Meal Prepping

In order to try and maintain my clean eating, I try and prep my meals for the week on Sunday.   I can then portion my meals out in containers and baggies and then grab and go throughout the week.  It's so easy to bake or grill my meat, (or put it in the crockpot), steam my veggies, chop my salads, boil my eggs, portion out fruit, bake my oats or mini egg muffins, etc.  If I am running low, I will replenish my food on Wednesday for the rest of the week.

Some of my favorite go to recipes can be found on Little B's Healthy Habits blog, and through Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer on bodybuilding.com.

Shoulder and Leg Circuit

It's no surprise to most that shoulder day is my favorite.  There's something about the pump that I get from my shoulder workout that is absolutely awesome.  With that said, I absolutely hate lower body workouts, (again, no surprise to most), so I decided to come up with this love/hate circuit.

All sets 3 x 10, 90 seconds of rest between each set

Set 1:
Sumo squat with high row (15 lb db)
Bench step ups with front raise (10 lb db)
Star jumps

Set 2:
Alternating lunges with barbell shrug (45 lb)
Narrow stance squat with lat raises (10 lb db)
Three way calf raises

Set 3:
Burpee to pushup, plank row (12 lb db)
Squat with military press (12-15 lb db)
Jumping lunges

Set 4:
Squat and swing (kb or db 15-20 lb)
Straight leg deadlift with clean and press (45 lb)
Side lunges with barbell (45 lb)

Slacking :(

Honesty will always prevail here, so I will be the first to admit that I am SLACKING.  I'm slacking with my workouts, my eating and as you've noticed, my blogging.  This blog was started in hopes that I could motivate others the same way that I have been motivated.  And here we are, no entry for well over a week.  Winter blues?  Maybe.  Busy?  Yes.  Am I making excuses?  Probably. 

Time to bounce back and hit it hard!  Life will always be busy, but the only workout I ever regret is the one I didn't do.  So, here's to trying a little harder these next few days. 

I did get in a decent bicep workout this morning and followed up with 15 minutes of sprints and a quick leg circuit tonight. This cutie even joined me. :)

SHOULDERS!

If you know me at all, you also know that my favorite body part to train is shoulders.  It's the first thing I notice on someone.  Round, defined shoulders are a great indicator of your fitness level and training.  Well defined traps, delts and lats give the optical illusion of a smaller waist too, so it's a win win!

Today's workout was quick, but fatiguing.  It was difficult to crank out the last set, and I usually do front raises with a 25 lb plate, but today it was all I could do to raise the 8 lb dumbbells.  I call that a successful workout!

Here it is:

Barbell Shoulder press drop sets
50 lb 10x3
40 lb 10x3
30 lb 10x3
20 lb 10x3

Upright row, narrow grip 40 lb
superset with
lateral raises 10 lb dumbbells
10x3

Upright row, wide grip 40 lb
superset with
front raises 8 lb dumbbells

It gave me a great pump and only took about 25 minutes.  I rested for about 30 seconds in between dropsets.

Have a great Friday!  Tomorrow's agenda looks like cardio paired with back and biceps.

Salsa Chicken

This is one of my favorite meals. I generally make it on Sunday and use it for various meals all week long. My family loves it too, so it's definitely a staple at our house.

4 chicken breasts
14.5 oz tomato sauce, low sodium
16 oz salsa, low sugar
2 T reduced sodium taco seasoning

Mix it all together and cook in the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken and enjoy with whole grain rice, on top of a salad or by itself with veggies! Delish! This recipe, along with many other good clean eats, can also be found on Little B's Healthy blog!

Back and Biceps!

Today I focused on back and biceps. I actually completed this workout with a friend at home. We were supposed to run but the rain put a damper on those plans!

Here's what we did:

Working out through the holidays...

The holidays are upon us, and as they call it, "the most wonderful time of the year" it also happens to be the busiest!  So many places to be and it sometimes seems like not enough hours in the day to get ready for all of those places to be!  To stay on track with my goals, I am crawling out of bed in the wee hours of the morning.  I know I am going to have my fair share of indulgences, and the last thing I want is to feel guilty about it!  So, my alarm is set for 5 a.m. Monday through Friday, 6:30 on Saturdays and Sunday will be the only day I don't set the alarm.  I plan to get in 3 days of cardio and 4-5 of lifting.

Yesterday I worked chest and tris and although I rarely feel my tris after a workout, they were on fire this morning during my run!  Pumping my arms to run reminded me of yesterday's workout!  I love the hurt so good feeling!

How do you stay on track with your fitness goals when life gets too busy?  Do you make time or use the excuse that you don't have time to workout?   I choose to MAKE TIME!  Get to bed a little earlier and set that alarm a little earlier.  Even if it's just 20 - 30 minutes.  YOU will feel better!

Circuit day!

Saturday I worked back and biceps, Sunday was a rest day and yesterday was cardio.  I did a short 3 miles with a friend....in the rain.  That brings us to today, which was circuit day.  The one day that gets my heart pumpin' so fast I feel like I could croak.  It went something like this:

30 second rounds, complete as many rounds as you can in 30 minutes, with LITTLE to NO rest....

*Low squat jacks with 15 lb dumbbells
*Single arm squat and press 15b lb (30 seconds each arm)
*Bicep curls 15 lb
*Incline arm circle to chest press 15 lb dumbbells
*Forearm plank to push up

I completed this workout with my trainer, so it made it a little easier to time the rounds.  I was drenched with sweat when I finished.  Felt so good though!

Leg Day, Leg Day, gotta get down on Leg Day!

I have a love / hate relationship with Leg Day.  It's definitely my least favorite.  Probably because it gets my heart rate up like no other and for the next two days, I can barely walk.  Good enough reason?  Anyway, today was my second leg day of the week.  I normally only train legs once a week, but have decided since it is my least favorite, I should probably put a little more focus on lower body.  (Since I tend to avoid it!)

Here was today's workout:

-Barbell squat (70 lbs --Olympic bar with 12.5 lbs added to each side)
-Barbell squat narrow stance
-Barbell plie squat
-Leg extension (85 lb for first set, 90 for second and third)
-Hamstring curls (85 lb for first set, 90 for second and third)
10x3

-Split squat on Smith 10 each leg (70 lb)
-3 way calf raises (70 lb)
10x3

-Straight Leg dead lift (70 lb)
10x3
-Lateral bench step ups (15 lb db each hand)
10x3

I treated the first set like a circuit, and no rest between sets.  The last 3 sets I rested for about 30 seconds between sets.

I finished with about 5-10 minutes of abs:

-hanging leg raises
-Crunches on decline with 10 lb medicine ball
-Roman Twists on decline with 10 lb medicine ball
10x3

Train hard y'all!

My Journey

My fitness journey began about 5 years ago when I decided that motherhood was hard on the body and soul!  I was so caught up in being a mom and married to a traveling salesman, that I let myself "go."  I was eating crap and thought that 20 minutes at the local "Curves" gym justified the eating crap part.  A new 24 hour gym opened in my town and I decided maybe change was good.  I signed in up October of 2007 and didn't step foot back in the place until the following spring!  I decided to hire a trainer, because I obviously had NO willpower.  Best decision I ever made. 

Although my journey started in the spring of '08, I continued to eat the same crap.  I gained a little bit of strength, but plateaued quickly.  I loved working out, but still couldn't get the bad eats to go away.  Donuts, candy, chips, pizza, fast food, calorie laden Starbucks.....I loved it all. 

Something finally clicked in January of 2012.  I was finished having babies and I made the decision to TAKE BACK MY BODY!  I cleaned up my diet, started lifting heavy and set goals.  And so my real transformation begins.  I plan to document the good, the bad and the ugly.  No powder and fluff here.  It's hard work, takes a ton of dedication, and this means rolling out of bed while most are still sleeping.  But my goal is to lead by example.  I want to make healthy choices so that my kiddos follow suit.

I hope you will join me on this journey!  I plan to post some of my workouts and healthy eats as well!  It's like paying it forward.  If I can inspire just one person a day to make a healthy choice, in a year's time that will be 365 people!  Are you ready to make that change?

Healthy Treats

I thought I would share a couple of my go to treats that feel like indulgences!  The first is protein coffee and it truly tastes like a latte, without all of the calories and sugar!  After you brew your cup o' morning joe, take a scoop of your favorite protein powder, (I love vanilla UMP), mix it in a shaker with about 2 oz of cold water.  Shake until all of the powder is mixed well and there are no clumps.  This is your protein "creamer."  Add to your cup of coffee, top with a couple of shakes of cinnamon and drink up!

 Nutritional stats:  Calories:  120, Carbs: 5 grams  Fat: 3 grams  Sugar: 1 gram  Protein: 20 grams

The second treat is PB Froyo.  I basically take low fat/fat free vanilla greek yogurt, add in a scoop of PB2, mix it up and stick it in the freezer until desired consistency.  Talk about feeling like you're cheating!  Almost as good as Orange Leaf!

There are about 17 grams of protein in that succulent yogurt and only about 160 calories.  How's that for "cheating?"

Cardio Circuit

Cardio is something that I don't love.  I don't necessarily hate it, but I sure don't love it!  Here's a quick cardio circuit that will get your heart rate up and wear you out!

• 50 jumping jacks
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 20 alternating lunges
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 10 tuck jumps
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 20 squats with 15 lb. dumbbell
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 60 sec. high knees
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 10 jump squats
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 10 burpees
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 60 jumping jacks
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 20 sec. mountain climbers
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 25 push ups (drop to your knees to maintain good form)
• 30 sec. jump rope
• 60 sec. plank