What’s New + Guest Bender: Lindsay from Designer Wife

Your kindness and comments on my blogiversary post have once again made my week so much brighter! Another bright part of the week was the sunshine and warm temperatures – but that all went away this morning when I woke up and saw snow outside my window 😯 Chicago has a way of bringing you back down to Earth with its unpredictable weather patterns.

As ready as I am for the first day of Spring – did you know it was today?! – I guess I won’t complain about one more snowfall. As long as it melts quickly!

Speaking of Spring, I have made the decision to train for another 10K in May! It’s a shorter version of the Chicago Spring Half and I can’t wait to have a chance at beating my time from the fall. I’ve embarked on an easy training program that has me running anywhere from 2-5 miles three days a week, which I am also interspersing with some of my favorite P90x workouts. We shall see how it goes 🙂

***

Now I introduce to you a fabulous Guest Bender who is also in the mood for Spring (just look at her header)! Lindsay has a fabulous eye for design and is a self-proclaimed talker, just like me. Here is my favorite quote from what you’ll read below:

“Stop waiting to act on dreams and start chasing them.”

It aligns perfectly with my current state of mind and I think her story will inspire you, too!

***

Well, hello there! I’m Lindsay from The Glamorous Life of a Designer Wife. I blog about design, health, fitness, my cats, pretty things and everything in between (totally didn’t intend for that to rhyme!) 🙂 I’m sooo excited to be a Guest Bender today! I’m honestly not just saying this because I’m here today, but this is just one of my favorite blogs. I completely identify and agree with sooo much that Jenn blogs about, so I’m super comfy here. It’s definitely hard to follow up after all the amazing Guest Benders lately. I’m always so amazed at the great content that people come up with! Inspiring!

So what in the world am I going to blog about?? Well, truth is I’ll have to come up with something that I can keep short. I’m a chatterbox. I tried video blogging over at DW until my vlog turned out to be 21 minutes in length. #vlogfail.

Sticking with the Bender theme of a healthy eating & living, I thought I’d just share some of my awakening that lead me to a fit, healthy, balanced lifestyle as well. I’m a complete foodie… yet, I’m just now learning to cook. But I *love* to eat. I’m a health nut, an organic, and love learning about better and yummier ways to be healthy.

Much like several of you, my “wake up call” hit during my college years as well. I’m a hardcore geek when it comes to education and kept my nose in a book, ate whatever was readily available and abandoned the beloved gym. I quickly gained the freshman 15 (or 20). It really hit me hard and I decided that enough is enough… I’m going to the gym… right after I finish off this bowl of brownie batter.

The next morning I awoke at 5 so I could work out before my morning class… except my super comfy workout pants that I LOVED no longer fit when I attempted to put them on. I think I literally did something resembling the “Home Alone” face… hands on face and SCREAAAAM!

For the sake of length, I’ll fast forwarded and spare you a bunch of rants and details. What it boils down to is that my physical state was simply unacceptable and I was going to do something about it. Out of this, my love affair with fitness began. As a result of my new found fitness obsession, I then became completely aware of the “bigger picture.” It wasn’t about going to a gym and dieting… it was about a lifestyle change.

I picked up Oxygen magazine each month on a news stand. Secretly, I wanted to compete in fitness and bikini competitions, but that was just so unattainable!

Source

I was drinking my protein shake and flipping through my new Oxygen issue when I came across a write up called “This Is It,” which said:

“This is Your life. This is not a dress rehearsal. All the things you want to be, achieve, do, see, feel, have, think about them. This is your life. Your chance to fulfill all your hopes and dreams.”

Something clicked in my head. Everything changed. If I wanted to be serious about my dream of competing, I had to realize that the mindset of I’ll do it when “I’m fit enough” or “I’m rich enough” wasn’t cutting it.

I’m competing for the first time this summer in Miami. Come to find out,  It *is* attainable. Everything is. Living healthy, happy and balanced is the key. I wish more people realized that a healthy lifestyle isn’t about depriving yourself or never eating chocolate again…. and salads can be SOOOO YUM! Oh, and I totally eat dark chocolate a couple of times a week!! Believe me, I’m not living without my sugar, haha!  All in moderation 🙂

I now work out often and really love it. I eat ALL the time… it’s sometimes a struggle to actually eat all 6 meals in one day. Designer husband is the chef in the family, but since I left a design firm to freelance from my home office,  I had to start learning to prepare meals while home. It’s been eventful…. and I nearly burnt the kitchen down. Twice. Using a microwave.

Thanks to food bloggers, I’m finally navigating my way around pretty safely. I at least don’t have to have the fire extinguisher nearby anymore. I’ve now been getting adventurous and making my own healthy culinary experiments. So far, a few have actually been edible.

So what am I getting a here? That article that I mentioned *changed my life*. This IS it! What if this really is as good as it all gets? Stop waiting to act on dreams and start chasing them. Do something each day that’s a bit out of your comfort zone. Make plans, lists, day dream… get inspired. Take care of yourself, fall in love with yourself and be thankful for each day.

With that, I’ll leave you with something yummy that makes me sooo happy. And, it’s edible, haha 🙂

Turkey Mini Meatloafs

These mini meatloaves are a hit with everyone who has tried them! They are a great source of lean protein, high in fiber, and a wide variety of anti-inflammatory antioxidants. The great thing about making them in the muffin tins is that you can freeze half of the batch for later use. Just pull one out of the freezer when you want it and pop it into the microwave until hot. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs. ground turkey breast
• ½ cup egg substitute
• 2 tbsp. whole-wheat matzo meal
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp. Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce (or your favorite)
• 1/8 tsp. Lawry’s season salt
• ½ onion, minced
• 1 zucchini, minced
• 8 mushrooms, minced
• 1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1. In a large nonstick skillet that has been coated in cooking spray and heated over medium-high heat, sauté the vegetables 5-7 minutes.  Season with a pinch of sea salt and pepper.  Set aside and cool completely.
2. In a large bowl, combine turkey breast, egg substitute, matzo meal, Worcestershire sauce, season salt, and BBQ sauce.  Add the cooked vegetables and mix thoroughly.
3. Scoop mixture into muffin tins that have been coated with olive oil cooking spray(makes 12).  Top each mini-meatloaf with a teaspoon of BBQ sauce.  Place in oven (350 F) for 30 minutes. Check for doneness by using meat thermometer – should reach 160 degrees. Remove from oven ans let rest 15 minutes before handling.

Alternatives:

• Make 1 large (or 2 smaller) meatloaf
• Make 12 turkey burger patties
• Make turkey meatballs

***

Thanks for sharing, Lindsay! The picture of those meatballs is absolutely mouthwatering!

What was your “aha!” moment when it came to healthy eating and exercising?

For those who are still searching for one (I know I have days where I lose sight of mine), I hope that the comments and discussion will generate some new thoughts and ideas!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone. If you’re in a place with real Spring weather — enjoy it! If you’re lucky enough to be in Baltimore at FitBloggin’ — have fun! Can’t wait to follow along on Twitter.

Abrazos!