It's not easy eating clean

Are you one of those people who's tried to jump on the clean eating bandwagon, only to fall off -- and be run over by it -- almost as quickly as you hopped on?

With all of the pretty pictures of green smoothies and colorful raw veggies being posted all over the internet by people touting the benefits of "going green" with your diet, it's easy to become overzealous.  We hear stories of amazing health improvements and body transformations that happen as the result of eating nothing but organic this and raw that.   We get excited.

Really excited.

Before we know what's happening, our image of our future selves -- sporting our new sparkling clean intestines, glowing skin, and size 0 jeans -- has taken over our sensibilities.  We're tossing out every box of crackers, every package of Oreos, every 6-pack of diet soda in our kitchens to make room for all of that organic produce and purified water we're going to be eating and drinking.

Uh huh.  OK.

I will state right here and now for the record that, if I could, I'd be all over that way of eating like white on rice like green on spinach.  It's the right way to eat for optimum health.  Our bodies were not made to process and store preservatives or chemicals or trans fats or artificial anything.

But I sure do like Diet Pepsi.

And chocolate cake.

And Red Vines.

If you have the willpower and focus to go completely green, I think that's fan-flippin-tastic.  It's the best thing you could do for your body.

But you're here.  Reading this. Because you need to lose weight.  So it's probably a safe bet that, before now, willpower and focus haven't been your strong points.

That's OK.  You're working on that.  WE are working on that.

If you're busting out of your clothes and barely fitting through doorways because you have a penchant for Twinkies and Pringles and greasy cheeseburgers, making the leap from Quarter Pounder land to the world of 24/7 organic-everything is likely going to land you on your face.

For weight loss, I think 85-15 is a good rule.  Make 85% of your food pure and healthy, but allow yourself that less-than-pure 15% in the form of Zebra Cakes or Funyuns, or whatever your vice may be.

Who doesn't love Funyuns?

The recipes I will occasionally post here will follow that 85-15 rule, for the most part.  I might even use butter or REAL cheese now and then.

GASP!  What did she just say?

I said butter and cheese.  Get over it.

I might bake it instead of grilling it.  I might sautee the veggies rather than steaming them.

In my book, a dinner of baked chicken breast and sauteed veggies beats a 1,500 calorie binge at the local burger joint any day of the week.

We're not trying to be perfect here.  Just better.  A little better every day.
Don't doom yourself to failure by biting off more kale than you can chew.

No more excuses

Remember that one time you woke up and thought to yourself, "It's a great day to be fat!"?

Me neither.

I'm probably going to get a few angry comments for what I'm about to write, but this little blog of mine will be a completely disingenuous endeavor if I don't share my true feelings ... about EVERYTHING as it relates to how I feel about weight loss and my body image.   

I frankly am fed up with all of the new age, self-love garbage out there that tries to encourage us to settle for less than our best.

"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."  

BARF.

If you are going to get real about changing your body and improving your health, you had better be prepared to pass some harsh judgment on yourself.  Stop listening to those Pinterest signs that tell you to just learn to love and accept your fat rolls and that everybody's bodies are different, so you're OK the way you are.

GAG.

Is it all right for OTHERS to judge you based on the size and shape of your body?  Absolutely not.  They likely will now and then, but that's something you'd better be able to live with if you're going to just accept yourself the way you are.

But YOU judging you is another story.  Not only is it OK, it's necessary.  

OWN what you're doing to your body.  

OWN what you're doing to your spirit.  

OWN the fact that you are driving the nails into your own coffin with each Oreo you stuff into your pie hole.

OWN what you're teaching your children about being unhealthy and sitting on the sidelines.

OWN the damage you do to your marriage and/or other important relationships by being less than the person you are meant to be

Giving up and settling does NOT equal loving yourself.  How does shortening your time on earth with your family and diminishing your own quality of life equal self-love?  

Telling yourself you're OK the way you are is just a big, fat, lame excuse.  If you're like me, it's one of MANY excuses that has gotten you to this point in your life.

The theme running through the current season of The Biggest Loser is "No Excuses."   I like it.

Nine years ago, I lost 60 pounds and I felt great. I looked great.  Because I was still young-ish and had been pretty lazy and eaten pretty badly for my entire life, the shock of adding exercise and portion control to my lifestyle caused the weight to just melt off of me.  It took work, but it was relatively easy and quick.  I kept it off until a couple of years ago, when I let the stresses of life get the better of me.  I gained it back and then some.  

When I decided a year or so ago to start again to try and take the weight off, I found that my body was not responding like it had that first time around.  It was hard.  I was working hard and eating right and the weight would not budge.  Not only have I been unable to lose, but I've slowly gained.  I'd be lying if I said I haven't shed many tears and felt much frustration over this.  I can honestly say that I probably work out harder/more  often than most thin people I know, and I probably eat better than most, too.  Many people have suggested that it may be out-of-whack hormones that are thwarting my efforts.  From what I've seen with other women, I believe this could realistically be the case.  

BUT ...

Fixing my whacked hormones costs money that I don't have right now.   I could toss my hands in the air and feel sorry for myself and decide that this is just my lot and it's not my fault and I need to love myself the way I am.  

OR ...

I can work harder than most people have to in order to see the change I want and need, whether I think it's fair or not.  I can love myself enough to do that. 

No excuses.

Stop lying to yourself and saying it's OK to stay where you are.

It's not OK to sit on the couch while your kids are begging you to run around with them.

It's not OK to put yourself at risk for stroke, heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and premature death.

It's not OK to wear clothes you hate just because you think they hide what you don't want the world to see

It's not OK to watch life pass you by because you're too fat to get out there

It's not OK to be unhappy when YOU have the power to change it

Love yourself enough to hate what you've done to your body.  

I don't care if you're fat because you have evil hormones or your mom was an alcoholic or you're stressed out because your dog doesn't like you.  Take your hormones and your mom and your dog for a nice long walk and get over it.

No more telling yourself it's OK.  No more excuses.

You don't have to be a supermodel or Olympic athlete or Sports Illustrated cover girl.  Whatever your best is, find it and become it.

Owning it

How to start your weekend off right:

1.  Kick a workout pledge's butt.  40 minutes of cardio--high intensity intervals on the bike, treadmill, and stairs (I have SERIOUS exercise ADD--I have to change it up a lot) with 47 bonus push ups.  Note that you all "only" got me up to 39 minutes, but I added a minute just to make it all pretty and even.

Well, you can see how it ended.

Maybe pretty isn't the right word.

2. Step on the scale (did I really just say that?). Saturday mornings are weigh-in time.  The last time I weighed myself was five days ago on Monday.  I'm happy to report that I'm down 4.6 L-B's from Monday.  

I'll own that. 

When's your weigh-in day?  Whenever it is, I hope you plan to own it.

The First Workout Pledge -- YOU are the boss of me.

Don't get too excited about that title.  You are only TEMPORARILY the boss ... of my workout.

I stole this idea from my pal Tyler over here.  Thanks, T.

I'm not wasting any time with this public accountability stuff.  Day one of being out there and I'm jumping in with both cankles.  It feels good.

You get to decide how much cardio I do this Saturday morning.  Here's how it works:

-Leave a comment anywhere on my blog to add 30 seconds to my workout.
-Become a blog follower (PUBLIC, not private) to add 30 seconds.
-Repin my workout pledge pin on Pinterest to add 30 seconds.
-Link to my blog from your blog to add 1 minute.
-Get your friends to "Like" my Facebook page and I'll add 30 seconds for each like.
-Post my blog link (NOT my Facebook page link) on your Facebook wall along with your personal endorsement and I'll add 2 minutes.
-No, this is not retroactive.  Only new comments/likes/links count!

You have until 8:00 p.m. my time on Friday to get this done.  No pressure.

Keep in mind, I already work out hard (hard for me anyway) for 30-60 minutes six days per week, so it's gonna take some serious  linkage and likeage to give me a challenge.  Send your friends on over here and let them boss me around ... for a little while anyway.

And by the way, in case you're wondering what you'll be inflicting on me, my cardio usually consists of high intensity interval training on the treadmill (inclines 'n all), spinning bike, and punching the daylights out of my heavy bag (No, I don't mean Rick).

Make me work.  I dare you.

I ain't skeer'd.

Make-aheads are your friend

Another recipe for the kitchen haters.

Make-aheads are a great little trick for us kitchen-hating-wanna-be-healthy people.  Make a bunch of food all at once and eat it for the rest of the week, cutting down on future prep time.

Ah, such a simple concept, right?

But when overeating is your downfall, a huge pot of anything can sabotage your portion control efforts.

For example: You make a crockpot full of beef with the intention of feeding your face with it for several days, only to find yourself in a meat coma 30 minutes later--standing over an empty crockpot with  juice dripping from your chin and not the foggiest clue what just happened.

The eater's remorse takes over and you drown your guilt in a few Dove chocolates.

And by a few, I mean the entire bag.

My way around this?  Dish out your portion and put the rest away in the fridge or even the freezer before you even sit down to eat.  That's it.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Eat what's in front of you and move on.

Step AWAY from the Tupperware, Chubs!

Anyhoo ...

I made one of my favorite make-aheads tonight.  This time, I took the picture myself - as opposed to stealing it from Google images - so that you can see why I don't take pictures of food, or why I shouldn't be allowed to.

Green Chili Chicken

Preheat oven to 375

Ingredients

3-4 boneless,skinless chicken breasts, thawed
1 TB olive oil
Pat of butter (optional)
1 small can diced green chilies
1/4 c. diced onion
Salt

Spray bottom of a baking pan with cooking spray.  Place the chicken breasts in the baking pan and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until ALMOST completely cooked (an ever so slight tinge of pink left inside).

Remove the breasts from the oven and cut into small pieces.  Heat oil (and butter, if desired) in skillet over medium/high heat.

Once butter is melted or oil is heated, add chicken, chilies, onion, and salt (to taste).  Reduce heat to medium. Continue to cook and stir until chicken is slightly browned and cooked through.

All done.

You can eat this alone with veggies (boooooring) ... or ...

Do what I do and put it into a whole grain tortilla or a couple of corn tortillas and sprinkle a small amount of grated cheese, oodles of chopped lettuce, and salsa  (oooh, I have a recipe for fresh homemade salsa that will rock your socks.  I must remember to share).

This chicken is also yummy (or as my husband says, "tight") on top of a tostada shell with some black beans and a little cheese and a tiny dollop of reduced fat sour cream.

I love having this super easy make-ahead chicken on hand for when I'm in a hurry and don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen -- which is pretty much kind of always.