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?