How is my baby already 6 months old?! That's not ok. I keep on thinking if I hug him tight enough it will stop him from growing up… I wish!

One thing I will always say about myself is that I'm an open book. A bit too honest maybe? When I started this blog I wanted to be one hundred percent honest. I wanted to show the ups and the downs of my weight-loss journey. You'd think that other people who had started a weight-loss blog may fib a little bit and say they've been working out hours on end but the weight hasn't come off. Mmmm nope. Not here. Honestly this past month I have only been putting in maybe two days of work outs a week. Not going to lie!

I lost 2 lbs this past month... Which isn't ideal but I'm happy with any loss. Heck I'm happy as long as I'm not gaining! One thing that has surprised me is that I didn't gain any weight back from the juice fast the other month; that was surprising to me! I was sure that weight-loss was a bunch of water weight, but I guess not!

I think the reason I've lost some motivation to work out is because I'm feeling dang good in my clothes ;). But really! It's almost like I need to feel chubby to keep up the motivation. I just need to realize that to continue feeling good in my clothes I need to continue working out. Just like I've always said, eating healthy and living an active lifestyle isn't a destination, it's a journey! I just need to keep it a habit.

Meal Prep

That being said, I still am continuing to eat clean. Eating clean is actually something I've really excelled at this past month. What I've been doing is prepping my meals ahead of time. I usually will just cook a bunch of chicken, broccoli and brown rice all at once, then divide it up into tubberware containers and stick it in the freezer until I'm ready to eat it.

Chicken

I get a big bag of frozen chicken breasts from Costco (It's about $22 for 18 chicken breasts… which is the best deal I've found) and then I put them in the crockpot with a little seasoning. For seasoning I will usually use one or two of those zesty italian seasoning packets, salad dressing, or terriyaki sauce... get creative! I don't feel guilty about cooking it in the sauce because the chicken hardly absorbs any of the sauce, rather it just gives it a nice kick! I will put 8-10 chicken breasts in the crockpot and cook it on low for 4 to 5 hours (just until it's no longer pink in the middle).

Brown Rice

To cook the brown rice I get a bag of Target's market pantry brown rice from target (it's 89 cents for one whole bag, what a steal!) and put it in the rice cooker with some seasoning and a tablespoon of olive oil. You can make your own seasoning or you can just pour in one of the italian seasoning packets. I usually put 5 cups of water in with my brown rice, but I like my rice to be pretty saturated. I've found that it freezes better when it's cooked with a little more water than usual.

Broccoli

I get a big bag of cut broccoli florets from Costco. It's usually about $5 give or take for a great big bag. I count on putting in a handful or two of broccoli for each meal and just steam it on the stove top. I have a great big pot for steaming so it makes it easy, I bring the water to a boil and then stick in the broccoli for about 10 minutes.  I wait to start the brown rice and broccoli until the chicken is nearing the end of it's cooking time. 

Once they are all done I divide up the meals, stick it in some tupperware, and go on my way! Seriously, an hour of meal prep for like 10 meals? Doesn't get better than that! I've also calculated just how much it costs per meal to eat clean like this… and it's only like $1.65. Pretty sure my husband and I save money when we eat like this… And you may find that one whole chicken breast is too much for one meal. If you just do half a chicken breast you'd be under $1.00 per meal! And trust me, you 'aint gonna get real food like this off the dollar menu.

I will thaw however many meals I need the next day in my fridge overnight, and when I'm ready to eat them I just stick it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Added bonus? Cooked chicken stays good in the freezer for up to 6 months! Love this little chart below if I ever have any questions.

Because I have only lost 2 pounds the past month I won't be posting any progress pictures this month… rather I'll be waiting until next month. October 22… here I come!

P.F. Chang's Healthy Lettuce Wraps

So I know a few people that have competed in bikini or fitness competitions and one of the things that amazes me is how bland the food is that they eat! Props to them that they can choke down a boiled chicken breast without any kind of seasoning… but I love food too much to do that! I was looking at one girls instagram and her lunch was literally lean ground turkey and broccoli. No seasoning… nothin'! I love food way too much to do that. I mean at least add a little flavoring to it! I literally would rather add 100 calories of ranch and work it off at the gym that day then have to force bland food down my throat ;)

I totally love this lettuce wrap recipe. I will even pack it up for leftovers and eat it plain the next day at work. I imagine it would also be good over some brown rice. Tastes like P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps, but the best part is that you cooked it and you know exactly what went into it! Want to cut down on calories and put less of a certain ingredient in? You can do it! I switch out using ground chicken and lean ground turkey in this recipe, just depends on whatever is cheapest at the store. Some time the lean ground turkey is a lot more expensive and not worth the saved calories so I just get the ground chicken. 

This recipe has lots of sauces, many I have never worked with before. So below is a picture to show you what the bottles look like, it will make it easier to find them at the grocery store (hint: asian food section!!) 

I mean… if you don't know what peanut butter looks like we should probably have a talk… ;)

Ingredients

2 lbs of ground chicken or turkey

1 yellow onion

2 tsp minced garlic

2 inch nop fresh ginger

3 tbsp sesame oil

7 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp water

3 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp honey

4 tbsp rice vinegar

2 1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce (if you are sensitive to spicy things, adjust accordingly. For me, I like it spicy so I actually do 3 tsp all together)

6 green onions 

2 8oz cans of sliced waterchestnuts

2 heads of iceberg lettuce

Instructions

1. Heat large non-stick skillet over high with a tbsp of olive oil. Chop onion, peel and mince fresh ginger. 

Not many recipes call for it… but this is what fresh ginger looks like!

Peel ginger with vegetable peeler.

Mince ginger. It should look like this when you're done.

2. Combine minced garlic, minced ginger, chopped onion and ground chicken/turkey in skillet. Cover skillet and continue cooking until meat is no longer pink. Stir frequently to break up the pieces of chicken/turkey.

Yes, it looks like dog food right now. Do not fret!

3. While cooking, combine sesame oil, soy sauce, water, peanut butter, honey, rice vinegar, and chili garlic sauce in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute and then stir until sauce is smooth. 

4. Once meat is no longer pink, drain excess liquid from skillet and then add the sauce to skillet. Continue cooking over medium-low heat.

5. Chop green onion and water chestnuts. Add to skillet. Let simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes and then serve with washed lettuce leaves.

Chop your water chestnuts and green onions and then add them to the skillet.

ta-da!

6. Enjoy! Let me know how they turned out for you!

5 Month Postpartum Progress

Happy five month birthday little man!

First of all, let me just talk about how honored I am to have you guys reading my blog! Two weeks ago I passed one hundred thousand views after starting my blog just two months ago… I'm now at 155,000 views! I love each and every one of you and appreciate your words of encouragement! I hope that I can continue to encourage you to reach your weight-loss goals, we all can do it!

Well… One hundred and fifty one point five pounds. 151.5 lbs. The best part about getting to this weight is the fact that I had been here before when I wasn't even pregnant. I gained a little weight while Sam and I were dating and there were one or two times (if I weighed at the end of the day) that I went over 150. However, I have jumped down from that weight to 130 at one time so it's so much more encouraging knowing that my goal is that much more achievable!

As you know, this month I went to the Bahamas and disregarded calories for a whole week. As a result I gained two pounds (up to 157). Totally worth the two pounds ;). I went on a juice cleanse (you can find the schedule and recipes here!) and I lost 4 lbs in 5 days thanks to the juice cleanse. So overall, in three weeks I lost 5.5 lbs… which I'm still pretty dang happy about!

My goal this next month is to make it down to 145 pounds. I'll be doing the same thing as I did to lose the other 48.5 lbs, clean eating, exercise, and keeping track of my calorie intake. This month I REALLY want to start improving on lifting weights and toning my body. I don't want to look "skinny fat" (yes, there is a thing!) I want to look "skinny fit"!!! 

My friend below (Shailey Hill) delivered 3 or 4 months before me and she has done awesome at losing the baby weight. Her secret is lifting (and lifting heavy)! She has two littles and manages to get to the gym every morning at 5 am to get her work outs in… no excuses! She motivates me!

My friend Shailey's one month difference of lifting (before on the right, after on the left) so motivating that you can make that much of a change in just one month! Follow her on instagram @busygettingstronger!

 The scale can either be your best friend, or worst enemy. I like to concentrate on how I feel about my body and how my clothes fit. And good news, this month I fit into my pre-pregnancy skinny jeans! Wahoo! My "fat" jeans no longer fit! Husband says I look like a want-to-be gangster when I wear them, so that feels good!

As promised, here are my progress pictures. I will always take and post monthly progress pictures even if I don't see a difference--I'm true to my word! I don't see a difference in my front or side… but good heck! Take a look at my back progress! Crazy how much of a difference there is! Got to keep it up! This month is all about making it down to 145 lbs and gaining muscle… here we go!

From four back fat rolls to almost none! Awesome!

How much baby weight have you lost now? Comment below!