The Never ending Sea Of Fitness Information and Recent Food and Fitness!

Today I am feeling overwhelmed. Do you ever have days when you think "will I ever get this right?" That is how I feel right now. Just when I think I am on track with my eating and my workouts something comes along and messes it all up. For me it was winning a giveaway on Instagram! I know you are probably thinking "How is that bad?" and it isn't all bad. I would say this scenario is bittersweet! You see I am a huge Instagram junkie in fact I follow over 100 people (Insert gasp here!) but I just find that it is motivating for me. I know right now there is a lot of argument over whether seeing half naked girls flexing is fat shaming or not but I don't think it is. For me it is inspiring and uplifting. Now I know everyone is built differently and I will never look just like the woman I am about to talk about but it still makes me want to get up and move, get up and lift something! ha...Anyway, I won a giveaway from a woman on Instagram who's body is RIDICULOUS (in a good way)! She goes by marysfitbody on Instagram and she is one fit mothatrucker! I was so excited to win a 90 day diet/fitness regimen and coaching package from her, I can't even tell you. She set me up with my own program and went over everything I needed to know. Well it wasn't until today that I realized that my method I had been doing was totally opposite...le sigh!

It is never a bad thing to be active and I was doing myself good by just getting up and getting moving but now I have to kind of start over and retrain myself. I never knew that I should lift before my cardio, I always did it the opposite. I am extremely grateful for being able to work with her it's just stressful getting it all down right now!

Rant Over!

Recent Eats:

Zach and I have been on a roll with learning how to make healthier versions of meals we really like that are not very good for you. Monday he said he really wanted chicken pot pie so we set off to find a healthier version. I ended up deciding on this recipe from Cooking Light. I didn't follow it exactly but it was pretty close. 

 Do you like the cute little baking cups that I found this week at TJ Maxx for $10?

 Mmmm yummy veggie, chicken, and gravy filled heaven. So this was before I had to dump the filling into a pan and start all over. Zach pointed out to me that the dough should be inside the cup. Apparently I forgot that Chicken Pot Pie was a PIE!

 Ah-ha that's better!

 I decided to cook in my gym clothes since I had just gotten home from the gym! No I am not the type of person that matches everything together at the gym. I am going to sweat and throw it in the laundry so I don't care what I look like as long as it is comfortable. Notice the flour on my lady parts?

 So this is the end product. Zach and I decided to make our own and he totally won! His looks like a real pie and mine looks like someone threw up a pie ha! They both tasted good though.

 I have really been craving a good sandwich lately. After a nice hike with a friend we decided to make turkey clubs with turkey bacon. Here is our nice fresh toppings! Look at that beautiful avocado.

 I have really been digging smoothies for breakfast this week and as a post workout refuel. This particular morning was a smoothie with plain greek yogurt, banana, strawberries, vanilla unsweetened almond milk, and  chia seeds.

 I don't know why I have never thought about putting avocado in my tuna before but man am I glad I decided too because it is delicious. The other day I wanted a tuna sandwich but I wanted to find a way to jazz it up so that I wouldn't be so sad about nixing the mayonnaise in it. I mean before I started eating better tuna fish sandwiches with globs of mayo were a staple in my diet. I concocted this combo on a whim. Tuna, plain greek yogurt, avocado, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. It was pretty awesome. Next time I might add some pickles or celery for a little crunch.

 Mmmm tuna salad!

 I also have been really into putting bananas in my cereal lately. I have cut down on eating cereal in the morning and have tried to pick breakfast with more protein, less sugar, and better complex carbs but every now and then I just want cereal....with bananas. Like when I was a kid. Some of my more recent breakfasts include (Egg whites with turkey ham, tomato, and spinach! Steel cut oats with Truvia and fresh strawberries or organic pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice! Whole grain toast with almond butter and chocolate almond milk!)...see what I mean.

 The was the pre-workout fuel I needed earlier this week. Lately my sleep schedule has been all off due to having some time off work and some other stresses in life. By the time I get to the gym I am pretty exhausted but I found eating a snack an hour before or so really helps. I only eat one piece before the gym the picture above was actually my breakfast one morning. Anyway, It's whole grain toast, banana, Planters Nutrition Peanut Butter with Granola, and chia seeds.

 A month or so I was having a busy day and forgot my lunch so I decided to pop in to Tops to grab something quick for lunch. I ended up deciding on these chicken spring rolls which looked fresh and delicious...they were! Well since that day I have been on the lookout for them again but they are always out of them. The other night I popped in after the gym and they were in stock but they were $6 for 4 spring rolls which I thought was a little crazy. That is when I got this idea to MAKE MY OWN! Crazy concept I know :)! I couldn't find spring roll wraps so instead I decided to pick up some wonton papers and make a sort of healthy chicken wonton recipe! So the next night that is what I did.

 Wonton wrappers are actually a pretty smart alternative for pasta. This brand was only 150 calories for 8 wraps not to mention they have a good amount of protein, low sugar, and almost no fat. they also are only $3 for a lot of them.

 I tried to put as many veggies in there as I had on hand. I settled on green onions, celery, and carrots..

Part of the cooking process. So I cooked the chicken and shredded it. (I made a separate batch for Zach which were Buffalo chicken). I also shredded the carrots, chopped the celery, and chopped the onions. I then added them all back together in the pan with some olive oil and fresh chopped garlic. I let it saute a bit until the pan was sizzling. I then added ginger, onion powder, low sodium soy sauce, and some lime juice. I let it cook for another couple of minutes. I then removed it from heat. Set my wonton wrappers out along with a small bowl and pastry brush. I filled the wontons with the chicken filling, sealed them, and then put them in the pan to cook on each side till golden brown. Served em up with a bit of sweet Thai chili sauce and BAM! The end! They were pretty awesome. I really want to try other variations of wontons. In Zachary's I put shredded chicken, buffalo wing sauce, and the Skinny Cow Jalapeno Cheese.

Fitness:

I haven't been doing anything too exciting lately. A lot of cardio on the arc trainer at the gym. I devote a day to upper body using a mixture of body weight, free weight, and cable machine exercises. I also have a leg day which involves a lot of weighted squat variations, walking lunches, step ups, leg press, wall sits, and kettlebell swings...seriously I got crazy on leg day because it's my favorite. I also have a back and ab day! I did throw in a good hike this week though to switch things up! 

I have to admit I love the scenery up here in New York. Even though it is starting to get cold there are still such beautiful sights to be seen. This hiking spot is one of my favorites by far. I love that it 1)has a really steep uphill in the beginning with a lot of stairs. You really feel a workout on this hike and your legs get a lot of action. 2)There are some of the best natural rock formations and the erosion makes some awesome designs. 3)The last part is pretty flat and good for running. 4)Um look at the cool underwater rock circles that someone built.

Well I think that is all the ramblings I have for today! What are you guys eating this week? Anything new that you love?

I Won My Dietbet and Trader Joe Cookie Butter Alternative!

Woooo I am happy to say that as of today I officially won my Dietbet. All those moments of stress and scale obsession payed off. As sad as that sounds I am excited that I won. I mean who wants to lose money? Not me!!  I am happy that I succeeded. For one, that means I lost 10 pounds this month which is a great thing and I am very proud of myself for that. For two, it means that I can put my scale up for a while and just focus on my changes elsewhere like my measurements, eating habits, how many reps of exercises I can do , and am not always just thinking “scale number, scale number, scale number.”  Like I said I don’t think I will do another one for a while but we will see. The concept intrigued a lot of my friends and if doing it with them will motivate then I may consider it but it was a bit mentally draining for me. With winning this Dietbet it also meant that for the first time in a long time I was under 200 pounds. That is crazy to me! 

Woohoo my body 20 pounds lighter! I am so happy to be able to look in the mirror and see the difference finally. It is so much more motivating when you can see the changes you are making!!

 

Also being that the end of the month is coming that also means my Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge is coming to a close as well as my Betty Rocker Rocktober Challenge. I honestly loved both. While integrating both challenges together I saw a huge change in my body both in endurance and strength. I loved the gradual difficulty increase of the Betty Rocker workouts and loved seeing my body get stronger and better at each of the workouts. It also gave me a lot of new body strength exercises that I can do anywhere. I loved that the Tone It Up workouts gave me a set schedule of what to do each week and allowed me to never get bored. There was a nice mix of cardio, strength training, stretching, etc… Videos each week included new ones you hadn’t seen before which made things exciting and it gave me a lot of great cardio options like interval training and stair workouts! I can’t wait for either of these ladies to do another challenge and most definatley will sign up for them in the future.

 

New Discovery That I Wish Had Gone Unfound….

So since my wondrous discovery of the Trader Joe Cookie Butter which I wrote about (here) I have found myself longing for it. That rich, creamy, sweet gingerbread taste is missing from my life now and I do not know how to go on without it. I do not live anywhere close to Trader Joes and buying  Cookie Butter online is obnoxious. It is extremely overpriced and I just could not shell out $15-20 a jar for the stuff. In a desperation to find an alternative I googled recipes on how to make my own and found that was no easy task either. Buying the cookies to make it would cost almost as much as just buying it online so I decided to look at another route and see if I could find a brand that made something similar. Well I sure did and I feel complete again. Now I do not know that this discovery is a good thing because that means that I can get this stuff anytime I want and seeing as how it is my version of crack this could lead to bad bad things. I discovered that a brand called Biscoff Spread which is made by a company named Lotus is almost an exact dupe of Cookie Butter. Like Cookie Butter is comes in crunchy and creamy and is made with a similar biscuit. It is from Europe but you can buy it in many places in the US. I found mine in good ol’ Walmart in the peanut butter sections. It is fairly priced between $3.50- $3.75 at my Walmart which is about the same price point as Cookie Butter. The jar is a bit smaller in the crunchy style which is too bad since that is my favorite. I honestly didn't notice a difference between TJ’s and Biscoff. They both have a delicious gingerbread flavor which around the same amount of nutritional value. 

Cooking Up A Storm...Food and Fitness Journal October 15, 2013

I was a busy little bee yesterday there is no doubt about that. Since starting this new food and fitness journey that I am on I have been doing a lot of reading and researching about healthier food options. Learning what you should and shouldn't eat to lose weight can be quite overwhelming. There is such a vast array of information out there these days and there is so much controversy over what does and doesn't help you shed pounds. Not to mention there are a million different diet schemes out there as well. One thing is pretty consistent though no matter what you read... eat fresh/unprocessed/clean food is much better for you. I made a vow to myself when I started this that I would not go on a "diet." I vowed to truly teach myself how to eat well for the rest of my life. I didn't want to live off cabbage soup for 6 months because I knew that once I lost the weight I would be right back to where I started which was not knowing what good food was or how to make/eat it! I have been forcing myself out of my food comfort zone the past couple months but it has been a great journey so far. Now I know some of the food I eat is still processed with a long ingredient list but I am making so many changes.

So with that being said I have been trying to stock out fridge with as much fresh veggies, meat, fruit, etc..as I can. This also means that things don't last as long as they used to. I have to actually think about what needs to be used up in the morning and base my cooking off of what I have on hand. This morning there was quite a few things that were going to go bad if I didn't use them up so my meals for the day were based on those things.

Food Journal:

Breakfast: Cascadian Farms Chocolate O's Cereal. I know that sugary cereals are not good for you whether they are organic or not but I had already bought this box when I read the article on that so I am forcing myself to finish them up. Too bad because I like these a lot. They are sweet without being too sweet! I topped them with Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk. I recently switched to unsweetened after comparing the label of the regular sweetened vanilla almond milk to that of regular low fat milk. There wasn't much of a difference so I wasn't saving calories or sugar or fat and was spending a lot more. I like the unsweetened because the calories are a lot less while still giving you necessary calcium. It is also non GMO which is a huge benefit. I also had a cup of coffee with the Coffee Mate Caramel Machiatto Creamer. I don't drink coffee often but was in the mood this morning! It hit the spot.
 
Lunch: I heated up the rest of my dinner from Max's yesterday. I doctored it up with some fresh garlic, lemon juice, and onion powder and it tasted soooooo much better!

Dinner: After lunch I got busy dissecting the fridge. I threw out a bunch of things that needed to go for one reason or another and prioritized what needed to be cooked first. I had a container of brussel sprouts and some beet greens that were beginning to go so I decided to use those up.  I used this recipe for the brussel sprouts. I didn't have any chicken bullion cubes so I instead used low sodium chicken broth and they came out delicious.

I went by this recipe for the beet greens and they also turned out DELICIOUS!! I wish I could get fresh beets from the garden all year round because I love beet greens. I was so thankful that one of my lovely patrons at work brought me a big bag of them. Now to use the actual beets ha!

I cooked up a couple chicken breasts too. This will most likely be my dinner for tonight also because I made enough to last me a couple meals and it was sooo good yesterday!

Snacks: I ate a Dole Peach Crisp Cup. I wasn't very impressed! The after taste was weird and kind of chemically. It wasn't like a normal fruit cup like taste. I only had two in the cupboard and didn't want to throw them out despite knowing they are full of added sugar but I think the other one is going in the trash bin because they were not delicious at all. I also had an apple and a tbsp of the glorious Cookie Butter. If you don't know what Cookie Butter is...you need to! Check out this post to hear about what it is.

Workout:

Yet again it is another week of the #FriskyFall challenge. If you don't know what that is then click here! I got my workout schedule from Tone It Up and The Betty Rocker and made my workout schedule for the week. Yesterday was Cardio day so I did the workout below. I added weights and plyo moves to make it a little more challenging but it was a good workout. I also did my Betty Rocker Rocktober workout also. 

Have I mentioned how much I love Fitness Blender yet? 

I also woke up this morning one pound closer to winning my October Dietbet. So yesterday was a great day!

Chipotle Rocks My Socks...Food and Fitness Journal October 10,2013

I will keep this post short and sweet since it is past midnight and I am one tuckered out little lady. Seriously, I am practically holding my eyes open at this point. My workout tonight wore me right out. I will sleep like a rock for sure. Let's get too it shall we!!

Meals Of The Day:

•   Breakfast- I woke up quite a bit before Zach and knew he would want a big meal when he got up so I ate a Nutri Grain Crunchy Granola Bar to tide me over while he continued to snooze away. I accompanied this with some Pomegranate Berry Green Tea from Lipton.
• Lunch/Brunch- We had some delicious pancakes. I used the Log Cabin All Natural Pancake Mix. It was my first time using this kind and it wasn't too bad. I think next time I will add a little vanilla and cinnamon to the mix because they were kind of bland but they weren't terrible. I topped them with light butter and some light syrup. 
  
  
  
  
• Dinner- Didn't happen until after my workout and probably later than it should have but I didn't have time to eat until that time. A meeting with a client went longer than I thought it would and by the time that was done I had to hurry home to change and meet my friend at the gym. I didn't want to eat right before a workout because that is just a terrible idea so instead I munched down a Fiber One Oats and Chocolate Bar to give me a little preworkout boost. Anyway, epic ramble there....for dinner I stopped and got a salad at Chipotle. I had only been there once before and I don't remember being that impressed but this time around it was awesome. I have been hearing a lot of talk lately about Chipotle being non GMO and having a lot of fresh ingredients so I figured it would be a good choice. I went with a taco salad and topped it with black beans, chicken, avocado, mild salsa, peppers, and onions. I left off the cheese and said no to the dressing. It was still extremely flavorful and yummy!!
  
• No snacks today!!

Workout:

I had another wonderful gym workout with my best friend! We did the Abx Trainer for 20 minutes as a warm up. We then did the #FriskyFall challenge circuit. Boy was that a tough one. We then cooled down by doing a 20 minute hill climb walking circuit on the treadmill. 

Overall, today was wonderful. 

Food and Fitness Journal: October 1, 2013

Well today is the official beginning of October! If you could see me right now I am doing a little happy dance. October/ November are probably my favorite months out of the entire year! There is just something about fall that makes me fall in love with Upstate New York all over again. I love the scenery, fresh apples, and the local cider mill that's only miles from my house. I also am a big lover of Halloween. Now I know I will not make it into any itty bitty Halloween costumes this year but I hope to definetley see some changes by the time I do go shopping for a costume.

Since today is officially the beginning of October that means that all three of my fitness challenges that I talked about here have started! I bought a big desk calendar from Target to help me keep on track with my workouts each week. It seemed like a lot to do 3 challenges at once but they fit together rather nicely. The Frisky Fall challenge has a set cardio/strength training each day but the Rocktober challenge only has one workout 3 times a week so it isn't overly tasking. The Dietbet doesn't have any set workouts you just need to lose 4% body weight in a month so the other 2 challenges will lend a HUGE helping hand as far as that goes.

Highlights of the day:

• I did not feel sore this morning as I thought I would. I think the hot bath before bed played a huge helping hand in that. I also ate within the first hour of being awake. Though I have read a zillion studies on how to eat a good breakfast and how important it is, I never do it! Until recently that is. I am getting more and more used to it. Breakfast consisted of a DELICIOUS Thomas Pumpkin Spice English Muffin. I know these are not organic and are probably processed out the wassoo but they are just too darn delicious. Plus the calorie count/sugar isn't bad in comparison to a lot of the pumpkin breads, muffins, and bagels I have been seeing around. 
• I completed 30 minutes of cardio at the gym which was on my schedule for the Frisky Fall challenge! I used the stair stepper/elliptical type contraption at Planet Fitness and really put my all into it today! I upped the level by 2 and was a sweaty mess by the end. I can thank Ke$ha radio for that ha! I always pace myself with the music so I try to find a IHeartRadio channel that is fast paced. 

• When I came home I did some prepping for dinner. I made a yummy cucumber salad since I had some cucumbers to use up before they go bad. I used this recipe right here but made some substitutions. Instead of sugar I used Stevia and added some diced tomatoes! I also whipped up some Guacamole for snacking since I also had an avocado that was on it's last leg. My recipe is fairly simple 1 or 2 avocados depending on the size, 2 cloves of garlic finely minced, lime juice (I just kind of squeeze it in there so I don't know how much), 1/2 tomato diced, fresh chopped cilantro, diced jalapeno (if you don't like it spicy you can omit this but I like it caliente), pepper, a pinch of salt, and a dollop of greek yogurt!! Came out UHHHMAZING but I only had a spoonful. 
  
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• After getting a few kitchen things done I then completed my first workout for the Rocktober challenge. It was a tough one that is for sure and I was sweating when I was finished. Betty (founder of The Betty Rocker and couch of the challenge) posted a workout today that we must do three times in the first week. It is a circuit style workout where you do 7 exercises for one minute a piece. When you are done all 7 exercises you repeat the whole circuit 2 more times. So you do 3 rounds of 7 exercises total. Since I used an interval timer I put 10 second rests in between each exercise but it was still tough. You can check out the challenge or sign up here ! I won't post the whole workout because I am sure that that is not allowed but it was a good mix. A couple squat variations, some tricep exercises, and core work! 
  
• For dinner we had the Cucumber Salad that I made earlier and Lemon Pepper Seasoned Chicken Breast Cutlets. Zach had some rice but I opted out of that. 

Overall I think this was a pretty successful day and I can't wait to see how tomorrow goes. I am feeling better and stronger already!! 

Hello World!!

So where to begin with this post? Well I guess I will start with a little bit about myself. I am a makeup artist with an intense love for makeup and beauty. I actually have another blog which you can view here! It is a beauty blog with a bunch of reviews and things like that. I am starting this blog as a way to track a huge journey I am beginning in my life! For most of my entire life I have been overweight. I have fluctuated between "cute and chubby," and "omg I can't even walk up stairs." Over the course of my teenage years and early adulthood I have tried my fair share of diets, gimmicks, and exercise plans only to give up after a couple months and go back to my chocolate and ice cream addiction. The closest I have to come to actually seeing progress was last year around this time. I dove head first into a great fitness routine and did a great job of changing my eating habits. For once I actually started to see changes both in my body and in my attitude. I felt great!! I had more energy and actually wanted to workout. However, I lost my job in February and all my drive got deflated. I went back to my unhealthy lifestyle and gained everything back and then some.

For months this went on but at the beginning of this month I said enough is enough. I started working my way back to a healthier me!! I love writing and journaling and sharing my successes and set back so I thought I would make a blog. A blog for others to join me on this journey but also a place for me to document my progress!

So let's talk about goals...Mine are as follows:
1)Cut out more processed foods from my diet
2)To do a hundred miles by Halloween (either by running, walking, biking, or on the elliptical)
3)Drop ten more pounds

I figure setting small goals for myself is a great way to start!! My starting weight was 214 GASP!!! My current weight is 208.8 and my goal weight by the end of October is 198!

I know this post was not the most exciting to read but I hope it helped you get to know me!!