Jen loves the nuts

You sick F&*%. Yah you.......I know what you thought this post was going to be about. I am appalled. I'm a precious little pumpkin and would never elude to such a thing! Now, can I get back to my blog post please?! ::Pshhhhaw::

WTF! It’s been freaking cold! I woke up on Monday and it was 41 degrees. WHAT! Now, I need everyone to calm down if you’re reading this from Boston. I know this is like shorts weather for you guys but in Florida! OMG! It was super cold Sunday night. I had the heating blanket cranked up. I went to bed with socks on. SOCKS ON! Who does that? When I got out of bed in the morning, holy bajesus Batman……..frigid.  FYI, I’m not allowed to use the heat in my house, Ah hem……husband, so the tile in the bathroom was eye opening to say the least. But the electric bill is nice. Does anyone else forgo heat to save on electric? I mean, it’s gotten cold enough in years past that I’ve had to wear a snow cap to bed. Ya feel me? Yes? No? Ok.

So how are you surviving the winter? Our winter will end by Friday. It will be back in the 80’s. Now I just sound like I’m bragging. Ok I kinda am!  But let me tell you, I really don’t have winter clothes so it’s good that is comes in short spurts. I only have maybe two “winter” gym outfits as well so going to the gym as early as I do its crazy cold. When I went Monday morning, I put sweat pants and a sweatshirt over my regular gym garb just so I could survive the ride over.

So on the socials I’m starting to see the quotes and memes about Summer bodies being made in the winter. Ok, I mean only if you can muster up the courage to get out of the house to go to the gym in this weather. If you can’t, I know I’ve mentioned before, You Tube is an excellent source for at home work outs.

I also follow Miranda Oldroyd and Hollanderfitness on Instagram and they post at home workout routines several times per week. Hollanderfitness even uses items you have at home to strength train! She’s awesome.

So at the beginning of January I started a Whole 30. Whole 30 is basically a more rigid version of Paleo. I decided to do it as a reset for the year. I really like making paleo breads and desserts and becoming accustom to those items as part of my diet will not really help me out with the goals I would like to achieve. So, the Whole 30 doesn’t allow you to eat any of those types of items. I also occasionally eat cheese or have dairy and that is restricted as well along with alcohol and any artificial sweetener. Now the alcohol thing is no big deal. I’ve been pretty much off that train for about 5 months. The few times I have drank, the next day I felt like total shitake and didn’t drink again for a while. The artificial sweetener has been difficult. I LOVE my morning coffee and that includes Stevia and Creamer. I also like to have green tea throughout the day at work. So, I went from 2 to 1 cup of coffee per day. I still have my stevia but I switched to Almond Milk for my creamer. For my green tea, I have stopped adding stevia to the tea and just drink it straight. It’s not great but I can get through it. I gotta break as much of the artificial sweetener habit as possible.

What has been the hardest for you to give up or find alternatives for in the New Year? I would say the most difficult for me is giving up nuts. I love Almonds and Cashews. LOVE. They are such a quick little snack for me. But I abuse them and although they are good fat….they are still fattening and full of calories. I’m and extremist in a way. For me its either all or nothing, especially when it comes to food. If we have dessert in the house I either need to eat all of it or none of it. This is why I can’t buy a box of Quest Bars anymore. I’ll eat like two a day if not more. They are so yummy! It was when I started sneaking them…for what reason I don’t know….I realized I was reverting back to my old habits so I had to stop buying them. If you feel you have to sneak food that’s never a good sign. I mean, why sneak it? My husband wouldn’t judge me. My dog isn’t going to judge me. I just felt ashamed for going ham on some Quest bars. ::sigh:: I love them. I’m sort of like that with almonds and cashews. I don’t really sneak them though but I can put away some almonds and cashews! I tried portioning them out. It has helped a lot but when I get home I still reach for them if I’m hungry before dinner.  I used to also have them after dinner as a “dessert” almost but with the Whole 30 I have stopped eating after dinner. I love to snack so that has been pretty difficult. If I crave something after dinner I try to drink some almond milk so I feel full.

Something else I am working on is only eating until I’m satisfied. Julie Bauer from PaleOMG now has a podcast on iTunes. During one episode on her Pod Cast she briefly mentioned how one of her CrossFit coaches discussed not eating until you’re full but eating until you’re satisfied. That really made me stop and think. I mean, how many of you, growing up, were asked by your parents, “are you full?” or were encouraged to clean your plate? I know I was. My mom even encouraged going back for seconds. This has trained us from a young age to basically stuff ourselves. Well, brace yourself for what I’m about to say. It is ok to not be full. ::Gasp!:: It’s true! Why be full? When I’m full I feel like I have less energy and all I want to do is go to bed. I know there have been several cheat nights when I have eaten myself to the point of being just completely uncomfortable. Why?! Do I really think someone is going to come take my food? I can save it for later Sheesh! For me it’s not really a resolution I would just like to be more cognizant of how my body feels when I eat meals. Once my body is satisfied I need to work on not eating anymore.

A goal I do not have for 2017 is having a baby. So stop asking people! My husband and I were together almost 12 years before we got married this past September. No one really bothered us about kids. All of a sudden, we sealed the deal and now everyone wants to know…”when are you having kids?” We’re not. Sorry to disappoint but we’re not. I love kids but let’s get real. I haven’t gotten any younger since we got married and we’re just really set in our ways at this point. We want to start travelling more and we have individual goals we want to accomplish and it would make it very difficult if we had children. Ya know, growing up I never played like that. I never dreamt of being married and having kids. Maybe because I was raised by a single mom but I just never wanted to be a mom. When I would play house with my friends’ I wasn’t the mom, I was the dog. Growing up I wanted to be an astronaut or a marine biologist. When I was in high school I still wasn’t sold on marriage. I decided I wanted to be a teacher. I would teach during the school year and life guard in the summer. I imagined myself with a Jeep wrangler and two little boys that would come to the beach with me every day. No husband was ever in that picture so the sheer fact that I found an awesome human being that I love, admire and adore enough to enter into the contract of marriage in itself is wonderful to me. People often ask if I don’t want kids because I don’t want to get fat. My answer to that is no……that’s terrible. Anyone who avoids having a baby because they don’t want to gain weight is ridiculous. Women who give birth have the most beautiful, amazing bodies. Anyone who births a child is such a hero in my eyes. Not to mention stretch marks are gorgeous! I have a good amount on my lower stomach from when I was bigger. I have NEVER been ashamed of them. They tell a story of my life’s journey. I don’t want them to go away. Now my cellulite…..that’s a different story. I used to want to adopt because I am not brave enough to give birth. Just thinking about birthing a baby makes my vagina hurt! Hmmmm…..too forward? Sorry…but its true!

Ok enough about that LOL

Oh! You guys didn’t tell me I missed a couple fun facts! So here’s one for ya;

FUN FACT: Dark chocolate, honey and eggs can help increase blood flow, prevent depression and increase your energy.

Sounds like the makings of a yummy cake recipe to me!

Speaking of recipes…….Ha, see what I did there?! I’m giving you a simple week night recipe this post. This is another one I am obsessed with lately; Shrimp scampi with Zucchini Noodles.

But first a product review!! Spiralizer! WHAT WHAT! It’s amazing!!!!! I didn’t get all the hype until I received one as a gift for my bridal shower. Now I use it at least once a week and I LOVE it! Mine is an attachment for my Kitchen aid mixer but have no fear……if you do not have a kitchen aid mixer they also sell a hand propelled one! I have not tapped into all that the spiralizer can do but what I have used it for I’m obsessed!!!!!! So for this recipe you will need a spiralizer or you can cut the zucchini noodles by hand if you're savage like that!

Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

3 Medium Zucchini

16 shelled and deveined shrimp (I use already cleaned and deveined frozen shrimp. I allow them to thaw completely prior to cooking)

1 Tblspn Red Pepper Flakes

2 Tblspn Ghee

1 Tblspn minced garlic

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Rinse 3 Zucchini

Using a knife, chop off the stem and the tip of each zucchini

Use a spiralizer to make the zucchini into noodles

-If cutting by hand, cut the zucchini length wise in to ¼ inch slices

Line a cookie sheet with paper towels

Place the zucchini noodles on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt

Place a layer of paper towels over the zucchini and press another cookie sheet on top.

This will draw the water out of the zucchini while you prepare the shrimp.

In a large skillet put 2 tablespoons of Ghee over medium heat

Once Ghee is melted add the red pepper flakes, garlic and shrimp.

Cook shrimp until bright pink

Then add zucchini and salt and pepper to taste

Fold ingredients together until fully combined and zucchini is slightly tender.

Split between two plates

Eat up!

 Hey! Any questions or suggestions? E-mail the blog at barbellsandboyshorts@gmail.com