Monday Check In + Berry Kiwi Smoothie Bowl

Since this is my first accountability post in a while it will be longer than the ones to come! Sorry – I had a lot to say!!

I’ve decided that it’s time that I start to be more accountable to myself about my weight loss. After several years of dropping the weight and adding it right back on again I’m super motivated to finally get on the right track and stick with it. I even got my husband doing it with me this time (which is SO helpful to me because it means that he’s not likely to bring in my trigger foods like pizza, cakes, and other sweets).

PS – if you are just here for the Berry & Kiwi Smoothie Bowl recipe – skip to the bottom! You won’t hurt my feelings – promise!

How We Are Doing It – Clean Eating

We both decided for to do something about our food that would be really easy to stick with. No fad diets – just eating clean. My husband isn’t tracking his calories, but I am in an effort to meet the weight loss goals I have set for myself. However, to start I’m not counting fruits and veggies in my calories at all. In the past when I’d track calories I’d get really frustrated that I “couldn’t” eat anything else because I hit my daily calories for the day and I’d end up giving in because I was still hungry. For now if at the end of the night I’m wanting something crunchy/salty I will eat some carrots & celery with dill Greek yogurt dip but only track the dip calories. Or if I want an apple, but I’m already at my 1500 calorie intake for the day, I’m not going to beat myself up and see it as a failure. If over the next few weeks/months I stall with my loss, I might start tracking fruit, but for now I’m viewing it as a “free” food.

Siggi’s Vanilla Yogurt 100 calories with a fresh & super juicy peach! – Perfect dessert!

(I try to stick to plain yogurt, but this is just so good – I can’t help but enjoy it every once in awhile.
Thankfully it’s a LOT lower in sugar than other brands…)

I’ve been making sure to keep my healthy fats and protein high and my carbs lower. The carbs I do eat (other than fruit) are mainly sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, and oats.

Talapia with broccoli and 1/2 cup brown rice.
This is my go-to dinner when we are short on time because it seriously takes me about 15 minutes to prepare.
Plus all my boys love it too!

One thing that is new to me that I’ve totally been digging using lately is this new organic butter alternative that Melt Organic sent to me. They have a few varieties, but this is the one I will add to a baked potato or veggies. The Organic Butter 2.0 is made with only the best virgin coconut oil and flax seed oil that work together to promote a healthy body. It’s super creamy, GMO free, and a great way to add healthy fats to meals. Even my husband loves it – and he’s super picky!! They have a chocolate version that is DIVINE over Kodiak Cakes!

Sign up for free coupons on their website – we are loving Melt Organic!

For liquids I have stopped drinking diet coke (again – why I ever returned to it I just don’t know – it’s all crap!!), and upped my water intake. I focus on getting in 1/2 my body weight in ozs. Mostly I drink water or La Croix (I’m seriously obsessed with pamplemousse).

Starbucks Run with my oldest!
I had unsweetened green tea (note – order it with no water for a more concentrated tea), while he enjoyed their iced passion tea and lemonade.

I also drink a LOT of green tea both caffeinated in the am and decaf after 3/4pm. I love making 2-3 mason jar quarts cold brewed in the fridge and just replacing them as I drink them. The Bigalow Lemon or Bigalow Jasmine are my two go-tos at the moment. But I’m totally open to hear your favorite brands – let me know in the comments!!

Weekly Weigh In

It’s been 3 weeks since I started eating like this. I’m not totally comfortable sharing my starting weight, but let’s just say it was as heavy as I was when I gave birth to my second son. (super sad face) I have lost a total of 10 lbs to date.

• Week 1 I lost 3 lbs.
• Week 2 I lost 5.2 lbs.(likely mostly water weight)
• Week 3 lost 1.7lbs. (This week)

Workouts

I’m slowly getting back into running. It’s been a long time since I have run consistently. To be honest, once my injuries healed up I just wasn’t feeling it. Slowly as the weight crept back on and my sleep got all messed up again I realized just how much I needed it in my life. Plus I’ve already committed to the RnRLA and RnRLV half marathons coming in October and November!! I will be using the Run RocknRoll virtual marathon series to help me get back into gear for those!

My 7 yo got this picture – he rocks!! A guitar solo shot after a slow 3.1 on the treadmill last week!

So my goal is to run at least 3 times a week with either HIIT or one of my favorite walking DVDs (Hey – don’t knock it! they are a lot of fun, low impact, and really get me sweating!) I also just bought Lauren Gliesberg’s at Home weight training plan. I thought it would help me get more comfortable with lifting again before I try to go do it in the crowded gym… Plus with two boys and my husband’s work/travel schedule it’s super hard to get to the gym on some days. I think I will also be incorporating yoga on my rest day to help me keep my muscles nice and happy for the upcoming training.

Smoothie Bowl Recipe!

I’m the kind of person who is usually just fine eating the same breakfast over and over again, especially  if I like it. Lately I’d been hearing a lot about smoothie bowls, (which are super similar to acai bowls). After pinning a bunch of them I decided it was time to try my own.

With a strawberry, blueberry and yogurt smoothie to start, there’s ton of nutrition and flavor. Then it’s topped with strawberries and kiwi slices, plus chopped walnuts for a little crunch. It’s perfect for breakfast and snacks ­ even dessert!

It was a huge hit! My older son and I both have had this on multiple occasions. It makes a fun after school/camp snack or breakfast. You can do many different kinds, really whatever you want to include would be good! I am working on a Mango/Peach one and a dessert smoothie bowl as well!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium banana
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or cow’s milk
• 1 teaspoon honey*
• 1⁄2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup fresh strawberries
• 1⁄2 cup vanilla yogurt

Toppings:

• Strawberry slices
• kiwi slices
• Chopped walnuts

Directions:

• Place the banana, milk, honey*, blueberries, strawberries and yogurt in a blender.
• Puree until smooth.
• Pour into a bowl and top with strawberry slices, kiwi slices and chopped walnuts.
• Serve immediately.

Notes:

*My boy loves this version with honey, but I’m trying to watch my added sugars. So to lower the sugar content in this smoothie sub the honey for these Stevia drops. 1-2 is plenty. Also you can sub out the vanilla yogurt for plain yogurt and add vanilla extract.

Have you had a smoothie bowl yet? What is your favorite flavor combination?

See you back next week for another check-in and hopefully another loss!!

PS – You want to run one the remaining Run Rock N Roll Marathon Series Events this year – use my discount code!!

Standard Blogger Disclosure: I have included a few affiliate links in my post. If you buy through them I get a super small % back. Thank you if you do! Melt Organic provided me with samples of their product. All opinions are my own. I am an Rock N Blog Ambassador which means I run 3 races a year with them for free in exchange for sharing all things RockNBlog related. I love people who pin my recipes and comment on my blog! It’s fun to interact and share. Thanks for visiting!

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Emily

Emily is a wife & mom living in Las Vegas. The owner and writer at Our Knight Life, Emily loves sharing her two adorable boys and journey through motherhood. Emily has run four half marathons to date and is always training for her next big race. She also enjoys creating healthy recipes for her family and sharing family friendly product reviews.

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