Back in the Saddle Again!

I'm back!  I have been wanting to start blogging again for quite awhile.  I tend to get caught up in other things like work, cooking, cleaning...Orange is the New Black, you know, important stuff!  ;-)
I've really missed blogging though so I decided to jump back in and fire up the blog again!
I'll be sharing recipes, favorite beauty products, great books...basically a hodge-podge mix of things I like or like to talk about!  I hope you tune in!

Beachbody's Specials for April

As requested - here's what is on sale for April - just in time to get in shape for summer. Both programs have been wildly successful. Contact me for me info or if you would like to be part of a Challenge Group.

www.beachbodycoach.com/colleenmac

Where Has the Time Gone?

Wow.  Well, my plans of taking pictures of my meals and blogging about the Ultimate Reset just fizzled out, didn't they?  Let me tell you, it has been an interesting journey!  I'm finally now checking in and it's almost over!  I am on Day 20 of the 21-day Reset.  I can truly say I gave it everything I had.  Man, this was challenging.  I am so excited that tomorrow is my last day.  Don't get me wrong, I feel better, lighter, calmer, and more in-tune with myself, food, everything!  I can't say that I felt great the whole time though.  I went through a lot mentally and physically.  I would wake up with calf pain that I hadn't felt since I had growing pains as a child.  I would rush home from work, take my supplements, cook an elaborate dinner, only to sit down and eat close to 9pm and then go to bed shortly after.  My back hurt, my neck hurt, my stomach hurt.  I had pains everywhere.  I was moody, tired, and SICK OF COOKING! Was it worth it....Yes, I would say so.  I truly feel that my body is 100 times healthier now than before I started the Reset.  There isn't a doubt in my mind that my body is processing the food I eat so much more efficiently.  I also can add a lot of new healthy recipes to my collection.  I know I will eat a lot of the new foods I tried on the fix going forward.  I've learned that, when I put my mind to it, my self-control and will-power is amazing.  I also learned what hunger really feels like (not to be confused with boredom, sadness, anger or any other emotion that triggers needing to eat). 


I just figured I would check in so that you know that I didn't give up, I am still going strong and I will post my results on Wednesday.  I'm typing this quickly as I eat one of my last salads on my lunch break.  I should note that it's one of my last salads on the RESET, not ever.  I see a lot of fruits and veggies in my future now, and I'm not sad about it! ;-)

Ultimate Reset - Day 3

Day 3 was weird.  I didn't even feel like writing about it, I was so exhausted.  It started pretty well.  I enjoyed Day 2 breakfast, I made it again.  I like that you can repeat meals or swap meals as long as they are in the same phase.  I didn't take a picture of it again, so here's the one from Day 2.  It was just as delicious I assure you!

My morning was going great, but I was very busy at work.  I had a 2:00pm chiropratic appointment and I had hoped to scarf down lunch sometime before then.  Well, I never did get the time to eat.  It was insane.  I was ridiculously hungry until about 1:00, then miraculously, the hunger wore off.  It's a good thing it did, because I wouldn't eat until a little after 2:30 when my appointment was over.  I scarfed down my micro-green salad and lentil lime salad in my chiropractor's parking lot!  It looked a bit like this:

I don't mean the cute little girl in the front of the cart.  I'm pretty sure I looked like the little boy hovering over the pretzel!  So lunch was decent.  The microgreen salad was filling and this time I got to add some toasted pumpkin seeds which added some good flavor.  I didn't take a picture of the salad, but it looked like the one I ate the other day.  Here's a picture of the lentil lime salad.

It was pretty flavorful.  I've never had lentils before, so this was a first. As if eating late wasn't hard enough, I forgot my Alkaline supplement at home.  Oh well.

I had to stop at Lowes on the way home which I knew would only prolong dinner, but I needed to use a $10 off coupon before it expired.  It had to be done.  But hey, the guest bedroom gets a new ceiling fan!

Pretty, isn't it?

Now, on to dinner.  It was another night like last night.  I had to slice and dice and bake and roll.  My husband said his theory behind this cleanse is that you lose weight because you get so stressed and crazed in the kitchen, it just revs up your metabolism!  Ha ha.  Could be.  The funny thing is, one goal I have for this Reset is to be calmer again and to be able to deal with stress better.  Well, I definitely need that to happen soon!  So, here are some dinner pictures.  

Prep seemed to be going well.  I didn't really understand from the instructions where I should put the rice.  I also was determined to use my new sushi mat.  Apparently, I should stick to my EZ sushi maker.  I think I will break that out next time.

This is the Japanese Cucumber Salad.  This actually turned out pretty well.  I didn't let in marinate in the fridge for an hour because, well...

Sorry, I had to!

I stuck it in the fridge until I was done making the soup and attempting to roll the sushi.  Nothing I was doing could keep the sushi together.  I finally decided to eat the sushi roll burrito style.  Even that didn't work, so I used a fork.

The miso soup was delicious, as usual.  The baked tempeh in the nori roll actually tasted really good.  I loved the flavors.  I would definitely eat that all by itself.  

I have to say that one thing I absolutely LOVE about every Beachbody program I have done is that you can always find a wonderful, supportive challenge group online.  I found mine on Facebook for this Reset.  You can also find them on www.teambeachbody.com.  I've been able to find people that are going through a program at the same time as me, or maybe they have already been through it and let me know what to expect.  I honestly don't know if I could get through some programs without this support.  I told my group about my Nori Roll challenges and I found out I am not alone. I got some good tips from people that finally mastered it.  I got good advice that I don't have to do absolutely every meal they recommend.  It's acceptable to swap meals, and they even have a list of quick meals you can substitute.  I was going by the recommendation that I had to try everything.  Trying all of these new foods would be ideal.  I would definitely do it if I had the time. I don't, so I will just the best I can. 

Ultimate Reset - Day 2, Afternoon and Evening

Lunch was pretty good, I had a greek salad with chicken.

Dinner was tough.  I didn't pre-cook the rice.  I always forget how long rice takes to cook (About 50 minutes.  So when I came home from work hungry, little did I know just how long it would be until I could eat!

All of that slaving, and I got to eat one little taco.  It was a good taco, but this isn't something I would choose to make on a weeknight.  Ever again.  I guess that's why they say to prep all of your food in advance.  They also recommend that you start on a Wednesday.  That made it tough for me since I usually do food prep on the weekend.  This weekend I am going to have to do some serious prep so that I don't end up eating at close to 9pm again.  I guess this is a learning experience.  On the positive side, my husband really enjoyed the tacos.  I put some chicken in his, and he had three. So far, I haven't had to make him a separate dinner, and for that, I am grateful!  It is only Day 2 though!

Ultimate Reset - Day 2 - Morning

Another morning without coffee! It's a little easier to go without coffee today.  My husband thought it was funny to let me smell his cup of coffee and tell me how delicious it was this morning.  I can't say that helped!

That was all I needed to research a coffee substitute for coffee.  I've ordered it and I'll have it for the weekend, so nobody will get hurt! ;-)  I'll let you know how I like it.

I had the most delicious breakfast!  

Sorry for the bad lighting, but this was oatmeal, a cup of blueberries, plain organic greek yogurt, and a teaspoon of Grade B maple syrup.  I split up my blueberries and maple syrup between the two dishes.  I highly recommend this breakfast!

Ultimate Reset - Day 1, Part 2

Here is how the rest of Day 1 went: SLOW!  I really had no energy at all.  It's possible that I just didn't get enough sleep the night before.  Also, my back and neck were really hurting, so all in all, the day just seemed to drag.  I drank about 2 gallons of distilled water yesterday! Also, I really enjoyed my meals.  Here's a pic of lunch:

This was a micro green salad and miso soup.  I was so impressed that I made Miso soup at home!  I will definitely be holding on to that recipe and making it long after the Reset.  It was so good!  It called for 2 tbsp. of Wakame Seaweed.  If you haven't seen it before it's dried seaweed and comes in a little bag like this:

I found it at my local Asian market, and also on Amazon.  Be careful how much you add!  This stuff expands like crazy!  It tastes really good though, and I think all of that seaweed was quite filling.  Speaking of filling, the salad was HUGE and filling! So lunch was good!  I took my supplements at the appropriate times throughout the day and that went well.  The Alkalanize is known for being the toughest to take and I've often seen it compared to drinking grass clippings.  I actually didn't find that it was too bad!  It's nothing I would crave, but certainly tolerable.  I had an afternoon snack of a hard boiled egg and 10 crackers.  I chose Mary's Gone Cracker's.  I love those things!

Dinner took longer than I would have liked, but if I were smart I would have marinated the salmon first.  I got home at around 6:30 and marinated the salmon, patiently (read: not patiently) waited 30 minutes and put that in the oven. Meanwhile, I prepared the red potatoes and asparagus.  It turned out to be a very good dinner.

I discovered last night that I can't have pepper.  I find this news quite upsetting!  Who would think that pepper could be bad for you?  I read that on my Facebook Ultimate Reset Group. It's a good thing they told me because there would have been pepper all over those taters!  Apparently pepper can be hard on the digestive system and could contain micro toxins.  Well, dinner was still tasty. It wasn't much of a stretch from how we normally eat.