Food Week

Hope you all a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend and started off the Holidays with a ton of fun! I was so proud of myself on Thanksgiving because we actually got 2 full 'dinners' about 3.5 apart and I didn't feel sick to my stomach at all, I kept very good control, but was still able to eat everything I wanted and planned for. Me and my husband joined two of his sisters in an early morning 4 mile 'Earn your Turkey' run so that was a great way to start it off.

On to the matters of the week...I've gotten lots of requests to share what it is that I eat. So, this week I'm going to share a typical breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks that I would have.

I literally eat the same thing for breakfast every morning, don't ask me how I don't get sick of it, but I crave it daily. Eggs, cheese, and salsa are definitely my go to. I usually pair it with some kind of fruit; apple, orange, banana, grapefruit, etc.

And as always....wash it down with 24 oz of water before 10 am. Try it out and stay tuned for lunch tomorrow:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's officially the start of the Holidays and I can't believe it is Thanksgiving tomorrow! This year has seriously FLOWN by! I'm a firm believer in positive thinking and keeping an attitude of gratitude continually so the best life has to offer will be yours.

Some [health-y] things I'm majorly grateful for this year:

1 - The healthy pregnancy and birth of miss Norah Lyn
2 - My body and how remarkable it is to single handedly sustain another life for over a year
3 - The support and confidence I feel from my husband in everything I do
4 - How healthy and strong Norah continues to be
5 - Having a working body that I can push over and over again

Remember the goal for Thanksgiving day . . . .

Don't deprive yourself. Don't stuff yourself.

Drink lots of water. Do SOMETHING active in the morning and after the big feast! Eat some dessert. BE THANKFUL. 

No matter what you're going through right now, there IS good in your life, and someone always has it worse than you. If you can't seem to find any happiness, go serve. Hope you all have a fabulous and happy Thanksgiving!!

Home Circuit and Video

We stayed the night up at my mom's house the other night because Nick had to be into work super early and they live MUCH closer to his work than we do, and we were already up there for Sunday dinner so we figured, why not? My mom works out of her house and was on lots of calls, therefore I couldn't leave for the gym, so I improvised. 

Here was my space for my workout yesterday...

My mom saw me running out of the house, then coming back in breathing super hard. She asked, "hey, show me what you're doing when you're done?" She then became my timer for my sprints after every round and said I should make a quick video, so she then became my videographer. Thanks, Mama! Within 30 seconds of us recording, her phone would ring. It literally happened like 4 or 5 times, so we knew we just had one chance to get it. So here's my lame excuse for a first video that we shot in 1 full take! Thanks to my hubby for not just letting me put it up with no tricks on it. Please excuse my nastiness from the outfit to face and hair. I had seriously just gotten done doing the workout like 10 minutes before and had to get it all done before Norah woke up, so don't judge. 

all you need is a couple square feet of space, weights, and a straight away(if you take the sprint option). I was definitely sweatin', huffin', and puffin'. 

K, for some reason Blogger is having issues uploading the video, so I uploaded it to my channel on YouTube and you can watch it here.

Let me know what you think and go get your sweat on!

gettin back on...

Ok, so I know there are no excuses, but for about the last month I have not been the best that I could be to reach closer to my goals. All the baby things/news/appointments/teething going on and vacationing in NYC, a place where you basically go to eat, is not really the best thing. So....lets get back on track, just in time for the holidays. I've made a rule that I will eat what I want the day of, just have small portions and not over-do it. I just gotta be clean the rest of the time before and after so it doesn't come back to bite me. Isn't that the truth in everything we do? Moderation and consistency gets us a lot in life. So that's my goal this week, be consistent in my workouts every day and eating clean. Moderation on Thanksgiving day. DO IT!!

Would it be helpful to do a meal plan or do a blurb of what I eat each day? I know it would help me be more accountable, and it might help others get an idea of what a typical eating day looks like for me? You tell me if that's helpful or just straight up boring. Thanks for your input:)

We got to stay and spend fun times with my cousin and her husband who live out there

One way I was able to quickly justify our eating was by using the Nike FuelBand to see how far we went each day...we went at LEAST 7.5 miles every day we were there! My feet and legs were always so tired every night we came home, and don't ask me why, but I was always so curious to see how far we had gone multiple times a day. There's a reason you don't see a lot of overweight New Yorkers, that's for sure. For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple pics from our trip.

Went to the Jimmy Fallon show and got to be groupies for Carrie Underwood

we ate GOOOD

LOVE 

Anyone recognize this Central Park location from tons of movies?

We biked all around Central Park for a couple hours, these bikes folded up to half their size

9/11 memorial was beautiful, they are SOOO much bigger in person

Motivation

It’s important to find what inspires and motivates you…obviously. But a lot of times, it’s hard to find that motivation to make the time, eat what you know is right, and stop making excuses. Especially when it seems like the whole world is out to get in the way of you doing these things. Am I right? I would love to look at a picture and have immediate long-lasting motivation til I looked exactly like that picture. But for some reason looking at picture after picture while we continue to sit and eat whatever we want, somehow that perfect image doesn’t appear when we look down at ourselves. Can I start a fundraiser toward whatever research needs to be done to make that happen?? Haha K, great! 

Even once that motivation is found, it can be really hard to maintain it until that goal is reached. It can be especially hard when we go through something that has weakened our body physically, like an injury or pregnancy. Since I just went through the latter, I’ll share how I found that drive…

this was something like 36 weeks

just 2 days before Norah showed up

First of all, I’ve been craving to be hard and toned since I was going through the flabby/not-so-pregnant-look that started at about 8 weeks and just kept getting shocked that my body would continue to get bigger when I thought there was no way it could possibly stretch anymore. But then, inevitably,it always does. 

For some reason though, when I hit that 6 weeks and got clearance to exercise, that drive didn’t come immediately like I had hoped. It was disappointing to work out. You don’t see the flabbiness go anywhere, it seems impossible to think it will ever go away, you’re strength you once had has incredibly diminished, and you’re starting from further back then you ever have. It’s actually quite devastating. At least it was for me. It wasn’t until consistently dragging myself to the gym for 4 weeks until the actual desire came to make time for a sweat session. It was stress relieving and my time for me. I started looking at it as MY time and I had to take advantage of it, and even though I didn’t feel like it in the beginning-I knew I would always feel better the rest of the day. If I was able to work out then it seemed like I got done what I needed to, and little things throughout the day wouldn’t bug me nearly as bad. Then I started to conquer little goals-like, sprinting at 9.0 again and being able to hold a plank without wanting to die after 15 seconds. I had to focus on that, my achievements and my body showing signs it was regaining that strength I once had. It was then I found the fun in conquering my own mind and body- breaking barriers that seemed too hard to do again or like it was going to take forever to get back to. 

before getting pregnant

You CAN do it! Your body WILL get there! You just have to put in the work, even if you’re dragging in the beginning. I'm determined to look better than before I had Norah, I think I'm getting close, and that's a feeling that can't be bought. 

5 1/2 months post baby...

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

It's an amazing thing to start to see your hard work pay off. For most of us, we are our hardest critics, the same couldn't be more true for me! Nick kept telling me how I was looking different, but every tie I looked at myself, i still saw the flabby tummy skin, stretch marks, and what wasn't how I wished it would be. The day of these pics was the day I finally gave myself some credit and saw a difference. Then, looking back at my 10 week photos, I was really blown away and was proud of myself. I don't know if there's a better feeling in the world than working toward a goal, making the sacrifices to get there, and then making yourself proud. My waist up has always been my 'problem' area so adding the whole pregnancy thing to it, I was pretty surprised that I actually could see definition. This was also the day I weighed myself and was pleasantly surprised by actually being under my pre-pregnany weight by almost 7 lbs! Cheers to goals and taking steps to reach them!

The frist time I looked in the mirror and really noticed a difference

Workout of the Day

This is what I made my husband do along with me today, and let's just say...it killed him. It's a simple workout, but trust me, it works your WHOLE body! Best of all, you only need a few simple things and  can do this pretty much anywhere. Plus, you'll be hurting and thanking me later.

All you'll need is two weights/something around your house that works. I used two 10 lb. plates at the gym and stacked them to do all these exercises. If you're starting off, just use a total of 10 lbs or whatever you can do.

Do 20 reps of each exercise repeat 4x
Bicep curls - use both hands and curl up weight
Squats - hug the weight as you make 90 degree angles with your knees, making sure to sit hips back
Shoulder Press - start with weight under the chin, and fully extend your arms overhead
Split Squat Lunges - hug weight, make two 90 degree angles with both knees, do 1 leg each set
Tricep Extensions - hold weight behind head, biceps next to your ears, extend overhead
Burpees (no weight) - go down to plank position, jump legs forward, hands overhead and jump

I dare you to do all 4 rounds with no breaks. Keep a timer going while you do it and set a goal for your finish. My time today was 16:34, how 'bout that for an efficient workout? If you're feeling even more daring, do a 90 second all out sprint as a bonus!