Archive | March 2012

BeachBody Challenge Day 34

Mar8

I really need to get to bed earlier. I finished one of the boys’ videos last night. Finding and adding music takes me the longest. Despite how tired I was, I got up and got dressed.  I love that the sun is out bright and early now :-) Now, even though I am tired, I can get up and at least go for a nice 30 minute walk.  If I hadn’t been so tired, I probably could have gone for a run. My knees were still pretty stiff from my long run yesterday. I think that it will just get worse as my runs get longer so I wanted to get into the habit of going low impact the day after.

Sunrise Walk on the peninsula

The sun was just coming up when I went out.  It was a really nice morning and I could tell that it was going to be a beautiful day.  It was nice that the wind had died down a bit too. It was cool but I warmed up as I walked. I don’t take an easy stroll when I walk. I walk as fast as I can without going into a run :-) Low impact but lots of intensity!

I meant to do a workout right after dropping the boys off at school, but I got started on Seppe’s tball game :-/ I got a lot done by the time Ben got up. Finally got Ben to go to the gym with me :-) Well – I went with him.  He is really trying to get back into working out and I thought that if I went with him, it would help. I’ve stayed away from the gym – except for speed training – now that the weather has been so nice because I love running outside. And today was a big reason why I don’t hit the gym often.

Rockin my Tone It Up tank to the gym. Forgive the crazy lady appearance :-)

When we got there, a lady was on the bike talking on her phone. It is my biggest pet peeve! Why even sit on the machine when you’re obviously not getting a workout while you’re sitting there casually pedaling and talking up a storm – and talking loudly.  Ben got on an elliptical. An older lady was on the one working treadmill, so I decided to warm up on the other elliptical.  I decided to do Tone It Up’s Max Burn workout (minus the Itty Bitty workout at the end).  I figured the lady on the bike would be getting off her phone soon since I had no idea how long she was there before us. I finished my warmup, went through the first set of of exercises and lucked out! The older lady finished on the treadmill so I was able to hop on for the 5 min jog interval. I kept my pace easy for my knees. Lady on the bike was talking even louder. Second set of exercises and she was still talking. 2nd 5 min jog, she moved next to me and now I could hear her even over my headphones which I had up pretty loud. ugh! Thankfully Ben told her to quiet down because he was super annoyed. She just plugged in her headset and continued to talk. SMH. I finished up and did Day 8 of the MadAbs March challenge while I waited for Ben to finish. We were going to lift some weights but the lady was still on her phone talking so we left.  Our gym is small so there wasn’t any place we could really go to get far away enough to Not hear her.  Ok enough about that annoying bitch. lol.

Turbo Fire Day 32

I decided to be nice and let Ben have the tv for his video game. I used my laptop to do my workout. I started with Tone30. This one is killer on my arms.  I’m still getting use to the resistance band.  I kind of want to use weights instead, but I’ll stick with the band. Fire30 was also on the schedule for today.  Definitely did better on it today.  I kept it low impact so no jumps or tucks. I did do the sumo burpee  though. My favorite is the second combo. I can really get into that one.

Ended with a 5 min plank.

1 min on hands, 1 min side plank (30 second side dips) each side, 1 min hands (30 sec tummy tucks), 1 min elbows (30 second hip dips)

Meals:

M1: Chobani Champions with raw almond butter and chia seeds.

I try to get every last bit of yogurt :-)

M2: Chocolate Peanut Butter Shakeology. I usually use almond butter but I decided to change it up and use peanut butter.

M3: I bought some collard greens on yesterday so I could try out collard wraps like the one in Tone It Up Nutrition Plan :-) I’ve never had collard greens before and I was a little worried about the taste. I told myself that I’ll never know unless I try it so I bought it. I took my left over quinoa mix and wrapped it in a leaf. I made two because even though the leave were big, I didn’t a lot of filling in so it would wrap. I really like collard greens and I want to try cooking it :-)

Collard Greens

Left over quinoa, chicken, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, and squash mix.

Quinoa mix Collar Wrap

M4: Lara bar.

M5: I made burritos for the boys. Kept it simple for the kids – a little refried beans, ground turkey and cheese. For Ben, I added guacamole and plain Chobani yogurt. I was hoping that it would be a good enough substitute for sour cream for Ben. He can be quite picky so I was glad that he liked it with the greek yogurt. I used whole wheat tortillas. For me, I made salad using the ground turkey I made for boys, red kidney beans, and tomato avocado salsa on top of spinach. I added a bit of plain greek yogurt on top.

My No Taco Salad :-)

Topped with Plain Chobani Greek Yogurt - just as good as sour cream :-)

I wanted to something sweet so I decided to have 5 strawberries.

90 oz. of water. 1 Zico.

BeachBody Challenge Day33

Mar7

TurboFire Rest Day :-)

Today didn’t start off all that well. Yep, I was up late again last night working on the boys’ tball games. Since I was doing a long run, I skip my bootycall workout to help give me more energy.  But I still had to be up early to get Gio to school.  I was running a little late because I had fallen back asleep after my alarm went off :-/  It was a rough morning where I was rushed and very tired at the same time.

After getting Gio to school, I had to get some grocery shopping done.  I was hoping to take a nap just so I could have energy to do my run. At this point, I didn’t feel like doing my run at all. I got a frustrated that there was always something that I had to do – feed Seppe breakfast (since he hadn’t eaten anything since getting up at 7a), help Ben do dishes that have been sitting there for 2 days that he now felt needed to be done, and get Seppe showered and dressed.  I was relieved when Ben took Seppe with him to run his errands and said he would pick Gio up from school. I was starting to think that I wasn’t going to have time to do my run at all.

I felt much better after my hour nap.  It was just what I needed to shake that exhausted feeling. Got dressed, filled my water bottle with some Zico, set my Nike+ app to do 7.5 miles and headed out.  It was a windy day but it felt good once I warmed up. I felt really good my whole run. I felt my knees a little bit after the 5.5 miles but they didn’t hurt.  I do like to do my runs earlier because at the time I went today there tends to be more people to weave through – like middle school kids getting out :-/ Then there were the people who decided to feed birds in the middle of trail and take pictures of them without moving at all.

Getting closer to 9 miles. Big Sur race coming up in April :-)

Got home and Gio was pretty much done with homework :-) Did some stretching and made myself a protein shake. Then I hit the shower and wished I could stay there.  Gio had practice to get to so I didn’t have time to relax after my shower.  I decided to take pictures today so instead of sitting down and watching, I walked around. My legs were pretty tired once practice ended.

I don’t usually do much more on my long run days. Over an hour of running really wears me out. Even though I had a nap today, I could fall asleep right now. I did Day7 of the MadAbs March Challenge. Up to 15 regular pushups :-) Then I did a 5 min plank to end my day.

1 min hands, 1 min side plank each side, 1 min hands, and 1 min elbows.

Meals: I have been really making an effort to stick to 5 meals a day and not eating more than one serving.

M1: Flax Plus Oatmeal with chia seeds, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and just a tad bit of cocoa almond butter.

Fueling up for my long run.

M2: Choclate Shakeology with unsweetened almond milk, spinach and half a banana. I ate the other half of it while I blended my shake.

I also had a mini Luna bar after my nap before heading out for my run. I didn’t want to eat a full lunch but I needed a little something.

M3: Post run Protein shake. This is from the Tone It Up Slim Down and it is my absolute favorite. I usually use almond butter but I used some natural peanut butter that Ben doesn’t like so I’m the only one who uses it.

M4: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabar.

M5: Quinoa, Black beans, chicken, spianch, zucchini, squash, onions, and mushroom mix – seasoned with sea salt. I could have easily had another bowl but I made myself stick to one :-) This is a big deal for me since lately I’ve been going back for seconds ;-) I also passed on pot stickers, rice, and chow mein that Ben and the boys had. I count these moments as small victories that my willpower won.

Protein packed dinner.

60 oz. of water 1 Zicos, and 1 Chocolate Zico. I had the chocolate Zico after dinner so it was like dessert.

The Best!

BeachBody Challenge Day32

Mar6

I tried my hardest to get up for a bootycall workout this morning. For some reason it was super hot in our room last night and I couldn’t get comfortable. I tossed and turned a lot. When the alarm went off, I felt like I hadn’t gotten any sleep at all.  I did get up but everything was in slow motion. Plus, I was sore from my workouts yesterday. I did do Day6 of the the Mad Abs March challenge. Even though I was tired, I did 13 regular pushups.And that was all I could get myself to do.  I figured I needed the energy I had to get the boys ready and off to school.

I had planned on taking a nap when I got back from being a chauffeur, but when I got home I realized that there was a lot to do. I started the first load of the boys’ laundry. I did the dishes and then sat down to pay the bills. After that, I had to rest for a little bit. Instead of a nice 2 hour nap, I got 30 minutes. Even though it was tough, I made myself get up and do a workout. Tuesdays are the only days I get the house all to myself for a few hours so I like to take advantage of it. I needed to make up for not doing my bootycall workout the way I should have. So I did a set of M100’s as fast as I could. Beat my last time by almost a whole minute :-) That got me warmed up so I decided to do a NTC workout focusing on the back muscles.  I realized I don’t work my back that much and I need to incorporate more exercises that do. Shaped Back is only 15min but like every other NTC workout I do, it makes me sweat.  I still had time before having to pick Seppe up so I went for another NTC workout. I had unlocked Lea Michele’s Triple Threat workout yesterday and couldn’t wait to try it. I was little worn out yesterday so I went for it today.  There are no weights in this 15 min workout but OMG! it is tough. It probably didn’t help that I was a little tired from the back workout but still, this is a great Total Body workout.  It’s a new favorite and I know I will be feeling it tomorrow :-)

New M100 Best Time

Turbo Fire Day 30

I wanted to do my Turbo Fire workout before Gio came home, but I got started on creating and editing one of the boys’ tball games, and got carried away. I had forgotten how much time it takes to make these videos and it doesn’t help that I’m a perfectionist so everything has to be my idea of perfect before I consider it done. Lol.  Gio is actually very good at allowing me to do my workout after I’ve helped him with homework.  Honestly, I think it just allows him an hour away from mom watching everything he does :-)

No mismatches between the class schedule and the SuperGym today. It was Fire30 and Sculpt30 for me. I started with Scukpt30. I try to make the resistance harder every time I do this – especially with the bicep exercises. I still feel so wimpy with my arms but I’m working on it.  I also used the resistance band during the first set pushups this time too.  The fact that I could do a pushup with the band just shows me that I’m improving.  I hadn’t done Fire30 in a while so I kinda forgot what it was like but I still just went straight to class. It didn’t take me long to catch on since I know all the moves. I only fell behind a couple times. I was able to increase the intensity by really focusing on my punches and dropping down lower with my legs. This time I did the squat jumps, tuck jumps, star jacks, and the sumo burpee during the fire drills :-)  The only time I don’t jump is with high low punches. For some reason it throws me off but I’ll work on it because it definitely looks neat when they do it.

I think that’s pretty good for today. I am still going to do my PlankADay. I have the @PlankPolice on twitter calling me out because I don’t tweet my planks that much anymore. lol. I’ve really made it  a point to doing at least a 2 minute plank every day.  It’s a simple but effective exercise that doesn’t take long to do and you work so many muscles all at once – especially your core :-)

Meals:

M1:  Chocoloate Shakeology with blueberries and spinach.

Added blueberries and spinach.

M2: frozen grapes and 6 dark chocolate almonds. Can you tell that I have a sweet tooth? lol.

I was craving sweets so I went for fruit and dark chocolate almonds.

M3: Kashi Mediterranean pizza.  This is the only pizza I really ever eat these days.  They taste great and is pretty healthy too :-) Today is my carb up day for my long run tomorrow – going for 7.5 miles (eeeeks!) Seppe loves these too but his favorite is the Margherita one.

My Favorite :-)

M4: Almond coconut Kind bar.

M5: Left over whole wheat pasta with white sauce and chicken. I made the white sauce from scratch using almond milk and organic parmesan cheese. I added some peas and corn. I also used my new favorite sauce (balsamic/honey) and roasted some zucchini, squash and bell peppers. I have to say that the roasted veggies were the best part :-) Make sure to check out FitFoodJunkie.com for the recipe.

All Homemade.

100 oz. of water. I’ve been really thirsty lately. I feel great when I’m drinking enough water :-)

BeachBody Challenge Day31

Mar6

I meant to do have this up last night but I decided to catch up on some episodes of Spartacus. It’s my guilty pleasure ;-) And about the only thing I watch on TV.

I was up late again the night before trying to recover some old videos of my boys that I had lost. I still got up at 6a yesterday  to do my bootycall workout. It was tough though. I had actually woken up at 5:30a because I thought one of the boys were trying to climb into my bed but it turned out to be an earthquake. I just went back to sleep. lol. I found after getting up about the earthquake.

Before doing my workout, I weighed, measured, and took pictures to track my progress. The numbers aren’t that impressive, but I go by how I look and feel. I’m feeling great and I think I’ve toned up a little. I know that I have to really watch my diet in order to tighten and tone up my middle section more.

Weight – 106.4

Chest – 30

Waist – 25.25

Hips – 33

Right Leg – 19

Left Leg – 19

Right Calf – 13.5

Left Calf – 13.5

Right Arm – 9.5

Left Arm – 9.5

On Left - Day1 of the Beach Body Challenge On Right - Day 31 of Beach Body Challenge

Like I’ve said before – I’m not going for weight loss. If anything, I’d like to put on some muscle :-) I’m really focusing on getting a stronger upper body.

My Bootycall workout – Itty Bitty X3 and Mad Abs March Day 5. I did 13 regular pushups and I think that I’m going to keep trying to do regular pushups for the Mad Abs challenge :-) After dropping Gio off to school I came home and did NTC Razor Sharp Workout – reached 1000 minutes and unlocked Lea Michele’s exclusive workout :-) I can’t to try this one out.

Turbo Fire Day 29

When I logged into Team BeachBody’s Super Gym, it had Fire45EZ as my scheduled workout but my calendar said Fire55EZ. I double checked with the Class Schedule that came with the DVD’s and it was Fire55EZ. I guess the auto schedule messed up. Oh well. I did great with Fire55. I’m getting better at the moves so I’m really able to get into it.  Dripped sweat the whole time.  Did all the tuck jumps and star jacks for the fire drills. This is a long class and it wears me out but it’s so much fun.  I ended with a 2 min plank.

All on elbows with a stand up comedy act on tv that made me laugh which actually made it really tough to do :-)

Meals:

M1: Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk with 1/2 tbsp of raw almond butter and chia seeds

I could eat this All the time :-) Adding Chia seeds gives it texture without adding any extra fat or calories.

M2:Choc Shakeology w/ avocado, mango, pineapple and spinach. Small bowl of frozen grapes.

Green tropical Chocolate Shakeology

Frozen grapes are like candy to me :-)

M3: Left over quinoa chk stir fry

M4: Originally going to have a Larabar but my 5yr old decided he wanted it so I had an Almond coconut Kind Bar

M5: Salmon and green beans. Used my girl Sharisse’s  (FitFoodJunkie) balsamic/honey sauce on the salmon and the green beans. It was soooooo yummy. It’s my new favorite :-)

Using the balsamic/honey sauce to season my green beans.

Clean, Lean, and Green :-)

Dessert – 4 dark chocolate almonds.

100 oz. of water.

Update

Mar5

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve done a makeup tutorial or posted on my blog :-( It gets crazy for me during the holidays. And then I just couldn’t get into a groove with doing videos and blogging.

I also started a new blog all about my Life as a mom and my journey to a Healthy and Fit Lifestyle. That has taken a lot of my time lately because it’s easier for me to write about my life. With Makkeup – there is a lot of prep work. Doing beauty videos and blogs is A Lot of Work! I truly admire those who are able to do it Consistently :-)

I’m not quite sure what I want to do. Part of me wants to combine both of my blogs. But I feel that they are two separate sides of me. I still want to do makeup and fashion posts. I just need to find a way to juggle it with my busy mommy world. I think that I will have a little more time once Seppe starts kindergarten :-) So I might just do my best to post when I can and then really get back to it in August.

I hope that you all understand :-) My family always comes first and even my mommy blog gets put aside for a few days when Life demands a little more from me.

As far as my makeup, shoe and fashion addiction – they are all still going strong :-) Especially the shoes! JustFabulous is just about the most wonderful thing in the world! I have added quite a few shoes since my last shoe post. I think my next post will be an update on my JustFabulous collection.

Box from JustFabulous with Birthday Sale Goodies - 4 pairs of shoes and 2 purses. Couldn't resist BOGO :-)

Just recently got some new Stila and Urban Decay. Stila is my all time favorite makeup line and I used my rewards to get some of their newest items. I got a great deal on Urban Decay makeup on Hautelook. I’ve gotten Stila and Too Faced cosmetics from Hautelook too.  I am so addicted to Hautelook for makeup and workout clothes.

Stila is my Favorite Makeup Line - Latest Haul :-)

Found this exclusive Stila Palette in Vegas at Khardashian Khaos inside the Mirage.

Urban Decay from HauteLook :-)

I’ve fallen in love with Sally Hansen Salon Effects – what I call nail polish stickers :-) I always get so many compliments when I have them on and they are super easy to put on. I picked up an expensive brand of them at a mall while in Vegas – Inoco. I’ll do another post on those later.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects - Lace

For fashion – I have started to really enjoy blazers. It just really polishes off a look and adds sophistication. My favorite trend are colored jeans! I want one in every color but for now I have a pair in my favorite color – red :-) I always feel like I’m behind when it comes to trends but I don’t really care because I wear what I Like regardless of the trend.

Red Blazer from Forever21

Cropped Blazer layered with long flannel and tank.

My Favorite Material Girl Black Blazer

I am still very much following the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan. Health is such an important part of Beauty and my skin and hair have improved greatly now that I am living a healthy lifestyle. Exercise helps give me a natural glow too :-)

Supery comfy TIU top :-)

So I hope that you will stick around. I will have new posts and videos coming soon. And I am also working on doing a give away once I reach 1000 views on my blog to say Thank You to all of you who have been patient and stuck with me :-)

“Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful” ;-)
~Mia

Check Out my mommy blog – msmammamia.wordpress.com

BeachBody Challenge Day30

Mar4

Last night I didn’t set my alarm so I could sleep in today :-) It was absolutely wonderful not to hear the sound of my phone. I was awake at around 8a but stayed in bed until 9a.  I tried to go back to sleep but it was no use – that was as late as my body would allow me to be asleep today. It was still nice though. You wouldn’t think an extra couple hours would make such a difference – but it does :-)

I got up and had a mini Luna bar just so that there would be something in my stomach before heading out for a run. I decided to go a different way than my usual. I took the streets and realized why I don’t go this way that often.  The traffic lights annoyed me. I don’t like stopping and waiting. I jog in place but I feel like it messes with my flow. That and it slows my time down.

Sunday Runday :-)

The rest of the day was for laundry, house cleaning, and importing photos and videos.

———————- Turbo Fire Day 28 ———————

Of course I made time for my Turbo Fire workout. I wouldn’t miss doing Fire45 :-) Have I mentioned it’s my favorite? Lol. The first and last combos are the most fun.  I know those two the best so I really have fun with them. The second combo I’m still working on. I did the Star Jacks for the fire drills and the tuck jumps.  The only time I don’t jump is during the high low moves. I get mixed up when I throw the jump in there so for now, I stick to the low intensity version. Stretch10 felt Amazing today.  I think I was also tight from last night’s workouts and from the run this morning. It felt really great to stretch out my arms.

I’d love to do more tonight, but I have a mountain of clothes to fold so I can have a place to sleep. I will be doing a 5 minute plank and calling it a night.

PlankADay - 1min elbows, 1 min hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 1 min hands

I’ve made it through the first 4 weeks! I will do measurements and weigh myself tomorrow morning. I’m not expecting drastic results – especially with my weight. I was never doing this challenge to lose weight. I was looking for something fun and challenging for me to focus on.  I like to do challenges – big and small.  They help me from getting bored and give me something to work towards. I think that it’s what has really helped me stay on track with exercising regularly.

So has there been any changes? Well, I’m not sure what the numbers will say tomorrow morning. I know I could have done a lot better with eating. I don’t think I ate too badly but I can always do better :-) I can say that I feel a lot stronger. I’ve gotten faster in my runs. I’ve gone further on my runs too.  I can do more regular pushups and I can do more reps with heavier weights. I’ve improved in my Turbo Fire workouts. My biggest win is getting my left knee back.  I was really worried that starting this challenge would make my knee worse or that because of my knee, I wouldn’t be able to give it everything.  But it turns out that as I did the Turbo Fire workouts and my other exercises, my knee got better and I was still able to run :-) I am ready to head into the next 30 days with even more intensity!

Meals –

M1: Mini Luna bar and water.

M2: I was going for an omelette but I can never get it right when I have the veggies and eggs in the pan at the same time.  I was really hopeful since it looked like it would be the perfect omelette but when I went to flip it, it just fell apart and became a scramble. It tasted great though.

Looked Like it was going to turn out to be the perfect omelette.

Turned into a scramble - 2 egg whites, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, and 1 piece of Havarti Natural Cheese

M3: Brown Rice tortilla with the last of my chunky olive hummus, spinach, chicken, left over roasted zucchini and squash, and carrots. I only ate half of it.

Brown Rice Tortilla Wrap: chunky olive hummus, chicken, roated squash and zucchini, and carrot.

M4: Trailmix and a Larabar.

M5: Made a Quinoa stir fry – with a red and white quinoa mix, spinach, zucchini, squash, peas, corn, chicken and tomatoes. All I did was season with sea salt and it was actually very tasty. All the flavors worked well with each other.

Quinoa stir fry - red and white quinoa, zucchini, squash, peas, carrots and chicken.

80 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day29

Mar3

Today started off great right away :-) Even though I had stayed up a little too late last night watching a movie with Ben (well he watched it while I slept through most of it because I had already seen it) I got up at 6:30a and headed out for a bike ride. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to do my usual hour long ride because I had a lot to do to get ready for the boys’ first t-ball games. I decided to to do a short 6 mile ride, I kept the gears high and pedaled as hard as I could most of the time.  There are times when passing and crossing streets that I had to slow down.  It’s been a while since I’ve done a bike ride and I could tell. I was able to get up to 14mph before but my legs felt heavy doing 12mph today. Maybe they were just worn out from yesterdays workouts? I just know that I need to get back to riding my bike more often.

The rest of the morning was ruled by t-ball. I packed snacks and drinks so we wouldn’t have to settle for the food at the Snack Shack. It’s mostly hot dogs, chips, and nachos. Gio’s game was at 9a and we were late because they switched fields on us. His game was short but he did really well. We don’t live far from the fields so we had time to go home after his game for snacks and so Gio could change. Seppe’s game was at 11a and he did a lot better than we thought he would.  I didn’t expect him to last the whole game without just walking off the field. He made it through 4 innings :-)

I was pretty tired after we got home. I record all their games so I was on feet walking around for both games. After lunch, I wound up laying down and fell asleep. A couple hours later I got up and made sure to do my Turbo Fire workout.

———————- Turbo Fire Day 27 ———————–

It was all about core and flexibility today with Core20 and Stretch40. It felt like Core20 was harder for me today. Maybe I was still tired? I’ve been working on keeping my feet off the ground during the matt exercises. Those hurt so good :-) Last week I felt like I was making progress, but I had to keep my feet on the ground quite a bit today :-( I did a lot better with the Stretch40 workout though. I can do the triceps pushups and the chataranga :-) My left knee did great. I was able to keep it straight for the triangle pose and when stretching with the band. I think that the stretching in this video really helped my knee get better and that I’ve gotten a little more flexible :-)

Mad Abs March Calendar

I found a Mad Abs March workout on Pinterest that I decided that I’d start today. Since I didn’t start on the first, I had 3 days to catch up on. I did Days 1, 2, and 3 back to back. For the plank – I just added up the time for all the 3 days and did all at once. I did the crunches and pushups separately for each day. I did regular pushups. The last set of 12 was tough. I looked at the calendar and saw that by the end of this month, we’re suppose to do 45 pushups. eeeeks!! Not sure if I’ll be able to do all 45 regular pushups but I’ll be trying :-) I figure if I follow the calendar, it will help me get to 45. Decided to do a 4min plank to end my  day :-)

PlankADay - 1 min hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 1 min hands

Meals –

M1: last slice of zucchini loaf because Seppe took a couple bites and decided he wanted something else. Had a Chobani Champions Vanilla Chocolate Chunk with raw almond butter and chia seeds. I’m kind of addicted to adding chia seeds to my breakfast.

Small but filling breakfast

M2: Grapes and a Luna bar in between the boys games.

M3: Ben decided to go to Panda for lunch and I was too tired to put much effort into making anything. I went for a Veggie Bowl with Chicken and String Beans.

M4: Snapea Crisps and Olive Tapenade.

M5: Panko Tilapia, broccoli, and roasted zucchini and squash. I used a little olive oil and sea salt for seasoning. This is the first time I’ve cooked veggies in the oven. I think it’s going to be my new way of cooking veggies from now on. It’s so easy to do :-)

Veggies going into the oven :-)

The rest got cut up and put in the freezer :-)

Fish and Veggies - had to finish off the left over broccoli and Tilapia

80 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day28

Mar3

Yesterday WordPress decided to suspend my blog :-( Apparently, I had violated their Terms of Service but I wasn’t given any information on How my blog did so. This was so upsetting to me. I wasn’t sure what I would do if they didn’t reactivate my blog. Yes, this stressed me out a lot! I’ve worked so hard on my blog for the past year. It would have been heartbreaking to lose everything. I contacted them right away but wasn’t expecting to hear back from them until their support team was back on the 6th. I was extremely happy to get an email this morning telling me that it had been a mistake due to their Auto Spam filter and that my blog was active again :-)

I had actually written this post last night so I wouldn’t have to try to remember everything. My short term memory isn’t all that great these days. lol. I blame it on the boys and lack of sleep.

So here is how Day28 went for me:

Today went pretty well. It’s the first Friday in a while where I didn’t do a long run. It was kind of weird. Lol. It was also the first day I was able to go out for a run again first thing in the morning.  I love that it is light enough outside at 6:30a that I can go run. My favorite bootycall workout is running. It really helps me wake up. I don’t worry about my speed this early in the morning.  I go on an empty stomach so I don’t have much fuel for a Fast run. I do try to run a good pace though. I do 3 miles and it’s perfect because I get back at the time I need to wake the boys up for school.

—————— Turbo Fire Day 26 —————-

I wound up doing a bunch of errands for most of the day. I finally got a chance to do my Turbo Fire 55EZ after picking Gio up from school.  I did so much better this time around.  I did the tuck jumps during the fire drills! I think I even got higher this time. I can really tell the difference when I’m going all out during the workouts. I’m out of breath most of the time :-) And it’s easier to crank up the intensity when I know the moves. This one has a lot of kicks. I had to take it easy on my left side because my knee wasn’t feeling to strong when I kicked.  I’m being careful and listening to my body so I can avoid getting injured. I want to be able to complete the Turbo Fire challenge and continue training for my half marathon.

I followed it with a quick M100. I beat my time by 10 seconds :-) And that was after a kick butt Turbo Fire class. The burpees are the hardest part for me. As much as I dislike burpees, they are really good for getting the heart rate up.

My new personal best for the M100's :-)

I also did the Tone It Up Happy Hour Challenge of 30 Lunges every hour.  I did miss a few hours but I made it up by doing several sets of 30 at one time.  I started at 8a and ended at 7p.  Doing my PlankADay (2min) and that’ll be it for me.

Meals –

M1: Maple Nut Oatmeal with unsweetened chocolate almond butter, cocoa almond butter (1/2 tbsp) and chia seeds. I really love adding chia seeds to my breakfasat.

A Very yummy breakfast. I couldn't even taste the Chia seeds.

M2: On the go – Zico and Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna bar with grapes. Zico and a Luna bar is my absolute favorite snack to have. I only had half of my Luna bar and grapes because Seppe decided that he was hungry and wanted me to share with him.

My Favorite Snack - only got to eat half the Luna bar.

Seppe took the other half of my Luna bar and ate most of my grapes.

M3: Same as yesterday – quinoa and veggie pasta with lemon pepper chicken.

M4: Larabar and handful of homemade trailmix.

M5: Panko chicken and broccoli. This is a favorite with my family. It’s a healthy version of chicken nuggets or chicken tenders. I think I’ll have to make this in bulk and freeze it so I don’t have to make it All the time. lol.

80 oz. of water.

BeachBody Challenge Day27

Mar1

Today started off pretty good :-) I forced myself up to do my bootycall workout. It was light enough to go out and even though it was cloudy, I decided to head out for a brisk walk.  I really like going out for a walk/jog first thing in the morning. It usually helps me wake up.  I knew it was going to be raining for most of the day, but I pulled on my rain coat and went out anyways. It only rained on me at the end.  I go for two miles and walk it as fast as I can. Walking shouldn’t be taken lightly. I think it is a really great low impact exercise that Anyone can do.  If you do it at a quick pace, engage your core, and focus on good posture, it can be a decent workout :-) Plus it gives my knees a much needed break from pounding the pavement.

My favorite part about early morning walks/jogs - the trail is pretty much empty. All mine :-)

Last little bit of the sky before the clouds took over

Then it was time to do my usual morning routine with the kids. It was a little difficult with Seppe this morning but we all got out the door in time. After dropping the boys off at school, I decided to do a workout.  I wanted to do some strength training so I turned to my NTC app. Went for the 45 minute Challenger workout. I was dripping sweat the Entire workout. A minute never seems so long unless you’re doing these intervals with NTC. If you have an iPhone – I highly recommend downloading this app! I wanted to do a set of M100’s but ran out of time :-(

————————— Turbo Fire Day 25 —————————

I was a little frustrated because my Turbo Fire workout got pushed back further than I wanted it to be. Sometimes Ben can wind up dominating our schedules. It was HIIT20 and Sculpt30 today. And let me tell you, I totally took my frustrations out on my workout. I jumped higher – not that it was super high – but I did all of the jumps.  I hit like I was really punching someone in the face – it may or may not have Ben’s that I imagined. lol :-) I was able to keep up pretty well this time around on the HIIT.  I remembered the moves and was able to really focus and venting my anger.

Sculpt30 was as tough as I remembered it. I did challenge myself even more this time through.  Added more resistance to some of the moves.Didn’t stop when it burned and did all the pushups at the end :-) I didn’t add the resistance band with the pushups though – maybe next time.

I wanted to do one more workout for today, but time wasn’t on my side.  Plus we got some frustrating news about our rent going up super high. There was lots to talk about. I ended with a 5 minute plank – 1 min elbows, i min hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 30 second hands, 30 seconds elbows.

1min elbows, 1 min hands, 1 min side plank (each side), 30 sec hands, 30 sec elbows

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Meals:

M1 – Chobani Strawberry with Raw Almond Butter and Chia seeds – gotta thank my TIU sister @GetFitCat for giving me this idea. She always adds it to hers so I decided to give it a try (It is Try It Thursday after all). Also had a slice of zucchini loaf and half a banana – the bigger half went to Seppe.

Trying Chobani with Chia Seeds and Almond Butter

Yummy Breakfast

M2: I had been craving bacon so I picked up some Turkey bacon from TraderJoes. I decided to cook up some egg whites and sauté some mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. I placed on piece of bacon on top of the veggies, set the egg whites on top of the bacon and added one more slice of bacon on top.  It was soooo good and just what I needed after the NTC workout.  Also had a small bowl of grapes.

Egg whites, turkey bacon, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes

M3: Left over quinoa pasta and veggies with a side of TraderJoes Lemon Pepper Chicken.

M4: Snapea Crisps, carrots and hummus.

M5: TraderJoe’s Turkey meatballs and grilled asparagus. I could have sworn that I took a pic but my boys had my phone for a bit so they may have deleted it by accident :-(

80 oz. of water.

Today is the First day of March and there’s a new Tone It Up March Calendar. I always make mine my Desktop Wallpaper so I can always check to see the challenges. Make sure to get yours – Just click the pic ;-)

Tone It Up's March 2012 Calendar - Make sure to print/save Yours!

I really can’t believe it’s March already! I have a feeling that this year is just going to fly by. New month means New Goals. For March, I will be focusing on getting at least 80 oz. of water a daily, running 8 miles by the end of the month, and continuing with my BeachBody Turbo Fire Challenge.