A Project on the Horizon

This month has been such a great month!  I was looking forward to it for quite some time! My mid month birthday was sandwiched between a trip to Jamaica with some of our closest friends and a trip to Florida with the kiddos!  The month was so fun, unfortunately flew by and now I'm having a little bit of a reality check.  Time to get back into the swing of things, into the groove, get the house in order and get our suitcases officially unpacked!  To add to that...not only have I not worked out a lot this past month after working out almost every day for the 7 weeks leading up to Jamaica, but I also definitely did my fair share of eating and drinking lots of deliciousness - so it's back on track with goal setting, healthy eating and workin' it out (this will start right after Halloween on Saturday)! ;)

Thankfully, this back on track thing is happening in the Fall, which is my favorite time of the year for cooking.  I feel I can be a little more creative when I'm cooking indoors.  Summer tends to be 99% grill cooking which by now at the end of the season, grilling has become a little boring to me.  If you haven't followed by blog before, some of my favorite recipes I have shared I have created on a whim with food I have in the house and the meals always (ok, usually) come out great. That being said, I LOVE crock pot cooking and creating healthy recipes.  Even baking but modifying the goodies to be healthy but still delish. 

So...that brings me to my next project!  Last night I was browsing Pinterest for some freezer meal ideas and decided that I'm going to create my own crockpot freezer meals menu/tutorial/shopping list etc.  I've had a hard time finding menu's online for bulk freezer meals that I actually like and/or are healthy/made with fresh foods so I figured I'll do it myself.  There is nothing like pulling a meal out of the freezer at night to thaw, throwing it in the crockpot in the morning and doing nothing else but serving it 8 hours later and having it be healthy.  Preparing in bulk not only saves time but can also save money and I love saving both!   Heck, maybe I'll even create this all into an e-book!  I can always use a good Fall/Winter project so why not?! Stay tuned for the shopping list and recipes and savings!  I'll keep your family fed this winter (with your money, not mine) and give you more time with your family and less time preparing! Win win!

In the meantime, if you are looking for some tasty fall recipes, here are a few of my favorites!  Quick and Flavorful Pork Roast , my go to Santa Fe Chicken , and last but not least, one of my first creations that I shared Hearty Turkey Veggie Soup!

Ok, so now you will be fed healthy food...who wants to battle the holiday bulge with me?? (Starting Nov 1 of course - after Halloween).  All this requires is a fitness goal, a plan, motivation and action steps! Let's do it! Eat simply and healthy and have a fitness plan to battle the holiday bulge! Maybe I'm the only one who gets excited about these things, but if you are interested in following along let me know and we will do it together! :)

Stay tuned for some meals soon!  Now, I'm going to go enjoy a peanut butter cup as a mid afternoon snack since I won't be doing that effective a few days from now. ;)

~Erin Leigh

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Healthy Eating just got Healthier!

So, I decided that I want to start the Paleo diet.  I have been thinking about it for a while now and researching it here and there but always had this thought process of: Give up carbs? Is that possible? Then what do you eat? How do you bake? What ingredients do you use? Lots of veggies?? What will my kids eat? More specifically, what will my carb loving daughter eat? (Seriously, her face lights up at the sight of bread, pasta, rice, crackers and the list goes on. True story).  Am I crazy? (Sometimes)...But then, a few days ago, a friend from high school blogged about her family's experience with the switch and they are 9 months in and loving it (with 4 children), so that really influenced me to take the plunge and try it out! 

So, I realized that my kids will have to make the switch and eat what I give them...they don't have much of a choice...but then I thought, this also affects my husband.  (You didn't think I was doing this alone did you?)  How was I going to "tell" him we are going to give up carbs? Spanish rice? Cookies?  Hmmm...I wasn't sure how he would feel about it.  So, yesterday was the conversation via text message.  It went like this:

Me: I think we should try the Paleo diet for a few weeks after I do some more research. Even if we aren't 100% strict I think it is much healthier.

Husband:  Ok

Ok?  His response was ok?  Wow, that was easy! (I will say I had mentioned it the other day and planted the seed, and I did say a trial period, starting after research a little more, not 100% strict) but still, what a supportive husband I have!  We make the best team! :)

Anyways...now is the time to continue to learn more and then hopefully start next week!  My reasoning for wanting to make this change is to be healthier in general.  This "caveman diet" as they call it has you eat the things that we were originally meant to eat, before people came in and started modifying everything! All the things I read here and there about chemicals in food, preservatives, added ingredients and all the ways natural food is modified is actually kind of scary, and I haven't even really dug into it too much.  I want myself and my family to be as healthy as possible and this seems like a healthy change to make!  I cannot guarantee I will be giving up my morning coffee, an occasional pizza or a glass of wine with dinner, but I can say that I want to learn more about this way of living and give it a shot!  I hear great things about how healthy you feel eating this way!

So for now, I will be doing research and I will let you know when I make the change and how it goes! (I read online that I first need to clean out my pantry... then I will need to go grocery shopping, but before going grocery shopping, I need to figure out what to buy...I don't think this will be happening overnight!) 

Do you have experience with Paleo?  If so, please share! I am a newbie over here!! :)  Stay tuned for the progress!

~Erin Leigh

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Here is a link to the blog post I referred to: 
http://dressedwithstrength.blogspot.com/2013/11/were-going-on-diet.html

Type A?

Happy Monday!  A brand new week ahead of us! Have you made your workout schedule yet for the week? Now that I am doing Insanity, I am finding it even easier because the workout schedule is already spelled out for me. If you aren't familiar with the workout, it dictates which workouts you do and on what days and tells you which days to rest (which are very few). This is so helpful because it isn't up to me to come up with a plan (since I am a Type A planner)! I just need to make the time in my schedule. I actually pop in the DVD the day before to look to see how long the next video is so I can plan accordingly. Then it is ready to go the next day. (Hence, Type A planner....)

Do you think you would find something like this helpful? Having a workout plan given to you a month at a time with the designated time needed for each workout? It is all part of the challenge...to complete each workout on the designated day and track your progress.  I am curious to see if my before and after pictures will look anything like the ones you see on the ads for Insanity.  We will see! But regardless...I am loving this schedule I am on! Although the 4:45 alarm came quick this morning, it felt good when I completed a workout before 6.  Now I have the whole day ahead of me! :) So let me know, do you think having a month long workout plan would help you make a commitment to fitness or improve your current fitness level?

Enjoy your day! :)

~Erin Leigh

Simplicity

 

It's Simple...

 

1. Make a Goal.

 

2. Make an Action Plan.

 

3. Get started.

 

 

Then tell yourself...

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow you will wish you started today...so start! ;)

 

 

 

~Erin Leigh