The 'in-between phase'

I'm going to whine in this post. You have been warned.

So if you recall my Take It Off Mondays series, it was somewhat easy for me to shed about 15 pounds. And then we moved. This threw off my workout routine because for 1) we no longer have a workout room at our apartment complex and 2) we don't live in the best neighborhood, so hour-long walks are out. And of course during/immediately after a move, you aren't in the habit of cooking wholesome meals and fast food becomes your kitchen.

After a couple weeks of unhealthy living I finally got back into the groove of grocery shopping and cooking, so I had mastered that part. But the workout part...

You know what's really annoying? I can work out on base for free. FREE. But there's this little problem called childcare. They don't provide it. So if I'm going to pay for childcare so I can work out - I might as well join the local gym that provides it. I even looked on our cable for an 'on-demand fitness' channel. Welp, turns out we don't have one here. Sigh.

Two weeks ago, I finally got into the routine of working out at night after Eva's in bed. Then my father-in-law came. And the routine all but evaporated.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we weaned off breastfeeding (yay!) two weeks ago. Which is great, but I just lost the ability to burn an extra 200-300 calories a day.

As of Monday I started back with P90X and I've taken Eva on a couple walks (on the sidewalk of a main street. Although safer than our neighborhood, still not the best option because there's several busy intersections) So I've lost 2 of the 8 pounds that I had gained back.

I'm content with my progress but I have to admit I'm frustrated. I worked so hard to get where I was before we moved. And I honestly feel like circumstances are to cause for my 'two steps back'. I was at the point that I felt on the verge of being thin, and now I feel chubby again. I know I'm smaller than I was when I started this journey (and honestly, smaller than when I got pregnant) BUT, my end goal of wearing a size 10 seems so far off. And I just feel jiggly all over.

Ok, I had to get that off my chest. I'm back on the wagon, and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Even if that light looks like a pin drop ;)

On a Home-made Kick

Long before I quit working, I had started tinkering with making more things from scratch. One, to save money on buying things I could make myself, and also to reduce the amount of processed foods in my family's diet. Now I make my own pancake mix, taco seasoning, pizza dough and ice cream, among other things. I have to add that convenience is a big thing for me. If something is too much work, to me it's not worth the cost savings - my time is just as valuable. So I tell people that I make my pancakes from scratch and they're like 'Oh, that's too much work!' Soooo, is putting flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a canister really too much work? Because I mix that ahead of time, and then add the eggs, milk and oil when I cook them - just as you would do with store-bought mix.

This doesn't mean that I make EVERYTHING from scratch or that we avoid ALL processed foods. But I certainly try. And also, I usually make a big batch of whatever it is, so it lasts awhile, and I'm not going through the hassle of making it from scratch every time. This week I'm planning to make the following: ice cream, frozen yogurt (for me, the hubs will get the ice cream) cheese crackers, and graham crackers. Now that Eva is 90% on table food (she's still nursing - another post on that soon) I'm looking for easy snacks that require little-zero prep. However, I want to avoid all the overprocessed crap that they sell for babies/toddlers. So the goldfish and graham cracker recipes are new to me, I'm hoping they work out well and become part of my repertoire.

While perusing the interwebz, I also stumbled across some delicious looking baked goods like these chocolate chip cookies, oreo fudge brownies, and s'mores mini cakes. But I have deviated greatly from my 'healthy lifestyle' while packing, loading, driving cross country, unloading, unpacking and settling the new apartment over these past couple weeks. So these sinful desserts will have to wait. Soon, my pretties - soon, I will test out your decadance!

What I'm loving...

When I see that someone is successful with a weight loss program, I always want to know the details of how they did it. Especially if they didn't use a trainer, or order a meal program or follow some preplanned system. I like hearing stories of people that just make changes in their life that works for them. And so far, that's what I've done. Now, I haven't lost some mammoth amount of weight, nor am I a fitness expert. But I'd like to pass on what's working for me, on the off chance that it may help someone else. So here's what I've been eating (and loving!) which is helping me reach my goals.

Breakfast

• Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal (sooooo much fiber and protein, and an easy meal when I'm still groggy)
• Kashi Multigrain Waffles (I've eaten them with butter and syrup, but lately I prefer a little peanut butter on top)
• Subway Sunrise Melt - with egg whites, on an english muffin (rare, but I occasionally pick one up after dropping my husband off on base)

Snacks

• Fage yogurt (that I mentioned in my previous post. YUM)
• Dried Cranberries
• Nature Valley Peanut Butter granola bars
• Pita Chips with hummus or alone
• Whole Wheat Pita Bread with hummus
• My famous smoothie (not sure if it's famous, but it consists of 5 frozen strawberries, 1 fresh banana and about .5 cup of orange juice blended up. Sooooo good)
• Spinach salad with raspberry vinagrette dressing
• And of course, fruits like grapes, bananas, apples

Lunch/Dinner (normally my lunch is leftovers from the previous night)
Here are a couple recipes that I've made lately. I'm trying to do at least one meat-free meal per week.

• Spinach Pie
• Turkey Chili (I can't find the exact recipe online, I printed it a couple years ago!)
• Italian Chicken
• Curry Turkey
• Eggplant Parmesan

I also make my own pizza bi-weekly (and yes! I do the dough from scratch), and make tacos, spaghetti and other quick go-to meals.

Now all of those recipes may not be the healthiest. But, they're better than eating fast food or junk. And I make sure to control my portion size. Plus, my husband has the opposite problem of me - it's hard for him to gain weight. So I can't make all of our meals vegetarian, low-cal, low-carb, etc., and I refuse to cook separate meals for us.

That's what's working for me. I hope that may help someone out there!