Worst blogger ever...

Can't win em all.  I'm ON FIRE in everything else in life right now.  Blogging...not so much.

I've been living mostly on green smoothies and salads for the last 10 days, and WOW, I feel amazing.  I have never had so much energy!!  I feel antsy like I absolutely MUST exercise.  I signed up for the 30-day green smoothie challenge from Young and Raw on Facebook.  To be clear, they do not advertise the smoothies as meal replacements - I am taking that upon myself.  What wonderful meal replacements they have been for me!  I make 2-3 in the morning before I leave for work/school so I have plenty for the whole day (plus a salad with fresh or cooked veggies and beans).  The key to success is chopping as many veggies in advance as possible.  I have chopped kale (I bought a big bag already chopped), cucumbers, celery, cilantro, parsley, and baby spinach, as well as chopped bananas that I froze, ready to go.  I have orange juice because some of the recipes call for juiced oranges and I am too lazy.  I have frozen blueberries and pineapple.  So the only things I have to prep when I make the smoothies are fresh fruit, like apples, pears, avocado, lemons, limes, etc. 

I lost 7 lbs in the "lose big" challenge at work.  I am still going strong.  I added exercise back this week after laying low for a week after a foot tattoo.  I'm basically unstoppable.  ;)

Even school and work are positive lately.  I have been freakishly on top of the world, and it feels way better than the drudgery I am used to, so I'm rolling around in it and being super obnoxious.  haha

Lose Big Challenge

After the holidays, I was at my typical heavier weight, the upward end of that range of 15 lbs or so I find naturally occurs in my current lifestyle.  Not 2 weeks later, I had already swung back down 10 lbs, just naturally, by not eating all that rich food.  So, when the College of Education at my university announced it was hosting a Biggest Loser style competition "Lose Big", and my friend and I started a team, I decided to let that holiday weight back in advance of the weigh in.  I continued to exercise, but I have been eating very poorly.  Unfortunately, I developed a new fast food love: Braums!  Whoa.  Talk about an underrated burger.

But I digress.

I weighed in yesterday and finally got started.  Green smoothie for breakfast, peanuts for a snack, veggie soup for lunch, kale salad for dinner.  It was a great day.  Today, I have that leftover kale salad for lunch, and I'm making a greek salad with shrimp for my valentine tonight.  You gotta try this Greek dressing recipe. The best part about it is it doesn't need to be refrigerated.  It tastes amazing.  I'm going to get some pita and hummus to go along with the salad of shrimp, feta, greens, tomato, olives, cucumbers, and whatever else would be good that I'm forgetting.  T isn't a big onion fan, so I'll pass even though this salad is begging for some thin slices of pretty red onion.  Not necessarily a low calorie meal coming tonight, but a reasonable holiday splurge. :)

Happy valentine's day!