What's Your Biggest Struggle?

For me lately it's been finding a variety (I'm a creature of habit) and meal prepping. Also dealing with some back pain. Sometimes on social media we sugar coat things. If you are willing to share, what's your biggest struggling? 

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Okay, I made some tweaks to a recipe found here. If I could do things different, I'd find 1) a sauce that's lower in sodium 2) use whole-wheat flour. Originally it was gluten-free and vegan, but it simply wasn't sticking together, even with the egg. I suppose you could add Parmesan cheese, but but there's so much fat in cheese, I'm trying to stay low-dairy over-all. And I totally forgot the yeast, but I added lots of seasoning to give it more flavor. This is definitely one of those dishes that will make a messy kitchen. This is for one personal pizza, I edited the original author's quantities, but it's filling enough for 2 if you make sweet potato chips to go along with it! (just sliced, with paprika, parsley, pepper, very very little salt, very little EVOO). I could have added cheese to the crust,  This was higher in calories than I expected, but I had a lower-calorie day over-all, and still came in under 1200 calories. My personal goal (because I'm higher in weight) is around 1800, even though My Fitness Pal says over 2200. I would have also added more veggies to the toppings, but this is what I had available... Traci's Zucchini Quinoa Pizza  Ingredients 0.25 cup dry, Quinoa 0.25 cup(s), Old Fashioned Rolled Oats 1 tsp(s), Baking Powder 0.25 tsp(s), Salt, table 0.25 tsp(s), Spices - Pepper, black 1 egg, Large Egg - Generic 1 tsp(s), Peppers, sweet, red, raw 1 tsp, Italian Seasoning 0.50 cup(124g), Italian Sausage and Peppers pasta sauce 4 oz, 4 oz Chicken Breast (grilled with basil) 2 clove(s), Garlic 2 piece, low fat mozzarella string cheese 0.50 cup(s), White All Purpose Flour 1 small zucchini grated Directions Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Place the quinoa into a bowl and cover with boiling water, let sit for 5-10 mins and drain, but do not dry. Place the zucchini, quinoa, oats, baking powder, salt, egg, italian seasoning, pepper, garlic, and flour into a high powdered blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Slightly oil a pizza pan (or a cookie sheet if you wanna be fancy like I was!) and pour the "batter" onto the pan. Spread to a thin fairly uniform layer and place in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Flip the crust and cook the other side for the same amount of time. (When you flip it might break a little bit or stick, don't worry, no one said it has to be perfect!) It's going to brown a bit, that's okay. (Mine was a little thicker, tasted great.) Take the pizza crust out of the oven and get ready to add the toppings! (just sliced up string cheese - that's all I had) Spread toppings of choice and put into the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the edges start to crisp. Nutrition Facts Servings 2.0 Amount Per Serving Calories 464 % Daily Value * Total Fat 12 g 18 % Saturated Fat 28 g 141 % Monounsaturated Fat 1 g Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g Trans Fat 0 g Cholesterol 113 mg 38 % Sodium 2016 mg 84 % Potassium 201 mg 6 % Total Carbohydrate 30 g 10 % Dietary Fiber 4 g 17 % Sugars 6 g Protein 33 g 66 % Vitamin A 15 % Vitamin C 22 % Calcium 25 % Iron 16 % * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Traci's No-Bake Energy Bites Recipe

Wait, chocolate chips for breakfast? And peanut butter? For BREAKFAST? YES, PLEASE!!!

I saw my friend and occasional trainer Tagan (TEA-GUN) post something similar to this months ago and always wanted to try it. I made some tweaks to the original recipe. With all the fat in peanut butter, the lowest fat quantity I could find was actually Skippy low-fat peanut butter. Trust me, even natural pb had too much fat in it for my goals. I added a scoop of peanut butter protein powder. OMIGOODNESS! Heaven.

When it comes to breakfast, I tend to skip it because I like to sleep as late as possible. I like to have everything ready as I run out the door. These are PERFECT.​

I found this version here. She uses coconut flakes and chia seed, but I omitted those. (I only like coconut on samoa girl scout cookies).

These delicious little no bake energy bites are the perfect healthy snack!

Prep: 10 mins Total: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (low-fat Skippy)
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 scoop peanut butter protein powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.
2. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1" in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.
3. Makes about 20-25 balls. (I used a cookie dough scooper but leveled it off, and rounded it in my hand to get 20-ish balls.)

Nutrition Facts Servings 20.0 Amount Per Serving calories 93 % Daily Value * Total Fat 3 g 5 % Saturated Fat 1 g 6 % Monounsaturated Fat 1 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g Trans Fat 0 g Cholesterol 0 mg 0 % Sodium 28 mg 1 % Potassium 24 mg 1 % Total Carbohydrate 15 g 5 % Dietary Fiber 2 g 9 % Sugars 8 g Protein 3 g 6 % Vitamin A 0 % Vitamin C 0 % Calcium 4 % Iron 3 % * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

PS - THIS WAS MY 50TH BLOG POST!! WOOP WOOP!

On to Diagnostic Evaluations...

Eek! Today is my last day of class for Abnormal psychology. We literally used the DSM-5 (and it's purple) to learn how to navigate through it, and discuss different disorders of course. (my last course merely mentioned it as a tool in 1 paragraph of notes). Instead of diagnosing everyone around me, I felt like a hypochondriac during that class. Ha ha! I hadn't really looked at my schedule, but my class starting tomorrow is DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION. Yup, feel free start lining up. ;)

Kidding. ❤️‍

Study Habits!?

The hardest part about taking classes online is being disciplined. Especially after being out of school for 10 years. I stumbled across this verse and found it very fitting.  Right now, I'm just a full-time student. While I'm involved in different activities that keep me busy, I'm still getting use to fitting in time for school, even after a couple months. Any suggestions? To my fellow students out there, what are your healthy habits? (No pun intended!)

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Who Inspires You?

The million dollar question! Everyone asks me this. After watching my maternal grandfather and my father die from complications from diabetes, I know I have to take action. They inspired me. Rather than blame my wonderful genetics or bad habits I was taught, I want to be different. I'm taking responsibility. Both the Fravels and Sutherlands have a stubborn streak, so I know I'm capable of this. Determined. I thought this is only fitting for #tbt!! Please feel free to share in the comments! ❤️‍

Back in the Saddle Again...

Time to be honest. In the last few months I've gained weight back. More than I'm willing to admit. That is behind me, no reason to dwell on the past. I know what to do, I just have to figure out a healthy balance. So I'm taking it slow this time. 20-30 minute Zumba classes instead of a full class. 20 minutes on a TREADMILL. PT sessions that are more focused on the core and strengthening my spine. Not all of the above in one day. Week 1? I'm down 5 lbs. For the amount of work I put in, I will take it. Gladly. Clearly not the weekly winner, but not a loser! After a week, I'm feeling better, I have more energy. I'm not eating crap, so I don't feel like crap. I went out to dinner tonight with family and the ladies were really supportive and didn't let me make bad choices! Yes, I know I post a lot, especially on Facebook. But the encouragement helps me and gives me inspiration.

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