CONFESSION - I fell off the wagon! How am I gonna get back on??

You hear about it all the time - heck maybe you've even experienced it.

Someone lost a whole bunch of weight - and then started falling back into bad old habits and sslllllooowwwlllyyy started putting weight back on.  

You think - oh that'll NEVER happen to me, I'm different man!  I got this under control! 

At least that's how I thought.

I was interviewed once about my weight loss story and in the interview I was asked if I ever worry about gaining the weight back.

"No, my whole lifestyle has completely changed - I KNOW I will NEVER go back down that road!" I answered with confidence.

Yet, here I am.

I am currently 20 lbs higher than my lightest weight - the weight I had reached at the end of my 21 day Ultimate Reset cleanse last December.

I don't think this qualifies as "water weight" or a "little bit of bloating from a weekend of eating bad"... I've been telling myself this about my growing waist size and as the number goes up and up on the scale - "oh... that's just water weight... I'll lose it in like 2 days once I'm back on track!" 

You know what that's called?

DENIAL! 

I have spent the majority of this year in DENIAL!  Denial about the fact that - no, I do NOT have this "under control" and yes, maybe I do need to get serious about tracking everything I eat again and get back to ONLY one treat a week... My one treat a week has really been 4 treat DAYS each week... Needless to say this isn't getting me very far.

So, you're probably wondering - wow Lara... so what are you going to do?? 

Well, I have figured out a couple things about myself in this last year. 

1)  I NEED to be doing a workout program - complete with a set schedule and I need to follow the schedule that it came with.

2)  I need to get back to doing a workout that I actually love and enjoy.

See, here's the thing - I have consistently kept up working out yes.  But not following an actual program I slacked off during my workouts and there were some weeks that I did only workout 3 or 4 days... This is not acceptable for me... For me I gotta workout at least 5 days... AT LEAST!  This was one of my "rules" that I set in play when I first started on my journey back in 2011.

So... I was gonna jump back in with both feet and go right to the Insanity Asylum workouts - cuz that was gonna get me FAST results!  HARD WORKOUTS = FAST RESULTS! 

Yeah... that lasted a day.  Hard workouts only equal fast results if you actually DO them.  I know, sad :(

I finally realized - Okay... I'm trying to get back into a groove where I LOVE working out, just like I used to at one point... Maybe I should try to get back into this with something I actually enjoy.  

hmm.. weird concept right? 

So I pulled out my FAVE program - Les Mills Combat and OMG SO.MUCH.FUN!!! 

Last week was week 1 - I am going to complete this program again and I will be done it just in time to do the brand new Insanity Max:30 program that is being released at the beginning of December! 

I HAVE TO stick with this so I am ready for Max 30!

I didn't really enjoy Insanity when I did it 2 years ago... But I still did it because I was in the groove where I loved working out - sticking to combat all 60 days will get me back in that groove, I know it will... It already almost has in just a week!

Max:30 is also going to be INTENSE so I wanna be back in tip-top shape to start it! 

Two other things I am doing to get back into my groove of eating right, tracking everything I eat and seeing the number on the scale go back down -

1)  Shaun T's Dietbet!  I bet $30 I would lose 4% of my body weight in 4 weeks... I'm really gonna double that tho - just watch me! 

2)  4 weeks NO JUNK FOOD OR BOOZE challenge!  4 weeks of No chips, no candy, no donuts, no booze, no soda, no cake, no cookies!  I got an accountability group I'm going to be setting up and I will succeed - yep... NO CANDY FOR ME AT HALLOWEEN! 

Wanna join me in any of the above??  Send me an e-mail lara.curry85@gmail.com and... 

LET'S GO!!!!! 

Are you a habitual excuse-maker?

Do you find yourself coming up with a ton of reasons as to why you can't workout or eat right?  Let's face it - life happens!  Sometimes it is just way too difficult, maybe even impossible to squeeze that workout in or to prep that healthy food.  The thing is however, that EVERYONE has life happen while they are on their fitness journey.  It's that CHOICE that we all have of whether you are going to USE that excuse and skip that workout or if you are going to power through and get it done anyways - NO.MATTER.WHAT.

I know some of you may be sitting there reading this thinking - "well no what I'm going through is different - I don't have the choice, I just literally don't have the time to workout or prep healthy food!"  If you're thinking that then you are probably not gonna like what I am about to tell you.  You absolutely DO have the CHOICE.  There are workout programs out there that are only 25 minutes, 5 days a week... 25 minutes!!  I am going to bet that you probably spend more than 25 minutes each day contemplating stuff that you need to get done... or doing your hair and makeup for the day... Or watching your favourite TV shows.  We all have the same 24 hours in a day, it's your CHOICE what you do with that time!  Yes, you may have to sacrifice watching your favourite TV show... you may have to get up 30 mins earlier or go to bed 30 minutes later - but if your health and energy are worth it, you will find a way!  

As for time to meal prep - I have some amazing news for you.  Guess what!  Spending just a couple hours prepping food on a Sunday will actually SAVE you a ton of time preparing all throughout the week!  It's also super simple and I will make a separate blog post on meal prepping soon, but it's literally as simple as seasoning and throwing a bunch of chicken breasts in the oven and leaving them to bake... Roasting some veggies in the oven at the same time as the chicken and cooking up some brown rice... BOOM!  Easy, simple and DONE!  Guess what?  You're also gonna save yourself a ton of money by not needing to eat out and pre-packaged, processed foods are NOT always cheaper.

So... Are you gonna choose to find excuses or are you gonna choose to find a way to get it done?

Hearty Beef Stew

Hearty Beef Stew

For a quick, healthy meal in the middle of winter, try this hearty beef stew, or our vegan-friendly version.

Total Time: 1 hr. 15 min.
Prep Time: 15 min.
Cooking Time: 1 hr.
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1½ lb. raw lean beef stew meat, boneless
1½ medium onions, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)
½ to 1 cup low-sodium organic beef broth (or vegetable broth)
1 bay leaf
½ medium green bell pepper, chopped
½ medium red bell pepper, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium potatoes, cubed
3 cups cooked quinoa, hot

Preparation:
1. Place beef, onions, tomatoes, soy sauce, hot sauce, 1/2 cup broth, and bay leaf in large saucepot.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, covered, for 40 minutes, adding additional broth as needed.
3. Add bell peppers, carrots, and potatoes; cook, covered, for an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until sauce has thickened and beef is fork tender.
4. Serve with quinoa.

Vegan Variation: Substitute beef with same amount of tempeh. Use only ½ cup vegetable broth instead of beef broth. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Add vegetables and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

Calories: 346

Fat: 7 g

Saturated Fat: 2 g

Cholesterol: 75 mg

Sodium: 626 mg

Carbohydrate: 40 g

Fiber: 6 g

Sugar: 5 g

Protein: 33 g