Serving Size??? What is that???

If I could get my serving sizes under control I would never have a problem. The trouble starts when I put the first bite of something tasty into my mouth. Today I bought a bar of dark chocolate to satisfy a sweet tooth. I took one bite and was a goner. It was a 3.5 oz bar of chocolate (3 servings) I ate over half of the bar throughout the day. How does one just eat a serving. I work with a PT that is a food hoarder. She saves food from her meal, from lounge treats or samples from others. She takes them HOME!!! How??? I don't understand. It wouldn't last more than a minute in my presence. I am still thinking about the remainder of the chocolate bar sitting in my car! On a positive note, I found a new product on sale this week to add to my salads. They are pictured above (sorry I couldn't figure out how to flip the pic) and so yummy on salads. They add an excellent crunch. It's high in thiamine, which promotes glucose metabolization, and loaded with good fats and some protein.
Today's meals:
Breakfast: Homemade pancakes(2) and 2 tbs organic crunchy peanut butter
Snack: a serving of the snack pictured above, 1 1/2 serving dark chocolate
Lunch: salad made with spinach, carrots, broccoli, avocado, mustard, EVOO, apple and a serving of sunflower clusters from above with 2 oranges
Snack: 3/4 serving of dark chocolate
Dinner: 1/2 chicken breast, homemade hash browns, salsa
Work out: Poor communication tonight, no work out due to hubby going to dinner with a friend from NYC. Totally forgot he was going so I didn't get up to go this morning since I can't go tonight :( Guess I will be doing the Sunday HIIT class! I felt great today! Thursdays are my crazy days! I had a early morning meeting and went to 5 schools without sitting until 2:30! But felt great! Day 4 down bring on 5!!!

Where did your numbers come from?!?!

Well here it is.... I am crunchy. What is crunchy?!?! The most comon comparison, and by that I mean stereotype, would be a hippie. I do not have dreads, do not wear tie dye or smell (at least I don't think I do). As a matter of fact you wouldn't be able to pick me out in a crowd. But I strive to be as natural as possible. I don't like chemicals, I don't think that lobbyists should be regulating food and drugs, I want to know my food's source and don't think factories should be raising and slaughtering animals, that is work for farmers. I make my own deoderant, I use coconut oil in place of moisturizer and cook from scratch. To me I think I am more like my Grandmother than a hippie, call me crazy. Anyway, I found and go to a crunchy doctor. She treats with lifestyle change when applicable. She requires yearly check ups and uses a lab test to measure risk factors and to address "treatment" options. She doesn't just expect to see you when you want a strep test for your sore throat or a z-pak for your runny nose. The test she uses is new, but very comprehensive. It is covered by insurance and includes health coaches. I see mine in March :). If insurance doesn't cover all the costs, the company eats the remainer of the cost. The visits with the health coach are free with no co-pay and have a high success rate for improvement without medications. This test catches risk factors that are hidden with traditional lipid panels and covers many more risk assessments. Here is a link to the test! I am in love, can you tell???
http://www.hdlabinc.com/population-health
I finally feel like I have a measurement tool to figure out what nutritional protocol to follow given my genetic make up, risk factors and life style. I don't feel like I am trying new things and shooting in the dark.
Day 3 meals:
Breakfast: two pancakes and 2 tbs peanut butter
Snack: orange and almonds
Lunch: left over dinner from last night with salsa and avocado on top, orange and apple
Snack: bowl of peanut butter oatmeal with cinnamon
Dinner: jumbalia made by my cousin :)
Workout of the day:
Treadmill intervals:
Warm up: 5 min, incline 2, 3.5 mph
Intervals: 3 sets, 30 sec rest between sets
2 min, incline 10, 3.5 mph
2 min, incline 3, 5 mph
2 min, incline 2, 6 mph
Ab intervals: (each exercise was followed by 1 min of jumping rope)
-1 minute plank
-1 minute side plank
-1 minute other side plank
-1 minute sit ups
-1 minute plank dips
-1 minute other side plank
-1 minute sit ups
If I'm being honest I was dragging today for my workout. I felt good all day, but wasn't feeling the gym time. It could be because I had more animal protein today than I should have. We are still dwindling out our last shopping trip. It could also be because I haven't worked out in three months. Why did I stop, what a fall back I did! Anyway, day 3 was hard but there is always tomorrow!!

Working in working out!!!

My summer was spent in a very specific routine. I worked out about 5 days a week, sometimes 6. We made it part of our day, my friend and I. She also happens to be my neighbor, so that made it really easy! The kids loved playing at the day care center in the gym, they called it the "play place." Well school started and we were no longer able to work out together. For the first month I still made working out a priority, getting to the gym about 4 times a week. I had to go when the girls went to bed. As the school year progressed, it became less of a priority. I started eating more "junk" and that made it even easier to not get to the gym. I have gained about 8 lbs from my Mommy low of 146 and have been feeling lazy and soft ;) I am determined to use fitness as a means to improve to optimal... in terms of my numbers. I love to work out (once I am there), I love the way it makes me feel and I love the way it makes me eat. I tend to focus on interval workouts with whole body movements, but sometimes do localized movements as well. So here is my workout of the day:
Elliptical intervals: (hill setting 20 total minutes)
-5 min warm up on level 10
-alternating 1 min intervals between level 10&20
-5 min cool down level 10
 Chest intervals: (3 sets: descending reps 15, 12, 10)
-Bench press with 2 10 lb dumb bells 
-Butterfly press with 2 8lb dumb bells 
-Walking push ups
20 burpees
Lap around track cool down
10 minute detox in the sauna
Day 2 meals
Breakfast: homemade pancake with 2 tbs organic peanut butter
Snack: 1/2 cranberry KIND bar, orange
Lunch: left over dinner from last night, apple and mint chocolate Hail Merry Tart :) (the WHOLE thing)
Dinner: sweet potato, cauliflower, onion, garlic, broccoli chopped in vitamix until rice textured sauteed with many different spices and a little bit of chicken sausage left over from my last grocery trip to Trader Joe's sauteed separately with white cap mushrooms and parsley so that I could use the main mix for the girls' dinner too. (pictured above)
Before workout snack: bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of peanut butter and a little cinnamon

I felt great all day. I needed chocolate so I got a vegan Hail Merry Tart. If you have not tried them DO!!! They are yummy! I couldn't resist and ate the whole thing :) SO WHAT haha. Anyway, I wasn't thrilled about going to the gym after a full day of work, making dinner, laundry etc. But I felt so great after I finished! I may have over done it a tad for my first day back, but right now I feel great. I think the snack really helped, I was feeling very hungry about an hour after dinner so I thought I better eat. I get shaky if I am hungry when I work out. So it seemed to help and now I am satisfied and feel good that I don't want to bake a batch of cookies ;) Day 2 was a success!

Plant based minimal animal protein?? Ehh Maybe..

My hubby and I had our blood tests done for the first of the year. We had our yearly check ups with a full profile. After receiving our results the doctor recommended a documentary for the two of us to watch. She suggested "Forks over Knives." I LOVE food documentaries so I was all over it :) We sat down as a family last night and watched it. The premise of the science represented in the movie is a plant based no animal protein diet. The science reported that increase of animal protein indicated in the studies an increase of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and even some cancers. I have read a lot of information on health and nutrition and always come to the question: How should I eat?? The Health Diagnostic Laboratory Test is a perfect way to test what that question means to me. Everyone has a different make up and our make up determines the synergy that goes on within. So it seems to me that since everyone is different, what is good for one may not be good for another. So I am going to try this way of eating. We are going to minimize our animal protein intake. I am already dairy free so it shouldn't be that difficult. The difference is... I will have my numbers as a way to measure the success or failure of this nutrition plan in terms of my body. Sooooo here is day one with no animal protein:

Breakfast: Home made pancake (olive oil, GF oat flour, honey, salt, baking soda, water) with 2 tbs almond butter
Snack: 1/2 cranberry KIND bar

Lunch: Home made salad with organic power greens, broccoli/carrot slaw, carrots, cucumber, apple, whole avocado, seasoning, apple cider vinegar, splash of olive oil and chia seeds, an orange and some dried banana

Dinner (pictured above): onion, garlic, kidney beans, black beans, left over baked red potato, whole zucchini, garlic powder, pepper, salt, topped with a couple scoops of quinoa and broccoli/carrot slaw

Snack: Hail Merry coconut macaroons (3), orange

Overall, I feel great! My first day back to work, I felt energized and happy. I didn't feel hungry or deprived of anything I wish I could have until I walked into my in-laws house and smelled their nachos, yummy! But alas, this was a transient feeling and didn't last long. I am hopeful of what is to come and am excited about the journey ahead!