Move it or lose it.

I grew up as the middle child in a large family, so "move it or lose it" was a common phrase in our home. Part of the reason I can be so aggressive when I believe in something is largely due to the fact that I literally spent years having to fight for my place. However, when it comes to overall health, this saying has it all wrong. Move it OR lose it? No way. I say, move it AND lose it. If you are one of the many people who are currently struggling on the path to weight loss, I want you to keep a few things in mind:

1. Do not starve yourself. Period! I will go more in depth with this another time, but just know that if you deprive your body of what it needs, you are doing more harm than good. We aren't going for "skinny", we are going for healthy. (FYI, in February I weighed 103 pounds. I now weigh 120 pounds. For me, becoming healthy meant gaining weight.) Our goal is to be in shape, feel great and have more energy. If you do not eat, your body will not function the way it should and you will have no energy for exercise or strength training. Count your calories and make sure you are giving your body fruits, vegetables and lean protein.  I am far more confident at 120 lbs than I ever was at 103. 
2. Be conscious of how you are managing your time. I am constantly being asked where I find the time to workout. I am a single mom with three young children, so it is not easy. I make a schedule and I stick to it as much as possible. This is real life so unexpected things do come up. Do not get discouraged. Just cross today off of the calendar and be even more determined tomorrow. 
3. You do not have to spend hours in the gym or away from your family to get in shape and lose weight. I am constantly looking for ways to incorporate my daughters into my exercise routine. I am more exhausted after 10 minutes of playing tag in our backyard than I am after a 8-10 mile run! If you are a parent, take your children to the park more and do NOT just sit on the bench and watch them play. Run through the grass, hike the trails, swing with them. I have heard too many people say, "I'm just too overweight to go running." That is an excuse. Quit telling yourself what you cannot do and discover all of the things that you CAN do. I am lucky enough to have a handful of gorgeous state parks within 30-45 minutes from my home, with Warren Dunes State Park being one of my most favorite. Hiking through and climbing over the dunes is not easy...but it is fun. Especially if I am there with my girls. No one is too overweight or too out of shape to try. Go on a walk and don't you dare stop when you start to sweat. So much of this journey is about how strong you are mentally. If you have spent your life quitting, let this be the first thing you refuse to give up on. Stop being a quitter. Stop giving up on yourself. Has anyone every told you that you can't? Have YOU told you that you can't? I want you to prove everyone wrong. I know you can do this. 

The majority of people I have been talking to are at square one, so my best advice is this: Eat less, move more. Quit eating junk food and consuming unhealthy, unnecessary snacks. If you are further along in your journey, be patient. This blog was intended to be relevant to anyone and everyone, so I have intentionally started slow with very basic information. I am going to suggest a rough outline meal plan for you, based upon what I do myself. Here is what my day looks like:

• Breakfast - Banana, handful of roasted (unsalted) cashews, handful of raisins or strawberries. Some days I will have a banana and a Special K cereal bar. There are other days where I simply throw fruit into the blender with Green Goodness (Bolthouse Farms) and add a scoop of peanut butter and whey protein. I always have water with me and constantly drinking throughout the day. I do take vitamins every morning with my breakfast, as well. If you do not currently take a daily vitamin and need help choosing one, feel free to message me and I would love to give you suggestions. 
• A.M. Snack - I always make this a piece of fruit...either another banana or an apple. 
• Lunch - On a normal day, I do not get lunch until around 2pm. I typically have another piece of fruit (apple, pear or banana), a raw veggie (sliced bell pepper, broccoli or cauliflower) and a protein bar. I do really like the Special K brand because, when compared to similar products, it is lower in sugar content, calories, fat, etc. Be smart, read the labels. Do not just walk into the aisle where the protein bars are and buy according to the name of the product. Take your time and compare what is in it. 
• I do not snack between lunch and dinner, but it is ok if you allow yourself one small, reasonable snack. Plan ahead and take a zip-loc of raw, cut up veggies to keep at your desk. Stay away from vending machines. There are no good options in there. Ever. 
• Dinner - Most evenings my dinner is quite small. Even if I COOK a "big" dinner, I eat from a salad plate in lieu of a dinner plate. Your stomach should be the size of your fist. While there are occasionally nights when I will splurge, I typically do not eat more than what I could hold in one hand. I cook our dinner from scratch so that I know exactly what is going into our bodies. I suggest you do the same. Avoid cream sauces, fatty meat and limit starches. Select smaller portions, chew your food well, and drink plenty of water. I try to kindly remind myself how many miles it would take to burn those calories off....suddenly a second helping doesn't seem quite so helpful. 

We are now well into Spring and the weather has been amazing! If you are used to watching tv after dinner, take a walk instead. If your routine already involves a walk, how about going for a run? Push yourself to move more! Walk a little faster, run a little further. The best advice I can give you is to stick with it and set daily goals for yourself. I would love to suggest you get a small dry erase board or a chalkboard and put it in your kitchen. Every night before you go to bed, write down your goals for the next day. For example:

Run for 30 Minutes

100 crunches

50 push-ups

Adjust your goals for your skill level. Maybe the chalkboard isn't necessary for you. Maybe you have no problem with accountability when it comes to exercise, and that is great. For others of you, this may be exactly what you need to stay motivated. Do NOT let yourself go to bed without completing your goal and setting a new one for tomorrow. If you ran for 30 minutes today, try 35 or 40 tomorrow. Gradually increase your exercise while maintaining a healthy diet. You WILL see results. I love the Lou Holtz quote: "No one has every drowned in sweat." It's true. The saying "move it or lose it" isn't as accurate. Stick with the mindset of "move it AND lose it". 

Best Job Ever

I have never gone to an interview and not been offered the job. Never. There have been positions I have accepted and just as many that I have respectfully declined. The most important job I have ever had required no interview. I wasn't even looking for a job at the time, especially not this one. I did not get to choose my start date and it came with no monetary compensation. I honestly cannot remember officially accepting the position, although there was that unspoken understanding that I would. At that point I had been interning for 20 years, but was still far from qualified. I was told it was going to be hard work, but that the benefits were amazing and well worth all of the other sacrifices that would be necessary along the way. The funny thing about a new job is that, even with a very detailed description of responsibilities, you never really know what you're getting yourself into until you begin. I have heard people say, "If I had known what it was going to be like..." or "If I had known what I would actually be doing, I never would've accepted the position in the first place." I'm fairly confident there are people out there that feel that way about my job, but I am not one of them. This was not what I had planned for my life and I had no idea that at the age of 32 I would already have 12 years of service under my belt. However, I have the best job that any woman could hope for. I am blessed beyond measure and loved in ways that stretch higher than the stars in the sky and spans wider than the ocean. I work long hours and realize that retirement in this field does not exist. (I am perfectly ok with it.) It is the most critical position I will ever hold in my lifetime and it literally gives me an opportunity to change the world. Although my job title does me no justice with the majority of society, I can think of nothing that I would rather be called by or known as. My "subordinates" do not call me boss...they call me mom.

Happy Mother's Day

How to go out to eat (without regretting it).

If you are anything like me, I absolutely love sharing a meal out somewhere with friends. I adore getting together with girlfriends without the worry of what to make and then having to clean up the mess. It is like a mini vacation. There is nothing that I would be willing to give in exchange for the memories we make when we break bread together. Top of the line companionship and certainly no shortage on laughter. I have wonderful, loyal friends whom I love dearly. Friendship is to our soul what oxygen is to our lungs. I believe that with all of my heart. However, if you and your friends are anything like me and my friends, we love to eat! Love, love, love it! So today I am going to give you tips on how to go out to eat, without regretting it later.

I do not order off of a menu. In fact, I do not even open a menu when I sit down at a restaurant. I order a water with lemon, a hot tea with lemon and inquire about their vegetable of the day. I wisely choose a grilled chicken breast and a vegetable. I request the chicken breast be served plain but, depending on where I am at, will also ask for a side of diced tomatoes or pico, if available. I will sometimes just ask for a slice of lemon to squeeze over the chicken breast. If I am told I get two sides with the chicken, I double up on the veggie. There are times where I struggle with that. There are moments where I find myself wanting to scream, "I'll take the macaroni & cheese!" or "Bring me a loaded baked potato, plllllease!" It's gotten easier. :) I look at the big picture instead of living in the moment. Yes, I admit all of that high calorie food tastes heavenly and DOES offer momentary "happiness", but it is simply not worth it. I had to change my selfish way of thinking and so do you. We are a society of instant gratification, regardless of consequence. (I, unfortunately, know all too well how this topic stretches far beyond eating habits.) I really have gotten to a place where I approach my eating as simply a necessity to fuel my body. I still want to enjoy it and look forward to it, but I refuse to allow my life to revolve around it. If you are currently in the position where food is dictating your life, please listen. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and think of only lovely things. How about letting love dictate your life? How about kindness? Generosity? Friendship? If I were to ask you to make a list of things you cherish with all of your heart....what would that list look like? Do it. Make a list. Whether you jot it down on paper or just make a mental list, take a moment to ponder the first 5-10 things that popped into your head. Let me share mine:

1. Ema, Eva & Eliza June
2. My family (parents, siblings)
3. My girlfriends
4. Prayer
5. Sunshine
6. Music
7. My sense of touch

Notice what's not on the list? Believe it or not, pie was not on there. Neither cheesecakes nor  cheeseburgers were able to make the list. What I value most in this life has nothing at all to do with food. I imagine that you were able to reach the very same conclusion. So why do we not begin living a life that accurately reflects us placing priority upon our lists? I can give you one reason: We forget to put ourselves on the list. You not only have to be ON your list, you must be at the very TOP of it. The last relationship I was in drained me of who I was. It robbed me of my joy and I lacked peace of any kind. I knew I was still in there somewhere, but didn't see any hope. I am so truly thankful I have been given a second chance, away from all of that....away from the dishonesty, disloyalty and hurt. What I came to realize the hard way is that no one's affection is worth me having to sacrifice myself in order to receive it. It has been such an incredible journey so far and I can't help but feel that this is only the tip of the ice burg. I want you to appreciate yourself for who you are. Do what you can to transform yourself into someone you can't live without. Someone worth of the #1 spot on your list. 

So back to breaking bread. You already promised no more fast food (right?), so take another leap forward to limit what you consume in sit down restaurants. Leave the menu closed and order according to what your body needs. Or, if ordering from the menu, make substitutions. Do not be afraid to ask that the kitchen prepare your food in a healthy manner. Think of the "eat this, not that" principle. Instead of ordering a stuffed pasta, order whole grain angel hair pasta. Instead of the sauce that's normally on it, request that they drizzle it with olive oil and garnish with diced tomatoes. Then add a little lemon and pepper to taste. Little changes will make a world of difference. Limit the consumption of alcohol (especially at mealtime). Avoid consuming liquid calories. Think of why you truly there. You should be sitting down to a meal to fuel your body. It's certainly not a crime to enjoy the company either, so savor every moment of it. Go to make memories, not mistakes!

STOP IT!

Growing up, you may recall getting a stern "talking to" by people in your life who loved you and wanted the best for you. Their desire was to steer you down the proper path and to discipline you when they saw you straying from it. Ok, because I love you, I must have this serious conversation with you. It may not be easy, but it has to be done. STOP EATING FAST FOOD. STOP IT! JUST. STOP. IT. Fast food, as well as a majority of sit down restaurants, are nutritional suicide. If you want to be healthy, you absolutely have to commit to giving your body what it needs and avoiding (as much as possible) what it does not need. Start your day by giving your body what it craves. Find yourself on the chart below, just using gender & age:

This gives quick and easy guidelines for what you should be fueling your body with each and every day. What? How are you supposed to keep track? PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU EAT. If you are eating food with labels, look at them! DO NOT put food into your body unless you know what is in it. Plain and simple. DO NOT do it. Like I said earlier, never ever eat fast food. The only thing fast about it is how quickly you obtain it and consume it. However, there is nothing fast about what it will take to undo the damage you have done to your body in such a short time with your careless choices. I want to make this blog "real" so I will always be giving suggestions for what works for me. I allow myself to eat as much "God food" as I want. God food is what grows naturally and is unprocessed. God food is fresh fruit, veggies, raw nuts, seeds, water, tea, etc. You get the point. God food includes food that does not require any processing, other than a quick rinse under the faucet. I get as many of these as I want. Anything else I consume, other than one lean protein per day, has to be earned. Earned? Yes. You will be less likely to consume garbage that you do not need once you become more aware of its ingredients and the effects it has on your body.

This is a screenshot from a run I went on last week. Notice that it took roughly two hours and ELEVEN miles to burn 804 calories. ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS? Take a look at what may be a more realistic run for a lot of you:

Two miles = 163 calories. Now....Click on this link and take a glance at the McDonalds Nutritional Chart. Right now we are just looking at calories, but go ahead and glance at sugar & sodium content. This should put things into perspective for you:

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.pdf

How many items were 163 calories or less? Did you find any? Even if you choose something from their menu that has the least amount of calories, how was it on sodium? How about sugar? Saturated fat? Is it worth it? Run 2 miles and tell me that you want to waste your hard work on garbage. That is the thinking that has turned everything around for me. Today I was sitting in my jeep at a stoplight and observed as people came in and out of a Steak N Shake. I wanted to puke. Everyone was overweight, even the children. It was SO sad. What are we doing? Quit thinking about eating as a way to just fill a void and give yourself a temporary sense of happiness. Quit putting food in your face until you feel sick. A greasy hamburger does NOT fuel your body. French fries do NOT fuel your body. A milkshake/soda does NOT fuel your body. Do you not want to feel better? Put good in and you will get good back. I promise. 

There ARE things that are bad for the body, but good for the soul. For example, pie. I love pie. I love baking pie....I love eating pie. However, I only eat pie when I have earned it. There are days where I will run 5 or 6 miles specifically so I can have it. Sometimes I will get home from the run and decide that the pie I have been craving for an hour is no longer worth jeopardizing what I am working so hard for. Some days I decide that it is. ;) Either way, I have to earn it before I eat it. When you begin to think like this, there is no guilt when you indulge. There is no starving yourself to make up for how you "failed" the day before. (Don't ever do that, by the way. We will talk more about that later.) 

Start today. Be conscious and cautious about what you put into your body. Your stomach is not a garbage can. You deserve better than that. Right? NO. MORE. FAST. FOOD. (Say it.)

(Happy 9th Birthday, Eva Renee. Mommy loves you very much!)

Turkey meatloaf cupcakes with mashed cauliflower and peas

Have a hard time getting your kids to eat their veggies? (Or do you just want to make dinner fun?) Try this recipe. This is what I made for dinner Tuesday night and it was a hit. Before starting the meatloaf, put a large pot of water on the stove to begin boiling for the steamed cauliflower. 

TURKEY MEATLOAF

(You may need to double the recipe for your family)

Makes 8 turkey meatloaf cupcakes

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cumin

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 eggs

2 Tbsp stone ground mustard (or dijon mustard)

3 Tbsp brown sugar

3 or 4 handfuls of Special K brand baked chips, crushed

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Use cupcake liners in your cupcake tin and fill 8 wrappers. You can use an ice cream scoop to fill them so the shape resembles a cupcake. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. (Your water should now be boiling.)

Mashed Cauliflower

4 golden potatoes

1 head of cauliflower

2 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp ginger

1/8 cup almond milk

One individual serving cup of plain or vanilla greek yogurt

1 bag frozen peas

fresh broccoli

Peel and add the potatoes to the boiling water. Once the potatoes have been boiling for 10 minutes, add the entire head of cauliflower (cut into chunks the size of what you would eat if you were eating it raw). 

Continue boiling until the cauliflower is tender.  (In the meantime, you can prepare the frozen peas per the directions on the package.) Once the cauliflower is tender, drain and put back into the pot. Add the remaining ingredients and combine using a hand mixer. When the meatloaf comes out of the oven, let cool just long enough to be able to remove the cupcake wrappers. Spread a couple spoonfuls of the mashed cauliflower onto a plate and place a cupcake on top. I used a piping bag to swirl the cauliflower/potato combination on the top of the meatloaf servings. I then sprinkled them with the tips of the broccoli florets and spread the peas around the meatloaf. (I also added a single pea to the top of each cupcake. Not quite as sweet as a cherry.) ;) This recipe was really, really good. I'm already thinking about the leftovers. By the way, this recipe isn't just for kids. Ladies, if you have a hard time getting your husband to eat HIS veggies, just place two "cupcakes" side by side on the plate and it looks like boobs. BOOM! He will eat anything that looks like boobs. 

Content vs Content

• Content (n.)  - published information. 

• Content (adj.) - a state of being.

I have chosen to call this blog "My Healthy Content" and I would like to take a moment to explain. My life has not always been easy. In fact, it has mostly been uneasy. Uneasy as the middle child in a large home. Uneasy as the little girl whose father left his family for a younger woman. Uneasy as the awkward child who never felt like she fit in. Uneasy as the young woman who spent far too much time attempting to please everyone. Uneasy as the unhappy wife in an empty marriage that dragged on for 10 years. Uneasy as the defeated puppet that was expected to be whatever he demanded, while he was off living a double life. Amongst the uneasy, there HAS been easy. Easy to do the right thing. Easy to be honest. Easy to put them first. Easy to go unnoticed...

Then there are the things that come natural to us, but aren't always easy. The smile. It is an automatic response. When it happens naturally, it is unstoppable and no contemplation is necessary. I adore the way a smile has the ability to catch us off guard. It is a moment of sheer, unpolluted happiness. On the contrary, to smile in the midst of pain just magnifies what it is we are smiling in spite of. Love. Love is supposed to come naturally, but it is not always easy. Perhaps easier TO love than to BE loved. Loving someone has very little to do with the emotions you feel. Loving someone is having the desire for their absolute best interests and happiness....and then fiercely putting into action the dedication necessary to ensuring those interests are nurtured and protected. Allowing yourself to be loved can make you feel uneasy. Why we grow up with notion that we have to earn the love, or that there are things we need to do in order to deserve the love is beyond me. The grandest of destinations in this life is when we arrive at a place where we open up and allow ourselves to be loved. Nothing trumps love. 

So we are now on this journey together (I guess). You are here, I am here. Maybe you have had experiences similar to mine. Perhaps you can relate to "uneasy".  (I actually hope that you can.) What I want to show you is that you really can make significant changes in your life by choosing to look at yourself, and your life, differently. I desire for you to feel healthy, strong, confident and loved. I want to reassure you that no matter what your past habits look like, today is always the best day to start over. Sometimes it just takes a tiny leap of faith to cause something magnificent to unfold. The majority of the time it is the things that have made us so uneasy that drive us towards that leap. My past is what drives me to seek a state of being content and I use healthy choices to get there. Whether it is making wise meal choices to fuel my body or by using exercise to relieve stress and let go of what I cannot control. For some of you, exercise and diet may be as painful & unnatural as a forced smile (probably worse) and that is ok. My advice? Hang in there. Nothing worth having has a short-cut and it certainly cannot be obtained overnight.
I believe that if we want to reach our destination together, it is going to require two things of us (and this is where the content vs. content will come in). There is no denying that we need content (n.). My desire is to share with you useful information that I am willing to stand behind. I will do my best to encourage and support you using experiences that I have found to be helpful. Now think about the word content (adj.). This is where it gets tricky. If you think about it, I'm sure you have a goal. I know people who are discontent until they reach that goal. I do not believe in that. I passionately believe that we are called to be content in all things, at all times. You do not have to lose 20 lbs. before you qualify. Do you want to lose 20 pounds? Great! Start today by portioning your dinner and taking a walk outside after the meal is over. Then close your eyes, be thankful for the opportunity at a new beginning, and be content. 

I sit here now, taking a deep breath, and taking a leap of faith that this will be a place you can come to find your healthy content (n.), as well as your healthy content (adj.). It's a good place to be (and this is a great place to start). 

This week I will begin posting (fingers crossed) on a daily basis. I'm new to this blogging thing, but am brainstorming daily themes and ideas. Be patient and stay tuned. (Oh, and....welcome.)

xoxo

kara