Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year, New Blog

Hi All,

In the spirit of a new year, I want to thank all of you for your support of my blog. How quickly it's grown and I am so thankful!

I recently became a | FitFluential | Ambassador and so decided to start a blog with a more appropriate title for the rest of my life.

Please follow me there or sign up for e-mails and show your support of a fit life! Looking forward to sharing the journey | Fit Food Junkie |

Happy New Year!

I Resolve ...

I don't do New Year's resolutions.

Forgive me, but I just can't justify making a resolution and waiting till January 1st to take action only to lose heart after a few weeks. No, that's not for me.

I do, however, believe in making a plan to change your life. And change can do you good.


So, as I've been looking at all the exciting things coming up and all my goals I'm hoping to accomplish, I thought maybe I could share them with you, as a way to encourage you to set your own goals!


I Resolve to ...

1 | Clean less.
(seriously, I clean too much)


2 | Complete 12 races in 2012
(thanks to @ashtonesitup for thinking up this gem!)


3 | Teach my kids to say "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"
(don't judge, that's hard for 4 year olds!)


4 | Smile more, judge less
(because the world needs change)


5 | Be vegan for 1 month
(a health experiment)


6 | Videotape my kids rapping
(now you know  you want to see that! Well, maybe not ...)


7 | Push myself more physically
(don't want to get stuck in a rut)


8 | Try 1 new thing each month
(I'm a major chicken. I stay where I'm comfy! But this video is on my list!)




And guess what? I'm not waiting until tomorrow, I started working on these yesterday ... 

Hey, why not join me on one of these? Comment below and let me know what you're going for!


Friday, December 30, 2011

Friday Fit Tip: Music Vlog

I think through music.

Sounds strange, doesn't it?


Here is the link: | Rock My Run |

Please, go check them out and let me know what you think by commenting below. Tell me which mix is your favourite!


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Best. Gift. Ever.

We don't do many gifts at Christmas.

There is a reason for this, a personal choice for our family , and we keep our Christmas simple and focused on Jesus. 

We do stockings for the boys.


Filled with many  necessities ...


and a few  toys.


We work hard to teach them the importance of giving over receiving. We had the kids do a gift exchange with their cousins and it was so fun to see them finding joy in giving to others!

As adults, we always do a gift exchange with extended family. Every year is different, but this year we used | Elfster | a website that randomly draws you a name and you are an anonymous giver. So fun, check it out!

I put a few things on my "wishlist" to give my elf an idea of what matters to me. Things like the | Tone It Up | | One Day Fat Blast | DVD or | Resistance Tubes |. You get the idea!

So you can guess how thrilled  I was when I opened this from my elf ...


| Kettlebells | I was ecstatic ! And then I found out who my elf was ...


That's right, my husband! He knows me too well! (Wearing a gift that Taylor gave him, LOL!)

I can't wait to try this | Tone It Up | workout!


If you have or are planning on trying it, comment below and let me know how it is!

I am blessed to have a husband who loves my clean-eating cooking and encourages my love for fitness. I am humbled.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I'll Run for Food

I went for a great run last night with my sister!


As I've stated in previous posts, I am no cardio buff!  I love strength training but I'm trying to find a love for running! I had a great 5km run with my sister last night in preparation for our first 5k race!  We're doing the | Running Room | resolution run on January 1st, gulp!

It was pouring rain and we finished our run off at the coffee shop! Nothing like warming up after a good run.

Needless to say, I came home on a high and wanted to cook a really tasty dinner of new clean-eating recipes, so I went searching ... and our dinner last night was so good!


Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chickpea Salad | Oh She Glows |

What you will need:
1 large sweet potato, peeled & chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 C cooked chickpeas
1 small onion, peeled & chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 T coconut oil, divided

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients and 1/2 T of the coconut oil together.


Mix until well combined. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and mix in 1/2 T of the coconut oil until well combined.


Serves 2 ... so yummy!

I also served up | Tone It Up | Grinch's Green Beans ...


I was hoping to link to the one on their website but they must have recently taken it down. Fantastic recipe, we added some pomegranate seeds for extra crunch!

I also served the | Tone It Up | Garlicky Kale Salad which is too die for! Even if you don't like kale I'm sure you could give this a try.


If you want these recipes join the | Tone It Up | team!

Such a great dinner! I made sure to load my plate with green beans and kale so my dinner wasn't too high in starches from the potatoes & chickpeas. It hit the spot.


If you try these recipes let me know by commenting below!

Guess what I'll be having for lunch today? I'll run for food like this anytime!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas Weight-Loss: Going Against the Crowd

The average person gains 7 lbs over the Christmas holidays.

Let me re-phrase that.

The average person treats Christmas like an all-you-can-eat buffet , assuming it wont impact their health or weight. So, how was your Christmas? 


Call me harsh, but I take clean-eating seriously. It's not a "fad" , it's not an "extreme weight-loss"  and it most certainly is not a "diet". I eat clean to take care of my body, period.

For the sake of my body, I ate clean at Christmas. I went into it with a plan so I wouldn't fail and I lost, weight that is. I walked out of the Christmas season with a 0.6lb loss on the scale , and here's how I did it.


Christmas Eve: Birthday Party for Jesus!


Every Christmas Eve my mom throws a birthday party for Jesus! We've done it since I was a kid and I look forward to it every year, and this year was no different. She serves appetizers, hot apple cider and an angel food cake complete with icing, sprinkles, whipped cream & fruit sauces to top.

But I had a plan!

My only option, don't eat it.  I ate a | Luna Bar | before and drank water to make sure my brain had all it needed to think clearly. I ate a few low-cal appy's and ate slow  so I knew when to stop. No apple cider and no cake. I was full anyways! It was a piece of cake.


Christmas Day!


My Plan for Breakfast:
1/2 C fruit
1/2 C protein
1 small cinnamon bun*


*I made these myself so I was ok having a small one, though they are still high carbs. I am just perfecting the clean-eating recipe and will hopefully post soon!


My Plan for Snacking:
My favourite | Luna Bar | Chocolate Peppermint Stick Flavour, and water of course!



My Plan for Dinner:
4oz lean turkey
unlimited salad, balsamic dressing only
1/4 C carrots (only because they had a sauce on them)
1/4 C of the lowest carb I could find at the table (it happened to be my mom's delicious spelt stuffing!)

1 plate only, no seconds.
Eat slow and stop when full.

I was informed after dinner, as the informant wanted to see me indulge in this unclean dish before they told me, that the yam dish (which everyone slathers in butter & brown sugar) was 600 calories a serving  (about 1/4 C). Can you believe that? Most people have seconds, that's 1200 calories just in yams - my daily intake!  

In case you were wondering, there is no nutritional value in yams slathered in butter & brown sugar, potatoes mixed with butter, cranberries boiled in sugar or vegetables/salads covered in sugary sauces. 

Lucky for me, I have 2 standards I check before eating food I didn't make myself -
1) Do I know what is in it and if it is clean? If not, don't eat it.
2) Is it in it's truest form (ie no sauces)? If not, don't eat it.

All that to say, I knew not to touch the yams.

Dessert?  Yup! No pie was my rule. I brought my own homemade clean-eating dessert.


Almond Crisp Treats. To. Die. For. I ate just one, and enjoyed every bite of my clean-eating homemade treat! (Will post recipe soon )

So, how did I feel after Christmas dinner?  When everyone else was in a "turkey coma* " or as I call it, an  "I chose to eat too much coma ", I felt great and indulged  in a second glass of red wine :)

*Science has proven that turkey does not create a "turkey coma ". It is actually over-eating that causes people to get so tired after a turkey dinner. Is anyone surprised by this?


I wont bore you with the details of Boxing Day, but I think you've got the idea of my thinking and how I managed to lose weight on the holidays.

Normally I would be exercising as well through the holidays, but I got sick Friday before Christmas with a cold and can't really breathe, LOL! But imagine how well I could have done if I had been working out too.

Here's to starting the new year off right! Whose with me?

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Here is a video of my two 4 year old boys (4th and last on the right) and my 3 year old niece (in between my boys) singing in church. My niece is the loud one ... without the microphone.


Merry Christmas friends!