:: Amp Camp Final Stats ::

I finished Amp Camp about a month ago, our last workout was August 28th. It was a really great experience, and was very effective considering during the duration of the eight weeks I went to California, Vegas, on a float trip, and took the Kansas bar (btw, I passed! :)

Here are my final stats I copied off of Fusion's blog. (Please don't judge my "before" pic...BLECH!!!)

Molly lost a total of 10 pounds, 2.5 inches from her hips, 3.5 inches from her waist, and 3 inches from her chest. Her situps, pushups and speed all improved, and she took control of her eating and fitness in the midst of a wild schedule, all because she was committed and taking charge of her self! Way to go Molly!

Since then I've lost three more pounds, so I'm down 16 total. My new goal is to be down 20 total by the end of the month, and to my goal weight by Thanksgiving! I'm running a 5K that day!

As embarassing as weight-loss posting is, this blog has been so great in keeping me accountable, especially at the beginning. So please bear with me while I keep writing about all this. I'm sure it's getting old, so I promise to write about something else once in awhile too!!

new eats.

I love food, and I always will. Obviously, it's not as easy to naturally love oatmeal and protein shakes as much as I just love egg's benedict, but I do my best by mixing it up a LOT by trying new recipes and ingredients. I have to keep it fun, interesting, and tasting great or I'll lose motivation.

Here are a couple of my new favorites in my adventures in healthy eating:

Steel Cut Oats for breakfast. On Sunday or Monday night, I'll cook a batch that will last Taylor and I the whole week. I originally just followed the recipe on the bag (bob's red mill steel cut oats) which called for 3 cups water, oats, and a pinch of salt. Then I'd add in my mix-ins in the morning. This week, I tried a new recipe for the base oatmeal from Oh She Glows, which is as follows:

1 cup steel cut oats
2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 cups water
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed
1 tbsp. chia seeds
2 bananas, mashed
2-3 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon

1. In a medium-sized pot, bring the water and almond milk to a boil. Add in steel-cut oats and a pinch of salt and reduce heat to low.
2. Stir in the mashed banana (mashing it helps disperse the sweetness throughout), ground flax, and chia seeds. Simmer on low, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 mins or so.
3. When the oats are creamy and tender, remove from heat and stir in cinnamon to taste and pure vanilla extract. Serve immediately or allow to cool before transferring into air tight containers in the fridge. In the morning, add a splash of milk and reheat in the micro or on the stove-top.

To this base oatmeal my favorite add-ins are a splash of milk, and a tbsp of peanut butter, then either raisins or sliced bananas. I also have done pumpkin vanilla, where I'll add some canned pumpkin, a little vanilla or vanilla protein powder, pumpkin pie spice (love that stuff) and some raisins.

This is such a good breakfast and so filling!!

I also do a lot of smoothies/protein shakes, whatever you want to call them, for breakfast. My new favorite is this pumpkin pie smoothie I found on pinterest!

(gorgeous photography by Molly Hartley, please call 913-375-0807 to book an appointment. I will come to your house and take stunning pictures of messy looking ingredients after you've already used them)

1/2 banana, 1/3 cup pumpkin puree, 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt , 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk, few shakes of pumpkin pie spice, 4-5 ice cubes, and a scoop of vanilla protein powder. Blend. Eat the other half of the banana while you wait.

It was awesome!

We also tried spaghetti squash for the first time last night and loved it! I decided to go with the microwave method and it worked great. Taylor made turkey spaghetti sauce to serve on the squash, because he is the king of doctoring up food with his incredibly heavy hand with the spice jars. (It's better if I don't observe him doing it, and just enjoy it after the fact.)

Here are the instructions I used:

1. Set the whole spaghetti squash in your microwave oven and cook it on HIGH power for 3 minutes to make it easier to cut it in half. Use a chef's knife to cut the spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise, as soon as you remove it from your microwave.

2. Spoon out and discard the seeds from the center of each spaghetti squash half.

3. Set the cut squash halves on a microwave safe baking dish with the cut side down and add 1/4 cup of water to the dish.

4. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and microwave on HIGH power for about 6 minutes per pound.

5. Scrape the cooked spaghetti squash with a fork to loosen and remove the meat from the shell and transfer to a serving dish.

I was shocked at how easy it was, and how good it really did taste! It heated up nicely today for lunch as well.

Hope you enjoy if you try any of these crazy concoctions!

giving clean eating a go...

I have been at a weight loss plateau for basically a month, and I knew I needed something major to start losing again. So I created my own "30 day challenge", if you will. (It conveniently began exactly thirty days prior to my upcoming trip to Mexico!) Yes, I know I sound like a health-nut freak show, but I'm a changed woman for God's sakes!! So each week I work out 6-7 days, adding running twice a week on top of my fusion-ing. I still count my calories, and generally maintain what I had going on before this month. However, each week I'm trying something a little more drastic to see how it goes.

Week one was a "no-sweets" week. Typically I'll have a couple chocolate chips after dinner, or a sugar free fudgesicle, or a little bite of a cookie at work if it's there...because no matter what, I always crave sweets after I eat. So that week I denied myself any kind of sweet, and had no added sugar at all. (sugar in fruit was allowed) And it went great! The first two or three days were rough, but after that I stopped craving it and also didn't want to cave in since I knew it was only a week. So far, so good.

Last week's challenge was "Eating Clean". After my sugar-free week one, it was a relatively easy transition, since white sugar isn't a part of the clean eating diet either. I bought "Just the Rules", by Tosca Reno to see what all the clean eating hype was. Basically, it's just eating whole foods, no processed stuff, no added sugar, yada yada. Common sense. The book cost 99 cents online so it's all good. Most everything I've already been eating for the last three months qualifies as "clean", I just have to be more restrictive with little side snacks here and there, and read my ingredients lists more intently.

Anyways, it went really well, and I kept it interesting by going to the farmer's market and buying things that looked good, then meal/recipe planning around them. This week I got butternut squash, kale, apples, and bell peppers. Out of this I'm doing stuffed peppers, kale salads, kale chips, roasted squash, and just downing those apples because they are delicious. 

This past weekend I also read Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels. Her theory is basically the same as the clean eating lifestyle, but she is very adamant about eating all organic, and spacing meals out by 4 hours rather than 2-3. She's also a crazy lady about toxins in plastic, our drinking water, make-up, cleaning supplies etc. Sorry Jilly girl, I've gotta draw the line somewhere. My tupperware is just fine. Overall, I preferred Tosca's clean eating diet over Jillian's "remove all toxins, refuel with superfoods,

rebalance" mantra.

I think the positives of these types of diets/lifestyles are that certain food groups aren't eliminated, (i.e. carbs) and they make sense. Fruits and veggies = healthy eating. The negatives are high costs associated with eating super healthy and the demonization of all processed food. I really feel silly turning my nose up at string cheese, regular deli meat, and triscuits...and I catch myself doing that. Those things aren't bad. They just have some ingredients that are not "clean" per some lady named Tosca. (AHH!! NITRATES and NITRITES in our turkey!! We're gonna die!!!) Obsessing is ridiculous. Anything in moderation is fine. The thing with me though is that I am not good at "moderation". I'm getting better, but at this point it's best when I just cut things out. Sometimes I suffer for it, and I binge, but if I allow myself chocolate every day, I'm gonna eat A LOT of chocolate every day. If I eat Chipotle one week, I have to have it the next week, and the next week. Oh, and might as well throw in some greek food too. It's better just to say no.

Once I'm at my goal weight, I think I will be able to enjoy practicing moderation, since I'll be able to eat more calories for weight maintenance. But for now, being strict is good for me. And clean eating is pretty darn strict.

catch up ::september::

September. I hit the "15 pounds lost" mark, but I have stayed there...and haven't budged. More details on that later. It's pretty obvious that all the events in this post and my August post are a good indication as to why I haven't lost any more weight but guess what? Everything was so completely worth it and the good news is that with all this fun stuff I haven't gained anything, so I'm still truckin.

So here we go with another great month!

First up : Chicago.

Labor day weekend Jessica, Monica, Jamie, Laura and I went up to Chi Town to visit Liz and Meredith in the new city they get to call home!

We were so lucky to be able to stay at Amy and Robert Landers' awesome apartment while they were out of town and dog-sit Finley, their adorable chocolate lab. Friday night we stayed in and had cocktails and snacks on their huge private rooftop deck, overlooking Wrigley Field ... which was as horrible as it sounds...
:)

Saturday morning we went to the Bongo Room for brunch, and I'll just let the pics do the talking here.

Happy dieting, Molly. 

my loves.

We walked it off a bit on Southport Avenue, and then got to go enjoy Caroline's (liz's niece) 1st birthday party at a ballet studio located in the same building as Liz's school.

a little unsure about this cake thing....

That night we went to a bar on top of the Lincoln hotel and then Cafe Ba-ba-reeba for tapas and sangria. Delish and such a blast. Fun fun friends I tell ya.

Sunday was our day of  tourism...we went to another cute area of town and got ice cream and lunch, in that order, then took the train to Millenium Park to see the bean and walk along Lake Michigan.

back bends. the instinctive pose.

We ended the trip with a stop to see Maggie and Duane and their new condo. It was so great to see them and Maggie was such an adorable pregnant lady! (Lady, woman, girl, chick? Please tell me how to properly refer to my adorable pregnant friends!)

Dinner at Caro Mio followed, a BYOB italian restaurant with the best gnocchi I think I've ever had. I spilled wine on Liz's new anthropologie shirt I begged to borrow. We closed the place down.

Can't wait for our next girls trip, there really isn't anything better. :)

The rest of September has been full of two trips to Manhattan for football games, a late anniversary celebration, the plaza art fair, and Taylor's busy soccer coaching season. This weekend we have nothing planned and I am so excited to relax and enjoy this beautiful weather! The farmer's market and dog/people parks are calling my name. Wish it was the weekend already. Fall 2012 is turning out to be quite a spectacular one! Maybe I'll get festive and carve a pumpkin this year or decorate my house. Maybe.

catching up :: august ::

Well, the last time I posted was in the middle of summer and now summer is over!! Ahhh!! It was very busy and absolutely wonderful. Here are some August highlights and of course the illustrative instagrams....

The weekend of August 4th we went on a float trip with some friends down to the Elk River in Noel, Missouri. It was a blast, even with an extremely low water level, equalling a lotta paddling and not so much floating.

The following weekend we went out to California to visit my family. It was action packed and SO wonderful. Two trips to the beach, one to the horse races, drinks on the beach, great food, hiking, an 80s cover band concert, Liam's friend's birthday party, working out (at the club all the real housewives of the oc work out at, nbd)  :) ...and more and more and more. It was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again soon!

Fiona's new wetsuit!

Pat, Cindy, Sam, Jennifer, Taylor and I at this amazing bar on the beach in Laguna.

sunset view.

First day at Laguna beach. Fiona is really shy, we just can't break her out of her shell. :)

Liam and Fiona on the train ride to Del Mar.

The races!

Can't complain!!!

The following weekend was Laura's wedding weekend! The rehearsal dinner was at Carmen's Cafe in Brookside, and of course beautiful! Rehearsal dinners are my favorite, they are always just so special.

the soon-to-be LaHues!

....and the married Lahues!!!

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and so were the bride and groom! Here you can see a little bit of the alter that her dad made out of barn wood, it was mega awesome sweet cool.

Bridesmaids. :)

It was so awesome to be a part of this wedding, the day was so relaxing - we even went to brunch at the Farmhouse in the river market after we got our hair done. Laura was such a perfect bride and the day couldn't have gone better! She and Pat are such a wonderful couple, I'm so thrilled for them!

And that is August is a nutshell! Pretty great month I'd say...

Weeks Ten and Eleven. Vegas and the KS Bar in the same post?!

So Week TEN. I worked out and ate great Sunday, July 15th-Friday July 20th. Then that Friday, July 20th at 3:05 PM I got on a plane, and arrived shortly thereafter in Las-Wonderful-Vegas. First stop: The Paris Hotel. Oh wait...I take that back. First stop: Forever 21. Huh???!!

Well, my dear reader, I have this friend named Jessica Edwards who has this cat named Mona who didn't want her sweet owner to leave her. So she peed in her suitcase. All over her meticulously-planned out Vegas apparel. For Jess to discover after she had already left and had to be to the airport in fifteen minutes. So Carly, Jess and I started our crazy trip rolling around luggage in the Vegas Forever 21 so Jessica could replace her now cat-urine filled suitcase of clothes.

Mission accomplished. New dresses in hand, we arrived at our second stop - The Paris Hotel!! We got ready, and took a couple cabs off the strip to a delicious tapas and sangria dinner to kick off Laura Beth Bjerg's Bachelorette Party of the Century. It was perfect. Then we rode this big ol limo with unlimited beer back to the strip. It had a sunroof you could stand up through, so yeah, that happened.
The rest of our weekend was filled with free drinks, tables, and service everywhere, lots of dancing, even more laughs, and honestly just the best time ever. We love you Laura and can't wait for the wedding in just three short weeks!!!

The whole group.

Cheers!

The bachelorette and I. Best friends for 20 years!

After getting home late Sunday night, I woke up bright and early to start studying for the Kansas Bar, which I was taking on Tuesday. Yes, I went to Vegas the weekend before a bar exam. And I don't regret it for a second!! I drove to Topeka that night and took the test the next day, then was back to work on Wednesday.

So week eleven equalled no work outs for five days and not  paying that much attention to my diet either. But I ended the week with workouts Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and still weigh the same. I'm completely back on track now which is great. I am only down ten-eleven pounds, but I am hoping to work really hard and lose two this week!

Week Nine - 10 pounds have left the premises.

Week nine has probably been the best I've done so far on this "journey". (Hahahaha....I HATE when they use the word journey on the bachelorette, that was a joke.) I have worked out every day except Friday, eaten almost close to perfect, and lost two L-B's, ba-by!! Last night I asked Taylor if it was weird to go from having a lazy wife always in pajamas to a wife always in workout clothes and he told me it was bizarre. He came home from Denver and California and was married to literally a different person. He told me since I pulled such a huge one-eighty, he was worried I would just quit one day and erase all my hard work. I totally understood what he meant, but it hurt my feelings too that he thought I wouldn't stay on track. He wasn't trying to discourage me or be mean at all...(not trying to put him on blast here), but I told him that the reason I won't do that and the reason I've changed so much is that this is the first time the "switch" went off in my head that allowed me to truly commit and change my lifestyle. And that's why I'm here to stay. I will slip up, but I won't just gain all my weight back in a couple weeks like I used to always do. In the past, I was never fully ready to commit. I didn't want to let go of the 3000 calorie Mi Ranchito meals, eating whenever, whatever, and the comfort of sweet, fluffy, yummy food. I didn't want to practice any restraint in my social life, and I didn't want to tell myself no. I wanted so, so badly to lose weight and be healthy but not bad enough to give up the things I loved. This time around, I finally became ready to let go of my fear of not having that comfort in food and the couch. And there's nothing wrong at all with ice cream, and beer, and french fries, and mexican food, I just (at this point) don't know how to have a healthy relationship with them. So we had to break up. They were so comforting and distracting but our relationship was just making me unhealthy and unhappy. This is all so mental, and I finally got to the place I needed to be. So I think that I will stay on this path, and will maintain my goal weight once I get there.

Weigh In: Down two pounds, so down TEN pounds now!

High: Amp Camp has been really motivating. We have gotten three emails this week from Shawna, our instructor, with tips, recipes, motivation, etc. It's really fun to get that in my inbox!


Low: Knee Pain. I go from my back, to my shoulders, and now my knees. Sheesh. I think I'm going to head to the chiropractor this week to get things checked out. Those suckers are feeling bizarre. I know they are overworked, but I hope it's nothing serious and they'll loosen up over time...


Exercise Update: Worked out every day except Friday, and while I was a little stressed out since Amp Camp instructs me to work out seven days a week, I know my knees needed that break and I think they are thanking me.


Goals for Next Week: Well ladies and gentlemen, in six short days I will be in Vegas for Laura's Bachelorette Party!!! Sooo...that requires me to be absolutely perfect in my eating and working out Sunday-Thursday since Friday and Saturday I will be sinning in Sin City. This is my first trip to Vegas and it's for the best occasion ever, so I'm going to live it up, but my goal is to jump right back on track immediately afterwards and keep on truckin.


And since I feel bad for never posting pics or fun things anymore, here is a picture of Maeby doing her "Quick, act like a human!" trick.

Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen?!!