Just call me Coach Cari… #teambeachbody

You guys. I have BIG news. (No, mom – I am not preggers).

So, as some of you may know – and if you’ve been reading, I’ve gone on a journey of fitness in 2015. It all started back in December when, after spending about a month and a half near full-time in Savannah for work (eating ALL of the mac n cheeses) and a fruitful honeymoon filled with loaded coney dogs, pizza and gourmet foods for four meals a day… I decided enough was enough. I had literally tried everything to lose weight and nothing was working. I mean, you’re talking to the girl who GAINED weight while training for her first half marathon (note to readers: DO NOT use a 10-mile run as an excuse to split a large pizza with Mr. Grumpy).

I logged onto Facebook to do my usual stalking around the holidays, and saw my friend Angela had posted before and after pictures from doing a 5-day eating clean challenge and boy, did she look good. AND she had just had a baby so I like literally… had no excuse. I joined her next challenge and then, on January 5, started Insanity Max 30 and Shakeology daily as a meal replacement. These are two programs offered by Team Beach Body. I’m two weeks away from finishing Insanity Max 30 – and can already see a major difference. I was such a believer – I decided to sign up to be a Beach Body Coach to help others like me who wanted to look better and feel empowered to meet their fitness goals.

Here are my “before” pics – before I started on Shakeology  (this makes me CRINGE … and I was really nervous to share this! But I wanted you to see it because you’re my dear, dear readers and I am a HUMAN, ok?!):

Weight: 129, Bust: 34 Waist: 30.5, Hips: 34

 

And here are my pics after 1 month on the program (and I am not going to lie – I cheated on a few meals and missed about 3 workouts):

Weight: 126.2, Bust 32, Hips: 35 (this is because I’m getting muscles!), Waist 28.5

With Shakeology as my lunch or breakfast each day, I actually feel energized to accomplish everything I want to. I have less headaches, less sleepy mornings, less struggle overall. Oscar always tries to eat it – it’s like actually drinking a milkshake for a meal (which I love) – very smooth and creamy.

 

And so, I will be hosting my VERY FIRST clean eating challenge the week of March 8 on Facebook. The theme? Look Good. Get Lucky. That’s right – we all want to have a lucky St. Patrick’s day, but looking and feeling good isn’t about LUCK. It’s about taking care of yourself by planning ahead and getting your shit together so you can let it work FOR you all week long. Being fit doesn’t happen on its own, so let’s take a week to prepare ourselves so we can enjoy St. Patty’s Day guilt-free! If you’re interested in joining my group, comment below with your Facebook name (if we’re not already friends) – and I’ll get you added!

Here’s how it works: On Saturday, I’ll send the PRIVATE Facebook group a list of ingredients to buy at the grocery store. Then, each day, I will share the menu for the day ahead so you have time to prep and plan, and pack your lunch. You can use Shakeology (which you’d get from me) if you’d like, but it’s not required. The point is just to teach you the right things to feed your bod. In addition, we will share our workouts for the week. What do you do? Just “check in” each day to the group by answering my questions. If you don’t check in, you’ll be removed from the group not because I don’t love you, but it’s really just to keep you accountable. After my first clean eating challenge, I lost three pounds (in just five days). So these things really work!

Anyway, we have been cooking up a clean eating storm around here and working out like cray-cray! All the snow has Mr. Grumpy and I feeling pretty damn antsy, so we’re using it in our favor to work it out sweat style. Last week’s long run for half-marathon training was a 4.5 miler. And GUESS WHAT GUYS! I ran it in 45:48. My fastest ever. 🙂 Before you know it, I’ll be beating Mr. G in races!

Here are a few of my fave recipes we’ve been trying (most of which are on my clean eating board on Pinterest). Here are the ones we made without changing the recipe too much:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

• Damn Delicious’ Quinoa Parmesan Chicken 
• Pesto Chicken Kabobs
• Creamy Avocado Sauce (we did ours with brown rice, not pasta – so I guess we changed this.)
• Jambalaya Foil Packets
• French Onion Soup (we used low-fat cheese)

I had to cleanify this two below – just say NO to half-n-half, mmmkay?

Copy Cat Panera Bread Tomato Soup Recipe:
Adapted from Blommi.com

What You’ll Need:

• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• A handful of baby carrots, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup basil, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1 can diced tomatoes, sodium-free
• 3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 tbsp sugar-free ketchup
• 1/4 plus 1/8 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/8 cup greek yogurt (plain)
• Freshly cracked black pepper

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add carrots, red pepper flakes, onion, garlic and celery, and cook roughly 8 minutes until soft. Add flour and stir to coat. Let that brown for about a minute. Add the chicken stock, then the tomatoes, bay leaves and ketchup. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover AND simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Pour about half the soup into a blender until the blender is about 3/4 full. Add the basil and blend until smooth. Add the rest back into the pot. Then add the milk and greek yogurt and stir. Pour in bowls and season with black pepper! This was delish.

Cinnamon Applesauce Pancakes
Annnndddd anything by the Pioneer Woman is NEVER going to be healthy – so I had to cleanify this (and not tell Mr. Grumpy it was “clean” because he gave up clean eating for Lent… …. insert heavy sigh here). But, these were delish!

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

What You’ll Need:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 cups organic, unsweetened cinnamon applesauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp egg whites
• Pam Coconut Oil Spray

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. In your mixer, combine milk, applesauce, honey, vanilla extract and egg whites. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Heat coconut oil over a skillet on medium-low heat. Scoop out pancakes about 1/4 cup each. Let all the bubbles pop on the top before flipping!!!

We topped ours with baked apples (slice apples, drizzle w/honey and cinnamon and bake at 450 for 20 minutes) and 100% pure maple sryup. Peanut butter would be yummy, too!

What do YOU think would happen if you dedicated five full days to healthy eating and working out? FIND OUT!!! I hope you’ll join me! 🙂

I FUDGE-ING Love You, Mr. Grumpy

Many people love to travel, adventure, climb mountains, jump off rocks, etc. What do I love? (Other than my Grumpy fam, duh) – I LOVE to eat at new places and try new things. So as such, when Mr. Grumpy told me he had made DINNER RESERVATIONS (literally… he made these like two weeks in advance which is romantic in and of itself) at Lago in the Flats for our Valentine’s date, I was pumped. I immediately started thinking about what I was going to order and how much wine I was going to drink. Tomorrow I start a 21-day clean eating and fitness challenge as part of my Beach Body challenge groups. I am so excited to see the results 21 days from now – my goal is to be at 121 pounds by the end, which is the weight I was on our wedding day. BUT, as my last meal with cream and cheese, you better believe I went all out!

Fun Fact: did you know Mr. Grumpy and I met the eve of Valentine’s Day? Cupid decided to send us both to the same bar – and at about 1:30 in the morning, Mr. Grumpy and his friends had the liquid courage to approach me and my friends. Needless to say, I did not remember his name but DID remember that they were all very nice and told me they were TRAIN ENGINEERS. And yes, I believed them – in fact, I told my mom I had met the nicest boys who were train engineers, and she pointed out they were likely lying. Which, they were. Lucky for them, I stayed around and about a year and a half later, I tricked Mr. Grumpy into our first date. The rest is history. So, lucky girl that I am – Mr. Grumpy always sends me flowers on Feb. 13:

I love getting flowers the day before – and thought I was pretty set for Vday gifts, until I woke up on Saturday to get ready for our 5K and found a box of Shari’s Berries sitting on the counter with a giant Hershey kiss and my favorite – Reese cups shaped like HEARTS.

Then, after eating everything… I felt like this:

 

 

So, I went to the 5K ready to run my little heart out. And guess what – I ran my fastest 5K yet!! At 32:30!!!! I was so proud of myself and excited at how much I’d improved since my last race.

Look! I got a medal! (It’s a participatory medal… I DON’T CARE I AM A WINNER IN MY OWN HEAD!). Ok, yes – I told the nice man at the market that I got first place in the race… but I’ll never see him again. So do I feel guilty? NO!

Here’s a peek at our yummy dinner – Mr. G’s lasagna, my tortelloni, and our dessert martinis!

Anyway – for Mr. Grumpy’s gift, I wanted to bake him something sweet. He’s been so nice about all our healthy eating – and has lost a ton of weight (nearly 10 lbs!!) and he deserved a night off too. In all actuality, these cookies are really not that bad for you – why? Because I replaced the oil with almond oil and there’s no butter needed! You are going to love how easy it is to make these – and how MOIST (I hate that word) that turn out!

I Double Fudge Love You, Mr. Grumpy Cookies!  

I adapted this recipe from this one on Sally’s Baking Addiction

What You’ll Need:

• 1 box of Duncan Hines Double Fudge Cake Mix
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup almond oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine the cake mix and baking powder in a large bowl. Set aside. Then, in another bowl, mix the eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Mix in slowly to the cake mix/baking powder (do not use your electric mixer as you want to fold it in my hand). Stop once the concoction forms a soft dough.

Using an ice cream scoop, plop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees. You want them to be slightly dough-y when you take them out of the oven. Leave them on the pan to set. They should be soft and fudgy-licious after about 5-10 minutes out of the oven.

Yum yum! What did you all do over Valentine’s Day weekend? Share your romantic moments!! And remember, Ryan loves you no matter how bad at crafting you are:

And then … Oscar Depants @MrGrumpyHWY

I know that people who post all the time about their kids and pups on Facebook are like THE MOST ANNOYING PEOPLE EVER. I actually unfriended someone once because they were posting from the delivery room at the hospital. But CAN I JUST TELL YOU THIS ONE STORY? Oscar hilariously tried to depants Mr. Grumpy today. In fact, even though we are trying to teach him not to eat things that aren’t his chew toys (not going well), I was basically cheering him on because I wanted Mr. G to get full out Coppertoned. Unfortunately, he wasn’t successful, but I managed to get this super cute video: 

Now, let’s talk about the Groundhog and why I think he’s full of crap. I cannot remember a time when we didn’t get six more weeks of winter, compliments of the rodent. So my question is: WHY DO WE BOTHER? I don’t get the day off work, I just get a shit ton of more snow and cold. Thanks for nothing, Phil. Usually, I’d use the cold weather as … you guessed it … an excuse to not work out. Instead, this year I equipped myself with some Yak Trax and some super serious cold weather running clothes that I bought using Mr. Grumpy’s Amazon Prime account (thanks, hubby!). Here is a pic of me post-run looking just seriously super cool:

 

Yes I am at the grocery store. So the answer is YES I WENT INTO PUBLIC LOOKING LIKE THIS.

It’s so easy to use the weather in Cleveland as an excuse to not work out or run – but when you do have everything you need to take away the excuses, you start getting the running itch. So here I am … training for another half marathon – the Dicks Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon! This past week was my first training week… we have a long run ahead of us! Here was my best day:

So – what’s going to keep me going on this training? Scheduling in advance when my workouts are going to be. This is helping me stay on top of my training and still keep up with Shaun T with what is my last 30 days on the program! When you schedule your week in advance it’s a #nosurprises #noexcuses take to your week – and I bet you’ll be surprised how much you get done!

Like making this yummy taco fiesta chili – and homemade Doritos!

Here’s the recipe: 

What You’ll Need:

• 2 c of dry black beans
• 1 c of dry pinto beans
• 2 cans of Great Northern Beans
• 1 red pepper, cut into chunky pieces
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• 1 jar of salsa verda
• 1 cup of salsa (check to make sure sugar is NOT within the first five ingredients mentioned)
• 1/2 lb of chicken – trimmed and cut into small pieces
• 1 can of diced tomatoes – don’t drain
• 2 boxes of no-sodium added chicken stock

Add all the ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours, until the beans have cooked through and are softened. If you’re in a rush and don’t want to wait, then just use cans of beans for everything and cook it on the stovetop. I just happened to have dry beans from our farmer’s market buys this summer.

The handmade Doritos were gross. I’m not going to lie to you. Sometimes you just make something and are like … WTF WHY DID I THINK THAT WOULD BE GOOD?!?!

What workouts do you have coming up this week? Let’s tackle this one together!

Puppies, Husbands and Other Things That Do Not Equal Excuses

First things first: A brand new bouncing puppy has been added the to Grumpy Family – please meet Oscar. He’s like … sorta happy to meet you.

http://instagram.com/p/x-vKYpkgjD/?modal=true

Basically I’m going to lose friends because I’m going to post nothing but pictures of Oscar all day long on Facebook and I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK. DEFRIEND ME. I WILL NOT STOP POSTING. K?

Onward, friends. Now, the big challenge with Oscar other than the fact that he’s an 8-week-old puppy and eats everything and poops everything … the BIG challenge is that I have a tendency to make excuses to not work out. Like if I worked 15 minutes later than usual, I claim I’m tired and gift myself a night off. That is a terrible excuse. As one of my motivational quotes says…

Planned Puppyhood
So … I’m not going to use things like puppies and husbands and work keep me from my fitness goals any more. No excuses. That’s what I want you to remind yourself every morning when your alarm goes off to tell you it’s time to work out: No excuses – not one. Mother Teresa didn’t make excuses and she changed the entire effing world. So get your ass out of bed and go say good morning to Shaun T, people. Get!

It also helps if you make this the background on your phone: 

Ok, so what’s going to make not skipping your workouts easier? Planning your meals ahead, and getting them as ready as you can on Sunday so you have barely any work when you get home and are trying to talk yourself out of exercise.

This is what I call Planned Puppyhood. We all have crazy lives, crazy schedules, crazy families with crazy plans and then on top of that, life always throws you a curveball. Get over it – and plan ahead. Your Sunday is getting overhauled, but I am telling you, it will make the next five days so much easier.

Here are some tips: 

• Plan your entire week’s breakfasts, snacks, lunch and dinners. Make a calendar of exactly what you’re going to eat each day so you don’t cheat yourself.
• Go grocery shopping on Sunday and get everything you need for your meal plan. Helpful Hint: If you choose recipes that use similar ingredients, your food will be easier to prep in advance. For example, if you make fajitas for Taco Tuesday and turkey chili for Thursday’s dinner, the peppers and onions will be used for both recipes. You’ll spend less money and gain more time. If your fajitas use ground turkey, well – then you’ve just seriously made your life easy.
• Cut all your veggies – this includes any snack veggies and any recipe veggies. Example: chop half the pepper for the chili and slice the other half for the fajitas.
• Grill a package of chicken – this makes salads and lunch wraps SO EASY. And fajitas! And it also makes adding shredded chicken to recipes easy – why? Because it’s already cooked and ready to be shred, that’s why.
• Cook any brown rice you’ll use for the week and store in a gallon ziplock. Brown rice is yummier after it’s been in the fridge anyway.
• Cook any meals you can in advance and put them in the freezer. Like that turkey chili! Helpful Hint: Let those recipes cool FULLY before putting them in the freezer. You do not want food poisoning and this has been known to cause it. Also, it makes your food taste like plastic when you thaw it if you put it in there hot. I don’t know why…

Ever since I started Sunday Prepping, my life has been easier. I make less excuses to eat out – which was a big one for me – and I don’t make excuses not to work out because most times all I have to do is pop the already prepped dinner in the oven and wait for the timer to pop off. This gives me like an HOUR to work out. You’ll hate the Sunday dishes, but make your husband do those. He won’t mind (WILL YOU, HUSBAND!!?!?!).

Here is an example of our meal plan for this week!

Sunday Prep: Cook turkey chili, make stuffing for peppers, bake banana bread, make casserole (minus the final step of baking it), cut broccoli and grapefruit for snacks and make stuffing for enchiladas, and finally, grill a package of chicken.

• Monday:
  • Breakfast – 1 slice whole wheat banana bread
  • Snack – Apple
  • Lunch – Chocolate Shakeology w/peanut butter and unsweetened almond milk
  • Snack – 1/2 english muffin
  • Dinner – Barley-Stuffed Peppers with Baked Chicken Tenders
• Tuesday: 
  • Breakfast – 1 slice whole wheat banana bread
  • Snack – 1/2 grapefruit w/1 tsp honey
  • Lunch – Vanilla Shakeology w/cooled cup of coffee
  • Snack – 1 cup of broccoli w/2 tbsp rosemary white bean hummus
  • Dinner – Brown Rice Casserole with Cauliflower and Broccoli
• Wednesday: 
  • Breakfast – 1 whole wheat english muffin w/peanut butter and bananas
  • Snack – 1/2 grapefruit with honey
  • Lunch – Chocolate Shakeology with strawberries and unsweetened almond milk
  • Snack – Carrots and hummus
  • Dinner – Turkey chili (made on Sunday, in the freezer!)

…. and so on through next Sunday! I know this seems a bit cray-cray, but trust me… you won’t regret it when your husband asks on Thursday, “What’s for dinner?” and you say “Sweet potato enchiladas that are already made all I have to do is put them in the oven and bake them for 25 minutes!! WHAT WHAT!!!”

What ways do you prepare yourself for Mondays to make your week easier?

For more shameless pictures of Oscar, feel free to follow me on Instagram … I went a bit overboard on capturing his first weekend in the CLE (he loves everything about this city already!).

Nice Veggetti… (and other sweaty topics)

You. Guys. Run – do not walk – to the nearest Williams Sonoma (or if you’re on a budget… Walgreens) and buy a veggie spiralizer. Don’t ask me why because I am about to tell you it is the best thing that has happened to you since you survived the Friday Fight DVD of Insanity Max: 30.

I had zucchini noodles planned for my first virgin experience with the veggie spiralizer – also known as the Veggetti (pronounced by the cool kids as…. vah – jet – ee) if you’re into As Seen on TV purchases – and was thinking it was going to take about as long as homemaking cavatelli pasta. Which, if you have not done before takes a legit 8 hours if you don’t mess up. If you do mess up and your Italian mother-in-law is on her way to your house and you think you can get away with serving her frozen pasta, you should just give up completely and come clean because she WILL know that it’s frozen and not fresh. Not that this happened to me because mine were perfect but anyway … I digress.

SO – ya’ll know that Mr. Grumpy and I love us some Italian food. We practically have pasta falling out our ears we eat it so often. We all have our issues, and ours is carbs. We tried spaghetti squash but it just didn’t taste right to us. And Mr. Grumpy has texture issues on top of his carb issues. So, I decided to embark upon the zucchini noodle, or as my clever coworker calls … the zoodle. See picture below – introducing the zoodle. 

With this spiralizer, all you literally do is put the blade in, connect the zucchini to both ends of the machinery, and turn the handle. Out come perfectly plump, happy little zoodles. It took five minutes. Maybe. And only maybe five minutes because I couldn’t find the blade. Why? Because it has a handy little shelf for it underneath the contraption. SO HELPFUL. Seriously. I just don’t even want to spend more time talking about this because it’s f*&^ing amazing. Here is the link for you to purchase one: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/paderno-sprializer/. Treat yourself. Break up with pasta now. It won’t miss you – it will move on to other people!

SO – I didn’t want to mess this whole thing up by making zoodles (the perfectly healthy option to real pasta) and then cover it in store-bought sauce. DID YOU KNOW that shit is FULL of sugar and probably salt and like extra stuff that you really, really do not need. It’s likely the reason why the next day you feel sleepy because it’s not good for you. Stop eating that – it’s really easy to make your own sauce in like 30 minutes or less. Now, you can also make sauce in 8 hours but this is easier for a weeknight and really, really tasty. Ready?

• Two roasted red peppers (I roast mine at 450 on each side for 15-20 minutes until it looks blacky spotty ish, then cool and peel off the skin)
• Four cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh basil
• 2 tsp olive oil or sunflower oil
• 1.5 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/8 cup of parmesan cheese
• A dash of red pepper flakes
• 1 can of no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained slightly

Blend together in your bullet or food processor or whatever contraption you have. That’s the sauce! You can roast the peppers in advance on Sunday when you’re bored and your husband is making you not talk because the Browns are playing. #MrGrumpy

Now, just take a tablespoon of olive oil and heat in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add your zoodles and stir them around frequently until they start to get soft. Add the sauce (we used two zucchini’s so had some sauce left over. Don’t overdo it on the sauce!) and let it simmer together for about 5-6 minutes, until the zoodles are softer and the sauce is hot. Top with some fresh basil and experience the happiness. Then tell everyone that you love your spiralizer like me until they no longer want to be your friend anymore.

Side note: DID YOU KNOW THAT SPIRALIZERS CAN ALSO MAKE SWEET POTATO FRIES? I’ll figure that one out soon. A healthified version, of course. Maybe tossed in sunflower oil and baked… working on it!

Fitness: Insanity Max: 30 – Friday Fight.
This was not ok. Shaun T – YOU BE CRAZY. I made it through and maxed out at a whopping six minutes. The first water break isn’t even until 15 minutes in. Then YOU DON’T GET ANOTHER UNTIL TEN MINUTES LATER. WTF. But then, you get done and you’re like, whoa. I just did something there. How will you know? You’ll have sweat in places you didn’t know existed on your body. And you won’t be able to walk. And you will maybe start crying (like Mr. Grumpy did). Treat yourself to a glass of wine and reminisce about how terrible you felt … and how amazing it feels to FEEL ACTUAL PAIN. That’s a key indicator you’re still alive.

Friday Nutrition:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal and a side of fruit
• Snack 1: Pears
• Lunch: Shakeology – Chocolate, 1 tbsp peanut putter, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, ice.
• Snack 2: Clementine and 11 smoked almonds
• Dinner: This zoodle noodle dinner, plus a caesar salad fake out from Thug Kitchen Handbook. It uses soaked almonds, olive oil and lemon juice, capers, etc. instead of cheese, cream and eggs found in caesar dressing. Tastes just like the real thing. And gives you just as bad of breathe. AWESOME. 
• Water: 68 oz and counting.

What are your favorite healthy substitutes for your “we have issues” food (aka, guilty pleasures)?? Did you buy yourself a Vegetti???

Hello. My name is Cari. And… My Blog Made Me Fat

Disclaimer: No one asked me to write any of this. Especially the part about Shakeology. Ok?

---

Readers, hello. It’s me – Cari Jeanne. Whoa – I know, I know. I kind of abandoned you like … too many months ago to count. Here are my excuses: I was planning a wedding. Then, I was in a wedding (mine). Then, I was honeymooning. Then, I got a puppy (he gets here Saturday!). Then, Mr. Grumpy and I bought a house.

Ok! So you’re all caught up. What’s new with you guys??? I promise no more big life changes for at least another nine months (haha… get it? KIDDING! I am not preggers!).

The Move-In-With-Your-Boyfriend 20 (similar to the Freshman 15)
Listen people. This is a real thing. It is a known fact that women gain weight when they move in with their boy toys. This is completely men’s fault. Men can eat a WHOLE lot more food than women, plus eight candy bars a night, and never gain a pound. In fact, most men look BETTER as they age (um, hello – George Clooney, P. Dempsey, Ironman).

As my dad once told me, “Life is unfair and then you die.” This is what he was talking about. Thus the new title – My Blog Made Me Fat. Ok, stop – I know I am not FAT per say. But, in giving Mr. Grumpy the same portions as me for every meal for the last three years, am I 20 pounds heavier? Yeah. Very uncomfortable in my jeans? Hell yeah. Still not Ryan Gosling’s arm candy? We’re not talking about that…

From CrossFit Girls

So we are going to do something about it. Now, don’t fret. I’m still the same gal from Home with You, with the same old Mr. Grumpy. But we need a fresh start, my friends.

Introducing: My Blog Made Me Fat
What will you find here moving forward? I’m going to share my workouts, tips on staying healthy and of course, those good old recipes that I always shared minus the white grains, cheese and fatty meats. Why? Because it’s the New Year. And we deserve BETTER than this self-loathing body bashing that we ALL did ALL last year. We’re going to feel great – together – and we’re going to get our butts in shape. And then, Channing Tatum will dump his wife just to come marry us all. You. Are. So. Welcome.

I will also VERY likely share a ridiculous amounts of pictures of my puppy, Oscar the Grouch, who like I said … arrives this Saturday. It’s going to be very difficult for Mr. Grumpy to remain as such with an adorable Goldendoodle running around, so that will be interesting and equally amusing.

So, let’s get started. I’ve been involved in an amazing accountability group since January 5 called, “Fit and Fabulous in 2015.” And the best start to that group was setting reasonable (I SAID REASONABLE) goals for yourself to follow for 21 days. Mine are to workout five days a week and not cheat on half-marathon training. I signed up for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, which will be an uphill battle literally and figuratively.

Note: I did not say, “I’m going to lose 20 pounds in TWO WEEKS.” That is ridiculous unless you want to eat nothing but lettuce and mustard and be a huge grump-ass. You’ll also feel like shit and probably not have the energy to work out. So there. Don’t do that shit.

So, come with me, friends! What are your fitness goals for the next three weeks? Let’s stick to them together – (and then treat ourselves to a glass of wine because WE ARE WORTH IT!).

Tuesday Workout: 35 minutes of Insanity Max 30’s Tabata Power.

This sounds like it will be the easier of the week’s workouts but is it? Hell no. Shaun T – boy, that man is a sweat ball – really makes you work on this. Then, in the last five minutes he completely loses his mind and makes you do all the hardest moves from the last 30 minutes at max speed until you literally can’t remember what happiness feels like. You consider you may be close to death. Then, it’s over and you’re like … whoa – did I black out? No, my friends. You did not. You maxed out. God speed if you want to join me on this battle – I’ve got 56 more days of insanity and T’s shiny, shiny bod. (I think it will be worth it, don’t you?)

Almost to my goals and it’s only 9 pm!

 

Tuesday Clean Eating:

• Shakeology Breakfast: The deal with Shakeology is that basically you swap out one meal a day and it helps you lose cravings for stuff that you should not be snacking on at 3 p.m. at work every day (ahem)… And no kidding, it really works. Since I’ve started using Shakeology, I feel ten times more energized and I no longer have bouts of hunger where I feel like I have to eat everything in sight, including the chocolate peanut butter clusters and peppermint bark I got for Xmas. (Damn you, Santa)
• Snack 1: (The trick is to eat every 2-3 hours. This sounds absurd, but trust me. It WILL help you!) Grapes!
• Lunch: Whole wheat pasta tossed in olive oil with feta, olives and sun dried tomatoes. Yes, this is allowed though not completely ideal. It’s all about PORTIONS and not eating things that are BRIGHT WHITE like Wonder Bread or normal pasta or raviolis stuffed with cheese. Or cheesecake. That’s definitely out. Also, if you HAVE to eat out for lunch (which I did today), it’s important to know that no one is perfect. You can’t eat completely healthy all the time because you are not a fembot like Sandra Lee. So, give yourself a break. Ok? Just be smart-ish when you give yourself a break.
• Snack 2: Celery
• Dinner: Salmon Coconut Curry from Runner’s World Cookbook.
• Total Water Consumed (you should drink half your weight in water): 90 oz and counting! Woop!

Favorite Recipe of the Day: Dinner
This was an amazing dinner. It is full of antioxidents and is low-fat but energizing with yummy goodness like coconut milk, cilantro, salmon (yes, I ate and I touched salmon. It wasn’t fun at first, but it was … worth it), sweet potatoes and CURRY!

Since I didn’t make the recipe myself, I don’t want to ruin Runner’s World’s life by sharing it … not that I think they’d notice little ‘ol me down here in Minionville, but basically, chop some shallots, and saute with minced garlic. Add coconut milk, curry, cayenne pepper, cumin, sweet taters and chicken stock (low sodium!) and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Add salmon, frozen peas and lime juice. Enjoy! (Dash of cilantro on the top makes bellies very happy).

Here is a really bad picture:

So, tell me – what are your fitness goals for the next 21 days? What will be your biggest challenge in making those goals? Good luck, everyone! We can do this! (Also, if you want to try Shakeology, you should definitely contact my Beach Body coach – who has no idea I’m writing this! – she is so encouraging and is my fearless leader into a whirlwind of fitness fun and pain. All of the pain.

Mom says, “Eat Yer Greens!” We say, “Drink ’em!” #drinkurgreens #organicgirl

organicgirl sent me a package of their kale in exchange for this post. all the rest of it was totally on me, and man are you going to be impressed! now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about smoothies!

Well, we sure do talk about making smart food choices here a lot on Home with You. Mr. Grumpy and I have been working really hard on getting our butts into shape and making smart choices after those workouts so that we can actually see the fruits of our labor. One of our favorite brands out there for getting our green on is organicgirl, which I know I talk about a lot over here, too! Well, they really are a great company, and man does their produce stay fresh for a long time (which is great for us Grumpy’s because we tend to get very distracted and forget about things in the fridge).

For the month of June, organicgirl is reminding folks out there that you don’t just have to eat a salad every single night of the week. There are more creative ways to get super fresh, power foods into your system – and one of those ways is to DRINK your greens with smoothies! Smoothies can also be an any time of the day snack or meal, depending on how often you eat during the day. For example, you can have a smoothie for breakfast, you can have one as a snack, you can add rum to it after work and have it at happy hour… oh wait.. ok, well do that last one sparingly. As part of their #drinkurgreens contest, you (that’s right, I mean YOU!) can win a year’s worth of organicgirl greens AND a Vitamix blender. Amazing, right? So, get up on that Facebook, and go directly to their page (https://www.facebook.com/iloveorganicgirl) and get to work on your very own smoothie. OR if you’re not feeling like a kitchen genius, you can make one of our ideas we came up with!

Now, Mr. Grumpy was very excited about this challenge. organicgirl sent us an entire package of their amazing 100% baby kale to try out in our smoothies. Me being the smoothie connoisseur that I am (hello, I worked for six years in an ice cream shop) was so excited to get to work, but I cannot tell you how much MORE excited Mr. Grumpy was. So, we went ahead and made soon-to-be Mr and Mrs. Grumpy smoothies for you to try.

Let’s make Mr. Grumpy’s first (first is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the … ok, I will try to grow up a bit).

Mr. Grumpy’s Razzango Smoothie

#drinkurgreens #ormrgrumpywillglareatyou

What You’ll Need:

• 1 cup organicgirl 100% baby kale
• 1 cup coconut water
• 1 tsp chia seeds (for energy!!)
• 1 cup of frozen mango
• 1 1/2 cups raspberries, fresh
• Splash of lime juice

First, combine the kale, chia seeds and the coconut water. Blend until smooth – about 1 minute. Then, add in the fruit, and blend everything again. Pour into a glass, and enjoy!!

Now, I wanted to try something a little sweeter. It took everything I had to not use ice cream – but I think you could totally substitute the vanilla Greek yogurt for vanilla ice cream if you had not been like me and skipped your workout this weekend. So… here is the soon-to-be Mrs. Grumpy smoothie for us gals!

Soon2Be Mrs. Grumpy’s Something Sweet Strawberry Mint Smoothie

#drinkurgreens #becauseisaidso

What You’ll Need:

• 1 cup organicgirl 100% baby kale
• 2 5.2 oz. containers of Chobani Greek vanilla yogurt (or 1 cup of vanilla ice cream)
• 2 tbsp fresh mint (thanks to Suzie Q’s amazing garden this year!)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
• 1 cup ice (don’t do this if you use ice cream, ok? Ok…)

First, combine the kale, yogurt, mint and ice. Blend until smooth and all the ice is gone to the human eye. This is just to make sure that you don’t get any ice chunks. Then, add the strawberries and blend one more time until smooth.

Halfway through making my strawberry mint smoothie, another idea occurred to me that you could do the kale, mint, vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips. Like … HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE? Right? But, Mr. Grumpy told me we needed to get through the smoothies that I made before I started making more… and he was right because I quickly realized that we had about 45-minutes worth of dishes ahead of us.

So, get to smoothie-ing, and don’t forget to post your own creations over on Facebook (or Instagram, if you’re into that!) using #drinkurgreens. You can find more about the contest here: https://www.facebook.com/iloveorganicgirl/app_448952861833126.

Happy drinking, friends!

Couples who (fill in the blank) together, stay together.

Well, folks. It’s officially summer in Cleveland. Ok, I don’t think it is actually officially summer yet – but with weather as beautiful as we’ve had here, I’m just refusing to even acknowledge that there are other seasons available to choose from.

Mr. Grumpy and I had a pretty fantastic week livin’ life in the CLE, and it made me feel even more thankful than I normally do to have my best friend/boyfriend/fiancé/boytoy and an all around good guy here to keep me company while we explored and remembered why on earth we live in this city by the lake. Here’s a fun recap of everything we accomplished this week:

This is the view from our rooftop deck!

1. Couples who eat ribs ‘n’ corn together, stay together.

If you have not been to the Cleveland Rib-Off festival, boy do you have a long time to wait until next year’s comes back around. It was literally the most fun I’d had in a long time – we tried to eat as much food as we possibly could, while enjoying a nice view of the Cuyahoga River and all the fun boats that come in and out of the harbor (I’m not sure they actually call it a harbor. Is it called a port even? I just don’t know, but I think you get my point…). I even convinced my dear friend Kelsey to try frozen cheesecake (it was amazing, and covered in rainbow sprinkles), and my other dear friend Maddy convinced ME to split a funnel cake with her (it did not take much convincing). The sun was out all day long – it was the perfect way to spend Memorial Day. Now, I just have to diet until next Memorial Day.

Man, that’s some good lookin’ corn!

The frozen cheesecake was not a myth. Here is proof.

We really enjoyed the corn probably a little too much.

2. Couples who sweat together, stay together.

Now, we couldn’t get through the week without a few runs, of course. Unfortunately, Mr. Grumpy had a long week at work with a few late nights. It wasn’t until Tuesday when I was running by myself (and ran – literally – into Kelsey and her fiancé, B-rad) that I realized just how much I miss Mr. Grumpy when I go out for a run. Why? Well – he is super speedy, so I don’t miss being the slow poke of the couple. But, other than that – he is a great running companion. He makes fun zig-zags, he farts, he gets distracted and runs you off the sidewalk without even noticing it. It makes for a pretty entertaining run, and for that I really missed him. In all seriousness, Mr. Grumpy actually is the best running coach ever because he can always tell during a run when I’m discouraged and he’ll say sweet things like, “You’re doing a really good job!” So – if you can run with your manfriend, do it. It is a great bonding activity. Thus, tonight when Mr. Grumpy and I ran together, I wanted to run faster than I ever did just for him. And guess what – I got all the way down to 8:49 seconds a mile! It felt really good and I think I finally achieved that runners’ high everyone’s been talking about.

It was at the end that I got really fast, just FYI.

3. Couples who gawk at elephants together, stay together.

It’s true – Mr. Grumpy finally bit the bullet and took me to the zoo. Now, I have been BEGGING shamelessly for years to Mr. Grumpy to please have him take me to the zoo. We tried to go once a few months ago (yes, during the polar vortex), and my iPhone 4 (RIP) took us way out in the middle of nowhere. So far out that we finally just gave up and had it take us right back home. Well this weekend, we did it. We went to the zoo, and of course – I had an allergy attack. Thanks, Ohio trees. But, my swollen face aside, man, that place is really cool. If you haven’t gotten the chance to go, definitely go on a day that they’re doing the Elephant Crossing. We will have to go back to experience that one because it was not open today, but it was a pretty amazing zoo with a lot of interesting, sleepy animals.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

4. Couples who eat healthy together, stay attracted to one another.

Ok – let’s get down to my recipe for the day because I am telling you, I made the most perfect hummus today anyone has ever made. I know I’m really being a bragster about this, but seriously. Mr. Grumpy and I were just eating it with a spoon like it was yogurt. We are trying our hardest to eat healthier so we can both lose some weight before the wedding. So, I decided for lunch this week, I’m going to eat hummus and veggies. No carby pita chips, people. Just veggies. Hummus is great because it’s not like you eat it and think, “Yep, this is healthy for you.” It has a lot of great flavor and fills you up so you don’t overeat. And it’s made of all good-for-you things like chick peas and lemon and garlic (heart health, I think?). Anyway – I’d never made hummus for one very distinct reason: I refuse to pay a million dollars for tahini. Sorry. It’s always so expensive. And I just … refuse. So I decided, well, why not try it without. And man – this was amazing.

This is a terrible picture… but I promise it was good.

Here’s how you make it:

What You’ll Need:

• 2 cans chick peas (you’ll have to peel the skins off manually just by squeezing them ever so gently)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 tbsp garlic
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• Dash of paprika and salt (do not go overboard, friends)
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or if you don’t want it too spicy, go down to 1/4 tsp)

Combine the chick peas, lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, garlic, ground coriander, paprika and salt, and red pepper in a food processor until smooth. Stir once while still in the food processor (not while it’s running…) and then add the water and remaining olive oil until the mixture is soft and creamy. And voila! We cut up red and green peppers to dip in. It’s especially yummy when you let it sit in the fridge for just a bit.

5. Couples who drink together, stay together.

Well, sorry. But this one is just obvious I think…

After going to Kelsey’s wonderful bridal shower in Cuyahoga Falls Saturday, I came home to Mr. Grumpy – and we immediately hit up the Clevelander to catch the rest of the Indians vs. Rockies game. I – as the native Coloradan that I am – was very torn, per usual as to who I cheered on. So I wore my Indians tank top, and ordered this beer. I think that covered it, right?

What fun things did you get into this weekend? Are you able to work out with your significant other? Share your other “Couples who (fill in the blank) together, stay together” mantras in the comments below! And make it a great week, guys!

A Quick 5-Month Recap! (And the start of training season!)

Well gosh. It sure has been a while since we last caught up. It’s been kind of crazy up here.

WHY, you ask? Well most of you already know, but … Mr. Grumpy popped the question and… I SAID YES! Actually – let’s be honest. I think the exact words out of my mouth were, “Are you really asking me?!?! Is this real life?!?! OMG YES, YES, YES!!!” Long story short – we’re engaged and knee-deep in wedding planning. Here’s some pics of our engagement session by Mindy Sue Photography (who is seriously the BEST – if you’re looking for a wedding or life-event photog. look no further. Mindy is basically my new BFF and her pictures make me not look like a deranged squirrel, so I’m especially in friend love with her).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Of course, you’re probably wondering how Mr. Grumpy asked. It was pretty perfect – we were getting ready to head out to his parent’s house for our holiday (yes, I’m talking Christmas it was THAT long ago) celebration. In true Cari fashion, I had NO idea that he was trying to ask me to be his wife. So here I am running around the apartment, turning off all the lights. Then, after turning off the hallway light (the last one that was on), I hear Mr. Grumpy in his I-cannot-believe-you voice say, “Cari!!!!” – so I turn the light back on and there he is, in the hallway, getting on his knee. Then I realized what he was doing and immediately started crying, shaking my head up and down and hugging/smooching him. Then, we tried to call all our friends and family and NOT ONE OF THEM answered the phone… Which would only happen to me! But, eventually they did and we’ve been celebrating ever since!

Now, this winter was especially rough. Hello – did you guys hear about the Polar Vortex? I mean that was no joke. I literally did not leave our apartment until last week – and the 10 days I spent in Colorado with my fantastic fam celebrating the wedding (pictured below!In most of these, I was laughing pretty hard. Not sorry.)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

So after the long, long winter, man – am I ready to thaw out! So ready, in fact, that I already have my first real bad sunburn, compliments of The Ohio State University (we went for Mr. Grumpy’s little brother David’s college graduation last weekend and apparently I thought I was exempt from sun lotion). But, it was worth it David!! (I was basically the only person tweeting live from the graduation ceremony…)

https://twitter.com/carijeanne/status/462996121636196352

https://twitter.com/carijeanne/status/463015474888843265

https://twitter.com/carijeanne/status/462969677358977024

Because the weather is beautiful and I need to be in shape come October 25 when we say, “I do!,” Mr. Grumpy and I signed up for yet ANOTHER half marathon. Yes, the answer is YES – I am crazy. This means that we start training THIS WEEK. Part of me is excited and the other part is just asking myself, “Why. Why do you do this to yourself, Cari?” Well – sitting in the apartment for five months straight taught me something – I become a true blue Mrs. Grumpy when I can’t go outside. I also do not have the same metabolism as I did at age 23. I also developed a pretty bad addiction to Candy Crush, which ended in me having to completely delete the app from my tired, old iPhone 4. Therefore, it’s time to get my butt in motion. So, starting this week – I’ll be sharing updates on my training, wedding planning and healthy eating as we get closer and closer to the Big Day. Bare with me, folks.

Mr. Grumpy stumbled upon this handy tool on the ASICS website – you just put in what day your half marathon (or whatever your goal is) is, add your previous time (if applicable) and set a goal for this race. Then, it creates a complete training schedule for you at the click of a button. What’s great is that you can adjust your running days (for example, I refuse to run on Fridays, so I just switched my rest days) and you can change your pace at any time between easy, average and hard. What’s even better about it is that you can log all your runs and sync your schedule not only to your Google calendar (or Outlook) but also to your Runkeeper app. And if you miss a run (which happens), then you can easily reschedule.

So – if you’re looking for a handy training tool for whatever your next running adventure may be – you should definitely check this out – myasics.us. You won’t regret it! Or you might depending on how much you want to run…

What was for dinner tonight you ask? Homemade Chipotle bowls!

Here’s a quick recipe:

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked in chicken broth
• 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 lb ground turkey (we use Jenni-O brand!), cooked and seasoned with paprika, smoked chipotle pepper and season salt
• 1 cup of frozen red peppers, onions and green peppers, sautéed and thawed
• 1 can of black beans and 1 can of pinto beans, drained and heated over medium heat on the stove
• 1/4 cup of low-fat cheddar cheese (optional)
• 1 can of no-sodium corn with green and red peppers, drained (we kept ours cold like salsa!)
• 1/2 red tomato, diced
• 1 cup of chopped romaine lettuce

Combine as you like it! I usually put the rice first, then beans, then turkey and cheese, the corn, lettuce, tomato and top it with the hot peppers and corn. But – it’s your bowl, so go through the line just like you would at Chipotle! Boy, this is a LOT cheaper and you’ll be a lot less tempted to put the “bad” ingredients Chipotle offers like the barbacoa or the sour cream. Enjoy!

 

Weeknight Dinner: Tomato-Basil Soup with Tortellini

When I woke up for work Wednesday morning, I was absolutely ecstatic. For the first time in about 2 years, I didn’t wake up drench in sweat with my hair the size of orphan Annie’s after an lightening storm in 100 percent humidity (in which the lightening strikes the hair…). Picturing that? Ok… that’s what I look like in the morning. Now, I would like to think that I wake up looking like a Disney princess, but let’s just be honest with one another. Mornings are a very scary place for me. And therefore, an even scarier place for Mr. Grumpy. Now, on this particular morning I realized that summer was almost over. There was a crisp bite to the air, and I was ready for boots and sweaters. So, it only felt natural that I make soup for dinner. Because I’ve been in hot flash mode (not really) since May. And I deserve a nice, steamy bowl of soup. However, I have had zero time in my after-work life lately – meaning soup from scratch was NOT an option. Training for the half marathon has officially taken over, and so, Mr. Grumpy and I have pretty much been doing simple dinners – Kraft mac ‘n’ cheese, oatmeal, shredded chicken or turkey sammies, peanut butter… anything that’s easy and can be reheated for a few days is what we’ve been eating basically. So, while I was grocery shopping, I thought up this super easy recipe and could not wait to come home and eat it. If you are short of time but still want something wholesome, steamy and good – this is your dinner. In just 25 minutes, you’ll have yourself a delicious bowl of soup and can sit back, relax and stretch out your legs. What You’ll Need:

• 2 cans tomato soup (Watch the sodium on this. We buy a low-sodium soup to make sure we don’t get overloaded)
• 1/2 cup fresh, chopped basil
• 1 cup three-cheese tortellini (not the frozen kind)
• 1 can of Hunt’s fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained
• Parmesean cheese for sprinkling

Yes, I’m serious. This is all you need. It’s really that easy. Ok – here we go. First, put on your jammies. You want to be comfortable when your soup is ready, right? SO GET ON THOSE SWEAT PANTS! Next, in a large pot, heat the tomato soup (prepare as directed on the can. We used a soup that didn’t require milk or water) with the drained diced tomatoes over medium heat until simmering. Add the tortellini and 1/4 cup of basil. Cover and turn the heat to medium-low. Let that simmer for 30 minutes, until the tortellini are plump and softened. Depending on the type of tortellini you’re using, it may take less than 30 minutes, so keep checking on then to make sure you don’t over-cook them. Then, the soup is done. Really. That’s it. Separate into soup bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of basil and parmesean cheese. Curl up on that couch. And enjoy!  Related articles

Weeknight Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Cheesy Chicken Meatballs

Weeknight Dinner: Cheesy Corn on the Cob with Spicy Jalapeno Garlic Butter

Weeknight Dinner: Lo-Cal Chipotle Bean Burritos

Weeknight Dinner: Zucchini Taco Boats