Don’t rely solely on the scale

So yes I have been MIA my friends and I am so sorry. My life has been chaotic the last few weeks. Class, dance, PT, training, work and some personal things. Hopefully things will start to calm down. I have one more week of class (with a week to breathe before my summer I class starts). The 25 page thesis final for my social media class has taken a lot of my time but in a good way. It solidifies that that is what I want to do with my life!

So aside from that, we are getting ready for our showcase which has been pushed back again to May 30^th. That is okay though because I think we are just going to get stronger and rock it out when we are ready. My ankle still needs some prep work anyway. I had the pleasure of doing walking lunges in heels at PT on Tuesday. I must have been a sight!! On top of that there is baby showers, Easter, and just every day shenanigans to deal with!

Scale

Okay so lately I have been noticing that my scale has been skyrocketing. Now yes, I lost a lot of weight post-surgery and I believe my body is just still coming back up to that, but it still sucks and it still stresses me out. I am too much of a scale watcher and not enough of a body watcher. I have upped the intensity of my workouts these last few weeks and it is starting to show. With that I am gaining some hardcore muscle and that my friends will make the scale go up. Yes a pound is a pound so obviously a pound of fat cannot weigh more than a pound of muscle, but muscle is denser so if you fill the space up with muscle that had fat, it will result in the scale not moving or going up.

So anyways I was getting pretty stressed out because my eating habits have not changed and yet the scale was going up. I was eating more but that is because my workouts increased. But today, I said to myself to take my measurements and see if they changed. My waist and hips and leg measurements were exactly as they were which definitely made me believe that yes it was just muscle gain. Then the big test today:

I went into my training session expecting to do weight training so I didn't take my inhaler (for my exercise induced asthma). Well lo and behold we were told we were doing circuit training and it was going to be very heavy on the cardio so i was nervous that I wasn't going to make it through but I don't quit so I went for it. Bam! I made it through like a rockstar and I barely was breathing heavy at all. My heart rate was high but not too high and i felt great after! Here's to getting through another obstacle without needing my inhaler! Now I don't know if I can go run a marathon without it but it is great that these training sessions are really paying off. I am sad that we only have a few more left .

So my conditioning is better, I look in the mirror and my abs are flatter and more muscular than ever, and my clothes are fitting the same if not better.

SO moral of the story? You cannot always rely on a scale to determine how you are doing. You can lose weight but it could just be water weight or muscle tone. You can gain weight and again it could be water weight or muscle tone. You need to go more on how your clothes fit and be mindful of your measurements.

Okay that is it!

Blogging and Greens Greens Greens!

Sorry friends. I have been a very bad blogger. Unfortunately school and life have been kicking my butt, but I am here! Luckily we have made it easier on ourselves by backing out of the dance showcase next week and opting into doing the one in April instead. That means our routine is getting a little jazzed up with some cool tricks instead of a basic one next week. I am excited about the new moves but relieved that we have more time.

I am excited about my social media class because I feel like I can really shine in it. There are only four of us in the class which makes it a bit rough sometimes, but I get to talk about you guys and my blog and how much I love all of you! It is great!

So I want to hear from you, how am I doing? Am I engaging with my audience enough? This is important as this blog is as much for you as it is for me!

 

Greens Greens Greens

So I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to get your greens in. Spinach, kale, collard greens are loaded with vitamins and minerals. But again, may people cannot stand the though of eating these greens. So I have found another way to get your greens in. Green Monster Oatmeal. Now I didn’t invent it, but I found an easy way to do it if you are someone who likes microwave oatmeal (most recipes call for stovetop or baked). Before you add your water to your oats, take a handful of spinach and a cup of water and put it in the blender and puree it until it becomes a liquid. Now yes this is a green slimey liquid that resembles the slime on “I cant do that on television “ but if you can get past that, than put that into your oatmeal and heat it as usual. Yes it will look like now that you are eating the hulk, but trust me just don’t look at it! Top with the toppings of choice and bam you are done. You cannot taste the spinach (or whatever greens you choose) but you will get the nutrients from them!

I took my Berry Sundae oatmeal and turned it into a green monster berry sundae.

Here is the picture of it. Again it is worth it!

before cooking

after heating it up just go with it!!

 

with all of the trimmings!

I have a few other variations on my berry sundae oatmeal that I will share next time.

Until then!

How do you like to eat your greens?

MBA and Savory Oatmeal

Hey folks. Yes I am around. Started school up again this week and the first week I need adjusting as to what is expected of me and when. Tough business when there are only four students in this class and are grades are based on discussions and responses to discussions. Definitely hard to get a perfect grade when others do not post the initial discussion in time to respond to the discussion on time. But hopefully the professor takes that into account. This class is my first social media class for my MBA (which is in Social media management). It is quite exciting and interesting so far! I really hope that my MBA opens up more doors for me in this field because it is really fascinating!

Showcase hopefully coming up in three weeks. Right now we are not in showcase shape and we may have to back out. Our technique isn’t up to par and my ankle still isn’t. I like to pretend that is perfectly back to normal and I can do everything because I am wonder women, but my ankle isn’t listening to my head and it has limitations! Damn nabbit as my sister would say! If I had it my way I would be cha cha chaing everywhere in my latin heels until my feet turned blue! But my ankle is till scared of those heels. 5 minutes in them and it blew up. Now if we were in perfect shape for this showcase, I would suck it up and deal with it for the two minutes I needed to wear them (yes all of this shenanigans for two minutes of dance…wow) but if we aren’t perfect than I am not risking it. Eddie and I are working hard to get there but we shall see!

Today will consist of going to my little cousin’s 5^th birthday party at pump it up; it is a place with all of these blow up stations and you get to run and go down the slides and jump around (seriously the adults have more fun at this place than the kids!) and then normal Sunday chores. Enjoy!

Savory Oatmeal

So my recipe for today is a savory oatmeal. You all need to try savory oatmeal. Don’t knock it until you try it!

Broccoli and Cheese Oatmeal

1 cup of frozen or fresh broccoli

½ cup of oatmeal

¼ cup of shredded cheese (or vegan style cheese I used part skim mozzarella)

Basil

Oregano

Directions

1) Cook broccoli to your liking (I use organic Trader Joe’s frozen broccoli florets and heat them in the microwave)

2) When done cooking season with basil, oregano and any pepper or spices you desire

3) Cook oatmeal to your liking (stovetop of microwave I cooked rolled oats in the microwave because I was at work!)

4) Put oatmeal in a microwave safe bowl (if it isn’t already) and top with broccoli and cheese and put it back in the microwave for 15 seconds or until cheese is melted

5) Top with more oregano and mix it around

 

May not look appetizing but it is!

Trust me. I was in broccoli and cheese heaven!

New things/Eating Disorder Week

So we did not get to dance last week because we got locked out of the studio. Bummer! We went there expecting to have to convince our teacher to let us do the showcase coming up in June. Turns out nope, he came to us and said “I went to get the two of you out there, so you are going to the showcase March 28th”….umm what? That was like no time! So that means we are in serious crunch time. We went last night and we started choreographing our number. Luckily we only have to do one song (we thought we had to do two) but still it is going to be a feat! I pray we get through it because other than our wedding dance, Ed has never done choreography and I do not want my technique to go out the window trying to get the dance together. But I am so excited because this is what we want to do!! We have been waiting for this chance!

So I started a personal training class at my job. I work at a college and the personal training students do a “student teaching” type program where they train employees. I thought I got this, I work with a personal trainer already and do Insanity type workouts so this should be a piece of cake! I got my assessments which was great (minus my hamstring flexibility but I always knew that was bad and my balance which is still coming back). Well I went in and trained with the trainer and my friend Stacey on Tuesday and let me tell you, this guy is crazy but in a good way! I was drenched and felt sore in a good way and I go back this afternoon (this post was written Thursday before work but not posted until later) Additional edit…it is now later and oww that was a rough but awesome workout! I am looking forward to showing my before and after progress numbers after the final assessment!!

 

National Eating Disorder week.

Warning, this is a partial vent and partially thoughts about me. This is not your typical “nutritionist next door” fun hour.

So it is National Eating Disorder Awareness week. No matter who we are, there has been some time where we compare ourselves to someone else. Magazine covers showing airbrushed size 00 models does not help the situation. New words like “thigh gap” have graced our presence and girls younger and younger are succumbing to this “perfect” body idea. Kids are growing up too fast these days and it is sad. Now since it is Eating Disorder Awareness week, I am going to share my story which I never really shared with anyone. No I was never anorexic or bulimic, but there was a time in college where I became obsessed with what I ate. I thought that I had to be “the skinny girl” and that was the only thing that defined me. I became obsessed with staying that way. Now, I still ate every three hours (I had to because I am hypoglycemic) but I watched carefully what I ate and felt guilty if I strayed off course. This is not the way for a 20 year old to think. It was like a radio that turned on in my head that I had to listen to telling me what I could and could not eat. It was affecting my relationship with my boyfriend at the time and affecting me on the inside. I had to learn that no one is perfect. You just have to try and be the best version of yourself. There are still days that I look in the mirror and I do not like what I see, but I know that I eat well, I treat myself during the week and I workout and stay in shape. I am becoming the best version of myself and that is all anyone can be.

Now some of you might say, “So you are skinny, so really what struggles have you faced?” It is the opposite of someone who is overweight who has gained weight, people get concerned. When I loose weight, I am instantly anorexic and not eating. Now if you know me, I eat….all day long. In fact most weekdays, you can set your watch to my eating schedule because it is the same time every day. Now when I had my surgery I lost 6 pounds, but it was mostly muscle mass which I am still gaining back but I got slack for it. People are constantly scrutinizing what I am eating, when I am eating just because I am thin or people say things to me like “you can’t possibly understand because you are soo thin” Thin does not mean you do not struggle. I was born thin but I have grown into being thin and healthy there is a difference. Just because you are thin doesn’t mean you are healthy and just because you may have additional weight doesn’t mean you are not healthy. Society has put these thoughts in our head and it is horrible to think that way.

Okay Vent over. My point of this post is that you shouldn’t compete with others you should only try to be the best version of yourself and be the healthiest version of you. Some people will never be a size 2 or 4 (of if they are they are not healthy) you need to be the healthiest version of you no matter what size you are. Do not let that define you. J

Night off/ “Bad” foods that are actually healthy

Hi friends! So today is the day that we find out if we get to do the dance showcase in June. I am so excited! I really hope our teacher thinks we are ready for it. It will give us a chance to try choreography without having to be in a competition setting. I am of course nervous about my foot due to the nerve problems I am having, but I have to try and put that out of my mind!! Yeah because doing that is so easy when I feel the weirdness of the nerves with every swing step I take! More on the nerves in another edition. Just need good you are ready to dance vibes from everyone!! J

Other than that, not too much else to report. I was happy to have a day off from working out yesterday to watch some Olympics with my hunny. Okay and to also watch Pretty Little Liars. Yes it is my guilty pleasure and I finally can admit it to the world!! Anyways so Ed called yesterday and he said “what do we have to do tonight?” and I was so happy to once say “Nothing!” Now I am a girl who likes to keep moving, but even people who like to keep busy need a break sometimes! My body was sore after an intense workout Sunday followed by PT Monday and it was nice to have a night off (of course I still did a plank because I had to do something hehee).

“Bad” foods that are “good” for you.

Okay so there have been a number of times where I will hear “ohh I can’t have that food because it has too much fat” and “I can’t have that food because it has too much sugar” Now that is a great mentality to have when it comes to maybe fried foods or Oreos but there are exception to these rules and that needs to be addressed. Now again, before I start, please note that even the foods I am about to talk about need to be eaten in moderation.

Avocados

Okay so Avocado’s have a lot of fat yes, but it has a lot of healthy fats. Healthy fats (i.e. monounsaturated fats, unsaturated fats) are essential to a healthy lifestyle. In fact these types of fats will help you lose weight! (Yes there are fats that can make you skinnier, sounds like an oxymoron but it is true!). Now again, I wouldn’t suggest to eat a whole thing of guacamole or a whole bunch of avocados in one sitting, but a little can go along way. In fact, if you want to help your brain power maybe before a test or a big presentation, make sure to have avocados in your meal before hand because the healthy fats can do the trick! Now some people cannot stand the taste of avocados, and I get it, they have an acquired taste, however I have a trick for you to get that healthy fats and not to have to endure the taste of the avocado. Put ¼-/1/2 an avocado in a smoothie! Bam! You get the healthy fats from the avocado and it makes your smoothie creamier, double whammy! Now if you are like me and like the taste of avocado, try adding a small amount to your salads or your omelets or even healthy tacos. (which I will be sharing a healthy taco recipe soon enough that my husband makes all the time, Hi honey!).

Bananas

That fun yellow fruit that we associate with monkeys. It has gotten such a bad reputation, but it is such a good fruit. Many assume you are going to get fat off of a banana because it is high in sugar. Yes bananas are high in sugar, but they have some amazing qualities too. First off, they have something called resistant starch. Now you may be going, Jaime what is resistant starch? Starches tend to break down into sugar in our intestines and this gives us the rise in insulin and all the yucky side affects of sugar. However not all starches break down this way. Resistant starches do not get broken down and thus do not become sugar in our system. Instead they go to the colon where bacteria ferment the starch and gives us energy. This helps us absorb more nutrients, helps with good bacteria, and helps colon blood flow. Now because it isn’t fully digested, we actually absorb less caloric energy (calories) per gram than with processed starches. Yay! This resistant starch helps us with digestion, keeps us fuller longer and makes our lives healthier in general. Read this article for all the resistant starch news!

So go bananas for bananas! (in moderation of course!). This fruit has gotten a bad rap and it is not needed. A banana (or even half a day) will help you in your healthy lifestyle Now let me tell you though, as the banana ripens, it does lose resistant starch so you want to have them when they are yellow not black. Although, ripened bananas have their place too! They make excellent additions to oatmeal (it will sweeten oatmeal naturally and make it creamier and if you mash it up enough, you can add it to any oatmeal without getting a banana flavor if you do not want one). Plus the most obvious of things is that bananas have potassium which helps absorb sodium as well. So if you know you are going to have a salt laden meal, make sure to include potassium in your diet along with a lot of water! So yay looks like the monkeys were on to something with this fruit!

Nut Butter

So yes Peanut Butter (and other nut butters) have gotten a bad rap due to their high fat content. Again, these nut butters have healthy fats in them so they are good for you (just please limit your intake to 1-2 tablespoons a day, I am not giving you permission to eat the whole jar!). Now yes some nut butters are HORRIBLE for you. I am looking at you regular skippy and jif! You need to get all natural peanut butter (or almond butter, or whatever butter) where the only ingredient is that particular nut…period…no sugar, no salt, no oil. Nada! The only one that may add some oil or salt to it is sun butter which I have never experience before…yet! I am telling you though once you start on the real deal, you will never go back. My mother hated peanut butter her whole life. She finally caved and tried natural peanut butter and she realized it wasn’t peanut butter she hated, it was all the additives in it she didn’t like. She loved the natural peanut butter. Now here is my tip for all of you who say “but Jaime I buy natural peanut/almond/cashew etc butter and I always have to stir it before I can use it.” Yes the natural oils from the nuts will rise to the top, but I have a trick for you (come on you know I had to have a trick). The day you buy the butter, store it in your fridge upside down overnight, when you go to use it the next day, the oils will be settled and voila! No stirring needed! Your welcome!

Now here is one more tip on Peanut Butter that you may not know. Studies have shown that if your breakfast you have in the morning involves peanut butter, than you are less likely to have cravings throughout the day. Now how about that? You get to indulge in something healthy and it might ward off those unhealthy cravings for the rest of the day. Count me in! (Hint PB and oatmeal…so good!)

Okay enough from me. I am done

So sound off….which of these foods are you favorite and how do you like to eat them

Busy Week!

Another busy snowy week has come to a close! I had an awesome birthday! My hubby threw me a surprise party! Now why one for my 32^nd birthday? Because I play detective to easily and would have figured it out if it was for a big milestone. Now was I surprised? See the look on my face and you be the judge!

 

Now on and off I thought something was going on, but I never knew for certain. He is the best. He got the foods I liked, the cake I love and the people I adore! Of course I felt bad for a couple who somehow through the mysterious world of social media never got the invite. But that’s technology for you!

So the rest of the week was a whirlwind too. I had numerous appointments on Tuesday and while I was between two, I got stopped by the uber cool Erin Colton to be interviewed for a local news story and I wound up on the news!! Pretty cool! I also hosted a jewelry party and sold $1,000 worth of jewelry which earned me some free goodies! Thanks ladies who came, you guys who came rocked it! Special thanks to Jennie who is the Lia Sophia advisor! She really thinks I would be good at selling it with the success at my party and the fact I am getting my MBA in Social Media Management, but with dance and everything, I don’t know if now is the best time but it is a thought I am pondering.

Speaking of dance, we are upping the ante and going to the next level with choreography. I am so excited!! This is the step I have been waiting for. I get to help with the choreography so I am way psyched about that!! However the nerve issue in my foot is making dance feel strange. As of right now the doctor cannot do anything about it. I think it is a complication of the nerve block but what are you going to do? It may be permanent it may not. The other options is medicine or more surgery (no thanks!)

And then of course the snow….again….woop woop! It was beautiful as you can see from this picture. Unfortunately you cannot see the size of the flakes from this picture

 

Well that is all for today. No big health advice to give. It’s Valentine’s Day so today is the day to just relax and enjoy yourself!! However, has anyone tried to Plank Challenge? How are you guys doing with that?

I am up to 2 and a half minutes and it is killer!!!

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!! <3

Busy and Plank Challenge

Hi friends! Sorry I haven’t written in a while! It’s been a crazy and snowy week! The snow is getting old fast, don’t you think? So last time I wrote about my foot. Turns out I may have a nerve entrapment due to the muscle of my ankle building around my foot causing the nerve to be squeezed. Sounds fun right? I am going back to my orthopedist on Tuesday and so I will keep you updated on what he says! Hopefully they will not have to test the nerve out because that test is painful…..think big needle going into your foot. Ow!!

So other than that, it has been a lot of work, shoveling and Physical Therapy. I love going to PT actually because it is a good workout (I somehow have at least an hour of exercises there) and everyone there is so much fun. We have a blast. I am going to hate to see it end. If you live in my area and need to go to PT I highly recommend Physical Therapy and Beyond! So I hope my friends have a great weekend. I will be celebrating my birthday this weekend! Whoo hoo!

Plank Challenge.

So who likes Planks? I know I know that is almost like saying who likes Burpees…no one likes them but they get amazing results. Sometimes you just have to fight through the tough exercises to see the results we love. So my friend at work Joanne got me on the 30 day Plank Challenge. I highly recommend it!! Try and see if you can stay in the plank position the whole time, but if it gets hard or are not used to planks, you can always go on your knees and rest and get back into it, as long as you remain in a plank position. I challenge everyone to try this workout (I am doing it and am on Day 13 which is a rest day!! and yes tomorrow is my birthday but I will be doing my plank!)  Planks are one of the best workouts to do. It is better than any crunch you will try to do to work your core. It gets your core and body working like nothing else. It might not seem like a lot because in essence you are just “lying there” but damn, it works your body like mad! Again, even if you have to go to your knees, it is fine! It is still an accomplishment! You can always take longer on one of the times and build up to it, just try though. If you do not try you will never know! Exercise is as much a mental game than a physical. Your body can go farther than you think if your mind does not get in the way! Comment below if you are willing to take the 30-day plank challenge!! I know you guys can do it!

I will leave you with that! Next entry will be about Tumeric….great spice, but so messy!!