he and she eat clean's arugula chicken burgers

one of my goals for this week is to find and try some new recipes to work in the mix. we are in a big time food  rut. which leads to eating out every night, which leads to empty pockets in jeans that are way too tight.

i found the site he and she eat clean via pinterest (of course, where else does one find a recipe nowadays?). they have a lot of great looking ideas but the first one to jump out at me was their arugula chicken burgers (the link will actually take you to tosca reno's website where they shared the recipe).

these were super easy to make and SO DELICIOUS! they are filling, flavorful, and a perfect pairing with some roasted sweet potato cubes which we are loving right now too.

lots of fresh ingredients! chop everything up, add to a bowl, and add your ground chicken. 

 i pan fried them with this new coconut oil that i got from swanson health products [for more on them, see below].* it worked pretty much the same as evoo and i couldn't taste any difference in the two. i'm trying to use coconut oil more after reading whole30 and this worked perfectly!

doesn't that look good? it made four patties so we each had one for dinner then warmed up another one for lunch the next day. we put them on ezekiel english muffins the first night, then the second day i went without a bun.

let me know if you all try them!

*swanson health products has a HUGE selection of vitamins, supplements, organic foods, natural bath/beauty products, eco-friendly cleaners, etc.

• they are family owned since 1969
• guaranteed low prices (crazy low prices!)
• i can personally attest to their WONDERFUL customer service and FAST shipping

i was allowed to choose this product from swanson and it was provided to me free of charge in exchange for my honest review of the product. as always, all opinions are my own and i was not required to give a positive review. 

hello marathon hunger... aka holy crap i'm hungry

up until about a month ago i was really pleased with how my eating/fueling was going even as my mileage started creeping up. i did my clean eating routine through the week and had a cheat meal on the day of my long run. if i needed a boost before a run, i'd eat some JIF on toast.

i even lost some weight, but i think it's because i'm losing muscle [not cool].

well that's all changed now. i'm a bottomless pit! i usually eat every 3 hours or so, but i'm even getting hungry in between that!

do you all have any insight? i have worked my butt off to lose this weight [and still have some more to lose] so i do not want to screw this up!

Fitness Poynters Extreme Fat Destruction::::Recap & Review

In January of this year I started a weight loss journey [for what seems like the millionth time]. I checked in with you all and also competed in a challenge at the gym. I did extremely well until May, having lost 18 pounds total. At this point the dreaded plateau crept up on me and I did what any completely irrational person would do... I gave up.

When the going got tough, I crumbled. I often found myself saying, "There just must be something wrong with me, because I'm doing all the work and it's not coming off." So after about a week or two of the same number on the scale, I started to back slide. 

I gained back 7 of the pounds I'd worked so hard to lose. And I'm talking QUICK. 

Then came vacation. Honestly vacation had been a huge motivator for me. I didn't want to feel self conscious all week, I wanted to enjoy it. But I was already in the negative mind set so not only was I self conscious all week, I sabotaged myself even more. Eating and drinking what I wanted. 

The one good thing [health-wise] I did was I did something active almost every day: running while my mom biked, biking with her, WOD with my brother, or stand up paddle boarding. But that was apparently beside the point. I really just used it to fuel the thoughts that I worked hard so I deserved to play hard also. 

When all was said and done, I gained back the complete 18 pounds, plus two more. It only took two months to completely undo what had taken me 5 months to do. Needless to say I was in a horrible place. I talked to my brother and he encouraged me to get in touch with Steve Poynter of Fitness Poynters. Matthew had worked with Steve a year or so ago when he decided to transition out of power lifting into a more lean muscle build. He spoke positively of his experience and I thought, well what do I have to lose. I knew I had to do something. 

I got in touch with Steve and he sent me a questionnaire asking my fitness goals. I was completely honest with him about my struggles and what I wanted. I want to lose weight, but I also want lean muscle mass. I don't want to be a twig, I want muscle! 

Steve had my plan to me within the week [He is extremely timely.... Any email I sent him was answered within a day, but very often it was much sooner]. I chose the Extreme Fat Destruction Plan ($64.99*), which comes with a workout plan and a meal plan. 

My first impressions::::

• I would need to plan ahead. I ended up grocery shopping on Sundays then making everything I'd need for the week. I made a lot of turkey burgers, Brad grilled chicken for me, I steamed huge amounts of green veggies. 
• Wow, I can actually eat carbs.
• I loved how everything was spelled out exactly for me. Yes there were places that I had options as to what to eat, but it wasn't overwhelming. 
• I'm going to be living in the gym. 

How it actually went::::

• I do really well with strict directions. I'm a people pleaser and I didn't want to check in with Steve and have to tell him I cheated [which in case you're wondering, I did cheat some, but I was honest with Steve about it. and he didn't sugar coat it for me]. 
• The meals filled me up. During the first few weeks I was stuffed, which was VERY different from any other meal plan I'd used previously. 
• The workouts didn't actually take as long as I thought. I got into a good routine of getting up before work to get my workouts in. 

The Results::::

• I've lost 20 pounds in 12 weeks. 
• I really wish I'd done measurements before, but I didn't. But I can tell a HUGE difference in how my clothes fit. When I lost the 18 pounds earlier this year, a lot of my smaller clothes were starting to fit. Now they're big on me. So I know I've gained lean muscle in the process, which makes me so happy. 
• Because I did so well, Steve is doing my next plan for free. He told me to take this week off [from lifting, I'm still eating clean] and we'll start it again next week. I'm so excited to continue this journey with him! 

And I'm beyond mortified to put this picture out there, but I feel like I need to. Please be nice! 

If you have any questions about Fitness Poynters, please let me know! Check out their site and testimonies, they're amazing!

*I received a discounted rate in exchange for blogging about my experience. All opinions are my own.