Week Twelve and COMPLETED!

Hey!!
So, I planned for this week to be an awesome week with my nutrition right on point, but it was NOT.
I made some bad choices, but even so, I made some good decisions, too.  Looking back, I consider it a win that I didn't just throw in the towel and say, "well, the whole week is shot so forget it!"  Nope.  I made a bad decision and then the next one was a good one.  I didn't lose an entire day to bad decisions the whole time.
So, my twelve week challenge (no grains, no sugar) is completed.  I have learned soooo much during these 12 weeks.
I've learned that I can have balance in my life.  Just because I eat 1 cookie doesn't mean I failed and should throw away the whole day (or week, or month).  It means that I should balance that with a healthy lunch (and pass on the other 5 cookies still sitting there).
I've learned that there will ALWAYS be the chance for treats.  No matter where I go or what I do, there will always be treats.  So, when they are available I don't need to eat them all for fear of never eating anything so yummy again.  I just need to wait until the next day or the next event for another treat.  It's probably weird that my brain thinks that way, but it does.
I learned that there is such a thing as moderation.  I can feel that this is still an issue for me, but I believe with continued focus and practice, I can get better and better.
I've learned to not label foods "good" and "bad".  It doesn't have morals. Food is food and the key is moderation. I want to use words and phrases like that's a good choice, that's a better choice, and that's the best choice.  I don't want to make any kind of food a negative. Especially for my kids. I won't say I didn't buy that because it's bad for you.  I'll tell them I bought the best choice I could find for their snacks, their lunches, etc.  And if they choose a slice of birthday cake over a fruit salad, I'll tell them, "Yum! Good choice!" And probably ask them to eat some fruit salad with their cake. ;-)  Hey, I can try, right?!
What will I do now?
I will continue to pay close attention to what I eat.  I will continue to track my physical progress once a month using a tape measure.  I will not weigh myself on a scale because the inches and the way my clothes fit will tell me how I'm doing.
I won't post monthly check ins about my food or my inches, but I will continue to share new things I try that work or don't work.  I'll share new information I come across.  And I'll post recipes that I love.  If there's anything else you'd like to see from me, let me know.
I am currently doing the 21 Day Fix program (which I've done in the past and LOVED) until January 1st.  Then I will do a 30-day MMA-inspired program called Core De Force from January 2nd-31st. After that?  Who knows?  We'll take it one program at a time and one month at a time.
I will eat whole grains, lots of veggies and fruit, lean protein, and have treats when I want treats.  I will continue to drink my Shakeology every day because it has done wonders with curbing my cravings and it tastes WONDERFUL!  And I believe it gives me the extra nutrition that I need that I can't possibly eat in other foods in one day.
I'm definitely going to continue with my accountability groups because it has been a GAME CHANGER for me in staying on track.  When I have to check in daily with a group of people daily, I tend to make better choices.
As far as ending numbers.  Here's my chart:

From day 1 to the end of week 12: I lost 13 inches and 11.6 pounds.  I decreased my body fat 10 percent (it went from 30 percent to 27 percent). My goal from here is to focus on that number.  I want to be under 24 percent body fat.
Here's all 4 week photos:

And here's a side-by-side of the first day and the last day:

Thank you for your encouragement each week.  I've enjoyed the journey and I look forward to becoming stronger mentally and physically by staying active and fueling my body with good nutrition.
Love, Kara

Week Eleven Recap

Week 11 started out really well!  Thursday came and I started slipping a little each day.

I had lunch with my friend on Thursday and the meal came with a little chocolate covered strawberry. I intended to save it for Rori when we were in the parent pick up line at the boys' school, but she fell asleep and it looked yummy so I went ahead and ate it.  The boys would've fought for it if they had seen it so I was just preventing a fight, right?!  =)  Then for dinner I made a pineapple chicken stir fry with a pot of brown rice for Jeremy and the kids.  Dinner ended up being so late because we were decorating for my son's upcoming birthday party and I was starving.  I had just a little brown rice with my stir fry.

Friday went well until our late dinner after the basketball games.  We went to Rosati's and I ordered my go to salad (antipasto salad), but the temptation of pizza was STRONG!  I ended up eating a small piece of thin crust pizza (when I really wanted a big piece of the deep dish one).  I also gave in and had a bite of the brownie they brought out for my son's birthday.  My sweet 8 year old niece thought to ask the waitress if they celebrate birthdays because her cousin is turning 13 the next day. She's so thoughtful!!  I'm glad it got devoured quickly because it was hard to resist taking more bites.

Saturday went surprisingly well considering we had 2 baseball games and a soccer game and I ran out of the house that morning with very little healthy snack options.  I ended up getting a grilled chicken salad at Burger King for lunch at 2:00.  I actually had to leave the KFC drive-thru line because they told me they no longer serve grilled chicken.  Bummer (and a little embarrassing).

We had to rush home after my son's second baseball game to get ready for the party.  So, I had a late start on heating up the food for dinner which meant another late dinner for us. I had bought tons of appetizers for food for the party (chicken wings, meatballs, taquitos, egg rolls, etc) and I loaded up with the Costco desserts: brownie bites, frosted lemon bites & pumpkin cheesecake bites. Not many choices for me to eat. Luckily I had thought ahead to make a chili that I can eat (and for some parents that were coming to the party that are trying to eat well with me).  So that's what I had for dinner.  I would've been OK, but there were soooo many desserts left and I thought, well, I did good today - I'm gonna have half of each of the three different desserts.  No one wanted the other half though so I ended up eating it.  So, I had 1 brownie bite, 1 lemon bite & 1 pumpkin cheesecake bite. Ugh.  I should've just packed them up and put them away instead of leaving them out.  Thankfully, Jeremy took them to church the next morning to get them out of the house.

Then comes Sunday.  I ended up eating 2 chicken wings at Barro's after church and I had some brown rice with some leftover meatballs for dinner, and I had a handful of Chicago Mix popcorn (cheddar cheese popcorn/caramel corn). Boo.

I always feel like I'm just a meal or two away from returning back to my old bad eating habits.  This just goes to show that I cannot let my guard down and I need to stay accountable to people because these slip ups were not nearly as bad as how I would've eaten 11 weeks ago.

If I were to go back to Thursday-Sunday and tell you how I would've eaten, it would be this:

Thursday: I would've ordered another yummy dessert at our lunch place AND ate the chocolate covered strawberry (plus I would've ordered a sandwich with my soup  instead of a salad).  And for dinner I would've had LOTS of brown rice.

Friday: I would've had 2 slices of the deep dish pizza and as many bites of brownie as I could've had before it was gone.

Saturday: I would've eaten a little of all the appetizers and a lot of the desserts (at least 2 of each). Plus I would've had a soda and tons of the Chicago Mix popcorn.

And Sunday: I would've had 2 slices of the pizza, about 4 wings and I would've asked my husband to order the pazooki cookie dessert.  Oh yea, plus a soda.

I've come a long way, but like I said, it's going to be tricky to not end this challenge and end up eating like that again.  I know I will have to continue to do something for accountability so that doesn't happen.  I've come too far to go back now. I'll have to work on my game plan since next week is my LAST WEEK of this challenge!!

Week Ten Recap (Thanksgiving Special)

I'm a little behind on my recaps.  2 weeks ago I completed week #10.  I tried to be extra good leading up to Thanksgiving because I wanted to indulge in a little bit of the yummy food.  I LOVE Thanksgiving foods!!
I did really well Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  I had one piece of homemade bread on Wednesday.  The kids were telling me how delicious it was all week and I couldn't resist but have one slice before it was gone.  It was really good!
On Thursday, we had a sick boy and ended up not being able to go to Thanksgiving with Jeremy's family.  We were sooooo bummed, but decided to make the most of it.  I ran to Pinterest to find yummy looking recipes that didn't have all the sugar or white flour that some traditional Thanksgiving foods had.  I figured this was a great chance to see how we can lighten up or health-ify some of the traditional foods we love without making anyone else suffer if they turn out bad.
Jeremy ran to the store with the list and the kids and I got to work prepping whatever I could before he returned.
Jeremy survived the madness of the grocery store and returned with everything we needed.  I was surprised the store hadn't sold out of some of the stuff we needed.  Hooray for that!
He smoked a turkey breast and I made mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberries, whole wheat biscuits, brussels sprouts, and pumpkin pie.  Everything turned out soooooo good!  Here's what I made and everything was sweetened with honey or coconut sugar and I used whole wheat flour in the gravy:

Smoked Turkey Breast: Jeremy used a rub made up of different dry herbs and spices. He's the grill master and this turned out so yummy!  Well worth the wait for it to be done.
Mashed potatoes: I made them with real butter and whole milk.
Gravy: I used this recipe from 100 Days of Real Food: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/11/17/video-make-homemade-gravy-3-easy-steps/.  I used chicken stock because I didn't have any drippings from the smoked turkey breast.

Whole Wheat Biscuits: this is also from 100 Days of Real Food (I made these ALL THE TIME before I started this 12 week challenge): http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/04/08/super-easy-recipe-whole-wheat-biscuits/.
Cranberry Sauce: I got this recipe from the Fixate cooking show on Beachbody on Demand (so many GREAT recipes I want to try from that show...).  It's fresh cranberries, water, orange peel, fresh ginger, ground cloves, and raw honey.  They were delicious!!
Sweet Potato Casserole: Also from the Fixate show.  I will be making this over and over and over again.  I want some right now actually... Ingredients were sweet potatoes, butter, honey, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh grated ginger and chopped pecans.
The show is found here if you'd like to set up a 30 day free trial (there's also TONS of Beachbody workouts for free, as well): http://club.teambeachbody.com/.
Brussels Sprouts: We just roasted these in the oven with butter, salt and pepper.  Yummy!!

And the icing on the cake (or rather the coconut whipped cream on the pumpkin pie) was our dessert:
Food Babe's Healthy Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Whipped Cream: http://foodbabe.com/2014/11/25/easy-healthy-pumpkin-pie/.  The filling tasted really good, like regular pumpkin pie.  The almond flour crust took me a little while to get used to.  I actually had one piece Thursday, Friday and Saturday and by Saturday I was loving it.  I preferred the pie cold (Thursday we had it at room temperature).  The coconut whipped cream was delicious, but again, it took me until Friday/Saturday to adjust to the combo of coconut with pumpkin.  I'd definitely make this again, but probably with a whole wheat crust and regular homemade whipped cream.
We had leftovers for lunch on Friday and Saturday and then it was gone and I went back to my normal no sugar/no grain meals.
I also had a couple glasses of Moscato on Thursday and one on Friday to finish the bottle and get rid of it.  =)
It was so nice to enjoy the food and get right back on track on Sunday.  I didn't have much guilt over the food either, because I was so careful about finding pretty clean recipes.
I hope you're able to try these recipes.  Let me know if you do and what you think.
Love, Kara

Week Nine Recap

You guys, I am so close!  I can't believe I only have 3 weeks left of this challenge!  I was shooting for another perfect week last week, but I didn't make it past Wednesday.  My sweet husband brought me a little sliver of chocolate peanut butter fudge from my favorite shop in Florence.  He has resisted getting me any this whole challenge, but he couldn't hold back when he was there on Thursday. Thankfully he ate all but the little sliver so I wasn't tempted to eat the whole thing like I used to. (He'd come home later that day and wonder what happened to all the fudge and I'd be over here licking the chocolate off of my lips with a guilty look on my face)...  So glad those days are past me. I hope...
On Saturday we went to the movies and we split a tub of popcorn 4 ways with our friends. It was yummy and that's all I had (no soda, no Junior Mints, no peanut M & M's mixed in my popcorn). I even resisted COLD STONE CREAMERY which was right outside of the movie theatre. I could smell the waffle cones as I walked by... Ahhhhh.
And Sunday was a fun day.  We had a birthday celebration in the evening and I had a chocolate chip pancake (I skipped the syrup and just loaded the top with fresh berries - and I didn't even miss the syrup surprisingly).  I also finished Rori's cake because, well, because you just can't throw away cherry chip cake!!!!
All in all I feel fine about it. I am trying to do extra good this week so I can enjoy some treats on Thanksgiving day (yes, just the day and not the ENTIRE WEEKEND). I'm telling you- planning is key!
Have the treats.
Plan for them.
Get right back on track after.
Game changer.
Thanks everyone for following me this far. I've got a few weeks left and I'm starting to brain storm my next plan of action. What will it be???? I can tell you that I certainly WILL NOT go back to life before this 12 week challenge. Stay tuned to find out.
Love, Kara

Week Eight Recap (with Pics and Measurements)

Week 8 was a SUCCESS!
My goal was to eat without cheats or slip ups and I DID IT! I am so proud of myself.  I don't have to sit on here and list every little thing I did against my rules for this 12 week challenge.
A few things I avoided during the week was indulging at restaurants (we had 3 birthday celebrations last week: my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and breakfast out for Rori's actual birthday on the 9th).  I would've normally thrown caution to the wind and had cocktails (not at breakfast!!), fries, soda, sweets, pancakes or french toast and tons of other carbs (buns, tortillas, etc, etc). I also had lunch with my friend at one of my favorite places to get sweets (they have AWESOME brownies) and I didn't give a second look at the treats at the Suns game with my son on Saturday.  My favorite food at sporting events are the giant soft pretzels with cheese. And, I'm becoming a pro at dissing the donuts at church on Sundays now.  Whoo hoo!
As far as the numbers go: I am down another 6.75 inches and 4 pounds (from 4 weeks ago).  I have noticed a big difference in my body these last 4 weeks.  I don't feel as flabby and my stomach is flatter.

I messed up on the day numbers (it's technically day 1, day 28 & day 56), oops.

I have joined a clean eating group for this week on an app called Body Board.  I am taking pictures of my meals and posting them for accountability (and in hopes of winning a signed FIXate cookbook from Autumn Calabrese!!). So, I'm shooting for another great week.  Wish me luck!

Week Seven Recap

I am pretty disappointed in week 7. I know it could've been WAY worse (since it was Halloween week and all), but I know I could've done better.
I had success in ignoring the Halloween candy which is a miracle. A couple days were pretty tough, but I did it!
We went to a Halloween event at a local school on Halloween night and I won homemade pumpkin bread. I told myself I'd treat myself to one piece that night since I was so proud of myself for not giving in to any of the Halloween candy. I told myself that was it- no more slices. But... the next day, I gave Rori a piece with her lunch. She didn't eat it all so I ate the other half of her piece. I even tried to talk myself out of it, but it didn't work. =/
We went to dinner with family on Thursday. My mother-in-law made some yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Jeremy and I split one. I really wanted to eat 10, but I was already bummed I'd have to write about the half cookie I ate.
Then the weekend came. On Saturday I had a power breakfast sandwich at Panera which is ham, egg & cheese on whole grain bread. And I had a coupon for a free treat that was going to expire in a few days so I decided to use it since my whole family was with me and therefore I could split it. I chose a zucchini nut muffin instead of the fudgy brownie that looked sooooo good. I only had a quarter of it (even though JJ didn't eat his- I made Jeremy eat it). Looking back, I probably should've let the coupon expire. I definitely didn't need a treat & I wasn't even saving money on something I was already buying.
And yesterday (Sunday) was Rori's birthday party. I ate really well, but allowed myself a small piece of her cake. It was homemade by Jeremy's cousin and it was DELICIOUS! So later, I was  really bad and had another piece. I knew I shouldn't but I really couldn't resist. I regretted it and I had a headache and felt queasy before it was even gone.
In week 6 I felt like I was really beginning to cross over into the new healthy lifestyle, but this week taught me the need to always stand on guard. The temptations are everywhere and in many different forms. When I let myself get too hungry or if I don't take the time to plan ahead and pack snacks I end up with a lot less willpower.
I have set a huge goal this week to push through any temptations and have a "perfect" week. No treats and no slip ups. I'd love to do that this week and next week and head into Thanksgiving week feeling proud and confident in the way I eat and handle temptations.
Wish me luck!!

Week Six Recap - Halfway Point

Hi everyone,

I am officially half way done with my challenge!  I'm just chugging along trying to make the right choices.  I've noticed that most days are easy now.  I feel like it's more of a habit or way of life now (which is nice!).

I began to really pay attention to my urges to grab something and shove it in my mouth (like nibbles of cereal or candy corn).  I didn't have any slip ups when it came to that this week!  I did really well this week and I was purposely trying to do extra good because we had a couple Halloween parties this weekend.  I wanted to be able to have a treat and not feel guilty about it.

My "treat(s)" were a  mini cornbread muffin, one small pumpkin chocolate chip cookie and a handful of white chocolate candy popcorn (that was SOOOOOO good).  This was all at one party...  I probably should've spaced it out a little.

A couple things I ate that I should've avoided were baked beans and some of my tortilla at Cafe Rio. I could've really gone overboard this week though so I am not going to beat myself up over any of that.

For fun, here's what I would've eaten at the Chuck E Cheese birthday party and 2 Halloween parties I attended this weekend:

• Pizza
• Soda
• Candy
• Yummy looking homemade birthday cake with FONDANT frosting
• Krispy Kreme doughnuts
• More candy
• More soda
• Lots of mini cornbread muffins (I LOVE cornbread!)
• Lots of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies 
• Tons of the white chocolate candy popcorn
• And, of course, even more soda!!

AND than at church yesterday there were BOSA doughnuts and bag of Halloween candy.

It would've been a calorie-packed, carb-binging weekend for the old Kara for sure!!  It's such an eye opener to me to reflect on what I would've eaten without giving it a second thought (well, until I felt sick or woke up super grumpy with a headache the next morning).  Yep, sugar gives me hangover symptoms.

Alright.  Well, back to it.  I've got 6 weeks left of this competition and I need to focus.  Especially with today being HALLOWEEN.

I have a goal to complete one entire week without any slip ups or treats.  Hopefully I'll report that this week??!!

Feel free to leave comments, tips, questions or encouraging words for me.