And the truth of the matter is...

So I am going to write this out, mostly because I want to remember it. I am hoping that writing it all down will remind me not to get myself to this point again. Here is the truth of it...

Tuesday I decided to try a workout DVD. I am the kind of person that can't just exercise. I need someone to tell me what to do. Like literally. I would use a trainer except that would A) cost extra money that I do not want to spend right now, and B) Would play into some of my worst fears (most of which I will not spell out for you here -gotta keep some of my crazy to myself). So, anyway, I went to the store and picked out a DVD with Gunnar Peterson. It is from Shape magazine, and is broken up into nice (short) individual workouts. I decided to the the 20 minute strength/toning portion. No biggie. I won't say it was easy, but I could do most of the exercises without altering them in any way. I did pretty good, if I do say so myself. I even thought "Hmm..wonder if I should do another portion", but went on about my day without a care in the world. Aside from some residual jelly-ish feelings, I was feeling pretty good about myself. :)

Now when night came on Tuesday, I noticed some stiffness in my legs. Didn't think too much of it, figured it came with the territory. WELL...boy howdy does it. I woke up on Wednesday morning and was sure I would not be able to walk. I was right. Spent ALL of Wednesday in extreme pain. The stairs were torture, and wouldn't you know that it seemed like EVERYTHING hit the floor and required me to pick it up. Now to admit how extreme the pain is is embarrassing. I can no longer hide from the truth of how out of shape I am. The number of the scale is one thing - seeing, errr..feeling, it is another. It always proves to me, once and for all, that walking on the treadmill is not going to be enough. I will need to bust my a$$, and not for a short amount of time, in order to get myself to the shape I want to be. But, I believe that admitting it is the first step. 

I sincerely hope that I can look back on this week (soon) and laugh. :)

And a letter than I wish I could send...

To my 20 year old self

Dear Me,

I know, I know...you are in your 20s and you can eat whatever you want, or not eat and just "drink" whatever you wanted and still be a stick? Eating right isn't something you have to think about...you eat okay. No major red flags in the diet, and skinny is a given - no work required. 

Unfortunately, this will not always be the case. Eventually you will find that you slow down. You will get married to the love of your life, you will start cooking more - have a few kids. Just life... And you will allow life to get in the way of taking care of yourself. Perhaps eating out too much, drinking too much. Could be that you move from city to city and stop leaving the house. Where are you going to go with three kids anyway? The mall? CFA? Chuck E Cheese? You name it, you will find a reason to become out of shape, overweight, and unhappy. It's what you decide to do next that will make all the difference in the world. 

Get off your butt. Get moving. Eat better - or in this case, just remember how you ate when you ate right. Don't let it go too long, because I am here to tell you...it just gets harder as you get older. Ideally, you will never allow yourself to get heavier, but since this is my letter to my 20 year old self, I know that you did... 3 kids and 3 states later, you did. 

Now get up. And get moving...never slow down because when you do...well, just take my word for it. :) 

Stay tuned for my workout fiascoes and all the funniness that comes with that.

Turkey Stuffed Peppers (Healthy)

I remember when I was little, and my Mom would make stuffed green peppers. I loved the flavor, but didn't like the actual pepper. So when I saw this recipe on the Skinny Ms website, I thought "I can do this. Sort of". :) To be clear, I have NO idea what a Patty Pan squash is...none. But I did have an acorn squash I wanted to try in an actual recipe, and 1 lb of ground turkey I wanted to use, so I made a few adjustments and then off I went! 

Stuffed Peppers

1 cup of beef broth

1/2 cup of quinoa

6 Bell Peppers (any color you like)

2 TBSP avocado oil (or olive oil)

1 acorn squash - diced

1 small sweet onion-chopped

3 cloves of garlic-minced

1lb Ground Turkey (Or lean ground beef if you don't like turkey)

1 cup Parmesan cheese (leave out if Paleo or pure Clean)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring 1 cup of beef broth to a boil. Add quinoa and cook for 10-15 minutes until all liquid is absorbed and then set aside while preparing the rest of the recipe. 

Heat 2 TBSP of oil in a pan. Add onions, acorn squash and garlic and cook until tender...about 5 minutes. Add turkey and cook until completely browned.  Turn the pan off and add quinoa, parm cheese and salt/pepper and stir until combined. Spoon into peppers (approx 3/4 cup per pepper). Place into a greased baking dish and cover with foil. Cook for 20 minutes or until bell peppers are as soft as you like. Eat up! 

You could also make this a meat-free dish if you just use more squash in place of the meat.  We have only prepared acorn squash on the grill with a little olive oil and garlic salt, but it was great in this dish. Added some bulk and veggie content without actually changing the flavor. I read somewhere that the smaller the acorn squash (smoother ridges), the milder the taste. I plan to use acorn squash in place of potatoes in another recipe soon, and of course I will share :)

Salmon for the Hubby (Clean)

So my husband likes salmon. Me, not so much. But he had bought one at the grocery store the other day and asked me to make it. Since I have NO clue about cooking fish that isn't cod or tilapia, I took to the Internet. This recipe came up several times, so I figured it had to be good :) It called for Trout, but I think it worked fine for the Salmon.  He gave it two thumbs up, so I am sharing ;)

Broiled Steelhead Trout With Rosemary, Lemon and Garlic

Now, I do not have fresh rosemary, like ever, so I used dried. I added it to the olive oil/lemon juice mixture and let it sit for a few minutes. Worked out fine (same goes for fresh lemon if you don't have it.)

I put all the ingredients into a small bowl, and let it sit together for about 10 minutes. I used dried rosemary, so I wanted the flavors to mix together well before I brushed it onto the salmon. 

I lined a baking pan with foil, sprayed it with Olive Oil, and placed the salmon in the oven. Broil it on one of the highest rack settings for the first 5 minutes and then move the rack down to the middle setting and bake the rest of the way. 

Baked Steelhead Salmon

1lb Steelhead fillet (Salmon or Trout)

2 cloves garlic (minced/grated)

1/2 TBS dried Rosemary or 1 1/2 Fresh

Juice of half a lemon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 TBS Avocado Oil

Spray a foil lined baking sheet with olive oil and place salmon skin side down. Mix remainder of ingredients together and let sit for a few minutes. Move your top oven rack up to the second highest setting. Cover top of the salmon with the olive oil mixture and broil in the oven for 5 minutes. Then move the rack down to the middle setting and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until fish is cooked through. 

I served it with creamed cauliflower and broccoli. (I had normal fish ;)