Weekly Update and Back to Weight Training

School started back this week for myself and for Chloe. I started Monday and Chloe started Wednesday. I was really worried about the added work necessary to get Chloe ready for school in the mornings and all of the classwork I'll have to do myself. Sunday though, I resolved to get everything organized for both of us for the week. First, We got Chloe's backpack ready, most of her lunch made (saving items like sandwiches or wraps for the morning), and her clothes picked out and ironed. For me, I got all of my books ready for my various classes, and checked in on my online classes first thing to have a general overview of what was due, when it was due, and I scheduled, dedicated time to work on my two online classes during the week. Guess what happened? The week was PHENOMENAL! I was still able to workout five days, Chloe was up and ready for school on time, and the lessened stress even helped my husband with getting up and around earlier than usual! It was awesome. I am sad with myself for not doing this earlier and also glad that I finally discovered the secret to morning success. I'm hoping that the upward swing keeps going and we can keep this school year stress-free and as organized as possible.

This week is the last week of my cardio-rich week. I still plan on working out only about 30 minutes a day, but I'm going to start lifting weights again four days a week. I use the website www.bodybuilding.com to find various strength training programs. A while back ago, I fell in LOVE with the Fitness Model strength training program and I am starting it back up tomorrow. Sundays are my rest days and Tuesdays and Thursdays are my hourlong cardio days. My days will look like this from now on:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Chest, Shoulders
Tuesday: Cardio, Abs
Wednesday: Back, Traps
Thursday: Cardio, Abs
Friday: Legs
Saturday: Biceps, Triceps

I am really excited about starting this back up. Even though I didn't lose weight with my last session, it's because I was doing cardio daily and was consuming way too many calories. I was burning about 500 calories a session and consuming an extra 700 calories a day because of this. No bueno right there, folks.

Even though today is my "rest" day, I still wanted to get out there and do something. I took Chloe to play tennis this morning. Her wrist is a little sore from a volleyball practice incident, but she still tried hard and worked her butt off. It makes me so proud to see my daughter loves sports and loves being active. It's a testament to show that a mother and father who promote good health produce children who are healthy. It's got to be a scientific fact.

As far as last week, this is what I did workout wise. I didn't get into the gym but once, but I'm still taking advantage of the sunshine and warmth outside. I know it will be cold soon enough and I'll be spending the bulk of my weeks at the gym come tomorrow.  Here's what I did last week:

Sunday: Tennis and Cross Country Machine
Monday: Cardio/Strength Workout
Tuesday: Run 2 miles
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Run 2 miles
Saturday: Cardio/Strength Workout

Twitter, as usual, was booming last week with inspiration. Of course, you can follow me @summerbuis. Here's just a taste of what happened on Twitter:

Burn 100 Calories in 10 Minutes Who says that you don't have time to workout? Excuses, excuses!

It's never too late to change your life. Very inspiring

Meal Planning In A Nutshell

Do you really think you can't afford to eat healthy? SparkPeople Online show you exactly what $20 and less can buy!

Need an energy boost but don't like caffeine (like me)? Here are 7 energy-boosting smoothies, without the caffeine!

Shape Magazine adds to the debate on whether eating a big breakfast and small dinner is key to weight loss or not.


I'm looking forward to a great week this week! I've included a little bit of LUNCH-piration of a couple of Chloe's lunches last week and 50 Reasons to Exercise. I love it! Have a great week, friends! Keep up the good work and I'll see you on Twitter!

Last Week's Workouts and My Favorite Twitter Posts

What a week last week! It was my last week before school started. You'd think I'd take advantage of RELAXING the last week before school starts.... I wish I could have, but I did not. Working and prepping  for the oncoming semester was all I could do along with fitting in my workouts. I made it to the gym twice last week- TWICE!- but worked out five days. Here's what I did last week:

Sunday: 30 minutes cross country machine at the gym (374 calories)

Monday: 24 minutes cardio/strength workout (340 calories)

Tuesday: 50 minutes spin class (727 calories)

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Run 2 miles (327 calories)

Saturday: Run 2 miles (332 calories)

Last week on Twitter, I found a ton of inspiration! From #fitspiration posters to workouts to lunches that I'll try for my daughter during the school year, there's was a lot of healthy inspiration going on in the Twitter-sphere. Here are some of my favorites:

These 10 Commandments for Weight Loss came from my friend, Heather. Very inspiring.

Cosmo posted these great 11 Body Image Boosters.

Women's Health Magazine posed the question how large should your breakfast be?

FitSugar's 45 minute walk/run workout.

Whole Foods Market gave me some great ideas for Chloe's school lunches!

Finally, a great poster explaining why weight training rocks!

 Even though it's Tuesday, I'm going to post a weekly wrap-up every Sunday now so look for it! Enjoy your week. I hope you make the most of it!

Why I (Irrationally) Never Want Summer to End

With August comes many changes, the most notable being children and adults alike heading back to school and cooler weather. In my house, not only does my daughter go back to school, but I do as well.  I also work part time at a youth center as a tutor to gain experience in the education field. With school and a part time job on top of my full time job, as well as Chloe's activities (acro, cheer, volleyball, and Girl Scouts.... Thank goodness for my amazing husband for his help with towing her everywhere!), August through May is very busy in my household! For this reason, I was feeling some start-of-fall stress today. I was thinking of the things that I wouldn't be able to do and quickly came up with reasons why it was OK that this is happening.

My first irrational thought was "oh no! I can't workout outside as much anymore!" Wrong. If anything, the mild fall weather is more inviting for outdoor workouts. I have been in the gym non-stop for the better part of my summer. Only recently did I begin running again. The main reason being that I prefer running outside versus on a treadmill and it was just too hot outside for me to consider running (I'm a wuss, I know). The cooler weather means less humidity here in Kansas, less heat beating down on me, and more outside running time. I also LOVE hiking and biking the trails near here and it seems that I just don't do that at all during the summer months. I know I haven't yet this summer.

The next irrational thought I had was "we are going to have fewer daylight hours once summer's over." That's only kind of true. The summer solstice usually begins somewhere between the 20th and 23rd of June. The solstice brings the longest daylight hours of the year for us. So, *technically* the daylight hours have been getting shorter and shorter since the solstice this last June. And at any rate, I'm in bed and asleep by eight o'clock most nights, so even though I'll miss the extra sun, I'm really not missing those extra hours. If anything, they're kind of annoying to me since I'm trying to sleep with some light in my room (thank goodness for blackout shades!).

Then I thought about an outside activity that I love: Swimming. Namely, splashing in my in-laws' pool or sitting poolside, soaking up that sun that I love so much. Now I truly will miss that part of the summertime. I love being poolside or in the pool. There's something about the easiness of having a good book, a cocktail, and my kiddo laughing and having a blast that screams "lazy summer fun." In all honesty though, when I want to swim laps, I do it in the gym's pool. My in-laws' pool, albeit awesome, is round and doesn't have much room to swim productive laps.

My last irrational thought was out of pure vanity: Wearing dresses. I love dresses. Once it's warm enough, I throw on a dress and flip flops and I wear them until the weather forces me otherwise. I'm not a big dress person in the fall. It may have something to do with the cool chill up my skirt at any given time. Even with tights and boots, it doesn't have the same breezy appeal as a thin summertime dress. The funny thing though is I equally love fall fashion: scarves, jackets, boots, and skinny jeans. Writing this down actually makes me want the cooler weather so I can put on my new scarf that I bought on Tuesday.

While I reasoned with myself, I came up with reasons that fall is awesome. Fall is actually my second-favorite season, next to summer, of course. The turning of the leaves, the cool breezes, the fact that my birthday is technically in the fall.... Fall is pretty darn awesome. So while summer is great, I'm okay with it coming to a close... eventually. I would love maybe one more week of summertime weather. Then, when school and fall activities begin, the season can change and I'll be okay with that.

      Fall in Kansas is always gorgeous. 

    But the summer is so much more fun!

Why I Am Working Out Less... And Losing MORE

For weeks now you all have seen my check-ins with my calories burned, how long I've worked out, and the workouts I've reported. I've lost a little bit of weight and am feeling pretty darn good. However, the one thing that I noticed while on this intense workout regimen is that no matter how hard and how much I worked out, I wasn't losing as much weight as I was hoping to lose. I was wanting to lose 2 pounds per week (and if I'm being honest, I wanted to lose more than that weekly) and was doing well with staying within my activity level and eating within my daily calorie limitations. I wasn't seeing the results that I was anticipating. After a lot of thought (and a day off from the gym) I noticed a few things.

First, I wasn't accurately logging my calorie intake. I LOVE the Lost it! app. I use it every single day. However, the biggest food diary no-no that I was committing was I wasn't logging supper. After working out for an hour, I felt as if I could just eat whatever I wanted for dinner (remember taco night and spaghetti night? There was also pizza night, too) and it was fine. I deserved it. I worked my tail off.
Wrong. Because I wasn't logging those calories, I was eating (albeit reasonable portions) more calories than I had intended.

Next, I noticed although I was having my post-workout protein drink, I wasn't EATING anything. Huge no-no. When you work out, your body temperature raises and chemicals are released that make you feel wonderful afterwards, so food is the last thing on your mind. What happened then is because I only had a 96-calorie drink post-workout, I wasn't recovering nearly as much nutrients as I should have been recovering something more than 100 calories after a 500-calorie sweat session. Although the basic rule for weight loss is burn more calories than you consume, my body was basically telling me to piss off because I wasn't rewarding it with well-deserved nutrients within a reasonable timeframe.

Finally, I was actually working out WAY TOO MUCH! My body was craving rest. I worked out every single day and took a "day off" on Sunday. However, I still found myself in the gym on Sunday with my husband, doing something and doing my Sunday activities such as walking or biking or swimming. Our bodies crave movement and exercise and health, but I was really going overboard.

The results? Working out way too much (at least an hour a day; 70-90 minutes on cardio days), not properly logging my food intake, and not eating after a workout was a disaster. Although I reported a couple of pounds lost, I actually started this week at ground zero: 155 pounds. On Sunday, after I opted to actually SKIP the gym for once, I got to thinking.

At my lowest weight (which was 137 pounds last summer), I consumed an average of 1200-1500 calories a day during my diet phase. I did 45-minute cardio sessions three days a week and lifted a different three days a week. I had an alarm set and ate every three hours- NO EXCUSES- and logged every single bite that passed my lips. I had started that weight loss journey in December of 2011 weighing 163 pounds and weighed 137 pounds by spring break in March of 2012. I made simple changes then that made large strides.

Looking back at then versus now, I realize something: SIMPLICITY IS KEY FOR ME. Lately, I have been making weight loss and health too complicated. I was working out too much. I wasn't eating enough. I was making mistakes that cost me big time.

Now, I am logging everything I eat. My Lose it! app is my best friend. I discovered it had a barcode scanner that allows me to scan the barcodes for the foods I use that aren't fresh produce. I am back to setting my alarm to eat every three hours- NO EXCUSES! I am no longer logging in unnecessary hourlong sweat sessions daily. I'll keep using my existing workout model of four days weights and two days of cardio. Sundays are dedicated days off. The only exception would be if I know I'm going to miss a workout later in the week because of work or school or another obligation. I mean, I still have to be flexible and reasonable, right? Life throws curve balls at us all the time.

My results so far have been good. I realized this on Sunday, so I'm only five days into this new version. I've lost two pounds already this week and I felt better leaving the gym today versus when I walked out last week. I'm holding myself accountable now. My mantra that I chanted in the previous weeks has changed ever so slightly. Even though I consider myself still working out harder, I am also working out SMARTER. Making smarter choices for my body and my well-being.

I'm looking forward to see if this revised approach to weight loss is beneficial to me. As the week has progressed, it seems that I have made changes for the better. Of course everyone is different. For some people, working out for an hour or two every single day is what works for them. I want you to find what works for you. Make sure it's still out of your comfort zone though. Just because I'm only spending an 30-40 minutes at the gym on my lifting days doesn't mean that I'm taking it easy. I'm adding those weights. I'm super setting. I'm kicking my ass and making the most of the time I have there. And it feels wonderful. On my cardio days (one so far this week: my spin class) I'm pushing myself and making sure that I'm huffing and puffing when class is over. I still want to die when spin is done, but I love every minute of it!

Do what's best for you. Make small changes and don't expect results overnight. We all fall off of the wagon sometimes. Sometimes, we hold on too tightly to that wagon and won't budge. Either way, the goal is to do your best, try your hardest, and at the end of the day, make yourself proud! This is YOUR life and not anyone else's. It's your job to make sure that you are the happiest and healthiest you that you can be. And if that means you workout less to reap better benefits, then so be it. Just be sure at the end of the day you are proud of what you've done for yourself.

Low Sodium Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

There are quite a few things that I made on a regular basis. Weekly dinner menus in my house usually consist of a chicken day, a fish day, taco day, and a spaghetti day. I've been trying to make more conscious food choices for my entire family. While reading the ingredients and nutrition facts of a jar of spaghetti the other day, I was gobsmacked to learn that every single jar of sauce contained approximately 350-400mg of sodium PER SERVING!!! This is extreme considering the recommended sodium intake for the average person is somewhere on the lines of 1500mg daily. For some people the sodium in one serving of sauce is acceptable. However, a jar of sauce contains about seven servings and most people don't have just one serving of sauce with their noodles. With a single meal, you could easily consume the entire recommended daily allowance of sodium! For people with high blood pressure (like myself) that extra sodium isn't only unnecessary, but extremely unhealthy.

I left the store feeling hopeful though. I've made several food items from scratch and jumped on the chance to make my own spaghetti sauce. Within the hour, I had made a sauce that was sweet, tangy, and had just enough kick of spice that I will only make my own spaghetti sauce from now on. And the best part of it was the entire pot of sauce contained 200mg of sodium, and it was from the store-bought tomato paste! I added ground beef to my sauce, but you can add whatever else you want to the base sauce. Next time I plan on making a mushroom marinara instead of beef.

This is what you'll need for the spaghetti sauce:

6 medium tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 head of garlic (about 5-6 cloves)

1 large bell pepper

1 10-ounce can tomato paste

To taste:

Basil

Oregano

Thyme

Pepper 

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. In that boiling water, add the tomatoes. Boil tomatoes for one minute. The skin should start puckering and peeling off. Transfer tomatoes to a pot of cold water and peel the tomato skins off in the pot of cold water. Quarter the peeled tomatoes and transfer into an empty pot.

2. In the pot of quartered tomatoes, add the remaining vegetable (all chopped into small pieces), garlic (peeled and chopped as well), and the herbs. Put the stove burner on medium low and allow tomatoes and vegetables to stew for half an hour. Be sure to check the vegetables periodically so that they don't burn to the bottom of the pot.

3. Once tomatoes are mushy and there is lots of liquid in the pot (about 30 minutes), take a a potato masher and mash the remaining large tomatoes up into much smaller pieces. It will literally look as if you are making a stew.

4. Once the tomatoes and vegetables are mashed up, add the tomato paste. Mix all together and season additionally if needed. 

5. Allow spaghetti sauce to summer on low for at least another 15 minutes, taking time to stir frequently.

Once the tomato paste is mixed in, you can add in pre-cooked beef or raw mushrooms. Thicker veggies can be added in with the other veggies before you start stewing them. 

We put our sauce over a bed of blue and green noodles (Chloe's idea!) and served them with salad and garlic bread. This was the first time ever that I didn't feel guilty about spaghetti night at my house! I knew that it was healthy and hearty. The sauce got rave reviews in my house last night. Even our German Shepard, Ascha, liked it! 

I hope you give the sauce a try. It's extremely easy to make and you could put it over anything. I'm thinking about making a baked eggplant Parmesan with my sauce next time.

Happy Friday, everyone! I've worked out every day for the last 12 days. I'm taking a much-deserved day off from the gym, but will be back at it tomorrow! Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to hear your comments on the sauce!

July 24, 2012

What a day! Yesterday was a great cardio and abs day. As usual, I did my cycling class for my cardio. It was excellent. The cycling instructor did a new routine, which was more than welcome as she had done the same routine for six weeks (Group Ride format)! My heart got pumping, I was sweating like a crazy person, and I was begging for her to ease up on us. She never did and that makes me happy! :)

After cardio was done, I came home and did my ab workout. I decided to change it up because the two exercises at the gym was getting a little boring. I used the Nike Training Club app and I really felt the burn! I've included the 15 minute ab burner workout that I did. It shows the exercises to the recover stage. The idea is to do the exercises continuously- no rest- until your recovery period. You will repeat the circuit two more times for a total of three times. It was intense and much needed. My abs still hurt more than 24 hours later. I enjoyed feeling the burn deep down in my abs!

Today was my back and traps day. It was equally as intense! I can't wait to check-in tomorrow and share my workout and supper for tonight. I've included a shot of calories burned, dinner, and the Nike Training Club workout. I hope you guys give it a try on your next ab day. It's guaranteed to be tough and worthwhile. 

July 23, 2013

Planning in life is really important. I feel like I sometimes spend too much of my life organizing my life and other times I feel like I am frazzled and can't stay organized to save my life.  The good thing staying organized though is when I have a specific time set aside for things then I save time because I know when I'm supposed to be somewhere. This goes so much further than work, school, and Chloe's activities. I take time to schedule my health and fitness. My workout is usually the only time of the day that I have for myself and I cherish that time to myself. So I make sure I schedule everything and I don't compromise. If I have to schedule an appointment somewhere (doctor, school, etc) I schedule around my fitness. There's no need to skimp on your health. That should take center stage. I really feel that making my health a priority makes me a better employee, student, wife, and mother. I'm setting an example for my daughter on taking time to be healthy. My health helps me with being active and alert for work and school. I'll be able to be a wife longer because I focus on my health.

Health isn't only physical fitness. You should also take time for mental fitness: Reading, writing, and learning are as important for your mental health as exercise is for your physical health. One thing that I love to do to make my brain really work (and something that I had stopped doing for a long time until last week) is to play a game of chess. It requires thinking and strategizing. And, if we're being honest, it's one of the only things that I can beat my husband at! I'm teaching Chloe how to play chess, and Joe had never learned how to play until I taught him last week. It's so much fun connecting with my family this way, and something that we will be able to play together and share for years to come.

Yesterday was a good workout day. Yesterday was chest and shoulders, my crunches, and 40 minutes of cardio. I felt amazing after my workout. As always, my chest, shoulders, and abs were burning! I'm excited to get my workouts in for the week- mental and physical.

For my accountability report, I've included my calories burned during yesterday's workout, my calendar for you to see where I work in my workouts, and my new chess set that my fantastic husband picked up for me (for $8.00 no less!). Have a fantastic Tuesday, everyone! I look forward to sharing my change up in abs exercises with you tomorrow.

July 22, 2013

Happy Monday, friends!! July is quickly coming to a close. I can't believe it will be August by this time next week. Since the dog days of summer are coming to a close, I like to look forward to what's going to happen this fall. 

Fall for me means a lot of things. The turning of the leaves, milder weather, both my daughter and myself starting school, and the chance to take my workouts outside. I'm currently researching workouts that I can do outdoors that use my own body as weights yet are as interesting as my workouts at the gym. I look forward to it. I think the milder weather will be more than welcome once it's here. 

In the meantime, last week wasn't bad, but wasn't good either. I didn't lose any weight. In fact, I gained my pound back that I lost. This proves that even the most committed have their weak moments. This is a new week though. A new opportunity to make myself proud. A new chance to reach my fitness goals. 

This week, I hope to lose that pound I lost and one more. I'll achieve this by not making the tempting foods that throw me off track (no spaghetti or taco nights this week). I also look forward to making more time for myself so that I can get to the gym. I missed a couple of days at the gym last week due to my second job, which is on hiatus until September. This school year will be tough with two jobs, school, and fitness, but I'm making a vow now to keep up with my jobs, my studies, my family, and my health. I want to have my head held high by the time 2014 rolls around! 

Speaking of fitness goals and holding my head high: I had a great workout this morning! I have rekindled my love for the rowing machine and worked my chest and shoulders today. The past two days if workouts have been stupendous and I can't wait for my weekly cycling class tomorrow morning! 

As part of staying accountable, I've included my workout report from yesterday. The cycling room at my gym has these wicked awesome black lights and my shirt and shoes were glowing bright while I was sweating it out yesterday solo. I also included a pic of the home made lemonade that I made.

For this delicious lemonade, take two strawberries, a mint leaf, a few stevia leaves, and the juice of a lemon (and I lime if you're feeling feisty) and mull it all together. Then pour into water. This has tasted so good that its all I've been drinking the last two days!! Give it a try! Although its not calorie free, it's only about 50 calories and I poured the juices into a large 40 ounce bottle, and refilled the bottle when it was almost empty to get a second bottle of strawberry mint lemon goodness!

I hope you all make it a great week! It's going to be incredible here!!

A Healthier Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

About 8 months ago I posted a recipe for roasted chicken with vegetables. I remember eating it. It was absolutely delicious! Looking back, I see that I could have made this recipe a lot healthier for my family and for myself. I used a bit of butter (not criminal, but I could have opted for a healthier oil) and I used salt as well (I have high blood pressure, so keeping a low-sodium diet is a must now).

Last night, I roasted chicken again with some vegetables. I made healthier choices by choosing skinless chicken, no salt, and olive oil instead of butter. The results were incredible. It was still moist and juicy and using seasonal vegetables gave the meal an entirely different flavor, so it wasn't like the other roasted vegetables from November.

This is what you'll need for my healthier roasted chicken with vegetables:

Yields 4 servings
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 55 minutes

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breasts if you want to save about 50 calories per serving)
2 ears of corn, shucked and peeled
1 large bell pepper
2 C green beans, uncooked
8 large mushrooms
1 zucchini
1/3 eggplant
1 small sweet onion
2 medium tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 C olive oil, halved

To taste (use half with chicken and half with veggies):
Chopped sage (usually about one handful)
Rosemary (about 2 sprigs pulled from the stem)
Oregano (about a palm full)
Celery Seed (about 4 tablespoons)
Pepper


1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. While oven is preheating, slice bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, and onion. Chop garlic up finely as well. Slice the tomatoes, but save them for later.

2. In a roasting pan (or glass pan that you can cover in aluminum foil), place the chicken on the bottom center and season with herbs to taste, then drizzle half of the olive oil on top of the chicken.

3. Place the shucked corn at either side of the chicken and cover the corn and chicken with the sliced veggies, garlic, herbs, and the rest of the olive oil.

4. Cover roasting pan with a lid (or glass pan with aluminum foil) and roast in the oven for 45 minutes.

5. At the end of the roasting time, remove the the lid (or foil) and place the sliced tomatoes on the top. Keep the lid off and place the pan back in the oven for another ten minutes.

Once everything was completed, I cut each ear of corn in half and divvied it up on the plates. Because we are a family of three and Chloe and I eat half portions, we have plenty of leftovers for lunch this week!

I hope that you try this tonight. The chicken was juicy, the eggplant and zucchini tasted just like summertime, and the overall experience of preparing this meal (and eating it) was wonderful!

July 18, 2013

Happy would be 111th birthday to my grandma! She was my best friend, my mentor, and my mother for the first part of my life. My grandma died in 1993 at the ripe age of 92. The fondest memories I have of her are ones where we were in the garden picking out veggies to use for dinner or in the horse meadow picking dandelion greens for her to put in the pressure cooker. She worked hard, raised nine kids and countless grand kids, and was (and still is) one of my absolute favorite people in the world (along with my grandpa). So happy birthday, Granny! I love you and miss you every single day of my life since you left it. Until we meet again, here is a photo of my uncle, grandma, mom, brother, sister, and myself. This picture must have been taken (obviously) around Christmastime and I'd say in 1991 or 1992. Thanks to my mom for emailing this to me. It's nice to have a picture of my family from my childhood. :)

At any rate, the moral of the story was my grandma was a hard worker. She was up at dawn, took care of her children's children, and made nothing short of a feast for supper every single night. She's my inspiration and I aspire to be as great as she was.

Hard work deserves reward, no matter how small the reward. Today ended up being my rest day. After the hard work I've done in the gym for the last week and a half, my muscles needed a rest. Giving your body a much-needed rest is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and for your general well-being.

My body needed not only rest, but a change. I switched up my usual smoothie breakfast with fresh peach, banana, whole wheat toast, and an egg. It was a wonderfully healthy breakfast that kept me satisfied until well after my regular lunch time. 

For my reward, all of my friends know that I love wine! I had two glasses of wine today, and it was marvelous! Remember that your diet should always be 90/10: 90% healthy choices, 10% smart indulgences. The wine was my smart indulgence today. And likely tomorrow too. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday to come and an equally great weekend! Remember to rest, take care of yourself, and reward yourself. You work hard. You deserve it! 

July 17, 2013

Even the fittest girl has an Achille's Heel. Mine, sadly, are two specific foods: spaghetti and tacos. I can eat mindfully when it comes to anything else: I use proper portion control, I fill my plate reasonably, and I don't go in for seconds. But spaghetti and tacos, man.... I go in for seconds. And thirds. And more and more. By the time I'm done, I hadn't even realized I had three helpings of spaghetti or four tacos. This is something that I am constantly working on in an effort to live healthier. The good news is that I do follow the 90/10 rule: 90% of healthy and 10% of what I want. Luckily for me, my entire week won't be derailed from one day of spaghetti.

With that said, yesterday was an overall good day. I enjoyed an hour of cardio, pushing it harder and working that much more yielded great results that I'm so proud of! For breakfast, I had my fruit and kale smoothie, which I still encourage you all to try kale in the mornings. I use one cup of kale, one bananas, two cups of frozen fruit, and water (though some prefer yogurt or milk), and blend it all together. My fruit smoothies are so filling and only about 250 calories. If you require more calories in the morning, even it out with a piece of whole wheat toast covered in either peanut butter or hazelnut spread. I still have my mornings of eggs, oatmeal, and toast, but lately, the smoothies have been hitting the spot!

Yesterday was my cardio day. I took my spin class that I always take on Tuesday. This week, I decided that I needed to push myself more. Every time the instructor told me to add "a little more tension," I did, and I added more, pushing myself out of my comfort zone! The results were great! I burned 719 calories in an hour. That's 74 calories more than last week's spin class! Pushing  yourself is hard, but the reward is so worth it!

For lunch, I took some of my leftover ceviche and put it on my veggie sandwich. My veggie sandwich consists of 1/4 avocado, 1/2 tomato, a few slices of onion and mango chutney. Adding that shrimp ceviche on gave me some extra protein (which I really needed after my workout) and it tasted wonderful! You can use leftovers in a variety of ways! You never have to eat leftovers the same way twice!

On my agenda is back and traps at the gym during lunch and a run to and from the youth center before and after work. I've included my accountability report for yesterday: calories burned, my smoothie, and my ceviche sandwich. I hope you all have a wonderful day! The week is already half over... I know you can see the weekend right over the horizon!

July 16, 2013

Do you ever have one of those days where you just can't stop dancing or smiling, and you are having a wonderful day for no particular reason? Well, that was yesterday for me! I woke up for work bright and early for work (for those who don't know, my current work shift is 4AM-1PM, so I'm up at 3:50AM to work from my home office), feeling like the day was going to be great. Instead of sitting down, I stood up in front of my computer, helping my customers, talking with co-workers, and dancing to no music. My breakfast was awesome, my work day was awesome, my kid and husband were awesome, and my following workout and evening were spectacular! 

Monday was my chest and shoulders day. I also switched up my cardio machine. I usually LOVE the cross-country machine, but I opted for the elliptical instead. The different muscle groups that it hit and the sweat dripping down my chest, back, and face were confirmation that I made the right choice! I ended up burning 500 calories and felt pretty freakin' wonderful afterwards! 

After the gym, my husband and I ran to the store to grab some more fresh fruit. We are eating so many more fruits and veggies without even thinking twice about it! It makes it so much easier to make healthier snack choices when there are ripe peaches, apples, and bananas sitting in a HUGE bowl on your dining room table! It's a great start to clean eating if you are interested in giving it a shot! 

Even though we are making cleaner food choices, we do still have a ways to go. The biggest hurdle that I have at this time is dessert. Even though it's not clean, I made delicious lemon crinkle cookies yesterday. The recipe did call for powdered sugar, which I didn't use, but you can always use it if you'd like to. In the future, I'm going to add my own lemon zest and juice to amp up the lemon flavor. As well, I'm looking into healthier alternatives for the boxed cake mix and Cool Whip (read: LESS PROCESSED SUGAR). However, since the recipe was so easy and fast (3 ingredients, 3 dozen, 30 minutes), I'm going to share it with you. Chloë helped me with making these and we had an absolute blast working together!

Here's what you need for crinkle cookies:

1 box of cake mix (I chose lemon today. Get what you want!)

1 8-oz package Cool Whip

1 egg

1. Lightly beat egg. Add cake mix and fold in Cool Whip.

2. Drop small balls of mix (it will be very sticky) onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. I used a table spoonful per cookie.

3. In an oven preheated to 350 degrees, bake cookies for 10-12 minutes.

4. Pull cookies out when finished baking. Allow to cool for several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

These cookies were so easy to make and yielding a large amount- three dozen. The best thing about these cookies were they were only 64 calories each! My husband and I enjoyed a couple each while sitting on the front porch together last night without feeling guilty about having dessert. 

Finally, while my daughter and I were watching "Aladdin" last night (my favorite movie of all time), I was surfing the web and came across a witty, yet inspiring poster. It really hit home because there are days when all I want to do is sleep or be a couch potato or just do nothing at all, but this poster says it all: 

Keep this in mind if you are ever thinking about skipping your workout. Hell, keep this in mind when you think about skipping out on anything that you know is beneficial for you. You'll NEVER regret taking time for yourself and doing something good for yourself. Taking time to make a nice meal, a fun dessert, spending time with those you love, or working out is what makes life fun and interesting. So don't skip something because you don't feel like it. 

Have a great Tuesday, everyone! Today is my cardio day and I can't wait to get on that spin cycle and crush it! I hope you all have plans to get out there and make it one of those days where you can't stop dancing!

Shrimp Ceviche with Salad

Today was an incredibly mild summer day in Kansas. By mid-July, it's usually 85+ degrees on a daily, and it's so hot that all you want to do is sit in the pool outside or in the safety and comfort of the indoors with air conditioning. 

I've been wanting to try to make ceviche on my own since watching an episode of "Three Sheets" years ago when the host visited Belize. During my visits to the same country (actually same caye and same restaurant that he had ceviche at one point), I have had my fair share of ceviche. It's excellent warm-weather food. 

"Cooked" by the acid of citrus fruits, ceviche consists of very basic ingredients and requires absolutely no stove-top or oven time. Ceviche can be eaten on its own, with tortilla chips (as they do in Belize), or with salad. Tonight, I put our ceviche on a bed of romaine lettuce with avocado. Keep in mind that any seafood will work with ceviche. Most people love lobster, scallops, or fish in their ceviche. Tonight the ceviche is made with shrimp. 

Here's what you'll need for four servings of shrimp ceviche:

12 oz of peeled, tailless, deveined shrimp (cooked or uncooked, your choice)

1/2 large onion

2 medium tomatoes

Juice of 3 lemons

Juice of 2 limes

Fresh parsley, to taste

Fresh oregano, to taste 

1/8 C mango infused white balsamic vinegar

6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped

1 avocado, cut into slices

1. Chop all vegetables and herbs and place into bowl with shrimp.

2. Add the juice of lemons and limes, and the mango vinegar to mix.

3. Mix well together with a spoon or your hands. Refrigerate for at least one hour. 

4. On a plate, lay out 2 cups of romaine lettuce. Top with avocado. On top of avocado, place the ceviche and drizzle the juice on top. 

The ceviche took maybe 10 minutes to make. Your refrigerator does a lot of the work for you. I hope you try my ceviche soon. It's got a delicious flavor. It's so easy to make. It's simple, fresh, and best of all, interesting! 

July 14, 2013

What a whirlwind of a weekend! I picked up some overtime at work this morning, which is easy to do when your commute is from your bed to your living room. After that, I decided to do a makeup workout since I didn't make it to the gym a couple of days last week. (Instead, I worked the summer camp at the youth center and ran and played with the kids for hours!) Because today was so mild and only 78 degrees at eleven o'clock in the morning (almost unheard of in Kansas during the summer), I decided to use myself as transportation and run to the gym, lift weights, and walk briskly home. A kick ass biceps and triceps workout and 3.58 miles total travel time resulted in a wicked 1240 calorie burn! It was a great workout and I'm thinking that I'll be making more trips like this to the gym.

I've been thinking about cleaner eating. Clean eating isn't hard if you know what to look for. The biggest thing that you want to think about when it comes to clean rating isn't that you have to eat fruits and veggies to eat clean, you have to eat minimally processed food. This means choosing apples instead of an apple fritter or a grass-fed beef instead of processed hamburger patties. 

I thought that eating clean would be tough, but it's much easier than I thought it would be. In fact, I've been eating and cooking for my family pretty cleanly before I became interested in trying it. 

I found a great article online that gives you some wonderful pointers on some different choices you can make when trying to eat clean. The article is from Prevention.com, a great site to find lots of information about healthy eating and healthy living. I hope you give the article a look: 23 Ways to Eat Cleaner

As far as my progress, I dropped two pounds last week, which is awesome! I attribute the weight loss to drinking plenty of water, working my arse off, and getting in my 8 hours of sleep every night. Three things I wasn't doing enough of prior to committing to a healthier Me. I had a couple of hiccups last week (remember Taco Night?), but otherwise kept my nose to the grindstone and not only did I work hard, I worked HARDER! 

I hope you guys have a great week! I hope to have my meringues perfected by the end of the week to share with you. It's going to be a great recipe that will be fast and easy to make! Until then, here's my mantra that I chanted all last week. I plan on chanting it again this week too! 

July 10, 2013

Originally posted July 12, 2013

Just a quick accountability check for you guys. I missed my gym workouts Wednesday and Thursday due to working my part time job. But missing the gym doesn't mean I missed working out. We did water relays at the youth center this week. This required running, sprinting, and working together as a team to achieve a goal. It was so much fun! 

Today is my cardio and abs day. I plan on making up for lost gym time today. I hope you guys make today great! Keep your chin up and your eyes on the goal. 

Have a great Friday, everyone! I hope you have a wonderful weekend too! 

July 10, 2013

Originally posted July 10, 2013

I'd like to start this post by saying that I thought today was July 9th until about two hours ago. It's going to be one of THOSE days! Even when the day brings you unexpected surprises, don't let that derail you one bit. 

Below you'll find my accountability report for yesterday. The one thing that I included were kind words that my friend spoke of my daughter after reading my blog. As usual, I crushed my cardio, burning almost 700 calories in an hour. I was chanting my mantra "work harder" the entire time. 

Still working harder this week, today my weight training focus is on back and traps, as well as some cardio. And because it's summertime, I've got to get poolside this afternoon. I hope that you have a wonderful day, everyone! Make it great and remember: Work Harder! 

July 9, 2013

Originally posted July 9, 2013

Even the most dedicated have set-backs. Yesterday was a great day all around: had a good day at work, spent time with my family at the pool, celebrated my mom's and nephew's birthdays, and got a little bit of sun. However, Monday was taco night in our house. For me, taco night is ALWAYS my undoing. I was hungry, I had calories left, and I knew EXACTLY what I needed to do. I didn't do it though. Two tacos turned into four which turned into dessert afterwards. 

Am I disappointed with myself? Yes. Am I giving up because of a setback? Heck no. The moral of the story is life will knock you down. You'll have setbacks, be it from circumstance or your own doing. That's the way it is. But it's not about falling down seven times; it's about getting up eight times. I'm back on track to making wise food choices! 

Don't PUNISH yourself for a slight setback. Instead, work harder. Today is my cardio and ab day and I'll be working my tail off with extra ab exercises and maybe a swim in the pool after my cardio session. 

Below you'll find my accountability report for yesterday: my mantra for the week (which I'm still chanting), calories burned, and the delicious tacos that I indulged in just a wee too much. 

Don't let setbacks derail you! You can do it, just like I know I can. Have a great Tuesday, friends!

Happy Monday!

Originally posted July 9, 2013

Welcome to Monday! The first day of the work week. I always try to start my week as upbeat and as positively as possible. I found something online this morning that's going to be my mantra this week:

This holds true to all of us who struggle and try to lose weight and are trying their hardest to live a healthier life. I want to work on a healthier me! So I'm going to sing my mantra to myself during every workout, every day: "Work harder." 

With that said, I feel like I started my week off on a high note. Instead of taking the day off from the gym, I did my leg workout that I missed on Thursday (although I did an alternative workout), abs, and cardio. Then my husband and I took our daughter to the pool for some much needed fun time! As usual, I've included a collage of my workout. 

I hope this week inspires you to make great choices with your health! If you want results: work harder!! Happy Monday! 

Saturday Check-In

Previously posted July 7

As the weekend continues, so does my quest for a healthier me. Saturday is my last real workout day before a "day off" from the gym.

You'll find my weight workout for the day. Saturday was dedicated to my biceps and triceps. As usual, I added 50 crunches in for good measure and my obligatory 30 minutes of cardio. 

As the last workout day of the week, make yourself proud! Push yourself to that final minute of your workout! You'll be glad that you did!

July 6, 2013

Previously posted July 6, 2013

Little weekend check-in. Had a great workout yesterday. I hope everyone else did too! If you didn't work out yesterday, make sure you get in some fun yet challenging activity today! Don't forget that you and your health always come first, regardless on how many roles in life you have. You gotta take care of yourself before you can take care of others!

In hopes to inspire you guys to get out there and move today, I'm posting a collage that I made yesterday. It's me post-workout, calories burned during my workout, and my yummy dinner, proving that you can be healthy and still have red meat!

Make it a great day, guys! Keep up the hard work and you will see results quicker than you'll ever imagine. 

July 5, 2013

From July 5, 2013

I'm not a runner. I call myself a wannabe runner. I get out there and I really try, but I can't seem to run for more than five minutes at a time. My legs start to burn and they feel like they're going to buckle. That's okay though. We aren't all runners. I push it as hard as I can and I always feel accomplished after I'm done with my run. 

Back in April, my daughter and I completed our first 5K together. She was nine at the time. We completed those 3.2 miles in about 40 minutes. The pride that we felt after finishing this milestone TOGETHER was like no other feeling in the world. 

The moral of the story is that you need to push yourself every single day. When you achieve that milestone that you thought was out of your reach, it will inspire you to push yourself harder and farther than before. 

With that said, today is my cardio and abs day at the gym. I'll do a total of 150 combined ab exercises. I do a set of 25 crunches that work my upper abdominals immediately followed by a set of 25 leg raises that works my lower abdominals. After a 30 second rest, I repeat the series. I do three sets total with a rest of 30 seconds between sets. My abs always have that good hurt going on afterwards. You should really give them a try!!

As far as cardio, I'm doing an hour. Even though I'm not a runner, I'm going to push myself for an hour on the treadmill. The best was I monitor my progress is by using my Nike+ GPS app on my iPhone. I love it because it tracks miles, pace, and my friends can even give me cheers via Facebook. It gives me the inspiration I need to keep going!

I hope you have a great weekend, friends! In hopes to further inspire you to get out there to make today great, I've included a picture of my daughter running in the 5K we completed together. If a 9 year old can do it, I know you can, too! 

When the Gym is Closed

Originally posted July 4, 2013 

Today we celebrate our country's birthday. Independence Day is synonymous with fireworks, grilling outside, and taking a break from real life.

Unless you're me. 

I worked my full-time job today (I work a graveyard-ish 4am-1pm shift) and the youth center is closed today, although my husband went in for some uninterrupted work time. The biggest thing to me though is even though its the holiday, we shouldn't skip a workout! 

My local gym is closed to observe the holiday, but it's beautiful out, so I'm going to take my workout outside!

Today is my leg day and I found a great weight-free leg workout. Along with my 30-minutes of cardio (running outside is my activity of choice today), I'm sure to get in just as good of a workout as I would with the weight machines and cross country machine, were it available. Don't forget your abs either! I'm throwing in 50 crunches today just because I REALLY want that muscle definition that I have never had!

I've attached my leg workout that I'm doing today. I encourage you to give it a try! You may like it! And since I do so much cardio that involves my legs anyway, I keep my leg days limited to one a week. 

Enjoy your Fourth of July, everyone! However you decide to spend it, I hope it's full of happiness, laughter, and health. 

Something A Little Different

I created an additional blog that focuses on my goals to achieve a healthier lifestyle. I've been trying to manage doing that blog and this one at the same time. While sitting poolside just now, I thought to myself Self, wouldn't it be awesome if you combined food and fitness on one blog? Of course it would be awesome!! So, I'm trying something different. I hope you find it inspiring and interesting!

I'm going to bring over my few posts that I've already created on my other blog. From here on out, I'm going to make this blog about my two favorite things: food and fitness. I'm hoping that you're as inspired by my journey to create a healthier Summer as you are about the foods that I share with you! I plan on blogging for accountability on a near-daily basis. I will still post delicious food for you as well (of course!), but it will be on a weekly basis, if not a little more. I also hope to share articles and inspirations that combine food and healthy living. 

Don't worry! I'm not turning vegan or vegetarian, but don't be surprised if you find a little more fruits and veggies in the recipes that I share. 

To start things off, I'll share my photo from vacation in Florida last month. As well, to keep up with my accountability starting now, I'll share my starting stats: I'm 5'8" tall. I weigh currently 153 pounds. Overall health is my goal. I do have a weight loss goal of 10 pounds though that I'm hoping to achieve in ten weeks (so by Labor Day).

I hope you find my new style inspiring and, as always, interesting! Thank you for your loyalty to my blog. You won't be disappointed! 

Key Lime Pie

Summertime is the only season that I have yet to find someone who doesn't like it. The sun is up longer, we get to stay up later, we wake up earlier, and we usually make all-around better food choices because of the plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

The only thing about summertime that I'm even remotely aware of is the HEAT! Today is slated to be 100+ degrees where I live in the Midwest. That's a scorcher! What better day to make a no-bake pie than today?

When my family and I were on vacation in Belize last summer, we visited this one restaurant at least twice a day. Why? It had this delightful caye lime pie (here, we say "key") that we just couldn't get enough of. On our final day of vacation, we learned that it was the recipe of our favorite waitress and she was kind enough to share it with my family! I've been making it since. 

Here's what you'll need for the Belizean No-Bake Caye Lime Pie:

14 oz Sweet Condensed Milk

8 oz Cool Whip (really cold, almost frozen)

3 large, fresh limes 

1 8-serving graham cracker pie crust 

8 drops green food coloring (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, juice the three limes and add in the can of sweet condensed milk. Mix briefly. 

2. Add in your optional green food coloring. I do this to make the pie look very limey. It's green without it, but only barely. Mix in with the sweet condensed milk and lime juice. 

3. Add in the Cool Whip and beat until creamy. It's very important that you save the Cool Whip for last and start mixing immediately. Waiting or adding it in earlier will cause the Cool Whip to curdle. 

4. Pour contents into graham cracker crust. If you have a little leftover (which I usually do), that's to be expected. It makes a yummy topping to other pies. Refrigerate for at least two hours or until ready to serve. 

I've posted several pictures of my pies that I've made on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and have had so many people ask for the recipe. I hope that you give this no-bake pie a try tonight. It's delicious, quick, easy, and best of all: interesting.