Go-Go Bites

Oats, Chocolate and Cranberries in Bite Sized Treats

This is another guest post from our blogger friend, Erin Power, who writes at fatgirlinskinnyjeans.com. Maybe you are feeling her pain as well? New Year’s resolutions already in the dumpster? These bite-sized treats are packed with energy and easy to make. 

Erin’s Guest Post:

My Resolution is several weeks behind. So are my dishes.

So, like most people, I try to come up with something good for my New Year’s Resolution. It usually turns into something along the lines of lose 15 of those sneaky L.B.’s, drop a pants size, stick with my workout, Start a new workout… Change myself in some physical way, shape, or form. WHAT>! Erin, smack yourself. Your resolution is to change who you are? Yea that sounds positive and uplifting. Knock it off.

As many of you may not already know, I absolutely struggle with being a super foodie chocoholic who wishes I were more of a gym junkie. Let’s be honest. When I was a gym-junkie, I had a gorgeous stomach, I spent my nights with many beautiful, half naked human beings, and I could up my calorie intake if I so chose, ‘cause why count calories when I’d be back at it in another few hours anyway. WHY?! OH WHY DID I STOP?! Well. For one, commitment and I have some issues we’re working through. Second, I no longer have the six-pack ab manfriend to make me feel like my abs should look the same. Eh, we all have our things that motivate us.

So here it is. Instead of focusing just on the fact that YES I’d love to fit into my skinny jeans from when I lifted 6 days a week, sometimes doing two-a-days and ate ZERO exciting things off my paleo diet, and YES I’d love it if I got half as much attention as I did 20 lbs ago, and OF COURSE I’d love to have the confidence to wear whatever the heck I wanted because my muffin tops only existed in the oven where they belong….. drum roll… I will be good to myself. YEP! That’s the winner here guys. For my new year’s resolution, I will be good to myself. And I suggest you do the same!

For me, this means a few things.

1. Finding balance. This has always been a struggle for me but dammit I will keep trying to figure this one out if it kills me. Well, not if it kills me ’cause then I definitely failed. I’ve been on one end of the spectrum, where my love/hate relationship with food and weight had me pushing a buck ninety, I hated looking at myself in the mirror, hated trying on clothes, and hated how I felt after I ate 9 out of 10 times. I decided to make a change and found the other end of the spectrum. I weighed 145lbs for the first time in 10 years, and was uber healthy. But was it too much? My close friends thought so. My family thought so. I was addicted to this new Me, and the attention I got, and the challenge of getting thinner and keeping up with my then bf and his habits. Now here I am. Continuing to work on being happy with how I feel and how I look without reaching either extreme. BALANCE. This stuff is tough.

2. Acceptance. I have been lucky enough over the past few years to become really close with a handful of truly incredible people. People who make you see the best in yourself are the people you should surround yourself with! It is these people who will show you the person you are that they love so much!! ACCEPT who you are and be your best SELF. If you want change for yourself, make sure it is healthy change to make a better version of yourself, not a different version. I’ve accepted that my ass will ALWAYS be a big ol’ badonk. That one was easy. It’s beautiful. Ha! And I’m working on accepting the other little things about my physical self as they’re just the shell of my beautiful inner self I will work to be healthy and I will work to be better, but I will not change who I am. Be your best SELF, no one else!

3. Making the better decision. We all do this. Should I really keep watching tv or should I get up and go for a walk. Get up homes, get up! Should I eat this ice cream that I’ve wanted all week?? Of course you should! But not the whole gallon. And not by yourself in the closet.

I am deciding to make a conscious effort to make that better decision. I want to read before bed rather than watch tv. It’s better for sleep, for the mind, for the soul. I have committed to “Mondays with Mama” as my day with my pup, where we do something outdoors together. Mondays are my only day off these days and it’s so easy to want to stay in bed. But my boy needs that time and I do too! Plus I can nap the shit out of my afternoons. Finally, I want to take that time needed with my girls! Celebrate our friendships and our time together, rather than mope about the losers who blew us off or never called. Make the better decision for yourself!!

4. Finally, I will continue to work on finding NEW and EXCITING ways to feed my belly and YOURS! Check out this super yummy, super easy grab n go snack. We’ll call ‘em Go-Go Bites. Grab this snack, feel satisfied without the guilt, you’re welcome, and go go go!