Happy Wednesday!
Firstly, here’s my weekly update on my autumn slim down challenge: I think that taking a break from the scale last week was a great idea for me, and I continued to push forward with eating smaller portions of healthy, delicious food with some indulgences sprinkled in, and working out daily. I don’t think I could lose the scale completely, but I think I might ditch the scale for a week or more at a time more often. Since I first talked about wanting to lose 5-10 pounds a little over a month ago, I’ve lost 5 pounds. I feel great, and want to continue my weight loss efforts for the next couple of weeks to see if I can tone up a bit more and lose another couple of pounds.
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For anyone out there reading this whose trying to lose weight, I know that it feels like progress is made so annoyingly slow, but I just want to say Hang in there! Your body composition and weight change little by little, and it’s really all about the day-to-day choices you make that will help form positive habits and get you to where you want to be. So don’t give up on yourself!
Past slim down posts you may want to check out:
And with that, I’m joining the Peas and Crayons link-up party this week to share a What I Ate Wednesday post. I feel like a bit of a cheater because this is what I ate yesterday, but here goes:
For breakfast, I whipped up some pumpkin spice pancakes, (minus the pecan topping but instead) drizzled with honey and sprinkled with cinnamon. Nom nom nom!
For part of lunch, I tried making butternut squash hash browns for the first time. All I did was 1.) shred some butternut squash with a box grater, 2.) chop up a bit of onion, 3.) mix the shredded squash and onion together, along with some salt, pepper & paprika, 4.) melt a TBSP of butter in a pan over medium heat, and 5.) let the squash cook until crispy brown, flipping over occasionally. It took around 20 minutes, and I loved them!
I ate my hash browns with a bit of ketchup + a peanut butter & cherry preserves-topped English muffin:
Pre-workout, I ate a cinnamon roll Quest bar…
…as well as the salvageable pieces from an overripe pear. Boo for mushy pear!
My dinner was a bit of a rare occurrence. On the vast majority of days I eat a real dinner, but every once in awhile, I come home from a workout not in the mood for dinner food (or am just feeling lazy!). I got back from the gym around 7 and was all Hmmm I think I’ll just eat a yogurt bowl, so that’s what I did. Cherry Greek yogurt + cinnamon almonds + an apple sprinkled with cinnamon + Kashi Go Lean cereal to be exact.
And that’s all she wrote!
Have you ever tried butternut squash hash browns?
I’ve never tried butternut squash hash browns before but they sound really delicious. I am not sure about the box grater part though . . . Also congrats on losing 5lbs!!! That’s amazing! You basically said here’s my goal and this is how I’m going to achieve it and you did it! So inspirational!
Awwww thank you so much!!
Ha! Not sure if I made grating butternut squash sound harder than it was. I cut a chunk of squash out, cut off the skin, and then grated it as if it was cheese. A bit of an arm workout, but not that bad!
Nicole, it’s so wonderful hearing about your weight loss journey thus far. You’re doing a fabulous job. I love that you’re eating clean and exercising instead of allowing your weight goal to take over your life. Good for you hunnie <3
Thank you for your support, Jessie! I so appreciate the kind words.
I bought a container of butternut squash but wasn’t very inspired so I just microwaved or roasted it in the oven and ate it. Every recipe I come upon requires some starch.
Well you should try this – you might like it! The only thing is that you’d have to buy a whole butternut squash, cut off the skins, chop it into big chunks and grate it. It’s a bit more work than buying it already cut up (which I also do a lot) but I really liked butternut squash hash browns 🙂
BNS hashbrowns are such a clever idea! And I ate a yogurt bowl for dinner yesterday too 🙂
Great minds think alike 😉
Your advice couldn’t be better. I think so many people give up on a healthy lifestyle because they expect things to instantly change for them and it really does involve small efforts every day for a lifetime.
So I think this is a very encouraging message!!
I haven’t tried butternut squash hash browns but now I’m curious. They look yummy!
Totally agreed. Thank you Sarah!