Menu-ing and Recording

Monday (what I ate):

B: Frosted Mini Wheats, 2 String Cheese

L: 3 Chobani Flips/PB Sandwich

S: Banana Chocolate Protein Smoothie SB

D: 1 Small Steak, 1 c. Mashed Potatoes, 2 tsp Butter, 1 Sleeve Thin Mints

Really hungry today.  Ha!  Also, felt really exhausted.  

Plans:

Tuesday: Each meal and snack includes 1 glass water

B: 6 egg white omelet,  1/2 c. oatmeal

L: Chicken Salad Sandwich on 1 piece of bread

D: Grilled Flank Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onion and Balsamic,  Roasted Spiralized Butternut Squash Noodles

S: Who are we kidding?! Chobani Flip and apple

Acutal:

B:  String cheese

S/L: 1/2 a strawberry smoothie, 1 sb reduced fat turkey bacon, egg white, on whole wheat bun, and 2 sou vide egg bites with bacon--I was uncomfortably full but it all tasted good

S: 2 bowls mini wheats, 4 rice cakes

D: 3/4 c. Ravioli with marinara and 1/2 c. edamame

S:  2 Little Debbie chocolate chip granola bars, 1 gogurt, and 4 rice cookies 1/2 sleeve thin mints

Drank about 10 cups of water

At the point of writing this today I am recommitting to eating goodies only on holidays with family, which includes little debbie granola bars.

When I am dying for a goodie, I am planning on eating an apple.  It's strawberry season so I may need to make a trip to pick strawberries more often.  So healthy and totally delicious!

Wednesday Plans:

B: Egg-white pancakes (six egg whites, 1/2 c. quick oats, 1/2 T whole grain pancake mix--mixed in blender).

L:  Chicken Salad Sandwich

D: Grilled Flank Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onion and Balsamic,  Roasted Spiralized Butternut Squash Noodles

"When you do your part the Lord add His power to your efforts."  Henry B. Eyring

"We must have the courage to be imperfect while striving for perfection." Patricia Holland

These are the phrase this week that I am going to love.  Like I said, life happened and that menu plan that was supposed to last a week ended up lasting two weeks with a lot of eating out in between.  While eating out I strove to eat the healthier options.  For example, at McD's I ate the egg mcmuffin.  At BK I ate the salad.  Of course, at Little Caesars I ate the pizza, but with great strength passed up on the bread sticks.  Yesterday my son and I were super sick so at the end of the day after not eating all day I ate 1/2 a  loaf of the bake/warm bread from Walmart.  He had some too, I am happy to say.

I have been pretty good at working out and/or walking daily.  On Sunday we went for a beautiful walk.  I love Oregon in the spring--except for the allergies, but I thrive on the beauty.  I hope my kiddos love beauty as much as I do.

I hear movement downstairs. I guess it is time to get to work.

Meal Plans for the Next Week

Friday
B: Oatmeal, PB, 60% cacao chocolate chips
L: Sammy and berries
D: Instant pot pork carnitas
Snack: apple, string cheese, yogurt

Saturday
B: Eggs, Turkey Bacon, and 4 ingredient flourless banana-nut pancakes
L: Egg Pizzaiola with whole wheat Italian bread (if I can find it) Family loves this one.
D: Zucchini lasagna and salad

Sunday
B: Oatmeal, banana
L: Quesadillas and salsa
D:Stuffed baked pork chops with prosciutto and mozzarella with roasted cauliflower

Monday
B: Oatmeal, banana
L: Turkey Sammy with fruit of choice
D: Skillet Lemon Chicken with olives and herbs and green salad

Tuesday
B: Oatmeal
L: Sammy with fruit of choice
D: Salsbury Steak Meatballs and skinny garlic mashed potatoes with roasted broccoli

This is all I have time to record for the day. Usually what ends up happening is we suddenly decide that we need to eat right away and/or someone gets food for the family. So who am I kidding, I am planning on this lasting the week.  I am going to stop writing about leftovers--W, my husband, takes those to work.

A Week In . . . Paradise

Well, as much as I would love to say that I followed the menu plan to the letter and had no slips that would be a unabashed "No!"

There were three days I couldn't get myself to workout. Three, one with a  migraine and one was a recovery day.  Right now life is like a whirlwind and though I am loving every moment (as much as in my ability to do so), I feel like I over-planned my workout.  I am sticking with the MuTu workouts and guess what?! I am beginning to develop abs, even my  husband noticed.  My saddle bags  are still there, but significantly smaller.

One thing that helped me was listening to the bit that I filmed. I did the sounds separately hoping to get better sound with my new microphone (it didn't work too well).  In the bit that I filmed, I went back over my motivations. Turns out if you have your motivations repeated over to you as you're listening to music, it helps. Who knew?! Ha!

Another thing I think that helped me was giving myself a 10-15% mistake treat area.  I'm not perfect and putting on a facade of perfection really makes me feel overwhelmed and unable.  But I am able and I refuse to kick myself over that pretzel (the soft kind) that I ate yesterday.  I am still trying to stick to the meals I planned.



Sometimes it helps to me to have a reward program in place. So I am thinking of what I want/need.
One of my goals with my family is to teach them to love and serve others.  Where I live there are many homeless people. I am planning on enlisting the help of my kidlets and making mini-blessing bags.  It is pretty wet where I live, so I was thinking of adding socks, a tiny bit of cash, a pack of gum, a granola bar, and maybe one other thing that all fit into a sandwich bag.  That is my reward for this week.

During the week I was able to go to Sephora and get some make-up products that I really wanted.  That was nice.  But, as it turns out my regime was slightly improved, but not to the extent that I wanted.  Ha!  As in all things in my life, baby steps are an appropriate term for this.   I am grateful!  My daughter, K, even got a mini-makeover (some lipstick) and tried several eye shadows all over her face.

I love my life!

Day 1 Results

I made the food that I listed, but I used precooked chicken and didn't use fresh onions so it didn't taste as good as the last time I made it. I must follow the recipe exactly to get the great results.

Also, I didn't actually eat that dinner because I was so starving that I ate 4 chobani flip yogurts instead.  I guess that is one of my binge foods.  They are healthy-ish and sooo very good, so good in fact that I couldn't stop eating them.

I did the MuTu workout and one of the twice daily things, but I stretched a muscle funnily doing a lunge and decided to skip the 20 minute elliptical course so it could heal properly. I also took a cold shower. I read that some celebrities go into a hyperbaric chamber for a few seconds so their muscles get cold and then recover quicker. I have to say freezing cold showers seem to help me recover as well. So yay for that.

It was a humbling first day, but a first day nonetheless and I am determined that even if I have little failures success is going to climb the horizon!  I can do this!

On the plus side, I am almost out of those amazing yogurts so no more binging on them. Ha!Also I drank five cups regular water and three12-oz cans of grapefruit essence-d carbonated water. That makes it 76 oz of water.  Not quite a gallon, but close.  My kidneys will love me.

Menu Plan Week of Monday, February 20 to Monday, February 27.

Monday, February 20
B: Yogurt/Banana
L: Turkey Sammy, yogurt
D: Enchiladas Verdes, roasted asparagus
S: Oatmeal/PB/Chocolate Chips

Tuesday, February 21
B: Oatmeal with nuts and banana
L: Ham Sandwich and clementine
D: Chicken and avocado soup
S: Apple, nuts, clementine

Wednesday, February 22
B: Oatmeal with nuts and banana
L: Turkey Sammy with clementine
D: Cuban Picadillo and salad
S: Oatmeal/PB/Chocolate Chips

Thursday, February 23
B: Green Smoothie
L: Ham sammy and banana
D: Eggs Piazola and roasted cauliflower
S: Apple and string cheese

Friday, February 24
B: Eggs, turkey bacon, and berries
L: Turkey Sammy and clementine
D: unstuffed cabbage bowls
S: Oatmeal/PB/chocolate chips

Saturday, February 25
B: Oatmeal with nuts and banana
L: Leftovers with kiwifruit
D: Chicken Avocado Soup

Sunday, February 26
B: Whole wheat chex with berries
L: Quesadilla with salsa
D: Orecchiette pasta with chicken sausage and broccoli
S: Apple and nuts

For most of the dinner recipes I go to Skinnytaste.com.  The recipes are generally healthy and so delicious!  They are a staple in my family's dining at present.

For the workouts keep in mind I have diastase recti and am following a routine to help heal that. Essentially my stomach muscles have separated, so says my midwife and need to heal. I avoid planks, sit-ups, and a few other exercises.  You can youtube it to find out more.

I am using the Mutu system.  It is measured by finger lengths and I am currently beginning week five.  There has been a 1.5 finger closure so the system really works.  I am trying to use most of what I know from the Mutu system--only deli meats are not used in the system, but I have been craving sandwiches.

Remember this is my plan. If I find it too much, I will skim back. This is about protecting and building my beautiful self.

Monday: Cardio ( I love the system where you work out for 20 minutes and in that time you push yourself gradually.

First Minute--which I call zero because it helps me keep the numbers straight: 5 (you are warming up)
0:5
1:5 (still warming up)
2:6
3:7
4:8
5:9
6:6
7:7
8:8
9:9
10:6
11:7
12:8
13:9
14:6
15:7
16:8
17:9
18:10 (it's really hard and you should have a great sweat by now)
19:5 Cool down
20:5

MuTu phase 2 (twice a day)  Intensive workout 1

Tuesday: Weights: upper body--chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, back
MuTu phase 2 (twice a day) Intensive workout No. 2

Wednesday: Cardio
MuTu phase 2 (twice a day)

Thursday: Weights: Lower Body: quadriceps and hamstrings, calf, and abs (covered with the MuTu)
MuTu phase 2 (twice a day) Intensive workout No. 2

Friday: Cardio
MuTu phase 2 (twice a day) Intensive workout No. 2

Saturday: Weights: Upper body: chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, back
MuTu phase 2 (twice a day) Intensive workout No. 2

Sunday: Rest 
Mutu phase 2 (twice a day)

SO THE JOURNEY BEGINS . . . [say that in a Gandalf voice]

My  name is M.  I love my beautiful body. I love being able to move and about and do all that I do. I love playing with my kiddos and learning.  I am incredibly blessed with a family that I love.

I am on the path to great fitness and health.  I want to share some of my journey with you.

I am doing this because I want to feel great! I recently found out that I am pre-hypertensive. Gulp. All my life I have had low blood pressure and felt like it was a part of my identity--ha!   Now I am on the path to get healthy. I have had five wonderful children that I love with all my heart and I want to show them how to be healthy and to love their own bodies and to have them realize how blessed they are.

What I want in a plan:

• sustainability
• forgiving
• science based
• whole family friendly
• easy to follow
• ideas to boost or keep me interested

So, as all journeys to fitness begin, I am going to account for myself.  I acknowledge that I gained at least 30 pounds per child. I would lose about 15 of those post-nursing, but I am still nursing now and have a part that I want to audition for this summer--also they may be filming Star Wars nearby sometime this next summer and I would love to be an extra. Haha!

Current weight: 201 lbs.
Height: 5 foot 6 inches
Clothes Tightness: Most tight--pregnancy pants comfy loose (yes, I am still wearing them)
Chest: 42"
High Waist by belly button: 40"
Hip: 50"
Thigh: 27"
Calves: 16"
Bicep: 12"

Side Goals:
Drink around a gallon of water each day.
Pray at the beginning of day for help and each night in gratitude (I sleep so much better if I end my day with a prayer of thankfulness).
Remember I am beautiful and blessed!