Catching Up

Just figured I would catch up with all of you.  First of all, obviously I have worked on making the blog easier to navigate.  I have added all recipes to the recipe link to the right side of the page so it will be easier for all of you to find your favorites.  I am working on more changes.  Hope you guys have an awesome weekend!


As you can probably tell I have been distracted and preoccupied by some things lately, but I have also learned so much while being distracted and discouraged.  Everyone has their own shit and my shit is no different.  I have come to realize that this is how life is.  It's one of the main reasons it does you no good to be jealous of anyone elses life.   When you start to think things like, "I wish I had that.  I wish I could have what she/he has," you really have to look at what YOU have, because I guarantee that what you have someone else is wishing and praying they have.  You can view the bad shit that happens in your life as a major obstacles in or you can view it as an opportunity and try to get something out of it.  I have decided to view my situation as an opportunity.

The things that we are going through in our lives are the things that shape us into the people that we are becoming.  I have realized through the ups and down that a positive attitude is absolutely crucial to your success in life.

You may be thinking to yourself, "She is so annoying.  I just hate people who are so upbeat about things."  I totally get it and trust me I have my moments.  You may think that being upbeat and staying positive is a personality trait, but I can tell you from experience that positivity is absolutely a learned behavior.

My advice today is that when life throws something your way that is totally and completely out of your control you must view it as an opportunity.  No matter how shitty the situation is, sometimes the only thing that is going to change anything is by waiting for time to pass.  Waiting for an undetermined amount of time to pass can be extremely difficult and sometimes discouraging.  That's where opportunity comes in.  When you have to sit and wait for time to pass, there is a lot of self improvement that can happen and a lot of things that you can accomplish.  I think sometimes God throws these curve balls at us to give us the opportunity to think about life and what we truly want and the things that make us happy.

Writing makes me happy.  So, why then would I let a life curve ball make me write LESS?  I should be writing more!  Time is passing.  Worrying is not a hobby.  And while all this time keeps passing, I'm going to start making sure to learn about myself and keep doing the things I love to do.

Cilantro Lime Chicken

I figured I would share the recipe for the cilantro lime chicken that I cooked for dinner last night.  It was absolutely delicious and didn't take long at all.

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless chicken breast
• 3 limes
• 4 cloves of garlic
• coconut oil
• Cumin
• Chili Powder
• Cilantro, 1/4 cup, snipped
• 
  

Instructions

1. Melt coconut oil (1-2 tsp) into a large skillet over medium high heat.  Cut chicken into chunks.  Once oil is heated throw them in there.
2. Let the chicken cook for about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle generously with chili powder and cumin.  I put about 1.5 T of each on the chicken.
3. Once the chicken is cooked about halfway, flip to let other side cook.
4. Once chicken is cooked all the way, lower heat to medium low and add 4 cloves of garlic (this looks like a lot, but it's good) and the zest of one lime in the pan.  Stir and let cook for a few minutes more.  
5. Remove pan from heat, squeeze the juice of three limes and scrape all the browned goodness from the bottom of the pan.
6. Throw the cilantro in, stir, and serve!

This weeks lunch

If you're tired of sandwiches and want something good for lunch, look no further!  I've been making myself these little beauties for lunch all week:

On Sunday morning I threw two large, frozen chicken breasts in a crock pot.  I sprinkled the top with a pack of taco seasoning and poured a jar of salsa on top.  I cooked it on low for about 8-9 hours.  You really can't screw things up with a crock pot.  Sunday night I shredded the chicken.  I measured out three ounces of chicken and half a cup of drained and rinsed black beans.  It easily made five containers with a little bit left over.

I use these wraps to construct my masterpiece (7 grams of fiber!  7 grams of protein!):








 










When lunch time comes around I heat the bean/chicken mixture for 30 seconds.  I put a 50 calorie, pepper jack string cheese on the wrap.  Dump the black bean/chicken mixture on the wrap.  Microwave for 20 more seconds.  Top with a quarter of an avocado.  Voila!  You have a very filling, well balanced, 350 calorie lunch.

Make Good Choices

So I was at the mall on my lunch break .  It was about time for me to leave and I was pitching an internal fit because I DID NOT want my quinoa bowl that I had at the office.  I had to pass the food court to go to my car.  And there it was.  The skies opened up and I saw Izzo's in all it's queso glory.  I started sprinting full speed to the line, thinking if I exercise it will be ok!  But really I thought to myself, "Ok, Izzo's has grilled chicken and lettuce.  I want Izzo's, but I bet I can make a decent choice."  So I sat down and took out my phone and behold, Izzo's has a nutritional page where you can build your meal and check out the nutrition facts!

http://www.nutritionix.com/izzos-illegal-burritos/nutrition-calculator/premium

Lots of restaurants are doing this now and it is so wonderful to have that information at your fingertips.  It really gives you NO excuse to make bad choices.  So I went to planning and created a salad that was delicious, clean, and exactly 300 calories.  Take that queso god!

Remember that you can eat what you like and still not blow it.  Be careful with salads, however, as you can really blow your diet on a salad.  There are two salad dressing at Izzo's:

Cilantro Ranch: 180 calories (more than half of what the whole salad costs you )
Southwest Caesar:  420 calories (no i did not make a typo.  You could have gotten a damn burrito)

The lady in from me got a chicken salad.  Healthy right?  With refried beans, rice, cheese and southwest Caesar dressing.  That same lady just ate approximately NINE HUNDRED calories for lunch.  Not to mention 41 carbs and 68 grams of fat.  She would have been better off going next door to canes and getting a caniac.

I used salsa as my dressing and squeezed a lime on top.

It may have not been EXACTLY what I wanted, but it quenched the craving and met my current diet requirements and I have to say, I call that a major win!!

1.0 x Illegal Salad

• 1.0
  Romaine Lettuce
• 1.0
  Chicken - White Meat
• 1.0
  Black Beans
• 1.0
  Cilantro
• 1.0
  Fresh Jalepenos
• 1.0
  Pico de Gallo
• 1.0
  Red Onions
• 1.0
  Izzo's Salsa (2 oz)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 1 x Illegal Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 300 Calories from Fat 40

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 5g 8%

Saturated Fat 0g 0%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 85mg 28%

Sodium 1250mg 52%

Total Carbohydrates 29g 10%

Dietary Fiber 10g 40%

Sugars 5g

Protein 35g

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

INGREDIENTS: Illegal Salad (Romaine Lettuce,Chicken - White Meat, Black Beans, Ci... [View All Ingredients] Disclaimer

This Girl Can

In case you were wondering if you should hit the gym today...

And don't forget that fit looks different on everyone :)

Quinoa lunch bowl

I made these little quinoa bowls for lunches this week on Sunday night.  They are super easy to do.  If you have never cooked quinoa before, I cook mine in the rice cooker.  Water ratio is 2 to 1.  1 cup quinoa/2 cups of water.  You get it.  Takes less time than rice to cook and it's protein packed!

I posted the recipe yesterday before I ate it.  My first thought when I opened it for lunch yesterday was, "not enough food."  My second thought was, "looks like it needs cheese."  These are pretty normal thoughts when I sit down to eat though.  Every now and then it is also, "looks like it needs MORE cheese."  In other words, I'm kind of judgy (that just autocorrected to pudgy.  FML).  Any who, after tasting it I decided it was ok.  A 3.5 stars out of 5 if you will.  It's a little on the bland side.  However, it did fill me up and keep me full for quite awhile without making me feel sluggish.   

Today, I snazzed it up a bit.  I squeezed more lime juice, sprinkled it with chili powder, and put a scoop of salsa.  It's a good bit better.  I would also suggest not going easy on the cilantro if you like it.  Load it up.  I have this lunch weighing in at right about 300 calories.

Dutchtown track workout

I'm I'm typing this on my phone so don't grammar nazi me. I used to do this workout every other week or so last summer and now I'm back at it. Hoping to do it at least once a week and you are welcome to join me if you'd like!  This is what the dutchtown track kind of looks like to give you and idea:

I'm standing at one end. The track is 1/4 of a mile. Looking at the picture the bleachers on the left are the "home" bleachers and the bleachers on the right are the "visitor" bleachers. The home side has 12 sets of stairs. Each set is 30 steps. The visitor side has 8 sets of stairs. Each set is 18 steps. 

I start my workout with one jog around the track. I then enter the visitor stands and go up the first set of steps, run across, and go down the second set of steps. I run across the bottom to the third set, run up, run across the top, run down. So basically I'm going up every other set of steps. When I'm done with that I walk the curves of the track and sprint the straights for one lap. I enter the visitor side again and this time run up every set of stairs. I again walk the curves and sprint the straights for a lap. I then enter the home side bleachers. I run up every set of steps but for every other set I take two steps at a time (kind of like a lunge). Again another lap on the track. Every set on the visitor side. Another lap on the track. Every other set on the visitor side. Last lap on the track. There you have it. It's a tough workout and you definitely feel the burn!

I like to think that if you're happy and positive and you feel good, good things will happen to you!  If you want to send a few prayers, some good juju, fairy dust, positive vibes, or whatever you're into, they would be mucho appreciated!