Clean Chicken Pad Thai

I know I said I’d post the burrito recipe. I KNOW. (I’m sorry, it’s going to have to be next week.) Here’s the thing: something incredible happened last night. I made Chicken Pad Thai on a whim, and it knocked the proverbial socks (proverbial because chickens don’t wear socks) off of literally everything else that I ate this week. EVEN CHICKEN STRIPS. That’s a big deal.

How to NOT Fail Your New Year’s Resolution + Clean Shrimp “Fried” Rice

Welp, tomorrow is officially the last day of 2013. I don’t want to make this some sappy post all about how much I’ve grown this year, so I’ll avoid that as much as possible, but I will say that I have accomplished more than I ever dreamed possible in the last 12 months. I bet you guys are more curious about HOW I got here, so I’ll focus on that instead. I’m closing out this year healthier, happier, and more motivated than I’ve ever been: all things that I am extremely proud of. I’m 50 pounds lighter, a LOT smarter (or so I think…), and I finally feel comfortable in my own skin.

That last part — the self-acceptance — is something I’d never nailed down before. I’ve always been able to seem self-confident, but I wasn’t ever truly there. I hid behind materialistic things, alcohol, and/or work to make everyone believe that I was, but I never really loved myself as much as I should have. This year, I stopped partying as much, stopped bringing work home, and started focusing on plain ol’ me. It made all the difference. I had to learn to appreciate myself for who I am and believe that I’m worth the effort first and foremost before I could dive into working toward a goal of becoming healthier.

Why 92% of People Fail At Their New Year’s Resolutions

TONS of people make health-related resolutions at the beginning of every single year. “Get in shape” or “lose weight” had been at the top of my list for as long as I remember, but I never made it happen until this year. I started 2013 with a resolution to stay dedicated to working out at Synergy, which was also tied to finally losing the weight that I’d been trying to lose since high school. What made this year’s resolution different was that I actually knew why I wanted to do it.

My Weight Loss FAILS: What Doesn’t Work? (Plus, A Shrimp Pasta Recipe + This Week’s Meal Plan)

On Saturday, I posted a comparison of my 12-week progress picture alongside Ryan’s 8-week. His results have absolutely blown my mind. In case you missed it, prepare to be amazed:

Clean Mongolian Chicken

Sooo… I forgot to plan our dinners for the week. (MAJOR oops.)

I spent Sunday helping my mom write out/prep her meals and forgot to plan what Ryan and I would be eating in the evenings. Womp womp. I didn’t want to make any decisions by 7pm last night, so we had a problem. After boot camp, we were taking the princess pup for her evening walk. We live close to a Chinese take-out place and could smell the fried rice cooking from across the street. My mouth started watering almost instantaneously. BUT, I abstained from taking the easy route (ordering takeout) and started thinking about how to cook something similar (but less awful for us) on my own and did a little victory dance for myself.

Healthy (CLEAN!) Chicken Fingers

This is a pretty basic dinner recipe, but it’s a go-to when I’m craving something not-so-healthy. Boyfriend-approved, easy enough to do on a weeknight, and I’m pretty sure it would be kid-friendly (although since I’m 24 and have no kids, this theory hasn’t been tested).