Busy mornings!

Why is it that summer feels busier than most seasons. We are on the go. Mornings are tough because we are running around making sure that we have all of our stuff for day. Bikes and supplies for summer camp for my son, dogs taken care of and food for work. I am finding that my breakfast dictates my day. A good breakfast seems to start me off right. My go to breakfasts are high protein and high fiber. I do go through food jags where I eat the same thing everyday (sometimes for multiple meals) for about a month and then I can't stand the thought of it. The last couple of months I have been in love with oatmeal. I don't buy pre-packaged oatmeal because I am trying to eat less processed foods. What I do is eat either steel cut oats or rolled oats. I put about a 1/4 cup into a Tupperware container. I dice up apples or whatever fruit we get from our bountiful basket. I also add walnuts or almonds. Then I sprinkle with cinnamon and about 1/2 teaspoon of dark brown sugar or honey. When I am ready to eat at work I add water and heat in the microwave. This breakfast is easily made in advance for the entire week. 

My new kick is egg whites. I am more of a savory breakfast kind of gal. So egg whites gives me that satisfaction. This meal can be made in bulk and then separated into individual servings. First I grab veggies. Once again this is what is on hand from bountiful baskets. I sautée in olive oil. My fave combo of veggies is fresh green chilies, kale, tomato, and onions. Right now we have a lot of squash and zucchini. Then I add my egg whites. I add a little pepper and top with a piece of pepper jack cheese. Yummmm! Topped with salsa and avacado and this dish is ready to be devoured! 

Tough work noticed but still the negative

Today I had a meeting at work with someone who hasn't seen me in over a year. When she saw me, she was in awe over the transformation. When I walked in the room she didn't recognize me. She asked me what I did to lose the weight. I told her the hard way, that we had changed our eating and work out. I explained to her that my husband had also lost a ton of weight and this was a complete lifestyle transformation. We are changing the way we look at fueling our body and taking care of our health. She is a very fit person and she was so proud of the way that we have accomplished our goals. At the end of our conversation, she told me we should write an article to health magazine. 

I love the way that my husband and I have done this. We know the work and dedication that it has taken to change our lives. There hasn't always been positivity towards us. There are always people thinking something different, but only we know what we have done and how hard it has been. My favorite comments are, "what kind of diet are you doing" "did you go low carb" "you must have to spend all your free time at the gym" and the most recent and probably most comical are,  "they must be on diet pills" "you are starving yourself"  I am seriously amazed by the close people in our life who believe such things and can't be supportive! This is so hurtful because of amount of work that we have put into changing our life to be better for ourselves, our marriage and our children. I just don't understand how people can be so hurtful. These comments have reminded me to watch what I say, to be less judgmental, and more supportive. Support doesn't mean I have to agree, but to give praise to lift someone up. There is no reason to tear others down with comments or judgmental thoughts. 

I just have to remind myself of the people that give us praise, lift us up and who have nothing but positives for us. Plus I love the fact that we are inspiring others. Hearing from others that Reo and I have inspired them to lose weight or change their eating is the best feeling ever! The biggest thing is to continue to love ourselves! We love what we are doing for our family and leaving a healthy legacy for our children and living the best life we can. 

Delicious dinner

I love it when I make awesome dinners. Here is one of my latest creations. 

Wilted Kale Salad with Honey Glazed Salmon. 

Chopped kale sautéed with olive oil and minced garlic. Toast walnuts in a separate pan. Dice apples and toss into your sautéed kale. Toss in the toasted walnuts. I defrost frozen berries and mash. Then add balsalmic vinegar to the berries. When all is finished cooking add berry balsalmic dressing and crumbed goat or feta cheese. 

I used my broiler for the salmon because it was too windy to grill. I brushed each salmon filet with honey and salt and pepper. Cook for 7-10 minutes flip half way through and coat the other side. 

I had some endive that I also broiled up with my salad. This dinner was so yummy and had awesome ingredients. 

Tri- it again

I posted earlier about whether or not to complete the triathlon here in Gillette. I didn't really train for it and I was nervous because I hadn't even gotten in the pool. I finally decided to do it, 8 days ago! So it was today and I wanted to share this experience. This one for some reason meant more. I don't know why it meant so much but I was euphoric when I completed it! So here is the skinny on my journey this far with triathlons

2010- November: I began training for my first triathlon. This was the one that started my weight loss journey. We trained from November to May. 6 months of training to get ready. Remember that when I first started, I couldn't even run 1/4 of the way around the track because I was that out of shape. In May 2011 when I competed in the first triathlon I was about 234 pounds. I finished in 2 hours 17 min. It was a big deal! I was exhausted! 

Here are some pics of my first tri

Ok, now fast forward to 2012. I did the triathlon as a relay, so the only portion that I was responsible for was biking. My weight here was about 215. 

I wasn't able to do the race in 2013 because I was doing the Diva Dash in Boulder. So I skipped last year. Plus I was also training for the 150 mile bike race that was in August. 

I have continually worked on my fitness. I love bikng so I have kept going with that. All winter long I have been working on running and biking. I found some awesome interval treadmill workouts that I used to work on my endurance and strength in running. I had been looking for a new road bike and decided that if I was able to get one before the triathlon, I would do it. Well, I got my new bike the weekend of Easter. So I kind of was toying with the idea then that I would do it. I made up my mind on April 24th, that I would do it! I got into the pool then and was able to swim the 1/2 mile in about 21 minutes. I biked and ran on and off the week leading up to it. 

The scariest part is that this time I was alone. I usually had a crew of gals that had decided to do the crazy races with me. In fact they were usually the ones that talked me into them! But this year it was me. I decided to do the recruiting and talked in a good friend into doing this with me. I was proud of her because she decided 2 days before to join me! I just kept thinking about the regrets that I would feel if I didn't do it. So here is was. I knew that I had it in me, and I was awkwardly calm and confident. I knew once the swim was over, I would be ok. The swim was....crappy! I hate it! I was about 6 laps in and thought about giving up because I was having issues breathing and getting into a rhythm. I got past the 1/2 way mark and decided to start side stroking on one length of the pool. I was actually faster side stroking than freestyle, so I stuck with it. I got out of the pool at 19:07 which was 2 minutes faster than my only test run. I transitioned nicely to the bike with the assistance of my fantastic crew. Once on the bike, I got into my groove. I LOVE my new bike! Oh Wow, what a difference. It seems like the biking was a split second. It took me 40 minutes to bike the 12 miles with 2 extremely hard hills! Those were horrible hills! I transitioned to the run and that first little bit, everything is soooo jiggly! You feel like your legs are literally noodles. But I had a great pace and I stuck with it. I was nervous for the run, because running for the longest time has been my most difficult task. This was when I needed to remember what I had worked on all winter. I remember passing people on my run and loving it! There was incredibly fit people walking, and I was passing them! I just kept my pace and continued to run. The last 1/2 mile I remember feeling almost euphoric. This was it. I was doing it and without my dearest friends begging me to. I was the one that convinced someone else to push their body and try something they thought they couldn't. I had come full circle. I no longer needed them to push me, I had it in me to push myself and to help someone else. I am so happy that the ones that had began this journey with me in 2011 were the ones cheering us on and documenting our accomplishments. So here I am, my time was 1:33:57. I weighed in on May 3rd at 163 pounds. I had officially trained for 8 days. I am so proud of myself! I am in the best shape of my life at 30 years old! Here are some pics of this awesome experience.  

I love this picture that the local newspaper took of me hugging one of my best friends! It was awesome!

Fear or regret

There have been so many things in life that I fear. I fear not being the best mom I can be, the best wife to my husband, the best employee at work, the best friend, the best sister, and the best daughter. I live my life trying to be the best at everything I do. Unfortunately this leads to a lot of heart ache and disappointment as I am usually comparing what I think is being the best to unrealistic expectations of perfectionism. So what does this have to do with fitness and health???? Fear of perfection is literally making me sick and it's time to let go of the fear of not being perfect. This week, I realized that the sprint triathlon is 8 days away here in Gillette. I wanted to compete in it again, and this week was trying to decide if I should do it or not. Here are the thoughts that were going through my head of why not to do it..."you haven't trained enough" "you haven't even been swimming" "what if you don't beat your time from 3 years ago" "none of your friends are doing it with you" "what if it is too hard and you have to give up" I am that girl that plays out fake scenarios of what could possibly happen in my head, so you can probably imagine what those looked like...me gasping for air out of the pool, not being able to get out of the pool, walking on the running portion, and giving up( in dramatic fashion of course). Luckily for me a little piece of reality stepped into these thoughts and told myself to shut up. I have two options..fear it or regret it. I have pondered over what I would think about myself if I didn't do it, regret! Regret is what I would feel if I didn't compete, if I didn't push.

I would never have imagined that in my 30's that I would  be in the best shape of my life. I have biked 150 miles in 2 days, I have been running just slightly under 5 miles under a 10 min mile pace. I have gone to hot yoga twice! I want to feel what I can push my body to do while I am in the best shape I have ever been in. I want to cross the finish line weighing over 75 pounds less than I did 3 years ago when I first finished the triathlon. I will not let fear win, I will not regret this. I have to remember that I am only in competition with  myself. I am the one that I have to compete against. I have to compete against the fear of imperfection and accept my imperfect self. So here it goes...I am going to do the triathlon. I started swimming today and I didn't die gasping for air. I feel that I can bike and run confidently. I am excited to try out my new bike! I have dreamed of the day racing on a road bike. I know it is going to be hard. I know that I will not have the support of my friends who will not be doing it with me, I know that my family won't be able to be there cheering me on, but this is my race. This is me and this is me relinquishing my fear and living life without regret and without fear.
  

Inspirational clothing success

So I have some pieces of clothing that has either been given to me or I have purchased that are my "I am going to rock this when I lose 10 more pounds" I have a couple dresses in my closet that I can't wait to rock, just working on my mommy pooch before I do. So I was given some jeans from my sister in law about 2 months ago, she gave me all size 30 in waist and one 29 in waist. The 30's fit perfect and I was sure that on the first time trying on the 29's it was going to be a while before I fit into those. I put them on my shelf  and forgot about them. I remember thinking this waist is tiny and I might never be this tiny!  This weekend I was cleaning out my closet and found them. I thought, what the hell. Go for it, try them on. THEY FIT! And not like I look like a sausage stuffed into meat casing, but fit nicely! Yeah! The waist is tiny and I guess mine is getting tiny as well.  I love buying a couple things that don't quite fit because it truly is one of the best feelings to try it in a month and see the progress. Then you have a new outfit to flaunt your hard work around in!!

Here is the inspiration....

Vacation

Surviving vacation while being aware of healthy eating habits is difficult! My family and I recently went to Arizona and San Diego. I love eating new foods and trying local favorite places to eat. So of course eating becomes a big make up of vacation. I wasn't perfect on vacation and I definitely endulged in things I normally stay away from. Here are some tips I tried while on vacation...

1. Breakfast-we had a continental breakfast at the hotel where we stayed. This breakfast was typical waffles, pastries, carbs carbs carbs carbs. How I tried to make my breakfasts healthier was eating oatmeal with fresh apple slices and a hard boiled egg. I got fiber and protein and stayed away from sugar loaded muffins and Danishes. 

2. Share- my husband is so good because he often shares with me. I love this because then you can't over eat. If we didn't share I immediately asked for a box and boxed up half. I loved not feeling full and overly stuffed! 

3. Walk- we planned lots of active things to do and we walked a lot. We walked up and down the beach, we played volleyball on the beach. We walked at the zoo. 

4. Water- stay hydrated!! Drink drink drink drink. Keep the water going! 

5. Have fun and allow yourself to endulge- We had a meal where we ate what we wanted and one night I have Ben and Jerry's ice cream! It was glorious and I don't feel guilty. 

I came home and I did weigh 5 pounds heavier then when I left but I got right back on track.  

Here are some pictures of our trip...

In the airport ready to go!

Grandmas backyard in Arizona

Driving to San Diego

Down on the pier

Me and my honey near the USS Midway

She loves ice cream as much as mom does

At the zoo

Poolside 

Mission beach