Motivation Monday

Yesterday was my birthday. I spent a wonderful weekend with my awesome family. Which was exactly what I wanted. I tried to find pictures of my 30th birthday to look at, and I could only find about 2 of them. I guess I was not really into taking any pictures then. I remember having a great time at my 30th birthday with my wonderful family. They are always so great to me. This year was even better than last year. I really was not that upset about turning 31, okay maybe a little. I can tell you I was happier at my 31st than I was at my 30th. So I am looking forward to my 32nd being better than my 31st. This gives me some motivation to keep going and make this year better than last year. So here are a few pictures from my fabulous birthday weekend with my family.

Throwback Thursday

I am going to an orchard tomorrow with a pumpkin patch with the kids. We are so excited about going. The last time I went there I was 8 months pregnant with my son which was 5 years ago. I was looking back at the pictures. I am very excited to go with them and get some new pictures with all the babies. So here are some photos of our last trip.

Tasty Tuesday

Today's post is about snacks. I think this is one of the biggest areas I struggle with. In the past I have fallen into eating all of my kids bag of goldfish and wash it down with a soda and a box of little Debbie's. Sounds great, but I felt terrible afterwards. So if you are eating good meals all day do not waste that with a few bad snacks. I have found it easiest to buy the kids snacks that I also will eat. That way I am not tempted by their snacks into something bad for me, which I feel better giving them healthy stuff anyways. Now I am not going to lie here, my kids do sometimes get special treats that I do not really partake in. I think yes we should eat healthy foods, but it is okay for my kids to occasionally have little treats. So anyways back to our healthy snacks. For my snacks I of course like something that I do not have to put a lot of prep into, and are both health and cost effective. A few clean eating snacks that I enjoy are as follows:

* A slice of pumpkin bread (I posted the recipe the other day), I usually will have a glass of water with it, but a cup of hot tea is also very yummy with it. Most of the time if I have this I just eat this, but you could add maybe a handful of nuts (if you did not put any in your bread) or a piece of fresh fruit.

* 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt (I like Stonyfield) with a drizzle of raw honey or agave, 1/2 cup of granola (you can do homemade or an organic one that does not have a lot of added sugars. I like the ones from KIND. There are a lot of different flavors that are good), mix with some fresh fruits (strawberries, blueberries, banana whatever fruit you have on hand)

* 1/2c unsalted nuts (cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts whatever you have), string cheese (get a brand that is real cheese not processed), and a piece of fruit (pear or apple is my favorite)

* 3-4 celery sticks with organic peanut butter, string cheese

* Fruit/Veggie protein smoothie (use whatever fruits/veggies you have with some organic peanut butter or protein powder)

* Organic carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks and cucumber with 2tbsp fresh hummus

* 1 slice whole grain bread with 1tbsp organic peanut butter, 1 tbsp. fresh jam (grape, strawberry etc...), whole organic carrot

* 1 hardboiled cage free egg with a little pepper, handful of fresh berries

* 1c no salt added cottage cheese with fresh fruit (pineapple, strawberries, blueberries whatever you have), 1/4c unsalted nuts, 1tbsp chia seeds

* 1 apple (I like honeycrisp but whatever you like) cut into slices, 2 tbsp. organic peanut butter

* 1c fruit salad (grapes, oranges, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, pears, peaches, strawberries whatever you like) a drizzle of agave 1/4c chilled quinoa

These are just a few of the snacks I enjoy. What is great is all of these are also kid friendly. There are a lot more, but these are all very quick, easy, healthy and cost effective snacks. I usually drink a glass of water with all these snacks as well. What are some of your favorite healthy snacks.

Size matters!!

Today we went out shopping. I didn't get myself anything, but looked around at a lot. My birthday is next weekend, and I was showing my hubby what I want for my birthday :) Well I have been walking around wearing size 16 jeans which are completely falling off of me. I mean it looks ridiculous how big they are on my. Which is great because only a few months ago there was no way I could even think about buttoning them. Anyways today I wore my new size 10 jeans out. My husband said wow there is such a difference when you actually wear the right size clothes for you. I think one reason I was keeping my size 16's was a comfort thing. The other day I took 4 trash bags of my "fat" clothes to goodwill. It felt great to get rid of them. I don't want to sound weird, but it was kind of a liberating experience to drop them off and know that I will never again need them. I still have some of my 16's, but I think I will be taking those to donation next week. I need to completely clear them out of my house. I have noticed that I still look at myself as the girl that could only shop in the plus size section or stores, and a lot of times even those clothes were tight on me. I still have to accept that I can shop in the smaller sizes. I am still focusing what I want to work on instead of what I have already changed. I am working on this. I still look in the mirror and see the overweight girl that has been there for so many years. So I got a big boost today when my hubby told me how good I looked in the right size clothing. I know also it will be very, very soon that I will be able to put on those single digit jeans. Can't wait!! So here are my jeans that I wore today (also my shirt is a medium just a few short months ago I couldn't even dream of wearing a 2x button up shirt)

Scrumptious Saturday!!

Today is the FIRST DAY OF FALL!!!! Yay. My favorite time of the year. I love the decorations, smells, holidays, clothing, leaves, the crisp air, apple picking, foods, and most of all everything PUMPKIN!!!! So today's recipe is pumpkin inspired. This time of year we add pumpkin to everything. I mean it is an amazing food why not right. I love pumpkin soup. I will post that recipe another day, but today I am posting my pumpkin bread. It is delicious and healthy, and guess what even my picky 6 year old son loves it (he calls it my pumpkin cornbread :) ) I used to make a really really unhealthy, fatty version with a box of vanilla pudding mix in it covered in a fatty frosting. I mean don't get me wrong it was delicious, but soooo bad for you. So this is a cleaned up version and it is equally as yummy. I am going to try to come up with a clean frosting recipe for this as well. I know this is not something I will be eating everyday (although I could!!), but we all deserve treats every now and then!! So here is my cleaned up version of pumpkin bread.


Clean eating pumpkin bread

1 1/2c of flour (I used whole wheat, but you can use coconut, oat, rice whatever you have)
1tsp baking powder
2tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp baking soda
1/2tsp ground ginger
1/4tsp ground cloves
1 egg beaten (I used a whole cage free brown egg, but you could do 2 egg whites instead if you want or chia seeds with water if you don't eat eggs)
1/4c dark brown sugar
1/2c organic whole cane sugar (you could use coconut sugar here)
3/4c plain non fat Greek yogurt (if you want a vegan recipe replace with silken tofu mixed with lemon juice or you could look for a vegan yogurt)
3/4c pumpkin (you can do a can (be sure to get a can with no added preservatives or sweeteners or fresh pumpkin puree, but be sure to use a sugar pumpkin)
3tbsp oil (canola, sunflower, olive or coconut)
1 1/2tsp pure vanilla
*optional walnuts, pecans dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x4 bread pan with an olive oil spritzer.

In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger and cloves. Set aside.

In medium bowl mix egg, sugar, yogurt, pumpkin, oil and vanilla until well blended. Add to flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Stir in walnuts, pecans or chocolate if you want. Pour batter into pan.

Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

It is so yummy!! Now like I said I do not eat this all the time, but it is definitely less fattening than the other version I used to make. I am thinking of making a few loaves and freezing some (if they last long enough to be frozen they may all be eaten before then :) ). Please comment with any variations you have on your pumpkin bread.

Fabulous Friday!!

I like to look at my journey and see where I was and how far I have come. I try not to look at where I still want to go, but hey I am human. In my mommy fitness group one of my fellow mommies asked the question what are your fitness goals? I can think of some different things like run a race, do the mud run, do pull ups etc...but what am I working towards? What are my ultimate goals? I know I am not going to be losing weight forever. So I know that my goals will not stay the same. What is that perfect weight or physique I am trying to achieve? I say oh I want the scale to read this number, but does it really matter? I am much healthier at my current weight then when I was about 40-50 lbs lighter years ago, I showed you all the pictures yesterday. So when do I stop trying to actively lose weight? At what point do I say yes this is enough. I think that I am now taking my focus off of weight loss. Yes I would still like to lose some weight, but I am more concerned about my overall health. I would like that toned muscular physique, less body fat more muscle. So while I am working towards this the fat will continue to come off, but my focus is more on building muscle. I believe I will be changing up some of my training routines. I already focus on weight training more, but I think I will be researching some ways to increase that some.

I enjoy doing races, but in the end I am not a runner. What joy am I getting over paying a lot of money to run somewhere that I could do for free? So I do not think I have the desire anymore to try to run a marathon. I am getting ready to do a mud run, I am excited and nervous about this. I will be doing a few 5k's, but I do not think I will really sign up for more than a 5k. I don't know what the future holds and perhaps I will eventually run a marathon, but right now I can say I am not a runner and I am not training like one. I have all the respect in the world for runners. I thought I wanted to be a runner, but the more I train for things I find running is just not my forte. I actually, and this will be in the way future when I have much more confidence, would be much more interested in a fitness competition. That is more in my lane. Something like competing in weight lifting etc... So we will see in the future if I achieve this goal or not.

The other main goal I have is to educate and help train others. I would like to look into in the future becoming a nutritionist, don't worry hubby not as my main career but as a side project :). I think eating properly is the most important thing about a healthy lifestyle. I would love to be able to help teach people how to do this. I know I did not know how to eat properly. I had to do research and teach myself the proper ways. I am still learning and improving my nutrition all the time. 

I also would love to, and once again not as a main career, train people. I do not ever see myself being a personal trainer in a fitness club or anything, but I would love to be able to help train people and help them realize their goals just as I have done. I started my blog and my Facebook page for these reasons. I love inspiring and helping others. It actually helps me stay inspired and motivated.

I always love hearing other peoples goals. Please feel free to share any of your goals with me. I would be more than happy to try to help you achieve them in anyway I can. Also any tips you have for me in increasing my strength training are more than appreciated.

Throwback Thursday

Today's throwback Thursday is going to be a little different. I have been looking at my pictures from when I was smaller not bigger. When I was in high school I was about 140-150. Of course at that time I thought I was too big. As a high school girl I felt fat because yes I was picked on by some other high school girls saying I was fat. So of course that made my self-esteem go way down. I never really talked much about how I was picked on, and how that made me feel then. I hope that my daughter never goes through that. I am bigger now than I was then, but I think I am much healthier now.

Workout Wednesday

Today's workout is what I did a lot of while on vacation SWIMMING!! I think it is one of the best exercises because besides all the benefits it has it is a lot of fun. I mean don't you have more fun swimming than doing say 200 burpees? So onto the good stuff why is swimming so great other than being so fun?

Swimming offers something no other aerobic exercise does: the ability to work your body without harsh impact to your skeletal system. When the human body is submerged in water, it automatically becomes lighter. When immersed to the waist, your body bears just 50 percent of its weight; dunk yourself to the chest and that number reduces to around 25 to 35 percent; with water all the way to the neck, you only have to bear 10 percent of your own weight. The other 90 percent is handled by the pool.
This means that the pool provides an ideal place to work stiff muscles and sore joints, especially if you're overweight or suffer from arthritis.
In its recommendation for the right types of exercise for people with arthritis, the Arthritis Foundation suggests those that stretch muscles, those that strengthen muscles, and those that provide an aerobic workout. A few laps in the pool combine all three!
If the pool is heated, so much the better for arthritis sufferers, as the warm water can help loosen stiff joints. In fact, people with rheumatoid arthritis receive greater benefits to their health after participating in hydrotherapy than with other activities. It's also been proven that water-based exercise improves the use of affected joints and decreases pain from osteoarthritis [source: CDC].


Swimming is also a great way to increase muscle strength and tone. Have you ever seen a flabby competitive swimmer? Yea I didn't think so. For example when you are running you are only moving your body through air, but when swimming you are propelling yourself through water, which is about 12 times as dense as air. So every kick and arm stroke become a resistance exercise. Resistance exercises are the best way to build muscle strength and tone. Swimming has also been proven to help increase bone strength.

Unlike doing a machine exercise in a gym where you are only working one body part at a time, swimming is working your whole body at once. You are increasing your flexibility while swimming through water as you are stretching your whole body all at the same time.

In addition to helping tone the visible muscles you are also building up your cardiovascular health. Because swimming is an aerobic exercise you are increasing the strength of your heart. You are making it more efficient in pumping which leads to better blood flow throughout your body. The American Heart Association reports that just 30 minutes of exercising a day, such as swimming, can reduce coronary heart disease in women by 30 to 40 percent.

Swimming is one of the biggest calorie burners out there. So it is great in helping keep your weight under control. The exact number of calories you burn is based on your own physiology and the intensity in which you are swimming. A general rule is, however, for every 10 minutes a breast stroke burns 60 calories, backstroke 80 calories, freestyle 100 calories, and the butterfly 150 calories. That sounds fantastic right? To boost those calories try intervals. Work hard for short bursts then recover. Go all out for 50 yards then rest for 10-15 seconds, then repeat. You will be tired at the end, but will have burned a lot of calories. Make sure you refuel with healthy snacks and plenty of water afterwards.

There is also research that shows you can help lower your cholesterol, help control asthma symptoms, lower your risk of diabetes, and help lower stress. So it sounds like one of the perfect exercises right? So get out and swim swim swim!! Your body will thank you.

 

 

 

                                                                    

 

 

 

                       

                                

                                        

                                

                                

                                

                                

                                

                                

                                

                                

                                

                                

 

Back to Basics

I have not really been blogging that much the past few days because we were on vacation. I was focusing on spending time with my family. We had a great time. It is important to take time for family. That is the most important thing. I did not eat bad during vacation. I had some meals that were not in my normal eating routine, it's vacation you need to enjoy right :), and I will say that I did not drink as much water the past few days as I should have. I did workout some. I ran, swam a lot, walked and did a few other things. So I did not go crazy, but I did enjoy my vacation. Today I can tell that I did not eat my normal foods the whole time. My body feels achy and my stomach hurts a lot. It goes to show that when you purge your body of all that crap you feel so much better. So since vacation is over it is time to get back to basics. I love the way I feel when I am working out, and even more so when I am eating right. So I am excited to get back to my normal routine again.

Throwback Thursday

Yes I know it is Friday and not Thursday. I am writing this as I am currently staring out at the ocean. I am thinking about our family vacation last year. I had an amazing time then, but I was definitely not happy with myself. Looking back on my pictures I think about the fun times we had, but I felt awful about being out there with the way I looked. Now this year I am not yet where I want to be, but I am a heck of a lot closer than last year. I can't wait for our pictures next year because I know I will be much further along. Here are some of y photos from last year. Like I said we had an amazing time then, I just was not happy with myself.

Workout Wednesday

Let's focus on the back today. This is probably the biggest area I struggle with as far as what to do for it. I like to work my back and shoulders together on the same days. Usually when I go to the gym I do 3 days a week of strength training, back and shoulders one day, legs one day and biceps, triceps and chest another day. I am thinking about changing it to 4 days and doing one day chest and abs. We will see how that works. These are just my days in the gym of strength training. I do cardio there sometimes, not that much I am thinking about adding some more of that to my routine, and of course I do lots of other things at home.  Anyways I have gotten side tracked again. Back to the back :) (See what I did there). My go to exercises for the back are dickersons, lat pulldowns and seated cable rows. I do other things as well, but those 3 are in my routine every week.

Let me explain those three to you.

Dickersons (straight arm pulldown)
You are standing on this one, I like to use the short straight bar. Attach your bar to the cable machine at about shoulder height. Grab the bar walk backwards a little bit, and pull down with your back not your arms.

 

 

 

Lat pulldowns

You are seated in this exercise. Sit down on the pulldown machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Grab the bar with the palms facing forward. You can do a wide, medium or shorter grip depending on what you want to work on exactly. Pull the bar down in front of you, not behind your head, until it touches your chest. Once again you should be using your back to pull it down. Slowly raise the bar back while staying seated.

 

 

 

 

 

Seated cable rows

You are also obviously sitting in this one at a low pulley row machine with a V-bar. Sit on the machine with your feet on the platform and grab the v-bar (your palms will be facing each other). Your knees should be slightly bent. Your back should be slightly arched with your chest sticking out. Keeping the torso stationary pull the bar back towards you (once again using your back to pull) also try to keep your elbows close to your body.

 

 

 

 

What are some of your go to back exercises?





Remember today

As most Americans will for the rest of their lives I remember exactly what I was doing on this day 12 years ago. I was 18 years old still living with my parents. I remember waking up and walking in the living room seeing my dad watch the news and tell me what had happened. I did not at first fully grasp what was going on. I kept watching the news horrified about what had happened. I was watching as they showed the 2 plane hit. I just remember crying. My younger brother was a senior in high school. Shortly after seeing this we went to pick him up from school. I remember going to the store with my mom later that day, and everyone seemed to be just a little bit nicer to each other. All of the stores closed early that day. I do not think as a nation we have ever been closer to each other then on that day. I remember them playing I'm proud to be an American over and over on the radio, to this day I cannot listen to that song without tearing up. I have seen countless videos, footage, photos, remembrances of that day and every time I see them they make me tear up. This morning as we woke up I tried to explain to my 4 and 6 year old sons the significance of today. I told them what happened, not in gruesome detail but something that a 4 and 6 year old could understand. They said why would someone be so mean. They both seemed upset. So we took a few moments of silence while they were both sitting in my lap, and prayed together. We prayed for the country, the families that lost loved ones, the loved ones lost, New York city, the police men, firemen, and EMT workers, and also for the "bad guys" (that is what they said in their prayers). I was touched that my children could be so thoughtful. I know they do not fully grasp the situation, but just having them even for just a few moments think about others and pray for them was very heart warming. So please take this day to remember the ones who lost loved ones and the loved ones lost. Take today to love each other and do something for someone else.

I was at school last year on September 11. We spent our whole class time talking about where we all were, watched videos and prayed for everyone. This video here really touched me a lot out of all the videos we watched.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZFkZiwMLZ4

Tasty Tuesday

Since fall is coming up I know a lot of us will be pulling out our crock pots to do some easy cooking, although I must say I use mine year around. So today's recipe is going to be a crock pot recipe. Now we do not eat beef that much in my house. We prefer to eat the lean meats, we mainly eat chicken, turkey and fish. Occasionally we do have beef or pork. It is a "special treat" sometimes. So here is a beef recipe for you that is yummy, easy and healthy.

Beef roast

3-4lb grass fed London broil (I like to get mine at the farmer's market, but anywhere that you can find one is fine) with all the fat cut off
1/2lb portabella mushrooms cut in half(you can use a different kind of mushroom, but this is what I like)
2 cups low sodium organic vegetable broth (you can use chicken or beef and you can also make your own)
1/2 purple onion chopped
4 organic carrots chopped
1tsp garlic powder
dash black pepper
1tsp oregano
1tsp parsley

Add your broth first, then mushrooms, carrots and onion. Place the roast on top of this and add seasoning to the top of the roast. I put it on high for 2 hours then low for another 3-4 hours. Now if you are putting this on in the morning before work or something you can just do low for about 6-8 hours or so. I will check it about 30 minutes to an hour before serving and mix it up and make sure it is all shredded.

My whole family loves this especially my picky husband and picky 6 year old. They usually have seconds on it. I have served it with a lot of different things. You could do sweet potatoes, brown rice, wild rice, whole grain pasta or quinoa pasta. Typically we will have steamed broccoli with it (that is my husband and 6 year old favorite veggie), but you could really do any kind of veggie with it. The best thing is with having a bigger roast there is typically leftovers. It is actually much better then next day. You could eat the leftovers the same way or try it as a sandwich. You decide what the right size roast is for you. You can do a smaller one just make sure you cut everything in the recipe down, or you can do a bigger one just make sure you are adding more of everything else as well. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. As I said we do not eat beef often so this is a treat meal for us.

This is a pretty good broth to choose, but the best would of course be homemade. I will get together a recipe for that to post.



Motivation Monday!!

You know one thing that motivates me to keep going? To be able to go into a store, and buy any outfit I want and not just the ones that are in my size. I never again want to have to go to a "special" size or store. I do not want to see that little W after the number or an X in front of another letter. I want to walk into a store, and if I like something just get it. I do not want to just settle for the clothing that is in the larger sizes and will help hide my body.