Work It

I started going to Gold's Gym about a month ago. I knew that if I wanted to really reach my goal I would have to no only eat healthier but I would eventually have to start working out. I have never been a huge fan of the gym, I went with my girlfriends in college but that was more of a social hour than a true workout. So I knew that if I really wanted to be the healthiest person I could be I needed to introduce workouts to my weekly routine. I have started going at least 4 times a week and spending about an hour each time. Like I have previously said I normally go at 6am before work because I know there is no way I would go after work. I am actually shocked how easy it is for me to get up. I actually enjoy it because it wakes me up and let's my mind prepare itself before the work day.

 

Now to my workouts. I have to give Pintrest a lot of credit for my workouts because that is where I get a lot of my ideas. I am the type of person that has to change their workouts daily or I will get bored. So everyday I go to Pintrest and look up some sort of circuit training then write it out on a piece of paper to take with me

 

This was my workout for today. I also added 10 minutes of arm weights because I had a little extra time today.

Week 4 Workout 3

 

 

Day 135:

Post workout smoothie: strawberries, 1 banana, blueberries, spinach, light soy milk and 2 ice cubes

Breakfast: 2 medium eggs with skim mozzarella

Lunch: Salad with romaine lettuce, grilled peppers, asparagus and turkey sausage with low fat yogurt dressing

Snack: trail mix

Dinner: grilled chicken salad

 

84 days no diet mountain dew - 38 days no soda

 

52 days final goal



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Evening Routine

I am very much a routine girl. I am not very good with change and I like things done a certain way. From cleaning, to laundry, how I spend my time after work and even what I do at work. Really just about everything I do is some sort of routine. Especially when it is comes to my evenings. Now that I have started my healthy living lifestyle, it is very important that I bring my breakfast and lunch to work. I can't just run to pick food up anymore or eat in the cafe at work. So I wanted to share my evening routine with you because it has actually has become a habit which is good because now I am not ever tempted at work because I have healthy options with me.

 

I normally stop by the grocery store on the way home from work and pick up some fresh veggies and some other things I might need over the next few days.

 

Whenever I get home I always get out of my work clothes and put on something comfy. Then head straight to the kitchen.

 

Most of the time I make some sort of casserole or pasta (healthy ones) on Sunday to last me normally until Thursday so I don't really have to cook that much Monday thru Wednesday. But once my leftovers are finished I have to whip something up.

 

I decided that I was really craving turkey sausage and veggies

So I got to choppin:)

 

While that is cooking I go ahead and get my smoothie ready for the morning. I add everything but the banana and the light soy milk so it is ready to go in the morning.

 

I even sit my cup out (might sound crazy but if I do all this, it means I get more sleep)

 

After everything is cooked I put it in my tupperware.

Today for lunch I am having spaghetti squash with turkey sausage and veggies. I added Franks hot sauce for a little kick.

 

I also have 2 eggs mid morning everyday. I used to just get them at work but for 2 eggs it was $1.50. So me being the frugal person that I am cook them at night and just warm them up at work.

 

After everything is cooked and ready to go, I pack it up and put it in the fridge. That way all I have to do is grab it and go in the morning.

 

 

Workout

 

 

I think I am starting to get shin splints ( I used to get them when I played soccer) so I decided to let my legs rest this morning. Although I might try out a class called Body Pump after work. I had a blast doing zumba so I really want to try this one. I love switching up my workouts so I don't get bored. So I will share with you how it went if I end up doing it. (if not I will def. be working out in the morning.)

 

 

Day 134:

Breakfast: smoothie (spinach, 3 strawberries, a small handful of blueberries, 1 small banana, light soy milk and 2 ice cubes)

Snack: 2 medium eggs with skim mozzarella cheese

Lunch: spaghetti squash with turkey sausage, peppers and asparagus. mixed with garlic salt and franks hot sauce

Snack and pre workout snack:non fat yogurt - almonds with a few chunks of dark chocoate and a few yogurt covered peanuts

Dinner:

 

83 days no diet mountain dew -37 days no soda

 

53 days final goal

Skinny Me Broccoli Balls

I am sure most of you have had sausage balls before. Probably at Christmas parties, New Years Eve parties, really they are perfect for any party. But if you are a healthy eater they aren't really good for you. So last night I decided to try and make healthy, vegetarian version.

What you will need

1 cup of flax seed

2 heaping spoonfuls of low fat cottage cheese

1 cup skim mozzarella cheese

3 eggs

3 cups of steamed broccoli

(if you like spicy add hot sauce)

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 400'

 

Add all ingredients to medium bowl,

 

and mix together.

 

On baking sheet roll ingredients into small/medium size balls. (make sure you spray the baking sheet)

 

Cook for about 15 minutes or until crispy on the outside. Stick knife through the middle to make sure they are done.

 

Once they were cooled, I enjoyed these with some hot sauce. I can't wait to take these to my next party. Next batch I am going to add turkey sausage.

 

 

Week 4 Workout 2

 

Treadmill 20 minutes: 5 minutes 15 incline 4.5 mph- 5 minutes 0 incline 5.5 mph- 5 minutes 15 incline 4.5-  5 minutes 0 incline 5.5 mph

 

Trunk rotation crunches- 5 lb weights- 3/15 each side

Alternating shoulder raise- 5 lb weights- 15 times

Warrior lunge- 30 second hold- both legs

Traveling power squat- 5 lb weights- 25 times

Alternating push ups- 25 times

Plie with bicep curls- 5 lb weights- 25 times

Clam dig with rotation- 5 lb weights - 25 times both sides

 

Elliptical 10 minutes

 

Day 133

Breakfast: smoothie( blueberries, 1 banana, spinach, almond milk and 2 ice cubes) (gonna try and cool it on peanut butter for a little while, the calories add up)

Snack: 2 eggs with red peppers, onions and turkey sausage

Lunch: Baked Skinny Chicken Veggie Pasta

Snack: 2 Skinny Me Broccoli Balls and almonds

Dinner:

 

82 days no diet mountain dew- 36 days no soda

 

54 days till final goal

 

 

 



Baked Skinny Chicken & Veggie Pasta

I wanted to start off with some good news. I always dread the day of weighing in. Especially now that I am working out so much because it can get frustrating if you don't see a change. So when I got to the gym this morning I walked over and was pretty excited to see that I had lost 3 more pounds. So now all I have left is that last 10 pounds. I hear those are the hardest, so here I go... I am almost there!!

 

 

After I went to the zoo on Sunday I got to thinking what I could make for my lunch for the week. I wanted to of course try something that I had never made before so I went to the grocery store and just started pulling things that looked good. Here is what I came up with.

What you will need

1 spaghetti squash

3 large chicken breast

1 can of rotel tomatoes and green chilies

1/2 red pepper

1/2 large onion

oregano

italian seasoning

flax seed

low fat cottage cheese

skim mozzarella cheese

2 minced garlic cloves

 

 

Preheat oven to 400'

Once oven is ready put in your spaghetti squash and chicken (I put Italian  seasoning on both sides of the chicken)

 

Chop up all your veggies.

 

Start by sauteing your garlic with some extra virgin olive oil,

 

then your red pepper and onion.

 

While everything is cooking, in large bowl add 1 1/2 cups of low fat cottage cheese and 1 cup of skim mozzarella cheese.

 

Once your veggies are cooked add to large bowl. Don't forget your rotel ( I added a few jalapenos and hot sauce)

 

After your chicken is fully cooked pull apart into small pieces.

 

Then add your chicken and spaghetti squash to large bowl.

Mix well.

 

Then pour mixture into cooking dish.

Then sprinkle flax seed and mozzarella cheese to the top.

 

Cook for about 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crispy

(I have a stove from the 1900's so I don't like to give exact times because all stoves are different)

 

Then get ready, this is pretty tasty, you almost feel guilty for eating it :)

 

 

Week 4 Workout 1

 

Treadmill 20 minutes: 5 minutes 0 incline 4.5 mph- 5 minutes 0 incline 5.5 mph- 5 minutes 15 incline 4.5- 5 minutes 0 incline - 5 minutes 0 incline 6.0 mph

 

50 squats

25 mountain climbers

50 side lunges - both legs

25 jump squats

50 crunches

25 incline sit ups

25 upside down sit ups

25 push ups

 

10 minutes elliptical machine

 

Day 132:

Breakfast: smoothie (blueberries, spinach, 1 1/2 tbsp of pb, flax seed, almond milk, 1 banana and 2 ice cubes)

Snack: non fat yogurt

Lunch: Baked Skinny Chicken Veggie Pasta

Snack: a fresh peach and veggies with hummus

Dinner: went with the bf to our favorite thai place and had my usual garlic chicken and veggies with no rice.

 

81 days no diet mountain dew -35 days no soda

 

55 days till final goal -10 more pounds to go :)





 

HollyWild

This was such a great weekend. Friday I just grilled out with some of my favorites and then went home and got a good nights rest. The next morning I woke up bright and early for my first zumba class at my gym. Wow...that was a workout. I got to the class early so I did some extra stuff but I'll explain that a little later. After that I knew I better eat some lunch because I was spending the rest of the day at the pool.

 

This was such a delicious salad.

Turkey sausage, grilled peppers, parm cheese, romaine lettuce, low fat ceasar yogurt dressing and sriracha hot sauce.

 Afterwards I just laid by the pool with friends and enjoyed myself.

Then of course, we all grilled out again that night.

This time I had a turkey burger with sriracha, grilled peppers and asparagus.

 

Now the next day was the best part of the weekend. The bf and I decided to have a date day. So we went to lunch and then to HollyWild. It is a safari and petting zoo. This kind of stuff brings out the kid in me. So I wanted to share with you some of our adventures with the wild.

 

These were our cool rides on the safari (actually they were extremely hot)

 

Such a beautiful day for a safari ride.

 

They called this their unicorn, see how it only has one horn in the middle of it's head. (they told us the real name but unicorn is much more fun)

 

These guys had the longest tongues. I defiantly had to get used them.

 

Posing for this picture was a little scary. Kept thinking they were going to think my fingers were crackers. (dying of heat at this point)

 

 

Here are the camels. They said that we couldn't feed them because they keep them separate because they can spit balls the size of softballs. I'm good I don't need that in my face :)

 

Made the bf pose by the talking parrot,

 

and the hippo.

 

And of course I had to ride the hippo.

 

More posing :)

 

 

 

See they even wanting to pose.

 

 

We had a blast feeding all the animals, (even though our hands didn't smell the best by the end of the day, it was worth it.)

 

Now these fellers we didn't feed but they were the best animals to watch. If you can see at the top of the picture one bear was taking a bath.

 

I then found this guy. If you know me you know  I love turtles. I don't think this guy would fit in my purse so I couldn't sneak off with him :)

 

I forget what the name of this animal was but they were beautiful. This one was laying on her eggs.

 

Then we got to the lions and tigers. (ohmy)It was so neat to watch them (from far away) They look like such gentle animals, well until they eat you for dinner.

 

Then we get to the monkeys,

 

This little one was my favorite.

He was the size of my fist.

 

I had never seen an albino peacock.

 

They were clearly hungry.

 

I think they got the weirdest looking animal for the day. (the white one had buck teeth)

 

She was showing off. Aren't they beautiful.

 

This zebra was the luckiest animal at the park because I still had 1/2 bag of food and he got it all because it was time to go.

 

One last picture. I have to say it is my favorite :)

 

 

Week 3 Workout 4

bicycle 10 minutes

zumba 1 hour

arm and abs workout 15 minutes

 

 

Day 129:

Breakfast: 2 eggs

Lunch: turkey  sausage, grilled peppers, parm cheese, romaine lettuce, low fat ceasar yogurt dressing and sriracha hot sauce.

Dinner: turkey burger (no bun), sriracha hot sauce, grilled peppers, asparagus

 

 

Day 130:

Breakfast: skip

Lunch: we ate at Ryans where I had terryaki chicken with pineapple, a little coleslaw, salad, cabbage, fish and green beans. (small portions of all)

Snack: snow cone at the zoo, it was my cheat for the weekend but it was sooo hot I needed it.

Dinner: 1 turkey burger (no bun) and some of my Baked Skinny Chicken and Veggie Pasta. (make sure you check out tomorrow for step by step recipe)

 

 

Day 131:

Breakfast smoothie: spinach, banana, 1 1/2 tbsp of pb, light soy milk, 2 icecubes

Snack: 2 eggs with 1 tsp of sugar free syrup and skim cheese

Lunch: Baked Skinny Chicken and Veggie Pasta

Snack: fresh peach and mixed nuts

Dinner: salad with romaine lettuce, skim cheese, tuna, low fat ceasar yogurt, sriracha & a side of turkey sausage with peppers and onions
Then later I got a little hungry so I had a side of spaghetti squash with a tbsp of pizza sauce and skim cheese

 

 

80 days no diet mountain dew - 34 days no soda (excpet for a few sips from the bf's drink at the zoo because I was dying of thirst)

56 days till final goal: weigh in day tomorrow eeekkk