Striving for Health & Simplicity

Over the last few years life has changed drastically. I went from being a student living the single life, to a wife and mother with a career. As life changes so do my needs for Kitchen Equipment. I'm on the look out for things that make my life easier and make meal prep a lot easier. I strive to live a simple life with not a lot of clutter so items that can pull double duty are also very important to me! My top three pieces of Kitchen Equipment that help me maintain my healthy lifestyle are: Ninja : This is an absolute must have for me! Some of the features I love are that it comes with two smoothie cups, making our breakfasts quick and easy to make! I love that there's only one base but is also my food processor and blender. Making it super quick to whip up a batch of coleslaw or Banana Ice "Cream".  Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer : Oh my goodness, what can I say about this machine other then it's simply amazing! The different attachments make it extremely easy t...

How is it Thursday already!? We're almost at the end of Week Three of our Healthy 2019 Challenge! That's amazing! Originally we were thinking of just doing four weeks strictly, but the results have been so amazing thus far that I'm going to continue on the 6-Week Plan until it finishes. I do add in eggs on the weekends simply for the ease of only cooking one meal at lunch time. Just a reminder to make sure you're getting the proper amount of fruit and vegetables in each day! I don't list every single item I eat throughout the day, you'd find that pretty boring! Week Four Friday: Breakfast-Smoothie Lunch- Chick Pea Spread on whole wheat wrap with Pineapple, Melon, & Unsweetened Apple Sauce Supper- Roasted Vegetable Pizza & Fruit Salad Saturday: Breakfast-Weekend Smoothie  Add additional frozen fruit & some Avocado Lunch- Poached Egg & Fruit Salad with a Clementine  Supper-Out for Date Night Sunday: Breakfast-Week...

Wow! Today is the start of Week Three of our Healthy 2019 challenge! It's hard to believe we're already a third of the way through the strict 6-Week Eat to Live plan! The last two weeks have been amazing. They've been filled with hard work but the results have shown that that hard work has paid off! Non-Scale Victories: Loser Fitting Clothes More Energy Mood Stability Decreased Aches & Pains Measurement Victories: Down 3.8lbs  Down 1.25" The measurement victories are most likely a little bit off. I wasn't able to weigh in when we started on January 1st so my last weight/measurements are from December 24th. I know I gained weight and inches between Christmas and New Years so I would guess I've lost more weight and inches then my numbers are showing me. Here's to another successful two weeks!

I have to be honest, this second week has been really hard! Both E and I came down with a cold over the weekend. I had 16 dinner guests over on Sunday night which was amazing, but I had to make myself a different supper leaving me feeling like I was missing out. Despite the challenging week I still managed to stick with the plan 99% of the time. I did have some meat in one of my lunches, but other then that I was pretty strict despite not feeling well! We had some visiting on deck this weekend which is why you're seeing this post late! I will try and get into the habit of writing them on Thursday nights! On deck for Week Three are a couple new things, I need a change and I feel like if I keep eating the same thing I'm going to snap. Week Three Sunday: Breakfast-Weekend Smoothie  Add additional frozen fruit & some Avocado Lunch- Tofu "Egg" Burrito Making a batch of Tofu Eggs, adding some veggies & placing it in a wrap.  Supper-Mushroom Strogan...

How's everyone making out!? It's hard to believe that Week One is almost over! How are the sugar withdrawals? I haven't found the withdrawals to be too bad. There have definitely been some difficulties but overall I feel great despite fighting my first cold of the season. I apologize about the delay for Week Two meal plans. You can thank my cold for that.  Don't forget to make sure you're having an ounce of unsalted seeds/nuts per day! Because I'm up so early with E, I generally do have a snack around 10am and that's when I have my seeds/nuts. Week Two Sunday: Breakfast-Weekend Smoothie  Add additional frozen fruit & some Avocado Lunch- Leftover No Pasta Lasagna & Clementines Found in the Eat to Live Cookbook Supper-Butternut Squash Noodles, Homemade Spaghetti Sauce, & Fruit Salad Monday: Breakfast-Smoothie Lunch- Chick Pea Spread on whole wheat wrap with Pineapple, Melon, & Unsweetened Apple Sauce Supper-Large Tosse...

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe that it's already January 1st! Where did the last year go!? Originally we were supposed to be spending today with family but the weather had other ideas! Since it was a snowy morning we decided to clean out our cupboards, stock our fridge & pantry with Eat to Live essentials, and buckle down! Over the course of the next four weeks I'll provide what our meal plans look like in hopes of giving you some ideas! I'm big on meal prepping which is what will help me stick to this plan. Hubby doesn't eat beans, so where I'm eating beans he'll be having his usual piece of meat. Don't forget to have your appropriate amount of water, and fruit/veggie servings! Week One Tuesday: Breakfast-Smoothie Lunch- Nutritarian Tofu Scrambled Eggs with Pear & Pineapple Slices Supper-1/2C Rice with 1C Black Beans, Pepper, Onion, Mushroom, Broccoli, Snap Peas & Carrots Wednesday: Breakfast-Smoothie  Lunch-Nutrit...

It's hard to believe Christmas is almost here! Christmas is a time to be spent with family and friends. A time when I don't want to worry or obsess about my waistline. I'm aiming to have my full plan put together before Christmas in hopes of being 100% prepared Below are the resources that I'll be using for my Healthy 2018 Eat to Live Challenge! Hello Nutritarian Website Eat to Live Book Eat to Live Cookbook Pinterest! Eat to Live 6 Week Guidelines In addition to the above resources I will also use a spreadsheet to create meal plans, a weight loss map to track how much has been lost, and a measurement tracker all of which I've created myself. If you would like to receive a copy of anything above please let me know! 

It's hard to believe that it's been six months already since our bundle of joy came into the world! He's changing each and everyday. It's amazing to watch the different skills developing. The time is just flying by! Prior to getting pregnant I succeeded in loosing a very large amount of weight. It was the first time for as long as I can remember that I was happy in my own body. I felt confident in how I looked, my skin was in the best condition it's ever been, my emotions were the best they have ever been, and the number on the scale was just a bonus! During my pregnancy I gained 60+ pounds, my emotions and skin were a mess. I unfortunately had the mentally that I was pregnant and could do whatever I wanted to. That was wrong, I've been paying the price since giving birth. My struggle with body image in the last six months has been at one of the highest points since I was a teenager. When life gets chaotic or messy we all seek comfort in something, unfortuna...

It's often said that the days are long but the weeks and months are short. This is very true for the last six weeks! It's hard to believe that I jumped back on the healthy bandwagon six weeks ago already. Instead of putting all my energy and time into the number on the scale for these past six weeks I wanted to focus on six specific non-scale items. Other then on one occasion I was able to keep these goals as my primary focus. In the last six weeks I have acheived being able to wear my wedding bands again, facial hair growth has decreased significantly, I am fitting into pre-pregnancy clothes more comfortably, and my emotional health has improved dramatically. I will be continuing to work on the reduction of PCOS symptoms and expanding my cooking/baking skills. I am extremely happy with what I've accomplished in the last six weeks despite not following the strict six week plan. I hope that I will be able to put my focus into another six weeks and follow it strictly once...

Three weeks have flown by! It's hard to believe that on Monday I finished Week 3 of my Eat to Live postpartum journey. When I began this journey I didn't realize the number of events that we had going on through the first six weeks(when I'm strictest) of my journey. There have definitely been difficulties in regards to ensuring I stick within the six week guidelines, but I've managed to do it with only a few pieces of meat thrown in! I promised myself that for the first six weeks I would focus more on the non scale victories then the numbers on the scale. In the last three weeks I've noticed and celebrated the fact that: I can wear my engagement ring again!  I've been able to pull some more clothes out of storage & they have been fitting better!  I'm crying significantly less! My moods have improved greatly! I have a lot more energy! I feel pretty awesome that in just three weeks I've been able to accomplish these non scale victories! I...

September is often treated as another time to make resolutions and goals. It's the time of year when we are settling into new routines. One of the new routines that's often started is eating healthier. It was my original plan to join those in starting out a new routine in September, things change and I started changing my eating habits two weeks ago. Restarting my Eat to Live during while there were still a few weeks of summer left was difficult. Many opportunities to stray from my guidelines presented themselves, each time I was successful at avoiding them though! One of my biggest challenges in terms of eating within my guidelines right now is eating out. I thought that trying to stay within my guidelines while being home on maternity leave would be difficult. It hasn't been as hard as I imagined, thankfully! I've watched the scale drop 6.8lbs and 4.25" in the last two weeks, that's enough motivation to keep me going! 

One week ago I had no desire to begin the Eat to Live 6-Week Journey before Labour Day. I wanted to enjoy the final weeks of junk food before getting serious about my nutrition again. My mind and body had other thoughts. I will be beginning the journey once again on August 20th. During the six weeks I hope to focus on the below goals, instead of the number on the scale. Wedding Bands-Be able to wear my wedding bands again. Facial Hair- Decrease amount of unwanted facial hair. Clothes-Fit into Pre-Pregnancy clothes more comfortably.  PCOS Symptoms-Reduce the symptoms from PCOS(hair loss, irregular cycles, etc). Emotional Health-Reduce anxiety and regulate postpartum hormones.  Cooking/Baking Skills- Expand skills and knowledge to include healthier alternatives.  I will once again post my weekly menus, weekly results, and recipes that I find helpful that aren't in the Eat to Live cookbook. I hope you'll join me!

The first week of our Summer Edition of Eat to Live is complete! I managed to have salads with both lunch and supper every night, have zero treats from Tim Hortons, and increase my water consumption. Those are all the things I was targeting for last week! Let's hope I can keep it up this week. Groceries are bought and week two meals will be prepped tomorrow! Monday: Breakfast: Smoothie(1/2C Frozen Blueberries, 1C Almond Milk, 1/2 Banana, Handful of Spinach, 1T Ground Chia Seed, & 1T of Ground Flax Seed) Lunch: S: Chick Pea Salad & Unsweetened Apple Sauce R: Leftovers from Sunday Supper: Tossed Salad & BBQ Steak Tuesday: Breakfast: Smoothie(1/2C Frozen Blueberries, 1C Almond Milk, 1/2 Banana, Handful of Spinach, 1T Ground Chia Seed, & 1T of Ground Flax Seed) Lunch: S: Chick Pea Salad & Unsweetened Apple Sauce R: Leftovers from Monday Supper: Tossed Salad & Bean Chilli Wednesday: Breakfast: Smoothie(1/2C Frozen Blueberries, 1C...

Despite having access to fresh locally grown food summer can often be the hardest time to eat healthy. Since giving birth to baby E five weeks ago we have been in survival mood with meals. It's been a combination of the frozen meals I prepared/we bought and take out. That combination doesn't help with our emotional, mental, or physical health. It's time to get back on track! The groceries are purchased and the food is ready to be prepared for Week One of our Eat to Live Summer Edition! If you'd like to know what we are doing differently for our summer edition of Eat to Live you can find out in the previous post. Below is what's on dock for meals this week. Monday: Breakfast: Smoothie(1/2C Frozen Blueberries, 1C Almond Milk, 1/2 Banana, Handful of Spinach, 1T Ground Chia Seed, & 1T of Ground Flax Seed) Lunch: S: Chick Pea Salad & Unsweetened Apple Sauce R: Leftovers from Sunday Supper: Tossed Salad & Chicken Legs  Tuesday: Breakfa...

There are seasons for everything in life. Whether it's extra curricular activities we're involved in, projects we have on the go at home, or what's going on in our career. Our eating lifestyle should be a consistent but is often a season that comes and goes. The goal when I first became pregnant was to continue our Eat to Live lifestyle. Unfortunately with pregnancy exhaustion and pain quickly setting in this was the first thing to be dropped. It began taking too much time and effort to not only think of meals but prepare them. We never did pick the pieces back up. The weight gain from pregnancy shows that I let myself fall off the bandwagon. Individuals would say that's okay because breastfeeding helps to burn so many calories. For a variety of reasons E isn't a breastfed baby, although heartbreaking at first I've come to find great peace in this. Robin and I are gearing up to once again begin the Eat to Live Challenge. We will be making adjustments for the...

It's hard to believe that 6 weeks has come to a close! It's amazing how fast time flies. The last 6 weeks have had their ups and downs. They have been filled with both scale, and non scale victories. Non-Scale Victories: There were times in the last 6 weeks that I fell off the wagon, but it became so much easier to get back on! I might have eaten out a few times, but I always made sure it was close to guidelines, and my next meal followed the guidelines. Before the Eat to Live Journey I would often fall off the wagon and it would last a couple days. I can walk out of a store without a dark chocolate bar/bag of chips. I had gotten to a point in my journey that I would convince myself that as long as I had a dark chocolate bar, or the "healthiest" chips I could find that I was okay to buy myself a treat. Every single time I went to the store. I haven't done that once in the last 6 weeks!  Towards the end of our Magdalene Island trip(right before my 6 week jou...

Only recently did I remember that I hadn't posted week five meal plans, my apologies! If you've been following along since the start of the journey you most likely have noticed that I keep my meal plans pretty similar. We're starting our final week of our Six Week journey tomorrow! Hard to believe! Breakfasts:   M-F: Smoothies (1/2C Blueberries, 1/2 Banana, 1C Almond Milk, 1C Spinach, 1TBSP Ground Flax  Seeds & Chia Seeds)  Saturday & Sunday: Fruit Smoothie (1C Frozen Fruit, 1 Banana, 1C Almond Milk, 1TBSP Ground Flax  Seeds & Chia Seeds) Lunches:   Monday-Friday: Too Busy to Cook Vegetable Soup (Page 168 of the Eat to Live Cookbook), Fruit   Salad, & Banana  Saturday & Sunday: Split Pea Soup or Chicken Noodle Soup Suppers:  Monday-Thursday: Large Tossed Salad or Veggie Stir Fry (Same ingredients as salad make in broth) Two servings of fruit for dessert.   Friday: Vegetable Piz...

Thanksgiving is one of my favourite times of year! It's an opportunity to reflect on the things we are blessed to have, and a time to gather with loved ones. I'm extremely thankful for a wonderful supportive hubby, amazing parents, equally amazing in laws, and such a wonderful group of family and friends. That's just a touch on everything I have to be thankful for this year! Thanksgiving often comes with a family gathering or two which can make it difficult to stay on the healthy eating track! This is my second Eat to Live Thanksgiving, I am taking some of my experiences last year and turning them into positive learning experiences for this year. 1)Arrive Prepared: Make sure that you're prepared with beverages you can drink (flavoured water for me). Either make sure you are full enough that you won't partake in any snacking before the meal, or bring some snacks that fall within your guidelines. 2)Offer to Bring Dessert: Dessert is always my biggest weakness! I...

Can you believe that week three of the six week Eat to Live journey has come to a close!? I can't believe that there's only three weeks left. We're halfway there! The changes both on the scale and in life are amazing! A few non scale victories I've noticed is a better overall feeling, far less cravings, clearer skin, feeling fresh in the morning, and probably hubby's favourite I'm being more adventurous in my cooking. All of the non scale victories contribute to an overall happiness and joy, that's even more present then it was three weeks ago! The results for week three a pretty awesome! Weight:  -2lbs Bust: NC Waist: -0.75 Thighs: -0.5" Since starting Eat to Live on September 11th I have lost a total of 8.6lbs and 4". In just three weeks! That's amazing! Stay tuned for a Thanksgiving post soon!

Unfortunately week three wasn't the greatest. There was a death in the family and as an emotional eater that had the ability to completely throw me off. For the most part I stayed within the guidelines. A couple times in week three I could be found having some salted nuts/seeds or crackers but that's the worst it got! Everything is prepared to have a rocking week four! Breakfasts:   M-F: Smoothies (1/2C Blueberries, 1/2 Banana, 1C Almond Milk, 1C Spinach, 1TBSP Ground Flax  Seeds & Chia Seeds)  Saturday: Fruit Smoothie (1C Frozen Fruit, 1 Banana, 1C Almond Milk, 1TBSP Ground Flax  Seeds & Chia Seeds)  Sunday: TBD (We'll be at my in-laws for the night Saturday celebrating Thanksgiving!) Lunches:   Monday: Leftover Chick Pea Salad  Tuesday-Friday: Crock Pot Mushroom Chilli (Page 176 Eat to Live Cookbook) with 2  servings of fruit   Saturday & Sunday: 1oz Raw Almonds & 2 Servings of Fruit Sup...