Erica's Weight Loss Update 4/16/14

Life has gotten incredibly busy for us recently! Since February, I have been traveling at least a few days every month. It's just one of those years where several big events are taking place at once and we're excited to be involved! We have a couple of friends getting married, a couple friends graduating, a few events with our young adult's group, Flash Point. Right now the traveling every month is scheduled through August. In some ways it's nice to be this busy, especially since Nevada life tends to run pretty slowly, and it's just nice to see the people we love more often. The downside, extra little things like our blog get less love.

I am currently getting ready for another WA visit and leave on the 20th (this Sunday). My best friend Katie K is getting married in July and I am her matron of honor! We've gabbed about boys since I was 12 and I am incredibly happy that she has found the love of her life and that I get to be part of celebrating this amazing time with her! Of course, big events like this always inspire us to lose weight and try to fit into a smaller dress size ;) Well, I am no exception. I tried to just not care for a while, but eventually I was honest with myself.

Of course, with all of the travel, plus people coming to visit us, its been very hard to stick with our clean eating. I've probably gotten off track and back again more times in the last 4 months than I did in the entirety of 2013 (how's that for honest?). Needless to say, I haven't lost any pounds since the beginning of February. I've put on a few and then lost them again, but I haven't dipped under my lowest recorded weight. With that has come some discouragement, especially since I have some goals for the wedding.

Harley at 16 weeks (March) on a hike

Despite my lack of pounds lost, my body has been up to some subtle changes that I didn't even notice until just the last week! We got a puppy (Harley) at the end of January (this is not a "squirrel" moment, I promise. It relates to the weight loss ;) Well, we quickly found out this adorable little puppy is one of the most high energy dog breeds and needs intense exercise...EVERY DAY! That's what we get for not doing enough of our homework. When we came across that tid bit of info, I looked at Donald and said, "Jesus just tricked us into exercising everyday..." As much of pain as Harley can be, he's becoming very good for our health! As a result, I have picked back up rollerblading and biking, and together Donald and I have been hiking and taking long walks. I am almost to the point of exercising every day. There are definitely days where I plain don't feel like it, in fact that is most days. I usually have to convince myself to get out there, more so because it's what Harley needs. Just this morning, I dragged myself out to go bike riding with Harley (only our third time) and we went 2.6 miles! It felt great and I can't wait to keep adding up the miles!

Hiked for 3.5 miles and climbed up 1000 feet (March)

Back to those subtle changes...somewhere along the way, all that new exercise really started to add up! I posted this on my Facebook last week:
"The last few months I've struggled to lose weight (pounds) and in some ways it's been discouraging. I've constantly tried to remind myself that my goal has been and needs to continue to be being healthy. In January Donald and I were doing a little clearance shopping when I came across a $3 dress. It was a steal, but it was also a size 12. At that time in I had been consistently losing at least 1-2 pounds a week, so I bought it hoping I'd hit size 12 by summer. The dresses I had bought in Spring 2013 were size 20's! This was definitely a leap of faith purchase. After the last several months of the scale not budging, I saw the dress in the back of my closet today and decided I might as well try it on to see how close I was to being able to wear it. Incredibly enough, IT FIT!! Such a great reminder that even if the scale doesn't show it, the inches can still come off!"

This was an incredible victory after several months of discouragement! That's 4 dress sizes in less than a year! To further add victory, we did a little shopping last weekend. I decided to try on some smaller sizes after having success with my size 12 dress. I purchased my first size 14 pants and my first medium shirt!! I can't tell you when the last time I bought a medium shirt was...I'm almost positive I have never bought a medium as an adult! And the last time I bought 14's was before Donald and I got married.

I decided to come home and take my measurements after that shopping trip. The last time I had taken measurements was at the beginning of January. I measure 8 points on my body; the normal thigh, upper arm, waist, etc., plus a couple of my problem areas where I tend to gain weight the most. In almost every place I had lost an inch and in few I had lost as much as 2.5 inches!

This has been so encouraging and really inspires me to stick with the healthy eating and exercise! Donald has been doing well on his weight loss also and recently hit a big goal! He'll be sharing about it on the blog soon, so look for the link on our Facebooks =)

Sweet Potato Hashbrowns Recipe

Since finding out that I'm allergic to potatoes, I've definitely missed them! I was so happy to find out that sweet potatoes, which aren't even in the potato family believe it or not, do not cause a reaction in me. I've been able to substitute them in almost all ways I would use a regular potato. One of those ways is to make hashbrowns.

I've had to tweak and re-tweak this recipes until I found a method that did not result in a burnt crisp. Apparently, sweet potatoes burn in the pan quiet easily! I've tried both grated and small chopped versions. I've yet to perfect a grated version. This small chopped version turns out great as long as you don't walk away from the stove (trust me, I know from experience...). I like to have a little bit of crispness on the outside and I discovered that tossing them in a little bit of corn starch helps greatly!

What you need: (1 serving)
3/4 cup Sweet Potato (diced into cubes)
1-2 tsp Corn Starch (organic or non-GMO)
a bit of cooking oil (preferably Avocado Oil or Corn Oil)

Dice up your sweet potato and toss with the corn starch till everything is coated well.

Heat your oil up in the pan. Make sure its pretty hot or else the hash will be very oily. I throw in one cube of sweet potato to test it. If it makes a nice sizzle right away, the pan is ready.

Throw the sweet potato into the pan. I turn mine about every 30 seconds for the first 2-3 minutes to make sure they don't burn and that everything gets evenly cooked through.

Once all the pieces seem soft, allow them to sit a bit longer between turns. This will allow them to start crisping and getting a bit of color. I highly recommend not walking away from the pan because they will burn easily and quickly.

When they have reached your desired crispiness, they are done. I cooked mine for about 10 minutes total.

Grain-free Granola Recipe

One of the things I've really missed since cutting out processed foods and most grains is cereal. I just love sitting down with a bowl of cereal or granola for an easy breakfast. I started to wonder if I could come up with a way to substitute nuts and other things to make my own version of granola. Sure enough, there are tons of variations on grain-free granola. After looking at several recipes, I made up my own to fit my tastes and what I had on hand.

I also like to soak my nuts in a water/salt solution for 6 hours before I get started with this recipe. Then I dry them part way in the oven on warm for about 8-12 hours. By only letting them dry partially, I get a chewier granola. There are several benefits to soaking your nuts and this post explains them. I follow the recipe for Crispy Nuts from the Nourishing Traditions book.

What you need:
3 cups Nuts (I usually use a variety: Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans, Cashews)
1 cup Dried Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1 cup Dried Fruit (I've used Cranberries and Apricots)
1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1/4-1/2 cup Honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
Pinch of Salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Use a blender, bullet, or sharp knife to chop the nuts. I use the grain/nut grinder on my nutri-bullet and blend up about 1/2 cup at a time. I try to leave a few medium-big pieces here and there.

If you want to chop your dried fruit into smaller pieces, do it at this point (I just throw them in the blender right after the nuts).

Combine nuts, fruit, chia seeds, and dried coconut in a bowl and mix.

Melt coconut oil and mix honey in with it. You want the heat from the oil to melt the honey and form a thin liquid. If it wasn't hot enough, melt on the stove or in the microwave.

Once the thin liquid has formed, pour it in the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Pour mixture on to a parchment papered (or greased) cookie sheet and spread to all corners until you have an even layer.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool, it will harden a little. Break up with your hands as you place it in an airtight container or ziplock baggie.

One of the things I love about this is that it is so customizable! You could use chocolate chips, any variety of seeds, vanilla, all kinds of different fruits, etc. What flavors would you like to try?

DIY Fabric Softener in 5 minutes

One of my favorite things about this softener is getting to choose the scent! I don't know about you, but I love the smell of clean laundry! What I don't love: paying buckoo bucks for the scent. This fabric softener is very cheap and easy to make and a little bit goes a long ways!

What you need:
2 cups Hair Conditioner (cheapest you can find in a scent you love! I use Sauve and V05)
3 cups White Vinegar
6 cups Hot Water
Several Drops of Essential Oils (this is optional, sometimes I add it, last time I didn't)
Large Mixing Bowl
Whisk
Measuring Cup
Bottles to hold the Fabric Softner (I re-used some old detergent bottles)

Whisk hot water and conditioner together in bowl until fully incorporated.

Add in vinegar and essential oil (if using). Mix until combined.

Pour mixture into container of choice (I like to re-use an old fabric softener bottle because then I can use the measurement cap).

We add half a capful to each load of laundry.

Super easy and super cheap with a customize-able scent (I love mixing Lavender and Vanilla conditioners together)! What scents would you use?