Sleeping in Workout Clothes...

So, I'm just going to own it... It takes talent to eat this terribly for so many consecutive days.  Seriously, if I weren't so ashamed of myself I might be a slightly impressed by how much crap food my body can tolerate.  Part of the problem is that I have only been to the grocery store once this month.  On the first.  It's the 22nd.  That's a problem.  Instead, I've been using it as an excuse to eat out.  The reality of the situation is that I still have plenty of healthy options I could fix- I have just chosen not to.  Did I mention I just got home from having pizza out with friends?  Yup, and it was delicious.

In a small attempt to counteract my lack of diet, I've been trying to get back on the exercise wagon.  After the new year began my friend and I decided to purchase the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution.

The key to my success

We are both pretty out of shape and may or may not have underestimated how harsh Jillian can be.  Now, you may recall that I do watch the Biggest Loser so there's no excuse for my mistake.   I already know she's a bit crazy.  We started off strong and put in a solid 8 weeks before our lack of fitness really caught up to us.  At the same time, her parents went out of town for the month which left her without childcare, thereby eliminating our usual after school routine.  The nerve!  My extremely sore muscles were thankful for the break.

So, after about 3 weeks of laziness I decided I need to find the motivation and get back to work.  I feel like I should explain that 9 times out of 10 when we got together I said we should skip and she said we had to do it.  Turns out, I really don't push myself all that well.  Back to the point... I decided I needed to do a before work morning exercise routine.  Here's how it went down: Sunday night I slept TERRIBLY and reset my alarm sometime around 3am. No workout Monday.  Monday night I tried again and actually woke up with the alarm! I did not, however, get out of bed.  No workout Tuesday.  Wednesday morning and Thursday morning were a success!  My trick?  I HAVE to sleep in my workout clothes and keep my shoes by the side of my bed. It's kind of pathetic but it's the only trick I have and it seems to be working for me.

In other news, I have decided to take up gardening this summer.  A few of my dear friends and I are all trying to figure this out together.  I love taking on new challenges with friends.  At least we'll all have fun if we aren't successful.  My little sister, Katy, has been a HUGE help in this arena.  Sometimes she's a tad too smart and I have no idea what she's talking about, but she is so patient with my silly questions.  I planted my first round of seeds on Tuesday and I already have sprouts! Surely growing my own vegetables is the secret to eating healthy... Right?!

Lettuce seeds sprouting 

P.S.  I did not work out this morning (Friday).  My small group from church meets on Thursday nights. I treasure my time with these people and have decided that I won't rush away to get to bed early enough to wake up for a workout.  Friday will be my morning of rest.

Mexican Lasagna

Well I have kind of been sucking at this diet thing for the last several days (which is, coincidentally, also why I haven't been blogging).  So, I took to Pinterest and found some new recipes to try and was reminded of some old favorites!  Saturday morning I made a meal plan for the week and took to the grocery store...

Last night was some delicious spaghetti squash.  If you haven't tried this stuff yet, you're missing out!  Maybe I'll do a post on that in the future. But, first...  On the menu tonight was Mexican Lasagna.  I haven't made this stuff in YEARS and forgot just how yummy (and easy) it is.

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 package of taco seasoning
3 large low carb tortillas
Shredded cheese (I used mexican and shredded some salsa jack on the top) 
Taco sauce (I like medium heat)
Diced onions
Sliced black olives

Directions:
Brown, drain, and rinse ground beef.  Prepare according to instructions on taco seasoning packet. I just used a pan that's about equivalent to a 9x9 but it's a weird sized rectangle.  Spray with cooking spray.  Pour some taco sauce on the bottom to keep it from sticking and to keep it from being too dry!

 Cut the tortillas into thick strips (think lasagna noodles) and layer on top of the sauce.  This is the point where my friend dropped by and I got caught up in talking with her and forgot to keep taking pictures.  I'm confident you can take it from here!

 On top of the tortillas layer 1/3 of the meat, cheese, olives, and onions to taste.  Next add tortillas and layer again until you have 3 layers of meat!  Top with cheese and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until bubbly on the sides and hot in the middle. 

Notes: You can really alter this recipe to be whatever you want it to be!  I left the quantities pretty open because I think it's a personal taste thing for how much cheese, onions, and olives to include.  You could also add jalepenos, tomatoes, or whatever else sounds good!   I also served mine with a bit of sour cream (no carbs, woot woot). 

 I prefer the mission brand carb balance tortillas.  They vary in carb count by size, of course, but they taste pretty normal and are soft and yummy!  Metabolism Miracle figures carbs by subtracting dietary fiber from total carbohydrates. The ones I used were 5g/ tortilla so the whole dish had 15g of carbs.  Awesome! 

I'm so excited for tomorrow night when my friend Sara comes over! We've been friends since high school and she is simply AMAZING.  I will be introducing her to mashed cauliflower.  Well, that's assuming she hasn't ever tried it before!  Until next time...

P.S. I've heard that comments weren't working so if someone would be so kind as to give it a try, that would be great!

Slow and Steady...

It's a life lesson we learn early in our lives... Slow and steady wins the race.  When it comes to weight loss, slow and steady sounds like a load of crap!  We all want to be slim and trim by tomorrow.  Or at least next month.  That's not asking too much, is it?!  This just doesn't seem to be the route I'm on here.  I'm currently hovering right around 20 pounds lost, and have been since Christmas.  Please ignore that it's March and I'm still blaming it on the holidays. So according to the app on my phone I am averaging .5 pounds a week.  Half a pound is not terribly impressive.
On top of that, I have taken to watching The Biggest Loser again this season.  I torture myself by watching these girls (who now weigh less than me) lost 6 or 10 pounds IN A WEEK!  Now I do understand the difference in our situations and I understand that weight loss like that is not a realistic expectation.  Of course, that doesn't stop me from wishing for it!
I did lose 1.4 pounds this week.  Yes, I count the "." and actually find it to be extremely important for my morale sometimes.  I am working hard to have a bit of a mental shift.  I'm trying to embrace the "slow and steady" mentality and acknowledge that any amount is hard earned and something to be proud of!
Speaking of slow and steady... I love to cook.  It's not generally anything very exciting, but it does usually taste super yummy!  My Mom and Dad just returned from a work trip to Wisconsin.  My souvenir was lots of cheese- the perfect addition to a low carb diet.  Very yummy cheese, might I add!  Thanks Mom & Dad! 

I have also discovered a tasty low carb bread- not necessarily an easy task.  Most of them are super dry and not especially tasty.  I had been eating some made by Wonder and we all know that the economy got the better of that company and that bread is no longer.  Now I eat this Sara Lee bread...

I don't know why this pic is sideways and can't figure out how to fix it!

Put these together with a couple slices of bacon and I had the most delicious grilled cheese for 14g of carbs.  Delicious lunch!  As with weight loss, the key to a fantastic gooey grilled cheese?  Slow and steady!  Who knew grilled cheese could mirror real life so closely! :-)

Now I will go spend the rest of my day off remembering how much I love Casmir Pulaski and maybe I'll even figure out what he did to give me this day off!