Why I Turned to Clean Eating

The back story:

I grew up in a "healthy" house.  My mother put time and effort in to cooking healthy meals for our family and she was probably ahead of her time on the health front.  I remember eating artichokes as a snack when I was a child and dinner was always a family affair.  Candy and sodas were a treat, not the norm.

I swam competitively until my senior year in high school so I didn't have to worry about my weight for the first 17 years of my life.  I ate anything I wanted and never put on weight (swimming 2-4 hours a day will do this).  I grazed (a word I still hate to this day).  I nibbled and snacked often.  My body needed the fuel to push me through intense workouts. 

Then I went off to college and ate dining hall food, followed by sorority house food and then began cooking for myself at 20.  I worked out in college but don't remember having many body issues. (Then again, I drank a lot of wine, so maybe I just don't remember.  I also smoked cigarettes - a lot - more than I care to admit, but I mention that here to emphasize that "health" was not at the forefront of my mind during this time.) It wasn't until law school that I really recall feeling like I could not lose weight.  I remember telling my girlfriends that no matter what I did I simply could not get under 130 pounds.  So I began running and doing yoga.  But I continued to eat the same - often eating out in downtown Athens, picking up fast food and eating a lot of Chex-mix from the law school's vending machine.  Running helped my mood and mental state during law school, but the weight didn't budge.

I began working as a lawyer in the fall of 2007 and the weight started creeping up.  No longer was 130 the number I couldn't get under.  I was now struggling to get under 140.  (I should note that I'm 5'4.)  My clothes were no longer fitting the same.  I felt less than sexy and found myself constantly worrying about how I looked and felt.  My first step was to hire a personal trainer at my gym, but instead of losing weight he just bulked me up and we didn't even talk about nutrition.  He and I quickly parted ways.

Then I signed up for Boot Camp at my gym.  I also became engaged to my now husband and was trying to lose weight for our upcoming wedding.  So I worked out at least an hour a day and was very conscious of my food intake (from a caloric standpoint, not a health standpoint).  The exercise, strict 1200 calorie diet, stress of planning a wedding and working as a lawyer did cause me to lose weight and I was at my lowest weight in a long time when I got married.  But I stopped working out on our honeymoon and indulged in decadent food and drink.  I didn't return to boot camp when we got home and a 1200 calories/day diet is not sustainable in the long run. The pounds crept back on quickly.   

Six months after our wedding I joined a nutrition program (Venice Nutrition) and met with a nutritionist once a week.  The program was centered on increasing your protein intake.  I was eating more protein bars than you could imagine.  I lost maybe 2 pounds in a couple of weeks.  It was discouraging.  And costly. So we parted ways.

Eventually I just went back to running and training for another half marathon.  Running kept me fit but didn't give me the slim thighs body I was hoping for.  But I was feeling good and was content for the time being.  I was under 140 pounds again and more or less happy with how I looked.

Then in the winter of 2010 I became pregnant.  I was overjoyed.  I could stop worrying about losing weight.  But I wanted to be healthy for the baby so I began reading as many books about prenatal health that I could get my hands on.  I must have about 20 books on being pregnant.  Seriously.  I committed to eating healthy and working out during my pregnancy. 

But I failed to carry out my good intentions.  Most days I was too exhausted after work to exercise, though I did try to walk a few days a week.  I was constantly hungry while pregnant and didn't plan accordingly, so I wound up getting a snack many days from the food court below my office building.  The week before Lukas was born I weighed 202 pounds.  So yes, that means we're talking over 60 pounds gained in less than 9 months.  (I do think part of my weight gain was genetics - my mom gained over 50 pounds with each of her pregnancies and I put on weight each week even if I walked 5 miles every day and only ate very healthy.  But I'll admit that there were many choices I could have made differently that would probably have had an effect on my weight gain.)

I loved being a mom more than anything I'd ever experienced.  But I hated the way I looked and felt after my son was born.  I remember going to Target when he was maybe 3 weeks old because I needed some pants to wear around the house.  I cried in the dressing room when the LARGE black sweat pants were too tight.  Way too tight.  But I had to wear something, so I purchased the Extra Large sweat pants.  And then I signed up for Weight Watchers.

I didn't start seriously following WW until Lukas was about four months old.  And I didn't work out regularly.  But I was nursing and the weight slowly started coming off.  When Lukas was 9 months old, I had lost almost all of the baby weight.  I do think Weight Watchers helped because I was writing down everything I put into my mouth, so it made me aware of what I was eating.  But then I stalled around 142.  No matter what I did, I seemed to hang around this number.  I started working out again.  No change.  I strictly followed weight watchers.  No change.  It seemed that I was bound to stay somewhat flabby and less than enthused about my post-baby body.

But then I started really looking at what I was (and wasn't eating) and the exercise I was getting (or not getting).  Most days I ate only 2-3 fruits and vegetables.  I was consuming a lot of sugar.  We were eating out many meals a week.  And I wasn't working out regularly.  Something finally clicked and I realized that I was in control of my body and what I put into it and what I did with it.  I wasn't destined to feel frumpy.  I was destined to feel however good I chose to feel.  It was on me.  No more excuses.  If I wanted to change, then I had to change what I was doing.  I also made the decision to be HEALTHY.  I was less worried about the number on the scale and more concerned with leading a healthy life for myself and my family.

Running had never given me the body I wanted.  So I realized that signing up for another half marathon might get me in shape, but it wouldn't give me the end result I was looking for.  I needed to switch up my workout routine.  On a whim I decided to try Insanity.  And it has been amazing.  I feel powerful and energetic.

But I think the reason I've managed to lose over 8 pounds in less than 2 months is because of the change in my diet.  I didn't set out with the intention of "clean eating" but as I've gone along these past few months, I've done a lot of research and reading and realized that eating clean is something I can sustain and do without feeling like I am sacrificing anything.  It is not a diet.  It is a way of eating and living. 

I started by making simple changes.  I eliminated sugar from my coffee.  I read EVERY food label and ingredient before I buy a food.  If there is an ingredient I can't pronounce, I don't buy the food.  I buy mostly unprocessed food and shop on the perimeter of the grocery store.  But the perhaps the biggest change is that I PLAN AHEAD.  I go to the grocery store with a list.  On Sunday I plan out what we're eating every night for dinner AND what I will bring to work for lunch every day.  Each morning I spend the extra ten minutes to pack lunch AND snacks for my day at the office so that I am never unprepared at work when hunger strikes.  And I eat breakfast every single day.

In the next post I'll talk more about my strategies for clean eating, but I hope this post gives you some insight into why I finally decided to make a change. 

Have you struggled with losing weight?  What has worked for you?

Clean Insanity

So my last health update was about my mental health.  I am happy to report that things are continuing to look up in that arena.  I stopped taking the antidepressant (with my therapist's approval and advice) a few weeks ago. I was nervous that the depressed feelings would swoop down on me again, but so far they have not. I do think the depression was largely hormonal and now that I'm about 4 months post-weaning the hormones seem to have leveled out. The therapist also helped me get a grip on the non-hormonal aspects of the depression. I probably would've stayed on the pills longer, but to be honest, thanks to therapy I realized I really do want another baby soon-ish and I didn't want to take anything while pregnant. (I'm not pregnant though, for anyone wondering.) I just want to have some time where my body is hormone and drug free before getting all hormonal again.

I also wanted some time to get my body in shape and healthy.  I lost all the baby weight within a year of having Lukas, but I never got into a solid workout routine.  I never regained all the lost muscle or definition and I haven't felt "good" about how I look in a long time.  I felt OK, but not good.  So before going and getting all baby-big again I decided I wanted to slim down and get healthy first.  It may seem backwards, but I have the goal of losing about 13 pounds before getting pregnant and gaining them all back.  I figured that if I could get in a good workout routine NOW and eat healthy NOW, then I'd have a better shot of only gaining the 25-35 recommended pounds the next time around.

So, I've been hitting this from two sides wholeheartedly: workout and eat clean.  And I couldn't be happier with the results!

I'm am currently in week 7 of a 9 week program called Insanity. I love it. I work out 6 days a week for between 30 to 60 minutes per day. (I wake up early or fit my workout in after dinner.  This is a big time  commitment, but it is me time that I need and that is important!)  The program is seriously insane.  I still cannot get through an entire DVD without having to stop and rest at some point.  It is hardcore.  And I LOVE IT!  If you're looking for a new workout program, this is worth every penny!  I took pictures at the half way point and can't wait to compare them to my after pictures in two more weeks.  I am gaining muscle, toning my body, shrinking my stomach and feeling all around amazing.  I honestly haven't felt this good about the way I look in at least two to three years.  Maybe longer.

The other part of my little health revolution has been clean eating.  I touched on clean eating a couple weeks back when I first started.  I'm now 5 weeks in and feel great.  My trusty old blender turned out to be not so trusty, so I'm now the proud owner of a Vitamix and LOVE IT!  This morning I drank a kale, spinach, swiss chard, celery, cucumber, pineapple, mango, banana smoothie for breakfast.  Delicious.  Mr. Cob and Lukas have also been clean eating and they both are actually eating the food...because the food TASTES GOOD! It's simply real, minimally processed foods.  I've been cooking recipes from the Clean Eating Magazine nightly and most everything has been great.  Clean eating does require forethought and planning, but it is completely do-able.  If I can do it, you can do it!  I plan to write a detailed post soon simply about clean eating and some "how tos" for the busy mom.  But for now the simplest tip is this: Don't buy/eat any food that has an ingredient that you cannot pronounce or do not know!

All around I feel good.  I'm happy.  And the scale is moving.  I'm down almost 8 pounds in 5 weeks.  This may not seem like much, but on my 5'4 frame, it is to me.

Mr. Cob and I are going on vacation in October and I'm actually looking forward to going bathing suit shopping in a few weeks.  I'm excited to continue on this health journey and make it a part of my entire family's life.  It's not a diet.  It is a lifestyle.  (Luckily, I've deemed red wine to be a "clean food".  I mean, wine is made from grapes.  Grapes = clean.  Logical, right?)

So that's what's been going on in my world.  Healthy, clean and insane!

Cali Strikes Again

After my last trip to California I went vegetarian for about a month.  I don't know if it's the healthy vibe of California or if it's my brother.  I think it's probably my brother.

Let's talk about Brother B for a minute.  B has always been a "healthy" person.  He played soccer in college and once ran a half marathon with me without even training.  I thought I was going to die at the end but I'm pretty sure he could've gone another 13.1 miles without breaking a sweat.  He's naturally athletic.  But he also lives and breathes a healthy life.  Aside from his son, obtaining and maintaining optimal health is his number one priority in life, followed by his desire to spread health to others.

B is a physical therapist.  He is a Reiki master, certified massage therapist, certified Ayurvedic perfect Health Instructor and soon to be certified yoga instructor.  The man knows health. 

And he owns a Vitamix and is not afraid to use it.  We had green smoothies chocked full of fruits and vegetables every morning before breakfast.  I feel vibrantly healthy after drinking one of his smoothies.  My body pracitally sighs and says "thank you" for not starting my day off with a load of crap food!  And I've found that by starting my day with a green smoothie, I'm more likely to make healthy decisions as the day continues.

Vitamix in action

Before even leaving Cali, I made the decision to keep up the green sludge smoothie morning routine once I was back in Atlanta.  So far I'm 9 for 11 (and the 2 days I missed I was out of town).  And I swear my skin looks better in just two short weeks of drinking these drinks.  But there's more.

The day I got back form California I stumbled upon a blog that was new to me called 100 Days of Real Food.  It's about eating, you guessed it, REAL food.  So I've jumped on that band wagon in addition to my green smoothies.  It's not a diet.  It's a way of living and eating.  The rules are simple - only eat real food.  This translates into not eating much processed foods.  My rule of thumb is to not buy/eat anything that has more than 5-6 ingredients and avoid anything that has an ingredient that I cannot pronounce or do not know what it is.  Check out the 100 Days blog, it has some amazing information and was very eye opening.

My body has been what I can only describe as detoxing the past two weeks.  Now that I'm eating only real food my body is purging all the toxins from the fake food I've been eating.  At least that is what the world wide web has told me is going on. 

Eating clean does take some effort.  It takes planning because I'm realizing that there are very few restaurants that have "real" food in their ingredients.  At least not many fast food places.



Box of Mangos from the Dekalb Farmer's Market = $5.00 (Much cheaper to buy, peel, chop and freeze mangos and make homemade smoothies than to buy a smoothie every day!)



So what have I been eating?  I kept a food journal the first few days:

Monday 8.13

Smoothie - pineapple juice, spinach, kale, red bell pepper, avocado, mango (frozen), strawberry

Coffee (black)

Cashews & almonds

Willy's burrito bowl - rice, black beans, steak, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, cilantro (I hadn't read the 100 Days blog yet, or I wouldn't have eaten Willy's....)

Pork tenderloin with roasted broccoli (olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese)

Tuesday 8.14

Smoothie - pineapple juice, spinach, kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, peaches (frozen)

Coffee (black) (2)

Cashews & Almonds

Pork tenderloin with roasted broccoli (olive oil, lemon juice)

6oz 0% fat Greek yogurt with a dash of cinnamon

Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; turkey meatballs (3)

1/3 banana

Wednesday 8.15

Banana

Smoothie: kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, peaches (frozen), pineapple chunks & water + Moringa, Maca & Hemp Powder

Cashews & almonds

Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; lemon juice

Apple

Edamame

Green tea

Hangar Steak

Brussel sprouts cooked with olive oil, bacon, balsamic vinegar

Banana

Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; lemon juice

Thursday 8.16

2 eggs scrambled with a dash of feta cheese and pesto

Smoothie: kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, pineapple chunks & water + Moringa, Maca & Hemp Powder

Cashews & almonds

Arugula with Quinoa, lemon juice, tomatoes, hangar steak, pork & parmesean

2 brownrice cakes with avocado

Brussel sprouts wtih bacon, olive oil & balsamic vinegar

Chicken burger (TJ) with avocado

Friday 8.17 (this was a strange day of food, I admit)

Smoothie: pineapple juice, spinach & frozen mango with Hemp Protein

2 bananas

Beef jerkey

0% Greek yogurt

Lara Bar

Banana

Blackened grouper with green beans and plain baked potato (no butter, etc.)

My post Cali-purchases: probotics, Kids Superfood (makes chocolate milk with hidden veggies and superfood and tastes delcious); Hemp Protein, Moringa & Maca Powder (B says they're the new Acai superfoods)

Today 8.23

Smoothie: spinach, kale, swiss chard, carrot, frozen mango, pineapple, cucumber, celery, water, Moringa, Hemp Protein, Maca Powder

Quinoa with zucchini, black beans, corn, cotija cheese

Banana

Almond butter (2 Tbls - from a spoon.  Don't judge)

2 homemade pork tacos - slowcooker pork, tomatillo salsa, avocado, lime, cilantro on Ezekiel tortillas

It's really not that hard to eat clean, real food if you plan and have the ingredients at home.  Last night we at out and I had the blackened fish with jasmine rice and snap peas.  One night I made a knock off Chik-fil-A sandwich that I baked in the oven - it was amazing.

Organic "REAL" knock-off Chik-fil-A sandwich - ready to be BAKED!

I am cooking more and trying a variety of new foods.  I plan on keeping this health kick going.  I'll keep you posted!

And at some point we'll talk about the Insanity workouts I'm doing.  But not now.  I'm too exhausted from my workout.

Sexy Snack

photo from appleadayproject.wordpress.com



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photo from Health.com



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A DELICIOUS SNACK

I started reading Bob Harper's (as in the awesome trainer from The Biggest Loser) new book The Skinny Rules last week.  And I love it.  The first week I lost 2 pounds.  And cancelled my weight watchers account.  I also feel like I am eating A. TON. of food.  So it's a win win all around.  The book includes 4 weeks of menus and each menu includes 7 different options each for all 3 meals and 2 snacks.  Since reading the book my go to afternoon snack has been one sliced apple sprinkled with cinnamon dipped in 0% Greek yogurt.  It is amazing.  The sweetness of the apple helps with the sour bite of the plain Greek yogurt and the cinnamon just adds a kick of flavor.  You should try this snack.  You won't regret it.

Anyone else reading The Skinny Rules?  What do you think???

Week 4 - what!

So I'm still not eating meat.  Well, not regularly.  In the past three weeks I have eaten meat exactly two times.  Once was last Saturday at a friend's BBQ.  I was eating the corn salad someone had made and didn't realize until about five bites in that the delicious flavor in the background was bacon.  I kept eating it even after this realization.  And I went back for seconds.

And Friday night my mom made one of her famous homemade Italian sausage pizzas.  I asked her to leave me a cheese slice.  But one slice of her pizza is not enough, so I had a second slice that was topped with Italian (turkey) sausage.  I had another slice Saturday for lunch.  There are some things that just taste better with some meat.  This is why I can never become a full-fledged vegetarian.

So I haven't gone out of my way to eat meat.  In fact, I've gone out of my way to not eat meat.  And I realized this week that eating a vegetarian diet does not necessarily mean a healthy diet.  Especially when eat out at restaurants.

Between our puppy being sick last week and Mr. Cob's sister visiting, we ate dinner out three nights last week.  The first restaurant (Big Tex in Decatur) left me with few vegetarian options: a portobello burger (I hate portobello mushrooms so that was out), a grilled pimento cheese sandwich on Texas Toast or a salad.  I opted for the pimento cheese, which was tasty, but I could feel my arteries clogging with each bite.  So much so that I ran five miles on the treadmill that night.

The next restaurant (The Marlay House) had more veggie options and I went with the Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Granny Smith apples, walnuts and red wine vinaigrette.  It was a bit disappointing and I can't pinpoint why, but I won't be ordering it again.  I did get a side of the garlic rosemary roasted butternut squash which was AMAZING.

The last night of eating out (The Pullman) I ordered a fried green tomato sandwich on focaccia bread.  It was good but felt equally as unhealthy as the pimento cheese.

So from a health standpoint, I don't think eating vegetarian is necessarily the way to go when dining out.  Or maybe the restaurants we picked aren't the healthiest of places in general.  I do think when I'm cooking at home, vegetarian is the way to go for me.

And I keep finding amazing vegetarian recipes.  For lunch today I made this grilled focaccia panini sandwich - it was one of the best things I've ever eaten.  Seriously.  This was another Pinterest find.  You can check out the original recipe, but the short version is this:

Cut focaccia bread in half (we used the cheese flat bread from Costco)
Spread each side with pesto.
Layer of mozzarella.
Layer of thin sliced tomato.
Salt.
Pepper.
Layer of sliced red onion.
Fresh chopped basil.
Layer of avocado slices.
Put bread on top.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, flipping half way.
Or use grill.  Or panini press.
Enjoy.
Wish you'd doubled the recipe.

Veg Week (1) Wrap UP

So Veg Week has ended.  Well, as you can tell from the post title, veg week #1 has ended.  Yup, we're doing a Veg Week #2.  So that should tell you how it went.  But in the interest of actually writing I'll give you more details.

So half way through the week, I'd made quinoa burgers, pasta and enchiladas.  We rounded out the week with  Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash (found here) on Thursday and Crock Pot Black Bean and Tomatillo Soup (found here) on Friday.  The Spaghetti squash was AMAZING!  I love spaghetti squash and often use it in place of spaghetti.  Mr. Cob thinks its a bit slimy, so the twice-bakedness of the recipe helped dry it out and he even declared the recipe a keeper!  The soup had mixed reviews.  I loved it.  Mr. Cob, not so much.  I knew his thoughts as soon as I spotted him pouring some of Lukas's goldfish in the soup in an effort to ramp up the flavor.  He thought it tasted just like tomatoes.  We probably will not be having the soup again.  But hey, not every recipe will be a winner.

Saturday night Mr. Cob made corned beef and cabbage for St. Patty's Day, but I stuck with the cabbage and some leftover soup to keep my vegetarian week going.  Sunday night we cleaned out the remaining leftovers from the week, so no cooking needed.

I did dine out twice this week, once for lunch and once for brunch on Sunday.  For lunch, I ordered a sandwich with brie, apple, arugula and cranberry relish (delicious!) and sweet potato fries at the Elis Hotel's Terrace Restaruant in downtown Atlanta.  And for Sunday brunch at Vickery's I had black bean cakes served over balsamic sauteed spinach, pico de gallo and goat cheese - it was amazing and I had enough leftover for lunch the next day.  At both restaurants there were plenty of vegetarian options to choose from so I didn't feel limited in what I could eat.  Now I know not every restaurant is vegetarian friendly but luckily these two were.  (I was wondering what a non-meat-eater would order at say Fox Brothers BBQ???  That is where the flexitarian thing would come in handy...)

For lunch, aside from Friday's outing to Terrace, I ate leftovers from the previous night's dinner, which made the veggie eating during lunch easy.  And then there was breakfast.  I'm not a big meat eater at breakfast anyway so this wasn't much of a change from my usual eating.  Most days I either made scrambled eggs with pesto or a smoothie - two easy meals when you're short on time in the morning.  One day I did just have a banana (I was running really late).  Over the weekend when I have more time I like to cook breakfast and this weekend was no exception.  I made egg puffs on Saturday and pancakes on Sunday- both with a secret veggie ingredient that I'll write more about on Tuesday's Toddler Tips post.

Overall, I felt energetic and healthy during the week.  I didn't miss the meat and when Mr. Cob asked me if we were doing week #2 of vegginess, I said yes right away.  I don't think I'll ever commit to full on vegetarianism 100% of the time, but I do think I'll cook more meatless meals than I previously was cooking.  I like the fact that most days I was eating anywhere from 7-10 different fruits and vegetables, which is different from my norm.  Sticking to a vegetarian diet for just a week definitely made me go outside the box as far as trying new recipes and food.

And I'd be lying if I didn't say one of the reasons I'm encouraged to keep at it, is that on Sunday morning (my weigh in day), I was pleasantly surprised at the 3.2 pounds lost over the week.  This may have been because I was diligently tracking my points on Weight Watchers this week, but I do think the veggies helped and every day I felt full and was within my point allotment for the day.  I realize this is a vain reason to keep on my no-meat streak, but at least it's a healthy change/way to lose some weight.

I'll continue to share the good veggie recipes I find and let you know how long this vegetarian journey continues. This week's menu includes Eggplant Parmesean Rollitinis, Zucchini & Corn Taco Seasoned Quinoa Salad, Chickpea Cakes with a cucumber, avocado, tomato salad and fancy grilled cheese with a side of "the best broccoli of your life"!

In other news, I'm back to coffee.  A toddler waking up for the day at 5:15am will do that.

Beet Roasting

I had an "ah ha" moment last night.  (It was more of an "I'm an idiot" moment, but hey, Ah Ha has a better ring to it.)

I love roasted beets.  I've mentioned that a time or too here.  But I hate the process you have to go through to get the end product of the roasted beets.  Specifically I hate trying to get the skin off the beets after they've been roasted (every recipe I've read said you should peel the beets AFTER you cook them).  So I tend to just order beets whenever I'm at a restaurant rather than make them at home.

But it's Vegetarian Week in my house.  So of course this meant I was going to have some beets.  I even bought red AND golden beets for the occasion. (Fancy, I know.)  And last night I roasted them for an hour, let them cool for 10 minutes and then set about the task of removing the skin.  I was mid-way through de-skinning the beet with a knife, the way I've always done it, (and cursing along the way) when a light bulb went off.

Use the vegetable peeler.  Dummy.

Duh.

For some unexplainable reason, I assumed you could only use the peeler on uncooked vegetables.  I have no idea why I had this thought, I just did. 

But lo and behold, the vegetable peeler worked wonderfully on my post-roasting roasted beets. 

So in the event you hadn't realized this either, I figured I'd share my new-found knowledge about beet peeling.

On another note, half way through today and I've already had 8 fruits and veggies for the day!  Here's my list:

Acai
Banana
Blueberries
Strawberries
Apple
Arugula
Sweet Potato
Cranberry Relish

And for dinner I'll add spaghetti squash, beets and maybe even cauliflower.  I'm not sure I've ever had this many vegetables in one day.

I've also noticed that one good/healthy decision makes the next healthy decision a little easier to make and eventually after a few healthy choices in a row, you're on a roll.  I even walked the dog for 15 minutes before work today - something I've done two times before in her life.  And taken two 20 minute walks during the work day this week around town.  I might even hit up a yoga class tonight.

I'm also on day 4 of no coffee.  Which perhaps you could tell if you talk to me before 10AM, but here's to hoping not.

I must say I'm happy with these unexpected effects of veg week.

But last night I was thinking about what it'd be like to dive into full on vegetarianism for good.  And I realized I'd miss prosciutto and bacon.  And skirt steak.  So I don't think I'm going to stop eating meat.  I'll be a flexitarian instead.  Yes, it's a real word. 

Is that sad that the one meat I'd miss the most is bacon?  I'm not sure what that says about me.  Mmmmmm, bacon.  Is it Sunday yet?

Veg Week - 1/2 Way

So far I have made some great and some not-so-great recipes for the Swans" Vegetarian Week.

SUNDAY: Crispy Quinoa Burgers with Flax Seed - AMAZING!  You can find the recipe here.  And then you should go home and make these.  We will be adding these to our regular rotation even if vegetarian week doesn't continue longer than this week.  Mr. Cob and I both loved these and they kept us full well after dinner.  The only thing I wish I'd done differently was double the recipe so we had more leftovers!!  Two thumbs up.  I made them with a side of roasted carrots, which are as simple as they sound - throw some carrots in a metal pan, drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven. They're delicious and went nicely with the quinoa burgers.

MONDAY: Penne Pasta with Tomato Pesto and Smoked Mozzarella - Ehh.  I found the recipe in the Self magazine I bought for our flight home from LA.  For some insane reason I thouhgt I could flip through a magazine with a toddler on my lap.  Wrong.  Anyway, you can get the recipe online here.  It was OK.  We didn't have any penne so I used whole wheat thin spaghetti instead.  The dish had a strong parsley flavor, which apparently I don't care for.  Nor do I like smoked mozzarella, which I didn't realized until I made this dish.  It was actually better the next day for lunch and I would make it again with a little less parsley, a lot more sundried tomato and a different cheese.  So it wasn't a total fail.

TUESDAY: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas -Keeper!  The recipe is from Real Simple and can be found here.  These were really delicious.  I used my food processor to shred the sweet potato and make the enchilada sauce (from scratch!), so it was super easy.  I was able to put these together while my little man ate his own dinner (of mac & cheese made with butternut squash - more on that next Tuesday on Toddler Tips).  The meat-eating husband even gave his seal of approval.  The recipe said the serving size is two enchiladas, but I was full after 1.5 and didn't go snack at all after dinner.  One enchilada is 6 points plus points for you WW followers.  The recipe called for a side of corn, which we didn't make and I didn't think was needed.  We'll definitely make these again!


So three days in to Vegetarian Week and I'm not missing meat yet.  I've made enough food each night to have leftovers for lunch the next day, so I haven't had to eat out yet.  And tomorrow will likely be leftover day, but I'll return to cooking on Thursday with tortilla soup and finish the week with twice baked spaghetti squash.  Overall, I feel good!  I decided to also give up coffee this week (yes, I'm losing my mind) and had a major headache Monday afternoon, which I think was due to caffeine withdrawal.  I'm drinking green tea as a replacement and drinking lots of water.  I'm not ready to commit to a vegetarian lifestyle, but I definitely think we'll start cooking more meatless meals around here.  Stay tuned for the final word on Vegetarian Week later this week!

Cali Made Me Do It

Every time I visit California I come home on a health kick.  It might actually be my brother's fault.  Healthy eating and living is in his blood.  You'd think it'd be in my blood too, but you would be wrong.  And yes, we are biological siblings.  And no, I don't know why I didn't get that gene.  (And while we're talking about it, I'm also annoyed that he got my mom's "great legs gene" and I didn't.  I got my dad's "athletic but still somewhat stocky legs gene".  Thanks dad!  I'm not bitter.)

But back to wanting to be healthy and actually change the things I do have control over (as opposed to my leg shape).  The first morning we were in California, Brent made a smoothie in his Vitamix, which is now on the top of my birthday present wish-list.  What did he put in the smoothie?  Oh you know, the typical: banana, blueberry, acai, lettuce, carrots, celery, avocado, dates, onion, spinach and he may have even thrown in some nuts.  And it was AMAZING.  (Admittedly in that I know this is healthy for me and it's surprisingly good amazing kind of way.)  Mr. Cob could only taste the onion, which I had no idea was even in there until he told me.  I thought the celery stood out, but not in a bad way.  And the real proof that it was tasty: my 3 year old nephew drank it up AND Lukas took a sip and then asked for more!  I now need a Vitamix, pronto.  Talk about getting your fruits & veggies in first thing in the morning!

We also went to an outdoor farmer's market that sold all sorts of organic fruits and veggies, smoothies, flavored almonds, breads and other delicious goodness.  It was a fun morning adventure and Lukas loved tasting the blood oranges, avocado and olives (he's on an olive kick).  Mr. Cob was excited because he finally found a satsuma, which was the one thing he wanted to eat in Cali.  (Although, I didn't think it was anything to write home about.)  My favorite thing was The Morningstar Ranch's Green Drink - made from rainbow chard, collard greens, kale, wild spinach, grapefruit juice, apples, yerba mate, raw agave nectar and flax seeds - and it really was delicious! 

And to top off our healthy eating in Encinitas, our last morning we enjoyed breakfast at the Acai Cafe with acai bowls.  I tried the PB and Acai Bowl made of a pack or two of Sambazon Original Açaí, banana, peanut butter, a splash of milk (I think almond milk) and topped with sliced bananas (or was it strawberries - it might've been both) and granola. Now this I can, and will make at home!  You can buy the acai packets from the Dekalb Farmer's Market here in Atlanta.

Aside from healthy eating, the weather in California was also beautiful and is conducive to outdoor fun.  We all went for a 3 mile jog along the coast one morning.  I had no idea we'd ran that far because I enjoyed the run and the view of the ocean the entire time.  I had hoped to fit stand-up paddle boarding into our trip, but it wasn't meant to be this time.  I think it would be easier to convince myself to get outside and exercise if the weather was always 65 degrees and I had the ocean as my backdrop, but I need to stop making excuses and just get outside and do it.  At least now we have the extra hour of daylight to get outside after work.

With the combination of being around Brent, the perfect Southern California weather for outdoor activities and healthy food at your fingertips, California makes me want to be a healthier person. I'd move there if I could bring all my friends, family and job, but that's not going to happen.  So I need to take what I can from Cali's healthiness and start living a healthier life here in Georgia.  And so for whatever reason, this time around that's evolved into "Vegetarian Week" in the Swan household.  The thought is that by eliminating meat (which in all honesty, I love), I'll be forced to cook with more vegetables and fruits.  I know that not all vegetarians are "healthy", but we're going to give it a whirl for a week.  Mr. Cob is even on board - at least for dinners, since I'm cooking them and he has no other option.  And thanks to pinterest, I have found tons of vegetarian recipes.
 
Last night we kicked off Vegetarian Week with Crispy Quinoa Burgers with Flax Seed from Oscar's Sandwich blog.  They were DELICIOUS, and I mean delicious, not just healthy delicious.  (I know you may not believe me given my positive reviews of green smoothies.  But seriously, these were good.  My meat eating husband even loved them!)  The rest of the week's menu includes sundried-tomato pesto pasta, black bean and sweet potato enchiladas, tortilla soup in the crockpot and twice baked spagehetti squash.  Stay tuned to see how it goes!

Just one Bite?

I have a confession. I'm a bit embarrassed and ashamed to admit it.  But maybe I'm not the only one, so here's hoping someone else can relate.

I feed my child macaroni and cheese for dinner about 50% of the time.  Ok, 60%. 

It's Annie's organic, does that count?  (No, I didn't think so.)

Here's the thing, I try to feed him other, healthier food, but he's gone on this crazy hunger strike and has become the pickiest eater ever.  And he flat out refuses to let anyone feed him, so don't even think about trying to spoon feed him anything.  He just screams in your face and shakes his head no.  This makes it difficult to give him anything that is not bite size, unless I feel like dealing with the mess created by a toddler trying to spoon feed himself.  Although, that can be good for a laugh if you have time to hose him down afterward.

He doesn't seem to have a problem eating at school - every day his sheet is marked with "ate everything" for his breakfast, AM snack, lunch, early PM snack and late PM snack (yes, they eat a lot, so maybe he's just not hungry for dinner?  maybe?)  I think the only thing he wouldn't eat at school recently was salmon croquettes, and really, this isn't shocking.  So at least he's getting some veggies and other "healthy" stuff at school and I know he will eat other food, just not at dinner.  Just not for me.

Last night I gave him meatloaf, which he quickly picked up and handed back to me.  So I tried some peas, usually a favorite of his.  Nope, on the floor.  Figuring it wouldn't hurt, I offered him some brussel sprouts.  Screams. I must be crazy.  Mushroom from my salad?  Tears.  Finally, I just heated up the mac & cheese and sure enough he gobbled that up.  I just worry he'll go hungry and wake up in the middle of the night if I don't give him something to eat for dinner.  So I keep giving in and offering the mac & cheese.  At least it's my last resort and not the first thing I offer, right?

I've created this, haven't I?  He now knows that I will eventually offer the mac & cheese if he refuses everything else.  I think I need to Ferberize him again, but this time with food not sleep.  (The Ferber method is where you put the baby to sleep in the crib awake and DO NOT GO IN THE ROOM FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE SCREAMING AND YOU ARE CRYING WHILE YOU STARE AT THE MONITOR KNOWING YOU ARE DOING IRREPARABLE HARM TO YOUR CHILD.  It takes about 3 days, but eventually they can go to sleep on their own without any crying.  If you attempt this, wine is a necessary part of the equation.  For the mom, not the baby.  Duh.  Perhaps the Ferber method would work with dinner, although I'm not sure I'm up for three nights of screaming about mac & cheese.  Although, it'd be best to do it before he can actually say the words and demand the gooey good stuff at the top of his lungs.)

Sigh.

Maybe its just a phase and I shouldn't be worried. He's still only in the 25th percentile for weight, so carbs for dinner might be a good thing.  (I know, I know, I'm delusional).  

Anyone else struggling with feeding your toddler?  Any tips?  Or tricks?

I should mention that he'll occasionally eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner.  What?  That's not much better you say.  Whatever, what do you know.  Peanut butter has protein!  And jelly, well, that's fruit.  Really.  It is.

Go To the Store. Now.

If you haven't tried brussel sprouts, you are missing out.  Seriously.  I've had a love of roasted B'sprouts for a few years now.  Not sure where this originated - we never ate them growing up and I don't think they're something I would've tried on my own.  I feel like maybe Mr. Cob decided to cook them one day?  Hum, now I'd really like to know when I ate them for the first time.  Take asparagus.  I remember the first time I ate asparagus.  What?  That's not weird at all.  Aunt Jaye (that'd be the same Jaye as the duck Jaye) paid me $5 to try them when I was little.  And Beets - I ate them at my friend Tedra's house for the first time in a salad.  She roasted them.  I now love beets. Ok, so maybe it is odd that I remember when I first tried a certain vegetable.  Regardless, back to the sprouts.  I love um.  But this weekend, I fell in love with them all over again.  Or to be exact, my new love affair is with SHREDDED pan sauteed B'sprouts.  Seriously.

So if you have never eaten them, do the following:  1. Go to the store and buy some B'sprouts, BACON (yes, bacon - it makes everything A-mazing), and some Parmesan cheese.  2.  Go home.  3. cut the ends off the sprouts and pop them in your Cuisinart with the shredder attachment.  4. Shred.  (or chop into shreds if that's your thing).  5. Fry up two slices of bacon in a pan.  6. Remove bacon and set aside.  7. Leave bacon fat in pan.  Yes. I said it.  8. Throw in shredded B'sprouts.  Add some garlic for flair.  9. Stir until the B'sprouts get all soft and some start to caramelize (aka brown).  10.  Throw in Bacon (which you've crumbled) and some Parmesan.  And salt and pepper to taste.  Or not.  11.  Devour.  12.  Call me to thank me.

Ok, so it's not the prettiest picture, and this is after they've been reheated for lunch.  But really, they're a taste sensation.  Trust me.  I wouldn't lie about vegetables.  Really.  And if you don't believe me, know that I would never, ever lie about bacon.  Or blue cheese.  In case you were wondering.

Mind block

Yea, yea, I realize I haven't written in almost two weeks.  It's not intentional, I promise.  Its just that I don't feel like I have anything to say that anyone would want to read about.  I mean, do you really care about reading the full story for the following blog Titles?

1.  Date Night: Do I get points for staying out past midnight?!

2. Church Search Complete? Maybe, thanks to the internet informing me that the pastor is gay.

3.  "Bup, Bup" = Puppy?: Tales of interpreting the speech of an 8 month old

4.  Get down from that [insert piece of furniture here]!: Our child likes to climb (Alternative title: We are so f*cked)

5.  9 months to put it on, 9 months to take it off

6.  Beware of Older Women: Lukas gets his First Kiss

So those would be the six blog posts I'd write if I were writing a post.  I doubt anyone will miss the actual stories, right?

You Fail

As the saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Well, I’ve been failing lately. Failing in the food category. I’m a big believer in brown bag lunches and snacks and cooking at home whenever possible. However, I’ve found myself handing over my debit card to more food venders in the past month than the whole last year combined. And this needs to change.

For one thing, eating out is expensive. Five bucks for a chicken sandwich may not seem like much, but if you add in the $4 smoothie for breakfast, $2.50 bagel for a snack and multiply that by 5 days a week, you’re looking at roughly $50 a week on food. And that’s just food eaten during business hours! Never mind the dinners out. Or the weekends. Even if you ate every dinner at home and cooked each weekend meal, you’re still looking at $200 per month on work/daytime food.

But the other, bigger problem is that most of the food you purchase on the go is crap. Pure and simple crap. Some of it may be nutritious, but overall, it will never be as healthy as what you could whip together at home. I do my best to choose “healthy” options – almost always opting for the grilled chicken sandwich in lieu of the fried or 86-ing the sour cream from my burrito and foregoing the chips. But you still don’t know where this “food” comes from or where the fat is hiding. And probably the worst nutrition aspect is the sodium – its always incredibly high.

So I fully realize that I need to be bringing my food to work, but I’m having issues following through. For one thing (due to this whole knocked up thing), I can’t eat lunch meat unless it’s heated up, which is just icky, so sandwiches are out. PB&Js get old, very quickly, especially considering I eat an English muffin with peanut butter as part of my breakfast most mornings. Salads are good in theory, but they require a lot of planning and ingredients. And I’m trying to reduce the amount of processed foods I eat (yes, I realize this is ironic considering all the eating out…).

When I do get my sh*t together, I’ve been brining Kashi frozen meals for lunch and Greek yogurt with honey for a snack. I’m also big on bananas. But I’m curious what other people do for healthy brown bag lunches? Any tips would be much appreciated!

Early Bird

I ate lunch today at 11:05am. And this was only because I had a mid-morning banana to hold me over that long. I really would have been quite content to eat at 10:30am, but all the restaurants downstairs were still serving breakfast and I’d already had my share of breakfast food today. So I held out until 11:00 when I went and got my chicken burrito bowl. At this rate I’ll need to eat again around 2pm– good thing I have a turkey burger in the fridge with my name on it – and then again around 4pm when I’ll snack on Greek yogurt. And then dinner at 5:30 or so.

So in honor of my hearty appetite and need to eat early, I thought I’d share some of Atlanta’s Early Bird restaurants specials. They’re not just for senior citizens. Pregnant women are welcome too.

• Goldfish (Perimeter Mall) - ½ Price Steaks & $5 Fresh Catch of the Day 4:30-6p.m.

• Strip (Atlantic Station, 245 18th street Atlanta, GA 30363) - ½ Price Sushi rolls upstairs Tuesday & Thursday 5-7:15 p.m.

• Eat at Thai 2 (225 E Ponce De Leon, #100 Decatur, GA 30030) - early bird specials from 5:30 to 7:00! three course meal for $10.

• Nakato Japenese Restaurant (1776 CHESHIRE BRIDGE ROAD, N.E., ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30324) – “Opening Specials” available Sunday through Thursday until 6:30PM (order must be taken by 6:30pm) - Sakura = Teriyaki Beef Julienne and Chicken ($11.25); Kiku = Shrimp and Teriyaki Chicken ($11.75); Fuji = Beef Julienne and Hibachi Shrimp ($12.75)

• Prime (Lenox Mall)- Every Night ½ Price Steaks from 5 – 6:15pm

• Highland Tap (1026 N Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30306) - Sunday-Thursday 5PM-6:30 PM with HALF OFF Appetizers & recession-proof entree choices

• Scalini’s Italian Restaurant (warning: OTP - 2390 Cobb Pkwy SE, Smyrna, GA 30080) - offered Sunday through Thursday and is from 4:30 to 6:30 P.M. - all pasta dishes are $9.95 (side note: this is also the restaurant that serves an eggplant parmesan that supposedly induces labor! We might be visiting Scalini’s in November…)

Anyone know of any other good "deals"???