Five Things Friday {3}

Happy Friday and Happy Valentines Day!!!!

I hope that everyone has that wonderful Friday feeling going on, and that someone (romantically OR not) makes you feel special today.

I'm linking up with Clare from Fitting It All In for another Five Things Friday!

Five Things I'm Proud Of From This Week:

Setting up my Wahoo Fitness speed & cadence sensor on my bike and actually went spinning more than once!!!

Attending my first yoga class.

Finishing my Anatomy & Physiology course!

Getting 91% on my Symptomology 1 course!

Making the decision to cut prepared food out of my diet to hopefully improve digestion.

Five Things I Love About Valentines Day:

Although it's just a corporate holiday (yadda, yadda) I think it's a great opportunity to show some love to all the amazing people who make life so great.

It's the anniversary of the day I left to head up to my first camp job in Fort McMurray.  That decision ultimately lead to health, happiness, and love.  I cried the whole way to Edmonton, crashed Marshall & Heather's V-Day, and to this day revel in the memories of that whole experience!!

Chocolate (duh), even though I'm not eating any this year it looks deeeeeelicious.

The fact that it's snowing right now!!!  Mother Nature's V-Day gift to me, thanks lady.

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My lovely new Lulu Wunder Unders that Cody got me for V-Day!!!!  Now I don't have to wear the same pair over and over, which is great news.

Five Shows I'm Super Into Lately:

Killer Women

Nashville

NCIS: Los Angeles

Arctic Air

Teen Mom 2 (I've been catching up on mtv.ca)

Five Things I Ate This Week:

Honey-Lime Salmon Tostadas from the Against All Grain Cookbook (love).

 

Extra delicious sweet potato hash for breaky all week.

YUMMY burger patties with sauteed mushrooms, bacon, sweet potato fries, avo, and spicy ketchup at Danielle & Will's.  Good company + good food = doesn't get better than that!

I added peanut butter to my protein smoothie and was introduced to a whole new world.  Smoothies will never be the same (in a good way).

A prawn and tofu quinoa bowl - one of my new fave staple meals.

Five Faves I Caught On My Camera

The stem cap on my bike.

A gorgeous bluebird day to get out for a walk.

A colourful blend of veggies to saute up for my quinoa bowl.

Cuddling up in Cody's sweats for an evening of catching up on my girly shows while he's away.

A huge crew of elk crossing the road on my way to work.  Sorry it's super fuzzy but I had to quickly snap a shot once I was stopped.

XO - Michelle

What I'm {Not} Eating Wednesday

Over the past few months I've been taking a really big look at my digestion.  I've had digestive issues since forever (we decided I had IBS in elementary school) but after starting my studies at CSNN I realized just how seriously an unhealthy digestive system can effect the body!  Not only have my digestive issues hampered my physical health, I also feel that they have caused me a lot of anxiety and upsets emotionally and socially.  Anyone who has had symptoms of IBS will completely get where I'm coming from.

Although I've made efforts to improve my food choices on and off throughout my life, these past few years have seen me putting forth more time, effort, and thought.  The more in tune I become with my body though, the more I realize that food choices alone aren't going to fix this, so I enlisted the help of a holistic nutritionist (The Healthy Ginger), an acupuncturist (Open Gate Acupuncture & Herbal Clinic), and a naturopath (Kootenay Health Centre).

While I'm slowly working towards healthier digestion, I've realized that this is a really intricate journey and not something that will happen overnight.  I'm trying to journal my successes and failures and hope to be seeing a huge improvement by this time next year.  While I am having improvement compared to this time last year, I think that realistically it is just going to take a lot of patience and belief in myself to get to where I want to be!!  While food choices are an important factor, what is most difficult is realizing how involved emotions and feelings are.  I guess I've known this for a while (deep down) but now am realizing I'm going to have to learn how to deal with stress, anxiety, feelings, etc. in a way that hopefully won't effect my digestion, I feel that it will be my biggest struggle.

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So this weekend I had about a million digestive issues.  Since it was a weekend and I was feeling nice and calm I decided it had to be food choices and not stressy feelings that were messing me up, so I got to thinking that maybe I needed to evaluate what I've been eating lately.  I referenced my handy Health Binder where I keep track of such things, and noticed that my intake of prepared - yet healthy - foods has been quite high lately.

While I try really hard to cook and bake everything from scratch at home, sometimes it is sooo tempting to grab a healthy pre-made alternative.  I think in rare instances this works well for me, but as it becomes a more frequent habit my system starts to go into rejection mode.

I've decided to nix these (my faves) and most other pre-made foods until May 19 (the day we leave for California), my favorite go-to's, my sometimes saviours, and also the stuff that could very possibly be contributing to the violent gut ache I had all weekend.  I'm already excited to add them back into my diet at some point...  So long for now friends...

WHAT I'M {NOT} EATING WEDNESDAY

Vans Waffles

Amy's No-Cheese Pizza

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Amy's Gluten Free Indian Aloo Mattar Wrap

Mountain Range Spelt Brownies

Store-Bought Sauces

I want to point out that these products are GREAT options for alternative food eaters and have really awesome ingredients, it's just that I took using them to the extreme.  

Check out Peas and Crayons for tons of other WIAW posts, it's a great way to get inspired!!

Click the WIAW tag on the side of this page under "Labels" for more of my What I Ate Wednesday posts.

Have you had problems with your digestion?  Do you have an IBS success story?

XO - Michelle

My First Yoga Class

Happy Monday everyone!!!  Us BC folks are so lucky to have Family Day today!  I'm using my extra day off to set up a speed and cadence sensor on my bike, prep some food, and read some more the The Start Here Diet.

I did something marvelous (hosted by Healthy Diva Eats) this weekend, something that has intimidated me for a very long time...  I attended my first yoga class!!!

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I have been wanting to try yoga for years now but have always been too intimidated to go.  I am not bendy or flexible and with my recently added weight I couldn't fathom the thought of squishing around into all sorts of poses.

BUT Danielle and Kirsten have been giving Glow Yoga & Wellness such high praises that I decided to suck it up and join them for a class.

It was an Ashtanga 1 class and it was perfect for my skill level.  I was able to hold the poses, but it was a bit of an effort to do so.  On Sunday I could feel a satisfying soreness in my shoulders, back, and thighs and so would highly recommend this to beginners.  It was not nearly as intimidating as I was expecting, there were people of all sizes and shapes in class, and skill levels varying from people like me to really bendy uber yogis.

What I loved about yoga is that while it was a definitely a workout for my bod, the emphasis on breathing and keeping a clear mind was so relaxing and rewarding.  I left feeling refreshed and ready to take on my Saturday.

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If anyone is like me and has let intimidation keep them from trying yoga, grab a friend for support (and to look at for help with poses, thanks Danielle!) and get yourself to a beginner class, you will not regret it!!

I'm happy to report that something from my "Believe & Achieve" tab can now be marked as achieved :)

XO - Michelle

Five Things Friday {2}

Happy Friday!!!  We are welcoming the weekend with a surprise snowy visit, which as usual, I'm into! 
 
Cody is heading back to work on Sunday, which is sad, but in the meantime we have some things to look forward to such as buffet dinner with the fam tonight, seeing our friends Marshall & Heather, dinner out at Pedal and Tap with Danielle & Will tomorrow, and (for me) A LOOONG WEEKEND for BC's Family Day! 

I'm back for another Five Things Friday link up thanks to Clare at Fitting It All In!!

Five Things I Ate: 

My favorite breakfast - Sweet potato hash, chicken cranberry sausage, and an egg. 

Barbeque bacon burger with rosemary garlic mushrooms (Against All Grain), with potato wedges.  Add a little homemade guac, low sodium ketchup, and some Amazing Dad's BBQ sauce on the side for dipping and it's a perfect Celebrate Thursday meal!!

The most delicious quinoa bowl!!!  Loaded with prawns, tofu, broccoli, red pepper, carrots, sweet onion, and green onion and flavoured up with World Foods Turmeric Lemon Grass sauce.

Deer meat taco bowl.  In love with how low fat and truly free-range this deer meat is!

Perfect Fit protein pancakes!

Five Teas I'm Loving:

Traditional Medicinals Echinacea Plus

My go-to cold remedy tea.  As soon as I feel any cold symptoms, I brew up a pot of this tea and truly believe that it helps me fight it off.  Something that I love about Traditional Medicinals tea is that they leave a little love note on all of their tea bags:

Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane

I think this was my first favorite tea.  It's like a Christmas party in your mouth.  Deliciously candy cane like, it's a seasonal tea and one I try to stock up on to get me through the year until the holidays come around again.

Banff Tea Co. Candy Mint

Similar in flavour to the Candy Cane Lane, but in a league of it's own.  I love that it's loose leaf and I also love that it's made in Banff!

Pukka Night Time

I found this tea at Sprout Grocery and decided to give it a try at bed time.  I'm thinking it works!!  On the nights that I drink it before bed I have a WAY easier time falling asleep!! Although it smells kind of like it's not going to taste good it actually has a really nice mellow flavour.

Silk Road Chai Tea

My brother bought me a tin of this tea for Christmas, and it is so aromatic and delicious!  It's loose leaf, which as I mentioned before is my favorite.  My mom introduced me to making a Chai Latte, which is my favorite way to use this tea: half a mug of steeped chai, half a mug of warm almond milk, add raw honey to taste. 

Five Random Things I'm Loving Lately:

The warming socks treatment!!!  I've had nothing but success fighting colds with this handy little trick.

Vega Recovery Accelerator in Tropical.  I swear by this stuff to help my muscles not ache for dayssss after a workout.

Hawaii Five-0, our new favorite show!!!

Local bacon, I feel SO much better about eating local meat.  You can find this stuff at Centex in Kimberley.

The fact that OUR TRIP IS BOOKED!!!  We are heading to Manhattan Beach in May, I am so excited!!! 

Enjoy your weekend!!!!

XO - Michelle

WIAW {2}

Breakfast:  Perfect Fit Protein Pancake topped with coconut oil and pure maple syrup

Snack: Chia Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Lunch:  Amy's Indian Aloo Mattar Wrap

Snack:  Coconut Cream Lara Bar (recycled picture)

After Work Snack:  Smoothie with Greens Powder (not pictured)

Dinner:  Tofu & Prawn Quinoa Bowl

Check out Peas and Crayons for tons of other WIAW posts, it's a great way to get inspired!!

Click the WIAW tag on the side of this page under "Labels" for more of my What I Ate Wednesday posts.

XO - Michelle

Believing And Achieving

Today I wanted to write a quick note on hoarding... well, that's where I'm launching from anyways...

I'm a bit of a hoarder.  Not in terms of "stuff and things" but in terms of bins full of my old stuff.  It's gotten to the point that this stuff is a burden and a constant weight on my shoulders.  I have trouble going through it and trying to get rid of old momento's, most of which are paper and notes etc, but I finally feel like I'm in a place where I can deal with it, step by step.

Letting go of this baggage is one of the things on my list of how I want to live in 2014.  A couple of weeks ago I got up the courage to go through an old truck full of "stuff", and I have to say it was a great feeling of accomplishment to organize it into keep, recycle, chuck; and guess what...  I barely kept anything!  The extra bonus being that now we can use this great trunk for something useful, we've decided to fill it with all of our winter gear!!  I still have a lot more stuff to go through, but this was a great first try.

Just a portion of the trunk contents:  yearbooks, diaries, notebooks, school books, jewelry, newspaper clippings, etc.

Something that quickly became quite clear to me while going through all of those old notes and diaries is that I've always been a dreamer and had a lot of thoughts.  The whole "if you believe, you will achieve" proves to be quite accurate, because as I looked through my old musings my life has checked off a lot of those boxes that I noted down at some point during my youth.  Ok, I'm not a professional mountain biker, but I digress....

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As I chuckled and sighed through my old thoughts and dreams, I realized that as of late, I've stopped doing this kind of thing.  Could it be that the fear of failing is holding me back from dreaming?  Am I just tired?  Oh, I still have thoughts of wanting to be this or do that, but I haven't set a goal and forged through to attain it since planning our wedding, which went just great!  So, I'm jumping back in the game.

I've started a separate tab at the top of this page called "Believe & Achieve" and will be documenting the things that I set out to do, both small and large.  Check it out here.

What are you working towards right now?

XO - Michelle

Marvelous In My Monday {2}

And another weekend bites the dust.

I had a busy Saturday and a lazy Sunday, which is basically how I like it.  Here's a little bit of marvelous (hosted by Healthy Diva Eats) from my weekend :)


We went out to shoot Cody's new gun, which was way more fun than I was expecting!  I got over shooting guns for hours on end about 4 years ago so I was less than enthused to find myself headed out of town with a truck full of arsenal, but as soon as we hit the back roads I was feeling pretty excited.  It was a blue skied, sunny, sparkling snow kind of day and I'm really glad I got to spend so much time in the fresh air.

Photo Credit:  Troy Zohner

Danielle and Will were kind enough to invite us all over for a dinner over the fire kind of evening.  It was cold out, but with the fire going we managed to stay warm.  I tried Mennonite sausage for the first time, which is delicious, and Danielle also made salads and really yummy cookies for us to enjoy; lucky for me she texted me ahead of time and told me to bring my lactose pills!!  We also got to meet her brother's new hound puppies (so cute!), I got to hold the squirmiest one named Eddie.

Booking our trip to California!!!  It's happening, for real.  It's a great thing to look forward to and also a great way to hopefully motivate myself to get back on the fitness wagon.  I have until the middle of May to meet my goal bod.  WOOHOO.  I am seriously so excited.

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Family dinner at Heid Out.  Our last family gathering before Troy and Keefer make their way home.

What's up for this week:

• Completing my Anatomy and Physiology test, once it's done I get to move on to a course that I'm really excited for!
• Not eating in excess.  Although I'm pretty good at eating whole foods, I've gotten really good at eating a lot of them.  I feel like I need to scale it back and start paying more attention to those random snacky urges.
• Try my first real yoga class at Glow Yoga & Wellness.  Danielle and Kirsten speak so highly of the yoga class that they have been going to that I just have to try it.  But I'm SO nervous!!
• Enjoy the week with Cody before he heads back to work.
• Seeing our pals Marshall & Heather, who are home for a visit coming up this weekend!

  Hope your Monday is off to a fantastic start!

XO - Michelle

Five Things Friday {1}

THE WEEKEND IS HEEEEERE!!!

Congratulations to all of us for making it through another week.  Gosh, it's just the best feeling!

I decided to participate in the Five Things Friday link up hosted by Clare at Fitting It All In because I love reading other people's Five Things!! 

5 Things I Ate:

Root Beer Pulled Pork

This recipe hails from Healthful Pursuit, and it's a winner!!!  Cody's dad and I put our pulled pork on mashed sweet potatoes while Cody and his bro went with delicious looking buns.  I made a few adjustments to the recipe such as using about a 3 lb pork tenderloin and replacing the Zevia Root Beer with Blue Sky Root Beer.

Quinoa Crusted Snapper in a Chili Lime Marinade

I've featured this recipe from Inspired Edibles using sole on a different Friday, but thought it merited mentioning that snapper is also a delicious option!  As well, this time I used olive oil instead of coconut oil and marinated the fish in the fridge for a little while.  It was more flavorful this way and also the quinoa flake mixture stuck a lot better since the olive oil didn't harden like the coconut oil did.

Lara Bars

Lara Bars have been saving my snack life this week!  Since I didn't prep many snacky foods, these have been my go-to and it's great to have a good option available for grabbing out of the pantry.  This week I had Coconut, Apple, and tried Blueberry for the first time!

Popcorn

Such a yummy snack!!!  My favorite way to dress my popcorn:  pumpkin seed oil, chili powder, nutritional yeast flakes, sea salt.  So good.

Hardbite Chips

I buy them mostly because they're tasty, but I have to admit a big winner for me is that they have pictures from different BC scenes on each different flavor's bag!!!  Smokin' BBQ, for example, is a pic from the Kootenays and Rock Salt & Vinegar is a surfer catching waves in Tofino; very smart marketing, I may be a sucker to fall for this but I really do think it's cool!

5 Songs I'm Turning Up:

Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys

White Walls - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

What If I Was Willing - Chris Carmack (From Nashville!!)

Sweater Weather - The Neighborhood

Drink to That All Night - Jerrod Niemann

5 Words/Phrases/Things I've Learned From My In-Laws:

"Dirty Bulking" - When someone is eating a surplus of calories to bulk up, and they incorporate those extra calories in the form of McDonald's or junk food.

"Freshie" - Like a powder day, new snow.

"Like it's my job" - For example:  "I checked the snow report all day like it was my job".

One footed tricks are the new thing to do on a snowboard.  As in you do a back flip with only one foot strapped in to your binding.

You can never have too many blender bottles.  You can use your blender bottle to mix up scrambled eggs.

5 Things I'm Coveting From Winners:

This tree painting, it's huge and would fill up our loft wall perfectly.

This tree, we have a smaller version but this one is big and I think it would look great above our headboard.

This chair, to use as a desk chair.  Currently I have a crappy folding chair at my desk and it's hard to spend more than an hour sitting there.  Uncomfortable.  This chair = comfortable. 

Maxi Dresses.  I bought a really cute one last time I was in, and it's got the perfect racer back and I think it could be dressed up or down.  Now I want a few more...

Tights.  Winners has the most amazing selection of tights and I would be happy to stock up on some more

5 Reasons I'm So Excited To Eat At Pedal and Tap Tonight!!:

One:  We don't have to cook

Two:  We don't have to clean up

Three:  I would really love a Pedal to the Meadow burger, please

Four:  I would also love to have a delicious caeser

Five:  Pedal and Tap is always a win

Be sure to check the link up to read other bloggers Five Things Friday post.  Enjoy your weekend!!


XO - Michelle

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things {1}

Well hello to the snow!!!  It was beginning to look a lot like spring, and then BAM I got to work this morning and it started dumping!!! (I am not complaining).

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Aside from the snow, I thought I would share some other things that I've been loving lately:


Oleo & Spice and everything nice Thai Spice Blend

We bought this spice in Nelson, BC at the farmer's market this summer and it is awesome!!  I especially love it on white fish.  We used it on our sole for fish tacos and it was amaaazing.  I haven't seen it for sale actually at all around Cranbrook/Kimberley.  Their hot sauce is for sale at Save On Foods in Cranbrook, but the spices.. harder to find...  If you see it around please let me know!!

My Phone Case

I found this phone case on Etsy after searching around for the loooongest time trying to find "the one".  Like months.  For whatever reason.  Anywho, I'm so thankful that I waited until finding this one!  Awesome purchase.

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Hunter Boots

I've discussed them before, but could repeat it a million times.  Hunter Boots ROCK!  I have a pair of rain boots from Target as well, and while they are also cute, Hunter boots are just where it's at.  Quality with a capital Q.  My Sovereign Purple ones are this style and I just think they are so beautiful!!  Next on my color wishlist would be the Crimson Pink, Lipstick, or Feather Blue.

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SmartWool Base Layer

I have been wanting a SmartWool base layer shirt for the longest time, and finally found the one I wanted for a good deal at Sierra Trading Post.  Such a great purchase.  It's my most comfortable, best fitting base layer and keeps me warm without making me too warm.  This one's official name is the NTS Midweight Pattern Base Layer Top.

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The Start Here Diet by Tosca Reno

I'm not even half way through but I am freaking out at how good this book is!!  Tosca Reno has a way with words and I feel like almost anyone could totally relate to some part of her story and take away tons of positivity from reading any of her books, but especially this one.  I really really really hope that everyone takes the time to read it!

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XO - Michelle

Make A Plan Monday {3}

Welcome to a new week!!

I am happy to report that I got my butt off the couch this weekend and am definitely reaping the rewards.  It's crazy how important it is to get moving, especially at this time of year when the winter blues come crashing in.  Check out this post from Peace, Love, & Oats about fighting the winter blues!

Cody is due home today, as are his Dad and brother who are coming down for a snowboarding trip and visit.  I am keeping my expectations of myself low this week as I know I'll feel busy with visiting and hostessing, so just want to focus on a few things:

• Keep healthy options available, and choose them over snacky/socializing foods
• Try to get out for walks or do some yoga (see below for my yoga discovery)
• Keep the house tidy and laundry caught up to help me feel calm and organized

And that's it!  Other than that I plan on visiting and hopefully going out for dinner one night.

Instead of structuring a menu plan for this week's dinners I just came up with a list of ideas and bought the ingredients, this way we can go with what everyone feels like that night:

Dinners for the week of January 27-31

Root Beer Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Quinoa Crusted Sole in Chili Lime Marinade

Barbeque Bacon Burger

Pedal and Tap

Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili

Quinoa Bowl with Tofu or Prawns

Remember to check out Food I'm Loving Friday for my fave eats from that week.

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In exercise news, although my week seemed off to a horrendous start I finished on a positive note.  

Saturday I got out for a great walk in the community forest with my pals Danielle and Kirsten which felt so great!!  Fresh air and conversation with friends is the best!  We walked for around an hour and then parted ways.  I then went to my parents house and they were just headed out for a neighborhood walk, so I joined them for another 45 mins or so.  It was icy on both of my walks which translates to some sore inner thighs from trying to hold myself up!  Luckily I managed to not bail, which is pretty rare for me :)

Sunday I had big plans of doing something but by the time I finished cleaning and organizing it was evening and I was beat!!  Danielle and  Kirsten had been talking about yoga the day before and that thought sent me to old faithful (Google) to see if I could find some sort of online class.  I found a great website called Do Yoga With Me that allows you to filter skill level and class length so I completed my first yoga class and loved it!!!

I hope your week is off to a positive start!!

XO - Michelle

Food I'm Loving Friday {3}

Well, this week.  What a doozy!  I think the winter blues are setting in because boy oh boy there was not a lot of activity going on this week for me!  Food I’m Loving Friday is a one recipe Friday this week as I didn’t get nearly as much food making in as I had hoped, but that’s ok.

Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili with Avocado

I didn't even take a picture, oops.  This recipe from Cookie and Kate looked amazing, and I am so glad I made the decision to choose this chili instead of the other gazillion options out there.  Peeling a squash sounds like a huge pain in the butt, but it actually was quite easy.  I followed these instructions and it was no big deal.  I couldn't find a butternut squash when I was at Save-On so went with an acorn and it was really good.  Definitely try this recipe!!!

I didn't work out this week at all either, and that is something I really want to rectify next week as well as actually cooking some food.  I have my Rip:60 plan ready to go, but would be happy even just getting away for a walk.  Gotta start somewhere.

Happy Friday!!

Make A Plan Monday {2} & Fitness Choices

Good Morning!  Ugh back to Monday again?!  How come the weekend always goes so fast?!

This week I'm hoping to focus on:

• Following my workout plan (see below)
• Starting my next course in school - Anatomy and Physiology - yikes!
• Turning my electronics off at 9, except for a goodnight text to Cody
• Watching less TV - I'm thinking of eliminating Netflix for the next little while and only watching the shows I PVR after I've done my workout for the day

Meal Plan for Jan 20-24

Monday:  Vegetarian Butternut Squash Chili

Tuesday:  Cilantro Chili Chicken Burgers

Wednesday:  Quinoa Breaded Sole with Asparagus

Thursday:  Baked Tofu Quinoa Bowl

Friday:  Wing it

I wanted to say a little something about fitness.  As I mentioned on Friday, I haven't been working out nearly as much as I had been thinking I would.  I gave myself some time to think it over and figure out the why's, and here's what I've got:

I am all over the map when it comes to fitness.  My issue lately is that what I feel is the most productive and effective use of my workout time is not something I feel like doing.  I've always been a huge believer in weight lifting and no matter what the fitness goal I 100% believe that a program like James Wilson's Fitness Map fits the bill.  I lost almost all of my weight by circuit training with dumbbells, and it totally worked.  BUT I don't want to head down to my basement and lift.  It's not usual for me, but it's what's happening lately.

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With my new found knowledge of listening to myself and my body, I've been looking for alternatives.  I'm still hoping to get back to loving to lift, but for now I'm going to do something else.  I weighed my options and ultimately have decided to try using my Rip:60 (similar to the more commonly known TRX) for the next while.  It hooks up wherever which means I can workout in my loft which seems to be my area of choice lately, and while it isn't weight lifting it is using my body weight and trust me, it's freaking hard work.

I've been trying to decide what kind of program to follow, how many days per week to workout, etc. and have settled on doing three full body workouts per week, circuit style, plus outdoor activities or whatever else strikes my fancy.  I'll be posting my workouts from the previous week every Monday, so stay tuned.

XO - Michelle

Food I'm Loving Friday {2}

This was a pretty good week.  It seems as though almost everyone in my life is trying to make their lifestyle a healthier one, thereby making my lifestyle a healthier one!  Texts and conversations with friends, family, and Cody throughout the day keeps those healthy thoughts in the forefront, which seems to be the key to success.

While I didn't work out nearly as much as I was hoping, I took some of the advice that I gave to a friend and focused on eating healthy meals and not feeling guilt over the lack of scheduled exercise.  The healthier my food choices get, the more energy I'm going to have in the coming weeks to add more and more exercise to my life.

Props to:

• Cody for heading to the gym almost every night this week!!  Knowing he's dedicated makes me want to be dedicated as well!
• Nancy for making healthy food choices all week long and texting me daily to check in
• Danielle & Kirsten for a lovely dinner out at Hot Shots full of positive conversation
• Mom for making me a healthy lunch when I didn't bring anything into town and keeping me upbeat

Happy Friday y'all!!!

Food I'm Loving Friday

Jennies Carob Macaroons

Cody put some of these in my stocking and they're a really decadent treat/snack! 

Beer and Bacon Chicken with Gravy 

You can never go wrong with a Healthful Pursuit recipe!  My mom made this for family dinner and it was absolutely yum!  We used GF beer and had sides of mashed sweet potato, roasted beet/turnip/carrot, rice, and salad.  I plan on using this recipe at my house sometime soon!  It's also one of those meals that makes the house smell amazing all day!!

Chia Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

These breakfast cookies from Eating Bird Food are the perfect morning snack!  Kind of like a chocolate chip banana muffin, kind of like oatmeal; my new 10 am go-to snack :)

Quinoa Crusted Sole  

A healthy version of crispy breaded fish, I saw this recipe from Inspired Edibles on Pinterest and am so glad I tried it!!

XO - Michelle