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.

94 Days (Jennie)

Oh Wednesday... you haven't been kind to me! A few months ago, my phone took a bad fall and all the king's horsemen and all the king's men couldn't put it back together again. Actually, it still works, but the cracked screen causes it to lock up from time to time and the only thing I can do is pull the battery to reboot it. At 5:00am, my cell phone alarm dutifully goes off and proceeds to lock up. Half-asleep me fumbles for the snooze and after a minute or so I realize it's not just me, that it's locked up again. So I (still half-asleep) continue to fumble to get the case off, then pull the back off the phone and take the battery out to shut off the blaring alarm. I decided to close my eyes for just a few minutes, then get up... and an hour and a half later I did. Oops. Needless to say, the AM workout didn't happen.

Fast forward to lunch, we went out to celebrate a coworker friend's birthday. Going out is always a challenge, but I stuck with salad and skipped the amazing looking bread. Victory! We also went out for dinner (had errands to run as soon as I got home from work, no time to cook dinner), and I did my best to make wiser choices there too. Last but not least, frozen yogurt. Again, not the greatest, but far from the worst too. I stayed away from all the tasty candy and cookie toppings if that counts!

Moral of the story- I'm trying to do my absolute best over the next 100 days. I'm sure there will be days that I can't squeeze in the workout or restaurants that don't offer the healthiest food. But I'm really trying to at least choose the optimal thing that I can for the situation that I'm in.

Breakfast
Small banana muffin (homemade), 4 slices turkey bacon and coffee


Lunch
Salad (spring mix lettuce, carrots, steak, blue cheese, tomatoes and balsamic reduction dressing)

PM Snack
Banana and yogurt

Dinner
Baja Fresh steak and shrimp baja bowl (didn't eat the entire thing though!), along with a few chips

Dessert
Chocolate and almond frozen yogurt

Right now I'm sitting at 1990 calories. Not great, considering I've barely burned above 2000 today. Considering what it could have been though, I'm pleased overall. Time to get a baby workout in before bed and back to it in the morning!

94 Days (Mindy)

Happy Hump Day woot woot!

I hate end of the quarter time, work is crazy... and this week is especially crazy because I was out half the day Monday for a doctor's appointment, today I had an all day meeting and tomorrow I'll be out for a few hours at a dentist appointment *uh groan*... but I am proud of myself because despite working late every night this week I've managed to get in something of a workout!  Enough venting....

Breakfast
- Oatmeal topped with 1tsp brown sugar, a cut up banana and splash of almond milk
- 2 eggs scrambled with a little bit of salsa


AM Snack
- Blueberry greek yogurt


Lunch
- Subway foot long veggie sandwich, no cheese and only mustard


PM Snack
- 1 cup cantaloupe


Dinner
- Yummy yummy salad: chicken, lettuce, tomato, avocado, cucumbers, Parmesan cheese, and blue cheese vinaigrette dressing

So I got home tonight at almost 8PM from work and I knew I wanted to do a quick but effective workout I of course turned to the one and only Zuzana!!  She is all about short powerful workouts using maximum effort and I am gradually going through all of her ZWOW workouts... today was ZWOW #3.

Total Calories Eaten: 1576
Calories Burned (at 9:30PM): 1937 so I should hit 2100 by the end of the day

95 Days (Jennie)

Happy Tuesday! Another busy day at the office, but I was able to sneak in a walk at lunch time today which I've really missed the last few days. Unfortunately we've had a few of these marathon meetings lately that run for 6 or 7 hours a day and make it hard to get a walk in, let alone any actual work.

Here's how today went:
Breakfast
Spinach protein smoothie (spinach, vanilla protein powder, blueberries, unsweetened almond milk)

AM Snack
Banana and 4 slices turkey bacon

Lunch
Salad (romaine, red peppers, turkey, cheddar, corn, avocado, jalapenos, edamame and a little ranch).

PM Snack
Granola bar and a small handful of almonds

Dinner
Fruit (apples, peaches, kiwi, grapes and raspberries) and deconstructed galumpke...I'll explain. ;)


My husband's mother's side of the family is from Poland originally. My mother-in-law cooks galumpke, which is a traditional Polish dish, basically cabbage stuffed with ground beef and rice, in tomato sauce. It's simple but delicious, the kind of food that warms you to your core. My husband loves it, but decided one night to try a healthier (and slightly less time-consuming) version. He coined the "deconstructed galumpke" name, so all credit goes to him on that one!


Deconstructed Galumpke
1 lb ground turkey (I used 93% lean)
1 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 
1 cup dried quinoa
1 head green cabbage, cut into bite sized pieces (1"x1" should be good)
4 cans Campbell's tomato soup
2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste


Cook the quinoa according to package directions. My brand called for 1 cup dried quinoa to 2 cups water, then simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking, blanch the cabbage and brown the turkey, adding the Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Drain the cabbage, then add back to stock pot along with the tomato soup and 2 cans of water. Add turkey, sugar and quinoa to tomato soup and cabbage mix. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes to reduce and serve.


This is for the entire stockpot of soup:

 

Don't worry, you won't eat the entire stockpot of soup!

This makes enough to serve 4 massive portions, but more realistically 6 good-sized adult portions, about 350 calories each. The quinoa is a great replacement for the rice, it has approximately the same number of calories, but more protein and fiber than even brown rice. If you compare quinoa's protein and fiber to white rice, it looks even better. Plus it provides all essential amino acids, especially important for those that do not consume animal proteins. You can substitute reduced sodium tomato soup to cut the salt, this will trim about 3200 mg.


So here it is!

Deconstructed Galumpke... and a little fruit on the side

It's not the prettiest girl at the dance, but comfort food at its best. Hearty, healthy and delicious!

This morning's workout was Asylum Speed and Agility, along with a 2 mile walk at lunch.

Happy eating!

95 Days (Mindy)

95 days and counting... this is week 3 of no alcohol during the week... not that I was an alcoholic or anything but I enjoyed a nice glass... or two... of wine at night most nights to help relax from a stressful day at work.  I do miss it but I am hoping the loss of alcohol calories starts reflecting on the scale!

Breakfast
(hodge podge of different yummy things)
- Plain greek yogurt with a 1/4 of Dark Chocolate & Red Berry Granola (brand is Nature's Path and it is so yummy!!)
- Piece of toast with 1T of peanut butter
- 1/2 cup of cantaloupe

Snack
- Kind Fruit & Nut Bar

Lunch
- 2.5 ounces free range turkey breast wrapped in 1 slice of Havarti cheese
- Smoothie with spinach, mango, banana and Unsweetened almond milk

Snack
- Banana
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 3 oz baby carrots

Dinner 
- 5 oz chicken breast
- 1 cup yellow squash and zucchini

 I found this really delicious chicken seasoning at Whole Foods that I sprinkled on both the chicken and the squash and it was great on both!

My workout was from Bob Harper and it was a quick 20 minute workout but I burned almost 300 calories not too shabby!

Calories Eaten: 1626
Burned So Far (9PM): 2064 so I should hit between 2200-2300 the rest of the night

96 Days (Jennie)

Oh Monday, you always come too soon. Today went fairly well. I had a dentist appointment this morning and was up earlier than normal to get the workout in and get to the appointment by 8. I was a bit worried that my energy level would be pretty bad after a very busy weekend and not a lot of sleep, but I did okay thankfully.

Today's rundown:

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

AM Snack
Banana and string cheese

Lunch
Lots o' salad (romaine, mushrooms, red peppers, turkey, cheddar, tomatoes, corn, avocado, jalapenos and a little ranch)

PM Snack
Granola bar

Dinner
Grilled chicken breast, roasted asparagus, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes and grilled peaches. Our little peach tree has been working overtime and the birds were kind enough to leave a few for us, so they hit the grill.

It's grilled fruit!

Dessert
Fresh berries with a little whipped cream. The beauty of making whipped cream is to be able to control the sugar or add a more glycemic-friendly sweetener.

This morning's workout was P90X Kenpo. Total calories in is 1685 and burned should be about 2200 by end of the day. Tomorrow I'm aiming to get a lunchtime walk in to get this calorie burn up!

96 Days (Mindy)

So with the influence of Jackie Warner at my side... at least in paper form, I am probably going to have a somewhat monotonous weekly diet, but hey whatever works.  My goal is 3 meals a day 400-500 calories each then a morning snack and afternoon snack 150-200 calories each.  No starchy carbs after lunch and protein with all 3 meals and 1 of the snacks.  Make sure to drink minimum of 1 gallon of water per day as well.  And during the week NO alcohol... but I refuse to give up my wine on the weekends!

Here is how today went:

Breakfast:

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter smoothie (Oh mama this one was great!!)

- Frozen Banana

- 1 cup of spinach

- 1T peanut butter

- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder 

- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

I also snacked on 1/2 cup 1.5% cottage cheese when I was making my food.

Look at all that yummy spinach!!

Morning Snack

- Apple

- 1/8 cup almonds

Lunch

- Salad from Trader Joes with mixed greens, tomatoes and mozzarella

- 1 leftover oatmeal cookie mmm home made could not resist

Afternoon Snack

- 1/2 cup cottage cheese

- 1/2 cup pineapple

- Strawberry Serenity Kombucha (I rarely buy these because they are so expensive but I was at Whole Foods the other and just could not pass it up)

Dinner

For dinner I had tuna salad stuffed into bell peppers instead of bread

- 1 can of albacore tuna in water (total of 1/2 cup)

- 1 oz of plain 2% greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise

- 1-2T deli brown mustard

- Spoon of relish

- 1T parmesan cheese (the real non powder kind)

- Pinch of dill, pepper, onion powder, parsley

Sliced up 1/2 cucumber on the side

The tuna mixed really well with the bell pepper, it was so delicious!!

For my workout I ran for 30 minutes, then came home and lifted weights a la Jackie Warner.

Total Calories: 1536 

Total Burned (as of 9:10PM): 2564

Monday Happy Day(Mindy)

So as Jennie said we spent the day together yesterday up at my Dad's house and we meant to take a cute picture together to post on here for our profile... I swear there are two of this writing I don't just have multiple personality disorder... anyhoo....

So today was a very happy day for me... about 3 years ago I really got into running but stopped during my training because I began suffering with horrible arch pain when I hit about mile 2 or 3.... I didn't go to the doctors or anything smart like that I just stopped running.  When I did things like pushing back from a lunge, jump rope, jumping or any similar activity I would still get a twinge of arch pain.  Fast forward 3 years and we signed up for the Tough Mudder.  I decided to start running again in preparation for the Mudder and this time it only took me to about the mile point before the old familiar awful pain came back... This time I was smart and made a call to a foot specialist and saw the doctor today.... diagnosis is likely severe plantar fasciitis towards the ball of my foot and I probably just need some sessions of deep ie. painful sports massage, possibly orthotics,  as well as some at home remedies and after a few months I should hopefully be on the road to recovery YAH!  I was so scared I had torn something.  So my doctor wrapped up my foot really tight in a way that really pulled my arch upward and he told me to keep it wrapped up today, go home after work and go running and when I get back from my run call him and leave him a message to tell him how it went.

So run I did and let me tell you it was amazing... a little bit of pain but nothing too bad... I pushed what was going to be a quick 20 minute run into 30 minutes because I could and my foot was not screaming at me like usual.  Now I just need to find waterproof tape to wrap my foot that can withstand the Mudder Mud!!

97 Days (Jennie)

Today was a good realization. Sometimes it's not always about what you do and instead what you don't do. Mindy and I took the kiddos up to visit our Dad and Grandma. We all had a great time, sadly, he lives about 3 hours from here, so I skipped the workout this morning so I wouldn't have to get up at 5am (especially since I didn't go to bed til midnight!). I had a tasty BBQ burger. Far from diet food, but... (stay with me here)... it's what I didn't eat. No chips, no dip, no potato salad, no desserts. Have the burger, but keep the sides healthy, veggies and watermelon. Dinner was a quick stop at a local Tex-Mex place where I indulged a bit with cheese and steak enchiladas, but after 200+ miles of driving and two overly tired fighting kiddos... insert excuse here. :)

Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with spinach and 3 slices turkey bacon

AM Snack:
Caramel light frappuccino (okay okay, not my healthiest day!)

Lunch:
Burger on whole wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, light mayo, pickles, mustard and ketchup
Watermelon and veggies with a little ranch
These crazy addictive apple straw things... not terrible, but only had a few too!

Dinner:
 Aforementioned cheese and steak enchiladas. I did leave the rice and beans mostly untouched and only had a few chips, hopefully not a total loss!

Workout- No! :(  Breaks aren't a bad thing though, and a recovery day was probably in order. Visiting Grandpa always gets me up and moving around a bit, even with all the driving, I should still hit about 2200 calories burned by end of day.

Tomorrow- back to the craziness!

A Pep Talk to Myself (Mindy)

It has been well over a week since I have posted anything and it is mostly due to incredible frustration I have been feeling lately... I have been working out 5 days a week the past 3 weeks, and except for the weekends when I was not tracking, my calorie intake has been well under my calorie burn according to my Fit Bit... what is going on?!?

I think it has a lot to due with the fact that I only have about 15 pounds that I need to lose so it will be a slow process and due to the sad sad realization that I need to give up my nightly 1-2 glasses of wine if I ever want to lose this weight!

I have been reading a really great new book by Jackie Warner and watched a few recent documentaries about the effect that sugar consumption causes on our waistlines (including sugar alcohol)... and it has made me remember how losing weight is so much more of a process then calories in vs. calories out.  The biochemistry of the specific food items that we eat have a very large effect on our enzyme levels, ability and speed to metabolize our foods etc.  I will blog more about the specifics of the book later as I will be implementing her food recommendations over the next few months to see whether this is something my body embraces.

So back I jump on the bandwagon... not that I really fell off eating/workout wise... I just need to make some tweaks regarding what I am putting in my body and track everything including on the weekends when I am allowing myself my treat meals!  My diet may be boring for the next 96 days but at least it should get me to where I want to be!

I spent the day today with my sister and we spent a lot of time talking about what we are eating our workouts etc., and she has burned the fire in my belly again... partly because I'm jealous as she looks so amazing... she has truly worked her ass off and I am so proud of her!!

And now I am off to drink my last little bit of wine left from last night and bid her ado until next weekend!

98 Days (Jennie)

Hooray for Saturdays! I actually had a pretty productive day today. Attended to my horribly overgrown yard, filled the green waste bin with grass clippings, pulled some weeds and still managed to get the workout in this morning (hooray!). We had a busy day with a birthday party later in the afternoon, so it was a bit of a challenge to get it all done, but mission accomplished thankfully!

I love making breakfast for the family on the weekends, it's nice to sit down and enjoy a meal together as opposed to the normal craziness of the week. This morning I made Baked Oatmeal, which I found on Annie's Eats blog here. I love her site, she has many amazing looking dishes and, as a fellow mom of young kiddos, keeps me inspired to keep cooking fresh wonderful food. I do make a few minor modifications to her original recipe, basically eliminating the pecans (kiddos don't like them), sub unsweetened almond milk for the regular milk and today I made it with half peaches and half blueberries. It's a very versatile dish, I always use the bananas as the base, but blueberries, peaches and and raspberries have all done well as the second fruit. Definitely use ripe bananas though, the only time it hasn't been so great is when my bananas were still a bit too green, it made the dish taste very starchy.

Oatmeal awesomeness!

Here's the rundown for the day.

Breakfast:
Baked Oatmeal

Lunch:
Plain greek yogurt with honey and grapes (I was in a rush to get cleaned up from yard work, get to a party and finish a pie... yikes!)

Snack (on the go on the way to the party):
String cheese and granola bar

Dinner (at the birthday party):
6" roast beef sub, watermelon, strawberries and carrots/snap peas from a veggie tray

I did stop for an iced raspberry latte on the way home. Not exactly the greatest, but I was tired and had an hour drive ahead, so I justified it. :)  I'm a little light on the calories today, but didn't want to overdo earlier in the day since I wasn't sure what we would be having for dinner at the birthday party. Total calories in: 1600

Workout for the day was Aslyum Back to Core. Not too intense of a workout thankfully since I followed it up with close to 3 hours of yardwork. 2500 calories burned so far according to my Fitbit with an hour left to go in the day still.

Tomorrow the family and I are heading up to visit my Dad for a belated Father's Day BBQ. So maybe all those saved calories from today will come in handy.

Have a fantastic weekend!

99 Days (Jennie)

I'm cheating a bit and writing a bit early before dinner, but want to make sure I got this in tonight. Today was a lot of fun, we had our year-end lunch for the Controller's group at work (year-end in June since we just finished audit). This year's event was bocci ball, which was so much fun. But as much fun as all that is, work events are a huge challenge for eating healthy. Today was no exception- tasty food everywhere I looked. Pizzas, tons of appetizers, desserts. So what's a girl to do to keep on the clean diet path? Fill plate with salad!

Mmmm... salady

Not the best picture, but it was tasty. Lots of spinach, lots of romaine, some mandarins in one salad, Parmesan, pine nuts and some eggs from the other salads (3 mixes on one plate). I did go back for a few prawns later; salad is great, but doesn't fill me up for long without some protein in the mix. I'm proud to say that even with the dessert table right next to the salad table (even had to go to there to get a fork), I didn't touch any of it. No cheesecake, no tiramisu, no lemon bars... they were all calling to me but I held true to my mission. *pats self on back*

Here's the count for the day:

Breakfast:
Vanilla protein shake with almond milk, spinach, and blueberries
Turkey bacon and coffee

Lunch:
Lots of salad, 3 boiled tiger prawns, a few veggies from the tray

PM Snack:
Granola bar

Dinner:
TBD- but it's looking like we're grilling burgers. My calorie count looks good for the day so far, so I'll splurge a bit here. And it's Friday, so what the heck? ;)

Today's workout was Asylum Vertical Plyo and some yardwork (hey, pulling weeds is hard work!)

Off to get dinner with the family. Cheers to a great weekend!

100 Days (Jennie)

Tomorrow, we're officially into double-digit days left before Tough Mudder, yikes!!

So far so good! I'm a bit of a broken record when it comes to breakfast and snacks which is going to make this a little repetitive... breakfast and snack choices always seem limited for on-the-go. I do start checking out more recipes, especially things that can be made at night and reheated or just grabbed in the morning on the way out the door.

Breakfast:
Vanilla protein shake with almond milk, spinach, and blueberries
Turkey bacon and coffee

AM Snack:
Greek yogurt
Small handful of almonds

Lunch:
Healthy taco salad (sans the "taco")  :)  Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, corn, avocado, jalapenos, cheddar, ground turkey and a little guacamole ranch dressing

PM Snack:
Granola Bar
Small banana

Dinner:
Tuna rolls (tuna, mayo with olive oil, relish, wrapped in butter lettuce)
Fruit salad (bananas, apples, strawberries, blueberries)


And because I was having a dessert craving... some plain Greek yogurt with a little honey and red grapes. It was just enough to quiet the sweet tooth and keep me away from the cookies I made hubby last night! Calories burned for the day was 1988, on target to burn 2400 per my trusty Fitbit.

I'm a big fan of Greek yogurt, Chobani in particular. One 6 oz serving of nonfat plain yogurt has 140 calories and 23 grams of protein, twice the amount in normal yogurt. It's filling and very versatile- add fruit, honey, or sub in baked goods. It also provides 30% of your RDA for calcium. Best of all, it's an easy and healthy snack to take on the go.

I am tasty and delicious!

This morning's workout was Asylum Strength. My goal was to make it through the entire workout with 15# dumbbells, thrilled to say I did it! Even knocked out a few of the rotational jumps holding a 45# kettle bell... wowwowwow... that was a challenge. My inside forearms, of all strange places, are even sore. I was planning to do the P90X Ab Ripper X workout tonight, but haven't been able to separate my butt from the couch the past hour for some crazy reason. That's okay, I'll make up for it in the morning with a hot date with Shaun T. and the rest of the Asylum crew.

Happy almost Friday!

101 Days (Jennie)

Last night's post really ignited something in me. While I was driving to work this morning and realizing that there are just 101 days til Mudder, I thought "hey, why not make these days count?" Really count too, as in eat clean and train dirty kind of count. 100 days from now I will not only be ready for Mudder, but will see a drastic change in my body as well (pics to come!).

Breakfast:
Vanilla protein shake with almond milk, spinach, and blueberries
Turkey bacon and coffee (oh sweet nectar...)

AM Snack:
Greek yogurt
Small banana

Lunch:
Chicken and orzo soup
Mixed greens salad (spring mix, edamame, carrots, celery, bell pepper, corn), raspberry vinegar

PM Snack:
Granola Bar
Small handful of almonds (15)

Dinner (my pork chop plan went awry, I must have frozen them too late, yuck!!!):
Scrambled eggs with spinach and salsa
Turkey sausage patty
Fruit salad (bananas, apples, strawberries, blueberries)

All in all, not a bad day, although a shade under 2000 calories, which I'd like to lower a bit to try to knock off these last few stubborn pounds. Calorie burn according to my Fitbit should hit about 2400 by the end of the day.

Today's workout: Asylum Gameday... 60 minutes of joy! ;)

So that's it... 1 day down and 100 more to go!

A Pep Talk to Myself (Jennie)

I have a love/hate relationship with working out sometimes. In a perfect world, I strive for 6x a week, realistically I try to get in 5 days. Monday thru Friday typically works best, I can stay fairly regimented, get up by 5:15, get my gear on and go! Finish up the workout, get ready for work, get the kiddos ready for school and head out for the morning, happily knowing my workout is already done for the day.

That being said... I still have days when I just don't want to do it. Or weeks when I'm struggling to get in 2 or 3 workouts. Work gets extra stressful and I stay up too late trying to catch up, which means the early morning workouts are generally the first to go. And that's what's going on with me this week. So... a little pep talk to myself is in order.

Dear self-

You skipped your workout this morning. I know you were tired and you haven't been feeling it this week. But time to get back to it. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy, but it will be worth it. Every workout makes you stronger. And in case you need an extra kick in the pants...

 Tough Mudder is in 102 days.

One of my favorite inspirational videos lately that really helps get me back in the right frame of mind:

Time for bed- I have a date with Asylum Game Day in the morning.

Chinese Chicken Salad (Mindy)

One of my favorite meals my Mom made growing up was her Chinese chicken salad!  Amazing sesame dressing, check!  Cruchy ramen noodles on top, check!  Lots of sesame seeds, check!

So I thought I'd try to make a lighter version... not that my Mom's version was not healthy, I just wanted to create a version with less oil and sans the ramen noodles.  Ramen is after all basically just fried white flour and if you use the flavor pack talk about sodium overkill!!  I

Now I will freely admit that this is not half as good as my Mom's salad, but it's pretty yummy and I will be adding it to my meal rotation for sure!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

- 1 pack of Trader Joes Broccoli Slaw (substitute cabbage if you like, equivalent to 4 cups)

- 1 red bell pepper

- 1 lb chicken breast

Dressing Ingredients:

(Dressing adapted from this blog)

- 1 1/2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

- 6 tablespoons rice vinegar (I used unseasoned, but I'm sure the regular would be ok too)

- 1-2 teaspoons sesame oil

- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

- 2 teaspoons soy sauce

- 1-2 Tablespoons sesame seeds (I used 2T which I'm glad I did because those little buggers stuck to my dressing container so I probably only got about 1 T out of there)

- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

- A few squirts of Sriracha sauce (add more if you want it to have more of a kick)

Directions:

1. Mix all of the dressing ingredients together and set aside.

2. Whatever your choice is of chicken preparation.  I boiled the chicken breasts for 20 minutes then let them cool in the refrigerator.  Once they are cool enough go ahead and shred the chicken breast.

3. Slice the bell pepper into small strips and stick it in the bowl with the broccoli slaw

4. Pour the dressing over the slaw mixture and mix well.

5. Add the chicken to the slaw mixture and mix again

6. Enjoy and make sure to throw a piece of bell pepper or chicken to the begging pup at your feet

And the finished plate before I dig in..........

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 239 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  298 Calories from Fat  110

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  12.2g 19%

Saturated Fat  1.9g 10%

Cholesterol  87mg 29%

Sodium  414mg 17%

Total Carbohydrates  10.3g 3%

Dietary Fiber  2.9g 12%

Sugars  4.6g

Protein  36.3g

Vitamin A 11% • Vitamin C 131% Calcium 10% • Iron 13%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Grillin' Girl! (Jennie)

What says summer more than the amazing smell of bbq in the air? I looooove grilling, I really believe almost any item can be made better with those beautiful char marks.

The star of this evening's meal was tri-tip. I cheated a little and bought a pre-marinated one since we were grocery shopping at 4pm and I wouldn't have had time to marinate my own. It was a burgundy pepper marinade, really tasty! That went on the grill first, along with some fresh white corn. I normally peel the corn, wash, then wrap in foil, but decided to try grilling in the husks this time around. I peeled the husks down on the corn, removed the silk, then soaked in cold salted water for a bit. Before placing them on the grill, pull the husks back up to cover the corn. Grill, turning about every 5 minutes, the overall cook time is about 20 minutes.

I also grilled up a sweet potato, inspiration is Bobby Flay's recipe here. Sadly, I forgot to pick up cilantro, so they weren't quite as pretty, but still good. :)  I also only grill one large sweet potato, not the 3 called for in the recipe, so I cut the other ingredients in half generally. Parboil the sweet potato, cut into wedges length-wise (6 or 8, depending on the size of the sweet potato). Brush each side with oil, grill about 2 minutes on each (including skin side). Sprinkle with salt mix (1/2 T salt, dash cayenne, 1/2 t lime zest) and pepper to taste. Add chopped cilantro (if you don't forget it at the store!). The potatoes cook quickly, so they can parboil while the tri-tip and corn cook and grill while the tri-tip is resting.

To round off the meal, I chopped up some watermelon and added a handful of fresh blueberries, which were also at a great price for the season.

I overcooked the tri-tip a bit (note to self, check thermometer!), but it was still good. I really recommend grilling corn in the husk, it gave it a nice slight smoky flavor and the husk kept the corn from drying out. Happy me, happy hubby and happy kids even, a miracle in itself!

Happy grilling!

Sunday Workout (Mindy)

Yesterday's workout was light on the calorie burning so today I thought I would put together my own little workout and try to increase the calorie burn...

Sunday Workout

( I take a lot of these moves from one of my favorite trainers Jackie Warner)

5 minute warm-up with the weighted hulu hoop
2 minute stretch

Resistance Circuit : (x 2 times)
- Squat with shoulder press 20 reps
- Renegade Pushups 10 reps (regular pushup but when you are back in plank position you lift your left arm into a rowing pull back motion)
- Lunges with Bicep Curl 10 on each leg
- Outer Dumbell curls 20 reps

Rest 1 minute

Cardio Circuit
- Burpees: 1 minute
- Jump Rope: 1 minute
- High Knees: 1 minute
- Butt Kicks: 1 minute

Rest 1 minute

Resistance Circuit: (x2 times)
- Dumbbell Dead Lifts 15 reps
- UFCs 20 reps (stand in a squatting position then drop your left leg down, then your right until you are kneeling.  Return your left leg to its starting position and then our right leg.)  10 starting on the left then 10 on the right.
- Calf Raises 30 reps
- Sumo Squats 15 reps

Rest 1 minute

Cardio Circit
- Burpees: 1 minute
- Jumping Jacks
- Running in Place
- Jump Rope

Rest 1 minute

Resistance Circuit: (x 2 times)
- Tricep kickbacks 15 reps
- Ab V Tucks 30 reps
- Dumbell Lateral Raise 15 reps
- Wide Dumbell Pulls 15 reps

Rest 1 minute

Cardio Circuit
- Burpees: 1 minute
- Leap Frog Jumps: 1 minute
- Quick Squats: 1 minute
- High Knees: 1 minute

Rest 1 minute

Cool Down and Stretch

The whole thing took me just a little over an hour and burned 570 calories

Low Calorie Banana Bread Mmmmmm (Mindy)

Yesterday morning I was craving a banana but when I went to grab one out of the fruit bowl they were all staring at me all overly brown and taunting me.   At first I felt defeated, but then I thought hey banana bread!  So I put google to work and tried to find a lower calorie version to make and ended up finding one that was delicious and will definitely be made over and over again!

Banana Bread
Recipe Care of A Hasty Life.com

(Picture taken this morning... see how it looks like only about half a loaf is left... well there is only half left because J and I could not stop munching on it last night it was that good!)

Serving size: 10 pieces

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2T butter, softened
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup ripe bananas, mashed (about 3 small)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (this was not in the original recipe but I had to add it because what is banana bread without the nuts!)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine softened butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.  Add the egg and applesauce and beat another 1-2 minutes.  Fold in the bananas with a spoon or spatula.
3. In a small bowl mix together the flours, baking soda and salt
4. Gently mix in with a spoon or spatula the  flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time and only mix until just combined, do not over mix.  Fold in the chopped walnuts.
5. Coat a loaf pan with non stick cooking spray and pour the batter into the loaf pan.
6.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 5 minutes then let it cool on a wire rack

Nutrition includes the walnuts that I added

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 50 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 119 Calories from Fat 23

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 2.5g 4%

Cholesterol 19mg 6%

Sodium 129mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 21.4g 7%

Dietary Fiber 1.1g 4%

Sugars 7.6g

Protein 3.2g

Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 2% Calcium 1% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Real Housewives Breakfast (Mindy)

So my first experience with Real Housewives was New York and my favorite was Betheny, although I never quite understood why she was in the cast since she was single and was without any kids... regardless I loved her and I love her Blog and the recipes I have tried on it.  So for breakfast this morning it was the Faux Pancake and yumminess ensued!

Faux Pancakes

(serves 1)

Ingredients:

1 Egg

2 Egg Whites

1/4tsp Vanilla extract (she also recommends strawberry, and I think almond may be good too)

1 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. Mix the egg whites, egg, sugar and extract in a bowl until combined

2. Sprain a pan with cooking spray and heat on medium-high heat.

3. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and once it is cooked on one side flip it over

4. Top it with whatever you want, fresh fruit a little bit of syrup or eat it plain!

As you can see I topped mine with a microwaved apple.  You take one apple, I prefer it peeled for this, and cut it thinly, I used my mandolin.  Top it with cinnamon and microwave it in a bowl for about 2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to check it and stir it.  

(Nutritional Facts does not include the apple on top only the pancake)

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 121 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 122 Calories from Fat 46

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 5.1g 8%

Saturated Fat 1.6g 8%

Cholesterol 186mg 62%

Sodium 180mg 7%

Total Carbohydrates 5.2g 2%

Sugars 5.2g

Protein 13.5g

Vitamin A 5% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 3% • Iron 5%

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Saturday Workout (Mindy)

Today was just one of those days where I did not want to actually leave my house and go to the gym, which is one of the reasons I love Daily Burn.

So I strapped on these puppies (which I can't actually bring myself to leave the house in or go to the gym in because well they are shoes with toes and are so weird... more on the Vibrams later).... and logged into Daily Burn.

In the past few days my workouts have been very cardio centered, so today I wanted to focus on more muscle work.  I chose a long pilates workout and a second shorter workout.

The first workout was Power Pilates and while it did not get my heart rate up all that much, it was very ab intensive and I know I will be feeling it tomorrow!!  Calories burned...

I love my Polar heart rate monitor!!

The second workout was LUC 180 and the idea was that it would hit your lower body, upper body and core (hence the LUC) and there were 9 exercises for 20 reps each... 180 overall.  It was decent for a shorter workout but it was not my favorite that I have done so far on this site.

Calories burned...

Saturday Eats (Mindy)

Oh how I love glorious Saturdays, sleeping in and relaxing all day long.... waking up to this sweet face and taking her for a nice long walk.

By the time I got around to eating it was already brunch time so an egg white scramble it was.  

Egg White Scramble

Most any veggies will probably due but our kitchen is running low so bell peppers and tomatoes it was.  I cooked the red pepper first in a little bit of olive oil until it was nice and soft.  Added the tomatoes and cooked them for about a minute then added in 3 egg whites.  

Throw in a side of avocado, fruit and toast and it was an amazing meal.

I did not use enough olive oil so there was a little bit of sticking and burned eggs going on hence the nice brownish tint to the egg whites but it was still delicious!  Total calories: 326

Dinner was a salad beast with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, avocado, left over barbecued chicken breast and Annie's Light Goddess Dressing.  I also had a piece of toast with peanut butter on it as well because a day without peanut butter is no day at all in my book!  Total calories: 493

And tonight will end with a nice glass of red wine... and hopefully a slice of low fat/low calorie banana bead that is currently baking in the oven if it is any good!

Cheers!!

A Few of My Favorite Things (Mindy)

A few of my favorite things that keep me motivated and make me want to be as healthy as possible

My Family (just a few of them)... sis and crazy nieces

My precious angel Bessie

The rest of my family, friends, traveling the world and enjoying many more nice glasses of wine!

Counting Calories (Mindy)

I have a love hate relationship with counting calories, I love it because when I'm actually good about it, it keeps me on track and I steadily lose weight; however, for some reason I just hate doing it... probably because then I have to actually be accountable for what I'm eating and I do not get to eat as much peanut butter *boo*

My favorite calorie counter, and I've tried a million, is My Fitness Pal which is free *yah* and it's both an iPhone and Android application.

I have been very good about it this week and have actually dropped a few pounds!!

Here is what the app looks like:

Here is my diary from yesterday showing my lunch:

It does not keep track of all vitamins that you should be getting and I personally don't agree with some of the targeted levels of things like fiber (should be higher), sodium (should be lower), sugars (I think it's ok to have a little more), but it's still a great tool.

And there are a handful of tools that allow you to track your progress over time which are great.

In the past I have been great for a few weeks, but then I just get tired of doing it and stop... so this time to reach my goal I am determined to stay with it!!

To Eat Carbs Or To Not Eat Carbs: Should That Be The Question?

I thought this was a great article I wanted to post

xo Mindy

To Eat Carbs Or To Not Eat Carbs: Should That Be The Question?

Find Your Motivation (Jennie)

One of the greatest moments when I started to really change my diet and exercise, is when the positive changes started to be noticed by other people. The comments like “wow, you look great!” and the like always make my day. Inevitably there are those that ask how I did it. When I respond with “I watch what I eat, try to cut out refined sugar and processed foods as much as I can, and get exercise daily”, you can almost see their disappointment. It’s like when someone hears that there was no secret formula and it’s just good old fashioned hard work, they give up because they don’t believe they can accomplish the same for themselves.

 I adore cake, pizza, ice cream… just as much as anyone else. My sweet tooth is like the little devil on my shoulder, always wanting a little treat. I love lazy days at home sometimes too, just hanging out with the family. If there was truly a pill, shake, or other magic elixir that would keep me healthy and in great shape, without me having to give up eating anything I want or having to heed the 5am alarm to get up and workout, then I’d be first in line. But, until all my dreams come true, I’m heeding that alarm and picking the salad over the pasta since the end results are worth it for me.

I stumbled on this quote the other day (can’t find the author though): “If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.” LOVE it. It is something I remind myself of every day when that alarm goes off. Ultimately fitness is all about making the right choices every day and not giving up when you make a wrong one. If it’s important, you will make it happen, you will drag yourself out of bed, you will shut down the computer, you will skip the drive-thru. And your body will thank you!