And That's When it Clicked + Recipe

Excuse my absence, this week has been a littttlllle bit stressful, as will be the following few weeks.  There's a lot of stuff going on around here and it's all leaving me feeling a little unbalanced.  The biggest thing for me this week is to focus on sleep, and eating right.  Because I want to stuff my face with everything in sight.

I'm trying to offset that by swaying on the healthier side of my comfort foods and watching my portions.  Believe me, it's been a challenge.  There's a container of fro-yo screaming my name.

The title refers to what happened just after this picture.  I've been lifting weights off and on for the better part of 5 years.  It all started off with my friends laughing at my terrible form and wondering why the heck I was bicep curling 5lbs to a million reps (No, I'm not really sure why I was either).

I've pushed myself at times over the years, and others I've got stuck in my routine.  A few months ago, I was within 1 stage of finishing New Rules of Lifting for Women and dropped off.  Now, I'm back at it with Jamie Eason's Live Fit trainer, and dragging Gregers with me. 

After 5 years, two things clicked:

1.  I can't count.  No really, I can't.  At work, I have a running tally on my fingers when I'm getting clients to do multiple reps.  I figured I was double counting some reps, but I didn't know how bad until Greg started counting with me.  Whoops.

2.  What it feels like for a muscle to be completely exhausted by the end.  With someone watching over me who is learning from me, I've really been careful to watch my form while challenging myself on the weight.  I have pushed through for 1-3 more reps when I really didn't think I could.   And you know what?   I'm finally seeing results in my muscle tone.  YES.

Okay, enough rambling, are you ready for my breakfast this morning?

Gluten-Free Protein Pancakes

(Adapted from adashofmeg.com)

These babies were the closest I've ever come to the real deal.

  Ingredients

1 scoop protein powder

4 tbsp almond meal/flour

1/4 cup egg whites

1/2 mashed banana

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 tsp baking powder

Cinnamon to taste

Pinch of salt

1tsp coconut oil for frying

Mix all ingredients together.  Heat pan on medium-low (this is key to using almond meal!!) and melt coconut oil.  Cook until bubbles form, flip, et voila!  

I topped it with pb, bananas, coconut, and a little maple syrup (which these ones honestly didn't need).

So.  Good.

I leave you with one more photo from last night:

My baby girl is 1 today!  No longer a kitten!