My favorite "clean" eats!!

Eating clean isn't as hard as I thought it would be! I would say i eat clean 90% of the time. Most ingredients that i use for my home cooked meals are clean. All my meat, cheese, fruits,nuts, and veggies are clean. As well as my whole wheat breads, pastas, etc.. 

The hardest part for me was finding clean pre packaged items! But you know what!? They are everywhere!! You just need to know what to look for! My #1 rule of thumb is first read the list of ingredients. If there is BHT, BHA, or Monosodium Glutamate(MSG), put it back. These are the three most common preservatives. You will find them in frozen dinners, most cereals, granola bars, crackers, etc.. 

Rule #2, typically if you can pronounce/recognize everything on the ingredient list then its safe. If there is an ingredient that you're not sure of, google it!! 

Rule #3, try and look for short ingredient lists. Have you ever seen the lists that take up an entire side of the box of food? yuck! 

My local grocery stores have great health foods sections, that's where i find most of my snacks! But I've also found a lot of great items in regular isles as well! Like Triscuits, Stacy's pita chips, Mama's Best cereal, Kashi, luna bars etc...

Here are some of my clean favorites right now, they are all SOOO good i guarantee that you won't miss the processed crap.....

Oh Annie's......I LOVE anything they make!! I have yet to find something that i don't! Their grahams are way better then Teddy Grahams, and their Cheddar Bunnies are way better then Goldfish! And how CUTE is their bunny logo! On the top of the boxes they have a bunny bum!! CUTEST BUNNY BUM ever...

 Back To Nature has amazing Granola! Super short ingredient list too!

I really like Kashi anything as well! I like their cereal, breakfast bars, etc..

Mom's Best Brand cereal, it tastes amazing, is made with whole grains, and super cheap! I can normally get a box for $2.50!! 

You will be so mad i told you about this one!! Stacy's Pita Chips!! I am OBSESSED with the cinnamon sugar ones!!!! They are divine!! Heaven in a bag!!!

Full Circle has a lot of great products! I love these fruit strips! They give me a sugar fix for only 45cals a strip!

And LaraBar, don't eat one expecting something super sweet. Eat one expecting nuts and dates and they won't be disappointing! These are a great source of protein for on the go meals!

There you have it!! What are your favorite clean foods??!! And please let me know if you try any!!! I hope you guys are doing great! I am soo thankful for every single follower i have! You guys give me such motivation, i hope i can return the favor!

XOXO

Meggan

Hey!!

 It's my 4 year Anniversary people!!! I can't wait to relax and get in some good one on one time with my honey this weekend! We are heading to Des Moines! Hello french food, shopping, movies, and kissing!

 I'm nervous to buy new clothes when i'm not at my goal weight, but you know what?? I don't care. I want to feel beautiful and stylish now! Sometimes i hold back buying new clothes not because of the money but because i think,

 only skinny girls look great in that trend, maybe once im "skinny" i'll buy those jeans/leggings/dresses/boots/ etc.....

I've decided not anymore! When you have confidence you are less likely to fall into poor eating, and excisise habits. Here is an example haha....You feel like you look smoking hot in your tight buckle jeans and sexy riding boots, and your coworker brings in cookies and you think to yourself,

no thanks im feeling sexy in my jeans today.

Dumb reasoning? I don't know maybe others don't think this way but i do! I am stronger and more able to stick to my goals when i feel like i am on top of the world. And fasion does that to me. It's my industry, it's who i am. I need to embrace it at any size. So there you have it girls, i'm going to start loving my body, and dressing in a way that makes me confident and HAPPY! Curves and all! I'm so excited to shop!!! My poor husband! haha

Anyway....I am finished with my 10 days of the South Beach Dietish eating plan. And.....

 I weighed in at 155lbs!!! I was SUPER mad. I mean what the freak is wrong with me!?? I didn't eat carbs and stuck to my 1200cal limit and didn't lose ONE single lbs! Last time i did this i lost 8! I had weighed four days into the diet (even though i said i wouldn't ha) and was down to 152lbs! And now back up to 155lbs? I pouted about it for a couple hours, but then started to wonder....what if my body is in starvation mode? So I decided I would up my calories to 1500 and see what happens! It's only been two days of eating 1500 and look what happened!!!! Maybe its a coincidence, maybe its not. Only time will tell! So take that 154lbs! I hope I've busted through that platoue(sp)?! Next week I'm going to post an intro to clean eating! I'll share some of my favorite clean packaged foods!! I hope you all have a great weekend! I know I will ;)

Zucchini Boats

Here is one of my favorite healthy meals that i make! My mom is the one that told me to do this, so i give her all the credit. First things first. Take your zucchini and slice them in half. Then carve out a little of the middle of each half. Carve out enough to be able to hold the meat, but not so much that you don't have any zucchini left. ;) Then put them face down in a half inch of water and cook at 350 degrees for around 10-15 mins. Cook them long enough to make them pretty soft, but not mushy.

While the zucchini cook in the oven, have your super sweet husband brown your meat. I used 97% lean ground beef, but ground turkey is really good in these as well. We seasoned the meat with garlic salt, basil, and pepper.You can season it anyway you want! I've also added in diced onion which rocked!

Once the meat and the zucchini are done place the boats on another pan and fill them full of meat, cheese and sauce! Then broil them at 400 degrees until the cheese browns. Approx 3-5 mins.

My FAVORITE sauce is Hunts pasta sauce No Sugar Added. It blows regular Hunts out of the water. It makes me wonder why they add the sugar in the first place. Try is seriously!!

Here is a picture of the finished product!! Yummy!!! If it need extra sauce you can dump some more on top, that's what i do!

Let me know what you think if you try it!! I hope you are having a great weekend!

XOXO

Meggan 

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls  (*Almost Completely Clean)

Dough:                                                        
2 Packets Yeast
1 tsp. Sugar
2 C. Warm Water, Divided
3/4 C. Oil (Vegetable, Olive, or applesauce)
2/3 C. Honey
1/4 C. 100% Maple Syrup
Splash of Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Eggs
Dash of Nutmeg
6-7 C. Whole Wheat Flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup of warm water. In a separate bowl add oil, honey, maple syrup,vanilla, salt,eggs, remaining 1 cup of warm water. Mix together. Add yeast mixture, and mix again. Add 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Mix for approx. 5 minutes on med. speed. Add remaining flour and 2 dashes of Nutmeg and mix for 5 more mins. Cover and place in a sunny/warm place for 1-2 hrs (or until dough doubles in size)

Filling: (the non-clean part)
1 C. Brown Sugar
1 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Butter
1/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 Tbs. Cinnamon (My husband isn't a fan of cinnamon so we used less and it was still amazing)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Roll out dough in a rectangle and cover with filling mixture. Roll up and cut into 1" rolls. Place in greased baking pan (we use 2- 9x13 and 1- 8x8 pans) Bake for 20-25 mins *We use convection for 17 mins. Makes approx. 20 rolls

We made frosting to go with it, but they are sooo good alone. They also freeze great.

New

Hey Ladies!!

 

I'm happy to report that my little "diet" is going great! I haven't weighed yet. I'm waiting until next Wed. I even had my husband hide the scale from me, haha, I wanted to weigh yesterday soooo bad! Even though it had only been 3 days! I think i can tell a difference in my ribcage! There is more of a difference between my boobies and my body, haha.

 

You know this diet isn't as hard as i thought it would be! I think its because for the past 6 months i've really tried to make my eating a "lifestyle" change. I've tried to naturally limit my carbs, and i have 100% switched to whole wheat for everything! Cookies, Cakes, Muffins, Pasta, Bread you name it! I've been eating clean/all natural products. So the only difference is after these 10 days i will incorporate a little more carbs into my day. Yay!

 

I made the most delish taco boats the other night for dinner, and took step by step pictures! I'll post the recipe soon!

 

In other news......i got a new JOB! I just got offered the Store Manager position at CosmoProf!!

(a professional beauty supply)

I am soooo excited! I worked full time for them back in Salt Lake City and really enjoyed it! Getting to be the Manager is going to ROCK! I love the daycare, and will miss the kids a ton, but it will be so nice to be back in my industry! Not to mention getting my discount and free product again! YES! I will be working 40hrs a week, so i'm a little nervous. This past year i averaged 30hrs a week and loved it, i had time to cook and clean and workout, and grocery shop. Hopefully i will just enjoy myself so much that i wont even notice the 10hr difference. Plus i lost more weight working full time then i have working part time! whats up with that? It will be awesome to make like 3times as much mula as well. Maybe i can start saving up for a baby?? I've heard they're expensive. ;)

 

Anyway I hope you all have had a great week! I'll post the Taco Boats recipe this weekend!

XOXO

Meggan

 

Meal Planning

Hey!!! This week's weigh in was as to be expected.....1lbs up! Boo! But its my TOM so that's all water I hope! How many of you meal plan?? I am very hit or miss! I have found that it helps me stay on track! What's the saying? If you don't plan, you plan to fail? On the days that I'm not in the mood to cook, or worry about what I'm gonna cook, I end up snacking away a lot of my calories! If i have a plan, and have most of the ingredients pre-made and on hand, I rock it! The last time i mapped out a meal plan was this past January. Malarie's wedding was coming up and i wanted to look good! It even helped me lose 8lbs for it! Here's what it looked like....

My 4 year Anniversary is in two weeks. So I decided I'm going to do a "South Beach Diet" based eating plan for the next two weeks! Last time I lost 7lbs doing it so we will see what happens this time around! Its pretty much a high protein, super low carb, zero sugar diet. Which works wonders for my body! I LOVE carbs, i blame it on the fact that im 1/4 french. Carbs however do not love me back. So this diet is great for me. My co-worker really wanted to do this diet with me so it will be fun to have a partner in crime! 

A great first step to meal planning is writing down all the dinners/lunches/sides you normally make. That's exactly what I've done here. I even went through and dotted the ones that have carbs.

(since that's something I have to watch)

Then you use a planner or make a calender and fill in each meal. I try and make sure my meals are placed strategically. For example if we have spaghetti on Monday ill make sure i plan another meal that uses ground beef on Wednesday. On Monday i cook enough meat for two meals.I put half of it aside and use it on Wednesday. It saves me time, and helps me not waste ingredients. 

This is my, half way done, two week meal plan. I planned out my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners! Normally I only plan dinners, but since I'm dieting I planned for the others as well.

Once you have everything planned out you can make a grocery list based on the meals for the week. Lists help me not buy items on impulse that usually end up going bad before i get around to using them. Which saves me money, and fridge/cupboard space! (which is hard to come by in my apartment)

So there you have it! Meal planning at its finest! haha! Now I'm off to the grocery store! I hope you guys are having a good weekend! I know we sure are! I love sleeping in and watching football! 

Wish me luck with my diet! Well actually you should probably wish my husband luck, i'm normally not the easiest person to be around when i don't have my carbs! haha. 

(at least i can admit it right?)

Meggan

Weigh ins, Refletions, and Fall!

Here is this week's weigh in! Still at 154lbs! I am soooo annoyed, but i really shouldn't be. I need to remember that it takes time. Losing weight the healthy way is slow and steady. And muscle really does weigh more than fat. I'd rather be muscular in my size 8 pants then flabby in a size 7 i guess, right?

I did really well tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal this week! I found some friends to follow and some friends followed me back! I was able to get in 3 workouts. I would rather get in 5 or 6, but this past week was super busy. It was also a really stressful week. I have some big decisions to make. More on that maybe next week! Also to top it off it is my PMSing/Craving/Bottomless pit week. Luckily i survived it without making poor eating decisions! Hooray!!

 

 

Two and a half years ago I lost 32lbs on that treadmill. I did it without a gym membership, fitness coach, or fancy diet pills. I did it day by day 20min run by 20min run. I was working 40+ hours a week and still found the time. I was making smart eating choices without restricting myself too much, or without falling victim to eating disorders. I went from 172lbs to 139lbs. It took me 10 months. That's just under 1lbs a week. There were weeks the scale stayed the same, but it eventually went down. I need to remember that. I did it once and can do it again. Sometimes i feel like my body hates me. Like it can't lose weight, like this is the weight it wants to be no matter what i eat or how much i work out. BUT if it changed then, it WILL change again! Right?

 

This is our beautiful fall tree outside of our apartment! I LOVE it so much i had to share! Do any of you have amazing and healthy fall recipes? I'm gonna start experimenting with some soon! Look for some recipe posts in the future! Hope you guys have a great weekend!

 

Meggan