My Incredible Vanishing Act

I might have found my new go-to breakfast.

TA-DAAAA!!!

This “smoothie” consists of:

- 1/2 c fresh chopped pineapple

- 1/2 c fresh cut mango

- 2 handfuls spinach leaves

- 1/2 c Trader Joe’s Soy Creamery Soy Vanilla Ice Cream

Looks: Veeeery Green

Tastes: Delicious! If it wasn’t green, I would never have known it was chocked full of spinach. It tastes like a creamy tropical smoothie for hardly any calories, no dairy, and tons of good vitamins and nutrients!

I will definitely be experimenting with different fruits, but I think the spinach is here to stay. I like being able to incorporate it into my diet in a novel way. Everyone should try this because it might look like The Incredible Hulk, but it sure doesn’t taste like it. :)

In light of my recent slip backwards, I think it will help me get back on track if I outline a few goals for the month, like so many of my favorite fitblrs do. It seems to work well for them, so I figured I would try it out.

- Lose 2.5 lbs/week, for a monthly loss of 25 lbs.

- Record my calories daily.

- Eat 1200-1400 calories daily.

- Up my fruit and vegetable servings.

-Drink 64 oz of water daily.

- Cut down on my salt intake.

Let’s make it happen! :)

I’ve been absent from this blog for too long lately. I’ve been struggling with some health problems recently, which might end up requiring surgery. It’s unfortunate and upsetting, but it’s also unfortunate that I have let these problems get the better of me. My mood has been sinking, and I’ve been too down to try to fight it. It has completely derailed my workouts and diet, and now I’m essentially starting from square one because I’ve let myself get so off track. It’s a new month now, so I’m going to try to get back on my game and get healthy!

For realz. I promise I’ll be better about pictures soon, but right now, I just need burn off some steam and some calories.

She gets great results, but I feel like this is NBC going “See? She’s not always a bitch!” :) Maybe that’s just because I love Bob so much.

Today was my first day back in the gym in like 4 or 5 days. Shame on me! At least I got my daddy to sign up for the gym as well! I brought him in with me today, and they set him up, and we got to work out together. I love going to the gym with someone else; it gives you the motivation to go in the first place, and I find that I always stay longer when I go with someone else. Case in point: we stayed for like an hour and a half of good cardio!

I’ve also found that I hate doing one thing for a long time. My little brother loves to get on the elliptical and go for an hour straight. I hate that because I get BORED! And then I don’t work as hard. I would so much rather do shorter, more intense sessions on several machines. Today, I did:

- Powerwalking on treadmill: 20 minutes

- Running on the elliptical: 25 minutes

- Recumbent stationary bike: 15 minutes

- Spin bike: 20 minutes

TOTAL CALORIES BURNED (according to thedailyplate.com): 1054!!!

Holy crap.

I ate breakfast before the gym, and more of a lunch than I should have after, but I’m still under 0 net calories! I really need to continue to spend more time in the gym like today, because I feel so good and I’m doing great things for my body!

Good lord, the past few days have NOT been good for my health. My little sister graduated from high school on Sunday and the ridiculous amount of family-time that has ensured from that, plus the fallout from my little tumble down the stairs has resulted in like 4 days without the gym, and 3 or 4 without keeping track of my calories. Not good. So, I’m back on the wagon starting today. I’m starting to realize that if I’m really serious about losing weight, I can’t let things like this past weekend get in the way of that. I need to be able to balance both! So, as part of lunch today, I made this lovely recipe:

BAKED KALE CHIPS

There are a bunch of recipes out there, but what I do is this: 1/2 lb kale, torn into bite-size pieces 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp olive oil Kosher salt to taste Toss the kale in a large bowl with apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Spread kale in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Sprinkle on a little kosher salt to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until slightly brown and nice and crispy. Enjoy! They don’t look like the most appetizing thing in the world, but they’re light, healthy and remarkably tasty. Don’t let their looks fool you!

After a really full day yesterday, I was looking forward to hitting the gym this morning. Unfortunately, last night, I managed to take a tumble down the stairs. STORY OF MY LIFE! I wrenched my right ankle and cracked my back on the last step, which happens to be uncarpeted wood. I now have a HUGE bruise across the middle of my back, which I might post a picture of, once I find a way to take it.

The problem now is that every step hurts. My ankle might be alright to work out on, but my back is in serious pain, which is probably this injury compounding with my already bad back problems. I’m not a big believer in pushing yourself while you’re hurt; in high school, when I was much more active, I would do it all the time, and it never yielded good results. So, I’m taking today off, and maybe tomorrow, depending on how my back feels.

But, I am sticking to my diet and recording what I’m eating on The Daily Plate! I’ve been pretty good so far today. Here’s me and my breakfast:

Lunch was left over whole wheat veggie pizza that I made yesterday. Delicious!

So, I figured I would spend a little time each Wednesday showcasing an inspirational woman, someone who is fit, healthy, and who embraces a view of food/exercise that I am trying to adopt.

This week’s woman is:

AMERICA FERRERA!

There has been some controversy over her weight loss the past few years, but she has come out and publicly said that it was the natural result of her forming more positive and healthy relationships with food and exercise. She still has some bangin’ curves, and seems to be a normal, sane member of the Hollywood scene who really loves herself and who wants to be healthy, not some skeletal ideal. I have always thought she is gorgeous, and it’s good to see her taking care of herself without going nuts about it.

Thanks for being wonderful, America!