Monday, January 11, 2010

Day One of the Challenge!!!

I'm so excited to have some buds jumping on the bandwagon with me for this 12 week challenge! We're gonna rock it!!!

This morning I awoke before my alarm even buzzed, around 4:32 a.m. I hopped out of bed eager to get to the gym! First though, I went ahead and took my "starting weight"...up 2 lbs. :( Not too terribly bad though, considering.

Met Amy, my faithful workout partner, and we got to work! We aren't supposed to run on Mondays so we do incline work on the treadmill....about KILLS me to NOT run. 40 minutes of 6% incline at 4.0 speed. We then did shoulders and some ab work! If I leave the gym all sweaty and nasty...my work is complete. It's funny cuz having short hair, and waking up with only enough time to slip on my gym clothes and head out the door, I OFTEN go to the gym with a serious case of bed head. We're talking hair sticking way up in the front, matted down on one side, and burly on the other. Obviously I'm not too vain, nor too worried about it! :) I'm one that sweats on my head, quickly, when I work out. Stick up hair only lasts about 10 minutes into my workout. Then I'm a sweaty mess!

Mission accomplished.

For breakfast I was in the mood for some Apple Cinnamon Oat pancakes...made enough for the hubby and I to share. Yummo!

Mid morning I had a larabar.

For lunch today I made the Meaty Vegan Green Bean Casserole for the boys and I. I had a serving of that, along with a nice salad and my NEW FAVORITE SALAD DRESSING....

Holy Smokes I'm in love! I've always loved French dressings, but since they are ALL so not good for you, I typically have always stayed away from them (except during my "fluffy" times) until now! Wow this dressing is good. I could have easily dumped the entire bottle over my salad, but I resisted to a mere 1 Tbsp. I'm so good! HA

One of my girlfriends texted me while I was stuffing my face with all these really great green foods on my plate and was asking me about her diet. The one thing that was sorely lacking was vegetables!!!

Is this hard for you too? Do you get enough servings of vegetables in your day?

Obviously the best way to eat them is raw. All the nutrients, living enzymes, etc. are in the uncooked variety. The easiest way to eat them raw??? Well, you can do green monster shakes. Or heaping salads with LOTS of various veggies, or you could eat carrots, peppers, cucumbers, etc. sliced up with hummus or salsa.

We eat LOTS of salads around here! Growing up, my mom always fixed us a salad with dinner every night. It was our normal. It wasn't until I got into the adult world that I realized that most people have salads on occasion. For us, it's very weird to eat dinner without having a salad with it. Good rule of thumb....if you have a big salad for lunch, then just have a side salad with your dinner. If a large salad is on the menu for dinner....then pair your lunch with a small side salad.

If you're NOT eating enough veggies I highly recommend you put this as one of your goals during this 12 week food and body awareness challenge!!!

Tell me....what's your favorite way to get in all your greens and other veggies???

9 comments:

  1. Way to go Tiff! I'm so glad you're off to a great start. I'm with you about the workout...I particularly sweat a lot when I teach Jazzercise - so much so that I leave a nice little puddle on the floor in front of me (sweat that is, not pee). :)

    I am scarfing TONS of veggies anymore because I eat huge salads. I throw in as many veggies as I can along with some guac, organic BBQ sauce or hummus and then a veggie burger or Quorn nugget thingies.

    If I have scrambled eggs (like I did this afternoon) I put in spinach/lettuce and bell peppers. I think the only time I don't eat veggies with a meal is when I eat my oats.

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  2. You have amazing hair....I bet even your bed head hair looks cute!

    I'm going to try that dressing! I just bought one by Annie's Naturals-thousand island. I've been putting it on everything.

    I heard recently that some veggies have more nutrients after being cooked (spinach was one of them). Have you heard this before??

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  3. I love eating tons of veggies in my morning omelet. Plus, there are some veggies I just really love (e.g., canned green beans, steamed cauliflower, collard greens) so when I have those, I can easily pile up my plate with them, no problem!!

    I'm starving today for some reason. I'm holding on to my wavering resolve. This morning I was less than 5 pounds away from my wedding day weight. I haven't seen the 150s since before I had my first daughter over 8 years ago. I cannot WAIT to get there, and I will not let stupid hunger get in my way!!

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  4. Hey Liimu! So glad you found your way over here!!! So veggies in your oats, huh? Hmmmm...I've never tried THAT! What kinda veggies are we talking about??? Way to go on keeping that resolve!

    Mimi...I'll have to do some more research on that. Something in the back of my brain recalls hearing that about spinach...I'll get back to you.

    Hayley!!! You're too funny! I didn't think you were talking about pee! LOL

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  5. We're the same as you with salads. We also snack on baby carrots and grape tomatoes.

    Guess what I juiced this morning? Beets with the greens, cucumber, carrots and an apple. Then I blended it with a banana and some rice milk. Aren't you proud?

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  6. I'm excited about your challenge! I think my goals are a little different, which is why I'm not doing it with you, but it will be fun to follow along.

    You know I love my BIG salads!!!

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  7. hey tiff... i'm with you on the salads. we have them nearly every night. so much so - our waiter at olive garden last week was shocked when i answrred, "yes, the little one will eat salad too!" i guess kids don't typically love them, but since it's always been served, she's a BIG salad eater! i am tempted to try these shakes you talk about... but the color really pushes me away. i did buy some almond milk. no idea what to do with it, but i think i read you add it to these green shakes???

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  8. Shelley!!! That's awesome your little one enjoys salads so much...same with my oldest. He'll actually order one at a restaurant instead of a burger! Now Ashton, although it's been served to him everyday he still doesn't care for them that much. But he still has to eat some! ;)

    in regards to the green shakes...I promise promise that you can NOT taste the spinach!!!! I do add almond milk to the spinach to liquify the leaves really well before adding my other fruits!!!

    Let me know when you take the plunge and make one!

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  9. Love the new blog! Thanks for the invite. Missed you too! Sounds like you're off to a terrific start. Hope I can join along with you and the others soon. HUGS GIRL!

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