NYC and Life In General (Erin)

Last week, I took a business trip to New York City. It was the second time I've had a chance to visit the city this year for work, and every time there's something new to try and see. Ally came along and enjoyed the city while I was cooped up in an office all day. I'm only slightly bitter. ;) It was great to have time to catch up and explore our favorite big city together.

One thing I really liked this go-around was a place called Energy Kitchen. They describe their menu as "fast food not fat food." All the fries are baked. All the burgers (chicken, buffalo, beef, veggie) are lean. And there are a ton of vegetable side options, and even light dessert options.

 

Here you can see my turkey burger with guacamole and salsa+fries+steamed veggies and a very pretty Ally with our little dessert splurge. We split a cannolo she found in an amazing bakery during her morning adventures. 

This restaurant really inspired me. Just looking at the menu makes a person want to cook every item there. http://www.energykitchen.com/nutrition 

I had a chance to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art! I guess now's as good a time as any to reveal my quarter-life crisis red hair...

We saw and tried a million things while we were there. If you're a city lover I hope you make a trip to NYC soon! It's a playground for our type.

Everything else is pretty much steady and on track. I gained a couple of pounds while we were away, but that's to be expected with trips. Right? So I'm back in the saddle, getting them off. Here are a few things I've enjoyed lately:

Roasted mushrooms and grape tomatoes to accompany baked chicken -- the big trick was using Kraft Fresh Takes in Italian Parmesan. It has a few calories, but it was well worth it to me. (I use half the pack for two servings of chicken, so it adds 150 calories to my chicken. Not cheap, but very tasty.)

It added just the right amount of flavor for me, especially when I dusted the chicken with Paula Deen seasoning as well. (Seasoning recipe always appears at the bottom of this web site, which has a lot of healthy Food Network recipes: http://www.cookinlean.com/). 

And for the sweet tooth, I will point you toward another blog: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/08/27/chocolate-chip-peanut-butter-balls/

Katie has lightened up a lot of chocolate-oriented recipes. What's not to love?! I saw this recipe recently and--since I had all the ingredients in my kitchen--decided to make it. AMAZING! It has enough oatmeal to fill you up without your eating the entire batch, and enough peanut butter and chocolate to make your eyes roll into the back of your head. Try it next time you need a simple dessert -- no cooking required.

She provides a lot of options in her recipe, I used the following:

1/2 cup quick cook oats

1/2 cup POWDERED peanut butter (I think it's a 2:1 ratio of powdered peanut butter to water -- so what would that be? I'm bad at math. About 5.5 tablespoons powdered pb and 2.5 tablespoons of water?) 

nearly 3 tablespoons maple syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients and use a small cookie scoop to make uniform balls. 

According to my calculations, each ball came in at 80 calories. That's based on the products I had in my pantry, so yours may vary. I certainly recommend you see her alternative ingredients here: http://www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/Peanut-Butter-Cookie-Dough-Balls_EDCD/peanut-butter-cookie-dough-balls_3.jpg. You may find a recipe closer to your taste. I don't like using stevia, etc., because I like the full-bodied taste of things even if I have to go run a little while to make up for the calories. 

Hope you're encouraged and beginning a wonderful weekend!

Focus (Erin)

This blog will have two sections. The first is me working through some thoughts. The second is a fun, lighthearted catch up. I'm separating them with a dash line because I'm nice. I'm putting the heavy thoughts first because I'm vain enough to hope you read it since you have to skim to the bottom of it to get to the fun stuff anyway. :) Here we go...

Some major milestones are on the horizon for Ally and me. In October we will be celebrating our one-year anniversary with our healthy lifestyle. In November, we will jog our first 5k.

Looking back on the last 11 months, I can see that we have been growing and changing even through the hard times. God was blessing us to hang on, even when we could only hang on by our fingernails.

When I first started, I almost couldn't make it through half an hour of Zumba. Now, I'm going strong for an hour...and my teacher gives me my money's worth.

A year ago, I couldn't jog 1/4 a mile. Seriously. I would've been pushing hard to do that. Now I can run just shy of 1.5 miles continuously.

Last fall I was a different person. I was completely entrenched in bad habits. And it was mostly for the sake of convenience. I didn't eat all that well because it was easier to grab fast food or cheaper to cook comfort food than it was to take the time to plan and cook a healthy meal. I didn't work out because I was sooooo busy all the time. I was neck-deep in excuses. And that old saying is true: There are results and there are excuses, never both. So in hiding behind my comfort and excuses I wasn't taking good care of myself.

It has been really hard to break those habits, but I can tell the effort I've made (thank you Jesus) and the sweat and tears I've shed praying and fighting my way through the hard times has been effective. It's left me changed and set me on track to keep changing.

One thing I've learned is that this journey I'm taking to become a healthier, stronger person is you have to focus on habits more than results.

If you get caught up in whether the scale has budged or how your old skinny jeans fit you may easily find yourself disappointed. Let's face it, sometimes you just don't lose weight. Sometimes you're working as hard as you can but your body isn't changing as quickly as you hope for. But if you can focus your mind on creating better habits and learning to conquer your old strongholds then you are becoming a person who is successful, and that will create results in the end. Then the results will be a nice shot of motivation to keep going, as they prove your new habits are working.

This is kind of a weird post, I just needed to unwind a lot of tangled thoughts I've been working through. 

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On a fun note, I am taking a business trip to New York City in a couple of weeks. Ally is joining me so I thought it'd be fun for us to jog while we're there! The Brooklyn Bridge is 1.1 miles long. Wouldn't it be memorable to say you'd jogged the Brooklyn Bridge? I thought so. Or we may jog a trail in Central Park. (I hear the Brooklyn Bridge - being old - feels a little rickety.) 

AND there's officially a super hero version of me...err  my, well, skinny version. :) One of my favorite men drew this for me:

Isn't she amazing?!! She really may be my hero. Look at those legs! That girl's been jogging a few miles. She's really something to aspire to. :) Oh, and she has a villain based on one of my greatest fears. Any guesses? Well, let me just show you:

I HATE spiders. Honestly, I'm practically a different person around them. Screaming, jumping, panic-stricken...it's bad. So this is a very fitting antagonist.

I may have to make a super E costume for Halloween when I reach my goal weight. She's pretty inspiring. 

No new recipes to share, really. My favorite meal has been tacos -- and they're not fancy. A pack of taco seasoning, 90+ percent lean ground beef and an onion. Ok, and you know I love my carb balance tortillas. But that's pretty simple. I've been enjoying that recipe and using my new melon baller on cantaloupes besides my basic foods...not much effort has gone into trying a ton of new foods. 

Here's to the start of a new week! And why not start with a belly dancing lesson?