Yesterday was not my finest day. To be honest, I didn’t put the time in to plan out my day nor did I follow through with the semi plan I created during the day.

It started off great with a smoothie. I combined frozen tropical fruit (mango, pineapple, strawberries, and kiwi) with 1 scoop of protein powder and water. Tasted great, but within minutes my throat was itching like whoa!  I pitched the smoothie and headed out the door as I didn’t have time for plan B.

When I arrived at my train station I ran into Starbucks and ordered a Turkey Bacon Egg Sandwich and a venti iced coffee, which I added half and half to. Wasn’t a bad choice but if I had planned ahead I may have thought of a better option.

For lunch yesterday I attended a Years of Service event at work as I’ve worked here for almost 6 years. The lunch started with a beautiful salad, made with lettuce, fennel, orange segments, walnuts, and a vinaigrette.

The main course was a bread crumb and sundried tomato crusted chicken bread topped with a cream sauce. On the side was white rice and green beans. It was a very tasty lunch but I could have stayed away from the white rice… Just wasn’t in the right mindset.  On the plus side though I did skip the dessert.  So 1 point for Ashley!

On my way home from work I decided that I needed to go to the gym as we weren’t having a traditional football practice that night… But instead I made myself dinner as soon as I got home… And made pasta no less. It’s not funny but I kinda laugh looking back, at how my brain can go from “let’s go to the gym Ashley” to “PASTA”.  Gotta figure that one out!

I made a batch of pasta and topped it with tuna, spices, and Parmesan cheese. I served myself a bowl, but as Neal hates tuna I knew I had to finish up the pasta… Right?!?  Well two bowls later I was stuffed, hadn’t gone to the gym, and was off to watch football film at a bar for 2 hours (where I of course had a beer… 1/2 of one actually).

So what did I learn from yesterday? Well I learned that I must plan ahead and I must think big picture when choosing what to eat. I ate a LOT of carbs yesterday, which for me isn’t best when trying to lose body fat.

I also need to follow through with my workout plans! I was bummed we didn’t have a real football practice last night but I could have workout before hand. That would have kept me from the pasta (most likely) and would have left me feeling great!

I am not being hard on myself but I know it’s important to think about the day, how I felt, and what I ate. It helps me moving forward and helps me to make better decisions. I slip up a lot… Just do… But I’m trying. My goal is that in time these unhealthy habits will be broken. Until then, I’m focused on eating cleaner, working out, and staying motivated.

Neal and I are planning a few vacations for this year, YAY, which made me think about our honeymoon. It’s hard to believe that we’re coming up on our one year anniversary! It really seems like just yesterday we were walking down the aisle, saying I Do, dancing the night away, and backpacking around Europe.  It has been one wonderful year!

I’ve recapped a few of our pit stops on our honeymoon (Amsterdam, Wolsfeld, and Berlin), but I’ve yet to share about one of our favorite stops… Prague!

Neal and I stayed at the Domus Balthasar for three magical days and wouldn’t have changed a single thing. It was an amazing stop on our honeymoon and a city I hope to return to some day. I hope y’all enjoy some of our photos for Prague…

What’s your favorite city in the US or World?

Last night, I kicked the week off with a 40 minute solo spin workout at my gym.

I arrived at the gym, made my way over to the empty spin studio, set up my bike, and turned on my Pop and Hip Hop Power Workout Pandora station.

I started off with a 5 minute warm-up and then moved into my 30 minute solo spin tabata workout.

At the end of the 5 tabatas I cooled down for 5 minutes, bringing the length of my workout to 40 minutes.

After my spin workout I made my way down to the floor for a cool down abs workout.

I left the gym feeling great and ready to tackle the week ahead!

This week I have five goals…

1.  Follow my workout plan

• Monday – PM workout
• Tuesday- Football practice
• Wednesday- PM workout
• Thursday- Football practice
• Friday- PM workout
• Saturday- Football practice
• Sunday- Active rest

2.  Drink 4 32oz nalgene water bottles a day

3.  Eat a lot of produce!! Neal and I get our first CSA box on Tuesday, so I know I’ll need to get creative in order to use up all the produce we receive.  Can’t wait!

4.  Limit dairy.  Cheese and nut butters are my downfall.  Limiting both of them helps me to reach my weight loss goals.

5.  Plan ahead, packing all of my lunches and snacks for the work day.

This should be a pretty mellow week, hooray, so I want to stay focused and to accomplish everything on my to do lists.  Gotta work hard for the long weekend ahead!

What is one of your goals for the week ahead?

Despite the grey and rainy weather, Neal and I have both really enjoyed our weekend at home. It started bright and early Saturday morning with a long walk and a trip to the local farmers market. Our CSA actually starts this week, yay, so I didn’t grab too much produce. 2 pints of strawberries, 4 stalks of rhubarb, lettuce, a scone, and a piece of coffee cake is what we walked away with this week.

We spent the rest of the morning cleaning the apartment and organizing a few things in our closets… Theodore was pooped!

Around lunch time Neal and I headed over to our storage unit to organize a few things and then ran a few errands, including a trip to Home Goods.  Love.  That.  Store.

My favorite find was this enormous anchor (which I did not buy).  My football team calls me anchor, so of course I see anchors everywhere these days.

After running to Target went home and set up our computers to watch the DC Divas game vs the Boston Militia.  As I’m not cleared to play, it was great being able to watch my team play via video stream.

The Divas offense was great Saturday night but sadly we just could not stop their offense.  The final score was 81 Boston – 54 DC.  A record setting score!

This coming week is a bye week and then we play Pittsburgh at home on June 1 (huge game for us).  I am really hoping to be close to 100% for that game!

Today Neal and I ran more errands, including another trip to the storage unit.  Late afternoon I set up shop in the kitchen, roasting sweet potatoes for this week’s salads and baking a strawberry rhubarb crumble for my hubby!

This is one of our favorite desserts and recipes.  It’s hard to beat!  You can find the recipe here.

It was a great weekend but I’m eager to get back into a regular routine starting Monday.  This is my first full week back at football practice and I’m really looking forward to it.  I’ve got a good plan for the week ahead, including a workout plan and a healthy eating plan.  My main goals for the week ahead are to lose weight and to take care of myself on and off the football field.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

End of week 2! Can you believe it?  I truly hope that you had a great week and that you were able to see changes from the first week in the challenge.  My second week was completely different from the first!  I changed a lot of things, starting with my mentality.

On Sunday, I took some time to journal and to really think about my goals and where I want to be.  You see, it’s easy for me to want to lose weight but for my actions not to follow.  Week 1 was tough because I wasn’t working out due to injury and had a lot of work events to attend.  Sometimes life happens, but was my mind really in the weight loss state last week?

This week I had to shift my brain and remember WHY I want to lose weight.  Do I want to wear small clothes? YES! Do I want to feel more comfortable in my body? YES!  Do I want to be in better shape? YES!  But the REAL reason I want to lose weight is so that I can be as healthy as possible before having children.

I truly believe that in order to get the weight loss train rolling you have to fully connect with your “reason”.  It’s different for everyone but it will help you to push through the temptations and to stay focused on what matters.  Right now, this is my focus (WE ARE NOT PREGNANT)…

(rbsDesigns)

So how did I do this week??

Starting Weight: 230.0 (May 3, 2013)
Last Week’s Weigh-In: 233.0
This Weigh-in: 230.2
Difference: -2.8
Total Weight Loss: +0.2

I am really happy with the loss this week and am eager to get this train out of the station.  My goal next week is to focus on my 3 changes and to increase my workouts.

If this wasn’t a good week for you, please do not get discouraged.  You can turn things around at any moment!! Remember, you are in control of your life, how you feel, what you eat, and your workouts.   Two reads I would recommend is “The Balance Between Pain and Pleasure” and “What’s Keeping You At Your Current Weight“.  I reread those two posts when I’m having a hard time.

Now one thing that really helped me this week was to plan ahead and always have meals and snacks packed!! One of my favorite snacks these days are KIND Bars, as they are made of simple ingredients and are extremely filling (and tasty).

I’ve tried almost all of the flavors and I think my favorite so far is this baby…  I mean, who can beat 10g of protein and all that sweet nutty goodness??

As we close out week 2, one of y’all have the chance to win some KIND Bars from Coffee Cake and Cardio! By leaving a comment about your week, your weight loss, your fitness, etc., you will be entered in to win!!  I will choose a winner on Sunday, May 19, 2013.

This giveaway is CLOSED!  Congratulations to Charmaine who said “Congratulations on your week! Mine was a little mixed- I sprained my toe on Sunday which made me unable to put a lot of weight on my foot so I had to hold off on working out until the end of the week, which was a bummer. On the positive side, it definitely made me think more about what I was eating since I knew I couldn’t work out and I felt really good about the choices I made this week. It paid off and I found myself down another 1 lb. I hope I can keep up the trend. My goal last weekend was to try to meet my calories goals, which is hard for me. Saturday was a bust but Sunday was good so I felt pretty good about that. Thanks for having this challenge- it’s been fun!”

So tell me, how was week 2?

Last night Neal and I headed over to The Black Cat DC to see our Brother-in-Law Mark perform with his band The Features.

Of course Neal and I are partial because we know the band, but we LOVE The Features.  Seeing them in DC is always a treat and I really liked their new songs though some of their older songs, like Lion, are still favorites.

Can’t wait to dig into the new album!

Seeing them perform made me think about what, as a little kid, I wanted to be when I grew up.  Seeing Mark live out his dream always makes me so happy and it made me wonder how many people get to do what they love every single day.

Growing up, I wanted to be one thing… a meteorologist! Hands down!! I was in love with this guy…

(source)

I loved Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel.  I watched The Weather Channel religiously, face planted in front of the TV during the Tropical Update.  The only thing I loved more than Jim were hurricanes.  I read books about weather and I had just about every VHS tape The Weather Channel put out.  It’s all I wanted for birthdays and Christmas (though I’m still not over the fact that my parents didn’t see the value in me having my own Weather Channel jacket…).

I hate to break it to you guys, but I am not a meteorologist.  Although it was a dream of mine, no one told me meteorology is Atmospheric Physics… EEK!! That and a few other things led me towards a career that utilized my strengths; public relations, operations, student development, and life skills counseling.

I love the path my career has taken me on, and although I don’t stand in front of a green screen every day sharing the forecast with you lovely people, you do get to see me on YouTube every once and a while talking about weight loss (close enough right?).

It was great seeing Mark and The Features last night and I wish them all the best with their new album, current tour, and all that they are working on!! If you haven’t checked out The Features… DO IT!

What did you want to be when you grew up?

We’re half way through the second week of the 7 week challenge!! Just a little over 5 weeks until the first day of summer y’all.

This week I’ve made some pretty big changes to my lifestyle and diet and no matter what the scale says on Friday, I’m feeling pretty great. I’ve made 3 simple changes to my diet, changes that are liveable and not drastic!

1. I am starting the day with a 32 oz Nalgene bottle and a packet of Advocare Spark. I am not giving up coffee, but instead of starting the day with coffee I’m enjoying water and getting my caffeine from Spark. I am also striving each day to drink 4 32oz Nalgene water bottles. I drink 3 each day with no problem, it’s the 4th one that’s tough to get in. (I purchase my Advocare products through Alison).

2. I am eating little to no dairy. My reason for this is that I eat way too much dairy and I add it to everything. If there’s cheese on something I order at a restaurant (like the feta cheese in this salad) I’m not going to remove it, but when at home I am trying to not add dairy to my meals. I don’t NEED cheese on my eggs. I don’t NEED sour cream on my tacos. I don’t NEED milk or half and half in my coffee.

3. EAT MORE VEGGIES. I’ve been adding veggies to every meal, even breakfast.  Broccoli and green beans with breakfast? You bet!  Salads for lunch and dinner?  Yeppers!! I’m feeling great with all this veggie intake and am realizing how little produce I had been eating.

I have two full days until I weigh in and am really hoping to see a good loss on the scale come Friday.  Time to get this weight loss train a rollin!

How are you doing this week with your health and fitness goals?

As part of the 7 week challenge I’ve been making more of an effort to eat clean.  To me, eating clean means cutting out processed foods and eating foods that are whole and as close to their original state as possible.  As I started to focus on eating clean I realized that I had been eating a whole lot of processed foods.  And not just processed foods but foods that were filled with a lot of chemicals.

I’ve never really focused on ingredients, but I’ve really started to think about what I’m putting in my body and just how processed some of the things are.  In my search to find farm fresh foods I came across Relay Foods, which is an online grocery store that connects shoppers with local stores and farms.

I instantly fell in love as it is the perfect combo of a CSA, a farmers market, and boutique store all online!

For my first order, I ordered the Virginia’s Bounty Basket (half share), which is a basket of various produce from farms in Virginia.

I wish y’all could have seen how excited I was when I opened up this basket.  I have never wanted to eat cleaner than after receiving that basket!! The produce was beautiful and it was incredibly exciting to get a basket that was picked out for me.  In my basket last week was…

• bag of mushrooms
• bag of spring lettuce mix
• 2 bags of various lettuces
• spearmint
• 2 bundles of greens
• 2 pints of strawberries

I have absolutely loved eating all of the produce these past few days and finding new ways to use it all up!!  I’ve eaten a lot of salads (check out my Instagram), added mushrooms to my pasta for dinner, enjoyed strawberries as a snack in between meals, and have thrown spearmint leaves into my water.

I also got a few other goodies including Kim Kim Korean Hot Sauce, No Bull Burgers, and Blue Crab Bay Co Spicy Cocktail Sauce.  Using the greens and the Kim Kim Korean Hot Sauce I made a fantastic side dish for lunch last week.  I stated by cooking a few pieces of diced turkey bacon and then added a whole bundle of chopped greens.

Once the greens had wilted I added in about a tbsp of the hot sauce.

The hot sauce is delicious and went perfectly with the greens from the Virginia’s Bounty Basket!

I really had such a positive experience shopping with Relay Foods and loved how easy it was to pick up.  Relay Foods has various pick up spots throughout the week in the Charlottesville, Richmond, Williamsburg, NOVA, DC, and Baltimore areas.  They also have home delivery, which is awesome!

If you’re in any of these areas, I highly recommend checking out Relay Foods and giving it a try.  What’s great is that you can purchase any time you want to and are not committing to a long term contract or season of purchases.  If you want veggies one week but not the next, then you don’t have to order for that week.  It allows you to shop farms and local vendors any time you want!

If you’re a first time Relay Foods customer, you can use this coupon code and receive $30 off your order of $50 or more!!  Love this deal!

Neal and I joined a CSA a few months ago, which starts in another week, but I’m really looking forward to ordering from Relay Foods in between and picking out foods from local shops and vendors.

What is your favorite fruit and favorite vegetable?

I have a new love in my life, Amanda and Matt’s Black Bean Burgers!!

Yesterday afternoon Amanda and her husband Matt came over for dinner and game night. Amanda had told me about their black bean burgers before, so when she offered to bring them for dinner I couldn’t refuse!  I’m a big time bean lover, so anything that has to do with them makes my tummy and heart happy.

As they were bringing the burgers, I focused on making a few sides dishes.  I steamed some green beans and then whipped up some broccoli coleslaw.

Broccoli Coleslaw

• 3/4 cup of light mayo or Greek yogurt
• 1-2 tbsp of yellow mustard
• 2 tbsp sugar (or 1 packet of spenda/stevia)
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• salt
• pepper
• 1 bag of shredded broccoli (I got mine at Trader Joe’s)

Combine everything to make the dressing and then add to 4 cups of shredded broccoli.  Refrigerate until it’s time to serve.

Now the sides were good, but the star of the show were the black bean burgers!  They have a southwest kick to them and are packed with veggies.

These will definitely be showing up in our house again!! Neal loved them too, and this man is not a veggie fan.

After dinner we played two rounds of Blokus, a favorite game of mine.  Though I do love games like Monopoly, I love games that are more strategic and don’t take as long to play.  If you haven’t played Blokus, I highly recommend it for game night.

The weekend overall was really great!  I feel refreshed going into the work week and am really motivated going into week 2 of the 7 week challenge.

Although I still do not plan on counting calories or points, I am realizing that I need more structure in order to be successful in my weight loss.

This week I am focusing on a few things…

1. Drinking 120 oz of water a day (4 nalgene water bottles)
2. Working out every day.  This will range of weight lifting to the stationary bike to football practice.
3. No eating after dinner

I’m really focused this week and hope to see a great loss on the scale come Friday.  It’s time to get this weight loss train a moving!

What’s one goal you have for yourself this week?

What is your favorite board game?

This has been such a wonderful weekend!! Although yesterday was rainy, I started the day off with a long walk with Theodore and then another long walk with Neal and Theodore to the farmers market. Late afternoon we headed to the DC Divas football game and watched the Divas beat the NY Sharks 49-6.

This morning, Theodore and I kicked off the day with a 2.74 mile walk. The weather is just perfect today and it was great being able to take a long walk before everything got going.

After our walk I whipped up a batch of Turkey Bacon Protein Pancakes using FlapJacked pancake mix.

I really like this mix because of the nutritional values and that all it requires is water.  Easy peasy.

For today’s pancakes though… I added in TURKEY BACON!!!

While the turkey bacon cooked I mixed together the pancake mix.  I added the 1 cup of water to the mix and then a dash of vanilla.

As the bacon was hot, I did not add it to the bowl of batter but instead topped each pancake off with a spoonful of the turkey bacon.

These pancakes are so easy to make and are so full of flavor.

Topped with a little maple syrup, these pancakes are a perfect combo of savory and sweet.

After breakfast I cleaned the apartment and then ran a few errands.  I bought so many cute things at Target, all of which I did not need, but it was all just too adorable.

Once I got back I ran to the gym with Neal for a 30 minute workout on the stationary bike!  I was cleared to start practicing again, YAY, so I want to make sure my body is ready to return to football practice come Tuesday.  I’m also determined to lose weight this week and know that exercise goes hand in hand with a good diet.

Tonight Neal and I are having some friends over for a game night!  A great way to close out the weekend.

I hope y’all are having a great weekend!

This post is also featured on WIAW.