Guest Post!! Michelle from the former and fabulous A Shade of Gray

Hello from a fellow fan of SmoothieGirlEatsToo! I am so honored to write a guest post for Deb!


Please allow me to introduce myself …


My name is Michelle and I used to blog at A Shade of Gray. I recently “retired” my blog due to time constraints (I am a stay-at-home mom to three active little girls, ages 6 and under) but I am still a huge blog devotee and make my on-line rounds most nights.

I’ve recently lost fifty pounds through (mostly) clean-eating and weight training/cardio. I have gone from a coach potato to having a Half Marathon, Duathlon and a handful of 5 and 10ks under my belt. Next month, I will celebrate my eighteen-month anniversary of getting fit!


An ideal week of exercise for me would include a few days of weight training and a few days of cardio. I also incorporate lots of “incidental” exercise whenever possible: walking with my girls, parking farther then necessary so I take extra steps and even grocery shopping. (I’m serious, I never thought pushing around a loaded grocery cart burned much until I wore my Heart Rate Monitor to the store! It’s a Polar F6 HRM by the way and I can’t rave about it enough!) I consider the “incidental” exercise as icing on the cake and it allows me to indulge a bit more especially at the weekend.


My general eating philosophy is to stick to foods with lean protein, “good” carbs and healthy fats. Of course, I also indulge in foods that are more delicious then nutritious. I love ice cream, pizza and cupcakes as much as the next girl (or guy) and have found that you truly can “have it all” if you keep mindful of overall choices and keep exercise in the equation. I highly recommend Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto if you haven’t read it yet.


Speaking of keeping exercise in the equation, I’d love to share the three best pieces of advice ever given to me:


1. No matter how bad your day/week/month was with regard to food choices, never give up exercising. (Courtesy of my Dad)


I have found this to be so true! In the past, if I had an indulgent day food-wise, I would skip exercise all together because of an all-or-nothing mindset. Now, I exercise on most days and have come to realize it’s one of the key factors to maintaining my weight loss.


2. Focus on progress, not perfection. (Courtesy of the Body for Life Website)


As I mentioned in #1, my biggest hurdle with maintaining a healthy lifestyle has always been an all-or-nothing mindset. With fitness (physical *and* mental), it’s so important to be able to strike a balance. It’s an on-going process and many, many times I take two steps forward and one step back. As long as I learn from whatever caused that “step back” and continue forward, I know I’m on the right path.


3. “Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.” ~ Marsha Petrie Sue


I love, love, love quotes to keep my motivation up and this one has been extra-inspiring to me lately. Quotes always seem like “advice” to me, right?


Recently, I re-committed myself to eating mostly clean foods. I’d love to share a dish inspired by one of Jenn’s recipes at Competing to Lose. I typically eat it over a bed of greens drizzled with some type of vinegar but it’s equally delicious in a pita or served warm as a topping for an open-faced sandwich. (I’m sure a bit of melted feta on top would put it completely over-the-top in the delicious department!)


Thank you for allowing me to share a bit of myself via Deb’s wonderful blog and I hope to see some of you out there in the blogosphere soon!


Mediterranean Chicken Salad

Ingredients (Serves 2 as a main or 3-4 as a starter)


1 12 oz. can of white chicken (or cubed/shredded chicken breast)


2 T of Kraft Free Fat Mayonnaise (you can substitute Greek or plain yogurt for this ingredient)


2T capers, drained


1 oz. sun-dried tomatoes (the kind not in oil but that type works well too)


1 1/2 c. artichoke hearts (I use the frozen ones from Trader Joes’ but the jarred version in water will work just as well)


8 pitted kalamata olives


Salt and pepper to taste


Directions



If the artichoke hearts are frozen, saute in some olive oil cooking spray until cooked through.


Take half of the artichoke hearts, olives and sun-dried tomatoes and put in a mini-food processor for a few pulses (makes a sort of dry tapenade).


Roughly chop the other half portion of artichoke hearts (I like some bigger bits of artichoke so I leave some out of the tapenade but you could save time and add all to the food-processor)


Drain the chicken and add mayonnaise, capers, roughed chopped artichokes and the tapenade from food-processor. Mix well and season.



Enjoy!


(Note: As you might have guessed, I am big on “loosely” following a recipe and making my own tweaks. But, I think that’s part of the beauty of home-cooking, don't you?)