Reflection turned love fest.

So it seems to be that time again. That time to look back and reflect on the year that’s passed in what seems like the blink of an eye.

For me, the past year brought quite a few things – some good, some not so good. Sticking to my positive nature, I always try to see the silver lining in situations that could easily be all negative. I say try because this is really difficult sometimes!

For one, the big thing in 2011 was finding out that my brother was sick. Obviously, this is one of those situations that could be solely negative. No one ever wants to hear that someone they love is in ill health. In fact, it’s nearly number one on the list of things you never want to hear.

Things are now looking up, but I can look back and honestly say that going through everything only made my family stronger. We came together and offered each other support, love, and a shoulder when needed.

Although Tristan was the one who was directly affected, we tried to face this as a team. So much so that Tristan actually had to tell us to back off a little and let him speak at doctor’s appointments. Yeah, 5 outspoken people crammed into a little doctor’s office can be somewhat chaotic. Try 5 outspoken people crammed into post-op – that’s even better.

The learning experience? Family is and always will be number one. I know now more than ever that I would be willing to drop everything to be there for a member of my family. And when I say family – I don’t only mean family by blood. Family to me are those whom I love, those who make my life fulfilled, those who I’m there for and who are there for me in return.

It may seem weird, but this whole situation changed me. It really made me reevaluate my life such that I now realize that many complaints and problems are trivial. It’s much easier for me to weed out the unimportant in favor of the important.

It also made me realize how important it is to have face-to-face interaction. This may seem obvious, but in a society where technology allows us to easily have detached relationships, this is definitely a struggle. It’s easier to simply send an email or a text, but then you’re missing out on the benefits of face-to-face interaction. You really can’t beat good old-fashioned communication.

Tristan is still facing the possibility of another, larger, surgery in the future. But I know with everything that I am that things will turn out well in the end.

So let me just take this reflection of 2011 to tell my family members how much I care. Because I really don’t think that you can ever give too much love.

Mom and Dad. You guys have always been my biggest supporters. You’ve always given me room to grow and make my own decisions – but I know you’re always only a few steps away to catch me if I fall. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without your constant love and support and I thank you for that. I love you guys!

Sam. You have been a constant in my life since I was 14. Through our ups and downs, you’ve always been and will continue to be my best friend. I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate your hard work and dedication that allows me to continue pursuing my education and ultimately my dreams. I love you.

Adam. 9 years ago you came into my life and threw me for a loop. I had no idea I could love someone as much I loved you. You gave me the motivation and will to succeed that has brought me to where I am today. Not a day goes by that you don’t make me proud to call you my son. Even thought you’re almost taller than me these days, you’ll always be my little love bug. <3

Tristan, Tiffany, and Courtney. You three are the reasons that I want to give Adam siblings. Growing up, we fought, beat each other up, and played the drowning game one too many times (sorry, Tristan ). But we also kept each other company, made each other laugh, and gave each other unconditional love. I couldn’t imagine my childhood any other way. I am so fortunate that you guys are such a huge part of my life.

Tracy. You are my oldest friend and I consider you, Jeremy, and your girls family. I can tell you anything and I always know you’ll be honest with me. I am so proud of everything you’ve accomplished (yes, I’m your Mom) and I know you’ll only continue to succeed. Love you!

Camille. Was there ever a time when you weren’t in our family? I’m sure you thought we were all pretty crazy when you met us, but to be honest I think you fit right in. Does that mean I’m calling you crazy? Maybe. I can’t wait until the day I can call you my sister-in-law!

Okay, so when I sat down to write this post I fully intended on talking about going to Paris, earning my bachelor’s degree, applying to graduate school, running my first race, etc.. But as I wrote, I realized that it just felt right to do an end-of-the year shout out to everyone who has helped make 2011 a great year.

So I love you all and here's to an absolutely fantastic 2012!

Have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve guys!

<3 Stefanie

Google Tags: reflections on 2011, family love, learning what's important, looking back on 2011, lovefest

Seriously Easy Frozen Yogurt

It’s official. I am in love with my new ice cream maker.

Who knew it could be so darn easy to whip up a delicious, healthy dessert? Since I wasn’t too sure how well my first batch would turn out, I started simple by making vanilla frozen yogurt.

All it took was 4 simple ingredients and a whirl in the ice cream maker and out came a sweet treat!

Super Simple Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients

• 2.5 C. Fage Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 C. Silk PureAlmond unsweetened almond milk
• 3 droppers full of NuNaturals liquid vanilla stevia
• dash of sea salt

Directions

1. Whisk all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Turn on the ice cream maker (make certain the tub has been frozen for at least 12 hours).
3. Slowly pour the mixture into the ice cream maker.
4. Let the maker work its magic for about 15 minutes. Or until your frozen yogurt has reached your desired consistency.

I was going for a mint chocolate chip flavor, so I topped my bowl off with some dark chocolate & mint morsels (which are also great in cookies).

This seriously could not have been any easier. If you’ve been considering investing in an ice cream maker, just do it. You won’t regret it!

And you know what? The fact that this recipe is easy and tasty isn’t even the best part. The best part? The nutrition information.

If you divide the recipe up into 3 servings, it has 115 calories and nearly 20 grams of protein (minus the toppings).

I had about half of the batch, which still only has roughly 175 calories and nearly 30 grams of protein! Add the chocolate chips (which have about 60 calories) and you have an easy, delicious, and protein-packed dessert for only 240 calories! Uh, yeah. I’ll take that any day.

I can’t wait to experiment some more! I’m thinking lemon sorbet is up next.

<3 Stefanie

Google Tags: ice cream maker, easy frozen yogurt, homemade frozen yogurt, protein-packed homemade frozen yogurt, ice cream maker recipes, vanilla greek frozen yogurt, healthy frozen yogurt

Old school sore

You know those mornings when you wake up and you feel like every muscle in your body is sore? Yep, that’s me. Except I’m sore in a good way.

I’m pretty sure it’s a combination of the LiveFit program (which I started Monday) and the two hours of intense basketball I played last night.

Playing basketball with mostly guys is not only a blast, but it’s an awesome workout too! Free movement and sprinting works muscles that are sometimes neglected. And I’m super competitive, so you better believe that I held my own and sprinted my booty off. 

As for the LiveFit program, I love it so far! I printed out the first months worth of workout logs so it should be super easy to keep track of work out days, reps, weights, etc..

Since I will doing the majority of my work outs at home, I’ll definitely have to get creative with modifications. Luckily, I have adjustable dumbbells that will allow me to increase my weight as a I get stronger.

OR maybe I’ll just use the program as a reason to get to the gym. After all, I’ve been wanting to get back in the gym lately.

The fact that I have the option of either working out at home or going to the gym only increases my chances of actually sticking with this program. I always tend to get all crazy about some new strength training program and then I get lazy and just stick with the usual cardio. It’s only 4 days a week for the first month – I can do this.

^That was me keeping myself accountable right there.

So after getting a great old school basketball work out, we went to get some authentic Mexican food. Healthy? Oh no. Delicious? Oh yes.

Cheesy guacamole nachos.

Chile rellenos.

I’ve only recently discovered the amazingness that are Chile rellenos. I’m not sure why I’ve never tried them before, but they are a great vegetarian option if you’re looking to splurge a little.

Now I’m off to the grocery store to stock our fridge with the essentials and get ingredients to whip something up in this bad boy:

I think I can feel a new obsession coming on.

I’m planning on starting simple with some tart frozen yogurt. After perusing some recipes online, it looks like all I’ll need is Greek yogurt and sugar. Sounds super easy, no?

Have a wonderful day guys!

<3 Stefanie

Google Tags: old school sore, basketball workout, livefit, jamie Eason's livefit trainer, ice cream maker, making tart froyo, mexican food, chile rellenos

 

The No-Rules Holiday Plan

After happily spending the last few days eating my weight in cookies and jalapeno popper dip (sinfully delicious), it’s time to get some greens back into my diet.

My holiday eating rule is that there really are no rules. I simply enjoy everything and then get back on track once it’s over. Basically, I adopt the see food diet – I see food, I eat it.

In the past, I’ve found that when I try to put restrictions on myself during the holidays, I just end up wanting everything that much more. It just doesn’t work for me. I’m all about everything in moderation and if I eat without abandon a few times a year (e.g., the holidays) than I’m good with that.

I think this works for me because I no longer have that “well, I ate so much this weekend what’s the point of eating healthy today” mentality. Instead, I just get right back to eating healthfully and forget about it.

This year, I went all out with the desserts. My best friend invited me over for a Christmas eve morning cookie extravaganza and it ended up being very successful (and delicious). In fact, we’re going to make it a yearly thing. There’s nothing like creating new traditions!

We made shortbread cookies,

copycat thin mints (only better) and peanut butter Ritz dipped in chocolate,

peanut butter cookie dough balls,

pumpkin white chocolate chip cookies,

turtles,

and Oreo truffles dipped in white chocolate (regular and mint).

Yeah, it’s safe to say that I put my family (and myself) into a two-day cookie coma.

But, the holidays weren’t all about the cookies. In fact, it was mostly about spending quality time with my family (while eating cookies).

Adam loves Doctor Who and my brother found him the perfect shirt! How will he ever top that next year?

Oh you know, just modeling a pan of fruit pizza. Everyone does this, right?

Sibling love (minus our oldest sister).

Clearly, Adam is holding the brunt of my weight here.

Ah, I’m definitely sad to see the weekend go. But at least we still have New Years to look forward to!

So now that I’ve come out of my cookie coma, it’s time to get back on track. I started with a green smoothie.

[frozen banana, frozen strawberries, frozen spinach, Vega vanilla protein, almond milk]

Topped with Love Grown Granola.

I feel more like myself already!

Okay, so getting back on the healthy eating train is a piece of cake for me (no pun intended). But like I said last week, finding exercise motivation isn’t coming quite as easily.

Luckily, I got a fun new present that’s going to help with this.

I’ve been wanting a set like this forever! Thanks Mom and Dad!

All right, time to utilize my new weight set and get my strength on with Jamie Eason’s 12-week LiveFit Trainer, phase 1, day 1.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a weights workout, so maybe I’ll just start with the 3 pounders.

I hope you all have a wonderful fun-filled weekend!

<3 Stefanie

Google Tags: holiday eating rules, holiday rules, the no rules holiday eating plan, weights, cookies, holiday fun, family fun, green smoothie in a bowl, Love Grown Granola, getting back on track, Jamie Eason's livefit trainer

Happy Holidays!

I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a happy holiday weekend!

From our family to yours.

May your weekend be filled with great food, family, friends, joy, and love.

<3 The New Healthy Family

Losing Motivation

First of all, thank you guys for the warm welcome back! I am SO excited to reconnect with the blog world and all of the lovely people in it!

Now, let’s talk about something that I am not so excited about.

A while ago (it seems like quite a long while now), I wrote a post about how my food preferences and eating styles have evolved over time.

Essentially, I went from craving greasy fast food to wanting vegetables and hummus. That’s not to say I don’t ever have those greasy food cravings (I mean who can resist some a few slices of pizza or some French fries every now and then), but they're simply overshadowed by my love for fresh clean foods.

Well, it seems that something quite similar happened with my exercise habits.

I went from dreading the thought of stepping foot into the gym to loving every sweaty second of it. Well, that love was the end game at least. The in between stages were the ones that were really difficult. And it seems that I’ve hit another “in-between.” I suppose that evolution means continual change, but things are going the wrong way. Maybe I’ve just reverted back a bit – either way it’s something that needs to change.

I still love that amazing after workout feeling and of course, I love knowing that I’m burning calories and keeping my body in shape at the same time. It’s the whole motivation to get it done that has a become an issue.

Of course, it’s impossible to be motivated all the time. There are always those times when you need that extra boost or you simply do it because you know you should. But lately, I have been swaying way too far to the ‘do it because you know you should’ side. And I don’t like it.

When I got to the point where I could maintain my weight loss with only a few work outs a week, my characteristic motivation started to wane off. Now, am I saying that I work out only to keep the weight off? The answer to that is tricky – so I’ll say yes and no.

My love for working out developed because of all the wonderful benefits it offered. And sure, losing weight (and keeping it off) was one of those benefits. But would that love for working out have developed if I was always at a healthy weight? I really can’t say and I’ll never actually know, so that’s besides the point.

The point is, I need to get that fire back. I want to get back to exercising because I love to exercise and not because I need to get in my 3 days that week. I firmly believe that if you’ll never keep it up if you only do something because you feel it needs to be done. In order to stick with it, you need to truly enjoy it.

I definitely feel like my blogging break had something to do with this. Especially since this all happened over the past month or two. In my break from blogging, I also took a break from reading blogs. Without reading or writing, I wasn’t always thinking about fun new workouts or ways to switch things up. Instead, I just stuck with what I know works – the treadmill. But damn it, the treadmill can only keep you entertained for so long. Am I right?

Now of course, any overly-organized girl like myself would create a plan to get that fire back – so here goes.

Stefanie’s ‘GET THE FIRE BACK’ workout plan

1. First and foremost, think outside of the treadmill. Yes, it’s there. Yes, it works. But it’s time to spice it up.
2. Dust off the DVDs (Turbofire, P90x, Jillian Michael’s…etc.) and rediscover new ways to get my sweat on.
3. Take more classes! I absolutely love group fitness classes, but it has been months since I’ve taken one. Time to get back to it.
4. Get outside! Despite the mild winter weather, it’s been far too long since I’ve enjoyed an outdoor run. I need to rediscover the joy of hitting the pavement, seeing the different scenery, and breathing in the fresh air.
5. And finally, go to the gym! Get motivated by others who are sweating their butts off. I mean, hey, energy is contagious.

So there it is. A few simple demands to get myself back in the exercise lovers club. I used to be one of those (possibly annoying) people telling anyone that would listen that “I LOVE TO WORK OUT.” It’s time to get back to that!

Who’s with me?

Also, can you believe Christmas is 3 days away? So exciting!

<3 Stefanie

Google Tags: exercise motivation, getting back exercise motivation, i love to workout, ways to get back to exercise, exercise, workout, exercise evolution

Well, hey there.

So, I’ve been planning to blog since the day I stopped blogging. But then the day goes by and my laptop stays closed.

You see, there’s been a few little problems in my way. I’ve taken very few pictures and created zero new recipes over the past couple of months. Only the problem is that that really hasn’t been a problem at all. In fact, it’s been quite freeing.

Let’s be frank – an undocumented life is much easier than a documented one. It’s been nice to pick up a fork and enjoy a meal without worrying about snapping a picture beforehand. And you know what’s embarrassing? I kind of, sort of don’t even know where my camera is. Oops, I should probably figure that one out.

Despite the freeing feeling, I’ve really missed sharing my life with you guys!

I’ve especially missed being inspired by YOUR meals, YOUR workouts, and YOUR wonderful posts. So here I am, thinking about making a comeback. I can’t say that I’ll be an everyday blogger – but I’d certainly like to rejoin this wonderful world.

So over the past few months, I’ve eaten several delicious blog-worthy meals, trucked through a bunch of blog-worthy workouts, and gone on a few blog-worthy trips to the city (that’s Chicago for me).

As lovely as those memories are, how about we just start from scratch? I’ll give you a broad update in terms of life, and we’ll start from there.

When we last spoke, my family was going through some medical issues with one of my closest friends (who just happens to my brother). After several surgeries, three doctors, tons of University of Chicago trips, and quite a few tears – he got a diagnosis and that diagnosis involved the word “benign.” Although we were (and still are) extremely happy to hear the news, he still has a long-road to recovery. The important thing is that his feet are now planted on that road.

I also told you guys that I was staying with my parents for a while. Well that lasted for about two months, but now I’m back at home. As some of you know, I’ve been in a relationship for 10 years (since I was in high school)! And let me tell you, it has been tough trying to keep our relationship strong and healthy.

We essentially grew up together and in growing up, we also grew apart in some ways. It’s inevitable, but also preventable. And we’re working on it – in fact, we always will be. Neither of us will ever stop changing and growing, so we just have to continue learning how to change and grow together. Sometimes it just takes a break to be able to put things into perspective and realize what’s truly important.

Putting things into perspective included realizing that there is no such as a ‘perfect relationship.’ Rationally, I have always known that. Yet, I still hoped for that picture-perfect straight-outta-the-movies relationship. Who doesn’t?

It comes down to this – do the positives outweigh the negatives? Looking back, do I remember more good times than bad? I realized that if I can answer yes to those questions, then it’s worth the work. If not, then it just might be time to move on. Simple. I’m a bit too rational at times, eh?

Aside from all of these life lessons I’ve been learning (ha), I’ve also been busy finishing my last semester of undergrad, doing research, applying for several Graduate programs (personal statements are no joke), settling into my new job, and most importantly, being a mother to my handsome boy.

Adam is obsessed with MAD and Alfred E. Neuman. He’s also a quick change artist – can you tell?

So how about that new job, eh?

I recently accepted a position as a program assistant at an afterschool program taught with a focus on fitness. It delivers a curriculum that provides elementary children with the skills to cope with peer pressure and negative situations.

The curriculum is taught in a way that incorporates fitness and healthy eating. For example, we start the day with fitness drills and then teach the kids how to make healthy snacks to refuel.  Basically, it’s right up my alley – so I simply couldn’t resist accepting.

We also adopted a new kitten! His name is Brodie and he and Georgie are already little buddies. Well, besides for the fact that Georgie likes to show him who’s boss by biting his neck and then licking him. It must be a cat thing.

Have I mentioned that I plan to be a cat lady for the rest of my life? Because I do. Luckily, both Sam and Adam are equally obsessed with our little fur balls.

Things have been pretty boring on the fitness front. That’s actually one of the things I really miss about blogging. I’ve still been a frequent flyer on the treadmill, but I’ve been really slacking in the weights department. And let me tell you – I can feel it. The scale hasn’t really moved but I just feel more cushiony – know what I mean? Hello, holidays.

Anyway, the whole point of this post was to talk about easing back into blogging. So I may be back tomorrow or I may be back next week. At this point, indecisive is my middle name.

In the meantime, catch me up. How’s life?

I truly hope you are all wonderful!

<3 Stefanie