51 Days (Jennie)

Just a shade over 7 weeks to go til the big day! I'm halfway through my 101 day journey and results have been... well... I don't know. My easiest benchmark right now is my scale, which is not my friend at the moment. The numbers have been fairly stagnant the past year. I may gain a few pounds over the holidays, then slowly lose them again. So it's time to change it up. It's said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So the plan for the next 50 is to aim for 100% primal eating (at least during the week). I've been sticking to it fairly well, but still have too many slip-ups that I really need to take better control of. I will also work to do fewer repetitions using heavier weights. The main problem for me is my dumbbells go from 25 lbs straight to 45 lb kettlebells. Not exactly an easy bridge to span there! It's kept me to basically doing most of my weight work with the 25s, and smaller muscle moves with the 15s or 10s. So maybe this weekend I'll go shopping for 35s... so darned pricey, but still cheaper than a gym membership!

Today's food:
Breakfast: Protein shake (vanilla protein powder, blueberries, spinach and unsweetened almond milk)
AM Snack: Coffee, turkey bacon and a cup of red grapes
Lunch: Salad with albacore tuna and ranch dressing
PM Snack: Almonds and a granola bar
Dinner: Leftover galumpke from last night (tomato soup, cabbage, ground turkey and quinoa)

Total calories: 1615
Total burned: 2500
Workout for the day: P90X Plyo, 2 mile walk at lunch

53/52 Days (Jennie)

Stress... stress... STRESS!!! I am a busy gal, I always am burning the candle at both ends, so to speak, and once every so often I get burn out. Work has been extra busy lately with multiple large projects deploying at the same time. I think I'm finally coming to the realization that summer is drawing to a close (at least as far as the kiddos starting up school again) and we didn't get a chance to do anything or go anywhere. Cry me a river, I know... it's not like I'm the only person on the planet right now not getting to take a summer vacation. We have our health, our jobs, our home, so I'm really trying not to make this sound like a big deal that it isn't, but bear with me. Knowing that school is here once again and we're once again back to the craziness of team sports, homework, and all the other activities that come with it, without any R&R is a bit of a bummer. The kiddos were throwing a fit tonight about dinner (hubby's galumpke is not their favorite), they made a huge mess upstairs while we were making dinner. None of it is all that big of a deal... really... but I'm human and sometimes all the little things add up to make a cranky mommy.

So it made me start thinking about exercise and stress reduction. As tempting as it is to skip a workout or sleep in a little later because I'm tired, it's generally not worth it. So what makes it so great?

• Endorphins! Your body's natural feel-good response- this is the "runner's high" you hear about so often.
• Mood! This is totally unscientific here, but I know that if I don't get my workout in, I spend the rest of the day kicking myself (psychologically) for missing it. Not worth the extra hour of sleep. 
• Self-Esteem! I feel better about me when I take care of me. Again, not scientific here, but when I feel better about me, I have more confidence, which helps me to deal with stressful situations better.
• Focus! Exercise helps me focus and tackle my day. I challenge myself to keep pushing physically and get over mental hurdles, which helps later in the day as well. Warm-up, stretching and cool-down gives me time to think, whether it's about the workout ahead or the day ahead.
• And so many more...

Food for the days (you know you're in a rut when you're eating identical meals breakfast and lunch)
Breakfast 8/07 and 08/08: post-workout smoothie (spinach, vanilla protein powder, blueberries and unsweetened almond milk)
AM Snack 8/07 and 08/08: coffee and homemade banana bread (got to get rid of this stuff- I keep eating it!)
Lunch 08/07 and 08/08: salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing
PM Snack 08/07: handful of almonds and granola bar
PM Snack 08/08: granola bar and a peach
Dinner 08/07: unscheduled stop at Chevy's... had some chips (noooo!) and a big salad
Dinner 8/08: hubby's galumpke
No dessert either day. Still trying to make up for the chips last night and splurging at the BBQ this weekend.

Total calories in 08/08: 1735
Total calories in 08/07: I'm guessing about 2500, although I honestly didn't track it. Darn chips and salsa did me in, I really need to work on willpower there!
Calories burned 08/08: 2300
Calories burned 08/07: 2385
Workout 08/08: P90X Chest and Back
Workout 08/02:P90X Kenpo. It was supposed to be a rest day- but trying to make up for lost time last week. My hands couldn't handle back-to-back pullup days. ;)

54 Days (Jennie)

Do you remember those old 80s milk commercials... the "Milk. It does a body good." ads with the small girls and boys talking to someone who is doubting their worth. They see themselves in a few years looking great, all from drinking their milk. I'm kind of feeling like that today, only replace "milk" with "workout". I was on the shy side growing up. I wasn't the cutest, funniest, or most athletic, which didn't help either. I struggle in many ways today with those same insecurities from childhood; I still clam up in social situations when I don't know people and I really hate confrontation. But here comes the "I'm drinking milk" part... working out is giving me a new confidence that I didn't have before. It's helping me to realize that I hate being ignored and underestimated most of all, which makes the discomfort of not knowing people in social situations and fear of confrontation seem not so bad. I work hard, but it isn't always enough to get me noticed and respected- it really is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease after all. So this girl is going to keep moving forward, keep busting out these workouts, keep learning and working. I have a race to prep for, a body to take care of, and most important of all, two precious little girls to inspire toward a lifelong love of fitness. I've got my eye on the prize!

Today's food:
Breakfast: Protein shake (vanilla protein powder, blueberries, spinach and unsweetened almond milk)
AM Snack: Homemade banana bread (couldn't resist- dang it- looove my banana bread!) and coffee
Lunch: Salad with grilled chicken
PM Snack: Almonds
Dinner: Carne asada with avocado, grilled corn, fresh tomatoes, green chiles and 2 small corn tortillas

Total calories: 1880
Total workout: 2400
Workout for the day: P90X Legs and Back, 2 mile walk at lunch

56/55 Days (Jennie)

Sorry for the second combo post, this is awful! It's been a crazy fun and busy weekend! Friday was a day off but shopping all day long and home late at night. Saturday we had a birthday party for our friends' son's 4th birthday. It was a fun time at the community pool near them. I have a love/hate relationship with pools as my daughters aren't swimmers (yet), so I spend the entire time on extra alert either hanging on to them or keeping them within direct line of sight the entire time. It may sound like not a big deal, but as any parent can tell you, this level of "if I remove my eyes from you for a split second, you will drown" kind of attention is exhausting. Thankfully it was a great pool with a huge shallow end that had a graduated "beach" entrance, perfect for little ones still getting their water wings. The kiddos are now extra excited for swim lessons later this fall, which is fantastic! And I'm proud to say that I was finally brave enough to venture out in a bikini in public- sans coverup. My friend and I were in Vegas last summer and spent some time poolside, but always with a coverup. It may sound like not a big deal, but for a girl who is traumatized annually with swimsuit shopping, it was a major milestone. Today we headed out to visit my dad for a bit, followed by more errands.

Food for the day
Breakfast 8/04: baked oatmeal with blueberries and banana
Breakfast 8/05: three homemade buttermilk pancakes with 1 T light syrup (normally not a fan, but we were out of the real stuff!)
Lunch 8/04: I chose to skip lunch at the birthday party- they were serving pizza which looked amazing, but knowing we were heading to a BBQ afterwards, thought it would be in my best interest
Lunch 8/05: steak with avocado, lettuce, pico de gallo, pinto beans and corn
PM Snack 8/04: lemon Luna bar
Dinner 8/04: bbq tri-tip, carrots and celery... and a few too many fritos and pretzels/dip. I don't normally eat that stuff- but when it's around and I'm hungry, it's a dangerous combo. Especially when I'm the designated driver for the evening and not getting to enjoy the drinks with everyone else. And excuse excuse excuse... haha!
Dinner 8/05: 1/3 of a frozen CPK pepperoni pizza... no bueno
Dessert 8/05: Greek yogurt with strawberries and a few chocolate chips

This weekend definitely wasn't my best. We arrived home late last night and were up early this morning. I had every intention to get my workout in and it didn't happen. I wanted to do it tonight, but Mt. Laundry was threatening eruption if I didn't attend to it immediately- so I did. Tomorrow- back to it. My HRM is going to be hollering at me tomorrow morning for not meeting my weekly goals!




Workout 8/04: P90X Kenpo X
Workout 8/05: nothing official, but I at least managed to get an okay amount of walking in


Tomorrow- back to work!

58/57 Days (Jennie)

I can't believe I missed posting yesterday! I had a great excuse though, I spent my normal "blog time" talking with a dear friend that I haven't had a chance to catch up with in a bit. She is one of the most amazing people I know. She dealt with some serious health issues last year and spent quite a lot of time in the hospital. I am truly in awe of her zest for life and what a positive attitude she has toward everything in life. Her enthusiasm is truly contagious, I am so blessed to call her my friend.

Hubby and I took the day off work today. We went shopping, with full intention of coming home and getting in the workout. Needless to say, I *just* got home and am completely exhausted after close to 12 hours of shopping. I had no idea we would be out and about that much. The kiddos acted like little ones do when they're drug out to shop for "boring parent stuff" and further complicated the effort. On the bright side, I bought a new swimsuit and didn't hate myself in it, which is a small miracle in and of itself. I'm far from looking like a supermodel, but I am happy with the progress I've made and at peace with having to wear it in public tomorrow. Tomorrow morning I'm back at the workout. We have two birthday parties (it's feast or famine with us on the weekends, I swear!), so I'll get up and knock it out in the AM. :)

Food for the day
Breakfast 8/02: post-workout smoothie (spinach, vanilla protein powder, blueberries and unsweetened almond milk)
Breakfast 8/03: we went out this AM for brunch. I had a egg and potato skillet with avocado, salsa, sour cream and a lot of other veggies. Very tasty- probably not low cal with all those dang potatoes, but it kept me full until dinner, aside from a small snack.
AM Snack 8/02: coffee and Greek yogurt
Lunch 8/02: salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing
Lunch 8/03: 1 oz pack of honey roasted peanuts I grabbed while on the go today!
PM Snack 8/02: handful of almonds and granola bar 
Dinner 8/03: Rubio's tonight while out and about- had the chipotle shrimp orange salad again- very good and calories are reasonable (380)
Dinner 8/02: scrambled eggs with spinach, salsa, a little blue cheese and turkey bacon
Dessert 8/03: Greek yogurt with a few grapes and 1 T honey
Dessert 8/02: homemade frozen yogurt, just 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt and a cup of frozen blueberries blended together- awesome!

Total calories in 8/03: 1660
Total calories in 8/02: 1930
Calories burned 8/03: 2200
Calories burned 8/02: 2350
Workout 8/03: nada... :(
Workout 8/02:P90X Back and Biceps and Ab RipperX

58 days (Mindy)

So I thought I'd better post before my sister kicks my butt!  I have been very bad about tracking what I have been eating... I have been making very good choices and working out a lot but have not been logging anything because I got bored..

So instead of posting what I ate all day, I will post my dinner recipe!


My freezer is getting way too packed so tonight the goal was to make dinner out of all freezer items... the other motivation was to make room for this...

If you can't tell what this is it is a Freezy Pup ice tray that freezes doggy treats... yes my dog is very spoiled.

So back to my freezer meal, I pulled out the frozen shrimp, edamame, and big ass bag of frozen veggies from Costco and got to work.

Shrimp Veggie Stir Fry
(1 serving)


Ingredients:
- Frozen Vegetables (2 cups)
- 1/2 cup edamame
- 6 shrimp or more
- 1tsp Sesame oil
- 3 tsp Rice Vinegar
- 3 tsp Soy Sauce

Cook the edamame and shrimp first according to directions.

In a wok heat on high the sesame oil, rice vinegar and soy sauce.  Add whatever seasonings you think would be good, I bet some sake, red pepper, or chili sauce would be amazing.  Once heated throw in the frozen vegetables and stir fry stirring frequently until heated thoroughly.  Add in the edamame and shrimp and stir fry until heated through.  Enjoy!

59 Days (Jennie)

August 1st already! This year is really flying by at a breakneck pace, it's crazy. A family friend once said that the years pass by quicker as we get older since each subsequent one is less of a fraction of our total life. It is amazing to me, I remember the school year feeling sooooo long when I was a kid- now it rushes by, summer rushes by. My oldest baby is getting ready to start 3rd grade, yet it feels like I was just taking her to kindergarten the other day.

I'm baking cookies tonight, peanut macarons with chocolate ganache filling.

Hi gorgeous!

I absolutely love baking, which is one of my biggest challenges for trying to keep weight off. It is a great stress reliever for me, and makes me lots of friends at the office too. I do try to sub in healthier items whenever the opportunity presents itself, some work beautifully and others, not so much. Subbing coconut flour in for regular flour was a disaster.

A few friendlier substitutions:
- Substitute 1/2 the oil called for in a recipe with applesauce or plain yogurt. It keeps the moisture in baked goods while reducing fat and calories naturally.
- Pumpkin puree can be added to many baked goods, it's low in calories and high in fiber.
- Unsweetened almond milk for whole milk (unless you're using it for whipping)

These are suggestions that have worked well for me and not had a detrimental impact to the final product. I look forward to finding more to share! I am a self-professed baking snob in that I want what I eat to be delicious, if it tastes "low cal", it's not worth it. I don't substitute where there would be a big noticeable difference to the taste of the item, such as removing butter or replacing all sugar with a substitute. I'd rather have a tiny bit of the full-fat wonderful thing then a bigger serving of the overly-substituted artificial counterpart. Food is fuel, but it's also enjoyment. And one forkful of something amazing is better than a plateful of something so-so.

Food for the day
Breakfast: post-workout smoothie with waaaay too much spinach (it was starting to turn and I didn't want to waste it- so dumped it all in the mixer!), vanilla protein powder, unsweetened almond milk and a banana
Morning snack: running late for work, so I grabbed a Greek yogurt from the fridge (fruit kind) and a handful of almonds
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing, granny smith apple
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: cheeseburger- caught me a bit by surprise that hubby wanted to go out tonight, but he had a rough day at work and we both got home late. Our usual stomping ground (Chipotle) had a line wrapping around and out the door, so we went a few doors down for a burger instead. Thankfully I had a good workout this morning, so still under my calories for the day!
Dessert: nothing really- although I did sample tiny bits of macaron batter and chocolate ganache as I was baking tonight. So add a few calories there- but they were worth it!

Total calories in: 1930
Calories burned: 2500
Workout: P90X Plyo and a 2 mile walk

60 Days (Jennie)

60 days and counting! I took today as a semi-rest day. It was originally scheduled for yesterday, which I skipped, but decided to go for the extra sleep this morning. I've been getting to bed way too late and some additional stress at work is doing its part to keep me from sleeping as soundly as I normally do. The extra hour was very nice this morning. I did get a walk in at lunch today and Ab Ripper X tonight, so I didn't sit around and do nothing either.

I haven't gushed about my heart rate monitor in a bit. I was iffy initially on the extra training features of the watch and whether it was worth the extra cost over the basic monitor, but they are proving to be really useful. The FT60 has three training programs: Improve Fitness, Maximize Fitness and Lose Weight. I am currently working under the Maximize Fitness training program, which is challenging me in new ways than before.

Week 2 results- training too much in zone 3 and not enough in zones 1 and 2

Now I know I need to actually slow down a bit- which is a bit of a shock after multiple rounds of HIIT (high intensity interval training) with Insanity and Asylum.The P90X strength workouts are a bit slower-paced (don't want to be throwing barbells around after all!), but I may look to move to fewer reps, slower pace and heavier weight.

missed my week's target by 179 calories- boo!!!

I definitely need to keep up the 6 day a week pace, I just missed my target last week. But I love the challenge of having to hit that number, it's something to aim for this week!

Food for the day
Breakfast: plain Greek yogurt with 1/2 cup of grapes and 1 T honey, turkey bacon and coffee
Morning snack: handful of almonds
Lunch: salad with ground turkey and ranch dressing
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: tacos- shredded bbq chicken, avocado, green chiles and a little cheese and two small corn tortillas
Dessert: a little more yogurt and grapes

Total calories in: 1625
Calories burned: 2100
Workout: P90X Ab Ripper X and 2 mile walk

61 Days (Jennie)

Tick-tock, tick-tock... officially less than 2 months til the big day! I was proud of this morning's workout, I've been able to knock out pushups pretty well lately. It sounds cheesy, but I had a pushup epiphany in a way. I used to push up, then lock my elbows and hold for a second, then go again. I'm now pushing up, but not locking my elbows and immediately going down again. This has really allowed me to do a lot more, which is awesome. I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner. It's amazing what a difference a small form change can make!

Food for the day
Breakfast: protein shake with 2 cups spinach, a banana, vanilla protein powder and unsweetened almond milk
Morning snack: coffee and a handful of almonds
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken breast and ranch dressing
Afternoon snack: granola bar and a few more almonds
Dinner: I splurged a bit on a burger. BUT, on the bright side, I was able to bypass the fries, except stealing a few from the kiddos, which I counted!
Dessert: I made granola for the hubby and sampled a bit while it was baking (quality control purposes!)


My hubby loves granola with his yogurt for breakfast. I forgot to pick it up at the store one day and felt bad, so I figured I'd try to make it myself. I looked up a few recipes online and pulled together a quick little recipe that he loves. He actually won't buy the store kind any longer. Darn, what did I get myself into? :)

Bad photo... but good granola!

Homemade Granola with Fruit

2 c. old fashioned oats (these will yield a better texture than the quick cook kind)
1 c. sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 c. almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 c. walnuts, roughly chopped
2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 c. oil (any neutral oil should work- I used canola tonight, but may try coconut next time)
1/3 c. honey
1 c. dried cranberries, rehydrated in boiling water for a few minutes

Preheat oven to 275F.

Combine oats, coconut, almonds, walnuts and cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk together oil and honey, add to oat mixture. I will sometimes add a small amount of brown sugar for some added sweetness. Spread on to a baking sheet or shallow casserole dish, bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. I wait to add the cranberries in the last 15 minutes of cooking so they aren't too dried out.

The beauty of this recipe is that it's very forgiving and easy to tailor to your taste. Add additional spices, remove the cinnamon if it's not to your liking. Add different fruit (fresh blueberries work well), different nuts (pecans?), even chocolate if you're really looking for a tasty treat! Hubby likes the granola a little sweeter, so I will add a little extra brown sugar (1 T or so). For dried fruit, I recommend rehydrating first, to avoid the fruit drying out to little fruit pebbles. Place fruit in a bowl, cover with water and microwave for 5 minutes, then I add about 15 minutes before the granola is done. Enjoy!

Total calories in: 1725
Calories burned: 2350
Workout: P90X Chest and Back

62 Days (Jennie)

Sooooo... exactly 2 short months from today, I will be (hopefully) recovering at home from a successful battle with the all mighty Tough Mudder. It's a scary thought... 3, 4 or more months still feels like tons of time. Tomorrow means officially less than 2 months, which feels more like right around the corner. So much going on at home with the kiddos about to start school again, soccer season about to begin again, so much going on at work, big user conference around the corner to prepare a presentation for... just wow. One day at a time. Or as one of my favorite consultants once told me: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time..."  Gross, yet so true. It used to be when things would get crazy at work, the workouts would tend to be the first thing to go. I was too tired, needed to rest, needed downtime... pick appropriate excuse here. I've finally come to the realization that I need this. Working out is obviously great physically, but it's powerful emotionally. It's truly my "me" time: whether it's helping to ease the day's frustrations, helping to center and focus on the day ahead, and helping me feel more comfortable in my own skin. Sure, I'd love that extra hour of sleep. But it's not worth the other 23 hours I spend kicking myself for missing the workout.

Food for the day
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with about 2 cups spinach, 2 T salsa and 1/2 an avocado. Turkey bacon, coffee and a small piece of french bread (BIG breakfast- but big workout after!)
Lunch: granola bar and a Starbucks lime refresher- we had a light late lunch since we had a big late breakfast
Afternoon snack: lime refresher from Starbucks while out walking- yum!
Dinner: We had dinner at an Italian place tonight celebrating my sissy's birthday with the family (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINDY!). Unfortunately, not a heck of a lot of options that were paleo-friendly. I gave in and had the pesto pizza. It was very good, fortunately light on the cheese and hubby ate 3 of the 8 pieces.
Dessert: a few bites of creme brulee and coffee. Darn I didn't need that, but it was good!

Thankfully, Monday really brings a sense of order back to the diet routine!

Total calories in: 2000 (although I think I am over-estimating the pizza at 930 cals)
Calories burned: 2450
Workout: Walk to park with the fam, 1 hour of basketball with hubby

63 Days (Jennie)

Soooo.... let's just say that today won't be one for the record books. It started out promising, got the workout in and a lot of stuff accomplished before heading out to visit friends for a birthday party. I kept breakfast and lunch light, knowing that I might be indulging a bit on party food. In retrospect, I really should have actually eaten more, so that I wasn't starving by the time I showed up to the party. Big mistake when there's a bowl of tasty pita chips in front of me. :(

Food for the day
Breakfast: coffee and quick fruit shake with peaches, blueberries and wheatgrass, courtesy of the hubby. I was hoping to have something more substantial, but ran out of time before rushing out for a haircut appointment.
Lunch: canned Starbucks mocha frapp and a granola bar- now home from hair appointment, pack up family and head out to the party- I should have planned today out much better.
Afternoon snack/dinner: here's where things went horribly downhill. Lots of pita chips. I didn't keep track like I should have. Hot dog for dinner- no other choice unfortunately. No bun though. I did hit the veggies and fruit as much as possible and had some of my (healthy-ish) potato salad I brought. Kept the drinking to 1 wine cooler and skipped the cake.

So I guess it could have been much worse, but I'm upset with myself about not doing a better job at avoiding the pita chips and other junk. Lesson learned- do not go to a party hungry, the extra 5 minutes to make and drink a protein shake would have been time well spent!

Total calories in: honestly, I sadly have no clue, so my best guess would be in the 2500ish range. I made some okay choices (no cake), but still too many of those darned delicious pita chips.
Calories burned: 2300
Workout: P90X Legs and Back

Tomorrow- back to normal!!!

Body By Vi Smoothies

So a few weeks ago I purchased Visalus from one of my friends who is a new promoter for the Body by Vi Challenge.  Do I think it is a miracle product like it claims?  No, I just think it is a protein powder that has more vitamins then the usual powders and tastes great!  I figure it costs about the same as the protein powder I already use and I love smoothies so why not!

I have already posted a handful of recipes and here are some more of my favorites:

Morning Coffee Smoothie
- 2 scoops Visalus
- 1 pack of Starbucks Via
- 1T unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3-4 ice cubes

Orange Julius Smoothie
- 2 scoops Visalus
- 1/2 orange
- 1/2 cup frozen peaches
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3-4 ice cubes

The options are limitless!!

I have been having 1-2 a day to replace breakfast or lunch, an AM and PM snack and then dinner... we will see if it helps in bringing me to my weight loss goal!

64 Days (Jennie)

Two months and two days to Tough Mudder, it's getting real now! Today went well, got the workout in this morning and a good walk in at lunch too, plus running around with the kiddos grocery shopping tonight.

Food for the day
Breakfast: protein shake with 2 cups spinach, frozen blueberries, vanilla protein powder and unsweetened almond milk
Morning snack: turkey bacon, a nectarine and coffee
Lunch: salad with ground turkey and ranch dressing
Afternoon snack: lime refresher from Starbucks while out walking- yum!
Dinner: We had dinner out tonight, Chipotle Shrimp salad at Rubio's. Super tasty and only 380 calories.
Dessert: honey roasted peanuts- not quite a dessert! I got home and started logging calories for the day and realized I was running a pretty big deficit. I don't like to run too light, it makes getting through the morning workout difficult. Dinner was surprisingly light, I planned for something a bit heavier. Maybe a little yogurt or fruit before bed. :)

Total calories in: 1450
Calories burned: 2300
Workout: P90X Kenpo, 2 mile walk at lunch

65 Days (Jennie)

65 days... just a shade over 2 months to go, yikes! This morning was supposed to be day 3 of P90X, Back and Biceps. We have somehow managed to lose this workout in the 3 years we've owned P90X, I have no clue where it went. Possibly mixed up in a DVD case with one of the kids' movies. My plan was to get up and do something different, either find something on Youtube or another arm/strength workout. But my phone (alarm clock) had other plans and locked up on me again. Grrr... I dropped it several months ago and cracked the screen. I can't find anyone locally to repair it and am not too keen on sending it out for repair, so using it as-is until my contract is up in January. It's generally still fine, but sometimes acts a bit wonky, this was one of those mornings. I woke up to hubby's alarm instead and looked over at my phone, which had dutifully gone off, just made no sound. Frustrating, but I'm not horribly disappointed about a rest day, I've been hurting after all the pullup madness of day 1. I did go for a 2 mile walk at lunch and plan to knock out a little something before bed so I don't feel so guilty. Note to self, start setting backup alarm again!

Food for the day
Breakfast: turkey bacon and coffee
Morning snack: granola bar
Lunch: work had a BBQ for us today, which was awesome! I had tri-tip, salad, cantaloupe and a small piece of cornbread and skipped over the tasty looking pasta salads and ice cream.
Afternoon snack: a small handful of almonds
Dinner: "Brinner" night- breakfast for dinner- dutch baby again

Total calories in: 1800
Calories burned: 2100
Workout: 2 mile walk

66 Days (Jennie)

66 days and counting! This morning was day 2 of P90X, Plyo. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about going back to Tony Horton's plyo workout after finishing a few rounds of Insanity and Asylum. It's definitely tough, but a different pace. I do adore Tony Horton, but sometimes find the slower pace (and resulting 60 minute video) to be mildly frustrating. This morning went well though and I burned a lot of calories, added bonus! I was able to get in a short walk at lunch as well, we have a brand new farmer's market near my office. Great deals on all sorts of wonderful organic local produce. I bough peaches, nectarines, corn and tons of spinach (in case you didn't notice how quickly I go through it). Two big bunches for $3, hooray!

Food for the day
Breakfast: smoothie with spinach, blueberries, almond milk, vanilla protein powder and a banana. I normally don't do the banana and should have kept it that way. It made it way too sweet for me. Lesson learned!
Morning snack: turkey bacon and coffee
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken and ranch dressing
Afternoon snack: granola bar and a small handful of almonds
Dinner: scrambled eggs with spinach and blue cheese. Hubby went to catch the new Batman movie with a friend after work. I met up with him to pick up the kiddos and they went to grab a quick bite before the movie. He grabbed Taco Bell, the kiddos wanted McD's as a special treat. I wasn't wanting any of that, so scrambled up the eggs instead once we got home. I struggle sometimes to cook for myself on the fly, but I could have done much worse.
Dessert: Greek yogurt with peaches (I earned my extra calories today!)

Total calories in: 1935
Calories burned: 2450
Workout: P90X Plyo

67 Days (Jennie)

Just 67 days til the All Mighty Mudder! I started back today with day 1 of P90X. My intent is to slow down on the super intense cardio for a bit and focus on lifting heavier weights to build upper body strength. I also hope to shake these last few pounds by keeping my target heart rate a little lower. I am following Tony Horton's advice and keeping track of number of reps and total pounds, but on a spreadsheet instead of a notebook. Because that's how us nerdy analyst chicks roll!

Food for the day
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs (3) with spinach and a little blue cheese. Yes, it sounds like a weird combo, but it works. At least if you like blue cheese! I also had some unsweetened grapefruit and coffee.
Lunch: Leftover cheese pizza from the one I made on Saturday. It didn't reheat well- I should have just fed it to the dogs.
Afternoon snack: Red grapes- I love those tasty little guys. They really satiate my sweet tooth without the guilt.
Dinner: Zucchini "spaghetti" and chicken meatballs
Dessert: small fruit smoothie with strawberries, banana, carrots and peaches

zucchinighetti?

Hubby and the kiddos have been craving pasta for quite some time, which I've been trying to avoid. It's not that I'm following a primal eating plan 100%, but I have found things that I can cut out fairly easily. I do like pasta, but I'm not really missing it either. Amazing fresh pasta aside, I am typically boiling it from a box that's been up in my cupboard for a month or more, so it's not exactly a super flavorful thing on its own. I boiled whole wheat pasta for hubby and the kiddos and sliced 3 small zucchini very thin length-wise and boiled for a few minutes for myself. This was topped with sauce and chicken meatballs. I do make meatballs from scratch sometimes, these happened to be a find at the grocery store that were sampled out and everyone liked. They were pre-cooked and only needed to be reheated, which I did in the pasta sauce. I love to cook, but really appreciate shortcuts during the busy workweek. It turned out well and honestly, I didn't miss the pasta or the calories!

Total calories in: 1750
Calories burned: 2250
Workout: P90X Chest and Back

68 Days (Jennie)

The countdown to Tough Mudder is quickly approaching the 2 month mark. It's hard to believe, it feels like just the other day I was registering, wondering what I was thinking. But September seemed so far away, I had plenty of time to train, right?

From here on out, I want to really focus on upper body strength, that's an area I struggle with. The plan is to emphasize the P90X upper body workouts and sub in some Asylum workouts here and there for variety. I will master a pull-up!

Food for the day
Breakfast: Drew's protein shake minus the banana since I was out. I did pick up more at the store tonight, it adds a smoothness to the shake that I really missed.
Morning snack: coffee. I was in a rush to make a 9am meeting and didn't plan well to grab anything else on my way out the door.
Lunch: salad with tuna and ranch
Afternoon snack: granola bar and more coffee. Sometimes the day just calls for a little afternoon caffeine.
Dinner: two shrimp tacos with cabbage and corn tortillas

Calories in: 1870
Calories burned: 2200
Workout: P90X Kenpo X

69 Days (Jennie)

Today was a self-imposed rest day. I realized last night that our air conditioner isn't working and it was 100F out today. Something about that heat just turns me into a lethargic sloth. As the temperature in the house climbed to 85, I just parked myself under the ceiling fan and tried to take in as much of the breeze from it as I could. Hopefully we'll get the repair company out this week, at very least I can look forward to spending the heat of the days next week in my air conditioned office building. One of the rare times I'll be looking forward to a Monday!

Food for the day
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs (2) with salsa and avocado, turkey bacon and a small plain homemade biscuit
Lunch: New smoothie- I'm going to call this one green celery smoothie
Afternoon snack: Grapes... nice and cold straight out of the fridge!
Dinner: Primal-friendly breaded chicken. The breading was made with coconut flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pound, dust with coconut flour mix and cook, about 4 minutes on each side. Very tasty, even the kids eat it without fuss. Served with mashed sweet potatoes (added a little coconut milk, cinnamon, cayenne and a touch of brown sugar) and some fresh strawberries.
Dessert: I was craving frozen yogurt (love the stuff!), so I made my own. I added about a cup and a half of Chobani nonfat plain Greek yogurt, a pound of frozen peaches and a little agave nectar to sweeten to taste, probably about 2 T or so. With the agave, the texture was pretty soft, so I let it sit in the freezer about an hour or so. All of us were fans, it really hit the spot.

Green celery smoothie!

green celery smoothie

I used the remainder of the fresh pineapple (that ripens fast!), 4 stalks of celery, 2 small apples, 2 cups spinach and just a little bit of the mango orange juice concentrate I've been slowly going through the past week. Because of the stringiness of the celery, if you don't have a high-powered blender (Blend-tec or Vitamix), I would probably juice it first, or maybe chop finely. Hubby and I were fans, my youngest daughter drank it with a little coaxing, but my oldest daughter wasn't much of a fan. She said she didn't like the "leaf" taste. I usually add spinach to whatever I make them, so I think she was objecting to the celery. It adds a different flavor, but it's this nice fresh taste. Just maybe not a favorite of the kiddos.

By the way, celery is full of vitamin K, which as I mentioned in yesterday's post, helps keep your bones strong. It's also been shown to limit neuron damage in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Total calories in: 1625
Calories burned: 2000
Workout: rest day

70 Days (Jennie)

Happy Saturday! I'm still a bit achy from my tumble down the stairs yesterday, but overall feeling much better. To give my lower body a little rest, today's workout focused on upper body strength. Upper body is definitely a weak spot of mine, I've become a lot stronger in the year and a half I've been really working out, but I still struggle in this area.

Not having much of a workout today, I tried to keep the food relatively light-ish.

Food for the day
Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries and a rainbow smoothie (more info to follow)
Lunch: post-workout green protein smoothie
Afternoon snack: a few grapes I set out for the kiddos
Dinner:two slices of cheese pizza- I made this as a special treat for the kiddos tonight and tried my hand at making both the dough and sauce from scratch. It was easier than I thought and turned out pretty well!

Rainbow smoothie!

eat a rainbow!

This morning's smoothie was fresh pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, carrots, a peach and raw spinach. Plus a little Greek yogurt to give it an extra creaminess. The smoothie turned out well, not too sweet, but sweet enough that the kiddos both drank theirs without too much  nagging from mom.

Pineapple: rich in vitamin C, vitamin A and beta-carotene
Strawberries: also rich in vitamin C and many minerals
Blueberries: high in antioxidants
Carrots: great source of beta-carotene and vitamin A, as well as poly-acetylene anti-oxidant falcarinol which may help fight against cancers by destroying pre-cancerous cells in tumors
Peaches: a good source of vitamin C and essential minerals
Spinach: There's a reason Popeye always had his spinach! It's a fantastic source of iron as well as vitamin K, which helps keep your bones strong. Plus it mixes very well in smoothies without imparting much flavor.

So, drink up!

Total calories in: 1700
Calories burned: 2200
Workout: P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

71 Days (Jennie)

Not a good day today. I went upstairs to wake up the kiddos. My youngest, who is 6 and about 45 lbs, was still mostly asleep, so I decided to carry her downstairs, not an infrequent thing for my non-early bird. About halfway down the steps, I slipped on a random toy (yes girls, this is why mommy is always nagging you to pick up your toys from the stairs) and fell while holding her. Unfortunately for me, I was holding her with both hands, one supporting her legs, the other her head, so there was no way I could catch myself without dropping her. And like any decent parent would, I took the fall the hardest to keep her the safest. I whacked my tailbone pretty hard on the way down on at least 4 or 5 stairs, plus rug burn on my legs and ankle, tweaked my back and wrist when I fell as well. Thankfully nothing broken, but a little bruised and a little achy. I just feel a little rattled on the inside, if that makes sense? Stomach has been slightly queasy, walking a little slower than usual, stupid tailbone is making it painful to sit. Needless to say, no workout today. Hopefully after a decent night's rest and maybe a Tylenol, I'll be right as rain in the morning!

Food for the day
Breakfast: a small slice of homemade zucchini bread (zucchini was a gift from the boss, had to make it!) and coffee
Morning snack: Greek yogurt (I snagged a flavored one on my way out the door this morning)
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken and ranch
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: I had a steak burrito bowl at Chipotle; steak, tomato and corn salsa, lettuce and guacamole
Dessert: Not that I needed it, but we grabbed frozen yogurt. I guess it was my personal pity party for my sore bones. :)

Calories in: 1880
Calories burned: 2000
Workout: Not much, did at least get in a short 1 mile walk at lunch.

72 Days (Jennie)

Another crazy day. My body revolted against the 5am alarm this morning and I slept in. I think it was much-needed though! I realized that without a workout schedule, I struggle that much more to get up. It's not on purpose, more that I lay in bed thinking about what to do and happen to doze off until the alarm goes off again. So, time to get a schedule in place!

Not having much of a workout today, I tried to keep the food relatively light-ish.

Food for the day
Breakfast: Drew's protein shake
Morning snack: grapes
Lunch: salad with grilled chicken and ranch
Afternoon snack: granola bar and a little fruit. We had our monthly birthday/anniversary celebration at work and I'm happy to say I passed by the cookies and ice cream... and it looked GOOD too!
Dinner: scrambled eggs with spinach, salsa and a little cheese and 3 slices of turkey bacon

Calories in: 1750
Calories burned: 2200
Workout: Ab Ripper X tonight. Short and sweet :)

73 Days (Jennie)

I'll keep this short and sweet tonight- met up with a few coworkers after work for happy hour and I'm tired! This week has been pretty draining. I slept in a little this morning and just did a short workout instead. A little is better than none, right?

Food for the day
Breakfast: Drew's protein shake
Morning snack: orange
Lunch: salad (spring mix lettuce, jicama, red bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms, corn, chopped chicken breast, edamame and ranch)
Dinner: We had happy hour at a Cuban tapas place. The menu is really tasty- but all about appetizers. I purposely ate light today just in case. Ended up having 2 crab cakes and a small mojito and lots of water.

Calories in: 1500
Calories burned: 2200
Workout: 2 rounds of the Cross Fit "Barbara" workout. No walk at lunch unfortunately, ended up trapped in a 2 hour meeting!

74 Days (Jennie)

Quick post tonight since I'm running back and forth to the oven baking some goodies- I'll update tomorrow if it turns out well. :)

Food for the day
Breakfast: Drew's protein shake
Morning snack: turkey bacon, coffee
Lunch: salad (spring mix lettuce, jicama, red bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms, corn, tuna, edamame and ranch)
Afternoon snack: granola bar
At least the rut ends with dinner!
Dinner: hubby's galumpke... although I made it tonight, so does that make it mine? Also threw together a smoothie for the fam with strawberries, a banana, peach, an orange and some frozen blueberries. Fruit salad in a glass!
Dessert: plain Greek yogurt with grapes and a little honey

Calories in: 2140
Calories burned: 2800
Workouts: Asylum Game Day and 2 mile walk at lunch

75 Days (Jennie)

75 shoooooort days to go! I'm having fun with the new Vitamix, I've made an embarrassing amount of smoothies and sorbets so far. Waiting for hubby to finish his workout as I write this, so I can go make him a smoothie too.

I made my first post-workout shake this morning, one that I knew my old blender couldn't handle. This one is on recommendation of my dear sister from Fit2Fat2Fit. This is the amazing story of Drew Manning, a personal trainer. In order to better empathize with his clients, he went on an unrestricted diet and stopped exercising- basically lived like many Americans do today. In only 6 months time, he put on 70 lbs. Then the next 6 months, he lost it all again. Plus an extra 3 lbs for good measure. Totally inspirational story, I remember seeing him on GMA starting his transformation about a year ago and couldn't wait to see how it all turned out in the end.

Here's Drew's protein shake recipe:
3 c fresh spinach
3/4 c unsweetened almond milk
2 T peanut butter
1/2 banana
1 1/2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder (I only used 1 scoop)
ice (probably about a cup?)

Add all ingredients and blend. Very tasty and kept me pretty full until lunch!

Food for the day
Breakfast: Drew's protein shake
Morning snack: turkey bacon, coffee
Lunch: salad (spring mix lettuce, jicama, red bell peppers, carrots, corn, tuna, edamame and ranch)
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: grilled chicken sandwich on whole wheat bun
Dessert: I made "ice cream" in the Vitamix- fresh strawberries, about 1/4 can of frozen orange/mango juice concentrate, a banana and lots of ice. This made enough for each of the kiddos to have some, I filled 4 popsicle molds with it and had a little myself. Topped with a little dark chocolate. Tasty and pretty guilt-free!

Calories in: 1900
Calories burned: 2500
Workouts: Asylum Vertical Plyo and 2 mile walk at lunch

76 Days (Jennie)

Today was fun, hubby and I took the kiddos to the state fair. I don't necessarily go yearly, the insane cost of admission, parking, food, rides... pretty much everything is a good deterrent, but every few years I get the bug to go again. Plus this year I had an ulterior motive: the all-mighty and powerful Vitamix blender. Every time I go there's someone demonstrating the thing, and despite wanting it, I've never stopped to really look, for fear of getting sucked in to buy it. Besides- how fancy does a smoothie maker really need to be, right? With my (almost) daily protein shakes and a lot more cooking at home, I have found myself thinking more and more that I should look into one. Review after review after review, people just love them, they outlast cars, are passed down generations... it's like the Cadillac of blenders. So... after boring the kiddos to death at the demo trying 2 kinds of smoothies, fresh peanut butter, tortilla soup and "ice cream" (fruit, a little juice concentrate and ice only!), we bit the bullet!

 

hello beautiful!

I'm stoked- I've literally been wanting one of these for at least a decade. The AM protein shakes can have soooo much more spinach now. I'm excited to make more soup. And the kids loved the ice cream too, it couldn't be easier, I threw in a banana, a little mango/orange juice concentrate and a bunch of ice and voila!

And now on to business. Considering we were at the fair a good chunk of the day, I didn't do half bad.

Food for the day
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with honey and fresh blueberries
Lunch: We stopped at Starbucks on our way to the fair, I tried one of their new lime refreshers, which tasted great and fairly low-cal, even a venti is only 70 calories. Not that it's health food, of course, but you can easily do a lot worse there. Also had one of their Kind brand almond and cashew bars. Great alternative to all those tasty pastries in the case in the 500+ calorie range.
Afternoon snack: I'm not too sure how to track what we had at the fair, since it mostly consisted of samples from the Vitamix demo. Maybe 2 tbsp of smoothie, 1 tbsp of soup and a tsp of fresh peanut butter on a baby carrot. Probably just a few calories here!
Dinner: Steak burrito bowl- steak, salsa, avocado and cheese. I could probably live off this meal if I had to.
Dessert: I had to try out the new blender. I threw in a peach, 1/2 a banana, a little almond milk and half a scoop of vanilla protein powder. Nice little treat, although it needs a little something. Tomorrow night I'll hopefully start looking through the recipe book and get some better ideas.

Total calories in: 1500 (I may be underestimating the burrito bowl, but did eat a light breakfast/lunch)
Calories burned: 2200
Workout: No official workout today, but did get in my 10000+ steps with walking at the fair at least!

76 Days (Mindy)

So yesterday we went wine tasting with friends the entire afternoon so most of my calories were consumed with small red wine pours, cheese and crackers or whatever else each winery had out so I won't even try to figure out my calories for yesterday LOL... but the night did end with an amazing Tuna Ahi Burger and criss cut fries for an amazing new restaurant in town called Firestone.  But it was my cheat day afterall yesterday so all is good.

Today was much better although my body was absolutely exhausted from a day in the sun and drinking, it's amazing how drinking during the day can just completely wipe you out!!

Breakfast:
- Visalus Shake with spinach, pineapple, 1/2 orange, mango and unsweetened almond milk (yummmmmmy!)

Snack:
- 1 apple
- 1 oz goat ghouda cheese

Lunch:
- Visalus Shake with strawberries and unsweetened cocoa powder
- Starbucks Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher

Dinner:
- Zucchini-Ribbon "Lasagna" Cooking in the oven as we speak so I'm hoping that it is yummy!!

Workout:
- Cardio 30 minute HIIT on the treadmill
- Shoulder workout

Calories In: Not sure didn't track - BAD Mindy I know it was just one of those days
Calories Out: I cannot find my Fit Bit so I do not know :(

77 Days (Jennie)

Do you know that scene in the movie A Christmas Story, where Ralphie is anxiously awaiting his Secret Society decoder pin from the Little Orphan Annie radio show and he's sooooo excited when it finally arrives? That was me today when FedEx rang the doorbell. I set it up, did the fit test and then did my workout. And unlike poor Ralphie in the movie, I wasn't disappointed at all!

hooray for gadgets!

The maiden voyage routine for the FT60 was Asylum Strength, followed up with P90X Ab Ripper. I lost 4 minutes in the beginning of the workout before I realized that it was displaying my heart rate, but not recording. More buttons than my old HRM, so might take a bit to get used to!

Food for the day
Breakfast: french toast (homemade), no syrup. I really need to go grocery shopping, was kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel for what to cook this morning for the family
Lunch: post-workout protein shake, only sans the spinach since I'm out of that too
Afternoon snack: scrambled eggs with salsa and 1/2 an avocado
Dinner: We took the kiddos to visit with grandma and grandpa tonight, so we stopped at Taco Bell. I tried their new steak cantina bowl, kind of a cheap version of what I like at Chipotle/Freebirds. Definitely nowhere near as good, but it wasn't awful either. I would probably opt for the veggie next time as Taco Bell "steak" isn't very good, but aside from that, it works in a pinch.
Dessert: watermelon (thanks mom- and dad-in-law!)

Total calories in: 1940
Calories burned: 2300
Workouts: Asylum Strength, P90X Ab RipperX

Good workouts today- but spent a lot of time cleaning the house, so calorie burn otherwise wasn't too impressive. Tomorrow will be better!

78 Days (Jennie)

I'm so excited for my heat rate monitor, it's all set to be delivered tomorrow! And how much of a goofball am I that I'm excited for a heart rate monitor?I think I will actually be excited to do my workout tomorrow, just to test it out.

This morning started out with sleeping in... again. Hubby's alarm didn't go off and I seem to be really good at hitting snooze in my sleep. I did get up and go for a quick 1.5 mile jog, so I was proud of myself for getting up and doing that instead of what I would normally do "oops, oh well" and go back to sleep for 20 more minutes. It's been a rough week and I think my body is crying out for a little extra sleep. Hopefully we'll have a relatively quiet weekend and can get a little rest (and housework) done.

Food for the day
Breakfast: protein shake (vanilla protein powder, blueberries, unsweetened almond milk and spinach)
Morning snack: turkey bacon, coffee and grapes
Lunch:we had a department lunch at work today at a BBQ place down the street from our office. I limited lunch to the brisket, fruit and salad and was able to pass by the rolls, potato salad and dessert
Afternoon snack: nectarine and tea with stevia
Dinner: cheese pizza... not great, but at least it was thin crust and I kept portions well-controlled. We tend to go out to dinner on Friday nights and pizza nights are always rough. I looooove pizza, it's tough to resist. Overall calories for the day are still well within my limit though, so I don't feel too bad.

Total calories in: 1640
Calories burned: 2200

79 Days (Jennie)

The heart rate monitor gods smiled on me today. I was using my Google skills to research the difference between all the monitors and headed over to Amazon to check out the user reviews. Low and behold, my pretty Polar FT60 that I was drooling over was discounted over $100! So in just a few days, I should be the proud new owner of one- yay!

Food for the day
Breakfast: protein shake (vanilla protein powder, blueberries, unsweetened almond milk and spinach)
Morning snack: turkey bacon, coffee and a nectarine
Lunch: tomato soup with side salad (spring mix lettuce, jicama, carrots, bell pepper, tuna, ranch, corn, edamame and ranch- yes, repeated from yesterday because I really liked it!)
Afternoon snack: granola bar
Dinner: dutch baby with the kiddos (Thursday night "brinner" again!)
Dessert: A few tortilla chips and salsa. Sounds strange, but I think with having a dinner that was a bit on the sweet side, I was craving savory. I was very good with portion control on the chips though.

Total calories in: 1775
Calories burned: 2200
Today's workout: P90X Kenpo this morning and Ab RipperX tonight

80 Days (Jennie)

80 days to go... wow! Three weeks down of daily blogging, trying to eat well and get in some exercise. So far, so good; having a goal in mind at the end is really working well for me. Besides the fear of the all mighty Mudder looming at the end, I'm really looking forward to seeing the change in me at the end of it as well, physically and psychologically. I grew up painfully shy and still fight many of those demons today. Working out gives me confidence like nothing else and ignites a fire in my belly at the same time. Strong is amazing!

Food for the day
Breakfast: turkey bacon, coffee and a nectarine
Morning snack: grapes
Lunch: salad with spring mix lettuce, jicama, carrots, bell pepper, tuna, ranch, corn, edamame, ranch. I know this sounds like a strange combo, but it actually worked well!
Dinner: chicken breast sandwich on a whole wheat bun with pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and honey mustard
Dessert: Frozen yogurt with almonds

Total calories in: 1850
Calories burned: 2300
Today's workout: 2 mile walk at lunch (11000 steps for the day according to Fitbit)

I missed my main workout this morning- bad night of sleep led to me sleeping through my alarm again. I guess 2 alarms aren't enough, might be time for 3.

So next steps from here... about 11 weeks left. I want to make this less of just a food diary and more informational, on the off-chance that someone out there besides me is reading it. ;)  I looked at heart rate monitors tonight, but wanted to do a bit more research before committing the funds. So far, I'm leaning toward the Polar FT7. I looked at a few of the pricier models, but can't seem to justify the cost with the extra features offered. Between the blog, Fitbit, and the Beachbody forums, I probably don't need one other area to have to record workouts to. But darn that pink FT60 is such a pretty HRM... if only I could justify the extra $100 price tag.

admit it, I'm totally cute for a heart rate monitor

But the black/red combo on the FT7 isn't too bad either... so this may be the one I start looking for. I have no patience for ordering online if I can find it anywhere within a 30 mile radius of me. I'm an instant-gratification kind of gal.

not as pretty, but friendlier on the wallet!

Alright, time to drag myself to bed- workout awaits in the morning. Cheers!

80 Days (Mindy)

Good lord I'm so bad at this... it's not that I'm not eating well and exercising I'm just evidently too busy to take 5 minutes out of my day to log on this blog lol

So without further ado, here was my day:

Breakfast
- We were out of coffee so what better then a Visalus shake mixed with Starbucks VIA and almond milk DELICIOUS!!
- Plumquot and Nectarine from the farmers market on the side


Snack
- Banana
- 12 almonds

Lunch
- Visalus shake with a bunch of strawberries, peanut butter and almond milk, OMG is all I have to say about that one

Snack
- Cut up veggies including cucumber, carrots, bell pepper, and tomatoes
- 1 oz Trader Joes honey goat cheese ghouda

Dinner
- Chicken
- Yellow Squash

Workout: Awesome leg and ab workout at the gym


Calories In: 1306
Calories Out (so far at 9PM): 1950 (not exactly right I've burned more but I did not wear my heart rate monitor to the gym for an actual count)

81 Days (Jennie)

Wow, it's already 1/3 of the way through July! Mudder is going to be here before I know it. It felt good to get back up in the saddle this morning. I realized how my morning workout really shapes my day. It's always a fight to get up and do it, but the regret from not working out follows me much longer than the benefit of the extra hour of sleep.

So... here's the rundown!

Breakfast
Post-workout protein shake (vanilla protein powder, spinach, blueberries and unsweetened almond milk)

AM Snack
Grapes and 3 slices of turkey bacon

Lunch
Salad (romaine, carrots, edamame, red bell peppers, guacamole, corn, grilled chicken breast, corn, jalapenos, ranch)

PM Snack
Granola bar (I'm having a hard time quitting you, granola!)

Dinner
Tacos! I did have one small corn tortilla, but ate the rest without. Marinated grilled carne asada (sooo good!), avocado, salsa and veggie refried beans. Oh, and some fresh watermelon. :)

Calories in: 1900
Calories burned: 2300
Workout: Asylum Vertical Plyo and P90X Ab RipperX

82 Days (Jennie)

Just another manic Monday... how I wish it were Sunday...

I went and slept right through my alarm this morning. It was one of those mornings where I just snoozed and snoozed and snoozed. By the time my brain finally woke up, it was time to get ready for work. Oops! But it was probably just as well, I believe I'm overdue for a rest day anyway. The downside of that is my calorie burn for the day is pretty abysmal. I was hoping to squeeze in a walk at lunch, but had a meeting instead and I wasn't able to find the time to make it happen unfortunately.

I tried not to go over-the-top today since I skipped my workout.

Breakfast
Small homemade banana bread muffin (I baked them last night- brought the rest to work), turkey bacon and coffee



AM Snack

Chobani Greek yogurt and a banana

Lunch
Salad (romaine, carrots, edamame, red bell peppers, guacamole, corn, turkey and a little ranch


PM Snack
Granola bar and 10 almonds (all that I had left- darn!)

Dinner
Hubby was kind enough to make his deconstructed galumpke again, nice and filling but not too heavy.

Calories in: 1700
Calories burned: 2000 by end of the day
No workout :(  But back to it in the morning!

83 Days (Jennie)

Today was a beautiful Sunday- one of those perfect summer days where the weather cooperates, not too hot, but nice and sunny and begging for us to get outside and enjoy it. I fed the family a nice big breakfast, then headed out to our local park for a few hours of tennis. I'm proud to say hubby and I are getting much better (as are the kiddos), we can actually volley the ball back and forth quite a few times now. Later this afternoon we took the girls to see Brave, which we all loved. It is a great movie, I highly recommend it!

Breakfast
Baked oatmeal (recipe originally posted back on Day 98), along with a little turkey sausage. We were all pretty hungry this morning after having such an early dinner last night, so a big hearty breakfast did us all well.

Lunch
We didn't have a real lunch per-se, we were all still pretty full from a big breakfast. The girls were hungry before the movie, so we picked them up each a soft pretzel. I did steal 2 bites and a little of their popcorn at the movie though.

Dinner
Dinner was one of my favorites- steak burrito bowl (yum!). Steak, pico de gallo, corn, avocado, cheese and romaine lettuce. Simple and delicious, then sweetness of the corn and avocado balance so well against the steak. Who needs a tortilla?

Dessert
Nothing yet, but might sneak a little fruit before bed. Nectarines were on sale at the store yesterday so I took full advantage and picked up quite a few.

Calories in: 1820
Calories burned: should be 2600 by midnight
Workout of the day: tennis (2 hours!)

84 Days (Jennie)

I got to hang out with my sister today! We pampered ourselves with amazing pedicures, then met up with hubby and the kiddos for a late lunch/early dinner.

Breakfast
Scrambled eggs with hot sauce, spinach, a little cheese and a quarter of an avocado. Two slices of turkey bacon and a small homemade biscuit.

Lunch
Our post-pedicure treat was a garden burger with whole wheat bun and side salad. Aaaand... ice cream. But (and Mindy can vouch for this), we ordered a sundae that was split between the kiddos, Mindy and me. I can usually avoid ice cream (a.k.a. not buy it at the store), but sitting in a creamery where they make it by hand... it's just cruel and unusual. :)

Dinner
We ended up going grocery shopping, and none of us were too hungry from having such a big late lunch, so we hit the drink bar at the grocery store. This is the first time I've ever tried anything from there and it was amazing. I had a blueberry lemonade smoothie, and the kiddos wanted apple juice (100 degrees today- we were all a bit drained from the heat). They actually grabbed an apple and shoved it through a juicer right in front of us. Suddenly paying $2 for a cup of apple juice didn't feel like such a rip-off! My smoothie was great, I watched them shove a whole peeled lemon and blueberries in the blender. Hubby tried a mix of apple, celery and beets, which was surprisingly good as well. Now it's got me contemplating wanting a juicer. And a Vitamix. And a bigger kitchen while I'm at it!

Overall, too much sugar today, but not awful either.

Total calories: 1760
Total burned: 2300
Today's workout: Asylum Back to Core

85 Days (Jennie)

Happy Friday! I went for my first run today in a looooooong time, and first run ever in my fugly Vibrams. Although I work out in them daily, I have yet to take them in the great outdoors. Today I worked from home, so it was a nice chance to get out for a quick run and test them out. My pace is fairly slow, I definitely won't be winning any races anytime soon, but I've got to start somewhere.

Calorie rundown for today:

Breakfast
3 scrambled eggs with 1 cup wilted spinach, 1 T salsa (that's all I had left!) with a little sprinkling of cheese. And coffee, of course.

Lunch
I made a salad, had to get a little crafty with it though since I was about out of dressing and a few other salad ingredients. Butter lettuce, corn, ground turkey, avocado, green chiles, the remaining teaspoon or so of ranch we had... and enchilada sauce remaining from the other night's dinner. It actually wasn't half bad, although the little bit of ranch helped I think.

PM Snack
Fresh strawberries

Dinner
Burger with cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mustard.

Calories in: 2000 (a little higher than I wanted- but I wasn't planning on a cheeseburger dinner, so I didn't eat accordingly either)
Calories burned: 2300 by end of the day
Workout: 1.5 mile run and 2 1/2 rounds of Cross Fit "Barbara" workout (each round is 20 pullups, 30 pushups, 40 situps and 50 squats)

Cheers!

86 Days (Jennie)

Back to work after my very mini-vacation. It's always nice to get back to the routine. Not that I don't love the time off, but being chained to my desk or meeting-hopping really helps me stick to my health routine. Our cafeteria at the office has a well-stocked salad bar too, which is great.

Rundown for today:

Breakfast
Protein shake (almond milk, spinach, frozen blueberries and vanilla protein powder)

AM Snack
Coffee, leftover fruit salad from last night (yum) and 4 pieces of turkey bacon

Lunch
Chicken and wild rice soup and salad (romaine, red bell pepper, mushrooms, edamame, ground turkey, carrots and ranch)

PM Snack
Granola bar

Dinner
Homemade ricotta pancakes (made with lime this time- I was out of lemon!) with strawberry compote (4 small)

I'm ending today fairly light. I did workout this morning (P90X Kenpo) but was feeling a little blah... I was probably a little dehydrated and felt it this morning. I know I didn't give it my full effort, but even a not-so-great workout is far better than no workout at all!

Calories in: 1660
Calories burned: 2200

86 Days (Mindy)

So today on this faux Monday I forgot to wear my Fit Bit oopsies but I did track my food so that's ok...

I have perfected the perfect delicious morning egg dish that I just love:
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tsp of vanilla
- 1 tsp sugar (this is the only sugar for all of breakfast so I don't feel too guilty about it)
Mixed up then cooked like an omelet, topped with either microwaved apple slices or today was raspberries... so yummy!!

Breakfast:
- The above egg recipe
- 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1 tsp brown sugar and 1T half and half

Snack:
- 1 cup pineapple
- 15 almonds

Lunch
- Spinach smoothie: spinach, peanut butter, 1/2 banana, chocolate protein powder, unsweetened almond milk, ice
- Seaweed salad

Snack:
- Granola Bar

Dinner:
- Spinach smoothie: spinach, vanilla protein powder, blueberries, unsweetened almond milk ( dinner was very late so I wanted something light)
- 1 cup watermelon

Workout: Cardio and chest

Total calories: 1449

87 Days (Jennie)

Alright- catching back up now! After getting home at 2am, we had to be out of the house shortly after 9am for our city's annual 4th of July parade. Our Girl Scout troop walked in it this morning. This is our second year as a troop and the parade is always so much fun. On the bright side, despite missing the morning workout, all that walking really helped to boost the step count for the day.

Breakfast
Not a good one this morning as we were rushing out the door on limited sleep- granola bar and coffee.

Lunch
Scrambled eggs (3) with a cup of fresh spinach, salsa, a little cheese and a quarter of an avocado (thanks to hubby for sharing!)

Dinner
Chicken enchiladas and fruit salad. My grill isn't working (*cry*), so my hopes of grilling something tasty were dashed for the evening. I love chicken enchiladas and decided to try a new recipe I found using a can of soup I had on hand and the left over chicken I made the other evening. The original recipe is from Betty Crocker and can be found here. I made a few minor alterations.

1 can (18.5 oz) Progresso® Traditional Chicken and Cheese Enchilada Soup

1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

2 cups shredded cheese (I used a cheddar blend I had on-hand)

10- 6" corn tortillas (12 tortillas may have worked better here...)

1 can diced green chiles

Combine soup and enchilada sauce, pour 1 cup into bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Lay out 6 tortillas edge to edge to form a tortilla layer, like making lasagna. Mix 1 cup of sauce mixture, 1 cup of shredded cheese, shredded chicken and chiles, add to top of tortillas. Top with remaining tortillas (I only had 4 left, but 6 would have made a nice even layer), top with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350F and serve. According to the website, the total calories per serving is 490. Not too bad for enchiladas!

I made an amazing fruit salad tonight, had to share. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, apple, Asian pear, mango, blueberries, grapes and cucumber (!). The last one I owe to hubby- he wanted to make sure we used it before it went bad. I just peeled it and the darn thing incorporates fairly well with all the other crunchy items.

Fruit salad... yummy yummy!

Dessert
Okay... I did splurge on another macaron. Fortunately the kiddos are devouring the jello and our friends kept the rest of the key lime pie and half the remaining macarons, so the one I had tonight should be my last little splurge.

Calories In: 1800
Workout: A LOT of walking today!
Calories Burned: 2500

Happy 4th of July and a big THANK YOU to all who have fought for our great nation's independence!

88 Days (Jennie)

Okay, I'm posting this a day late, but I didn't forget! We went out to visit friends for their city's 4th of July celebration, actually held on the 3rd. We had a blast (literally!), but didn't get home until 2:00 this morning! Sooo... knowing that I wasn't going to necessarily be eating super healthy for dinner, I tried to keep breakfast and lunch in check to compensate. Sadly, no workout either as I was scrambling to run errands and get items together to bring over for dinner. I planned to, even sat around in my pajamas (I took the day off) until 3pm, thinking that I would be working out and would get ready for the party afterwards. Not so much!

Here's the rundown for the day:

Breakfast
Coffee, turkey bacon and plain greek yogurt with honey and grapes

Lunch
String cheese and a protein shake (vanilla protein powder, frozen blueberries, spinach and unsweetened almond milk)

Dinner
Here's the not-so-good part. A wonderful salad and pepperoni pizza (loooove it- guilty pleasure), at least I kept it to 3 pieces, despite wanting to devour half of it.

Dessert
I was tasked with bringing dessert to our friends' house (did I mention I LOVE to bake? Works oh so well when you're trying to cut back on the refined sugar/flour intake). I made jello (layered blue raspberry, whipped cream and cherry for the red/white/blue effect), peanut butter macarons with chocolate ganache filling and key lime pie. I did keep portions okay, had a small-ish slice of the key lime pie and one macaron. This is why when I bake, I take it to work or let hubby take it to work to share. It's too hard to have the wonderful sugary stuff around, my sweet tooth is relentless!

Overall calories in: about 2000. This is a really rough estimate since I'm using a generic figure for the macaron and key lime pie.

Calories burned: 2100... grrr... definitely need to get a workout in!

88 Days (Mindy)

Hey look I'm back yah :)  I've been eating well and exercising I just got busy and lazy and stopped posting :)

Today's eats:

Breakfast
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 1/2 cup oatmeal


Snack
- Banana
- 1/4 cup almonds

Lunch
- Seaweed Salad
- Smoothie: blueberries, spinach, vanilla protein powder, vanilla almond milk

Snack
- Granola bar

Dinner
- Greek Quinoa Salad: 4 oz chicken breast, cucumber, tomato, red bell pepper, quinoa, feta cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Workout: Gym time, cardio and back

Calories In: 1715
Calories out: 2300

89 Days (Jennie)

How on earth did my day countdown already get into the 80s? It seems like just the other day it was still safely in the 3 digit mark! Time flies when you're having fun, and if 5am burpees aren't fun, then I don't know what is!

I took the day off today and took my kiddos out to see a local museum. We had a blast, sadly, not quite as much walking as I was hoping for, so I made sure to get a workout in tonight.

Breakfast
Homemade banana bread muffin (yes, same muffins I made 5 years ago, horribly stale, not sure why I ate it!), 3 slices turkey bacon, a peach and coffee

AM Snack
No snack- like most museums, the cafeteria food was overpriced and my inner miser took over (especially after paying for admission, 2 bridge tolls, parking, gas...)

Lunch
Late lunch when we got home around 2, so I was HUNGRY. I pat myself on the back for not giving in to stopping on the hour drive home for fast food, but my hunger got the best of me so I looked for a quick fix. Made soup and grabbed a few saltines to snack on while waiting for it to cook. I'm embarrassed to admit I even ate some tortilla chips out of the cupboard (I was that hungry). I really need to get rid of those...

Dinner
Dinner was good, primal-friendly chicken! Free-range organic chicken breast, pound thin, then dredge in a mix of coconut flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cooked in coconut oil. I served with roasted veggies (asparagus, carrots and Brussels sprouts) along with some quinoa.

I may still sneak a little fruit before bed, I just finished my workout and am craving a little something. Sadly, between the banana bread and lunch, I don't have a whole lot of calories to spare today.

Calories In: 2140
Workout: Insanity Core Cardio and Balance, P90X Ab Ripper X
Calories Burned: 2500

90 Days (Jennie)

Sunday funday. Hubby and I took the kids to play tennis today. I took them a few weeks ago, we had fun but I spent most of the time running after balls and helping them learn to serve. Playing with hubby today was a whole other story though, definitely a lot more playing and a lot more running. My hips are hurting! But we were out there a good three hours, I have the sunburn to prove it!

Breakfast
Homemade lemon ricotta pancakes (3 small) with blueberry compote and 3 slices turkey bacon

AM Snack
Granola bar (while at the tennis court)

Lunch
Jamba juice- I have a buy one get one free coupon right now that I'm having trouble not taking advantage of! Jamba has a new light menu which is great, they offer quite a few 24 oz (original) sized drinks for under 300 calories.

Dinner
It was a busy weekend, we were out and about a lot and not a lot of time to cook. We stopped at Freebirds, which is a new (in our area) build-your-own burrito place, similar to Chipotle. I had a steak burrito bowl (grass-fed beef, awesome!), with pico de gallo, corn salsa, avocado, lettuce, a little veggie refried beans, cheddar... tasty! And a few chips (oops).

Dessert
Well, the upside of 3 hours of tennis (and aching hips) is lots of calories burned. We went out for frozen yogurt tonight, I splurged with a few chocolate chips on top.

Total calories in for the day about 2000. Burn should be up to about 2750 by the end of the day. And on that note... time to take these aching hips to bed!

91 Days (Jennie)

Aaaaand... back at it! One so-so day is not going to derail me from my mission!

Breakfast
Oatmeal with half a peach, a little coconut sugar, cinnamon and almond milk.

Lunch
Tuna lettuce wraps (1 can of tuna, 1 chopped hard boiled egg, about a T of relish and 1 T mayo- mix and serve in butter lettuce leaves- yum!

Dinner
Carne asada tacos! I did have 1 taco shell until I realized they were all cracked and not worth the effort. The carne asada was pre-seasoned from the store, but awesome and had a great kick! Had that with some veggie refried beans, spinach, corn (roasted fresh- yum!), salsa and avocado.

Dessert
The downside of running around a fair amount today was that my meals were a bit sporadic. After dinner, I ended up still being several hundred calories under my target for the day, so a little dessert is in order to help make up for it. Healthier dessert of course! Chopped up some fresh peach, blueberries and served with a little homemade whipped cream and a few dark chocolate chips. A-ma-zing! ;)


Today's workout was Asylum Game Day, 60 minutes of craziness! Even with dessert, I'm still running a decent calorie deficit for the day, which will help make up for yesterday's indulgences. Calories in for the day 1600, on track to burn about 2400.

Cheers!

92 Days (Jennie)

Today's one of those days that I have mixed feelings about. It's not too tough to be regimented when I'm at work, I am a captive audience after all. I took vacation today and spent the day with the family and a friend and his son that we haven't seen in two years. We spent the morning at the amusement park (after breakfast out), left for a late lunch, then had dinner out as well. At least theme parks lend themselves well to getting in a lot of steps.

First, the bad: all 3 meals were eaten out. Minimal veggies. :(

The good: I tried to make wiser choices and tried not to completely splurge..

Breakfast
"California omelet" (3 eggs, 1/4 avocado, mushrooms and a slice of jack cheese), part of a biscuit and coffee. Omelet was tasty, but the mushrooms were sauteed in butter which probably kicked the calories far above where they needed to be.

Lunch
Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, a little mayo, ketchup and mustard

PM Snack
Nonfat frozen yogurt

Dinner
Small all-fruit Jamba juice and a pretzel

Calories for the day around 2200, although wouldn't be surprised if it was higher with breakfast being a bit of an unknown (lunch and dinner had the calories posted). Honestly, I was kicking myself all day for this, knowing that I would have to come and report all the bad I had done. But this isn't a bad thing for me, if anything, it reinforces why I like eating healthy and exercising. I don't feel great as I write this, I just feel over-stuffed and gross (for lack of a better term). I easily could have done much worse particularly at a theme park where the temptations are everywhere. It also helps that I can be a miser when it comes to buying food at places like that and don't want to spend $60 for lunch for a family of 4 when I can get something better at half the price!

We're finally home and I was hoping to squeeze in a short workout to help burn some of this off, but honestly, I'm exhausted. On the bright side, my step count is approaching 13,000 for the day, which isn't too shabby!

Happy Friday!

93 Days (Jennie)

Back on track today!

Here's today's rundown:

Breakfast
Spinach protein smoothie (spinach, vanilla protein powder, blueberries, unsweetened almond milk)

AM Snack
Banana and 4 slices turkey bacon and coffee

Lunch
Small caesar salad and tomato soup

PM Snack
Granola bar and a small handful of almonds

Dinner
Dutch Baby- an old childhood favorite that my dad used to make for us. Hubby plays soccer on Thursdays, so the kiddos and I have a Thursday night "brinner" (breakfast for dinner) tradition. I did make a few adjustments to the recipe to make it a bit healthier.

Dutch Baby
 adapted from Alton Brown's original recipe here

1.5 c flour
1.5 c unsweetened almond milk
8 T unsalted butter, melted and divided
6 eggs
1.5 t salt
1/2 c sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Add 5 T of butter to cast iron skillet, pre-heat in oven 10 minutes while assembling other ingredients. Combine the remaining 3 T butter, flour, almond milk, eggs, salt and sugar in a blender. Process for 30 seconds. Pour carefully into the preheated skillet. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the edges are puffed and brown.

What I love about Dutch Baby is that it's delicious with just fresh lemon juice or other fruit, no need for syrup. Quick to prepare and feeds a family of 4 easily. Each serving is 550 calories. Not the lightest of dinners, and I'm still working on alternatives (note, do NOT sub coconut flour- I failed miserably on this attempt). :)

Total calories in today: 1915
This morning's workout: Asylum Strength. On track to burn 2300 by midnight.