Carrots? Oddly satisfying. Getting up early to exercise? Crazy talk, but true.

So I'm really feeling good about the lifestyle changes that I've undertaken.  Clearly I'm still a work in progress and I'd like to do so much more, but I'm really psyched about some of the stuff going on in my life.

Now that I've hit maintenance, I'm adding back some carbs.  My indulgence today?  Raw baby carrots.  And I LIKED them.  And I feel satisfied after eating them.  Who is this person?  It's the new me, baby!  Calling carrots an indulgence and liking them.  Unbelieveable.

Plus, I'm waking up early and actually dragging my ass out of bed to exercise.  I've always been a morning person, but in the past I would make every excuse not to exercise.  Seriously stupid stuff to justify why I could skip a workout.  Now I justify how and when I can squeeze one in?  Case in point, today.  Very busy day at work.  Lots of stuff going on, busy evening at home, too.  So I woke up early and ran two miles.  Who is this person?  It's the new me, baby!

I will say, for the first time, I woke up this morning and craved an ice cold Diet Coke.  I laid in bed and it consumed my thoughts.  And then I thought about it and what a stupid thing to indulge in.  If I add Diet Coke back to my intake, it'll be hard to drop the habit again.  I'll be up to 2 or 3 a day in no time.  So I told myself to quick thinking crazy and to suck it up and go run instead.  And it worked.  Forgot about it until just now.

As a newbie to maintenance, and as someone who consistently failed at this part in previous WL attempts, I'm really pleased with myself.  But my maintenance battle is only just beginning and I'd like to learn more from you all.  So what crazy, but great habits do you have that you've kept up even in maintenance?  

What a great, success story. I am also in maintenance and I exercise hard, every. Single. Day. That damn diet coke whispers to me everyday too, but after I have one sip, it is a slippery slope for me. I am proud of you that you go for a run in the morning! Woo-hoo!

I've always exersized in the morning. I can so relate to getting up early just so you can squeeze it in. I had to get up and get to work by 6 this morning and just couldn't get my butt up early enough today to get my run in.
But tomorrow, I'm in it to win it baby.

I can NEVER get any time in the evening to get exersize in. There are too many demands upon my person at home to make that happen, lol. It's my world, and I love it.

Good for you in getting through the "diet coke" call.

Keep it up sleeve sista.
donna

Hey me too on the baby carrots. I love them now that  I can handle raw veggies. And I also love these little mini cucumbers they have at costco.  both are great plain or with hummus dip. my idea of a good snack.  And in the future when you find you can eat bigger amouns, you will be glad to eat these carrots which are really not an indulgence in maintenance.

And I think you are wise to avoid the diet coke. 

My maintenance new habit is beef jerky for lunch. I used to hate the stuff. Now I love it and its so convenient. That and I can't live without grapes each day. so sweet and filling.

diane

I'm still drinking protein shakes - so easy to keep my protein and water levels up.

So glad you mentioned carrots! I made a "carrot cake" version of protein pancakes today (shredded carrots, eggs, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, walnuts, whole wheat flour, protein powder, brown sugar substitute)... with cream cheese "frosting" (ff cream cheese, splenda, milk and vanilla). Absolutely incredibly delish! My skinny-minny kid loved them, too!

Sounds yum!  Can you post the recipe??

I kind of throw things together in odd ways based loosely on Shelly's (egg face's) recipes. Essentially it was this:

1 cup of carrots shredded FINE
a handful of whole wheat flour
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
a pinch or two of baking soda (maybe 1 tsp?)
2 tbsp brown sugar substitute (kroger brand is what I use)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (I add more, but I LIKE nutmeg)
3 or 4 eggs (I think I used 4 yesterday)
1/4 c chopped walnuts
1/8 tsp ground cloves (I did NOT add this cuz I don't like cloves, but in traditional carrot cake, there are ground cloves)

I mixed all the wet ingredients in one bowl and dry in another. Then combined just until moistened. Cook like you'd cook pancakes!

Topping:
4 oz softened cream cheese (FF)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c splenda
2 tbsp skim milk

Blend cream cheese until fluffy. Add milk, splenda and vanilla and beat until it's all incorporated. Should be thin and kinda runny, almost like thin icing consistency. Put this on hot pancakes! 1/4 splenda makes this pretty sweet. You might want to cut back on that a bit. Just depends on your tastes. Dissolving the splenda in the milk before adding it will make the topping smoother.

These are "eggy", so not exactly like pancakes, but REALLY good. Don't cook on too high a heat or the carrots won't cook all the way through.

The recipe for mini cake things on theworldaccordingtoeggface.com was my inspiration for this. BUT, she uses carrot puree (baby food). I didn't want to do that because I wanted to make a big batch and have them taste "fresh". Anyway... PLAY with your food! LOL. Have fun and hope you get the same results I did!

Hey, can you tell me what my avatar looks like? I changed it to a pic of me in a sombrero yesterday, but what I am still seeing is the Aerosmith wing...

Sombrero pic is what I see!!