STC 2013 – Centsably Fit

Day 23 & 24–PI Grilled Pizza and Pigs in Ponchos

By Angela on July 10, 2013

BEST Story Ever. I have to put this first, because I’m going to bore you with the rest and you might stop reading before the good stuff. (If there is anyone reading…knock, knock…anyone out there?) Anyhoo, I was out shopping at Wal-mart today and lost my car. Long story. So I’m wandering around in the parking lot trying not to look stupid, but feeling really stupid at the same time. Also, trying to look confident and move quickly so I don’t look like an easy target to some criminal mind. I was wearing my exercise clothes because I meant to work out earlier in the day, but didn’t. No makeup–hair in a pony. A car pulled up beside me with two men inside. It scared me and I took off walking the opposite direction as fast as I could without running. The passenger rolled down the window and tried to talk to me, but I kept going…faster. Then he got OUT and start to shout to me. “Ma’am…” I turned on my heels to look at him. He was a marine in full dress blues. The back of his car had an official government plate. I relaxed a little. “How old are you?” He wanted to know. I was shocked…kind of a rude question for a lady my age and we’ve never even met.

“36,” I said. His jaw dropped to the pavement.

When he recovered he asked, “Do you know anyone ELSE we could recruit for the Marines?” Marines? He was going to invite me to be a marine…but I was already near retirement age for the military, bwa ha ha. It made me feel good and when I told my dad he gave me a high 5.

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Yesterday I had my second ballet class. I’m the one on the right. It was tough and I have a lot of practice to do–especially to learn to spot a turn and not get dizzy, lol. I’m growing more flexible which is super exciting to me. I’ve been stretching out every day and started to wonder if I was just maintaining a balance of flexibility. The strength training makes me less flexible and I thought the stretching was only working to keep me as flexible as I was–but, no! I’m actually getting better. That is encouraging me to keep it up. It’s little things like being able to touch my toes without bending my knees that get me excited, lol.

Today is a bit of a blur. I worked out at 3pm and did strength A from the July WOM. My shoulders are the weakest part of my body and I really feel them in planks, push-ups, reverse planks etc and this workout has them all. Hopefully by the end of the month it will be a piece of cake —I can wish and keep working at it.

Two of our air conditioners broke this week. My attic was over 100 degrees (where my kitchen is) and the second floor with the bedrooms were close to 90. Thankfully we have a basement that keeps cool, but cooking didn’t sound good at all. So for dinner last night I bought deli pizzas from Aldi and grilled them. I ate 1/16th of a sausage pizza and then some pieces of sausage that Grant picked off his piece.

(I forgot to eat the cantaloupe, but someone in the family got it :).)

Cold foods sound best, so I ate a few meals of cold cereal (but chose a protein rich variety.) And shakes and puddings. Lunch was a pig (turkey pig) in a poncho (low carb tortilla) and dinner was leftover grass fed sloppy joe meat on a tortilla with the rest of the broccoli salad from the weekend.

Day 24–Assessment

By Angela on July 10, 2013

I’ve run out of time waiting for my body to adjust from my cycle and the 4th of July. It’s time to weigh and measure and accept things the way they are for a new starting point.

Total loss in the last 3 weeks: 2.9 lbs and 2.75 inches. Not to shabby, but not as good as it was the day before the 4th of July :). It’s easy on, hard off for me. When I was younger I could have a few big eating days and then the weight would fall off as soon as I went back to good habits. Not so now. It takes the full pound per week–good lesson to remember.

STC 2013 Midway Results front

The pictures aren’t the best with the striped swimsuit and the morning shadows, but I can tell in the first photo that my belly is sticking out in a pooch above the waistband and not in the second. Yay for little victories!

What I’ve done right this challenge so far: Doing all my strength workouts and all but one of my ITs. Logging my food daily and measuring everything. (I missed a few days of holiday eating where it was hard for me to figure out what I was eating to write it down.) Photographing my food with my phone to help me remember what it was to write down later. Writing here or in my FYM journal every day.

What needs improvement: Challenging myself more for ITs. Room for improvement for cleaner eating.

Breakthroughs: I am emotional and stress can stop my ability to control my eating. I need to guard my stress and how busy I make my schedule for my health and my family’s well being (since how I feel affects them even more than it does me.) I need to stay hydrated and add electrolytes when I’ve been super sweaty. No more blacking out means I am more motivated to work out again the next time. Also, I love how a recovery shake keeps me from getting sore after a big strength work out and helps me recover faster so I can function the rest of the day.

Days 17 – 21– Peanut Butter Cheesecake

By Angela on July 8, 2013

Whew, the last 4 days were nutty and so much fun!

Day 17: Wednesday night we went up to Maysville where we used to live for their congregational Independence Day. It started off with a potluck (basket) dinner, then a 3 hour worship service. (I’m stumped why it needed to be 3 hours and why it ended an hour after dark, but it is that way every year.) Then homemade icecream and fireworks. We had a health emergency with a couple of the kids and had to leave before fireworks. We would have left during the service, but I was supposed to sing the last number. It felt like the service would never end so we could get home and deal with the problem at hand. The kids grabbed bowls of icecream to eat in the car on the way home.

This was the easiest day to make good choices. I had a hamburger patty topped with ketchup and mustard; broccoli salad; fresh fruit; and some faux potato salad made with cauliflower (thanks Rebecca!) And a deviled egg. I went back for seconds on the broccoli salad–that’s my favorite thing! Then on our way home, Darren ran back in and grabbed me a small bowl of dairy-free chocolate coconut ice-cream that Rebecca had also made. It was such a treat to enjoy ice-cream again. I usually don’t like coconut, but this was really good, creamy and smooth with no ice crystals. I need that recipe!

We got home a little after 11:00 pm and after dealing with the health issue, it was 3 am before all were in bed. We had planned to get up early on the 4th and go out for a water ski show (and possibly a 5K race), but all those plans flew out the window with the late night.

The only life jacket to fit Grant was Barbie–but he didn’t care. That’s a man secure in his manhood :).

Day 18: We arrived just in time to see two water skiers flip over each other on boogie boards; and a 9 person pyramid (all with tow ropes) ski around the lake. That was pretty awesome. And the turtle race–fun stuff :).

My niece and her 2nd place turtle.

The day was amazing with good friends; boating; water skiing; fishing; and relaxing. The food was more challenging. We had pulled pork, brown sugar baked beans; potato chips; potato salad; macaroni salad; ravioli salad slathered in olive oil and cheese; slaw, and several types of cookies and brownies. It was all delicious but the only partially supportive choice was the smoked meat.

For evening meal; it was more of the same with hot dogs and s’mores to boot. I wish I had brought some meals to eat with everyone, but with the crazy night and packing 6 kids for the lake–it was just too much to think about. There’s almost always good choices available amongst the bad, but not this time. We ended the day with watching a fireworks show on the lake and you could see the sky lights reflected in the water–beautiful!

Day 19: Friday, I tried to get up and run intervals outside, but it was hot and my body was stressed with the things I had eaten. I ended up walking for 2 miles and coming home. Emotionally I was about to hit the wall. I ate clean all day then had date night at a friend’s house. She served grilled tilapia; brown rice salad; Cuban beans; rosemary artisan bread; slaw; and for dessert flourless chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Delicious! But not Back on Track.

After dinner we toured their farm and then learned to make kombucha tea hands on. She sent me home with my own scoby and I’m super excited to make my own batches of tea. It has a small amount of caffeine in it (from green tea) and tons of B vitamins and probiotics in it. I do really well with a half can of RedBull in the afternoons (though don’t drink it during FYM challenges) and am hoping this will be a healthier alternative for the afternoon slumps.

Day 20: Saturday: I got up at 7 this day and did my FYM strength workout and stretching routine right away. Then I prepare food for the day and headed up North to the family farm for our 4th Independence Day celebration.

Two of my sisters in law are also FYMs! So we got together and planned the food. We had grilled hamburgers and hotdogs (which I ate without the bun) a veggie platter; broccoli salad made with Greek yogurt and stevia dressing; fresh watermelon; pineapple and cantaloupe; then chips and cookies for the kids. I made a Peanut butter cheesecake with stevia. It was ok, but would have been better with a different stevia. Here’s the improved recipe:

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Yield: 9x13

Serving Size: 1/16 of the pan

Calories per serving: 163

Fat per serving: 13g

Ingredients

4 bricks (8 oz) neufchâtel cheese
2 cups water
1/4 tsp nunaturals pure stevia extract (this is the least bitter stevia I've found.)
2 Tbs plain gelatin powder (I buy mine in bulk or you can use 2 packets of Knox)
2/3 cup peanut flour

Instructions

In a mixer with a cookie paddle, beat neufchatel cheese and stevia until light and fluffy.
Meanwhile place 1/2 cup of water in a deep microwaveable dish and sprinkle gelatin on the top. Microwave on high for 1 minutes or until gelatin is dissolved (It will want to boil over so get a really dip bowl.)
Beat gelatin mixture, water and peanut flour into the cream cheese. (I took plastic wrap and wrapped my kitchen aid bowl to the top of the mixer to keep anything from splashing out. A splash guard will work too.)
Pour into a glass 9x13 dish and chill for several hours until firm.

Notes

Protein 8g; Carbs 5g

I made a crust for mine with flax meal; almond flour; stevia and coconut oil but think it would have been better without. Alternatively you could lay a layer of graham crackers in the bottom of the dish before pouring the cheesecake on top. But really, it's fine without crust.

You can halve the recipe and pour into a pie pan. Or substitute 2 cups of cottage cheese pureed for 2 bricks of cream cheese. This saves money and calories and boosts the protein. But the flavor isn't quite as good.

http://www.centsablyfit.com/days-17-21-peanut-butter-cheesecake/

For the evening meal we brought it all back out and had cold cut sandwiches instead of grilled meat. I had two slices of turkey inside a pita bread and also had some potato chips–too tempting for me after a hot day.

I was VERY grumpy on Saturday, complaining at and about my husband who is the dearest sweetest one I could have. Found out it was major PMS plus just TOO Much. Too many gatherings, too many late nights; too much running around; too much rich food. I ended up napping on the couch for several hours and then never felt quite with it the rest of the day.

Day 21: Sunday: I decided to weigh and find out the damage from the last 4 days. I never missed a workout and made the best food choices I could under the circumstances but still found myself 3 lbs up. I expected it but it was still discouraging. I’m going to give it another day to let the water retention work through and the hormones to stabilize and then do my halfway assessment and essay. My husband preached in the morning for sacrament service, which is one of the more stressful (important) services to do. I took the children to church early and left him home alone for some quiet moments. After church I made taco salad for lunch and then took a nap–sleeping through my manditory camp meeting :(. I’m going to be a counselor at Girl’s camp in two weeks–oh dear. I’m glad the director is my good friend and very forgiving.

We went to Summer Series in the evening where they have a cookie reception afterwards. I packed my own protein cookie to eat so I didn’t feel left out. But was pleasantly surprised to find a table full of fresh fruit and veggies beside the cookies. I had a little produce with my protein :).

Day 16 Homemade Fudge Protein Cookies

By Angela on July 3, 2013

Last night I was eating cake. Not just any cake, but my favorite cream filled layer cake from Costco. As soon as it was gone, I felt remorse. Why would I delay my goals that way? Is one moment of pleasure worth a forever fighting to get where I want to be? If only I could undo it, that one decision to eat cake. And then… I woke up.

Oh happy day! I touched my belly, it felt smaller.

So I hopped on the scale. Oh, I know I shouldn’t have. Weigh in day isn’t until Sunday, but sometimes I just have to know. Like the pregnancy test I should wait to take in two more days….but two days is too long to wait to know if our lives will be forever better. (I’m not pregnant, just an illustration.) And the number on the scale looking back at me was 139.8. What?!!! I walked into the bedroom in my weigh in outfit 😉 and said, Darren look at this. This is what 139 lbs looks like. And we high-fived and laughed. I’ve wished for 2 years too see a 3 in the tens place and it taunted me like a race-horse’s carrot always just out of reach. But all it needed to be real was a little bit of consistency from me.

The dream and this success are good fuel for me. A gift from God to make good choices through the Independence Day festivities that begin tonight and don’t end for us until Sunday morning. We are true patriots and Independence Day is second only to Christmas in our family. A wonderful and terrible (for weight loss) thing at the same time.

But I have allies at the parties too: My friend, Rebecca, who wrote me last night to tell me what supportive dishes she is bringing to the basket dinner tonight. And my sister-in-law for our family gathering. Both are Fit Yummy Mummies and it just helps to be surrounded with friends who are using the same methods to meet their fitness goals.

I don’t remember a lot about yesterday, except that I tried Holly’s new July workout of the month and loved it! It was super challenging for me, especially since the last 4 exercises were in plank positions. My shoulders get tired quickly like this and it’s good for me to build this up–though somehow miserable at the same time. My chocolate workout recovery shake makes up for any discomfort I feel during the workout itself. I love those shakes!

And I sucessfully made two recipes for fudge protein cookies. These are like a protein bar, but softer and chewier. The first one is higher in fat and is less sticky–more like a traditional no bake cookie (but really without sugar how can it be the same?) Note the original recipe used oatmeal, but I updated the recipe with coconut flakes to reduce the net carbs even more.

Fudge Protein Cookies I

Yield: 4

4 servings: 220 calories each; 19g fat, 2 net carbs, 11g protein

Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut oil (this is a good time to use your raw stuff from Costco)
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup Truvia or 1/3 cup Gentle Sweet
2 Tbs cocoa powder (I used extra dark Dutch process)
1/4 cup peanut flour
1/4 cup Vanilla whey powder
1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

Instructions

Slightly warm the coconut oil, just until it is liquidy but not cooked.
Stir in peanut flour until smooth.
Add almond milk, and cocoa powder. Stir until smooth again.
Add stevia, whey powder and then oats last.
Drop into 4 large cookies onto a silpat or wax paper. Chill until firm.

http://www.centsablyfit.com/day-16-homemade-fudge-protein-cookies/

The first cookie was delicious, but after I typed in the nutrition information I was less than impressed. So I tried again for protein cookie #2. It’s also yummy, but a bit stickier and doesn’t set up as fast. The nutrition specs are exactly what I was hoping for, so I can deal with a little sticky.

Fudge Protein Cookies II

Yield: 4

Calories per serving: 173

Fat per serving: 10

Ingredients

2 Tbs coconut oil
6 Tbs almond milk
6 Tbs peanut flour
2 Tbs cocoa powder
2 scoops vanilla whey powder (I used Designer Whey)
1/2 cup stevia in the raw (or 12 packets trivia or 1/8 tsp nunaturals pure stevia extract)
3 Tbs quick oats (not instant)

Instructions

Soften coconut oil until liquidy.
Stir all ingredients together (see recipe above for more details.)
Drop into 4 large cookies onto wax paper or a silpat. Chill until firm.
Once firm, wrap in wax paper or sandwich baggies and store in the fridge.

Notes

Protein: 16g Carbs: 13g including 3g fiber

http://www.centsablyfit.com/day-16-homemade-fudge-protein-cookies/

With the oats replaced with unsweetened coconut flakes, these have 169 calories each; 11g fat; 4 net carbs; and 14g protein

Day 15 Bacon and Egg Wrap

By Angela on July 1, 2013

Today, I was slow to get up. I heard my alarm and then just lay there. Not good. I got up and put my running gear on and then thought I’d check my email. And then read part of Holly’s book I bought last year on intervals. Then I helped my girls with their hair and took everyone with me to get an oil change (because they have frees slushies while you wait–I didn’t get one just had fun watching the kids eat theirs.) Um, can we say “stalling?” The last two times I tried running intervals, I had a bad day. My body just crashed. Some light headedness, blacking out, crazy hunger. That kind of thing. I wasn’t excited to do it again.

My clubFYM buddies tried to help me find the solution, but the only things we could think of were less popsicles (because of the artificial sweetener) or maybe more vitamin D. While I was reading Holly’s book it hit me, electrolytes. I sweat like crazy when I run and never replenished the lost sodium etc.

So I got up the nerve to actually do the workout then sipped Meleluca’s Electrolyte drink while doing my whole body stretches. I felt fantastic all day! What a good thing to find a solution.

Breakfast: Greek Yogurt and Strawberries

Snack 1: Protein bar (my last one. I’m going to go try a new recipe tonight and see if I can come up with something tasty enough from my kitchen. I’ll let you know.)

Lunch: 1 Ole low carb tortilla with 2 oz deli meat; romaine and half a chopped avocado with 1 cup of fresh broccoli salad (the end of that.)

Snack 2: The other half of my last protein bar and an almond sweet and salty granola bar. That was an unplanned indulgence because I’m out of popsicles (excuses–don’t let me get away with that.)

Dinner: 1 Ole low carb tortilla with 2 eggs; 2 slices of turkey bacon; a spot of Miracle Whip and romaine. Crazy, but my calories were exactly 1600 today. That rarely happens :).

My sister-in-law called me today about our weekend family gathering to come. Mom said we could be in charge of the food which means we can plan lots of Fit Yummy Mummy options so we don’t blow this challenge right before reassessment day. That did a lot to relieve anxiety for me. We’ll have good stuff for the non FYM folks too, but Gena and I won’t feel deprived. Thanks, Gena, for thinking of that! Day 15b 2013-07-01_1857

Day 10 Fresh Broccoli Salad

By Angela on June 26, 2013

Today is the day I hit the wall. Sooo hungry. Light headed. Headache. I’m not sure what is going on –if I was worn out from our schedule. Or if my body is detoxing from fat loss (yep, starting to see a bit of fat loss.) I think my skin is breaking out as the toxins come through the sweat. Or if my hormones are swinging as the month goes on. Probably a bit of everything. If it wasn’t for sugar free popsicles I would have eaten everything–especially the Angel Food Cake leftovers; bread; and tostada chips. I know the popsicles aren’t on plan, but right now not sure I would have survived without them. And you’ll notice if you look at myfitnesspal journal–I had 3. And now there’s only 1 left–so tomorrow needs to be a better day :).

Morning: woke up at 7. I stayed up too late watching half a Netflix movie with Darren. Then couldn’t get up on time. Scriptures are going to happen before bed today.

Breakfast: Ate a light bowl of Greek Yogurt and strawberries for breakfast, then ran intervals at 7:30am outside. This was waaaay different than my normal run. I sprinted hard like a bad guy was chasing me for 1 minute then walked 1 minute. (A gym boss timer makes this easy to do.) If I pace myself it feels like I can run forever, but not like this! I kept checking my timer to see if my minute was up and I was breathing so hard. I completed 9 rounds–18 minutes total. Then I leisurely walked home and followed the same stretching video on youtube that I used yesterday.

I think stretching helps the body get rid of junk too and I tried to drink a bunch of water today to help the process along. Hopefully this is a temporary feeling.

Morning Snack: Half a met rx bar (righ tafter my run.) A Fresh nectarine and almonds around 9:30. And a popsicle at 11:00 to try and make it to lunch before I snarfed everything in the house.

Lunch: Another version of yesterday’s taco salad. This time I used 3 oz of ground beef and cut the rice in half to try to control the calorie spike from the beef. It was delicious and had over 400 calories, but I honestly felt like I could eat another one and not even notice.

Snack 2: I worked on menus after lunch which involves looking at a lot of pictures of food and thinking about food. Not awesome for my fitness journey. Around 2 I ate another bowl of Greek yogurt and strawberries. Then started to snack on almonds–but figured out that baby carrots had the same satisfying crunch without the big calorie tag. Baby carrots and popsicles was the ONLY way I got through today. I had two more popsicle before I could respectfully prepare dinner.

Dinner: The whole family enjoyed outdoor grilled turkey burgers. They had theirs with cheese on whole wheat buns. I had mine with ketchup, mustard and pickles (for the authentic hamburger experience :).) And ate it with a knife and fork like a steak. I served a side of broccoli salad and made macaroni and cheese for the kids to keep them full longer. They love that stuff but it doesn’t tempt me right now. With my dairy issues, I secretly rename the dish “stomach ache in a pan.”

I finished my dinner about 20 minutes ago and am already hungry again. My plan is to fix some hot tea and nibble on baby carrots to get through the evening.

Day 10b 2013-06-26_1809

Day 9 Black Rice Southwest Salad

By Angela on June 25, 2013

I had another good morning with a 6:30 am wakeup and devotion time. My friend Pam came over and did FYM workout of the month June B with me. I made sure I had the foyer lit up and I was nearby this time so there was no awkward moment for her.

After our workout, we followed this video to stretch out and cool down. It has a lot of the same exercises Holly recommended at clubFYM, but it’s easier for me to follow a video.

For breakfast I made a post workout shake. It has real sugar in it to feed the muscles and tastes too sweet to me, so I started doubling the liquid (half almond milk half water) and like it much better. Plus it lasts longer so I can drink a bit before during and after my workout. I’ve tested it and can lift more and do better when I sip the shake during the workout.

For lunch I made the kids tostadas (see below–I did NOT eat that.) With ground beef, refried beans, cheese, salsa and lettuce. While I was cooking theirs I put a batch of black rice in the slow cooker. I bought it at Costco and love the nutty flavor. It cooks up a little easier than brown rice too.

I’ve discovered one of my big weaknesses. When my kids waste food, I feel like it would be ok to eat what they leave. The whole, I’m not a garbage can doesn’t work for me. Because I don’t’ see it as garbage. It’s good food and it’s going to be wasted. And I’d really like to have it. See below. This was a huge temptation for me, but I quickly threw it in the trash. It’s still hard when I see those pictures–but I’m a bit hungry tonight.

My lunch was the same lettuce; and salsa and cilantro that the kids had. Plus I added diced avocado; 1/2 cup black rice and 2 oz of canned chicken breast to my salad. I liked it so much I had it again for dinner. I think It’s pretty too. Grant tried the black rice (he’s 2) and really liked it. The other kids turned up their noses. They might try it the next time I fix it. Sometimes they need some time to think about it.

My ballet class was canceled due to a death in our instructor’s family. I looked up some similar type videos on youtube and think I will do one after my intervals. And also keep with the stretching. My flexibility isn’t good at all. I’d love to improve that.

Day 8 Grilled Lemon Pepper Brussels Sprouts

By Angela on June 24, 2013

This morning I got up at 6:30, read my scriptures and then headed out to my friend Pam’s house for a run together. I ate my breakfast in the car of Greek Yogurt and strawberries.

We went down to a little park by her house and ran 2 minutes and walked 1 for 40 minutes. I was exhausted and my face was bright red for hours. This is not typical interval training for FYM. Holly would say anything I could do for more than 1 minutes was too easy a move. And especially if I could keep it up for more than 15 minutes. I will say after 15 minutes I was ready to die, but Pam kept me moving. I was going for fellowship and some extra endurance–I got it.

I drove from Pam’s house to North Kansas City to pick up a Craigslist item for Heather’s bedroom remodel surprise for her birthday. I wish I had taken a snack with me! At least I had water

Once I got home I grabbed a homemade protein bar and a banana. And then showered and picked up my girls from swimming lessons. I’m glad that Darren could drop them off this morning!

Lunch was leftover rice and beef from yesterday. With a side of baby carrots.

Snack: Around 2pm I took Heidi out shopping to try to find a more modest swimming suit. (No Luck :(. Looks like I’m going to have to sew one for her.)

I knew I was donating plasma in an hour so I ate half a MetRX power bar to help fuel my body. If I don’t eat enough on plasma days it can take me several days to recover and I mostly lay around. I can’t afford to do that this time. Also I made sure to exercise before the appointment since it’s not recommended for at least 4 hours afterwards. I had a special coupon that gave me $80 for this visit which is double the normal fee. The money is all going towards Heather’s bedroom remodel :). She’ll be 10 in a few weeks and I can’t wait to surprise her.

Dinner: By the time I got home from Plasma it was dinner time and I was starving. So I ate the rest of the power bar. Then I could cook.

I grilled 7 chicken breasts seasoned with lemon pepper on our Foreman grill and saved one for myself. Then I boiled up some cheap Alfredo pasta packets for the family and cut up their chicken into it. Once the grill was clean I put the brussels sprouts on sprinkled with lemon pepper. I grilled them 8 minutes, then microwaved them for 3 minutes more until they were crisp tender and still smoky flavored.

I’ll have to admit halfway through my chicken breast I found a vein and that ruined me on it. I gave the rest to Darren. But I sure enjoyed my sprouts and salad. (The Sprouts were from Aldi in their fresh produce section. I had never seen them there before–a pleasant surprise. They would have been good with butter, but that was 2 flights of stairs down from my attic kitchen and didn’t feel worth it, lol.)

Day 7 Supportive Rice and Beef Mushroom Gravy

By Angela on June 23, 2013

Sunday’s are good days. I love to go to church and hear God’s word from another perspective and fellowship with the Saints. But today my daughter was recovering from the stomach flu so we stayed home together. That was another kind of wonderful. My mother came and picked up the older children and left me with a quiet house. I was able to read my scriptures longer than usual and just rest and enjoy the morning.

Breakfast: 6 oz Greek Yogurt and 1 cup fresh strawberries (everything with stevia)

Snack: Half a crunch protein bar

Here’s my beautiful oldest daughter waiting to eat with me. I love that everything in this meal we can all eat.

Supportive Rice and Beef Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

2 cups Hot Cooked Brown Rice
2 lbs grass fed lean ground beef
garlic powder (or garlic salt)
1 can sliced mushrooms, undrained
1/4 cup homemade onion soup mix (mine was with stevia)
3 cups water
3 tsp glucomannan powder

Instructions

While rice is cooking; brown ground beef with garlic powder to taste. Drain well. Return ground beef to the skillet and stir in mushrooms; water, onion soup mix, and glucomannan. Cook and stir until thick and heated through. Glucomannan will thicken instantly without heat and may clump up. Sprinkle it in a little at a time evenly over the dish and stir any lumps back into the gravy. Mine eventually was smooth and lovely. If you grave a little more flavor add a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Some Greek yogurt stirred in is nice too--gives it a stroganoff flavor.

http://www.centsablyfit.com/day-7-supportive-rice-and-beef-mushroom-gravy/

Lunch: Brown rice with Grass Fed Hamburger gravy (thickened with glucomannan so carb free); organic petite green beans; salad from the garden and a Planned Indulgence of a piece of Angel Food Cake and Fresh Strawberries.

Snack: Slept through it, didn’t even miss it :).

Dinner: Another helping of rice and hamburger gravy and a fresh banana

After dinner we went to hear one of my student’s preach his first sermon and a neighboring church. He was just ordained to the ministry this spring and we were so glad to get to go and support him.

Snack 3: After church I was pretty hungry, and was low on my calories. I was stumbling around the kitchen trying to figure out what to eat and DH said, “What nutrients are you low on?” I never thought about it that way before. So I went to myfitnesspal which said I was 27 grams of protein low! That made my food choices much easier. So I made a smoothie with almond milk, Greek yogurt; whey powder; dutch cocoa; and frozen raspberries. Yum! I still finished out the day 100 calories low but my tummy is happily full :). I love smoothies. They are so filling to me and taste like a dessert even without sugar.

Day 7b 2013-06-23_2132

Day 6 I have a Garden?!

By Angela on June 23, 2013

This is embarrassing to admit. Sometime early May before our last frost, I found a packet of gourmet lettuce seeds in the cupboard. The kids were driving me nuts, so I handed them the seeds and told them to fill one of our raised beds with them. It took them all of 10 minutes, but it was a nice and quiet ten minutes for those of us left in the house :).

Last year it was so hot and dry that if I didn’t water my plants in the raised bed every day they wilted up and threatened to die. It didn’t matter much because the wild rabbits came and razed the bed to the ground in the middle of a sad night. And that was the end of that.

So Saturday, when I was watering my hanging baskets on the back deck, you can imagine my surprise to see a raised bed full of lovely lettuce plants down below. (We just ignored it after that first day.) And I’ve been eating that tired yellow stuff from the inside of Romaine hearts for a week?! I sent Heidi out to pick as much as she could and she came back with this:

Breakfast: 1 cup Fit and Active protein cereal; 2 Tbs Hemp seeds; 2 Tbs craisins and 1/2 cup almond milk

Snack1: Homemade protein bar (No produce)

Lunch: Asian Chicken Chef’s salad: 2 cups lettuce; 2 oz canned chicken breast; 1 orange, sectioned and chopped; 1 Tbs sliced almonds; 1 Tbs craisins (for color) and 2 Tbs Fit and Active Sesame Ginger dressing.

Snack 2: 1/3 of a mega crunch protein bar on the way out to buy new shades and produce at Aldi. 1 oz almonds. No produce.

Dinner: Planned Indulgence: Grilled Pizza from Aldi’s Deli. We are making do without a kitchen until mid-August while we remodel. So it’s a real treat to buy something ready made. We ate it on the back deck.

I just put my pizza stone on the grill, preheat it for 10 minutes. Then flop the pizza on top. It’s ready in 8 minutes. Longer than that and the bottom will burn…..Trust me.

I also had a big salad from the garden with light Italian dressing. And snacked on baby carrots while I waited for the pizza to cook.

It’s Sunday morning now, so I can reflect on how I feel after the PI for dinner. Not great. I’m a little bloated up from the extra carbs. It sure tasted good, but probably not worth it. I need to plan ahead better so I have an alternative easy to go that is equally enticing to me. If I had thought about it when I was at Aldi, I’d have bought some mushrooms to grill with onions and peppers and Italian sausage. Yum!

So for Saturday: Wins: I read my scriptures first thing; I was under my calorie goal; I found a garden; I stripped the wallpaper off my kitchen–ready for drywall repair and then paint! Grant started potty training.

Losses: No workout 🙁 (Unless wallpaper stripping and cleaning counts–I know it doesn’t, but it was a good amount of N.E.A.T) Not enough produce. PI that makes me feel lousy. Heather has stomach flu.