Happy Monday y’all!

I’m about a week into my “3 Months, No Crap” plan and it’s going great!  For the most part it hasn’t been too hard.

It kind of reminds me of going on a “long run” instead of a sprint.  I like to think of it as a “slow and steady” way to lose weight, get in shape and improve my overall health.  I’m also hoping to form some long-term lifestyle habits.

Sooo, because it’s a long-term plan and not a “get fit quick” kind of thing, I’m trying to celebrate the little triumphs.  For example…

• Kev and I went out to Texas Roadhouse on Friday night.  I got my typical 6 oz. sirloin with a plain sweet potato and a side salad.  We skipped the rolls and I always order water with lemon as a drink.  I love Texas Roadhouse because I can eat well and I don’t feel deprived!  I didn’t take a pic, but here’s a picture I took a while ago of the exact same meal (salad not pictured)…

• On Saturday, we took the kiddos to see the movie Big Hero 6 at the dollar theater.  It was a dang cute little show!  I really enjoyed it, my kids loved it AND I loved paying only $2.00 a ticket!  Score.  Anyway, we bought some popcorn and treats and I didn’t have any.  Yay me.

• On Sunday, we had dinner at Kev’s aunt and uncle’s house.  I skipped the homemade rolls and dessert.  It was tough, but I stuck to my guns.  🙂

So, there are just a few examples of some of my triumphs.  It’s nothing major, but I know those small choices can add up to big results over time.

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I also received a very fun package in the mail the other day that I want to share with you guys!

It’s a box full of Elli Quark cheese (more like a “new and improved” Greek yogurt) and I love it so much!

Elli Quark is actually CHEESE, but the flavor is less sour than yogurt and it doesn’t have that “yogurty” taste.  It has less calories and more protein than typical Greek yogurt and it’s sweetened with natural sweeteners, erythritol and stevia.  Awesome.

I’m a big fan of Greek yogurt and I am so excited about Elli Quark!  I LOVE the taste and LOVE all of the yummy flavors…

So far I’ve tried the Cherry, Blueberry, Peach and Mint Chocolate flavors.  I’m kind of hoarding all of the “dessert flavors” and saving them for last.  Hee hee.

However, I did eat the Mint Chocolate one very first because I just couldn’t resist.  I love MINT and CHOCOLATE so much!  It was the perfect post workout recovery snack after I got home from the gym the other night…

You can locate a store near you that carries Elli Quark by clicking here (in Utah, you can find it at Whole Foods stores.)  You can also purchase it on the Elli Quark website and it can be delivered fresh to your door!

You can find more information on their website, www.elliquark.com.

YUM!

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I also wanted to share some of the other yummy things I’ve been eating lately.  This has been my breakfast obsession this week…

It’s one whole egg + 2 egg whites scrambled with onions, peppers, mushrooms and spinach and topped with salsa.  I also had 2 Chocolate Protein Pancakes on the side topped with natural peanut butter and berries!

SOOOO yummy!

I calculated this entire meal to be just over 400 calories.  Woo hoo.  It fills me up forever too!  One of the wonderful things about eating clean, is that I really don’t even pay attention to the calories.  Clean food is naturally lower in calories, yet full of so much nutrition.

When you eat clean, the body functions so much better!  Cravings subside, the blood sugar stabilizes and it’s easier to differentiate between actual hunger and things like stress, fatigue and emotional eating.

I love it.

I also threw some chicken in the Crock Pot the other day that turned out good!

I followed my basic Crock Pot Chicken recipe, but I added some more spices, garlic and lemon juice to it.  I don’t know if I loved the lemon juice in there or not.  I’ll keep experimenting and if I come up with something super awesome, I will share it with y’all.

I ended up making some gravy out of the juices though and I loved it!  When the chicken was done, I just strained the juices out of the Crock Pot, heated it on top of the stove and thickened it with a little cornstarch mixed with hot water.

It turned out great!  I also made some brown rice and broccoli to go on the side.

It was a simple, satisfying, yummy meal.  I enjoyed the leftovers for days afterward…

Can you believe how GREEN that broccoli is????  I’d run out of leftover broccoli, so I just grabbed some raw broccoli that I had in the fridge and steamed it in the microwave for a few minutes and mixed it with my leftover rice and chicken.

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I have a few other random things to share…

After we took the kids to the movie on Saturday, we ran over to Scheels, a GIGANTIC sporting goods store that I LOVE SO MUCH!

It’s a little bit frightening how much $$$ I could spend in that store.  They have EVERYTHING and everything is so dang cute!  They also have a fun giant Ferris Wheel that the kiddos love riding on.

And there’s Kev and the baby CLEAR down on the ground below…

He’s a sweetie.

It’s such a fun store.  Amazingly, we left the store without too much damage done…I just bought myself a fun Under Armour visor…

It’s called the Under Armour Gotta Have It Visor and I think it’s aptly named…I just had to have it, lol!

You can’t really see the cute band too well, but it IS very cute.  I’m starting to ramp my running up to prepare for my half marathon, so I decided I needed a cute running incentive.

Oh, and Kev and I went to the gym together on Saturday morning.  We went to my old very favorite KILLER class that I used to go to all the time!  I hadn’t been to that class since I had the baby, so I was very excited to go.

We got there 10 minutes early and it was a madhouse!  It was so crowded that Kev and I couldn’t even be together (sniff, sniff.)

I snapped this stealthy picture so you could all feel my pain.  I’m the dork in the corner taking the picture and Kev is the cute man that I circled with my mad Photoshop skills…

Ya know, after looking at that picture and the Ferris Wheel pic, I’ve decided I should call this post “Hangin’ out with my husband, but not really.”  Ha ha.

Oh, and would you believe that our instructor wasn’t even there!!!!???!??!  Ya, we had a sub.  It was still a good class, but I was disappointed.

When I got home, I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and it just about killed me.

Yes, I’m scared that I’m supposed to be running 13.1 miles in 87 days and I can’t even hack 3!!!  Eeee.  I’m worried.

I think my run felt extra hard because I went to that muscle class a couple hours before and my muscles were fatigued.

And because I’m out of shape.
And because I still want to lose about 20 pounds.
And because I just had a baby……6 months ago (I guess I can’t use that excuse any more, dang it.)
And because I’m sleep deprived.
And because I just turned 39.
And because I’m just kind of a wuss.  Hee hee.

And, I need to go to bed!  So that’s all I have to say tonight.  Have a great night.  Yay, Monday is OVA (a.k.a over.)

**I received the complimentary Elli Quark Cheese, but the text and opinions are, as always, my own!”#EatClean #GetYourQuarkOn