Pinterest challenge #1!

Thought I would kick off the new year off with a traditional meal for luck and prosperity, black eyed peas and greens!  Not only was it an easy and delicious meal, but it also was part of my Pinterest challenge. Since I have such mixed feelings about Pinterest, I decided to challenge myself to actually do some of the things I have pinned and will blog about the results. This recipe is vegan as is my sweetheart. It was really good, I did make a few alterations. I used canned black eyed peas and baby kale as the green. I also added a few drops of liquid smoke as I didn't think the tofu I used was smoky enough. And I topped it off with about 1/2 tsp red pepper flake because it was sort of "muddy" tasting without. We both loved it! He did add a liberal amount of Tony's Creole seasoning as he seems to do with most things, but I found it to be spicy enough. Here's a link to the pin in question: 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6192518211615720/

And here's the way mine turned out

And here's a bonus! I actually made this cake yesterday from this pin:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/6192518211637885/

And it's the first thing I put in my mouth in 2014, just a few minutes after midnight. I did veganize it by using Earth Balance in place of the butter and subbed almond milk for 2%, but otherwise, made the recipe as written. Again, VERY good! It really reminded me of lava cake, it was all molten in the middle. I hate to admit that my sweetheart and I ended up eating nearly all of it over the course of about eight hours.  If you don't like a heavy rich chocolate taste, this isn't the cake for you...my 18-year-old doesn't have a sweet tooth and tried one bite and just couldn't do anymore...that's fine, more for us! 

This is what my cake looks like

All in all, I would say that both recipes were an absolute success and I will totally make both again! 

Happy 2014

Happy New Year!  2013 defined itself as the year that I totally found myself, picked up a few hobbies, and figured out I can pretty much be good at anything I try. I also put weight loss on the back burner, became a lot less obsessed on the aesthetics of healthy food and exercise and more obsessed with the way certain foods and acts of fitness make me feel.

2014 is going to be a pretty selfish year for me. I just have so much clutter in my life (and my home) that I don't have time and energy to focus on what really matters. This will be a year of minimizing the clutter and eliminating unnecessary activities, things, and people from my life. It may sound super selfish, but this decluttering is going to allow for me to truly enjoy the people, activities, and things that mean the most to me, so it's a matter of being 100% present for a select few instead of spreading myself too thin.

One thing I want to do this year is a Pinterest challenge. I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest, it's a great place to keep track of amazing ideas from all over the web. The downside is that it's really easy to fall into the trap of setting yourself up for failure by not possibly being able to try everything you pin and comparing yourself to others by looking at their pins and assuming they are actually doing the stuff. I really want to start doing some of these projects, recipes, and workouts that I have pinned and blogging about the results. No pressure, no set number of pins that I try, just having fun actually trying stuff that I've found and seeing what really works!

As far as food and fitness goes, I'm really going to back off of the obsessive behavior. This is probably the first year I'm not really going to have a goal. I know I love lifting heavy weights. I also really enjoy running and want to add that back because I miss it so. Also want to try some new stuff, namely hit up a rock wall or two while it's still cold outside and move on to absurdly long hikes and/or possibly trail running when spring hits. The biggest change is that I'm really focusing on eating for the moment and moving in a way that feels good at the moment...no big goals, no big agenda, no counting or tracking, just being happy and healthy.

Been here 1 year! New Name, New Look, New things to share!

So, I totally have a new name and a new look! I'm sure you've noticed a transformation in my attitude lately and instead of abandoning "Building a Better Mel", I decided to let it evolve to fit my needs. I am no longer on a journey to make myself "better". I feel like striving for the next big improvement completely dishonors any of the work and improvements I have made so far. "Living Well With Mel" is my outlet to show you who I am right now...not where I'm going or where I've been, but simply what's going on now. Although I've gone through a lot of physical changes, that's not my primary concern anymore. I am becoming more and more fit and working on strength like crazy, but weight, weight loss, and the vanity of watching myself shrink is no longer where I am. I am totally into taking care of myself, my family, and the planet and have developed some pretty cool new interests and hobbies to share! You're going to see a lot of crafting, homesteading, veggie-growing type of stuff here as well as getting glimpses into how I'm keeping myself fit lately. Thank you for sticking with me, I know it's pretty unpopular to dump all of these things onto a blog that started out being so fitness-centric, but it's who I am and what I do now. Love to my friends and supporters!

Laying Low...

I haven't been around the web much lately other than to interact with certain people in certain circles. Sometimes there's something to be said about being a little less educated on some topics and having a little less information at my fingertips (can someone say she's simplifying some more?).  I just feel like there are a whole lot of "experts" out there ready and willing to proclaim that there's only one right way to do everything. Heck, I'm a nutrition professional and it's so easy for me to get wrapped up in the one right way that I forget that we are all human and that this is all just opinion. The way that works for me isn't the way that will work for you and that doesn't mean that either one of us are failures, it just means we think and operate much differently.

I'm finding that this "one right way" mindset is toxic to me and something that just needs to leave my way of thinking entirely.  It's no secret to those who know me well that when I get my mind set on something, I go all out. It's just a personality trait of mine which leads to things getting done, but also leads me to start doubting myself and judging others. There is absolutely no room in my life for this sort of thinking any longer.  I've lived with disordered eating my entire life. I tend to float around between binge eating disorder, bulimia, and very short bouts of anorexia, followed by guilt because I can't even maintain a poisonous lifestyle for long. In the past couple of years, I've also dabbled in orthorexia and exercise bulimia, so I've pretty much done it all at this point.  The deal is, my dress size is smaller, my skin is clearer, and my smile is wider. I certainly feel so much better physically. Combine that with my education and background, and people suddenly start looking to me for that "one right way" to do it themselves. Then they get really frustrated when I tell them that it's all opinion based and there isn't really one way to look and feel better. In the mean time, I'm treading on eggshells hoping that I don't  A) accidentally offer advice that will send someone else into their own little disordered way of fueling their bodies or B) remind myself that my results were so much quicker and more obvious when I was hurting myself, maybe I should just start going back to doing that.

That being said, I'm beginning to feel like food is becoming more like religion and politics for me. It's going to start being a topic that's just off limits. You can look at my plate and look in my grocery cart all you want, but don't ask me if a food is good or bad, food should not have the sort of power to be labeled as such, it's just food. I've decided from this moment forward (and actually, I adopted this attitude a couple of weeks ago), I'm going to ask myself if this is what normal people do, feel, or think when it comes to fueling their bodies and burning calories. I guarantee you that the healthiest people on earth with the healthiest body image are not counting calories in vs calories out and wearing heart rate monitors all day, and I won't be either!

And my Latest Evolution Is....

I've been really thinking about things and happiness, and happiness without things, and looking into a more minimilist lifestyle (can we say tiny houses are just the cutest?!) Been feeling a bit drained, like I'm wasting energy on things that don't really matter, I mean, really, when is the last time someone asked me what my exact weight is? Well, I can tell you, it was March 28, the last day of a weight loss challenge I participated in. Since then, I've gotten on the scale, stayed off the scale, eaten the food, deprived myself of the food, worked out until my body cried uncle, and spent a couple of weeks pretty much bedridden. In the end, I weigh today within a pound of what I did in March. Crazy, huh? Yet I've put so much energy into that number that I've forgotten what's really important.

And a list of what means the most to me (in no particular order):

My kiddo
My sweetheart
My dad
My health
My memories
My tiny little patch of fresh vegetables in the front yard
My handful of friends that either get it, or at least encourage me if they don't


Notice, this list doesn't include the number on the scale, yes, my health is important. Eating healthy foods and exercise just makes me feel good and I really like to feel good. I'm spending FAR too much time and energy on trying to chase that magic number on that ugly machine. If I stop using food to punish myself and work on getting stronger and fitter simply for the sake of being stronger and fitter, not for some sick arbitrary "challenge" that I've set up for myself so I can watch myself fail and make up for it by withholding food, I feel like that number will just fall into place.

Also notice, this list does not include my community, it includes very specific people in my community, yet I've been feeling the need to really put myself out there as the spokesmodel for all things healthy. Yes, my story needs to be told. Yes, inspiring people to make healthy choices feels good, but not at the expense of my own health. That's time I'm taking away from my little patch of veggies or cutting a few seconds off of a mile.

Now, about decluttering and purging stuff around the house...seems like a completely daunting task, but I'm up for it! Might be MIA for a while trying to figure that part out.

Spring Fever!

Wow, it's really been since January since I've posted? Spring is certainly a time of renewal! I've really been looking at my personal goals and my fitness goals, I've stayed off the scale and stopped letting a 3-digit number define my success, and I've started really branching out physically. I'm also working on some projects professionally and working feverishly to get a thing or two scratched off the bucket list!

A few things are planted in the ground, lots of greens like spinach, kale, Swiss chard, and lettuce, I'm hoping to get my front yard small space vegetable garden the rest of the way planted between rain showers this week. This blog might possibly turn into a plethora of garden pictures and tips before this is all over! The best way to know exactly what you're putting into your body is to see how that food was treated when it was raised, and the best way to know that is to raise it yourself!

This brings me to another point, and that is, this blog.  It started out as a "weight loss" sort of thing, but right now, that's not where my head is, so I've been feeling quite reluctant to post about weight-related sorts of things. It's quite possible I've been losing again, people have been commenting on my appearance and my clothes fit me a bit looser (but I like stretchy clothes with little fit, so not sure if that's the best way to measure), the point is, I really don't care about weight loss...I care about health! I care about getting myself as fit, mentally, physically, and spiritually, as I can. Weight loss tends to follow these things, but doesn't even begin to measure the strides I've taken over the past 5 months.  I intended this year to be all about fun, about starting new projects, forming new friendships, and really getting out there and enjoying life, but what I'm seeing is that on my quest for fun, I'm enjoying a side effect of healing which is an amazing thing!

I am probably going to lose some followers because I'm not going to post about my weekly losses, my daily calorie burn, or my food journals. These things are terribly important to people who are new to the weight loss journey, but they don't mean much to me anymore. "Building a Better Mel" means just that...helping myself become the best me I can be. That means crossing things off my bucket list, advocating for making healthy and delicious foods available to everyone, getting my gardening in and watching the living foods that I'm putting into my body develop, and getting some super sweaty, intense, and fun workouts in along the way! Expect more posts from me now that I know my direction, honestly, I was terribly lost for a little bit, but I"m back with the energy that a only a rainy spring afternoon can produce. Here's to doing whatever it takes to truly build a better Mel.

New Year's Reflections and Forecasts

With only about 4 hours left in 2012, I guess it's time to look at the past year and reflect on the greatness...and maybe not so greatness.  I pick an annual theme, some attribute that I use in the spirit of everything I do, last year's theme was "ambition".  Here are a few things, good and bad, that I did in 2012:

1. Lost 48#! That's right at half of the weight I wanted to lose forever! I've maintained this loss for the past 3 months. I'm right under 50# from goal
2. Joined the Y...that's really a big deal to me, I'm one of those people who will use the gym if I have a membership, it always seems like a big expense, but I've found that it's just another bill I have to pay to survive. 
3. Fell in LOVE with a fitness class! It's called "Pulse" and is the brainchild of a former Zumba instructor who has taken dance fitness to the next level! An absolutely amazing class that I have to keep in my life.
4. Have kicked a few negative people in my life to the curb and have surrounded myself with people who truly want the best for me and push me to be the best version of myself I can be. 
5. Finally let my sweetheart of the past 6 years put a (engagement) ring on it...I love him with all my heart, but am so afraid of having another failed marriage that I felt that I couldn't fail if it wouldn't happen...well, we're one step closer to an official happily ever after story.
6. I really blew it with money this year. Pretty much wiped out the savings account by just living larger than I really ever should have thought of. Yeah, I'm the girl who knows how many calories I have eaten and how many I have left for the day, but have no idea at any given time how much money is in my checking account. 
7. I started this blog! I love writing and would one day love to get my full, unabridged story out there (yeah, I would love to write a book, I actually have an idea for a second book as well, so if you know any publishers...)
8. Started a small garden and grew a lot of my own food this summer...If it hadn't been for the drought, I really would have saved a fortune in groceries, but my water bill actually ate away at any of the savings.
9. I feel that I've done a great job of walking the walk of the virtues I preach. I am a nutritionist by profession, and I work with a lower income population who sometimes seems desperate and hopeless. I hope they see see that I am living a healthy lifestyle myself on a shoestring budget. 

Whew! Now that I look at it, 2012 was a busy year! No wonder I wonder where it all went! Looking on at 2013, my theme will be "fun" not so say that I plan on being totally flaky, but I do plan on living in the moment, laughing, and playing a lot!  Here are some things that I would like to accomplish: 

1. I'm hitting my goal weight! Would like to see it happen by spring, but it certainly will happen before 2014!
2. Sending my kiddo off to college...doing everything I can to be able to send her to the school of her (and my) dreams!
3. I want to learn as many "survival skills" as possible, #1 on the list is to learn how to use my slingshot, and get scary accurate with it!
4. Trying every fitness class that sounds interesting or fun to me. Right now I have my eye on giving Turbo Kick and Piloxing a go!
5. Grow even more of my own food this year...my goal is maybe 50% of the produce we eat. I made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot about growing a garden last year, so I really think I can do so much better this year! 
6. Get right with the money situation. Use my tax check to pay off some debt so my bills will be lower this year and start living more simply. 
7. Speaking of living simply, I want to declutter. I will be getting rid of everything that I don't use or love, so looks like I'll be having one heckuva yard sale this spring!
8. Incorporating more hobbies and spending more time doing leisure activities. Get back in to sewing, crafting, and decorating.

Looks like a big fun year ahead, and I can't wait to get started!