Paleo Pancakes

These are a terrific breakfast option, simple to make and only a few ingredients.  My roommate S. has made them several times so she's perfected the recipe :) Two bananas and one egg will make about two servings (8 pancakes). We even added cinnamon to ours they're delicious. Here's the finished product.  The look similar to your typical pancake but are way more moist and fruity. They are tricky to flip so beware.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 egg
• cinnamon to taste

Directions:

Mash up bananas the mix in egg and cinnamon.  I used coconut oil spray in the pan and cooked them up over medium heat.

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21 days

Wednesday was the last day of my fast.  I completed all 21 days of the Daniel Fast.  It was super challenging but great at the same time!! I was so surprised that I actually made it lol  Since then I've had a couple cheat meals and I'm okay with that.  I'm trying to transition into Paleo, which is based on the Paleolithic Era I like to call it caveman diet.  It includes mostly fruits, veggies and healthy fats; no dairy, sweets or grains.  There are several different flavors of Paleo my goal is to eat about 80-90% Paleo.  I'm excited to try Paleo pancakes tomorrow my roommate has been eating them and she says they're fantastic.  I haven't tried them yet because they have eggs in them.  I'll post the recipe and pictures once I've tried them :)  Here's a picture of the first day and day after my fast.  All in all I lost 21 lbs in 21 days.  I don't think its necessary health to lose weight that fast but what can I say?

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New Year New You, Right... ?

Today marks day 10 of 21 of my Daniel Fast.  The Daniel Fast is based off of Daniel 10:2-3 In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. the basics are veggies, fruit, water, no meat, dairy, sugar or other beverages.  I really struggle to eat veggies and that's an under statement.  That being said I really wanted to be successful with this fast so I've allowed oatmeal and rice.  This fast has been one of the most difficult things I've done.  For most of the last 8-9 days I've had an excruciating migraine, like nothing I have ever experienced before.  That is why I haven't posted more.  I don't think its completely related to the fast.  I've done drastic dietary changes before and have only had 1-4 days of detox and re-acclimated to the new foods.  

The fast part is going very well with the support and strength of my sister who lives in Baltimore and my roommate S.  I definitely couldn't do it with out them.  It seems like everyone wants to know about the NUMBERS right before and after pictures etc.... Well look at the post before!  That was one day before I started to exactly 11 days ago and I am down 15lbs :) exciting most of that is water weight or weight I gained just through the holiday season.  These results should not always be expected also I am doctor and claim to be offering any medical or diet advice just sharing my experiences.

See below a quick Mix Berry Coconut smoothie I whipped up today.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana (half frozen, half fresh)
• 1/4 cup light coconut milk from the can
• mixed frozen berries (I like the Trader Joe's kind, they're organic:)
• handful of fresh mixed berries

Directions:

Add ingredients to the blender (I use and recommend the Ninja) I usually just throw everything in there then blend it up.  You'll have to play and adjust until flavor is right for you!  It comes out kind of custard like.

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2014

So here we are 2014, I realized my 10 year high school reunion is going to be this year... That is a very scary thought! January seems to always be a time of reflection and changes for the "new year".  I'm hoping some of those changes will stick..  scratch that I'm determined that these changes will stick!! 1st off this dang blog that I can never seem stick with.  I will write consistently on it and keep you updated on my progress 2nd eating healthy... now most of America will resolve to do this in 2014 but I honestly, truly, with my heart of hearts really want to remain eating healthy through out the entirety of 2014 and beyond not just for three weeks or three months (I'm starting off with the Daniel's Fast for 21 days, more to come on that) 3rd running... I've tried couch to 5K a few times but I know that this is going to be the year!

My aspirations for this blog are to share my journey to include, my healthy lifestyle changes (eating and running), DIY successes and failures, recipes, and simple good ole fashion stories from my life.  Below are a couple photos from NYE what better to ring in the new year with great friends and wearing polka dots!

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Crawling Back on the Band Wagon

Today was the day, the 3rd and final time I'm starting the couch to 5k.  This time is the charm and I'm really going to keep going!! I've been working pulling myself back up on the "healthy lifestyle" band wagon.  You know b/c we're not supposed to diet anymore that's just a short term solution... and I don't know about you but I'm done with those.

Today is also the 5th day I've successfully counted calories!! I use an app called My Fitness Pal.  It's great! I know there are tons of diet plans and programs out there.  I find that this works the best for me.  I don't know why I just seem to have an aversion to Weight Watchers.   I've done it in the past and it definitely works if you stick to it.  It's just not for me.

Aside from doing my walk/jog I  killed it in the yard today 2 hours dripping sweat, mowing, weed eating, edging, and setting up the brick boarder around the trees in the front yard.  I have another couple of hours of work left I need to do in the next couple of days but it was a good start and great exercise!  

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Trip, Jump, Falling? Off the Band Wagon

So after such a great start on my couch to 5k training I've been stumbling around the last few days.  Some would say they fell off the band wagon... this would imply that it was accidental and they had no real choice in the matter Ooops I fell, right? Well I don't quiet believe in that sort of thinking.  So, I guess you could say I jumped off the band wagon...  I also don't really believe in excuses (this would be my military upbringing) more of just explanations for my decisions.  I didn't make working out and eating healthy a priority and have missed several days to include my Friday and Monday work outs. Let's be honest here I haven't done any physical activity in the last 6 days since the 4th of July.  

In the <3 of  explanation I got a bunch of my scheduling mixed up and over booked myself yesterday.   Which is when I was going to scramble back on that wagon.  Several of these days I did have my work out clothes on and never made it to the gym.... :( Well I'm recommitting to the training schedule again starting on Monday the 16th.  I'm still going to workout before then, I really want to give this training plan my full commitment to make me a believer in their system.  Don't forget I don't run at all... wait lets "pump the breaks" as my roomie would say!  I haven't worked out regularly (regularly defined as in 3-5 times a week) for years, probably not since my last PE class in college.  Oh and I'm "curvy" and could stand to loose a few of those pesky lbs ;)

The Color Run is 130 days away that's about 17 weeks from Monday.  This will be my 3rd attempt at starting the program, which of course will be the charm!!  The couch to 5k plan I've chosen is 10 weeks check it out here.  That still leaves me 7 weeks to keep improving my time and endurance.  My ultimate goal for the race is to be able to jog the whole thing and not walk at all! I think it's totally doable :) 

More of a short term goal is going to be for the next 5 weeks until my birthday and the wedding celebration of a good college friend.  Over the next 5 weeks I'm going to try to lose 15 lbs that's 3 lbs a week.  Some would say this is a little extreme however it'll be the first 15 and should come off rather quickly.  Also I'm going really clean up my diet and of course begin working out regularly :D  We'll see how it goes and maybe I'll post some before and after pics. 

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The 4th day of July

July 4th was my second day of "training" for my couch to 5k.  Much better then the first!! Definitely didn't wear shorts, swapped those bad-boys out for yoga pants.  I made it through my 2 min little jog :)  I'm a little nervous for Friday I have to jog for 3 whole minutes... Yikes! Well, after the gym & lunch with a friend at Nikki's Sushi (I always get spicy shrimp and avocado) I ran around like a crazy person cleaning house, raking leaves in the backyard, sweeping the deck, sharking the floors (this is where instead of sweeping you use a a small shark vacuum to pick up the dirt)

So that the 4th of July celebrations could commence!  My roomie and I had several close friends over for some chicken and veggie cabobs.  Thanks to Karen, the Chef for assembling and grilling them and my roomie for being the Sous Chef!!   This evening we tried several ideas from Pinterest. The first one was to freeze water in balloon to assist in keeping our cold beverages cold.  Here is the picture we saw on Pinterest:

Compliments of Munchkins & Mayhem 

No explanation or instruction really needed how hard could it be to freeze water balloons?  False! I filled these bad boys up at 10ish am here's what our freezer looked like:

Sad to say this did not work out like the above picture...   none of the balloons were fully froze over half of then ripped or busted; some while we were getting them out of the freezer :(  And I'm not talking we scrapped them against something sharp and they burst they just broke...   about three of them were still just water!  I'm not sure how that's possible after over 8 hours in the freezer.  I'm dedicated to giving it another try at our next get together.  We'll have to get them in the freezer the night before and maybe not fill them up as much I guess?

Ok, Pinterest idea numero dos! Table top fire in a terra cotta pot for smores!!  I haven't built the fire pit for the backyard yet so this is the next best thing! Or so I thought... it's been a project a few weeks in the making b/c we don't have a charcoal grill and I had to buy a pot especially for it b/c we didn't have any extras lying around. Here's the picture that's floating around Pinterest that gave me the idea.

Compliments of Après Fête

This week while getting all the goodies for our get together I picked up some charcoal and was super psyched to try this out.  I get my pot lined with foil, dump my charcoal in that I specifically purchased for my table top fire situation to make some banging smores.  Now, remember, one of the reasons it took me so long to get this project together is b/c we have a gas grill.  On Pinterest and even on this blog is just says line a terra cotta pot with foil and use charcoal.  Her blog actually says fill with hot coals.  But you get the point.  Well if 4 or 5 different people didn't try to get these dang coals to lite on fire tonight; we pretty much used up all the fluid in our lighter and gave up.  We were expecting them to be flaming like the pictures above.  Little did we know those coals started burning and smoldering in that dang pot and about an hour later they were blazing hot and perfect for roasting mallows.  By this point I'd already finished my few gluten free graham crackers (I really like the Kinnikinnick brand Smoreables) that I had left. Who knew you just had to let it sit? That or have lighter fluid... after closer inspection of this picture I can see it clear as day in the background! We'll definitely be trying this out again next time hopefully with a little more success :)

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