Work does pay off!

I've learned so much since I started losing weight. I've learned to love myself, motivate myself, encourage other, lead by example, have basic health, and the list goes on and on. I think the best thing I have learned though is that no matter what, I have to keep pushing. I have to never give up no matter what it is that breaks me down, it could be school, family, work, anything. I have to push through the pit falls to get what I want.

Starting this journey I could barely run 1/4 of a mile without dying, now I can run over three miles and still have enough energy to lift weights! Before I wasn't able to do girl push-ups, now I can do a few sets of regular push-up (granted some aren't so pretty but I can still do em!:P). When I first started I had medical conditions, PCOS, I was at  high risk of diabetes, had constant knee and back pain, now PCOS is gone, there is no sign of diabetes in my future and the only reason my knees hurt is because of the weather change!

There are so many more changes that I can't even list because there are too many. I have grown into a stronger person, physically and mentally. My confidence has taken a 180 and I love myself! It feels so amazing to say that.

The struggles have been hard but I have pushed through all the pain to reach a goal. All the physical trials have led me to now, this quarter of school, I guess you could say the straight away of my weight loss.

Soo...

Over the last month and a half my weight had plateaued. I was a gym junkie, health freak that wasn't seeing results on the scale! Boy was that disappointing, but after getting help from my nutritionist and focusing more on my life as a whole I have been starting to see a change in the scale! GOOD CHANGES! I've been lifting weights, taking a cycling class, doing yoga and INSANITY. All that hard work is starting to show! This last week I reached a point in my weight loss journey that truly amazed me, I finally reached the 100 lb weight loss marker. I have lost 100 lbs!

I remember thinking back when I had lost 30 lbs telling myself "man it's going to be awesome when you lose 100 lbs!" Let me tell you, it feels way better than I imagined The way I look at life is completely different. More than just my weight has changed and THAT is what amazes me.

I pushed through my plateau, I pushed through every hard workout, I pushed past the people that didn't believe in me and showed them I still could.

The moment I stepped on the scale and saw 180 lbs was the moment I realized all my hard work was worth it. Every workout that I wanted to give up during and every time I decided to not give in to my temptation of bad food payed off. It feels so good to know that it really does work if you keep going and don't give up!

So with that said, I have 20 more lbs to lose. I wanna lose it by my birthday (Jan 15). Let me tell you, I'm going to work my butt off to see 160 on the scale the day before I leave for Vegas. But, don't get me wrong, if I don't reach my goal by Vegas, I know without a doubt in my mind that when I step on the plane I will be 100% confident with the work I did to reach whatever goal I'll be at. I never leave the gym or kitchen regretting anything, that's why I'm so confident that where ever I am, I know I will have worked hard for it.

I hope you guys are inspired to lead a happy healthy life! That's what matters.

Thank you for following my journey, I have 20 more lbs. I'm gunna keep pushin to reach it! WOOT!

Week 6 of 10 WK Challenge

Well ladies and gentleman, I am proud to say I lost weight over Thanksgiving! WOO! I lost 4 lbs in the last 2 weeks. It feels great. Here's my progress shot for the Challenge:

Before Week 1
 

End of Week 6
Weight lost: 8 lbs

 

 Boom BOOM! I personally don't see that much of a change in these photos, BUT when I look at my arms flexing and my legs squatting, dang! I'm so proud of my progress! Just goes to say, don't judge your success on a photo, or the scale. I am starting to judge my success on how I feel and how I look. I love waking up to a thinner stomach, stronger legs, and smaller arms! It makes me feel like what I'm doing is really working, because IT IS! :) Woooo! My mindset has changed so much over the last 3 months. It's truly amazing.

I hope you guys are staying motivated and honest with yourself, in all ways.


Till next time, drink water and enjoy a kiwi in your oatmeal! (it's the bomb!)

Healthy Holiday Recipe: Heart Healthy Cheesy Potatoes

This Thanksgiving and Christmas I'm gunna stick with eating as healthy as I can. But I still want to enjoy it so, I have a low-calorie cookbook that I'm using to make my holiday season most enjoyable! The Books called "The ultimate low-calorie book" I'm gunna share with you some recipes i'll be using.

Heart-healthy Cheesy Potatoes
PREP: 15 minutes BAKE: 1 hr 5 minutes STAND: 10 minutes OVEN: 350 F MAKES: 12 servings

Ingredients: 

1 10.75- ounce can reduced-fat and reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (1 small) or 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 30 or 32-ounce package frozen shredded or diced hash brown potatoes, thawed. (I think grated potatoes       would be okay too)
1/2 cup crushed cornflakes or crushed wheat cereal flakes

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 2-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside. In an extra-large bowl combine soup, cheese, milk, onion, sour cream, and pepper. Stir in potatoes. Transfer mixture  to the prepared baking dish.

2) Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir potatoes; sprinkle with cornflakes. Bake, uncovered, for 20-25 more minutes, or until heated through and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition facts per serving: 129 cal, 3 g total fat, 11 mg chol, 20 g carbs, 5 g protein

ENJOY!

Protein Pumpkin Pankcakes

Alright ladies and Gentleman, I am so happy to introduce a new recipe to you! Pancakes! I have come across some GREAT alternatives to pancakes like egg white french toast and such, but when I saw a recipe for pancakes that had no flour in it I was as happy as a kid in a toy store! Now, I don't know about you but when I think of pancakes all I think about are carbs and more carbs. Flour, eggs, water with a pool of syrup! Don't even get me started on syrup. I won't touch it with a ten foot pole. The base of this recipe is from a guy I follow on Instagram (maityz). It consists of Oatmeal, egg whites, and banana. I've made both versions, the recipe just mentions and obviously the recipe I'm going to share with you. BOTH are very good! What I love about this simple basic recipe is it's sooo easy to alter, substitute. You can pretty much do what you want with it. Yay! This recipe is makes one portion.

Here's what you'll need:

Blender
 1/4 cup Oatmeal
3 Egg whites (Or whole eggs if you want)
1/4 cup Almond Milk ( Haven't tried regular milk, I don't see why it wouldn't work though)
3 tbsp Libby's pure pumpkin
Cinnamon
Non-stick spray

Directions:
1) Mix oatmeal, egg whites, almond milk, and pumpkin in blender.

2) Mix until smooth
3) Spray non-stick on a pan, pour mix in pan. When I made this mix I had to kinda pat the pancakes with a spatula to flatten them a little or spread them so they're larger.

4) Let cook till bubbles show throughout all the cake.
5) FLIP!

6) Let the other side cook.
7) TADA! ALL DONE!!

Note: For my last pancake I added some Cinnamon to the non-cooked side before flipping.

I make eggs and protein "frosting" to go with my pancakes. But top with whatever you want! :)

Frosting: 

Ingredients:
1/3 scoop Protein powder
1/2 tbsp Peanut butter
Almond milk

Directions for "frosting"

1) Mix peanut butter and powder together
2) add almond milk till consistency you like
3)TADA, all done!

So simple and quite delicious.

CALORIE COUNT: 385 calories, 17 g Fat, 21 g, Carbs, 41 g Protein

This is my weekend breakfast! If you guys try it tell me how you like it! I would love to hear some feedback.

Till next time, discover a new healthier version of food you miss and love!

Week 4 of 10 WK Challenge

Hey guys! So after this week, I saw the nutritionist and got my macros in order. Bonus, I lost 2 lbs!

Start - 188

Week 1
Total lost: 1 lb

Week 2
Total lost: 3 lbs
-

Week 3
Total lost: 2 lbs
(1.8 lbs gain)

Week 4
Total lost: 4 lbs

I'm still pushin! You have to, it's the only way to make it! I hope you guys are trying to get the body you want, FOR YOU and only YOU! It has taken me a while to realize who I'm doing this for, but I'm so proud to say that it's for me.


Going to try and post some awesome recipes I have run across in the past few weeks this weekend. Stay posted, I personally think they are amazing! :)

Till then, eat right and work your a$$ off!!

Week 3 of 10 WK Challenge

Hey guys, here's my 10 WK challenge post. I wasn't too happy with what I saw on the scale, gained 1.8 lbs. But I'm not letting that stop me. I saw the nutritionist today and she told me how many calories I should be eating. She also mentioned the amount of macro nutrients I should consume. We realized I was eating too much fat and not enough carbs. Peanut butter has good fat but too much for how much I eat, gotta cut back on the nut butter. :( Here's my results thus far in the Challenge:

Start

After Week 1

After Week 2

 



After Week 3

I'm gunna keep pushin and work hard. Now that I know what I should be eating, I should really see a change on the scale. Wish me luck!

 

Till next time, leave the gym happy. :) 

Recipe: Chicken Salad

Alright guys, it's recipe time! Yesterday I made dinner for my roommate and me. She wanted to try some of my healthier food, to see how good it was. Well, it was a hit! I made a delicious simple chicken salad over my even simpler carrot noodles. It's just a bonus that it's LOW CALORIE. :)

Here's what you'll need:

One large can of chicken breast. I think it's the 8 or 9 oz can.

1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese
1/2 a cubed avocado
2 cups of spinach cooked
seasoning of choice
3-5 Carrots
1/2 teaspoon per plate of Flax seed

1) Mix the chicken (after being drained), Cottage cheese, and avocado in a medium sized mixing bowl.
2) Mix until the chicken and avocado are smooth.
3) Add seasoning of choice, I added pepper, and sirracha. I'm pretty sure anything of you want will work.
4) Saute some spinach in a pan and add to the bowl
5) mix all together and tada! All done! :D
6)For the carrot noodles
I peeled about 3-5 carrots, depending on how thick your peeler peels and heated them up in a pan sprayed with cooking spray. If the peels are pretty thick it might take longer to reach the doneness you may like. I like mine to have a little bit of a crunch. I season those with pepper and a tiny bit of salt.
7)Top the dish with some flax seed, I do this for appearance and the omega 3s.

Calories: For 2 Servings 311 calories (including carrot and flax seed)

Enjoy. Tell me how it comes out. :)

Week 1 of 10 WK Challenge

Here to week two ladies and gentlemen. I increased my cardio, and calories. I'm happy with the results I see. I've been bloated this week so, weight loss is only at one lb. Ugh. Next week should be better, I'll push hard this week.

Start
 

After Week 1
 

I'll try and think of some recipes to post for you guys.

Till next time, keep pushing and celebrate the little changes.

Carbs and CALORIES

Hello again guys! It's been a great few weeks! Well, other than the fact that I've only lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks. A pound is a pound though, yay!

Today I've decided to explain possibly why I have only lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks. Too few carbs + too few calories= not a skinnier Kirsti.

I've increased my exercise regimen so much that the 1300-1400 calories I've been eating isn't fueling my body and is causing it to store all my food. Hence, no weight loss. It's quite frustrating, I've been leaving the gym dripping wet is sweat and it's not reflecting on the scale. So after the second week of disappointment, I took matters into my own hands and ask my trainer and nutrition teach (who's a registered dietitian) WHAT'S UP?! Okay, i didn't do it like that, but I really was wondering what was going on with my body.

My trainer first told me that I needed to increased my calories up to 1800 or even 2000! Let me tell you, that scared me so much! I've gone the last year eating less than 1500 calories, and to eat 2000, wow that's almost heart attack status. ( my thoughts were, "what if I start to gain weight?!") I asked my nutrition teacher what he thought and he said I need to think of my body as if I were an athlete, because I workout like I am. (Talk about confidence boost, I'm an athlete now) So, I've slowly increased my calories to 1600-1700 on light days and on intense days, I'm eating 1900-2000. I need to trust their knowledge and experience. I'll tell you guys if that helps or not on the next weigh in.

While I'm not eating enough calories my carb intake is way too low. I know that I need to eat on the lower end of the daily recommended carb amount because it's better for my body but it was way too low for how much exercise I do. Before talking to my teacher I was eating 100-120 grams of carbs a day, well, my body needs at least 150-170 a day. No wonder I was having headaches! Carbs fuel my body, which helps me burn calories.

So after every workout I need to eat carbs and protein. (PB sandwich, yum!) While I need to eat 150 or so grams of carbs 130 of them need to be eaten before my afternoon snack. Hello to carb loading before 2 pm.

Here are some good foods for carbs:
Oatmeal, of course
Whole grain bread
brown rice
Wheat tortilla
Fruit
Peanuts
BEANS- really good source of fiber.

To reach my 130 carbs in the morning I eat oatmeal, bread, rice, fruit, peanut butter. And for after my afternoon snack, for dinner I have beans, and veggies.

I know this was kinda a boring post but for some people they might be working out really hard, but depriving there body of fuel. You're not gunna lose weight if you don't fuel your body properly. Learn from my mistake and drop the pounds. :)

Side note: The detailed information referring to my daily caloric intake, and recommended carb intake are for me, please look at this post to determine the amount of calories you should eat. And the recommended amount of carb intake for a person is 46-65% of your daily calories. Please talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before considering anything less.

Till next time enjoy the good carbs and leave the gym with no regrets.

Recipe: Breakfast of champs! Perfect for me.

Hello hello! I'm getting settled and use to school, moving in a week and been wanting to share with you guys the most important part of my day. Well, one of the most important parts of my day. BREAKFAST! I tell everyone to eat breakfast, it's so important. You're breaking your fast between dinner and lunch, telling your body that it doesn't need to store lunch as fat because it's not in store-all-the-food-because-i'm-not-gunna-get-anymore-for-a-while-mode. Breakfast revs your metabolism for the day, and it's gets going to burn calories.

Time to tell you what I do for breakfast! Warning, I have little variety but you can be as adventurous as you want. I eat this because it's a solid breakfast and quite tasty. Why change it? Here's the basics:

Peanut butter, whey protein, and oatmeal, plus some fruit, and unsweetened almond milk

Ignore the items not mentioned in this photo, those will be mentioned in another post. :)

Morning oatmeal:

1/4 cup of dry oatmeal

water to cover the oatmeal

1/2 scoop of whey protein

1 tbsp of peanut butter 

Unsweetened almond milk for consistency wanted. 

Fruit of choice

I heat the oatmeal in the microwave with about enough water to reach the first knuckle on my index finger. Cook for 1 minute and then add half a scoop of whey protein powder, don't mix once the why is added. Add the tablespoon of peanut butter (Make sure the peanut butter has low sugar, I think mine has 3 g) then mix a little bit to see what the consistency is. It's normally too thick for me and I like thick oatmeal, so I add a little bit of unsweetened almond milk. Once you've added the milk, mix it around and enjoy. :) 

I like to add a little bit of fruit, one because I need it and two it's nummy. 

A few strawberries, or berry of any kind is good. And I LOVE these mini bananas, they are PERFECT for me. Just big enough to fill my banana craving but not too much sugar. 

Now that I've shared how I make my Breakfast of Champs I'll explain why I'm eating it.

So oatmeal is a really good food to keep you full, a little goes a long way and it's a good source of fiber and grain protein.
I add the peanut butter for taste, extra calories and protein which is also why I add the whey. I didn't start doing this till I met with my trainer and started weight training. I need lots of protein to feed my muscles and more calories to keep my metabolism going. I need to eat more calories to lose more weight, specially since I'm doing so much cardio and interval training. If you're not weight training a few times a week or partaking in daily workout classes you probably don't need 20 grams of protein like me. Just oatmeal with unsweetened almond milk and fruit should do the trick.

This is the breakfast I have everyday. Mixing up the fruit really helps me not get tired of eating oatmeal everyday.

Once a week I have my "nutella" on toast. Here's the recipe. Warning its super good and personally I think so much better than nutella, just because it has so much protein in it.

Protein nutella:

1/2 scoop of chocolate whey
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
Unsweetened almond milk for consistency.

In a regular bowl mix the whey and peanut butter, then add almond milk till it's the consistency you like. Finally put it on a slice of bread. This breakfast option has less carbs then oatmeal. I like to use Dave's Killer Bread 21 Whole Grains. It has 6 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber per slice! Hearty and yummy!

Breakfast is my most important meal of the day, and oatmeal has so many options. You can add eggs to it, honey, spices, fruit.. whatever you want. :)

There's a little look into my daily routine. I'll soon share with you what my morning consists of, and how I prepare my food for the day. :)

Till then, eat breakfast and live with no regrets.