Pump Up The Jam

Hey y'all! Happy Monday! As I type that cheerful greeting I realize that it is in fact Monday and I shouldn't be too cheerful because some of you may find that annoying this early in the week.  I don't have a weight to report because I'm attempting to only weigh once a month.  It was weird not to check out the scale.  I'm going to weigh around the end of the month and see what my progress is like when I have a longer span of time.  I set some new rules for myself to stop over indulging so much.  If I allow myself some loopholes from the past weekend I could technically say I had a perfect weekend.  However, I know there were one or two places I could have done better.  Having said that, I was pretty darn satisfied with my performance over the week.  I didn't over indulge with food to the point of nausea and discomfort.  I even split up a couple meals so I didn't eat too much at one time.  I'm feeling good about the adjustments I made and I'm hoping to have an even better week coming up.  One day at a time, right?

In addition to eating better, I also joined a gym a couple weeks ago.  I had a gym at my previous job so when I left I needed something to motivate me.  I've been running and walking but I wanted the availability of classes and machines to work my entire body.  I needed something to kick my butt.  I joined with my friends Cassandra and Rachel and we've been going to something called a Total Body Conditioning class which reminds me a lot of Insanity.  I love it.  It's tough but I can already see a difference in my body and my running abilities from working out different muscles.  We tried a class called Power Pump this morning that used weights and it nearly killed me.  I worked out 6 days last week and went grocery shopping on the seventh day so I'm active and motivated right now in terms off fitness.  I am even considering running the Tuscaloosa Half Marathon again in March and ran 5 miles on Friday.  I'm trying not to overdo it like I've done in the past but still pushing myself to see change.

I wanted to share a new snack. I showed you the protein packs a few weeks ago and I'm still loving those.  These are just packs of all white chicken with either a teriyaki or honey mustard dipping sauce from Hillshire.  They are nice big hunks of white chicken and the pack runs from 130-140 calories.  It's a nice protein pick me up for the afternoon or mid-morning.

I am still pushing through my wontons and I think this recipe is the best one I've made yet.  I made a Pinterest inspired mini-Shepherd's Pie recipe.  This is easy and super filling.  I know many people that detest meat substitutes so naturally, you can make this with lean beef or ground chicken or turkey but I used Morning Star Crumbles.  They are a lean and filling meat substitute that you can use in soups, casseroles or any recipe that calls for ground meat.  They have a similar consistency to ground beef and they take on whatever taste you give them.  I also used a single serving of Betty Crocker mashed potatoes.  I used one piece of cheese that I split up four ways and the thin sliced Provolone melted really nicely.  All I did was toast the cups, added the crumbles that I seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper and Tobasco as the bottom layer, stuck a piece of cheese on top of that and then added the already prepared mashed potatoes to the top.  I added some pepper and chili powder to the top of the potatoes to add a little kick.  I popped them in the oven for a few minutes which gave me time to eat the extra mashed potatoes and crumbles and then they were ready to eat!  They were so yummy and made me full which is the most important thing! I highly recommend this as something super simple that you can do.

Alabama lost to Ole Miss on Saturday and I am trying to deal with it by looking to the future.  We play Arkansas on Saturday and it's another tough road game so I'm hoping they bounce back,

It's a busy week for me since it's midterms time but I'm pushing through.

I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Bye!