Week 1 - The Plans

Hiya! So I am well into week 1 of my 15 Week Transformation and so far things are good.

 

I did my first official weigh-in early Saturday morning before my first cup o' joe and then it was full steam ahead.

 

I've never been a person to track calories, nutrition stats, etc. but I have decided to use My Fitness Pal to track what I'm eating. I want to reduce the amount of calories I'm eating in a day and more importantly what I find really helps when tracking my eats is seeing the reality of how many calories I consume in a day - sometimes that number can be kinda shocking!!! I love  that My Fitness Pal offers a phone app because I use it constantly! It's great for meal planning and for deterring me from picking up a great big slice of pizza for lunch!!

My goals this week are pretty simple:

(1) Drink 48oz/day of water;
(2) Workout 4 -5 days with one of those days including some strength training;
(3) Add some yoga into my mornings to help relax and prepare me for the stressful workday;
(4) Eat well everyday!!

I've stocked my fridge with tons of healthy options, so here's some of the eats I'll be enjoying this week:

*eggs & egg whites
*avocados
*lots of fresh produce - right now raspberries, cherries, cukes, zucchini, peaches, plums & green beans are in season - I stopped at a local orchard yesterday and loaded up!!!
*brown rice
* salads - one salad a day is the goal --- check out my Salad A Day Pinterest board
*Greek yogourt - I totally {swoon} over coconut
*protein shakes - I have Vega and Body by Vi right now and lots of frozen berries & mangoes to use
*beans
*veggie sausages

Workouts:

M - undecided between zumba and a circuit I've been wanting to do
T - spin
W - yoga
T - zumba
F - rest
S - run day (at the beach!!!!)

*Somewhere in there I also need to fit in some strength training*

So that's my week in a nutshell. At the end of the week, I'll let you know how I did!

Do you have any plans or goals in the works right now?

Have a great day!!

Andrea
xoxo

Source

 

Amen to that!!!

Strawberry Vanilla Protein Oats (Slow Cooker Style)

So is it Spring or isn't it?! Mother Nature is seeming a little confused these days. One day it's warm and sunny and the next it's gray and frigid. We had some glimpses of Springtime weather on Tuesday morning and since then have pretty much been experiencing a monsoon.....okay, so maybe I'm being a wee bit dramatic, but we've had some crazy thunder, rainy downpours and the weatherman is calling for a chance of wet snow or freezing rain today today. AWESOME {enter sarcasm here} I think we can all agree that we are done with winter and want the snow to take a hike, but it just doesn't seem to want to let us go. I bought a couple {read: five} new pairs of flats that I'm dying to wear, but I made an attempt with them yesterday and my feet received a royal soaking. Today, I'm back to boots.

My cravings have been all over the board because of this weather too. One day I'm craving fresh green salads with lots of veggies and my favourite honey dijon dressing and the next day I'm thinking about making a crockpot full of veggie stew.

Last night, I decided that I needed to make a crockpot full of steel cut oatmeal for breakfast. I decided to try a new strawberry vanilla combo, so I could get a little Springtime with the berries while at the same time getting the warm and cozy comfort of the oatmeal. This combo turned out to be delicious!

I also decided to add some protein powder to my oats, which is something I've never done before. I recently became a member of Team Vega {an entire post dedicated to this amazing company and their equally amazing products will be coming very soon} and they provided me with a sample pack of products to try - I decided that their Vega One French Vanilla Nutritional Shake powder would be a perfect compliment to my strawberry oats. This flavour is the bomb-digity of protein powders!!!!!

What I ended up with was an amazing new oatmeal that I insist you've got to try. It's Springtime meets comfort food and it is SO.GOOD!!!!!

Strawberry Vanilla Slow Cooker Protein Oats

Serves 2

1/2 c steel cut oats

1 c unsweetened original almond milk (or milk of your choice)

3/4 c water

1 package vanilla-flavoured protein powder

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 c frozen sliced strawberries (fresh would probably work)

Optional Toppings: favourite nut butter, maple syrup, coconut or chopped pecans

Note: I used my small hot dip slow cooker for this recipe. It works perfectly or you could use Janetha's instructions here for using a larger sized slow cooker.

Grease your slow cooker with coconut oil or non-stick spray.

Add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and stir well to combine.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Serve and enjoy. Sometimes I like to add a spoonful of plain non-fat Greek yogourt to my oats and sometimes I eat them topped with chopped fruit, a drizzle of syrup (perfect way to add more sweetness for all you sweet lovers out there) or a big glob of melty nut butter. Either way will rock your socks off!

I prepare my oatmeal in the evening and let the slow cooker simmer away all night long. When I get up in the morning, I open my bedroom door to the mouthwatering aroma of freshly made oatmeal. It's such a nice way to start your day!

Are you craving fresh produce and all foods associated with Spring or are you still enjoy all the comfort foods of winter?

Have a great day!!

Andrea

xoxo

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pumpkin Protein Bites+ a Plan

Good morning!

I did alot of planning this past weekend when it comes to my upcoming eats and workouts. As I always say, PLANNING = SUCCESS and I'm determined to succeed at my clean eats goals and to get 4 workouts in this week.

Last week was a bit of a bust for us because we've been spending extra time with Derek's dad, who's in the hospital (he's ok - he's just needing a little attention from his doctors) and Dora, our sweet rottie girl, who got spayed last Tuesday. She was a little out of sorts and we wanted to keep a close eye on her as she recovered, plus we thought she deserved a little extra TLC.

In terms of my workouts this week, this is my plan:

Sunday - rest  *food prep day*

Monday - core & zumba

Tuesday - spin & weights (chest & triceps)

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - zumba or the Fitnessista's Booty Burning Walking Workout & weights (back & biceps)

Friday - active rest (long walk with dogs most likely)

Saturday - 90 minutes kundalini yoga

Now when I say I had a food prep day on Sunday, I am not kidding!!! I spent 3 hours planning, shopping and prepping some clean foods for the week. All of my efforts should give us some easy grab 'n go options for busy days this week and I definitely was thankful for my prep work last night when I didn't get home from the gym until 8:15 p.m. I certainly was in no mood to be cooking up a big meal and I loved having healthy, nutritious eats at my fingertips.

I made:

1. 'Cheezy' Broccoli Soup (from the Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook)
2. Hard-boiled Eggs (for Derek)
3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pumpkin Protein Bites
4. Bananarama Protein Pancakes
5. Vegan Mexi-Style Quinoa

My original plan was to make a batch of the Fitnessista's Pumpkin Amazeballs, but I didn't have any natural nut butter at home, so I thought it'd be a tasty twist if I added some Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter instead. Seriously my friends, these turned out to be Ah-Freakin'-Mazing!!! I was so happy that I remembered my measurements, so that I could share this recipe with because you really, REALLY must try it!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pumpkin Protein Bites
Makes 7 1" balls

Inspired by the Fitnessista's Pumpkin Amazeballs

3 tbsp chocolate protein powder
2 tbsp unsweetened coconut
1 tbsp oats
2 tbsp Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp pure pumpkin puree
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

In a small food process, pulse the protein powder, coconut & oats until it resembles a fine powder.

Add the remaining ingredients and process until well mixed.

Using your hands, shape into 1" balls.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

P.S. - as long as you use a vegan protein powder, such as Vega, these are VEGAN baby!!

Two of these make a fantastic pre-workout snack. (So you might as well use that 7th bite as your taste tester, since it's clearly the odd man out!!) These are so handy for nights when I go from work straight to the gym. It gives me the energy to push through my workout without wanting to gnaw off my arm when the hunger pangs start.

What's your fave pre-workout snack??

Have a great day!

Andrea
xoxo

Food for Thought:

Source: Pinterest via Gloria Dallas

Thriving Forward

Hi! Happy Monday!!

How was your weekend? Saturday was a good mix of everything I love in a weekend: kundalini yoga in the morning followed by coffee with the girls, groceries, tidying up the house and then chillaxin' with a movie. Derek was out with friends, so I had the house to myself.....it was kinda nice to have a lonely girl night!

On Sunday, I slept in 'til 10 a.m.! It was absolutely blissful!!! I had a family reunion and potluck in the afternoon, so I spent the rest of the morning whipping up my Festive Sweet Potato Salad - I added a chopped apple and it was fantastic - and Tosca Reno's Ooey Gooey Banana Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding. Both of these dishes are healthy AND clean and I got lots of compliments on both. WIN!!! I had just enough salad left to bring with me to work today and this was all the bread pudding I brought home ----- um, it didn't quite make it 'til today ;-)

As you may recall from my post last week, one of my goals was to fully embrace the Eat Clean Diet. So far, I'm doing great and I already notice a difference in how my body feels. My stomach no longer feels bloated and unsettled like it did over the holidays when I was enjoying every sweet treat and cheese tray that was passed my way.

To compliment my clean eating goals, I've also signed up to follow the Thrive Forward program that's been developed by Brendan Brazier (creator of Vega).

This is a FREE online program, personalized to your interests and goals, that will show you how to improve your health through plant-based nutrition. Now I'm a vegetarian, so this is  perfect for me, but this program will still provide a wealth of information for you meat eaters too!! The program includes written e-books, video lessons, email tips, recipes, meal plans and tons of really valuable information to kickstart your journey to a clean eating lifestyle. Now, I feel like I already 'get' the general idea of how to eat clean, but what I really, really love about this program is that it touches on so many other topics such as longevity, sleep, stress, libido, weight, sustainability, etc. When you sign up for the program, you are asked to select three topics most relevant to your interests - I did that - but I will definitely be reading EVERYTHING because there is just so much information about the way food and nutrition affect all aspects of our lives.

If you're interesting in checking out the Thrive Forward program, it's not too late! Click here and sign up today. Let me know what you think - we can support each other as we clean up our diets and become the best we can be!!

Food for Thought:

Source

 

What is something that you're 110% committed to right now?

 

Have a great day my friends,

 

Andrea

xoxo