My wonderful readers and friends!

I am still here, I just needed a huge break from blogging my dear friends :) I felt a little burnt out on ideas, recipes, etc... I was starting to feel like I wasn't having as much fun blogging as I had in the past, less inspired and motivated. After a nice break I am feeling so much better and I'm actually going to be putting my efforts towards this blog and another! Here is my other blog, which is dedicated to my fitness goals. At the moment I'm trying out Jillian Michael's 90 day Body revolution. I'm on day 6, so feel free to follow me as I work my butt off to try to get into better shape :) Even though I lost 44-50lbs eating clean, whole foods I still have a bit of weight I want to lose to get into a healthy, happy range. I really like structured workouts, where I know I have to set aside 30mins-1 hour to workout a day :)




We went to Saltspring Island recently where we met some wonderful organic farmers, and veggie lovers at the farmer's market. The market had only been open for it's 2nd Saturday and it was packed! For such a small island they really give local markets a run for their money! The talent, the products, the food and entertainers are amazing!!!


See for yourself, thought I'd share a few photos :)

Awesome entertainer! He did a lot of balancing with spinning bowls, at one point I think he had 8 of them going and he was hanging on to each of them. He balanced one on a tip of an umbrella! Very cool entertainer :)

Here are some sprouted peanuts that I bought from a lovely young couple. They also sold mushrooms, sprouts and rice paper sprout wraps. Their products were amazing and decently priced. The peanuts were such a different texture to regular store bought nuts that we are all used too. Moist, soft, yet crunchy with a much milder flavour. We shared this with friends :)

MMMM my lunch and goodies to take home. I had that really yummy rice paper sprout wrap with a fresh squeezed orange dip vinegrette :) My spicy sprouts are also shown in this pic! I gobbled those up when I got home mostly on salads :)

*sighs* Isn't the harbor gorgeous...loved eating lunch there. Live music playing in the background, the sun's warmth on my skin and the ocean...beautiful day!

Vegetable Bean & Lentil Soup

This turned out wonderfully delicious even on a hot day! We sat outside in our patio chairs, enjoyed watching the sunset and devoured some amazing soup. Sometimes when I have one or two ingredients I run an Internet search to find something healthy and child-friendly to make. My main ingredients today were beans and lentils. I also wanted it to be low-calorie, flavourful, healthy and stocked full of veggies. I saw a lot of recipes for black bean soup...gave them all a once over and decided to just create my own soup in my crock pot. Best thing about recipes like this are that they are versatile. I used what I had in my cupboard and fridge and you can use what you have, so don't be discouraged if you see something on the ingredients list that you don't have.

Vegetable Bean & Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
2 medium onions
2 celery stalks
4 overripe tomatoes
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables(corn, peas, carrots, green beans)
1 cup of kale
1 can of black beans
1 cup of dry navy beans
1/2 cup of dry lentils
4 cups veggie stock
4 cups of cold water
1 package onion soup mix (optional: you can choose to do 8 cups of veggie stock instead, I was just using what I had on hand)

~Spice mix~
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Makes 15 servings!

Turn your crock pot on low. Dice all the veggies and put them in your crock pot. Add the canned black beans. Then add your vegetable stock, water and onion soup mix. Finally incorporate the spices into the mix.

If you are using dried navy beans and lentils like I did you have to soak them in water for 3 hours and typically boil them for another 1.5. I did this as the rest of my soup was cooking in the crock pot, then added them during the last hour of cook time. You could also just get canned beans, but remember canned means a lot of salt, dried beans have hardly any.

Let your soup cook for 5-6 hours in the crock pot. Then use a blender to puree 10 cups of your soup. If you are using an upright blender do only 1-2 cups at a time because hot soup means steam can force your lid to pop off. Leave the other 5 cups of soup chunky. Pour the blended soup back in with the left over chunky soup and mix them together. It turns out amazing!

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I love how low calorie this soup is...I plugged the ingredients into a recipe creator and I came out with:
15 servings at 1 cup each
84 calories per serving
16 carbs
0 fat
5 protein
4 fiber
400 sodium (This could be reduced if you used no canned beans and strictly veggie stock)

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The review from the family was positive! The hubby had 3 cups worth and loved every bit. Although at this moment he is lying here beside me stuffed and complaining he ate to much! Scratch that now he is sleeping, so remember only a cup or so will do you. I had 1 serving and felt totally satisfied.

My 4 year old is a bit unsure about beans, luckily we had a few parenting tricks. We told our little one that his favorite superhero loved this soup because it gave him the energy to go exploring and run fast. Our little guy hesitated, but then gave it a couple bites..said yuck and then ate more! Got to love that he really wanted to not like it because of the beans, but then ate it because it tasted so good.
My thoughts on this recipe are to enjoy it while you are camping or hiking like us! When the weather starts to cool off in the evening and you can sit outdoors and keep warm. It will keep you full for quite some time and that always helps while outdoors.
Enjoy your long weekend! The weather has finally picked up here, so we've been busy enjoying it.

My belated birthday and staying committed!

Last year for my birthday my family surprised me with "Maggie's Swirly Tart"and how could I not ask for it again! It's beautiful, delicious and for a cake it's pretty darn healthy to eat :)

I think last year's edition was a bit fancier in design, but in terms of flavor both were amazing. After serving it out, I had to take a pic. It turned out to be a really messy shot though, so you get the pretty before pic. All I can say is yum and thank you everyone who celebrated with me!

I turned 29 this year! I can't believe it, I only have one year left till I hit 30! Some of you may know that I want to reach my goal weight by the time I hit 30, which I believe is possible. In total I have lost 48lbs since December and I want to lose another 30lbs by my 30th.

Yesterday I started a new/old fitness challenge, Jillian's 30 day shred. I really love this workout program, it's tough, challenging and short! I have no excuses to not fit it into my day :) I seem to have commitment issues when it comes to workout programs. I have yet to complete a 60 day or 90 day program, but give me a 30 day and I can bust it out. I think this has something to do with being able to envision the finish line easily, knowing that it will end and I will be able to start something fun and new.

It does pay to learn what workouts keep you motivated during your weight loss journey, that way you can focus on staying committed. For example, a lot of people I know have to join a gym and allot a certain time of the day to working out. There are many examples of this, just find what works well for you :)

+Short workout programs (3 weeks-30 days): A lot of programs are set up this way, look up a favorite trainer or favorite exercise and you should find something.

+Long workout programs (60 day to 90 days): I don't know a lot of programs that are this long other than P90X, Insanity and Turbo Jam or Turbo Fire.

+Game console workout programs: There are tons of workout programs and activities on different game consoles. Most are really well done and get you sweating. Plus I always feel like I'm playing a game more than working out. I always do some online research about the workout/game before purchasing.

+Free Internet workouts: YouTube has a ton of exercise videos posted, bodyrock.tv is another great site that posts workout routines for free.

+Gym routines: Join a gym and get into a routine where you stay committed to it for an hour a day. Before work, after work, before the kids go to school, after your partner gets home from work?

+Local community activities: More than likely your community will have some sort of active program happening. A hiking group, running group, fitness challenge, boxing group. Often you can find these advertised at local gyms, community centers, community track. Just watch prices they can range from free to a few dollars to the hundreds.

+Find a workout buddy: Sometimes it really pays off to recruit a friend into working out with you. That way you can challenge, teach and support each other during workouts. It can have drawbacks though, you should really find someone who is just as committed as you.

+Buy your own equipment: This doesn't have to be expensive either. A few weights, a yoga mat, some boxing gloves, the list goes on...

+Get outside: This can be weather permitting but, start running, biking, hiking, walking the track...the list goes on :)

Those are just a few of the ideas I have been using to keep my workouts interesting and fun. One month I'll commit to a short workout program and if weather permits I'll also run. Another month I'll join a local ladies swim class and walk the track. I hope these examples will help you because they sure have helped me stay motivated :)

On to my funny Popeye find...

We are harvesting a lot of spinach from our garden, which I love! Every morning I'm out their picking my daily smoothie, juice and/or salad base. Anyways, I saw this shirt the other day with a picture of Popeye flexing his muscles that said "I eat spinach, not drugs!" If it had been a girl's tee I would have bought it on the spot and worn it while working out! Too funny!

Maggie's Weight Loss Vlog #1

Here is my very first vlog, it was super fun to make, so feel free to giggle and laugh along with me. The run down of this week's vlog episode:

-An introduction to me
-The purpose of the vlog
-My weight and my weight loss history
-Before and after pictures of my progress thus far
-A brief mention of my workouts
-And of course the "Tip of the day!"

Hopefully this video plays well for everyone, it's uploaded through Youtube so it should work well. Next episode I plan to address what I eat, more detail on workouts, plus some other fun stuff :)

Enjoy!

My vlog idea...

Me! Right before my week 2 Day 5 of the Couch to 5km running program :)

I have been so focused on my health lately that I've been absent in terms of writing in here. I've been thinking about adding some video to this blog. I thought it would be pretty fun to do a few 4 minute videos of my everyday health and weight loss journey. I would love to look back at the videos to see how far I have come, but most importantly I want it to help others in similar situations. I know watching other health and weight loss vlogs I've been able to relate, be inspired and encouraged by their hardwork and changes :)

I'm pretty sure i'm going to try it out, see how it goes..might be fun and it would let me focus on both food, recipes, exercise, health, and weight loss :)

What do you think?