Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep, today is my day! I look forward to my birthday every year, but this year, the countdown to it was especially prevalent. Back at the start of the year, I decided I was going to do anything and everything in my power to lose my final pounds of baby weight I hadn't been able to kick since having Levi.  I have tried and tried over the past couple years, but this weight is stubborn, and I knew it would take perfection, discipline, and perseverance to shed some of it!   I know myself well enough to know that if I felt like I was giving up and/or adding certain things forever, I would quickly get discouraged, but if I knew it was a temporary thing, I could probably keep it up! With 10 weeks in between the first of the year (well, January 6th to be exact because that's when I started), and my birthday, I decided my birthday would be a good benchmark.
So here we are.  I set out to lose 10-15 pounds.  I lost 7.
But I'm done...at least for the foreseeable future. For one, the changes I made over the past 10 weeks were intense (for me, at least), and I need the break! To lose the weight, I:

• changed my diet to high protein with touches of "clean" eating.  My dietician friend told me 30% of my calories each day should come from protein (and of those, most of those should be animal-products and lean, so grilled chicken, eggs, etc).  I have always focused solely on calories when trying to lose weight and generally would eat a lot of carbs in the process, so this was a big switch!  But it was probably the most significant.  Not only did I feel fuller than I ever did when dieting before, but I actually lost weight!
• stuck very strictly to 1200-1300 calories a day.  I used MyFitnesspal to track each and everything I ate, including taking the time to calculate each new dinner we made.  To stay within that calorie count, I was very good about only eating my meals and designated snack (no sneaking handfuls or bites of the kids' stuff!)
• cut out my nightly ice cream...except for a treat once a week!  I usually manage to stick to a half cup anyway, but I tried to use my 150 calories on something more beneficial!
•  I stayed strong when eating out (something we do pretty frequently, especially on weekends when my previous diets would go out the window). I made sure to order things that were healthy, as opposed to what I wanted.  Sounds obvious, but it's something I generally have a hard time with when dieting, especially when we go somewhere we don't go to as frequently and I feel like I'm going to miss out on the amazing dish!
• increased my workouts from 5 a week to 6 a week. 
• changed up my workouts to have more variety and high-intensity intervals. I kept up my Muscle Blast classes and running routine (up to 4.5 miles...not straight running, but still!), but added in tabata (love it by the way!), swimming, and even boxing.

Really, I probably didn't have to do all of those, and I really don't even know which was the most beneficial.  All I know is that after trying many different things over the past year and a half or so to get these final 10-15 pounds off, I finally saw the scale go down (for the record, the first 50ish came off with the same dieting tricks I have used my whole life before I completely stalled out!).  Which brings me to my second and probably more important point:

I'm still not at my pre-pregnancy weight...by about 7 pounds. But, I really think I'm ok with that! When I look in the mirror, I like what I see (at least in clothes!).  I am arguably in the best shape of my life, or at least since I swam 10 times a week as a teenager.  I am healthy. My body is toned and fit.  Sure, there are some trouble spots there (a muffin top, no thigh gap for sure, etc), BUT my body has gone through two pregnancies and I'm content with how I fared! I still don't love the number on the scale, but if I'm being honest with myself, I think I generally look the same as I did pre-children.  And for that I'm happy!
So I'm moving on the next phase of my life with no dieting.  Sure, I'm still going to work out at least five times a week and continue to make healthy eating choices most of the time. But the painful truth is that I like foods that are bad for me.  And I like to have a few drinks.  And I like to be able to meet my friends for coffee some mornings instead of going to the gym.  And so on and so on.  I sincerely believe that at this point part of being a "healthy" me means occasionally giving in to life's little indulgences and just enjoying. So, that's what I intend to do.  Happy birthday to me!

Tasty Tuesday: Protein Packed

I am on a mission to start this year.  After a few failed attempts, I am bound and determined to lose the final 10ish pounds I put on during my Levi pregnancy.  To defend myself, most of my failures weren't from lack of effort.  I have dieted, worked out, and done everything else I could think of, but my body just hasn't been responding and I was stuck at a major, irritating plateau.  Whenever I mentioned my dilemma to an expert (my doctor, my dietitian friend), the first piece of advice was to up my protein.
 So I have!  And thus far it (combined with a few other changes) seems to be working!  Hallelujah!!!  Since January 6th, I have lost about 5 pounds...slow and steady wins the race, right?!?
But incorporating more protein into my diet has been a major lesson for me.  Before this quest, I was most definitely a heavy carb eater and really didn't have any good ideas as to what might make for protein meals or snacks!  When I researched, I was even more frustrated because most suggestions involved things that I don't like (it usually doesn't bode well for dieting of any kind when you don't like vegetables...).  So I've had to pave my own path...and thought I'd share the results with you.
Just for a little background info, I pretty much aim to eat 200 calories each at breakfast (divided into half before my workout and half after), lunch, and a snack because I generally eat a large dinner.  While some of these may have an obvious meal category, I pretty much interchange them for whatever sounds good whenever!
So with that introduction out of the way, here's my rundown of my new favorite, go-to, protein packed meals:
1.  Bacon Egg Cups: Really handy because I can make them in advance, freeze them, and throw two in the microwave when we are in a rush in the mornings (read: every day!). Honestly, though, I'm not a huge egg fan, though, so after 4 weeks of eating these regularly, I'm already ready for a break from them, but the bacon does add a nice treat!
                                                 
2.  Greek Yogurt:  Have I mentioned I'm not a fan of fruit?  Which also means I'm not usually a fan of fruit-flavored Greek yogurts that dominate the offerings, especially the ones with fruit chunks.  Ick!  But Dannon Oikos happens to make an awesome Cafe Latte and Caramel Macchiato flavor Greek yogurt that I absolutely love!  On a side note, when googling for an image, I saw that Dannon makes a frozen yogurt in the Cafe Latte...anyone had it?  I must find it!!!
                                                        
3.  Apple slices with peanut butter and granola: This is probably my absolute favorite on the whole list!  I generally do 3 slices of apple with about 1 tbsp. of Jif Whipped (spread out on all three slices) and topped with a couple tablespoons of low-fat granola (again divvied up among the three slices).  Delish!!!!
                                     
4.  Rice cake with peanut butter.  Right from the start of this thing, I knew if there was one protein food I could eat...and eat in abundance...it's peanut butter!!! So I've tried to find as many ways to eat it as I can (including straight off the spoon!).  A plain rice cake with 1 tbsp. Jif Whipped does the trick too!
5.  Eggo protein waffle with...peanut butter (you guessed it, huh?) and jelly!
                                               
6.  Spinach, grilled chicken, and vinaigrette.  Amazingly, despite my intolerance of vegetables, I actually do like spinach!  So I just make a pretty basic salad with it.  Obviously, you could snaz that up a lot more!
7.  Egg salad and water crackers.  I've written about this find before!  With just a couple tablespoons of mayo in the whole thing, this egg salad is light and delicious!
8. Emerald chocolate almonds.  I love the convenience of the 100 calorie packs!  And at just 100 calories, you may as well go for the splurge and get the chocolate ones!
                                              
9.  Cottage cheese cups.  Again, I'm all about convenience!  Oh, and personally, I've tried the non-fat and the low-fat...definitely worth the little bit of fat!!!
                                                   
10  Special K protein shakes.  These are really good when you're craving something sweet.  They feel like a treat, but really they're pretty good for you! For the record, I've only tried the chocolate and vanilla cappuccino...and was a much bigger fan of the vanilla cappuccino!
                                                 
11.  Skinnypop.  Ok technically this isn't high in protein, but this stuff is just too darn good!  And at only 39 calories a cup, it's certainly a good, healthy snack!
                                                  
So there we have it!  The 11 foods I'm pretty much living off of these days (+ dinner!).  Anyone else have some good high-protein suggestions?