There are just some things...

Mmmmm....salad.

That I refuse to stop eating. I've had this conversation with folks several times in real life, and friends have told me it's re-assuring, so here's the blog version.

Friend: "Sooooo, you don't eat processed foods or refined carbs, right? Now you don't eat meat either? What DO you eat (weirdo)?"

Me: "I eat a clean, un-processed, plant-based diet most of the time. BUT, here's the deal. There are just some foods I'm not willing to give up. If I did, I may never survive this clean eating lifestyle. I love clean foods, don't get me wrong. I love fruit, vegetables, unsweetened tea, Shakeology, brown rice and all that business. BUT...I also love not-so-healthy things, and eating them in moderation isn't wrong, as long as I get right back on track with the next meal."

Here' a list of some of those things on my list: 

Cherry Coke. It's been my favorite for as long as I can remember. It's extra good when it's made behind a bar with a fountain coke and some grenadine. You think? I think. I have maybe one a month, or less and I don't get a refill. Definitely not going to inhibit my clean eating lifestyle at that rate.

Pizza. For a variety of reasons, it would basically be sacrilegious for me to stop eating pizza. I love it. It loves me. I will eat any kind of pizza from the gourmet variety shown below to sick-nasty freezer pizza. I love it all. I even LOVVVVVE cauliflower crust pizza, which is clean! If I had to pick one meal to eat for the rest of my life, it would probably be pizza. Again, I usually only eat it on special occasions - birthdays, anniversaries or other parties.

Cherry Cordial Ice Cream from UDF. I'll be honest, when I started clean eating almost two years ago, I stopped eating dairy regularly. It wasn't intentional, it just sort of happened. Now, when I eat ice cream, it makes my stomach hurt. Sooooo....I reserve my ice cream indulgences for Homemade Brand (aka UDF) Cherry Cordial. Seriously - best ever - worth the hurt. Been my favorite for many o' years. Yes, my favorite ice cream comes from a gas station. S-U-E  M-E.

Oh, also? If you're going to do this, go get ice cream OUT. Yes, it's more expensive this way, but guess what...there's not a chance that you're going to take a box of ice cream to bed with you and be really super sorry the next morning when you wake up with a spoon glued to your face and an empty ice cream box on your bedside table. Just saying.

Donuts. If you've known me for more than thirty seconds, you know that I've never met a donut I didn't like. My favorite? I know you want to know. Boston cream aka bavarian cream aka long john, etc. I just can't even. I remember getting donuts with my dad so many times growing up. My husband and I used to go for donuts on Friday and Saturday nights, in college, and today I go on donut dates with two of my friends and all the kids. It doesn't happen often at all and I try to reserve these indulgences for special occasions; but, no, I won't turn down a donut. Ever. Don't even try to tell me they cause XY or Z. I'll keep eating them. Donut diva for life! 

Coffee. Yeah. If we go on vacation, the Keurig comes, too. Guess what guys, I have four kids. Having a cup of coffee is like my own personal Happy Hour. I even use that toxic candy flavored liquid creamer (but only a tablespoon). That's right, no shame. Try to pry this Starbucks cup out of my hot little hand, I dare ya'.

So, there you have it. Even hardcore foodies like me can survive the clean eating life. I've managed to lose 40+ pounds while still eating this crap every now and then. I try not to take "breaks" (unless I'm incredibly off the tracks and that's a topic for another post) and I don't take whole days off - just one "treat" meal one time a week.

So, go for it! Have that donut and then get back to your veggies. 

I'm in love with PiYo.

I think it was some time last winter when I saw Chalene Johnson make the long-awaited announcement, via social media, that there would indeed by a PiYo DVD series. At that moment, I followed every waiting list, announcement list, IG account, twitter handle and Facebook account that would send me more info because I DID NOT want to miss the big release date. I absolutely love Chalene's videos, for one, and for two... Pilates + Yoga??? It's like she invented this routine for ME. Goodness.

My videos came in the mail last week and I set them aside until after vacation because...honestly? Why ruin a good start to something with vacation ice cream, road trip McDoubles and hefty servings of are-we-there-yet ice cold Coca-Cola. Can I get an amen?

Besides, there was a PiYo challenge group starting the day after we got back in town anyway. I wouldn't want to be an over-achiever and get ahead of those guys (insert eye-roll, here).

Anywho. I tore open the videos on Monday morning and WOWEE!!! If you think you think pilates/yoga is for wimps, you are sorrily mistaken! PiYO makes use of your own body weight for strength training while defining your entire body. It's basically amazing and I can't wait to see the change that 30 and 60 days will bring. I can tell it's working already and, the best part? I actually look forward to PiYo-ing each day. Awesome. :)

I really enjoy strength training, but unless someone is telling me what do to and how often to do it - I might as well just lift soup cans 200 times a day because it would probably be just as effective. Chalene's instructions are very detailed and easy to understand. The best part? No extra equipment is required. Your body. Towel. Water bottle. And, of course, the DVD. Well, a DVD player might help, too... I love, love, love this video series and I hope you'll try it out, too!

Interested in learning more about PiYo? Message me and I'll be happy to tell you more, help you order and coach you as we go! 

Order your copy of PiYo here!

The last 30.

I shielded my eyes from the scale through all my prenatal visits with baby #4. When I showed up to my 6wk check-up, though, I wanted to know if I'd actually made any progress with my blindfolded postpartum weight loss mission. So, I asked. 

"How much did I weigh at my last prenatal visit?" 

"222," The nurse replied. 

Insert, big sigh.

Thinking back to when I got pregnant with baby #3 just two years before, I weighed 144 and was still losing - nearly to my original pre-pregnancy weight. I wasn't doing anything special, but I was focused.

Big sigh. I'd made it down to 198 in six weeks after baby #4, but the amount I had left to lose was terribly daunting; my days were consumed with this number and how every bite of food, step taken or not, affected it. Every time I get dressed, I think about it. Every time I see my reflection, I think about it. It's strangely discouraging and encouraging all at the same time. If I'm honest, I'll tell you that this just made me want to eat more. 

In September of that year, two months after my baby girl was born, I started eating clean. This meant no refined carbs or added sugars. Basically no white stuff - bread, rice, potatoes, flour, etc. This worked really well for me. So well in fact that I was able to get back into the 150s. I have gained weight back here and there, but I've been able to keep weight off better than with any "diet" I've tried in the past - and I've tried them all. I've struggled with binge eating and sugar addiction for as long as I can remember, and ultimately that's stopped me from reaching my final goal. 

I can't even tell you how many weekends I've been overwhelmed with this journey and needed a break, which ultimately lead to me eating whatever I wanted with a Monday start-over date. Sometimes that Monday got pushed back a week or two, hindering my goals once again. I'm not talking about over eating a few meals; I'm talking about eating many times over my daily caloric intake - not because I'm hungry, just because. Binge eating is an eating disorder and if you're doing it, you need to be well-aware and learn how to stop it.  For me, it's accountability through MyFitnessPal and avoiding sugar. The moment I stop paying attention, is the very same moment I start making poor choices and get off track. 

I don't have that daunting number in front of me anymore, friends. I don't have 92 pounds to lose, but after re-connecting with my scale this morning, I see that I do have 30. I would like to finish this up so I can stop being discouraged by this bite-by-bite life and start living for real.

Here's to counting calories.

Here's to clean eating.

Here's to being active.

Here's to another Monday.

Here's to commitment. 

Here's to being aware.

Here's to accountability. 

Here's to the last 30 pounds.

Who's with me? 

Kale Chips with a Zip

The other day, I posted this meme about chips and salsa.

And, darn it, isn't that just the truth?! My word. I've even tried to convince myself that chips set off my TMJ; alas, I just can't quit them. So, because I love chips AND because I'm trying really hard to be a dedicated clean eater, I decided to make up a batch of kale chips this afternoon instead of diving into the remainder of the Red Hot Blues that are taunting me from inside our pantry. These tasty green treats are quick, easy, and you probably won't even know you're not eating a "real" chip. I mean, yes you probably will because chips shouldn't be green. But, you know, they taste pretty darn acceptable when you're trying to combat a chip craving.

Whenever I get a bag of chips, I usually go for barbecue or another peppery variety, so I made this batch of chips to mimmic my old greasy potato-based faves.

Here's what you need: 

• A couple big handfuls of washed kale, separate leaves from center ribs (or however much fills your baking sheet with a single layer). 
• Oil (I sprayed mine down with grape seed oil. Just make sure the leaves are tossed with a nice light coat)
• Kosher/sea salt; garlic powder; roasted red pepper flakes; dried minced onion.

Here's what you do: 

• Add clean, prepared kale to a bowl. 
• Toss with oil and seasonings/spices to taste.
• Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet.
• Bake for about 10 minutes at 350, turning once halfway through cook time. 

These were SO tasty, even my mom and 19 month old baby approved. :) They definitely satisfied my spicy chip craving and I'll be making them again soon. 

I am, and always will be,

a sugar addict. We're not talking ha-ha funny-funny Tess likes her sweets kind of stuff, guys. We're
talking Tess can sit down to the table and eat a pound of sugar encrusted pretzels, then move on to cookies and sweet tea an hour later sorta serious business. We're saying that once that trigger is pulled, there's no telling how many processed bad-for-you gonna-kill-you-sooner-or-later foods I'll eat, or for how many days. We're saying that I might roll through the Starbucks drive-thru every darn day to get the biggest sugariest latte they have because I need it. We're saying that I just flat-out have an eating disorder. I always have. While I don't like dealing with it, I know that the Lord gives us ALL struggles and through those we can grow closer to Him.

I've had to "quit" sugar about four times now. It's never fun, but it's always when I'm at a breaking point with my weight - my favorite pants don't fit, my collar bone is missing again, and I just feel a little more sluggish than normal. Over the last few months, some stressful circumstances triggered me to start eating crap again. Not literal crap, you guys. Processed, sugary, carb-laden, fatty-fat food that has no place in my body. That's what I'm talking about. About the same time, I also completely abandoned my daily workouts. I'm all or nothing, folks. Not only do I look and feel fatter, I just don't feel good. And, my skin is revolting with all sorts of special blemishes that will look mighty fine in Christmas photos as well. Oh, wait, I have Photoshop for that. Anywho, I can't liquify and clone stamp myself every day before I walk out the door, so it's going to have to be nose to the grindstone clean eating again.

It might be two weeks before Christmas, and no time to start watching my food intake, but I'm tired of it. I texted my fat-pants-woes to a sweet friend today and she said - Let's do sugar free till Christmas. Starting NOW!! I obliged and had a clean lunch. So, here we go. I'm going to try my hardest not to cheat and hopefully we'll be feeling better by the new year and on the straight and narrow to keep eating well every. single. day. as well as seeking HIM more when things are stressful instead of taking it out on a bag of chips and a package of Oreos.  :)

There's no catch; no program to follow; no pill to swallow; just clean, simple, whole-foods living.

No added sugar.
No white flour, rice, potatoes, etc.
No processed (boxed/packaged/bar coded) foods.
No fancy coffees.
No alcohol.

Who's with us?

PS. Sugar addiction really is serious business. If you think you may be addicted to sugar, please visit the following site: http://endsugaraddiction.com/ and this one: http://www.healthiertalk.com/sugar-more-addictive-heroin-1374

Why My Fitness Pal really is your friend...

Tess didn't quite exercise today. So sad, too bad.

I really don't feel like keeping a food journal, you guys. I'd much rather cross my fingers day after day and hope that I'm not overeating. Sadly, as I told you yesterday, that hasn't been working out so well for me lately. I spent a little extra time with MFP tonight (just before starting this post), finishing my food diary for the day and adding some of my favorite recipes to the database so I won't have an excuse to eat with reckless abandon later.

This is what 1oz of hummus
(and 1 cup of cucumber) looks like.
I know you always wanted to know.

While doing so, I realized how important MFP really is, and here's why...

I made a scrumptious jar of overnight oats (complete with a delicious FRESH peach) that will be ready to eat when I wake up tomorrow. While my oats have all "clean" and healthy ingredients, I was kind of surprised when I did the math in MFP. That little jar = 400+ calories. What! I could almost have a McGriddle for that (I know, I know, I could also have clogged arteries, too). All of the little things really do add up and it's super important that we pay attention to them as not to over-eat.  I'm not going to drive myself nuts trying to eat exactly 1,200 calories a day, but I will certainly use that as a baseline and try not to go much over. Just knowing that I'm going to put down 400 calories at breakfast tomorrow morning will allow me to plan my meals accordingly for the rest of the day. Looks like more hummus, cucumber and a piece of fruit for lunch tomorrow. Speaking of that...I also measured out 1 oz of hummus today (as not to over eat there either); Let's just say, I probably usually eat 12 servings a day. MFP is really putting things in perspective for me, and it's only been one day! I'm hoping all this "homework" pays off quickly.

Also...

If you look at my little graphic, above, you'll see a big fat -0- under the exercise column. I know I said  that I was going to start Turbo Fire today. Well, you see, I also said I was going to quit coffee today. Guess which one I did? My word. No coffee = no energy. I had a unsweetened tea mid-day, but that basically just kept my eyes open enough to cook, serve, and clean up dinner and keep the children from tearing the house down for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow, I'm going to try Dandy Blend. It's supposed to be a seamless replacement for coffee. We'll see. I'll report back on how awesome (or not) it is after I try it out.

Cheers, y'all!

Even my eyelids feel fatter.

I'm not even kidding.

I got on the scale this morning (because I know my summer break eating has gotten a weeeeeee bit out of control). Guess what. It's not happy news, and my eyelids probably are fatter. I've gained SIX pounds. SIX! Do you know how disciplined I had to be to lose that six pounds over the last few months? Ugh. More disciplined than I want to be right now. I'm not writing this post so you can pat me on my fat-back and say it's okay to enjoy indulge now and then; I'm writing it because, after-all, this blog is called Daily Ups and Pounds. If you ever wondered why, now you know. For me, and probably the majority of the world's adult population, weight is a daily battle. Sometimes it goes really well (those are the ups), and sometimes our eyelids and elbows and toes and collarbones do, indeed, feel fatter (those are the pounds).

Most of the weight I gained previously was due to anxiety. The weight I gained over the last couple months, however, just flat out recreational eating. Summer is a super difficult time to maintain control. Even my husband, who happens to weigh about what he did in high school, admits this. SOOOO, now is not the time to sit down and cry with a box of Entemans chocolate donuts. It's time to login to My (freaking) Fitness Pal, get on a workout schedule, and show the scale who's boss (again).

Amen?

It's Monday. It's the first of the month. There's really no better time to start a new regimen for us OCD folks - let's go! Here's what I'm going to do to make it happen:

1. Eat clean - first and foremost. Eating clean is the best thing you can do for your over-all health - no added (or artificial) sugars and no processed foods. I love eating this way, but every now and then I am tempted by some good old fashioned junk food. 
2. Track calories and activity using My Fitness Pal - I really hate doing this, but I know it works. I'm a big list maker/chart checker/rule follower, so...while I hate to record every bite, lick and taste, I just have to - for now, anyway.
3. Workout - OH, there's something else that I don't care for. If I have thirty minutes of time to do something for myself, I'd prefer it to be something I like. For example: reading a book, snapping some photos, drawing, thrift store shopping or garage sale-ing. However, none of those things are helping my current situation. My "plan" is to do Beach Body's Turbo Fire. I have a 30-day schedule for it already and it starts on the first (darn it). I might as well just do it.
4. Drink Water - I don't drink my suggested daily intake of water because I'm mostly just inconvenienced by having to pause life and go to the bathroom so often. That's all. I love water. I just don't like to visit the bathroom so often. 
5. Quit Coffee - Ok, I know. You all just gasped. I've quit coffee before, and here's why... I love flavored creamer (you know, the kind that's filled with all sorts of artificial crap that I shouldn't be ingesting? The kind that tastes like candy and cakes and pies and all sorts of wonderful in a warm cup of happiness?). Yeah. I have no idea how many calories I pour into my cup each morning. I suppose I could measure, but I could also just do what's right and get it out of my diet completely, too. I'll manage, I'm just not sure how I'll be able to work out without it...

So, friends, that's my plan. What's yours? 

But, what about birthday cake?

I was counseling a friend on clean eating yesterday when two very important questions came up.

1. So, can I have birthday cake?
2. What about my family's pasta sauce recipe?

To which, I gave two very important answers. Listen up.

If you choose the clean eating way of life, I think it should be an every day, all day, deal. If you don't commit, you won't see results. You have to be dedicated and driven in order to make consistently good choices. If you half do it, you will probably talk yourself into a vicious cycle of "eating really bad" because you eat really well most of the time. TRUST ME. Because of what I've mentioned above, I allow treat meals; and, I think you should, too.

Here's why.

If you are a hardcore clean eater like myself, at some point you're going to find yourself in a social situation where there's fill in the blank with your guilty food pleasure. For me, that's cake. I have a really hard time passing up a piece of white birthday cake with buttercream frosting. To tell you how much I love cake, I'm the one that asks for the corner piece of a sheet cake (because it has the most icing); or, on a round cake, I request the piece with the biggest icing flower on top - you know, the one that looks like it would make your teeth fall out of your head due to sugar content? Can we say sugar addict? Yes, yes we can. If I skip the cake, I start feeling a little resentful about my "diet." If I feel resentful, I'm likely to feel the need to binge out on other things to make up for it. If I binge out on other things, that doesn't fix the problem and I may just go eat the dang cake anyway. And, if it comes to that, you can bet it will be a generous serving. 

So, just eat the cake. Eat it, enjoy it, only have one piece. Make sense? Okay, let's move on.

My friend's next question was about her family's pasta sauce recipe. Generally speaking, in our house anyway, family recipes are reserved for special occasions. If this is the case in your house, I suggest you leave it alone. No need to have grandma rolling over in her grave, right? If you start wrecking the family recipes, it does something to the nostalgia. I don't know. It may just be me, but I like traditional recipes to stay the way I remember. 

Now, this doesn't give you a license to make your Aunt Trudy's fatty chicken fried steak, taters and gravy, and biscuits every day - or every month even. Save these things for special occasions, friends.  You will enjoy them more this way. Your morale will stay up, and your weight will stay down. 

As far as regular general "treat" meals go, I have one once a week. I don't go nuts; I don't go back for seconds or thirds or fourths; I also *try* to minimize the amount of unclean food I eat. Here's an example, if we have chicken, veggies, and egg noodles - I try to eat a BUNCH of veggies, some chicken, and a modest portion of noodles (knowing those are the most unclean). I also allow myself a soda on those days. I have one, no refills.  So, treat meals are OK, but in moderation! I DO NOT RECOMMEND treating yourself for an entire day, week or month. You will easily slip back in to old habits and become discouraged very quickly. Oh, yeah, and you'll be pulling out your fat jeans again in no time.

So, there's my two cents for the day. Enjoy your cake and meatballs.

Forty. Pounds. Down.

And 25 or so to go. I wanted to wait to do this post until I was sure the last few pounds I lost weren't just from the little intestinal bug diet I was on three weeks ago (gross, I know). During my last few prenatal appointments, I quite honestly just closed my eyes when I stepped on the scale. I didn't want to know and, why make a puffalump of a pregnant lady feel more like a puffalump - right? Right. So, after dropping quite a bit of weight initially, I felt brave at my six week postpartum check-up and asked,

"So, um, what was my last recorded pregnancy weight?" 

The nurse checks while my blood pressure increases, "225," she says.

SON. OF. A. BEE STING.

A couple weeks after baby #4 was born.

I'd lost my 30ish pounds. You know the 30 pounds you're supposed to gain during pregnancy? Yeah, that comes right off. If you gain more than 30, you just played the "I'm eating for two" game a little too much and then you're in deep caca. And, apparently that's my favorite game. I was stuck at 198. All of those dang cherry cokes, chocolate donuts and double cheeseburgers caught up with me (again).

A few months ago, I almost donated this shirt
because it was too short and too tight. 

I can remember staring at that number on the scale in disbelief. I got on and off the scale a few times just to make certain it wasn't lying to me. I got a couple other figures, 196.something; 198.2, 198...no matter what I did, the dumb thing wasn't going to give me the 130 I was looking for. I told my husband the scale must be broken at that I wanted to go partake in some retail therapy at, you guessed it, Tarjay.

I was pretty miserable, and I knew a new scale (even if it was a super awesome WiFi enabled model - I'm SO geeky) wasn't going to fix the glitch - only time and discipline would. A healthy goal for me is around 130. Knowing that 68lbs had to go by way of hard work made me want to go binge out on Mike and Ikes and cry into some icy cold glass of cherry coke (with grenadine syrup - only cherry coke made by a bartender would fix this). After some days and maybe weeks of pouting around and drumming up a game plan in my head, my friend Nicole posted a 30-day clean eating challenge on her FB status.  I didn't have anything to lose (except fat), so I went for it.

The next day, September 30th, I gave up processed foods, white sugar, white flour, white bread and white rice. I read every stinking clean eating website, article, commentary, magazine, blog post, and book I could find. I decided to be dedicated, to stick to it, to do it 100%, and it worked. Here's what else I've learned:

Hard work works. Whining and crying about how much weight you have to lose while waiting for someone to throw you a pity party (complete with cherry coke and chocolate cake), does not.

Half-dieting, doesn't work. I know it's TERRIBLY cliche, especially in the finess world, but make it a lifestyle change! If you only change 25% of what you're doing, you're only going to see 25% results. If you "take it slow" you're going to see slow or no results. If you're miserable and can't get started, you're going to stay miserable. SO, as I write, I'm down 40lbs. I still have more to go, but darn it, the amount of weight I've lost is equivalent to my four-year-old child who's getting hard for me to pick up these days. The best advice I can give you is to just GO FOR IT. It's like working out, you can't get the beach body you want by doing thirty jumping jacks followed by 20 minutes of tanning once a week. Be consistent; follow the rules; be dedicated.

It didn't happen over night, but I didn't gain the weight over night either. If you start today, maybe a few months from now you'll feel like a different person, too. What are you waiting for? Throw the cookies in the trash and come on! The only thing you have to lose is your gut! I've been where you are. Let's go!

PS. And, while you're on a roll, go enter my spice set giveaway! Today is the last day to do so.

PPS. Questions about clean eating? Just ask!

Perseverance. This is real life, y'all.

This is me. Persevering. With some coffee.

So, I dropped off the blogosphere for a couple days there because one of our littles got sick. Like, the gross, middle of the night, stand by with a trashcan sick. After hitting negative sleep levels, wardening the well-children with orders to stay back 500 feet and and following the sick child around with a bottle of Clorox in one hand and a bottle of Tylenol in the other all day, I really didn't have the wherewithal to do much more. Alas, we're healthy (right) now; so, here I am! There are three things I did do, though. 1.) Pray. 2.) Stay on my diet (I'll tell you how this is relevant in a second), and 3.) Not freak out.

1. The day our girl woke up sick in the middle of the night was a long one. I'm pretty sure I prayed all night between tosses and turns. I prayed for her healing and for sickness to pass over this house and spare our other children (and us, too, btw, we hate throwing up). Staying close with God during a trial (big or small), is SO important to our spiritual and physical health. It's so easy to brush Him off and get caught up in the "poor me, I had to clean up vomit at midnight, lose sleep and wash my hands 500 times today" routine. You know?? We all do this. It's important to seek Him, still. I'm not just speaking specifically about having a sick kid, but with anything. We should seek Him in all things - big and small. We should seek Him when we don't know what to do and also when we do. I didn't know what was wrong with our kid, but I had to trust in Jesus that she'd be ok! We are strong through Him and He will help us get through! Persevere. 
   
2. I know you're wondering why staying on my diet is relevant to having a sick little. Well, I'll tell you. Much of my previous weight gain came from anxiety (a lot of the anxiety happened during my first three pregnancies, but I assure you...little 6-8lb babies are not why I had 70 some pounds to lose). Let me tell you. If there's one thing I super hate, it's having sick kids (like anyone, of course). It is a little stressful and tempting to slip back into an anxious state - especially when you have four of them and it could turn something fierce real fast! I could have turned to food for comfort at this time. I could have binged out on some tacos, burritos and nachos when we took the sick child to Taco Bell (Her request. I know. Bad idea, btw. #parentingfail #iknowhashtagsdontworkhere) the next day. I could have scarfed the heavily-frosted sugar cookies she got to share with her class. But, through Him, I was able to persevere.  Praise God! He does these things, you know? I know from past experience that it just takes a little anxiety to consume about 8,765 calories too many and fall off that blasted wagon. Persevere. 
3. Thankfully, you guys, I didn't freak out. I did wash my hands a lot (but I think that was okay, given the circumstances), I did come in contact with gross germs (this is serious for an OCD-prone person); I prepared myself for what would happen if all of the rest of the littles got sick, I did not go hide under my bed covers; and, I did my job as mom, the job God gave me. Persevere. 

So, all is well. Our family is healed and just in time for the baby to poop ALL. OVER. MY. PANT-LEG. (and her outfit and up her back) while we were visiting brand new friends for the first time (and had no diapers or change of clothes with us). Life goes on friends, be it something monumental or poop on your pant-leg, seek Him and just persevere.

This post is linked up to Grace Laced Mondays, and Better Mom Mondays Hop on over to to those awesome sites to see who else is sharing.

Life After Sugar Addiction: Five Fun Surprises

This is me a few years ago, putting some really unhealthy junk
food on frozen yogurt and feeling overly enthusiastic about it. 

1. I can actually taste my food. - I don't eat most "white foods" - white rice, white flour, white potatoes, and white sugar are all included. A couple months back, we were eating dinner with family and as part of my "treat" meal and I had some white rice. I could actually taste the flavor of the rice. I remember how sweet and good it tasted; before, it was just a bland filler food. I realized right then and there that my tastebuds had been gauged SO high, that I wasn't truly tasting everything I was eating because I was so hopped up on sugar all the time. Since I was unable to taste what I was eating, that just lead to needing more sugar, butter, salt, flavoring, toppings, etc. See example in the photo above... I wish I were kidding.
   
2. Certain things are MUCH sweeter now than ever before. - Also, when I was addicted to sugar, nothing was too rich or sugary for me (Did I tell you about the sundae I used to eat regularly when I was pregnant with baby #1? - chocolate ice cream, a banana, chocolate syrup, maraschino cherries plus the syrup they soak in, with crushed up cookies and whipped cream on top). Not exaggerating, at all. I used to eat that one a lot. Anyhow. Certain things like soda (which I almost never drink) and dark chocolate are much sweeter now. Before, dark chocolate tasted somewhat bitter to me. I didn't care about the health benefits. I thought it was nasty. And, with the soda, I could slurp down two or three. Now, I can barely drink one.
   
3. My blood sugar no longer spikes, causing me to feel sick. - I can remember feeling like I was going to pass out when running in morning gym class, around age 14. Pretty soon, it wasn't just in gym, it was happening a lot. My mom took me to the family doctor and he said I was probably "a little hypoglycemic" and we called it a day. There wasn't an official diagnosis or treatment, I just knew I always felt faint and tried to just eat more sugar (fake sugar, even) to keep from feeling that feeling. I didn't realize what I was doing, but I knew I felt better that way. Guess what guys. This is why people say sugar is like a drug. I'm not hypoglycemic. I was addicted to sugar. It just took a good 15 years or so, a handful of inconclusive blood tests, and the invention of Google for me to get that figured out. The sugary protein-less food I was eating caused my blood sugar to spike, a lot, and caused me to eat more, a lot more. Additionally, that faint feeling is very similar to the feeling of an anxiety attack. Guess how I inherently treated that one, too? Oh well, right? Knowing is half the battle. Now, I always start my day with protein to combat sugar cravings from the time I wake up on.
   
4. I never have sugar cravings (well, almost never). On occasion, I start to daydream about donuts and carrot cake. If it's a special occasion, I'll have a treat. However, I don't "have" to have chocolate, gum, candy, cherry coke, wine, cake, candy, Twinkies cream-filled sponge cakes, wine, candy...etc. every darn day. In fact, a lot of that stuff I just flat out don't eat, drink, or care about anymore. I know, a little sad, but at least my clothes fit and I'm healthier for it.
   
5. I don't over-eat. Due to item #3, above, and my six small meals a day, I don't go nuts and binge out on a meal I've been saving my calories all day for OR binge out because my blood sugar is bottoming out and I'm turning ten shades of white. Yes, binge eating is fun. I'm not going to lie. However, it's not good for us and it can easily become a bad habit that quickly leads to weight gain. If I try to over-eat now, I feel sick. Let's see ~ shall I choose barfing or binge eating. That's not a hard one for me. I'm totally content with small meals now. It's a miracle.

Think you might be addicted to sugar? Want more info on how to quit? I'd love to help AND you can check out the following resources about sugar addiction here and feel free to message me via Daily Ups & Pounds' FB page or in the comments below.

Happy sugar detoxing!

Got Clean Eating Questions? I got answers!

I know you do, because I hear them all the time. I love that, btw!

• How do I get started?
• For one, start now. Don't wait until you've eaten the last of your cookies and candy. By that time, you could gain more weight or feel worse about your situation than you already do. Trust me. Just start today; right now; the next bite you take. Make it clean! Determination and general fed-upness will get you far in the early days! Two easy rules of thumb - eat plants; not food made in a plant. And, avoid the white stuff: sugar, flour, bread, rice, potatoes, etc. I eat naturally occurring sugar (in fruit, for example), but not white refined sugar. Following these general "rules" early on will help you make better decisions. Also, when reading ingredient labels - try to choose food that have 4-6 ingredients or less AND make sure they are ingredients you can pronounce and recognize. That quickly helps me eliminate no-no foods when I'm grocery shopping. Also, try to shop the perimeter of your grocery store, not through each aisle. Most of the no-no foods down those shady aisles!
• Do you count calories?
• I don't and that's why this works for me. I eat six small clean meals a day. Controlling food intake in this way never leaves me hungry or with the urge to binge. I have said this before, but I'll tell you again, I gained a lot of my weight by binge eating (either because I was starving myself with a "diet" or due to anxiety). With that said, I know people who do count calories and that works for them. I've done it before and lost a lot of weight that way, but these days, I can hardly remember what I did five seconds ago, let alone remember to track calories. Just saying.
• Can I still eat potatoes? 
• You can eat potatoes, but sweet potatoes are preferred over white. Well, I prefer them anyway. I know some clean eaters do still enjoy their white potatoes, but I have a little sugar addiction to keep under control. White taters have a higher glycemic index and spike blood sugar faster. And, of course, when that happens, we go find something else sugar-laden to avoid feeling that crash. It's not fun, peeps. Eat the sweet potatoes if you can; due to that low GI, they keep you full longer, too!
• What about rice and noodles? 
• At one time, I thought I'd die if I couldn't have rice and noodles. Once my sugar addiction was fixed, I stopped thinking that. My life didn't depend on carbs anymore. Not on rice, not on noodles. However, eating whole grains is a super important part of clean eating. For that reason, I use brown rice (another low GI item) and brown rice noodles (you can use whole grain noodles, too) but I prefer the taste of brown rice noodles.
• But, I'm addicted to diet soda. 
• Yeah, so was I. You're going to have to get rid of that. Diet soda not only has no nutritional value, the fake sugar that goes in it will make you crave real sugar or more bad fake sugar (so not helpful) and has been shown to hinder weight loss. Also, there have been some recent studies linking aspartame to all sorts of nasty diseases and other stuff you don't want. Give it up. You don't need it, you won't die without it. Try sparkling water with lemon; unsweetened tea; hot tea; even coffee with a clean sweetener or just plain old water. You. Can. Do. It. I was a big diet soda drinker - from Junior High through my 20s. If I can do it, so can you.
• Do I have to exercise? 
• I lost a lot of weight without ever dusting off the elliptical machine, but eventually hit a plateau and needed to do something else. As long as you're healthy enough to workout regular cardiovascular and strength training exercises are good for your heart and over-all health. Remember, you want to be fit...not skinny.
• What are your clean eating pantry/fridge & freezer staples (aka have to haves!)
• Bananas, oats, brown rice, boneless skinless chicken breast, Earth Balance natural buttery spread, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, whole wheat flour, organic honey, carrots, leafy greens, loads of other in-season veggies, other in-season fruit, hummus, Beanitos chips, whole wheat tortillas, water and lots of it, spices for seasoning, tea, nuts (not honey roasted, just lightly salted or unsalted), sweet potatoes, beans, and dark chocolate (yeah, I said chocolate. I also said "dark" though ~ did you get that? I mean 60-80% cocoa). 
• I use dark chocolate to kick chocolate cravings. Keep one high-quality (like Lindt or Ghiradelli) chocolate bar out of sight and break-off a piece of it when you have a chocolate craving. You can't eat more than a little without getting overwhelmed. So, there you go. That probably answers someone else's question about "What happens when I have a chocolate craving?"
• What about yogurt? 
• I'm trying to stay away from the dairy (Have you seen Forks Over Knives?), but if you want yogurt - I'd go with plain, non-fat, Greek Yogurt. Though yogurt is typically seen as a "health" food, most of it has a surprising amount of sugar (even if it looks plain-ish). You should check it out! I started being super yogurt conscious when I was detoxing from sugar. I think greek yogurt (plain, non-fat) is the exception because the protein content is really good! You can use protein to counteract sugar cravings. That's why I make sure to start my day with it, every day! 
• Where can I learn more? 
• Check out my clean eating page! I have a whole bunch of resources there. 

And, finally...

• How can you afford to lose 30 more pounds? 
• Trust me. Nine times out of ten, when I tell someone how much *more* weight I have to lose, I get a gasp. "But...there's no way." There's totally a way. The high-end of my suggested weight range is still 25lbs away. I would like to lose 30-35 more to get comfortable in the middle of my healthy weight range. If I felt super ambitious, I could lose 40-something more and still be standing (but I'm not feeling all that motivated). So, no...I'm not going to turn into skin and bones any time soon. I want to maintain a healthy weight and be physically fit in order to be HEALTHY not skinny (even if that means weighing at the higher end of my suggested range). See your suggested weight, here.

Oh, wait, I lied...there's one final thing...

• I often post tips and recipes on Daily Ups & Pounds' Facebook page (those may or may not show up here). Go ahead and give it a LIKE if you want more updates. :) 

Leave additional questions in the comment box below and I'll be sure to respond to them in the next post! :) 

About that watch...

So, my FB friends know that they'll be seeing the face of my Polar Heart Rate Monitor watch, displaying calorie burn stats,  on their newsfeeds every time I finish a workout. I'm sure some people wonder why the crap I do that and it probably does annoy a select few (sorry if you're one of those easily annoyed people). However. I'm going to keep posting it and I'll tell you why.

No, I'm not bragging about my fancy dancy watch. I'm not showing off personal fitness records or even that I'm getting healthier; I'm also not taunting those who chose not to work out that day (that's been me on a million bajillion occasions). I do it because it keeps me accountable. It keeps people asking me "how are your workouts going?" or giving me that "good job" - that keeps me motivated! I'd really hate to tell someone: "well, I've decided to sit around and eat chips and candy again today." Right?! I post it, also, because (regardless of how many times I've posted it, there's still someone who hasn't seen it). People message me and ask about it all the time - which is awesome!! They want to know where to get one (amazon.com, btw), what it does, how it's helped my workouts and - most importantly - how it can help them.

Did I tell you I like helping people? I do. Helping people is my favorite. And, in case you haven't noticed, that's what this blog is about.

So, for as many people as it annoys, I hope it helps just as many people either get motivated to workout or at least consider making lifestyle changes that will help them get healthy. I've been SO motivated by others; If this blog, or my dumb watch motivates at least one person. That's good enough for me. I want others do know this, you're not on an impossible journey. You just have to get on the road and go; you might pull-over from time to time, but as long as you reach your destination, that's all that matters. If I can do it, so can you.

Let's Do Lunch - 20 Super Awesome CLEAN Lunches

Alright. I tell you guys all about my dinner, baking disasters and such, but I don't chit-chat much about lunch because mine is usually done in passing; I'll tell you, I think poorly planned lunches caused a lot of my past weight gain.

Often needing to break up the monotony of the workday, I would leave to go grab lunch. I would go out and order something that was probably twice my daily recommended caloric intake plus a soda refilled three times. And, if it was a really good day, I'd stop for a giant frozen whip cream-topped coffee, candy bar, 44oz diet soda or even a milkshake on the way back from lunch. MY WORD. That looks really bad now that I write it out. None of that was an exaggeration, btw. No wonder I had so much weight to lose. I really don't sit down for lunch anymore. I know. You should always sit down and savor your food. I have four kids who also need to be fed, so that whole food-savoring thing doesn't always work out. Sue me. Anywho. I do get a lot of requests via FB and email on how to keep lunchtime clean. And, you guessed it, I made a list for you. Now you have no excuse to go pick up a double greasy burger with triple fried fries and a chocolate shake at lunch. Unless, like me, you forget your lunch at home a lot. If you do that, get a salad with light dressing and water or unsweetened tea! AND, don't stop for a milkshake afterwards. JUST DON'T.

Here are 20 ideas to get you started:

1. Veggies with a little salt, sautéed in EVOO and topped with fresh romano (my fave of faves).
2. Salad with dark leafy greens, loads of veggies, lean meat and an oil and vinegar dressing.
3. Whole grain pita pieces and random raw veggies (I like cucumbers and carrots) dipped in hummus.
4. Roasted chicken or turkey breast (not that packaged highly preserved "meat" - cook it yourself ahead of time) wrapped in a whole grain wrap w/veggies and hummus (or no hummus)
5. Cottage cheese with fruit
6. Brown rice and mixed veggies
7. Leftover clean dinners from the night before (a small portion; don't go nuts)
8. Veggie based soups (cream of anything is a no no)
9. Egg salad (made with plain, non-fat, Greek Yogurt instead of mayo)
10. Hard boiled eggs with fruit
11. Sweet potato drizzled with honey
12. Clean whole grain bread, toasted, and fruit
13. A clean smoothie (think milk, fruit, peanut butter, unsweetened cocoa, flax, greens = make your own concoction. own it. love it. tell your friends.)
14. Mixed nuts, fruit, veggies
15. Dried fruit, cheese, nuts (watch your serving sizes)
16. Whole wheat or brown rice pasta with veggies and romano cheese
17. Lettuce wraps (with that roasted turkey from above, brown rice and veggies)
18. Clean chicken salad (roasted chicken, greek yogurt, grapes, and walnuts)
19. Tuna salad (made with celery and greek yogurt) in a whole wheat pita w/fruit on the side
20. Apple with natural peanut butter and a little Irish Cheddar cheese on the side.

There you go! And, if you think these lunches are a little on the skimpy side, they totally are! When you're eating clean, you should eat about six times a day. That's six small meals, not six hungry-man meals. Got it? Okay, now, have a happy day and enjoy your lunch. :)

I've been spared!

You guys. Even the cleanest of eaters and the most reformed sugar addicts have trouble with Christmasy goodies, right?! Please tell me yes. So far, I've made it through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the following weeks without gaining weight (and continuing to lose). However, I've been baking for Christmas parties/gifts lately and somewhat losing my mind in the process. Allow me to elaborate.

On Sunday, my mom made some darling sugar cut-out cookies. Of course, I'm lost in the nostalgia - remembering how those were my favorite as a little child. I can remember picking out all of the star cookies, iced in yellow and blue, made by my Uncle Tony and Aunt Diane. They were always my favorite cookie. Fast-forward to Monday. I really wanted some buckeyes - another family favorite. However...the bowl to my stand-mixer was in the dishwasher and I didn't feel like washing it. So, I make no-bakes. I ate four....and ate the remnants stuck to the side of the mixing bowl. Sigh. The next day, I decided to make chocolate dipped pretzel rods as part of my daughter's teacher gift. I've blogged before about what crappy baker I am. So, let's just say there were about half a dozen "test pretzels." What do you do with ugly baked goods, you ask? You eat them before anyone else sees them, OF COURSE! So, after I mindlessly ate the pretzel rods (then ran one of the no-bakes through the melted white chocolate AND ate an additional no-bake AND about four spoonfuls of melted chocolate and a handful of sprinkles), I felt really bad. I immediately tattled on myself to my husband, who hugged me and said I'd be ok. I told you I was a binge-eater, right?! Apparently, old habits die hard. Not that it's a game-changer, but to add to my downward spiral, I ate white rice, (oh, the horror), two days in a row.

I felt sick to my stomach. Pretty defeated. Pretty irritated for eating all that. I really wanted to avoid the scale this morning. I didn't want to see that nasty higher number staring back at me. However, I remembered that that's how I got into this predicament in the first place. So, I stepped on the scale.

-.6. I'm at my lowest weight yet on this journey - down a total of 31ish pounds. 

Seriously? I lost weight after a few days of destructive eating? THANK YOU, LORD!!!! I'm taking this as a second-chance. I've been spared. I'm committing to NO MORE BAKED GOODS until we're actually at a Christmas event. That means so test-bites, no licking beaters, no eating random sprinkles off the counter. After-all, I think holiday weight-gain really comes from leftovers anyway. No one gains 12lbs in a day, but eating that delicious crap day-after-day will certainly do it to you (as it's done to me year after year).

So, I will continue to avoid leftovers and will boycott the baked goods for now. Who's with me?

NSVs Abound!

If you've ever spent time on a fitness forum where the participants are working on weight loss, you're probably down with the term "NSV." If not, I'll enlighten you. An NSV (Non Scale Victory) is something good that happens in regards to your weight loss journey, other than the number on the scale going down.

Since I hopped on the clean eating train at the end of September, I've had a rather neurotic relationship with my bathroom scale. I weigh myself every day (I know you're not supposed to; you're not going to change my mind, though). We have our ups and downs, but recently the scale and I have been getting along famously as I've lost 30lbs since September.

Friends of ours are getting ready to leave the country for a month or so and asked to borrow our bathroom scale for a while to keep track of how heavy their luggage is getting as they pack. We would do about anything for these people, so of course the scale is now on a little vacay while they pack. I did have a little moment of panic as we let the scale go. I know from past experience that when I'm separated from the scale, bad things start happening (e.g., if I can't see the number going up on the scale...it's not really happening). Right?! I know you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway. I have another way to deal. This past weekend I put on TWO pairs of pants that not only did not zip up before, could not even be pulled all the way up. And, NO, I didn't have to squeeze into them at risk of busting a huge hole in them. They actually fit, like normal pants are supposed to. Fabulous.

So, now I'm looking at this whole scale separation thing as an opportunity to cure my neurotic obsession with the numbers I see each morning. I'm going to work on looking at other changes that are equally, if not more important. Here are some others: I can run around faster, breathe easier, do cartwheels (yes, I'm serious), and I haven't had the want to binge eat in a long time!

These are all great things and I can work on more NSVs while my scale is away; so, if you're working hard and that scale isn't budging...look around! I bet there are plenty of NSVs around you, too!

Yes, you can eat at restaurants and lose weight.

I think I love eating at restaurants more than anyone I know. And, NO, we don't eat out because I dislike cooking or cleaning up. Believe it or not, eating at a restaurant with four kids can, in fact, be relaxing. Yes, I just said that. I know it's not the healthiest option and sometimes not the most economical, but there's something eating/socializing/and swooning over all the menu choices that makes it appealing.

When I picked up on clean eating, I was a little concerned that it would cut into my love of restauranting. Most of the clean eating plans contain very little info on eating out and suggest things like - dry salad (disgusting...I'd rather drink castor oil). Okay, that's not true. I wouldn't drink castor oil, but you won't catch me ordering a dry salad either. I want to give you a little list of somethings I pick up at restaurants that may not be 100% clean, but they are usually 95% (only b/c I don't know the ingredients used in preparation).

• Salad with lots of veggies, cheese, and dressing on the side (use at your discretion). Choose a light variety or vinaigrette. Dressing usually isn't 100% clean so beware. 
• At a BBQ joint - pulled chicken/pork (no bbq sauce) with veggies on the side. I had jalapeneos on my pulled chicken this evening. It was delicious.
• Chipotle (or similar) - I get a burrito bowl with the following: brown rice, chicken, fajita, veggies, mild salsa, a little sour cream and cheese. I eat this at least once a week and have continued to lose weight by doing so. 
• Usually chicken breast (plain) is safe with veggies or a sweet potato on the side. Sorry, you can't have a loaded sweet potato. You can, however, ask for honey to sweeten it a little. AND, PS. If they offer you "cinnamon" it's usually cinnamon and sugar. Don't do it.
• You can also try a bunless burger topped with veggies and cheese. A turkey burger is best if you can find that.
• At a Chinese restaurant, ask for chicken or shrimp and veggies with no sauce. I'm going to warn you, it's pretty boring. SO, I use a little soy sauce to liven it up. I know soy sauce isn't clean either, but...come on. Do you know anyone who's eaten enough soy sauce to gain weight or have some other health problem? Neither do I. A little bit won't hurt. 
• How about scrambled eggs and a side of fruit from a breakfast menu? 
• You can also make a meal out of side dishes. How about an order of green beans, a fruit cup and a sweet potato? Once you're eating 6x a day, you really won't desire much more than that.
• There really isn't much to choose from at a fast food restaurant. Your best choice may be to get grilled chicken (remove the bun from a sandwich and no mayo) or a salad with the healthiest dressing. 

I'll tell you that I've eaten at restaurants multiple times a week since starting clean eating, and I don't believe it's inhibited my weight loss in any way. When you're not sure, just use this rule of thumb: choose something that is part of a plant, not made in a plant. Also, pick water or unsweetened tea instead of soda or alcohol. 

Hope that helps! :) 

Clean Cabbage Casserole! YUM!

Hey everyone! I've had numerous requests lately for more information on clean eating as well as recipes and how to eat clean in a cost-effective way. I'm going to do my best to start bringing you recipes and clean eating tips more frequently. To kick off the recipes, here's something easy, inexpensive, and clean for you to try for dinner one night soon - Cabbage Casserole.

So, I was having a little dinner-time insanity tonight. I had a head of cabbage and planned to make cabbage rolls - well, that's what the chef in me wanted. The mom-of-four in me wanted to throw a bunch of crap in a pan, bake for an hour and be done with it. Standing at the counter rolling cabbage rolls isn't all that easy when you have someone asking for juice every 12 seconds. Soooo...we got the best of both worlds. I Googled a few recipes that I didn't like for one reason or another - too much boiling, too many unclean ingredients, etc. Whatever. So, I made something up and it turned out well! It's reminiscent of cabbage rolls without the mess that happens when you make and eat them! Here's how it goes:

Here's what you need:

• 1lb ground turkey breast, sauteed with 1/2 small onion, garlic and a dash of pepper
• 1.5c of brown rice, cooked
• 1/2 jar of clean organic tomato sauce (spaghetti sauce)
• 1 head of cabbage, chopped

Here's what you do:

• Cook the rice while you're sautéing the turkey, onion, garlic and pepper.
• Mix the rice, turkey and onion once it's all cooked
• Start layering it up like a lasagna in a 9x13: layer of sauce, cabbage, meat mixture, sauce, cabbage, meat mixture, sauce. 
• Bake at 350 for one-hour
• Serve and enjoy!

We had a clean Waldorf salad with ours. Chopped apples, celery, and raisins mixed with plain, non-fat Greek Yogurt and a little bit of cinnamon. So delicious! Add walnuts if you desire, also. Let me know what other kinds of recipes you'd like to see cleaned up and I'll do my best to help you! 

Take care!

Way back on September 29th...

...you know, when we were still weaning ourselves off summer, I took my friend Nicole up on a challenge. She had been going on about how clean eating/Paleo changed her life (and her shape) and posted a shout-out on Facebook daring people to try it for 30 days. So, because I was sick of STILL wearing maternity clothes, am always up for a challenge, I took her up on it. I committed myself to 30 days of clean eating (before I even really knew what it was) via some posts on the blogosphere and by giving my word to Nicole. Then, I started Googling what I'd gotten myself into. I got started the very next day. I went to the library, checking out every book they had available on clean eating and bought a couple copies of Clean Eating Magazine, too. I'm all or nothing, people. Over the last month or so, I've had some delicious food, hardly exercised (exercise is recommended, I've just been lazy about it  busy) and lost 13lbs. This has happened as a result of me eating pretty basic foods and small meals, about six times a day. I haven't counted a calorie, fat gram, carb or point and it's a rare occasion that I feel hungry.

Yes, I've passed up some delicious treats.
Yes, I've oogled over pastries and everything-pumpkin and cream cheese on Pinterest.
Yes, I've taken extra time to make myself healthier alternatives to what's being served (like ice cream).
No, I haven't touched a single piece of Halloween candy (and I won't).
Yes, it's been worth it.

I have to say. I believe clean eating works. There's no catch, people. It's just eating naturally and sticking to it. It's eating more of what's good for you - fruits, veggies, brown rice/noodles, poultry, fish, whole grains, nothing artificial, etc. I can't really say if I have more energy or not - taking care of four kids kind of has a person running on fumes full-time, but I certainly do feel better since shedding my built-in Boppy Pillow some extra weight. So, 13lbs down 58 to go. It seems like a long journey, but if I don't quit I bet it will be over before I know it.

So, thanks, Nicole, for posting the challenge. Thanks to your motivation, my clothes fit much better; my maternity clothes are now back in hibernation; and, I'm totally pumped to see what number pops up on the scale 30 days from now. :) I'll try to be more consistent about posting; please send me your questions/comments on clean eating. I'd love to help you get started!

PinFTW: Chocolate No-Bake Energy Bites

Since I've been eating clean (well, as clean as possible) for the past few weeks, I've been pinning like it's my JOB and trying all kinds of new recipes. It seems like every time I open Pinterest, these things are taunting me. It's most likely the words "chocolate" and "no bake" that get me, because they don't look all that delicious. They actually look a little like something the dog likes to drop off in the backyard. Just saying. Alas, after seeing the pin pop up on my feed about 47 days in a row, I decided to make them them.

I liked them; my husband liked them (no, he wasn't just being nice - he willingly ate like six of them); however, I recruited two of our friends as taste-testers. They took a courtesy bite or two and gave me the stank eye. Anyway. 50% of us thought they were good little treats. And, should I ever remember to buy prunes at the store, I'll make them again. I would compare the taste to that of a LARA Bar - kind of fruit-ish with a hint of chocolate, an odd consistency and unidentified crunch. Regardless, they are good for you! So, if you're looking for a good-for-you treat and if you aren't a picky eater, I say go for it! I would dare to deem this little treat my "clean eating cookie." :) They are quick and easy to make. I recommend a food processor to get all those ingredients combined quickly. I did use 2T of coconut oil to make them stick together nicely - I think the recipe says 1-2T.

Good luck and let me know if you found anything Pinteresting this week!

Want to link up? It's SO easy! All you have to do is try out something you found on Pinterest (anything!) and then blog about it. After you've written your stellar PinFTW blog post, follow the rules below to link up! 

1. In your post, please link to your original source – the pin you got the idea from.
2. Make sure and link back to our original Pin For the Wednesdays Post here at Daily Ups & Pounds (please).
3. In the Mr. Linky below, leave a direct link to your Pin FTWednesdays post, not to your main website.