Guest blogger, J.R.: Balancing the night shift with a healthy lifestyle

Soooooo with the begining of this year came yet another struggle with getting my yet older and softer self to the gym to get back into shape. This year a new angle actually eating a bit better to go along with it. I have started with just a regular circut workout. 15 min on the treadmill and 15 on the elypticall and then about a half hour on the free weights hitting all areas and always ending the night with a set on the abs.  It has been going good so far and especially with the late hour shift I have to work. I have been eating a lot better although I still have my little bit of pizza about once a week with the kids, I will never be able to give it all up like some can. Why work hard if I can’t enjoy the things I like once and a while to?  I don’t do Too many vegies at all, I just don’t like most of them due to either texture or simple taste .  Yes I am the picky eater. But I do like a lot of fruit and make an attempt to work them into my diet a lot more. I like my chicken and rice and have recently aquired a rice cooker. My breakfast is a small bowl of shreaded wheat every day or an egg with a piece of wheat toast. Then I take some Jacked 3D pre-work out mix and some testosteone boosters before the gym.  I do my work out then head to work and have some noodles for lunch. Dinner is usually around 3 am and consists of a small bowl of chicken and rice with a fruit and jello cup and a greek yogurt. I also pack either oranges or banannas for small snacks through the night. I head home and hit the bed by 9 am if I am lucky. I drink as much water as I can at all times. The biggest adjustment I have been getting used to is portion size as I used to eat big.  I am getting used to the smaller portions quite fast and the time in the gym is already giving me extra energy.  I will be moving to higher weights next week.  I feel the energy building, now I am looking for the waist size to start shirnking. I will keep you updated on the progress and how it goes as I am sticking this out. I have a graduation I wanna look great for in may with a special girl I wanna impress and a date in summer 2013 that I wanna be my best for. Most of all I want to live a good healthy life without having to dig out from under over and over again. Fighting Weight here I come. Fighting in tournament again in my 30′s here I come!

J.R. works nights on these jets for the air force

*Sigh*

This has been me.  And it wasn’t just cake.  It was popcorn, chinese food, soda, pizza, you name it and I probably ate it.  Why?!?!?  I’ve been trying to balance it with trips to the gym but it still didn’t make me feel all that great about all that crap I had been putting into my body.

School has started for me again, and with that, an actual schedule.  I’m hoping that being in class and studying along with participating in TWO choirs, karate, and church that I won’t have a lot of time to, a.) think about all the crap I could be eating and, b.) have access to the crap I’ve been craving.  I’ve also scheduled in time for my classes at the gym and stocked up with healthy snacks and meals for on the go.  Here’s to hoping I stay on track this time!

WHOOPS!  Just binged on your junk food of choice?  Here’s some tips I found to ease the “pain” of bad choice:

-Drink lots of water since water flushes out the toxins and will help eliminate water weight.

-Eat fruits and veggies because your body will be nutrient deprived.  Plus fruits and veggies are light on the calories.

-Work-out since your metabolism is proven to be boosted for several hours after you exercise.

-MOVE-ON:  You can’t change what happened but you can move forward with better decisions.

Picky, Picky

If your kids are anything like mine, then you’ve probably put some thought into how you are going to get some veggies in them.  If you have a picky eater (like my AJ), then it’s even a bigger and more creative challenge to get those nutrient-packed guys in our little one’s bodies.  Fear-not!  This supermom is here to the rescue with some sneaking recipes to get those veggies down.

The first recipe is a hands down favorite of BOTH my boys.  And if it has AJ’s seal of approval, well than, you’ll be sure that you’re little guy or gal will love it too.

Minty Pea Pops

These Minty Pea Pops look and taste like mint chocolate chip ice cream but the main ingredient is really peas (if you hadn’t guessed it by the title).  Your sweet angel will think you rock for letting them eat their ice cream before dinner but little do they know, their actually getting their veggies in!

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup frozen petite green peas

scant 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/8 to 1/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

6 popsicle sticks or wooden craft sticks

Preparation:

Place the cream cheese, peas, and sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 20-second intervals until the cream cheese is softened to room temperature.  Using a stick blender or a standing blender, puree the ingredients into a smooth paste.  Add the extract and mix again, scraping the bowl frequently.  Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.  Place the mixture in a large zip-tip bag and cut about 1/2 inch off a bottom corner.  Squeeze into a clean ice cube tray or mini muffin tin, place 1 popsicle stick in each, and freeze until solid, about 1 hour.  Depending on your freezer, you may have to let them freeze for up to 4 hours.  For best results, make and freeze these overnight.  Once the pops are frozen, remove them from the molds by twisting just like ice cubes and seal in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

This Minty pea pops recipe, along with the picture, are from the book, “The Toddler Cafe” by Jennifer Carden.  I really love this cookbook because it’s geared for toddlers and has recipes for foods that toddlers really enjoy, such as finger foods and food with a variety of textures.  This book isn’t entirely about hiding veggies and fruits in foods as it is taking classic toddler foods and giving them a fun twist.  You can find it here on amazon to get all the yummy recipes.

Image from http://www.notquitenigella.com

The second recipe I have are brownies that hide carrots and spinach in them.  You can find the recipe here.  When making these brownies, I usually fold in a cup of chocolate chips to make them extra chocolatey.  I really also love the book they came from; Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.  There are a lot of recipes that older kids can enjoy unlike The Toddler Cafe.  In Deceptively Delicious, Jessica finds ways to sneak in veggies and fruits into kids usual comfort food along with tips and advice for meal time from her and other moms. You can find her cookbook here.  I have an extra copy I can give away if you are really interested as well.

Mason's Green Monster mustache

This last recipe is just preferred by Mason and I discovered that he liked by accident.  I had found the recipe for a smoothie that contained spinach in it on pinterest one day and thought it would be a great way to get more veggies into MY diet.  One day when I was drinking it, Mason wanted a sip.  And then another sip.  Before I knew it, he had drank nearly all of my smoothie!  It’s really easy to make:  Toss in the blender 2 cups of fresh spinach, 1 banana, 1 cup of almond milk, ice, and 1 tbs of ground flax seed.  Blend it up and you’ve got your Green Monster.  To read more about this smoothie and see other takes on the Green Monster, click here.  Mason really is sold on the name, by the way.  Sometimes, it’s all about how you sell the product!

Good-bye Detox

After just four days on the detox program, I quit.  But rather than it be a thoughtless, rash decision, it was more thought out and weighed heavily in my mind before I did it.  Here are a few of the reasons that I decided to go off the detox:

-Money.  The amount of produce and organic foods that went in to this LONG detox was simply taxing on my wallet.  Not even a weeks worth of the ingredients I needed for the detox cost me around $150!

-Inconvenience.  The time it took to prepare every meal, juice, or smoothie was time consuming.  I was wondering how I was going to do it once school started and my schedule was going to get really crazy.  Also, I’m not always going to be at home at meal time to stay committed to the detox.  For example, I’m going to an all day retreat at church today and all meals are included.  In fact, my registration fees were for my meals.  Having to tote my detox meals to church (and then having to prepare them) was just to overwhelming for me as well as wasting my money.

-My health.  On day two of the detox I was feeling incredibly crappy, with a horrible headache and feeling so nauseous, I was balled up on the couch.  I felt better after taking a Tylenol, but the next and well into day four, I was having bad body aches.  My joints and lower back ached so bad, it was hard to get comfortable to sleep.  Speaking of sleep, all I wanted to do was rest or sleep.  I had little energy and that was probably due to the lack of calories I was getting.  Originally, I wasn’t eating because I was so nauseous but after feeling better from the headache and nausea, I just couldn’t stomach the juices and smoothies.

Weighing all these factors I decided to just come off of the detox.  I was healthy about it (and will continue to be), eating some soft boiled eggs since I was craving them and then I got some sushi rolled in brown rice for dinner.  Yum!  I’m still drinking a ton of water and this morning I’m starting to feeling a little better.  I still have some aching in my joints and lower back, but I feel like it’s slowly getting better.

Last night, my dear friend Elizabeth, emailed me some links and told me that she was glad that I was off the detox.  After reading the links, I feel even more better about “failing” the detox.  Click here and here to read up on the negatives on detox diets.

I did find some keeper recipes that would go great in a well balanced diet, a soup that made a few servings that I froze for a future busy night meal and a salad that satisfied my craving for something salty.

Until next time, here’s a bit of motivation for you: