Feature Friday: Weight Loss Recap

Hey guys!

I have officially lost 8 pounds! That is 2 pounds away from my goal! I’ve been wanted to write a post on my weight loss for a while now, but honestly haven’t had the time until now, whew! I am so excited to share more in-depth details on what I have been up to!

How I started:

It all started at the end of summer when I realized that I did not lose the weight I planned on losing that summer. In fact, I put on a few pounds! It was time to make small changes in my diet.

In the beginning:

I was not seeing results. I cut back on nearly all of my favorite “bad” foods (cookies, brownies, chips & salsa, deep-fried things…) and tried replacing them with “better” foods. This worked for a while but it just wasn’t enough. I began going to the gym daily for that extra push and still didn’t see the results I wanted. Slowly but surly I was losing about a half pound a week.

What I did at the gym:

• Cardio pretty much everyday
• Ab workouts twice a week
• Zumba 🙂

How  I “count calories”:

From what I have learned, they key to counting calories is to keep it as general as possible meaning, DO NOT COUNT EVERY FREAKING CALORIE YOU EAT. That will just make you crazy. Instead, I keep a journal (or sometimes I just make a mental note) with a general guess on my meals. I will set a limit of how many calories I can consume and then I’ll try to follow it. Some meals I’ll go over the calorie limit but that’s okay. I think it’s more important to acknowledge the amount of calories that are in your diet.

What I’ve learned about weight loss:

• Exercising everyday can actually be fun
• Take exercise classes that you enjoy
• Count calories (as mentioned above)
• Be patient, it may take time but it is totally worth the weight wait! 😛

I have learned so much over the past few months that I am so thankful for. Obvisously, I thank you guys for always encouraging me to try harder and be my best or maybe even encouraging me to let go sometimes and be patient. Either way, I am thankful! 😀

Is there anything you could add to these lists??

A little change in this week’s shopping cart

Hello everyone! Hope you are having a great FRIDAY.

My eats lately have been pretty sad. With no time to cook all I have been eating is beans and rice, bread, oatmeal, smoothies, veggies,  and soup. I can’t even remember the last great balanced  meal I had. I am so used to going to the store every few days and loading up on produce I forget that I have nothing else to cook with it!

I used to eat a lot of processed vegan food (the food below is pretty healthy compared to what I used to eat). Having no time to cook or prepare meals has really been bugging me. Some nights, I will literally eat bread and a pasta salad for dinner because I am starved and I have no food! Also, due to the lack of meals I have been eating, I have been snacking a lot, usually on hummus and pretzels. I have a strong feeling that this snacking and poor meals is effecting my weight loss.

So, today I did something that I thought I’ve never do:

I went to the store and when straight to the “natural living” aka, frozen vegan packaged food section. I bought organic vegan burgers, burritos, bars, frozen meals, and canned soup.

This is how I used to shop.

Do I think this is a bad way of eating? Not really. It’s going to be a lot better than bean salad for dinner every night.

Am I going to eat these packaged meals everyday? Not even. I am going to keep these bad boys in the freezer for days when I really need them!

If I had time to make veggie burgers I really would. They are so fun and simple! But right now, I don’t even have the time in the day to go to the store.

And you know what? I got just about everything on sale! 🙂

All in all, I think I did pretty good. Hopefully these hearty meals will stop my snacking and lame excuses of dinners.

 

Question of the day: Do you ever buy packaged meals?

Checking In…

I just wanted to stop in and say…

T H A N K   Y O U ! ! !

The comments and support on my last post was incredible. I am so thankful for each and every one of you!

I have learned that it may take time to lose a few pounds, and that’s ok. I actually lost a half of a pound last week after my post! So, at least I didn’t look extremely dumb at the weigh-in. I also learned that I might not be consuming enough calories that I need for all of the exercise I have doing, I am going to work on this!

I have been extremely busy with life right now to put together well thought out posts. I cannot believe that VEGAN MO FO has been going on for almost a week and I haven’t posted anything. I seriously waited all year for this blogging event and now- I’ve got nothing! I’ll probably be posting a few meals here and there but I cannot promise any recipes anytime soon.

Well except ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH HUMMUS because it won the hummus contest. So look forward for that within the next week or two!

 

Have a great weekend!

WIAW week 25

Today will be a short and definitely sweet WIAW (details later in this post) but I promise you, with this solo breakfast edition of What I Ate Wednesday this may be just enough.

 Remember in this post how I said my favorite breakfast food is green smoothies and pancakes?

I may have said that I would eventually make green pancakes.

& you thought I was joking.

Green Blueberry Vanilla Pancakes

Serves 2

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder (I used life time life basic plant protein)
• 1 tablespoon spirulina
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoons stevia (or sweetener of choice)
• 1 1/4 cup non dairy milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup blueberries

1. Add dry ingredients into a medium size mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together non dairy milk and oil.
3. Add wet ingredients into dry.
4. Fold in blueberries.

5.   Put those green pancakes on the griddle and get with it!

 I couldn’t believe how delicious these were!

You must try them.

So today, the boyfriend and I are off to A NEW FARMER’S MARKET! Cities all around Michigan (and probably the rest of the country) are becoming in love with Farmers Markets. One nearby city (about 20 minutes away from us) started a new local FM this year and really needs more vendors. Apparently they have less than 10 vendors and A LOT OF PEOPLE so this could be a great opportunity for us.

& By the way….

Thanks for the support on my last post about the market, it really means a lot to me that you love what I am doing and are still encouraging us to keep going strong!

Have you ever ate green pancakes?

I’m Amazing

How are you?

My friend Allison over at Food For Healing tagged me for the AMAZING BLOGGER AWARD!

1. Favourite cartoon character: 

Not really a big cartoon person these days, but growing up I like The Rugrats. Does that count? 😉

2. Favourite thing to photograph:

Food, duh. Just kidding, I actually never used to photograph food and I feel like I’m still learning a lot from it. Anything in nature is my thing to photograph such as birds, trees, flowers, water, you name it. Big on landscapes though:

3. Favourite thing to Cook:

Breakfast. Pancakes, oatmeal, smoothies, muffins, homemade yogurt, and all the other good stuff!

4. Favourite way to Exercise:

Zumba!!!! Zumba Fitness has taught me a lot about my body. We work different parts of the body each class and I understand what my body likes (fast cardio) and what it doesn’t (swats).

5. Favourite Movies:

I cannot watch the same movie twice. But I think you should watch Earthlings, I have a link over here ——–>

6. Clothing:

Yoga pants is where it’s at. And not the tight kind that give you a camel toe, seriously, cover that up!

7. Flower:

Sunflower.

Mine are just babies right now!

8. Breakfast:

I love pancakes and I love green smoothies! Maybe I should try green pancakes? 😉

9. Book:

Any cook book  or vegan diet book really.I lovelovelove The Kind Life, Crazy Sexy Diet, and Skinny Bitch. I think we should all get together for coffee…I mean, tea…. and talk about food and stuff.

We would invite Tal too! I met Rory from Skinny Bitch before also but, did not get a picture with her. 😦

10. What is your least favorite food?

Meat? Hahah. Sometimes I try so hard to think of a veggie that I do not like, but I love them all. I don’t like cucumber but I love it in juice and pickled. I don’t like beets but, I like them pickled too. I’m not a huge fan of sprouts but I love sprouting them myself. I guess something I really hate is cilantro. Yuck.

Feel free to tag yourself if you haven’t done this!

July Goals

Wow, is this summer flying by or what?

I feel like July is one of those months that I forget about because it always goes by so quickly. I remember in grade school that once it was the 4th of July, summer was half way over (again with the negativity!) and it was officially time to do everything on the summer-to-do list. Now that I’m out of school for the summer I have no sense of time. Scott and I have been working on a lot of projects so I feel like I am at work 24/7 even though it’s fun work. Well, a lot more enjoyable than my real job away. I basically have been MIA from my gym for the last month and a half, which really needs to change because my stress level is raging. I have been eating a lot better for the most part but my sweet snackage has gotten pretty ridic. With all of this said, how about making time for July goals?

July Goals:

• At least 1 hour of exercise 5 days a week. This can include nature walks, runs, gym time, biking, and Zumba. I NEED this hour everyday to lower my stress.
• Use up my Zumba punch card at the dance studio. I bought a 10-class punch card in January and have only gone once. Mainly because the classes are all at night. Expires in August!
• Make time for family and friends.
• Attempted to be more organized. Like paying bills on time, keeping my room clean, keeping up on laundry, filing important papers.
• Apply for Fall classes!
• Roller blade on the new bike path by my house (repeat daily, I ❤ roller blading).
• Stay away from processed junk like oreo’s and nutter butter’s. Not worth the belly ache!
• Limit fried foods to maybe once every 2 weeks. Yes, this included my favorite roll (sweet potato roll) at the sushi joint.

I think this list is do-able, honestly. This felt really good to write these goals down so I do not forget them!

What are some of your July goals?

& To all of the USA readers…

Have a great Independance Day weekend!

I need a vacation.

Hi bloggings!

I’m so excited because Operation Overstock is coming to an end! I feel like I have saved a lot of money because I have only been buying produce and making due with some of the random items I have found in my cupboard on my journey. I have picked up a few thing other than produce though such as tofu, tofu, and more tofu. I’m not sure what my problem is but I am loving tofu lately! Honestly, this wasn’t as hard as I thought. I have been so busy lately that I just haven’t had time to go shopping anyway. I might stop by the store on my way home from school to pick up a few things and to see what’s on sale.

For example, this yogurt.

I love you Kroger, but I am starting to think you are silly! Really, you are going to mark down soy yogurt that is usually 1.50, to 49 cents when it doesn’t even expire for another 8 days. I’m not sure if you are looking at your calendar correctly, but I wont tell, carry on.

Oh and not to mention this poor can of Amy’s soup that must have fallen off the shelf and got a wittle dent. I’ll take it! Thanks again!

Anyway, saving money (and time!) is really not all that hard. I am basically juggling 3 jobs right now and going to school full-time while I maintain time for me like going to the gym and spending time with other important people.

For example, the last few days have looked like this:

Wake up. Eat. Go to Zumba. Come home. Shower. Prep lunch for when I get home. Go to School. Pretend like I’m learning Algebra. Go home. Finish making lunch. Eat. Make diner to take to work. Go to work for 8 hours. Come home. Blog. Sleep. Wake up, hello Thursday. Shower. Eat. Make snacks for school. Go to school for 6 hours. Fail that test I didn’t study for. Go home. Go to the post office. Meet one friend for lunch. Eat. Meet one friend at the gym. Work out while you spend time together. Starbucks. Go to boyfriend’s cause he complains that he doesn’t see me enough. Eat. Go home. Try to catch up on the Goog Reader. Go to sleep. Wake up, Hello Friday. Go to work for 8 hours. Come home. Shower. Go out to eat. Hang out with bf. Sleep. Hello, Saturday. Bake my little heart out for the Farmer’s Market. Blog. Go to work for 8 hours. That’s all I got so far.

I need a vacation.

If you could go anywhere right now for a low-stress vacation where would you go?

I would really like to be on a beach right now with my boyfriend far away. I think we both need vacations.

btw, Picky Nicky is having an awesome giveaway that I would really like to win. 🙂

Good-Bye Winter Diet

& hello summer!

Oh my goodness, did I miss a WIAW post? Whoops! It’s been pretty busy around here. Forgive me?

I probably wont be doing much posting for the next few days due to the Farmer’s Market (FM) craziness.

I have been keeping up with my exercises though!

• Sunday: 3 mile walk/jog outdoors
• Monday: 4 mile nature walk
• Tuesday: Pi/yo, 2 1/2 mile fast walk on tred.
• Wednesday: Slow 2 mile nature walk, 1 hour Zumba
• Thursday: Probably nothing. Early day at school right now then straight to work afterwards.

Lots of cardio so far this week! I guess I was just in that kind of mood. I think this is good for me though due to that winter weight gain! After work last night, I came home and tried on my jean shorts from last summer and YIKES! Not happening anytime soon! I wear sweat pants literally everyday, so trying on jeans (especially shorts!) was a somewhat of a breakthrough. Despite the muffin top, I think my weight should be back on track in a few weeks. Mainly because I eat A LOT better in the warmer months with all the fresh produce available and the fun warm weather activities.

See? A salad! I’m getting there. Just don’t judge me for that bag of PB pretzels i ate right after this!

What are some of your personal tips on getting (back) into shape?

Have a good weekend!

Healthy Eating Help

Hi guys,

Kind of a short (yet very important) post today…

(Source)

My best friend wants to experiment with healthy eating and might possibly take a “vegan for a week” challenge.

Sometimes when she asks me questions I think of my fellow bloggins because a lot of the time, I feel like it would be helpful for her to gain knowledge from you guys too, not just me. Everyone has their own opinions about healthy eating and losing weight, I would really appreciate it if you were all so kind to help my friend out and answer some of her health related questions!

1. What made you want to eat healthier or become vegan?
2. What are some ways of getting in the habit of eating healthier?
3. What kinds of foods do you like eating the best that’s still healthy?
4. What are some easy and helpful workouts I can do at home? 

Basically, I would like everyone to comment below and tell us WHY you eat the way you do. Does eating healthy make you feel so good you would never want to go back? Do you just really enjoy eating whole foods for the fresh flavor? Do you eat healthy for the good looks?

Athletes: You had to start somewhere! How did you start getting in shape? Were you always involved in sports? Any major success stories?

Thanks bloggins!

 Keep the advice coming!

Writers Block.

So, I really should be doing homework right now. I have a chapter of math homework to finish, an entire essay to write (due tomorrow…), and some major psych studying needs to be going down ASAP. I tried to do my essay but I ended up staring at the computer for 2 whole hours. Who does that?  But anyway, you know what I really want to do? Everything but homework bake.

Things I want to make:

• PB blondies
• Granola
• Veggie burgers
• A sammich (I’m hungry!) 😉

I seriously cannot focus homework in a time like this. Do you ever feel like this? All I know is that is 4 weeks I will be DONE with writing essays for a while!

Speaking of classes, I signed up for spring classes yesterday and this is what I ended up with:

• Beginning Algebra MTWR
• Medical Terminology R
• Computer class M

What a fun spring.

& Have you all entered my mini giveaway yet? Hurry it ends tonight! I will announce the winner in tomorrow’s WIAW post.

Living Vegan in Michigan

In the near future there will be a new page added to my blog that is dedicated to living vegan in Michigan. I think that is pretty self-explanatory so I do not need to go into detail any future. It will be fun! I promise.

I’ve been thinking about this idea for a while now simply because I love explore Michigan and I like to eat. One new place we ate at last night was called Foty’s Cafe.

I ordered some sort of veggie sandwich with tomato basil soup in a bread bowl.

Scott and I wanted to try somewhere new so we drove pretty far and ended up here. I really enjoyed the soup, as usual. The bread bowl wasn’t even cooked so I wasn’t really impressed. The “hot” sandwich was just OK. I was pretty excited about having Guacamole on it but I couldn’t even taste it because they was barely any there! Overall it was average. I guess I could have saved some money and stopped at Subway and got pretty much the same thing: Veggies and bread. What do you like to order when you go out?

How do you cure writers block?