Amazing motivation and raw taco goodness

As I talked a little bit about in my post yesterday, I was feeling a little down and out earlier this week. So like a good WW member I went to two AMAZING meetings tonight. I try to attend meetings at least once a month, but it doesn't always happen that way. I felt that I really needed the extra WW love and motivation right about now and I'm so glad that I did. 

First up was Lindsay's meeting at Trinity Church next to the Eaton Center. I love that group! They are incredibly supportive of one another and the group has grown quite a bit since Lindsay started there. Lindsay is an incredibly leader. We did our leader training together and it was an amazing journey to take with her and I love seeing her in action now. She's very down to earth and her story is pretty incredible. I always feel great walking out of her meetings. 

Next up was Charlie's meeting at the YMCA. Charlie was my leader for my weight loss journey. He was instrumental in helping me get from this point:

to where I am today. He is a great leader with a lot of humor and I truly love his meetings. It was so lovely to catch up with him and I hope to go back a little more frequently in the future. One of my favourite quotes of the night (from another member) was "I love eating broccoli for breakfast. It's like eating an omelet without the eggs". 

This week we're talking about negative thoughts and how they can impact our weight loss journey. Both groups really resonated with the topic - because I think it's something that we all experience (whether or not we're trying to lose weight) Negative thinking has a HUGE impact on us, and we really need to work hard to reverse those negative thoughts and replace them with the positive. I'm looking forward to our discussion of this subject this weekend at the Carrot. 

Now onto dinner!

Inspired by Gena and Jenna's Wednesday raw food challenge, I decided tonight would be the night I make raw tacos! The taco meat was made of walnuts (soaked overnight), spices, sunflower oil, sea salt and some Braggs. I also made some guacamole with an avocado, cilantro, green onion & lime. 

They turned out great!!! 

The nuts do really give them a "meaty" texture and the spices give the flavor of tacos. I put some guac onto a giant organic lettuce leaf and topped it with 2 tbsp of the "meat". I served the tacos alongside a spinach salad with some more guac and 1/2 a cup of brown rice with corn, cilantro and lime (inspired by the WW brown rice salad) The brown rice meant that the meal wasn't totally raw, but making the tacos was a huge step for me and I'm so glad that I did! Even Joey liked them (with some sour cream and salsa) I will definitely be making these again and this experiment has motivated me to try more raw recipes. 

Today was a great day (how's that for positivity??) and I'm really happy that tomorrow is Thursday! Please check out my post from earlier and provide me with some feedback on my blog and don't forget, you've got less than 24 hours to enter my latest giveaway!

Excitement is brewing...

There's some exciting stuff brewing here on the blog - I'm so thrilled!!! You'll have to stay tuned...

A couple of things that I need your feedback on:

1. Do you prefer the name "dancing through life" or "Maintenance with Ashley" for the blog? Originally it was called Ashley's Staying Active & Maintenance blog, but I felt that was a bit too wordy and I didn't really think that it encompassed everything that the blog is now about. Is it confusing that the URL doesn't match the title? Thoughts?
   
2. Are there any questions that you're curious for me to answer relating to Weight Watchers, weight loss, Crohn's, my lifestyle or journey or anything else? I'm thinking of compiling a FAQ section, but I need to know what you wanna know! So please feel free to post your questions here or send me an email at wwleaderashley@gmail.com
   
3. Is there anything missing on my blog? Anything you would like to see more or less of?

If you could leave me a comment (or send me an email) with your feedback and questions I would be so grateful!!

AND don't forget that my giveaway closes tomorrow at 5pm EST!

Hope you're having an AMAZING Wednesday!

Thoughts on a Tuesday

I had some good eats last week...

I didn't post a recap or a menu this weekend because I felt like I was falling into a rut with my blog. I want to keep things interesting for you guys as readers, as well as me as the writer! 

Earlier this week I was feeling a bit down and out. I was feeling tired and frustrated with this elimination diet, feeling angry with myself for some of the choices I had been making and feeling crummy about my body as a result. 

I've got four weeks left of hardcore elimination diet and I'm going to make them count. I started a new notebook to use as my tracker two weeks ago and I've been tracking diligently even if I've been over my Points. I'm making better choices and trying to snack less (especially at night!) And to make sure I feel better about my body I've been doing something about it, rather than wallowing in my bad body feelings with snacks. On Sunday I went to a dance class. Last night Joey and I went for a run and tonight I did another dance class. I've also done quite a bit of walking. I'm feeling a lot more positive and in control of the situation. 

I know I can make it through these last four weeks of my elimination diet and I'm looking forward to bringing things back. I'm not even missing the big things like gluten or dairy - it's things like tomatoes and fruit. I think the gluten and dairy are out for good and that's okay with me. I've been feeling really great physically as a result of the elimination diet and that is going to continue to motivate me. 

Now for some of this week's food...

Last night we had gluten free pasta with roasted garlic & red peppers with kale & arugula pesto. I think I like the basil pesto better and Joey was missing the Parmesan cheese from our old store bought pesto brand. 

Tonight I had a modified version of the asparagus stir fry I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago, with a bit of rice and beet salad. It was very yummy! I'm still not sure how I feel about beets, but I'm happy I gave them a go. 

I'm looking forward to enjoying more activity this week and some more yummy food. I'm going to keep my chin up and keep a positive attitude because I know I am capable of making the changes that I'm looking for. 

O-tay!

Oh Buckwheat.

I've been curious about buckwheat for awhile and Chocolate Covered Katie's New Food Challenge gave me the extra motivation to give it a go! It's a little bit confusing, but buckwheat is actually a gluten free fruit seed, related to rhubarb and sorrel. Buckwheat has a great nutritional profile - studies have shown that a diet that includes buckwheat can lower your risk of developing high cholesterol and high blood pressure, it can assist in controlling your blood sugar, and is a great source of magnesium and dietary fiber. 

I've been reading Jae Steele's Get It Ripe (review coming soon!) and was intrigued by the blueberry buckwheat muffins. I haven't done a lot of gluten-free baking up to this point as I've just been figuring out what I can and can't eat. The muffins looked easy and yummy so I decided to give them a whirl. 

They turned out really well! The recipe was really easy and I liked that it didn't contain any refined sugar (although I did substitute agave nectar for the maple syrup) The muffins were light and airy - far less dense than some gluten free baked goods that I've tried in the past. The buckwheat had a nutty grain-like flavor and I really liked it!! The blueberries burst in your mouth and the agave added just a hint of sweetness. These will be perfect for snacks or alongside a smoothie or tea misto for an on-the-go breakfast. They also turned out to be very low in Points. I'm going to try making some buckwheat cereal very soon. 

I'm really happy that I tried this food and I look forward to incorporating it into my food rotation in the weeks to come!

Have you tried any new foods lately?

Moving in May

Wow, another month is behind us - I can hardly believe it's May!! I sent in my taxes just last night - talk about cutting it close!

I've been doing a lot of yoga lately, so that was my inspiration for this month's activity chart. How did you do in April? I started off slow, but did quite well in the end. I've been really enjoying yoga classes and my belly dancing classes and I'm looking forward to my first belly dancing recital in June!

If you're new to my blog - the activity chart (inspired by Heather) is a place for you to write down your activity goals and give yourself a sticker for each day you do something physical! I stick mine on my fridge and get a kick out of adding stickers (and giving myself a kick in the butt when I notice that I'm lacking in the sticker department) I invite everyone to leave me a comment with their activity goals.

What are your activity goals for the month?