Here's to 2013!

Hello,

It has been far too long since I have posted in this blog.

During 2013 my life has difficult moments and constant demands. But through it all I have gained sooo much this year!!

At the beginning of 2013 I quit my job. I then took on three part time jobs while going to school full time. I then moved and joined an unpaid teacher training program in a new city. I spent the summer busting my tail to pass the program while running through my savings. I then found a job teaching only to discover how consuming teaching can really be, especially for a new teacher.

With all that being said 2013 has been AMAZING!!!

1. I found out it's ok to quit a job you hate. You will survive and possibly find a new job that you love (like I did).

I hated my old job. I spent a lot of time dreading going to work. I was demeaned, belittled, and disrespected. I had been working with the company for nearly two years and I was terrified that I wouldn't find something better or even equal. I took a leap of faith and relied on God to see me through. I found a job I absolutely loved! The work was fun, my coworkers were a hoot, and my supervisor was supportive and encouraging. It was a beautiful lesson with a beautiful outcome. 

2. I love knowing that at any point in time I can hold down multiple jobs. There is a certain feeling of pride I get knowing I can take care of myself.

3. I let go of old/toxic friends. When I moved I left behind all things that were not progressive and positive. Losing that dead weight has shown me how free life can be when you can be yourself.

I had several "friends" that constantly criticized my life and the choices I was making.  I found myself actually holding back from telling them exciting news about my life because I knew they would rain on my parade. Now that my life is free of those restrictions I feel wonderful! So, so wonderful!!

4. I also met new friends. Moved to a new city, with a new culture, and new people to explore. I have met some great folks that I hope to call my friends for many years to come. 

5. Last, but not least I found out I have amazing my family and friends. I may have added and subtracted certain people from my life but I have been blessed with an amazing core group of friends and family  that have stood by my side and supported me through every tough time and decision. I could not have asked for a better support system. Even as I move around the country, change my jobs, and alter my life goals I have had amazing wonderful people to stand by me through it all. I love them and I am so grateful for them.

With all of that being said I accomplished most of my goals I set for 2013. I even took the time to check off some of those goals listed on my vision board.

I hope you have many things to be grateful for during 2013. I pray you enter 2014 with an open heart and mind. I can't wait to share 2014 with you!

Be on the look out for a new post about my weight loss progress and goals for 2014!!!

Feel free to leave me your thoughts in the comments section!

Love you all!

Yoga: Tara Stiles Style

So I have started my yoga journey! As I told you before I have started to follow a lot of yogis on instgram and now I need yoga to be a part of my life! I was discussing my interest in yoga with one of my good friends and she suggested I look up this Tara Stiles on Youtube. So I did and I've followed a handful of her routines over the past two weeks. Check out her videos below and click on the videos to get access to her Youtube page. You should check her page out because she has a ton of great videos with routines, recipes, and advice on health and fitness.

As always...ENJOY!!

Resisting Temptation

Hello All!

So here's another update on my progress. So first I got a new job!! That means I have three jobs...I'm excited about more money but it sucks up a lot of my time. And to further complicate things I was in training for my new job all last week and they took all of the free time I had to fit in more training. That crazy schedule led to no trip to the grocery store. No food at home means I didn't prep my meals for the week and ate out literally every night of the week. And to top that off I was exhausted and only made it to the gym twice that week. Epic Fail!! And the scale showed every bad decision.

But on a positive note I learned my lesson. This week I made the necessary sacrifices to make it to the store. I have officially stated my first of four weeks paleo. I prepped my meals, including salmon, tuna, tomatoes, peas, and apples among other things. I have learned to love tuna with out mayo! Woot!

Now as you may know I love to eat sweets and this paleo restriction is really difficult. Like no, it's so hard! So I was sitting at work day dreaming about cupcakes. Then I decided I NEEDED a cupcake! My solution: get on pinterest and find paleo friendly cupcake recipes. I found some great recipes (I'll be trying out and posting my results at a later date) but when I got to the store I found out they don't carry coconut flour. I was devastated! I needed coconut flour for all of the recipes I wanted to try and I couldn't go elsewhere because it was late and storming outside. So I spent a good 30 minutes searching the store for a paleo friendly sweet treat.

I considered buying a single cupcake, maybe a package of cookies, or a small container of ice cream. I even made it to the check out line with the ice cream! But by the grace of God I had the strength to put the ice cream back and go home empty handed. I was super duper proud of myself.

I will be picking up some coconut flour at a local natural foods (Idk if that's the proper name for that kind of store) store today.

I'll let you know how the cupcakes turn out!

Homemade Monkey Bread with Homemade Caramel Sauce

So as I stated in a previous post  I recently made some homemade monkey bread. And this bread comes with homemade caramel sauce. In case I haven't mentioned before I LOVE CARAMEL!! Like I really do love it! So sugar, cinnamon, bread, and caramel...this was a perfect recipe for me to try. I found the recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction. She has a ton of great pics of the bread she made. It sucked me in..I went to the store that afternoon and bought the ingredients I didn't have and got started! It is important to note that you have to make the dough ahead of time and let it rise overnight so take that into consideration when making this delicious gem! Here is the recipe and my results.

Final Product

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 package (2 and 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast 
• 1/4 cup warm water (110F-115F)
• 1 and 1/4 cups warm 2% milk (110F-115F, 2% or higher milk fat, no lower)
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
Easy Caramel Sauce
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 3 Tablespoons heavy cream (no substitutions)

 Cinnamon-Sugar Topping

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 - 1.5 Tablespoons ground cinnamon (depends on taste, I used 1.5)
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans (I didn't use these)

For the Caramel Sauce 

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (or salted)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 and 1/2 Tablespoons heavy cream (no substitutions)

 

Instructions

1. Make the dough: In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir it around a bit and let it sit for about 2 minutes. Add the milk, melted butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and 3 cups of flour, Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough. About 5 cups total.*Side Note: This was my first time using my standing mixer and I chose to ignore the advise to stir in flour by hand...I regret that choice...FYI*
2. Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-7 minutes. Do not over-knead, which will lend tough and chewy bread. The dough is ready when it is smooth and when you can poke it with a finger and it springs back. Form dough into a smooth ball and place into a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. I greased the bowl with cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
3. Make the caramel sauce: The caramel sauce may be made ahead of time and heated in the microwave for 30 seconds before using. To make the caramel, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, add brown sugar and heavy cream. Stir constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Allow to bubble for 3-4 full minutes, no more. Set aside.
4. Make the cinnamon-sugar topping: In a shallow bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar. In a separate small bowl, melt the butter. Set aside. Spray a 10-12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Punch the cold dough down very gently to allow the air bubbles to release. Pull apart pieces and roll into balls, about 1.25 inches in diameter. You will need 40-45 balls total, so be modest with their size. Dip each ball, one by one, in the melted butter and then generously roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat them well. You may need more cinnamon-sugar depending how heavy you coat each bowl.
5. Arrange 20 dough balls into the bundt pan.  Cover the pan and allow dough balls to rise again for about 45 minutes at room temperature.
6. Preheat oven to 350F. When you are ready to bake, warm the caramel sauce up for about 30 seconds. Stir, and top the dough balls with 1/2 of the caramel sauce. Reserve the rest to pour on top after it is baked.
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cover loosely with foil if the top browns too quickly. Cool for 5-10 minutes and invert onto a large serving plate. Warm up the caramel sauce again and drizzle over the bread. You may either cut the bread into generous slices or let everyone pick off the gooey pieces themselves.

In my handy-dandy standing mixer

Going into the fridge

Morning After...after being punched down

My balls of dough!!

Butter and cinnamon sugar mixture

Dough balls after being coated and taking time to rise

Fresh out of the oven...I just had to taste some of the bread!!

My thoughts and Opinions: I love this recipe!! I love the bread!! It was soo yummy! The only thing I would differently was use a different recipe for caramel. I will probably use a recipe from my Southern Caramel Cake post. But over all I would definitely encourage any and everyone to try it!!

Enjoy!!

 

Monkey Bread!!! 

Paleo (Gluten Free) Blueberry Muffins

So while on my first week of being strictly Paleo I was having serious withdraw from bread and all I wanted was some blueberry muffins! So I went on pinterest and found some paleo blueberry muffins recipes. I decided to go with a recipe from Paleoliscious. It is an interesting blog so you should check it out. Here are my results and the recipe for the blueberry muffins.

Paleo Blueberry muffins

Ingredients: 
3 cups almond meal
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups blueberries
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

 It was my first time using almond flour and coconut oil.I have seen them a lot in healthy/paleo recipes but have yet to use them so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to try something new.

Directions:
*Preheat oven at 347 F *

1. Beat the eggs in a bowl  

2. Add the vanilla extract, honey, lemon juice and coconut oil. Mix well. 

3. Add the almond meal and bicarbonate of soda and mix well. 

4. Add the blueberries and mix gently. 

5. Baked them for approx. 15 min

Fresh out of the oven

Paleo/Gluten Free Blueberry Muffin 

 So there you have it...Paleo Blueberry Muffins!!! I thought the recipe was easy to follow and quick to make. Now as far as the taste of the muffins I would say if you are used to paleo food you will probably love them! But I was not ready, LOL. I love box mix blueberry muffins filled with sugar and all kinds of extra ingredients. So with that being sad I hated them the first time I tried them. BUT the next day I went back and tried them and really enjoyed them! Once I was ready for a less sweet treat it was fabulous!! If you need a quick fix for a bread craving I would defiantly recommend these muffins. 

Enjoy!!

Reality Check: Paleo, Isopure, Blunt Truth

Hello Everyone!!!

It's been almost a month since I've updated you all on my progress in life. Well first let's start with how my workouts have been going. I have tried the Paleo diet and yes it definitely works. I followed it fairly strictly for a week and lost 7 lbs. I was really excited about the change! I stuck with the diet for the following week too and was really happy with how consistently I was losing weight. Then springbreak came and some homemade monkey bread. (Side note: In case you don't know what monkey bread is it is a pull apart bread with dough balls covered in cinnamon sugar and the entire cake is covered in homemade caramel sauce. A recipe will be up soon.) Well that didn't go well...and then I found myself eating out a lot that week. So as I fell off the wagon and the wagon rode away at an alarming speed I began to devise a plan that would help me get back on again.

I decided the paleo diet is great but a little too extreme to start out with so I decided to become Paleo-ish for now and maybe full paleo sometime in the future. So my basic diet plan is no dairy, no grains, legumes, and very little artificial sugar. I will include beans because I love them! And I will include some desserts because I love them and completely depriving myself will only lead to a binge. In all I am 15 lbs down since January.

Also I love my Ispoure!!! I think it has works amazing! It keeps me full and the dutch chocolate tastes like a cold glass of chocolate milk. I have also included PB2 with chocolate into my diet. It's powered peanut butter with 85% less fat than regular peanut butter. It comes in a powder form, you just mix it with water and go! LOVES IT!!!

Last but not least I met with a trainer at my gym today to discuss my goals and what I'm doing to get there. I didn't seek out this information but a trainer came up to me and started a conversation and the next thing I knew I had a meeting to discuss all kinds of fitness things. So I went and told him with my goals and plans are...he low key laughed. Then he proceed to tell me why things aren't working like I would like them to be working. My current workout regiment is lifting class for 60 mins twice a week, cardio 3-4 times a week for 90 mins. Now let me say I love my weight lifting class (bar, plates, lunges, push ups, abs, clean and presses, ect) and in the month that I've been back at it I have noticed my muscle definition forming in my legs. But this trainer said my downfall is too much cardio. He gave a long explanation that I would love to give to you all but it was a lot to process. He said my cardio should be 45 minutes max (but more like 15-30). Which definitely explains why no one else is in the gym as long as I am LOL. Also I need to be in my target heart rate...oops. He said the way I'm training now is more for a long distance trainer as opposed to someone wanting to tone. Now some of the reason I do so much cardio is because I like listening to my music and clearing my mind. Please let me know if you have any additional thoughts on the advice he gave. I'd love to hear all points of view.

So, I plan to implement my new paleo-ish diet, with my isopure and PB2 with fruit. I will also be switching up my workout to lifting Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays with cardio Tuesdays, Thursdays, and maybe Saturday or Sunday (not both). I am also considering yoga as a part of my plan. I've seen a lot of pictures on instagram (follow me at fabgirlnikki) of regular yoga, acro yoga, and partner yoga. I'm intrigued. I don't know how to get started but I hope to figure it out soon.  I will be updating you all on how it all goes.

Talk to you all soon!

P.S. That was a lot...clearly I need to blog more often. LOL 

Goals...Paleo? Maybe

I am happy to report I am still going strong on my healthy lifestyle changes. I have some new tools to help me accomplish my goals.

1. Vision Board
2. My food/Weight journal
3. Marbles!!

First, I am a huge fan of vision boards! My 2013 board consists of a list of written goals and pictures to represent other goals.

2013 Vision Board

My list of goals include becoming a teaching fellow, saving money, and getting fit among many other things.

Each goal is an  important improvement or change I want to make in my life. One goal I am particularly concerned with is losing weight. I am happy to announce that I am 11 lbs lighter than when I started the year!! Woot to me! One of my concerns is my current weight tends to mark my plateau and eventual turn back up the scale. I am determined to stay focused and lose all of the weight this year!

One tool I am adding to my bag of tricks is a food and weight journal. I am also doing jars with marbles. The idea is simple. One jar (the smaller one) has a marble for every pound I'd like to lose. The second jar (tall, thin jar) has the pounds I have lost. So every time I lose a pound I get to add a marble to my skinny jar. Soon my small jar will be empty!

I have also started using Isopure. It had great ratings online and it seems to be working well. I am using the protein shake as a meal replacement in the morning. So far so good! I'll give more feedback after I've used it for a longer period of time.

Lastly, I am considering starting the Paleo diet. I know a handful of people who have had a lot of success with the diet, my brother being one of them. I am currently investigating the program to see what it is about and if it's something I want to add to my life. Please let me know if you have any thoughts or comments on the subject of Paleo or dieting or anything else for that matter.

Talk to you soon!

Oven Baked Broccoli

So I have seen this recipe for the best broccoli ever all over Pinterest and over course I had to try it. I went to Dig In to find the recipe and my results are below:

Look at those struggle veggies

Ingredients 
Broccoli
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Parmesan cheese
Lemon juice 

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Cut up vegetables and place them in a small bowl
3. Use a small amount of olive oil to coat the vegetables

4. Evenly lay the vegetables on a baking tray
5. Sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic and cheese over the vegetables
6. Squeeze half a lemon over the vegetables

7. Bake for 20 minutes

The final product with some chicken and rice

This was another failed recipe. The website didn't provide many details so I made up some of them as I went along. I found 425 was too hot so I decreased the temperature. I also took the food out after 15 minutes because they were more than done.  I wouldn't suggest this recipe either. Hopefully next week I'll have some better finds for you all.

Crock Pot Chicken Teriyaki

 So about a week or so ago I made some chicken teriyaki in my crock pot. I got the recipe from Key Ingredient. I decided to try this as my meal for the week. Here were my results:

The finished product.

Ingredients

1	lbs chicken, diced (I added about a half pound of extra chicken. I also increased all other ingredients to compensate for the extra chicken)
1	cup chicken broth
½	cup teriyaki sauce
⅓	cup brown sugar
3	garlic cloves, minced

Directions
1. Combine chicken broth, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar and garlic cloves in large bowl.
2. Add chicken to sauce, and toss to combine.
3. Pour chicken mixture into crock-pot.

Getting ready to come out of the crock pot.

4. Cook on low 4-6 hours, or until chicken is cooked through.
5. Serve over hot cooked rice and spoon extra sauce if desired.

I felt like this was an easy, quick meal but overall I didn't care for this recipe. The sauce wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked and it was also watery. I'll let you know if I have any better luck with other recipes. 

His Grace and Mercy

Hey Guys!!

So…here’s my update! Life has gone through so many changes!! I quit my job! I’ll be honest, I have been unhappy for at least 6 months now. My supervisor made working there unbearable and it started to feel like someone was ripping out my soul every time I thought about going back. How absolutely crazy is it that I stayed for so long!! But let me let you know me and the Lord talked for a very long time about breaking free from that situation. I was definitely nervous because I didn’t have a new job lined up. But one day it just hit me that I needed to quit. That same week I got two calls for job interviews. By that Wednesday I printed off my letter of resignation. I planned to quit that Friday but I just couldn’t wait that long. I had a long, intense prayer and mediation session on Wednesday afternoon and I knew I needed to quit soon. So Thursday morning I went to the office and dropped off my letter of resignation.

I put my faith in the Lord and the left. I jumped without a net. I cannot explain how beautiful and liberating that day was for me. I reached a new level of faith and trust in the Lord and I feel amazing!! That same afternoon I got hired with a different company. God works so quickly! That night I did some yoga, read my Bible, prayed, and meditated. I found myself sitting in my living room in tears. I wasn’t crying because I was upset about leaving my job but I was so grateful for making it though that situation. As I reflected on the situation I found myself realizing all of the feelings I had been suppressing just so I could make it through. I also realized I had started going to be later and later because I knew when I woke up I’d have to go straight to work. All I could do was thank God for pulling me through a storm I didn’t even know I was going through. Now I am in a new job and could not be happier!

I know understand the strength, power, grace, and mercy of the Lord. I knew it was real before but now I KNOW it’s real!! Prayer is so powerful and the Lord heard my cry. I recently heard Pastor James at The Potter’s House preach a sermon on Holler Until He Hears You. This is what I did and if you are going through any situation I encourage you to pray! And holler until the Lord hears you! The Lord is real!  I encourage you to try Him today!!

Talk to you soon!

A Little Motivation

I'm feeling a little slacker-ish...This is my motivation for the day. Enjoy!

 Source: http://www.motivationblog.org/category/workout_loss_fat/page/7/#.URVgndXC6Q4