Scale-a-holic

Hello, my name is Tara and I'm a scale-a-holic.

Yes, it's true. Every morning I have a ritual. I won't go into specific details, but it always ends with me on the scale. My reasoning was that I'd like to see how much harder I'd have to work. Yes, I know they say you shouldn't really focus on that as there are so many factors that can come into play with a fluctuating daily weight. So why was I doing it? Habit. Pure habit (with a dash of self-torture).

So this week I decided to break this habit. Since I was "re-wiring" my brain, I may as well re-wire my brain on this too. Let me tell you, like any habit, it's been a tough go. Ohh how I've had the urges. I feel like I'm doing really well and I just want to hop on the scale to see how well. D has been helping out though and he reminds me of how to look at it. "Would you rather see where you're at right now or how about how far you can go by Tuesday. Wouldn't you rather that greater triumph?" Thanks hun! He goes on day shift tomorrow - 48 hours where he can't remind me of my goal. So, he's going to hide the scale! Out of sight, out mind.

I'm already half way there. I'm ready to go the distance and not hop on that scale until Tuesday morning.

Breakfast of Champions

So, I've decided to start my day with oatmeal. It's a great start to the day. It fills you up and really leaves you feeling satisfied. Since I am nursing little miss and working out more, I was concerned with drying up too soon. I read that oatmeal helps with lactation. So, daily oatmeal it's been! Now, just plain oatmeal every single morning can get so boring, so the foodie in me started to play around with the flavours. So far this week I have made four different variations. I thought I would share with you since they have been so delicious!

Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal

1/3 cup quick oats

1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder

1 tsp splenda

3/4 water (I've also made with skim milk, just adjust the pts)

1 tbsp light peanut butter

Combine the first 3 ingredients and stir. Add the water and stir. Then stir in the peanut butter. Microwave for 2 minutes. Remove, stir, enjoy!

WW+pts: 7

Almond Joy Oatmeal

1/3 quick oats

1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder

1 tsp splenda

1/2 tbsp medium unsweetened desiccated coconut

1 tbsp slivered almonds

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp coconut extract

Combine the first 3 ingredients and stir. Mix in the coconut and almonds. Add the water and stir. Then stir in the coconut extract. Microwave for 2 minutes. Remove, stir, enjoy!

WW+pts: 7

Cranberry Orange Oatmeal

1/3 cup quick oats

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

3/4 cup skim milk

2 tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp dried cranberries

pinch of cinnamon

Combine the first 2 ingredients and then stir in the milk and orange juice. Mix in the cranberries. Microwave for 2 minutes. Remove, stir, sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy!

WW+pts: 7

Tropical Oatmeal

1/3 cup quick oats

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 tsp splenda

3/4 cup water

1/2 pineapple, diced

1/2 medium banana, diced

1 tbsp unsweetened, medium desiccated coconut

Combine the first 3 ingredients. Stir in the water then mix in the last 3 ingredients. Microwave for 2 minutes, stir, and enjoy!

WW+pts: 8

Are you an oatmeal eater? Do you like yours the good ol' fashioned way? Or do you like to spruce it up. If so, what's your favorite?

Green Monster Smoothie

So I came across this recipe on Pinterest last night and it's from a great blog, Skinnytaste. I've actually been seeing this "Green Monster" around in a few different places, so I thought I may as well give it a go. Am I ever glad I did! It is DELICIOUS! Seriously...aside from it's vibrant green colour, you would never know there's spinach in it! I had to adapt the recipe as I didn't have quite exactly the ingredients specified and I also added a bit of vanilla protein powder. Nontheless, DELISH! This one will definitely be added into my breakfast rotation...or any time of day rotation to be honest!

So here it is sitting in the blender awaiting a whirl.

And here it is all blended up into sweet, satisfying deliciousness ready to go in my belly!

Green Monster Smoothie (adapted from here)

1 medium banana, frozen

3/4 cup skim milk

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (only had Oikos honey cups, so just scooped the plain yogurt off the top!)

1 tbsp light peanut butter

2 cups spinach

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

2 cups spinach

Place all in a blender. Blend! Pour into a glass and ENJOY!

Nutrition Info:

Calories 552.3

Fat 10.9g

Carbs 76.9

Fibre 5.1

Protein 42.4

WW+Pts: 13

Note: Next time I'm going to try and use some different ingredients to try and get those numbers down. Nonethess, this is a great choice to start off your day!

Re-wiring

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written. I've been putting it off and putting it off, so finally today I just decided to write. I find that I'm comparing myself to others quite often and was even doing that with my blog. I was thinking that I should have all of these topics, research them, have something really good to say about it and pose a question. I feel like mine should be like someone else's. Not my own. I guess what happens is that I feel like I should be like somebody else, something more...but I realized today there's no one out there like me - I'm me! So instead of contemplating what I should be writing about, how I should write it, how I should present it, I decided to just - WRITE!

This past week I've actually been doing a lot of thinking. I think probably since we went to visit my parents, I really got stuck in a rut. I was on a losing trend and gained a bit when we went to Vancouver. Tried to get it back when we got back, but then before I knew it, it was Christmas. The two weeks of Christmas holidays....I gained 9lbs! Nine freaking pounds! I had no inhibitions whatsoever. I stopped tracking my WW points, I ate everything I saw...Nanaimo bars being my worst enemy. Oh Nanaimo Bars why do you have to be SO delicious?! So then came the next couple weeks after Christmas. MAJOR struggle. I was trying to do everything and do it all at once. I was trying to figure out how to balance my weight loss efforts while nursing little miss. I was thinking that I always needed to see big numbers, otherwise it meant I wasn't succeeding. I was thinking about how I was so close to my pre-pregnancy weight (4lbs), then gained so much (I have a history of getting so close and then sabotaging myself). I was stressed out! What helped me overcome that struggle was a phone call with my mom. She was telling me of her struggles and what she had been experiencing. So I thought about what she was going through and how it related to my struggle!

The light bulb! Aha!

I don't have to do everything RIGHT NOW! With my weight loss...if I were to lose 1lb per week...in a year that's 52lbs! FIFTY TWO POUNDS! How much closer I would be to my goal doing that, then with the mentality I've had where it all has to come off now. Going gung ho at the beginning...petering out, losing momentum and not even close to my goal - most likely further away. The old tortoise and hare trick.
So! I'm not stressing out about it. I'm just making sure that I eat healthily, get in some exercise during the week - NOT going crazy about it.

This is going to take time. When I think about where I could be in a year's time, it makes me excited of where that is.

I will strive for greatness! Not for the greatness of someone else, but for the greatness in me.