Why the scale is ruining my life.

Over the past year and a half, I've become slightly obsessed with my journey to health.  When I first began, I was obsessed with seeing the number on the scale drop.  It dropped and continued to drop for about 8 months.  I lost in all over 50 lbs!  It was awesome and I was ecstatic with my progress.

However, those lbs I dropped were fat and I had zero muscle tone under all that fat.  I became skinny fat.  As I have progressed with programs and doing more advanced workouts - I have began to build muscle and I am showing some great definition.  It's great to see those muscles pop in the mirror that you never had before.  However, the scale - is a complete bitch at this point.  The satisfaction from seeing it drop has led me to expect the same as I am continuing this journey.  Definitely not happening!  Actually I have gained 20 lbs back - but the weird thing is I'm still the same size.  In the past, when I gained 20 lbs - I went up a size or TWO!

I stepped on the scale this morning and after working out 6 days a week, eating healthy and clean 80% of the time the scale is a LIAR!  Therefore, I'm breaking up with the scale.  I'll use it to fill in the progress on my program - but I'm not going to let that bitch run my life anymore.  As soon as I stepped on it, I felt like a failure, a failure with an extremely tight core and lifted booty, but still a failure.

Here are the reasons why I am (and you should) stop getting on that scale:

1) The Scale LIES!  - There are so many things that are completely out of control that affect the number on that scale.  For example: time of day, what you have consumed, and hormones!

2) Muscle weighs more than fat.  - Technically, that's a lie.  Muscle is more dense than fat meaning: 1 lb of muscle takes up less space than 1 lb of fat.

3) You'll rely on better indicators of health.  Like the way you feel.  The scale doesn't tell you if your clothes fit better or if you are feeling more confident.

4)  You'll be much happier!  - Like this morning, my day (or week) could be much better if I didn't know (or care) about that number that was on the scale.

Instead of using the scale to measure myself - I will be asking myself these questions:

> How do I feel?  Do I feel healthy? Do I have more energy?
> Am I regularly exercising?  Am I enjoying i?  Is my strength and endurance improving?
> Am I generally choosing healthy food that nourishes my body and makes me feel good?
> Ho do my clothes fit?  Am I remembering to love my body exactly as it is?

Zoodle Pad Thai

This is normally not a dish I would go searching for.  I've never had Pad Thai before.  However, in an attempt to use zoodles I ran across this dish on Pinterest.

The story began with pizza night.  In our house, every Wednesday is pizza night.  I love pizza!  However, with my goals in mind I knew in order to skip the pizza I had to make a delicious BOLD concoction that will be WAY better than pizza.  Crazy right?  That's the way my mind works!

This was the most flavorful and filling dish I have made in a while.  Plus it was super quick!!

I'm not going to lie about this though, while making it with the scrambled egg - I was thinking gosh this is going to be gross... I was wrong.  I want to do it again tonight!

Here is the recipe:

Single serving - (yes I only made enough for one meal and for me to try)

For the pad thai:
1 tbsp extra virgin live oil

1 - medium zucchini

1 clove garlic, minced

4 oz. cleaned and cooked shrimp

2 green onions sliced

1 large egg

2 tbsp chopped peanuts

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 slices of lime for serving

Sauce:

1 tbsp white wine vinegar or rice vinegar

1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce or liquid aminos

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp raw honey

1 tsp sriracha sauce

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Make the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients then set aside.

Cut the zucchini into noodles or long pasta by using a spiralizer tool.

Heat a large pan on medium high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil (reserve the other half for later). Then add zucchini noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the zucchini noodles are tender. Don't overcook the noodles. The zucchini noodles should be slightly crunchy with a tender bite. 

Let the noodles rest for about 3 minutes to allow as much moisture as possible to release. Remove the noodles from the pan and drain the excess water.

Carefully wipe the same pan to remove the excess water, and then re-heat the pan on medium high heat. Add the remaining olive oil and garlic. Cook the garlic until soft and translucent, about 30 seconds. Add the shrimp.  Let the shrimp warm up for 1-2 minutes.

Add the green onions. Cook for about 1-2 minutes or until tender. Add the egg and stir in with the green onion until the egg is cooked.

Add the zucchini noodles back into the same pan, then add the sauce. Cook for about 1 more minutes or until the zucchini noodles are heated through.

Serve the warm zucchini pad thai noodles with roasted peanuts, cilantro, and lime wedges.

Additional ingredients you could add include: bean sprouts and red bell pepper.

YUM!  Enjoy!