Our Kayaking Adventure

Since I've been trying to include more exercise into my life I've had a difficult time pulling the hubby along. Micah, my naturally tall and skinny husband, just isn't a fan of traditional workouts. He hates the gym, and since we have such a difference in athletic ability it's been very hard to find active things that we can do together. 

Despite his strong dislike for running, he did agree to go with me to try it out. We had a plan that we would do week one of my couch-to-5K program; me sprinting and Micah slowly jogging. (ok this guy is ALL legs...) The hope was that using this method we would be able to stick together. It worked OK I guess. I was really struggling to keep up with his slow jog so he ended up switching between that and power walking. I am just at that awkward speed where I'm too fast for him to walk but too slow for him to run. Even though it didn't work out as planned I had so much fun! It was so encouraging to have the love of my life out there with me! In an otherwise pretty isolating journey I truly felt supported. After the run I reached out on my facebook page for other ideas of active things that we could do together. I received so many amazing ideas (thanks everyone!!!) ! We decided to rent some kayaks for the weekend and go on an adventure! 

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning to pick up our kayaks! Our college has an amazing outdoor adventure program which offers services like kayak rental for a great price. I'm surprised we didn't take advantage of their services earlier! We loaded up the jeep and headed north into the Keweenaw Peninsula! 

We ended up at Schlatter Lake. It's a remote lake that took some serious off-roading to reach. We unloaded the kayaks, and had a great time paddling around the lake! It was absolutely beautiful! 

We attempted to get some pictures of us together but my front-facing camera was being annoying and washed out all the pictures.

We were sad that the camera wasn't working....

One of the highlights of the trip was finding a river off of the lake to explore! It was a blast trying to navigate all of the fallen trees and other obstacles. It was a great workout too! My arms and shoulders were definitely burning by the end! 

After we were done paddling we headed out to the Keweenaw rocket range for a cookout! It's a really cool spot on Lake Superior ! It was the location of Michigan's first rocket launch!

I built the fire and was pretty proud of myself. The campfire pit and logs were already set up from previous visitors!

Micah cooked the brats right over the fire! 

Can't forget the veggies! Even if they are from a can :)

It was such a great adventure! I loved that we were able to do something active together without out having a huge ability difference. We had such a great time that we hope to purchase kayaks of our own in the future. Thanks everybody for your awesome suggestions! 

If you are working on adding more activity to your life I'd highly suggest getting your spouse or significant other involved! It is super motivating and a great step towards maintaining your healthy lifestyle changes. 

Do you have any healthy activities that you like to do (or want to try) with your family?

On our future list: Badminton, biking, hiking, and rock climbing!

God Bless,

Sarah 

WIAW (What I ate Wednesday) #2

Hello!

I'm happy to share another WIAW with you! I've been doing better with the sugar which is great but it's still a work in progress :)

Breakfast: Mocha Frappe Protein Shake (totally reused last week's picture) However this week I did add some chia seeds -high protein, low carb, low sugar 

• One Cup Unsweetened Almond milk
• One Scoop Chocolate Unjury 
• One tablespoon instant coffee
• One tablespoon unsweetened coco powder 
• Half tablespoon chia seeds soaked overnight in one tablespoon water 
• Three ice cubes 

Lunch: Leftover grilled chicken panini & homemade potato chips from last night's date & green beans from my garden! -high protein, fresh home-grown veggies, probably too many carbs

Dinner: Taco salad with lettuce from the garden & skinnytaste zucchini tots - I ate about 1/2 of what's pictured 

In the salad:

• 3 cups romaine lettuce
• one ounce shredded cheese
• one tablespoon salsa
• 1/4 cup ground beef with taco seasoning 

Dessert: Leftover fruit and yogurt smoothie turned into a popsicle (so tasty!)

Hope you all are having a great week! My 5-mile race went excellent :-) more details to come! 

Low(er) carb update

I mentioned earlier that I was going to try to experiment with lower carbs this month because my trend of higher carbs = higher cravings. So far things have been going ok at best on this front. I haven't been consistent enough to get a handle on what my body needs. I've had a few good days, but it seems like life always takes over by offering me a s'more or something else delicious soon after (no I can NOT say no to s'mores). However I have been able to successfully create some lower carb meals such as this portobello mushroom pizza seen below.

I also have a new obsession with kale chips! I honestly think I like them better than potato chips despite the disgusted looks Micah gives me when I make them. I was lucky enough to stumble upon some locally grown kale that was just out of this world!

I'm going to continue to work on having more low(er) carb options. At this point I want to avoid following a specific program (like Adkins) because I want to make sure my diet is balanced and sustainable. However if I continue to struggle with consistency I may start to follow something. Sugar is my biggest enemy right now, so we shall see.

In other news I have a 5-mile race coming up this Saturday!! I am SO excited for it and am really hoping to finish in under my current best time of 71 minutes. I've heard rumors that the last 2 miles are up hill so it will be a challenge for sure!

Leading up to the race here is my current workout plan! Hopefully I'll be rested enough

Tuesday (today): Elliptical weight loss program (30min) + C25K week one at 6mph (fast for me!)
Wednesday: 1,500 yrd swim
Thursday: Hike Isle Royale (2-6 miles depending) <----- This is part of my amazing summer job!
Friday: Lots of Stretching + 2 mile walk around the lake
Saturday: The Canal Run!!! 5 miles

With love,
Sarah

WIAW (What I ate Wednesday) #1

Hello All!

I've been asked by a few people to share my food logs, and while I think what you eat is a very personal thing I know that I benefited when other people have shared theirs with me. Not only did they give me some great healthy meal  ideas, but I was encouraged by their honesty and willingness to put that out there. Since one of my goals this month is track my food intake honestly and accurately, I figured I would start sharing my WIAW or 'What I ate Wednesday'. Heck, at least it will help motivate me to make better choices on Wednesday's right? :-)

I would like everybody to keep in mind that I am a bariatric surgery patient, and that my diet is under constant doctor supervision. Remember to talk to your doctor before making any major changes in your diet. Even among bariatric patients there is a ton of variance over the amount of food we are able to eat. Instead of including the calorie/macro information for my WIAW, I be making comments on why or why not it was a good food choice (Example: High protein, low sugar, etc...) If you are interested in my specific calorie or other diet restrictions please feel free to private message me over on my facebook page, or follow me on myfitnesspal

Breakfast: Mocha Frappe Protein Shake  - high protein, low carb, low sugar 

• One Cup Unsweetened Almond milk
• One Scoop Chocolate Unjury 
• One tablespoon instant coffee
• One tablespoon unsweetened coco powder 
• Three ice cubes 

Morning Snack: 1/2 serving Fiber One Chocolate Cereal - low sugar, high fiber

Lunch: Mix the tasty things together: Fresh fruit, high protein, high fiber

• One serving Fiber One cereal
• One serving Fage 0% plain greek yogurt sweetened with one squirt liquid stevia
• 1/2 cup local strawberries 

Dinner: So yummy  - Low carb, high protein, fresh veggies 

• Salad with feta cheese, grape tomatoes, lettuce from my garden and low cal dressing
• Hillshire Farm - Rotisserie Seasoned Chicken Breast, 2 oz.
• One garlic herb Laughing Cow cheese wedge

Dessert: One serving Praline Pumpkin Seeds - Higher fat, higher sugar, difficult to only eat one serving

Evening Snack(s): Wasabi peas and Quest Bar
Peas - fulfilled crunchy snack craving, higher carb
Quest - fulfilled sweet tooth, high protein, high fiber, low carb, high calories for a snack

Well I hope you enjoyed my first WIAW :)

What are you thoughts? Would you prefer to see specific macro information or does putting this this way help to avoid the comparison game/over analyzing? I just want to encourage people to make food choices based on what is good for their bodies instead of pure calorie intake. I'm open for suggestions :)

with love,
Sarah

July food and fitness goals

Hello! It's so hard to believe that it's July already! I'm loving the 60 and 70 degree weather that we've been having lately :) This has to be the most comfortable summer I've ever experienced! July also marks the 1/2 way point for our 2014 New Years resolution goals. I recently updated mine here, and am proud to say I have completed about 37% of my goals. I consider this a victory because I don't think I've met ANY resolutions in the past.

Here are my food and fitness goals that I hope to accomplish this July

Food:

1. Track all my food intake honestly and accurately! This month I have started to slack with my food logs. Tracking is really important for me not only so I can see what is and isn't working, but so I can share the information with my nutritionist as well. No more 'accidentally' forgetting to track those late night treats or my grazing snacks during the day. Those calories add up! If anybody is interested in friending me on MyFitnessPal my username is skuiper317  

2. Continue to experiment with lower carb intake. So far I have been able to cut back on my carbs slightly, but they are still heavy in my diet. This month I am going to experiment a lot more with low carb options and continue to listen to my body. I plan on putting my new spiralizer to good use! 

3. Be mindful of portion sizes. For a gastric sleeve patient I have a much larger capacity than most. In some instances I find that I can eat almost double of other sleevers. (yes I'm guilty of the comparison game) I tend to get really stressed out about this and worried that I messed up my tiny tummy. This month instead of focusing on how much I CAN eat, I am going to focus on how much I NEED to eat. I don't need to leave every meal feeling super full. 

4. Find at least one healthy meal that my husband enjoys enough to eat regularly. I'm married to a super picky eater who is NOT a fan of salads or vegetables. He is no where near overweight and while he is supportive of me eating healthier, it has been difficult to find healthy meals we both can enjoy together. Traditionally, he does most of the cooking, but this month I hope to do a lot more in attempt to find healthy meals for the both of us! 

Fitness:

1. Run 3 days a week. I've been slacking on my running lately but I have a 5-mile race coming up! Time to continue with my Couch-to-10K program! 

2. Attend a bootcamp class. I purchased a punch-card for this class early this summer but have yet to attend one. Time to get my butt out of bed super early and get a great workout!

3. 10,000 steps a day! I track my steps on my Garmin Vivofit. 

4. Plan my workouts, put them in my calender, and do them! I love planning :-) time to treat my workouts as appointments and become more consistent! 

Also, I have made a Facebook page dedicated to this blog! Please feel free to stop by, check it out and give it a 'like'. On Facebook I'm a lot better at updating about my day-to-day journey and I also share a lot of great things from other sources such as recipes and motivation :)

https://www.facebook.com/projecthealthandfitnessblog 

What are your short term food and fitness goals? 

With love,

Sarah