Author: Victoria Elizabeth

Victoria Elizabeth http://www.victoriaelizabethann.com Bubbly and enthusiastic, I am a lover of all things pink. My writing style is as eclectic as my personal library, so you'll see everything from dark poetry to light-hearted short stories posted in my portfolio.

Paleo Cookies!

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On Sunday night, as I was prepping my meals and snacks for the work week, I began to have a massive craving for chocolate.

What’s new, right?

Well, even though I was letting myself indulge freely on Sunday, it made me think about the fact that I am BOUND to have more cravings throughout the week. And, if I didn’t have a plan in place, I was bound to cave, splurge on something bad, and then feel regret/guilt.

So I decided to take proactive measures and look up a recipe for Paleo desserts.

I found a basic recipe for cookies and, feeling creative, decided to doctor it a bit. I am happy to report that the results came out AMAZING. My husband was INHALING the cookies by the handful and he’s not even a big sweets-guy, so that’s a good sign. I decided I’d share the recipe on here so that my fellow cavemen and women [or gluten-free friends!] can enjoy a tasty, easy to make snack!

Double Chocolate Chip Paleo Cookies w/ Walnuts:

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup cold-pressed coconut oil [you may need to warm slightly to get soft enough to mix]
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup raw honey or agave syrup
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened, natural cocoa powder [I went with Hershey’s but you can use whatever you’d like.]
  • 1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1/2 cup crushed walnuts [or whatever nuts you prefer]
  • 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips [soy free, dairy free, gluten-free, etc!]

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degree.

I’m not a good student when it comes to following instructions for baked goods, so I just threw all of the dry ingredients into a big mixing bowl, then poured the wet ingredients on top, then stirred them like a BEAST for 2 minutes. Free arm workout!

I used a 1/4 cup scoop to make little cookie balls and then put them approximately one inch apart on a large baking sheet. This recipe makes a lot of cookies – probably 40-45 – so I ended up using two large cookie sheets to hold all of them.

I pressed the cookies flat, so they were roughly two inches in diameter and an inch thick.

Bake for 10-14 minutes to preferred texture. I like my cookies moist and chewy, so I aimed for 10 minutes and they came out perfect.

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Unfortunately, I didn’t do the calculations on calories, but I can tell you these little cookies pack a sweet punch, so my guess would be between 100-150 for every two cookies. They are very rich, however, so two cookies should satisfy even the most ravenous of dessert-munchers.

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Monday

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Monday means different things to different people.

For some, it’s the start of another grueling work week. For others, it’s the excitement of returning to a rewarding environment. Classes, jobs, families, responsibilities. Mondays are the catalyst of beginnings.

For me, it’s the return to regimen.

Every Monday, I resurrect my diet from the ashes of my weekend and I vow to be good. I vow to drink my protein shake in the mornings, munch my salad for lunch, and control the wild, ravenous beast inside me at dinner time. I always manage to convince myself that this week will be different. I’ll tap into a magical store of will power and dedication formerly unknown and I’ll be different.

Every Monday, I promise that this will be the time I really change.

Oh, Mondays.

3.4.2013 Monday

Diet plan: PALEO

Starting weight: 139.4

Goal weight by 4.13.2013: 129 [sub-130, for the first time in my life]

Will this be the Monday I follow-through?

Let’s find out and see.

 

I’m optimistic that it is.

 

Bon appetit,

~ Tori

Breakfast of Champions

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I’ve been told that the secret to overall good health and wellness is to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a starving college student who has maxed out his credit cards.

Well, I may not be able to control myself like a starving college student at dinner time just yet, but I definitely have breakfast down.

This morning, I was craving something heavy, fatty, and delicious.

To satiate that craving but still be somewhat healthy, I prepared my own take on chicken and waffles.

Using Van’s gluten-free, wheat-free waffles as my base, I pan fried two eggs and a sweet apple chicken sausage link [these are amazing on their own, by the way] to create a breakfast taste explosion on my plate.

Seriously, these taste way too good to only be 150 calories!

Seriously, these taste way too good to only be 150 calories!

Photo Credit: SweetBay Grocery Store

I chopped and layered the sausage [just 150 calories for a BIG link] over one of the waffles [230 calories for two], then blanketed it with the two fried eggs [140 calories using pam spray]. On top of that, I put a tiny drizzle of raw, organic honey [30 calories for a half tablespoon] and then sandwiched it with the second waffle.

I admit, this packed more of a calorie punch than I normally eat in one meal, coming in at a whopping 550, but for a Sunday brunch it totally hits the spot. Considering I ate late, I will likely offset the heavier breakfast with a light lunch. On the bright side, I am full, happy, and fueled for a productive Sunday of sitting on the couch in my PJ’s and doing homework. YESSSS!

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Kickball

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Tonight, I scored my very first run after a season of playing kickball.

It was GLORIOUS.

For months, I’ve felt like the weak link on the team. I’m part of a co-ed league, which requires a specific numbers of females in order to be official. The other girls on the team are current [or recently retired] soccer players, so I’ve struggled with the feeling that I’m the token “non-athlete” on the team; the mascot just there to fill a quota.

Of course, every member of the team has been amazingly supportive and encouraging and I know that I’m actually a decent player when it boils down. However, the feelings of inadequacy – of being picked last for so many years when I was younger – have stuck with me.

Tonight, I went up to bat for the second time and managed to get on base. This is an accomplishment for me, as I have a habit of kicking pop flies that land perfectly in the pitcher’s arms. I was thrilled to be on base, but assumed I’d likely get tagged out in a few minutes. Amazingly, the next batter came up [we had 2 outs] and kicked right into a gap in the field, advancing me to second and then third.

I was FLOORED.

I don’t think I had made it to third before, except during practice games and my dreams. I stood on third, checking out the loaded bases, baffled to have fallen into another dimension where I could possibly score a point for my team. My coach on 3rd base told me to “run on anything” and when the batter kicked a line drive towards right field, I floored it.

And I scored a run.

It. Felt. AMAZING.

While I wasn’t the winning run, our team STOMPED the competition with a 16 > 2 win. It was pretty much a murder, but we were celebrated instead of arrested and sentenced to life. Unless you’re referring to a life of awesomeness, which I’m sure we’ll all enjoy.

However, in the midst of all the high fives, I was able to truly celebrate my contribution. One of those runs was because of ME. I crossed that home plate.

Yeah.

I’m feeling pretty darn happy tonight.

So happy, in fact, that I let two of my teammates teach me how to do a cartwheel. Something I’ve been scared to learn to do for YEARS.

It’s certainly not a pretty one, but I can flip myself over without landing on my head, so that’s a plus.

Today was a good day.

Bon appetit, my friends.

~ Tori

A Positive Body Image

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For those of us that struggle with an eating disorder – and, likely, those that just aren’t 100% happy with how they look even if it doesn’t go so far as an ED – maintaining a positive body image is a challenge. In most cases, it’s nearly impossible.

I, for one, have a constant struggle with body image. If I didn’t lay out my outfits the evening before and force myself to wear whatever I prepared, I’d likely spend a solid hour changing every morning because I do not feel comfortable with how I look in my clothing. It is rare for me to truly feel good in my own skin, so on the rare occasion I do, it’s cause for celebration.

Today, I discovered one of those rare moments.

This afternoon, as a reward for all that I’ve accomplished in the last few weeks, I decided to get a massage.

You’d think that the act of stripping down to your skivvies, laying on a table, and allowing a total stranger to touch you [sounds way more perverted than it is, I assure you] would be the last thing to boost my self image.

Yet, that’s exactly what it did.

It wasn’t the other person, of course. It was the sensation. Feeling the tension in my muscles. The connective tissue. Having the masseuse work out the knots in my legs that were there not as a result of stress, but as a result of the workouts and effort I’ve been putting in. Feeling the strength in my joints, the tendons stretching – I felt in tune with my body for the first time in many years.

This wasn’t my first massage; however, this was the first time I really connected with my body. Instead of trying to forget about my thick thighs or jiggly arms, I focused all of my attention on the muscles below the skin and how they responded to the therapy.

For that brief hour, I was proud of my body.

Proud of the aches and pains. Proud of the stretchmarks, which are a constant reminder of the journey I’ve been on for nearly a decade. Each one a tiny, faded badge of honor – a memory of the old me.

Of course, I can’t expect to get a massage every day of my life as a means of boosting my self-image, so I’ll have to seek out other ways of becoming more comfortable with who I am.

However, today’s stolen hour reminded me of the hard work that I’ve put in and the efforts I’ve been taking to be healthy, inside and out. It reinforced the mindset that I have to be good to my body in order for it to be good to me in return.

With that in mind, I’m going for a run before the sun sets on a good day.

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Kryptonite

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Everyone has one. Or two. Or a dozen.

Everyone has that food – or that collection of different foods – that melts their resolve.

That food that breaks through all of the walls of determination, shreds will power into millions of shiny little pieces of confetti.

For me, that’s chocolate in almost all of it’s forms.

  • Chocolate Bars
  • Chocolate Cupcakes
  • Brownies
  • Chocolate-Covered Donuts
  • Chocolate Ice Cream
  • Chocolate-Covered Strawberries [That’s healthy, right? It’s a fruit.]
  • Chocolate-Infused Beer. [Yes, they make that.]
  • Fudge
  • Chocolate Muffins
  • Chocolate Cake
  • Chocolate-Anything Cookies

Yeah, I could go on for hours here.

I’m salivating at the thought of these delectable goodies. Why does this one food destroy every shred of self-control I can muster?

I WANT CHOCOLATE NOW.

Since I cannot control myself around these items, I tend to keep them out of my house. I buy fruit sorbets to satiate my sweet tooth and avoid picking up any chocolate-based candies unless I know the person I give them to will keep it away from me.

Is avoidance the only way to avoid over-indulgence? Must I be like Superman and dodge my kryptonite at all costs? Or is there a happy medium to this craving?

I’m still working on an answer to that.

Fighting a craving,

~ Tori

 

Just cycling along…

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One of my favorite exercises happens to be the one that feels LEAST like exercise: riding my bike with my husband.

This morning, we decided to crack out the old mountain/hybrids and go for a ride to strategically check out some homes that we’re interested in. The kicker, here, is that these homes are ALL over town. Literally. There were at least two miles between each property and we set out to see no less than six of them.

For two hours, we trucked around town, crossing from Orlando to Maitland, Maitland back to Winter Park, and then Winter Park back to the Baldwin Park area. If you’re not familiar with the Orlando-area, we biked roughly 22 miles. WOW.

Amazingly, the entire trip was a blast. I never felt tired [until the very end, of course] and I was in good spirits the whole time.

Perhaps the distraction of the sights, of having to meander safely through traffic, and the excitement of seeing our [potential] new home drove out the mental struggle that tends to accompany a long workout. I was entertained and enjoying myself, so it really didn’t feel like exercise. It felt like a fun trip with my husband and a beautiful day to be a Floridian.

This leads me to the conclusion that the easiest way to make exercise a daily part of your life is to make it a daily ENJOYABLE part of your life. Whether it’s a bike ride with your spouse or a kickball class with your best friend, a good workout is most effective if it’s savored and anticipated.

If you’re struggling to incorporate more exercise into your day-today, try riding your bike to pick up the few items you need from the drug store or suggest swapping your ladies night out into a ladies sweat-out and join a boot camp glass together. You can find tons of them – often free – locally by going to sites like http://www.meetup.com!

Chances are, you’ll appreciate the after-effects of a good workout much more than you will a night of heavy wine-guzzling!

Besides, how could you choose to go out drinking over rocking one of these awesome helmets with a friend?

Coolness: Defined

Yes, I wear this out in public. It’s the best!

On that note, it’s back to work for me.

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

 

 

Sometimes, it’s just luck.

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I’ve been ridiculously busy the last few days. Between work, school, and working on this short documentary, I’ve been running around like a crazy person.

As a result, my gym-attendance has been sporadic and my eating habits have been decent, but not perfect. I was smart to cook ahead at the start of the week, so I’ve been relatively healthy for my lunches and dinners, but I still find myself raiding the candy drawer during the more stressful moments in the office.

And there have been a lot of them this week.

Miraculously, though, the scale has progressively gone down the last few days. The weight I had gained [that nearly sent me into a tailspin of depression] a couple of weeks ago appears to be sliding off as quickly as it snuck up on me. I’m both relieved and perplexed.

How, exactly, does that happen?

They always say a watched pot never boils. Does the same apply to weight loss? The more I watch the scale, the less it moves?

Could my utter distraction and inconsistency really be the key to gaining control over the teetering number that is my weight?

Hmmmmm.

That’s definitely something to ponder.

I’m going to apologize now for cutting this post short, but I’ve just yawned four times in a row and I’m pretty sure I’ve unhinged my jaw. I promise, my lack of sleep will pay off very soon, as I am pretty confident that I’ve finished the editing of my documentary this evening and should be posting it on the the blog tomorrow.

I will leave you with this note – sometimes, good things happen because you work hard for them. You bust your butt, you take the necessary steps, and you make the required sacrifices. But, sometimes, it’s just plain luck. I’m attributing this week’s weight loss to the latter.

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori