Finding Balance......is hard!

I'm sorry that I haven't posted in awhile...to be very transparent with you all... I have NOT been very consistent since the challenge.  As the title of this post states... Finding balance is hard!!! After my 24 days (in which I was VERY spot on for, and yes I'm VERY proud of that) I gave myself some cheats.  I went out with some friends and got chicken george for my first cheat.  Then it was Thanksgiving. Then my niece had her first birthday. I kept on cheating. By Sunday, I felt terrible.. I had a huge stomachache, headache (because I wasn't drinking enough water), overall I just felt like crap.  It really showed me how much eating effects your body and mind.  So last Sunday I decided I was going to make a menu and get back on the train! I made the menu, went grocery shopping, prepped and got all ready for the week.  Monday-Wednesday I did pretty good and then Thursday I had a bad/stressful day so I caved and we got Casey's taco pizza. Friday I ended up having some cinnamon sticks from Domino's. Saturday was the most disappointing because I actually did have a plan and I did not follow it what-so-ever. We had a friend's little girl's birthday party.  I decided I was going to workout that morning and eat lunch before we went (which I actually did).  Then we got there... there was chips and cheese, chocolate covered pretzels, cupcakes, peanuts (the orange candy..yeah, gross I know..but I LOVE them! lol). I had alllll of it. The bad news was we were going out to eat with my husband's parents for his early birthday that night.  So, instead of trying to balance out the day I had a cheeseburger, cheeseballs, and I even got ice cream with hot fudge and caramel.  You can imagine how my stomach felt after all that ;)

The reason that I am telling you all of my fails is because I'M HUMAN! This morning I woke up and made a healthy breakfast and sat down to think about what I wanted to do.  Of course I text my coach Emilie and told her I needed a talking to and boy did she give me one :) It was an awesome reality check.  She told me that I'm human! Cheats happen! (Even if they did happen for like 3 days in a row :-S) She told me that I need to set a goal and STICK to it. So that's what I've done...I have a get together on Saturday night so this week I am going to stick to the menu no matter what then cheat on Saturday night and NOT feel guilty about it one iota!! I'm such an all or nothing person and that is why I've found it so hard these past few weeks to find that balance.  I'm NOT the person that can look at a bag of cookies and just eat one and stop.  I would eat 10, feel like I'm going to puke..then stop.  I realize that I'm not going to eat clean every single day of my life and that life will happen. I just need to make smarter choices and set those goals of when it's okay not to feel guilty about having those 10 cookies if I REALLY wanted them. But not having the cookies, the cake and the ice cream.

I really thought hard about how hard I worked for those 24 days and how much better I felt. I DO NOT want to lose that. I don't want to give that up just because it's the "holiday season". So the take away from today's blog is that you should set goals weekly. Little or big. It doesn't matter.  Maybe you need a cheat meal...maybe it's a cheat day. Whatever it is, set a goal and celebrate when you've reached it.. because that's what I'm going to do!

Lastly, a lot of you have been asking for the recipes that I've been making.  I'll post a few below. A lot of them I have found on Instagram through various fitness pages.  I will be sure to give them credit as I've made none of these up on my own! :)

Here is the link to the cauliflower pizza crust I made.  I used this crust and then found some sauce that was made with natural products, low fat mozzarella and turkey pepperonis.

http://www.theluckypennyblog.com/2013/02/the-best-cauliflower-crust-pizza.html

Recipe for the "Healthy Buffalo Bites"

1-2 lb chicken breast
1/2 cup buffalo sauce
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven at 375. Cut chicken into bite size pieces.  Put buffalo sauce in a small bowl.  Put panko in a small bowl.  Put all the chicken pieces in the buffalo sauce and let soak for about 5 minutes.  One at a time take the pieces out of the sauce and roll in the panko breading. Put on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for 30 minutes.

That is how I make them but here is the actual blog recipe.

http://www.sugardishme.com/2014/10/08/buffalo-chicken-lettuce-wraps/

Here is the screen shots for the "Reese's Cups"-- I used "Simply Jif Peanut Butter" instead of almond butter.

If there's any other recipes I forgot just message me and I'll post them! :)