The first thought in my head when I saw that was, “Holy crap! I’m going to eat “x” many calories to try to get that overhanging piece of flesh to go away.”

Then after the party we were sitting at the dinner table with Brent’s parents. They have recently lost a significant amount of weight through counting calories and we had a little family debate on its effectiveness. Brent thinks it’s stupid and can lead to unhealthy habits, Brent’s parents have found that it works for them. I’m still mulling it over…

What is your stance?

In other news I ate out a lot during the weekend as predicted. I told you that I would share what I chose to eat while dining out so here it is.

Warning: I only took half of the photos because I got bored with taking pictures of my food.

Friday:

 (lunch) Hard Rock Cafe Denver- Smoked Chicken Chopped Salad

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(dinner) Papa Murphy’s- Delite Chicken Bacon Artichoke Pizza

Saturday:

 (dinner) Los Dos Potrillos- Steak Fajitas

Sunday:

(dinner) Asian Spice- We all shared orange chicken, shrimp lo mein, broccoli beef. I compensated the bad choices by eating small portions.

Monday:

(breakfast) Toast- Veggie Benedict and hot green tea

veggie benedict

(snack) Starbucks- tall non-fat caramel macchiato

Planning Ahead

Nina ChapmanLeave a comment

It is officially Spring Break!

Yet, there seems to be so much snow outside of our back door that Scout felt compelled to pee on the deck instead of wading through it to get to our yard. He didn’t feel bad about it until he got caught, typical boy.

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This is his guilty face.

Needless to say, today was not a good day to go running outside. Which was a shame because Bridget has really gotten into running with me lately. As a reward she gets to buy a new song for her Ipod every time she runs a mile.

Today she went with me to the gym instead. Bridget hasn’t stepped foot into this gym since she was in kindergarten and it was the first time she actually got to use the equipment.

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She’s still at that phase where she wants to be like me. Poor girl. She’s gotten into working out and eating healthy lately and she has even started a blog about fashion and preteen girl stuff. We keep the link private because I would hate to have to jack a fool up for messing with my kid. Sorry, I tend to channel Mr. T when I think of cyber creepers. “I pity the fool!”

After our workout we headed over to Whole Foods for a quick lunch.

post workout lunch

Bridget got a beef bison dog with homemade chips, Penelope ate a few samples from the store, and I ate spicy tuna and kale salad.

I tend to workout before lunch and when I get home I’m usually starving so I decided today would be a great day to get a few things prepared in advance for these occasions. I have a few favorite food blogs but the blogs I go to most for healthy recipes are Skinnytaste and Iowa Girl Eats. Every time I think it sucks to eat healthy  I’ll log on and see something delicious that they’ve posted and I’m reminded of how yummy fresh food can be.

When it started to dump snow on Saturday I pulled a bunch of meat out of the freezer so that I would have food on hand in case of a blizzard. I’m not from around these parts and when it snows my inner Texan tends to get carried away.

Guess what…

I survived yet another snow storm and now I have a ton of meat to cook before it all goes bad.

So here’s the plan.

1. Skinny Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting

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Bridget was really excited about the idea of piping the potato “frosting” with our cupcake decorator that we bought for birthdays. I will have to pass on the potato part if I were to choose to eat this for dinner because of the Ten Week Challenge but I can indulge in a bit of potatoey goodness post workout.

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This recipe sneaks in a little shredded zucchini in it too!

2. Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken

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After eating Kelly’s Chicken Cali Stir Fry I’ve been all about the sesame flavors. I even bought some more cauliflower to make more “rice” to serve with this.

3. Kale Fried Rice

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I have made this before and it is SO YUMMY! I usually eat it with chicken and it’s great to have sitting in the fridge because it just gets better the longer it sits. I make it with brown Jasmine rice. (Once again this will be a lunch meal for me.)

I’m so glad to be able to have fruit and rice and potatoes again! I only went 5 days without but it was long enough to change my perspective and switch up my mindset when it comes to carbohydrates. I definitely need them but I don’t need them with every meal.

I celebrated my success Friday night by having my wine club… er book club over for a meeting. It was my free day so I partook in the wine drinking. As part of the Ten Week Challenge I’m not supposed to have alcohol or coffee (lattes). I only get one free meal and during that time I have to choose between the two.

I was getting into the habit of drinking one or two sugary coffee drinks a day and then ending my night with some wine. The amount of sugar and empty calories I was consuming wreaked havoc on my weight loss during the month of February.

Even though my back deck is covered in snow and pee, I can feel the warmer weather inching its way closer. I can’t wait for summer to arrive and I am really looking forward to feeling good in my skin when it gets here.

Here’s to hot summer nights, dancing in farmer’s markets and skinny legs!

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