Protein... YUM!

This is a convenient way for me to get in my protein at lunch. It is already cooked and has no preservatives. I buy this at Costco. It is so good. I am very picky about my meat. If it has one bit of fat that I taste or see I just can't eat it. I believe it is mind over matter, but anyways this meat never has any fat pieces on it and the meat is so tasty! So if you are looking for convenience this is a great go to! I have it on my salad right now! Yum! :)

Day 2 of Phase 1 on Ideal Protein

Whew...I made it through day 2 :)  I am pretty excited.  It was not a easy task... I was not the only one with the idea of starting the new year out on the right foot.  If our floors were not carpet, I would have wore rollerskates to keep up today. My day started with Roberts (my husband) alarm going off at 5:15am.  I had intentions of getting up and going to the gym when he got up. Nope, I talked myself out of it and layed there for a half an hour and searched the web, checked emails and wondered if there would be a open eliptical at the YMCA available.  I finally decided to get up and I had myself a Blue-cran Granata Ideal Protein drink and off to the gym I went. I turned on my http://www.pandora.com to get me moving, Lady Gaga is a good one to get the blood flowing in the morning. I did a 30 minute easy round of cardio on the eliptical, I did not want to over do it. It is only my second day and I know this can be difficult. The gym was full with others that had a new healthy year in mind as well.
When I got home Robert had my coffee ready to press brew in my wonderful Keurig machine. I got a reusable keurig cup for Christmas from Santa and that way I can use Folgers and not pay a dollar a cup. http://www.keurig.com/ 
I grabbed my 3 baggies of veggies, pickles and journal from the fridge (convenience) and off to work I went.  
My morning was very busy, my lunch consisted of driving to the Z102.9 studios to record a New Years commercial for Innovative Aesthetics.  The staff at  http://kzia.com/ is amazing. They are always so helpful and very friendly.  Cucumbers, Green Peppers,24oz of water and a IP peanut butter bar was my lunch as I drove back to the office.
The afternoon was a bit of a whirlwind.  I love my job and I want to help as many people as possible get started on Ideal Protein before their motivation and determination wears out!
Around 6:45pm nausea kicked in along with a headache.  I drank a premade Mango and I started to feel a little better and I drank a big gulp of water with a little sea salt to help my aching head. Finally leaving the office at 7:45 to spend some time with my better half :)
My dinner was ready when I got home.  One of my favorites, it is easy, tastes good and it consists of lettuce (spinach) veggies (tomatoes) and Protein (eggs).

Baked Eggs with Spinach:

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 10 oz. fresh spinach
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 Tbsp minced onion
• 4 medium eggs
• Salt and pepper
• Paprika, sprinkle as garnish

Add this recipe to ZipList!Directions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• To a large skillet or saucepan, add the olive oil and saute the garlic for a minute, before adding the spinach. Toss the spinach around for a minute, then add the diced tomatoes. Toss together and then add the minced onion. Let simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off, about 5-7 minutes.
• Place the sauteed spinach into an ovenproof, creating divets for the eggs. Crack 1 egg into each hole.
• Bake the spinach and eggs for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until egg whites have turned white.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt and pepper and paprika.

I had a good day 2 of phase 1.  I have not weighed myself yet, even though I want to. I hope that anyone that is doing phase 1 has not given up yet. We can do this together. Let me know if you have any questions about my post.

 

"Today will never happen again. Don't waste it with a false start or no start at all." -Og Mandino

 

Until tomorrow, Dusty Marie Swehla

Life as we know it... in maintenence!

Today was a challenge because I was VERY hungry. I believe, nooooo I know that it was because I loaded my body with far too many carbs on New Years Eve! Ugh I really hate that feeling. My workout was poor last night because my body didn't feel good. So I am happy to say that I do not look forward to another cheat day like that for a long time! Today I was prepared for my breakfast, lunch and dinner! Last night I got everything out and around so that I wouldn't have to rush this morning.

For Breakfast:
1 Grapefruit
1 IP Blueberry Cran-Granata Shake

Snack:
1 Pure Protein bar(Chewy Chocolate Chip) Yum!

Lunch:
*I have a little disclaimer here.,.. I had prepared a delicious salad. THEN my mom came into Innovative for a service with Ms. Sherri one of our estiticians and roped me into doing lunch. (What a struggle that was!;))
So we went to Butcher Block, and I give that establishment an A+! It was fabulous. I posted a picture of the AMAZING salad I got to enjoy for lunch. I took along my own Walden Farms Rasberry Vinigrette. The salad had steak, tomatoes, red peppers and asparagus! I have found my new favorite reastraunt!

Snack:
1 sliced yellow pepper. ( This is one of my go to snacks. I love the crunch!)

Dinner:
This morning I threw a roast in the crockpot with Rutabegas, Green Beans and Carrots. I love when I come home and dinner is done and we have leftovers, which is my favorite thing! Chad just texted me and said, Meat is good. What a man! Think he will send me a pic? Ha I doubt it! :)

After I get home and put the kiddos to bed I plan to head to the Gym. I am hoping I can get in a better workout then last night. It makes me feel much better when my body feels good after a workout.

Post Workout Snack:
2 Hard Boiled Eggs

If you have any questions regaurding my choices please contact me!

XO,
Linds 

Life as we know it... In maintenance!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I can't believe it is January 1st, 2013! My how fast 2012 went. We rang in the new year with close friends and our children. It was so FUN! I will admit I took full advantage of my cheat day. I had chips and salsa, crackers, WINE, and a few shots(of course, after the kids were in bed!) We played games, sang and danced the night away as we rang in the new year. 
As for this morning I was not feeling the best. Chad got up and made us a protein shake to fuel our bodies for the day. We use the Ninja for a blender and it is AMAZING! It will blend, mix and purée anything! The shake consisted of a scoop of chocolate protein powder, a dollop of almond butter, granola, a banana, ice and water! These are honestly one of my favorite things. And filling! Brod loves them too! 
I was very dehydrated today due to the alcohol so I was drinking water like it was going out of style! For lunch I had a chicken salad loaded with peppers, tomatoes and fresh pico de gallo. Yum! 
I snacked on some pistachio nuts. 25 are a serving so I counted out 25 and put in a bowl or else I would eat the whole bag. They are so addicting! 
This evening for supper I laid out steak, sweet potatoes, and salad. It was delicious. We don't have a grill, so I cooked the steak on the George Forman. As for the sweet potatoes I sliced them thinly and put on a cookie sheet that already had a little coconut oil melted on it. Have you ever tried coconut oil? It is so universal and delicious! I preheated the oven to 375 and cooked for about 50 minutes. Turning them halfway through. 
Tonight I also cut and cleaned all of my veggies for the week and also made some hard boiled eggs. Preparation  is the key for me. If I don't have it all ready to go I may make a bad choice during the week. I am making a roast for tomorrow so all I need to do is throw it in the crockpot and Set to low and enjoy when we get home tomorrow night. 
I just put Brod to bed, and now I am getting ready to head to the gym for a quick workout. Nothing to strenuous, but just to get my heart rate up. When I get back I will have some Kashi cinnamon crumble and skim milk. I like cereal at night and that offers me a lot of protein, fiber and is fairly low in sugar. 
I hope you all had a great start to the new year! I look forward to seeing you reach and maintain your goals this year!
XO,
Linds 

Day 1 of Phase 1 on Ideal Protein

Happy New Year!!! Lets make 2013 our healthiest year yet!!!

I was a little nervous to start on the diet today.  I have not done strict phase 1 of Ideal Protein in a year and a half.  I weighed myself, checked my BMI and my body fat and did measurements.  All are higher numbers than I like to see. In my morning cup of coffe I had 1 packet of splenda and 1 oz of skim milk and a peach mango shake for breakfast. Then I started preparing for my day.  I think that is key when doing any program PREPARATION!  I installed my fitness pal on my iphone and I have been tracking all of my water, vitamins, veggies and physical activity and food intake. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ 
I have to say that I am very thankful for pickles!!! I stocked up on a huge variety of vlasic pickles.  They have a new product called garden veggie, sugar free bread and butter pickles, classic dill and you can have banana peppers on the program as well. Go to http://vlasic.com/products.html to see all of the products.  I found them at Hy Vee. 
I also made some soup and cut up fresh veggies for today and tomorrow.  The recipe for the soup is easy.  Take 10 cups of your favorite Ideal Protein approved veggies (broccili, cauliflower, mushrooms, cabbage, chopped rhutabaga and celery) place in a big soup pot and add 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce, cover the veggies with low sodium chicken broth, season with your favorite herbs cover and simmer for a hour. If you want more recipes go to http://iamedicalspa.com/  For lunch I had blue-cran granata drink and a salad.  I snacked on cucumbers throughout the day.  Around 5 I was getting hungry so I moved my evening snack up and made the butterscotch pudding as a drink and used 10oz of water, crushed ice and a Tbsp of Walden Farms Chocolate syrup :) Yumm. http://www.waldenfarms.com/products/all_products.html There are lots of Walden Farms products to try. Remember only 5 servings a day.  
Dinner (try to eat before 8pm) consisted of steamed veggies, chicken breast and romaine lettuce salad with olive oil and rice vinegar. Drink a minimum of 64oz of water a day.
Today was not as hard as I thought it was going to be.  I am happy that I have taken this jump and wanting to make my life healthier. If your thinking about starting Ideal Protein or any program there is no better time than now to make your mind, body and soul healthier.  Remember you only get 1 body, let's take care of it!

Until tomorrow, ~Dusty

I will persist until I succeed.
The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner.
Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult. -Og Mandino

Preparing for Ideal Protein phase 1! The big jump

I have been trying to work myself up to doing Phase 1 Ideal Protein for the past month.  Starting tomorrow January 1, 2013  I will post daily  about all of my struggles, hurdles, acheivments and feelings as I work on getting to my goal.  I am not wanting to get to a specific #, I want to feel better and live healthier. I know if I set my mind to this, I can and will do this. We can work together and keep each other accountable and start the new year out on the right foot. 

Best, Dusty Swehla

"Today will never happen again, don't waste it on a false start or no start at all"  ~Og Mandino

Merry Christmas

Wanting to maintain over the Holiday?!? Here are a few tips that will help you stay on track :)

 

Holiday Tips

-Set your alarm 30min early and get your booty up to MOVE!
-Workout while you watch a Christmas movie. (Pinterest has great, quick workouts.)
-Be active before or after your feast. Play Catch, run relays, football. Get the whole family involved!
-Substitute greek yogurt, for things like mayo, sour cream, cream ch...eese and even whipped cream (One of my favorite dips is greek yogurt with a packet of Ranch dressing. Mix and enjoy with veggies.)
-Substitute unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin puree for things like and butters
-Fill your plate with protein and mostly veggies.
-Use portion control
-"log-out" of technology and enjoy the great company around you!

Merry Christmas from all of us here at Innovative Aesthetics.