Juice Pulp Crackers

 Great snack made out of those leftovers from juicing!

Added a little of this to some natural plain yogurt for a yummy dip. You could use any kind of dip mix or create your own using dried herbs and spices!

Juice Pulp Crackers

1-2 Cups leftover pulp from juicing (today I had used kale, carrot and apple)

1 egg

1-2 Tbs Flax Meal

1-2 Tbs Chia Seeds

1 Tbs Garlic Powder (I use the one from Costco that has parsley in it)

1-2 Tbs almond or coconut milk

1-2 Tbs water

Poppy Seeds

Nutritional Yeast

Mix the first 7 ingredients together until it forms a dry paste. All of the measurements listed on this recipe are approximate since it depends on how much pulp you have to use. Add more water if its too dry or more flax meal if its too wet but just try to get a paste consistency. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with olive oil. Then thinly spread the paste out onto the sheet and sprinkle with poppy seeds and nutritional yeast. I baked at 350F for 20 minutes then peeled it from the foil, flipped it over and toasted the other side for another 10 minutes. If I were to do it again I would use non-stick baking paper instead of foil and I would turn the oven way down to maybe 275 and cook for 1-2 hours. This would dry it out better I think without toasting it too much. I still really liked it even though it was more brown than I expected (left it in a little too long)! Next time I will experiment with the temperature and with different spices!

Fitness Goals

As I am about to start my new fitness goal I thought I would reflect on what I have been doing for fitness the last 9 months post baby.

September 2012: Baby Sawyer is here and we were just over the moon to have this baby finally here! But after feeling so heavy the whole pregnancy (and gaining nearly 60lbs) I was beyond ready to get active again and get my body back! I could hardly wait to get started however I took it easy the first month and let myself really recover and adjust to having the new baby around. The second month I started walking/jogging 2-3 times per week and it felt so good to just breath hard and sweat again!

Nov 2012-Feb 2013: Driveway Bootcamp/Group training
In November I decided to join my friend who had been doing a driveway bootcamp in her neighborhood. I prepaid for 3 months so I would be forced to stick with it that long! I would go to the night class after Ethan got home 4-5 times a week and this was a fantastic way for me to get back into fitness. Having an instructor there really helped push me and show me how strong I could be. It was so hard at first! But I loved having the accountability that someone was going to notice if I didn't work out so thank you Amber at Physique-Ed! Also special thanks to Heather for inviting me to go with her and pushing me through the workouts too. It was so fun having a friend to work out with! I ended up doing 4 months of that then decided I really wanted to start working out from home for convenience and cost reasons.

March 2013: Insanity
The bootcamp really showed me what I was capable of, so I knew if I was going to workout at home I'd want to have another program to help me set goals and push me at a certain level of intensity. I investigated the Beach Body programs and went with INSANITY! Really great cardio and I love the motivation and workouts. I lost another 10lbs on this program and reached my goal weight.

April 2013: Chalean Extreme
By the end of the Insanity program I was ready for a change and really wanted to start weight training to build some lean muscle....enter Chalean Extreme! I think it is my favorite exercise program I've ever done. Chalean is motivating and I love the variety of the workouts that span over 3 months. I definitely feel strong and overall more toned. I will definitely do these workouts again but for now I want to change up again and try something new which brings me to my latest fitness goal...

July 2013: P90X
Not gonna lie, I completed the first workout this morning and didn't like it. The video/workout style of it is totally different than the Chalean program, it was too long, and I'm not really motivated by the trainer. Not to mention the majority of the first workout was pushups and pull ups, my least favorite exercises! But I'm not going to give up so easily and will really try to stick with it at least the first 4 weeks. Who knows maybe I'll learn to love it. If not I'll find something else because it is not worth sticking with something if you dread doing it. That is exactly how I have failed in the past! And that is why I now set goals and frequently changes things up so I don't get bored with the same old routine.

Oct: Sprint Triathlon Training
As I've said before, I usually have my next goal lined up well in advance. If I finish P90X that will bring me to October which is when I will start training for the Casa Grande Sprint Triathlon. This is a 100 meter swim, 10 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I've done it once before with my sister Lucy and had so much fun training and performing in it, so we are planning on doing it again with more of our family members this time.

Wow October seems right around the corner, I cannot believe how fast this year continues to fly by! Another reminder of how important it is to start your goals TODAY and then remind yourself every day why it is a goal and how you will achieve it. Time will pass whether you are accomplishing your goals or not, so you may as well do it and be living the life you want!

Motivation Monday

Staying motivated is the hardest part when it comes to health and fitness for me. There are just too many yummy things out there to eat! That is why setting new goals and constantly working towards something is so important. For example my current fitness goal is to finish Chalean Extreme and I already have another goal lined up after that once I finish. I have also decided to try to finish the sugar challenge with Ethan. This came after Saturday where it felt like I had particularly binged on sugar (and a girls night party the previous night didn't help either). I just keep thinking if Ethan can do it so can I! And I would love to be able to support him these last 2 months of 30g or less per day, Although it doesn't seem he needs any support, he is doing so good! It almost killed me yesterday saying no to ice cream because I had already met my limit (thank you cherry ripe), but it felt so good at the end of the day to have met that goal. Making goals public is also a good way to stay accountable (which is why I usually keep them to myself lol). So there ya have it! Set some goals and re-motivate daily!

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

My mouth is watering as I finished typing the title to this post. One of my all time favorite meals I think. Ever. It is a little time consuming because you have to peel the mangos and chops everything for the salsa, but it is so worth it!

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

For the salsa:

3 ripe mangos, peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

3-4 Green onions, diced

Handful Cilantro coarsely chopped

Juice of 1 Lime

Dash garlic powder

Salt and Pepper

Mix all together and let marinate while you cook  the fish

Rest of the Taco:

2-3 Corn tortillas

Any kind of fish (I buy a big bag of frozen tilapia and used one fillet)

Heat a frying pan on high heat and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Fry the tortillas on each side for about 10 seconds (make sure they don't burn) and make sure to re-oil the pan for each tortilla. Then wrap them in a clean dish towel until you are ready to assemble the tacos. I know this sounds like unnecessary extra effort, but trust me, it makes the tortillas taste fresh! Re-oil your pan and fry the fish on each side for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through. Divide the fish among the tortillas and pile high with mango salsa! YUM

Sugar - A wolf in sheep's clothing

After blogging on here 8 days straight for the fruit/veg fast I guess I needed a break from blogging! My diet has gone back to the way it was, which was pretty healthy, but I really haven't done the sugar thing with Ethan. Seriously it is dead hard trying to eat 30g (or less) of sugar a day! And that's me, a fairly healthy person saying that. I do not know how Ethan is doing it! He is pretty much dying to have a soda and he totally deserves one at this point for doing so well, BUT he is determined to go 100 days without and I am so proud of him. Being sugar conscious has been really eye opening. You would not believe how many foods are hiding sugar in them and in high amounts. The hardest part so far for Ethan is not being able to drink anything except water and water flavored with these all natural stevia drink mixers I buy for him. Most drinks have a ton of sugar in them, even fruit juice has almost as much as soda. As I was about to go grocery shopping one day, Ethan asked if I would get some milk for him to drink, even if it had to be skim milk (which both of us assumed would have less sugar than 1% or 2% milk). I have a bunch of coconut and almond milk, but he says he can't drink it. Cow's milk isn't the greatest thing to drink in my opinion (whole other post there), but for him it was a much needed change from water. So I get to the store and sure enough even skim milk has 11g of sugar in 1 cup! Not to be discouraged, I had a look at the other milks which were in their own little section (for the minority of health weirdos I'm sure) and I found a low carb one that had only 3g of sugar per cup. Yes, that means my husband is actually drinking a step down from fat-free milk....fat-free low-sugar milk! This says a lot about goal setting and how focusing on that goal will affect the decisions you make on a daily basis. I wouldn't have bothered even looking for an alternative if it weren't for that one little ingredient we are trying to be more aware of.

As we have been more sugar conscious I have also been taking a deeper look into how sugar affects the body. In a previous post I mentioned sugar is the enemy when trying to lose weight, but the more I research the more I learn about even worse side effects. I found a really good LINK I wanted to share about this subject. There is a super long video all about sugar but then below the video is a written article about different types of sugar and the chemistry of how sugar effects the body. I really used to think all this stuff was just tree hugging leaf eating extremist kind of health information, but it is quite the opposite, it is fact based on science and biology! It is really interesting to see the connections between sugar and diseases. I totally understand that you have to die someday from something, be it a disease, cancer, heart attack, accident, whatever. To me it is about improving my quality of life while I have it and taking control of my health by recognizing how cells react to food, reproduce and die. If you read this blog you do not have to take my word for anything or believe anything I know, but I challenge you to research for yourself the effects of sugar!

After the fast...

Since finishing the fast we have continued to juice every morning and are eating pretty healthy still, except now we are including protein and grains and trying to stay away from sugar! Our first day off the fast I really didn't know what to eat, it was weird, Ethan made bacon and eggs for breakfast and it tasted heavenly. We had decided to splurge just a little and go out to dinner that night, plus I had my piece of cake from memorial day in the fridge that I had been saving and dreaming about all week. We ate at Texas road house, neither of us could finish our dinner, however Ethan managed to finish the water...a first for him!

Then we came home and I dived into my cake even though I was still pretty stuffed from dinner. It was good but I was so full I had trouble really enjoying it like I thought I was going to. I ended up scraping most of the frosting off and just eating the cake. Maybe my taste buds had changed over the last 8 days and it really wasn't that good in the moment? I don't know. All I know is a few hours after eating the cake I felt so SICK and ended up spending a while on the toilet (sorry TMI!). Over the next three days it felt like someone punched me in the stomach, it wasn't a throbbing pain, just felt like my insides were all bruised. I am sharing this to tell you DON'T DO THAT! Not only did I feel physically horrible, but it kinda felt like I flushed the last 8 days down the drain. Anyway, we are back on track and doing good. I was so excited to go to one of our favorite produce markets that has the best prices on fruit and veg. I got all this for $25! 2 pineapples, 12 ears of corn, kale, cucumber, 3 eggplants (all 3 for $1, figured I could afford to experiment with them), carrots, 3lbs of strawberries, raspberries, zucchini, red and green bell pepper, apples, pears, butternut squash, mushrooms, celery and asparagus. 

Also found this recently and LOVE it! I've never liked almond milk, something weird about the taste I can't get used to, so I usually drink coconut milk which I really like, but the texture is just a little too thick. This stuff is the perfect mix! Has the smooth texture of almond milk without the weird almond milk taste.

Our main focus the next 12 weeks is to minimize our sugar intake to 30g or less. Ethan has not touched soda still, although he did admit to me he came very close one afternoon after having a really stressful morning at work. I am so proud he resisted the temptation! 

Fruit/Veg Fast - Day 8

Last Day!....

Juice - beet, carrot, spinach
Leftover vegetable soup
2 Bananas
1 peach
2 packages dried Mango
Spaghetti squash with vegetable marinara sauce
Popcorn

I feel really good about accomplishing this and I am so proud of Ethan who really was my rock over the last 8 days. I was amazed at his focus and determination to do it and it really paid off for him because he was able to break away from soda. Of course he would still love to drink it, but at least now he has energy without NEEDING to drink it. I accomplished my goal to support the hubs and to detox while overloading with nutrients in fruit and vegetables.  I do notice that my stomach seems more lean. The skin seems flatter now where as 8 days ago it seemed like it was more bloated on the surface. Now we are onto a 12 week metabolic diet with the main focus being a restriction on sugar. More on this later!