confessions of a weekend food binger

Today for humpday confessions with Kathy we are talking about my weakness. It's a problem. Some might even call it an addiction that might be a stretch. It's not drugs or alcohol or anything like that...BUT it is still not a good thing. Today we are talking about Confessions of a Weekend Binge Eater. 

That would be me. I am a struggle on the weekends. Here is the thing. I am fairly healthy. During the week I bring my lunches to work. I make my dinners at home. I work out at least 4 days during the work week. I am a healthy person overall. But come weekend. I kind of lose some of my healthy habits. Mostly the eating habits. We tend to save our 'going out to eat' for the weekend. I tend to get a little lax with the food choices I make. Take last weekend for instance. Let's talk about what I ate in one day....one day, people!

Nachos

Chili Cheese Fries

Chicken Strips

Regular Fries

Meat Balls 

Beer

Ugh, just typing that is embarrassing to me. *hangs head in shame* It is not even that I am embarrassed of eating unhealthy food. That will happen, it is ok to not have a perfect diet. It's the fact that once I go for something unhealthy I eat all the unhealthy foods. all of them. 

So, here is what I am trying to do. I am going to try and be less binge-y (that is probably not a word, but I am using it anyway) on the weekends. I don't want to feel guilty for the poor choices I may make. I don't want to feel like I am playing catch-up every week with my workouts and my eating after the poor choices I made. 

Now, I am not saying I will never eat unhealthy foods again. Because that is not realistic or fun. Food is delicious and life is short. What I am going to try and do instead is to be smarter with the weekend choices I make. Instead of eating every item of food on the bar's menu...maybe just pick one, Brooke? Or if I decide to eat an unhealthy meal, make sure the other meals of my day are a better option... Basically, what I am saying is I need to cut myself some slack and not feel bad about eating poor foods once in a while, but also not let one meal derail me and give me the excuse to make poor choices the rest of the weekend. 

This week I decided to start tracking my meals and what not in the myfitnesspal app. which is a first for me. I don't normally count calories and to be honest I am not using this app to start counting calories. What I am using it for is to track patterns, see what my meals are made of, pay attention to the amount of food I am actually eating, etc. It's annoying and addicting at the same time. We'll see how long this lasts. 

Anyways, I figured why not be honest on the blog with you guys. I know I talk a lot about being healthy and active and working out...which are all things I do and really enjoy, but I also don't want to create this false idea that I am perfect with my choices. I don't always have self control and that is ok.

Cheers! 

<3 BB 

I confess: name is brooke

And I am addicted to sugar. I figured this was a perfect humpday confession and Kat is always one to support being healthy because she is rocking that fitness boner. I came to the realization the other day when I ran out of Trader Joe's peanut butter mini cups and had a slight breakdown. I proceeded to have this conversation after I sent the below photo to Brad with the caption - they are all gone, tear :(

Me: I would like to admit out in the open that I am officially addicted to sugar I think. Right now all I want are PB minis and I don't have any left. I am sad...but actually happy because they won't go to my back fat...but mostly sad because I miss them.

Brad: hahaha

me: it's pretty obviously that I crave sugar at some point every day. I should do that 21 day sugar detox thing or something.

Brad: yeah probably not a bad thing. I think that's why I eat so much fruit. I'd rather get natural sugars

me: BUT I DON'T EVEN HAVE ANY FRUIT RIGHT NOW

So, I am admitting to the internet that I have a small addiction. Here's the thing, it's not that I eat large amounts of sugar all the time, but I do have some form of it daily. Whether it is a handful or two of PB minis or chocolate covered almonds, a trip to fro-yo after a hard day, going out to eat on the weekend and having dessert. 

Why do you taste so good in my fro-yo, oreos and golden grams?! 

It's not a lot, but it is enough that I need to cut back. It is counteracting all of the good things I do when it comes to my fitness and that's not fun. Now I am not saying I plan to give up sugar forever (especially natural sugars from fruit), but what I do want to accomplish is to stop having cravings at 3pm as I sit at the office or right after dinner when I think some chocolate sounds good. 

I was able to get a copy of the 21-Day Sugar Detox and it is more or less what I try to already do with my daily diet, just a little more structure. Plus, it will help keep me accountable. So far, I have gone 3 days without sugar (minus a green smoothie this morning - but that's natural sugar and I don't feel that bad about it). 

One of my favorite things so far is that the program has a lot of fun recipes to try and posts additional ones on pinterest too. I am always down to get more creative with my meals. Breakfast will be the hardest for me, because I usually eat oatmeal at the office and that is on hold for a bit, but if I can be a little more proactive and make breakfast ahead of time, I should be golden! 

Cheers! 

<3 BB 

thoughts on the biggest loser

Not sure if many of you watch the show The Biggest Loser, but I am a HUGE fan. I can pretty much guarantee that I will cry every episode - big ugly tears, too. Now I understand that this drastic weight loss is not normal and not realistic for the average person. The contestants are under strict watch, strict diets, and I can only imagine are severely over trained. However, I also know that is has the power to change lives, as well as help educate the individuals at home struggling themselves. At the same time, I also know it has the power to provide viewers with unrealistic expectations of drastic weight loss in a short amount of time. 

I see why people have their issues with the show too. I am a firm believer in focusing on the health aspects of fitness and nutrition, over the weight loss aspect.  At the end of the day, if you are being active and healthy, your weight will work itself out and I am not sure The Biggest Loser produces always have that mindset. Nor does the show really provide that as an option when it focuses only on weight loss percentages.  

This week on the show's finale, the winner Rachel lost 60% of her body fat over the course of 5 months. She went from 260 pounds to 105 pounds and the internet had a lot to say about it - most of the reactions not positive either. 

At what point does it turn from focusing on being healthy and fit and becoming an obsession for weight loss. I feel like this is the flaw of the show. The 250,000 dollar grand prize can ultimately set them up for failure even if they are 'the winner'. The contestants get so obsessed with the weight loss aspect, that they stop being fit and healthy and have the potential to take it to unhealthy levels of weight loss, especially in such a short amount of time. 

Now, I am by no means blaming Rachel. She played the game and she played it well, some will say she played it too well. She was my favorite throughout the entire season. She worked hard and while on the show seemed to be strong, fit, and healthy...Now I would never judge a person's health by their looks and weight alone, especially not knowing all the details of their journey, but I feel like she might have crossed the healthy line in her quest for Biggest Loser greatness. Besides, with today's unrealistic standards of beauty, why wouldn't you want to lose as much weight as possible. We shouldn't blame Rachel. Can we blame the show? Can we blame the media? Can we blame society in general? We live in a world that praises weight loss and being skinny. We shame people if they are too fat and we shame them if they are too thin. There can really be no winner if we only focus on a number on a scale or a dress size. 

One of the main reasons I decided to get certified to be a personal trainer is so I could help people be fit, active, and healthy. I want to help people understand it is not a diet or fad, but a life style change that needs to take place and at the end of the day a scale is not needed. So instead of shaming Rachel and judging her only by her rapid weight loss, let's find a way to create a society that praises health and wellness instead. 

Cheers to being healthy, 

<3 BB 

image via. 

Healthy Treats From Your Favorite Lumber Jack

Do you ever have one of those mornings where you start with a cute outfit, but then by the time you add layer after layer it is no longer cute?  That was me this morning.  Started with a simple outfit of black skinnies, cute glittery black flats (similar), and a white tee (best v-neck ever).  By the time I was out the door I had added a flannel, scarf, and puffy down vest over top.  Something went wrong, I now look like a lumber jack, a sexy one not actually sexy, but a lumber jack none the less. I blame February. 

In other news, this awesome place by my apartment called Uptown Market - which features beer galore, wine, and home brewing supplies - just got a new espresso bar and in celebration they are offering 1 dollar coffee drinks all week.  So, I obviously had to stop and get one. If you live in the Beaverton area you should totally support local and go here.  They have usually have around 6 beers on tap and a ton of other options to purchase, as well as wine and now coffee, too!  Plus, they often have a food truck in their parking lot and events (like trivia) in the evenings.  

Yes, i know that daily calendar pic is from Jan. 2nd and no, I don't care. How presh is the photo?!

Now, onto the good stuff!!!!! Today, I have not one, but two healthy treats for you!!!!! I tested them both out this weekend and they are super easy to make and even more awesome to eat. 

First up we have a 2 ingredient 'cookie'.  It's awesome (if you're into naners, that is). Here is the recipe I followed. 

{What You Need} 

::2 quite ripe bananas 

::1 cup of oats (I used the old fashioned kind)

::Technically those are the only ingredients you need, but you can add whatever fun extras you would like, such as: dark chocolate chips, cinnamon, honey, etc. 

{What You Do}

::Pre-heat oven to 350 

::Mash together 

::Bake for 15 mins

Always buy your honey in bear form. 

I pre-mashed my bananas a little bit before I added the oats so everything would mix a little more easily. 

Next, mix in all your goodies until the bananas are pretty gooey. This way everything will stick together when they bake.

Pre-oven.

Got that little sign for Bradley on Valentine's Day! And if you know me, that is saying a lot. I LOVE BACON. 

Post-oven goodness! 

For the second treat, my cousin, Kyndra, and I made No-Bake Energy Bites on Monday while I was busy being a Stay-At-Home-GF.

I didn't take step by step pics, but here are the basics: 

{What You Need}

::1 cup oats

::1/2 cup chocolate chips 

::1/2 cup peanut butter 

::1/2 cup ground flaxseed 

::1/3 cup honey 

::1 tsp. vanilla

{What You Do}

Mix everything together, let it chill in the fridge for a half and hour.  Roll the mixture into little balls with your hands and your finished product should look something like this: 

ballz! Photo cred - Kyndra!

Enjoy!!!!

<3 BB 

Sweet Potato Brownies

In honor of my favorite Grandma's birthday (Happy birthday, Grandma Julie!!!!), I thought it would be fitting to share a recipe with you, since she is one of the best cooks / bakers I know. 

Over the weekend Bradley and I were jonesing for some dessert, but I have been really trying to cut back on my sugar intake (which by the way, I have actually surprised myself. So far I have only had one cupcake and 2 glasses of hot cocoa in the past two and a half weeks, but I digress...)  Back to my story, we first hit up Pinterest for healthy dessert options; but then I remembered this recipe for sweet potato brownies that I had seen over at Urban Nester and we decided to attempt.  

Some of the goods. 

Here is what you will need:

::: Ingredients :::

::4 oz dark chocolate {I might have purchased extra ounces to keep around after the brownies were gone}

::1 large sweet potato{cooked and skinned}

::1/4 cup honey {not pictured}

::3 eggs {I followed Molly and used egg whites}

::1/4 cup cocoa powder {not pictured}

::1 tablespoon of vanilla {not pictured}

::1 tablespoon almond flour

::1 tablespoon coconut oil

::1 teaspoon baking soda

Dark chocolate, get in my mouth.

Here is how you make it: 

:: Instructions :::

::In a food processor {or high speed blender} - blend the sweet potato until it is nice and mushy.

::In the microwave {or double broiler} - melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil together. {We used the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or so until the chocolate was fully melted.}

::Combine all ingredients together and mix well.

::Grease an 8x11 pan with coconut oil and evenly pour the brownie mix into it. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.  {We used a pie tin and it worked just as well}

Next time, I think I will try and cook the sweet potato just a touch longer. 

Poor Man's version of a KitchenAid

Brad beat that mix it up. 

Girl, look at those peaks. 

Brad ruined everything started cutting into the dish before I had a chance to take a picture of it.  He obviously doesn't have a blog. 

Along with cutting back on sugar, I have also cut back on dairy too. Problem is, I have this thing where I can't eat brownies unless I have ice cream.  Okay, that is a lie, I will still eat brownies without ice cream, but they are much better with! We decided to try out the So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream in place of regular ice cream and I was a fan. 

Overall the texture of the brownie was great.  If you're expecting a super sweet chocolate treat, this may not be the dish for you, but I thought it totally hit the spot for my chocolate craving and the coconut ice cream gave it that little bit of added goodness. Plus, I didn't feel guilty while eating it!!!! I will definitely make this again and might even try and play around with the ingredients a bit... Maybe even get real crazy and add some apple sauce to it, who's to say... 

Feel free to share any healthy recipes you have!  I would love to try them out. 

Cheers to healthy goodness! 

<3 BB