Overnight Oats and my Birthday Countdown

I realized something yesterday: my 30th birthday is approaching fast.  33 days away to be exact.  I’ve decided that all I want for my birthday is to be pampered and to celebrate a month of hard work – the hard work of course being eating right and working out consistently from now until then.  I’ve decided to make a few changes to my routine and nutrition however. 

The first change I am making is my routine – sometimes I just go crazy, as you could see from my dire need for a rest day.  What I think I really need to do is to be more consistent (consistency is the key to success) rather than hitting it crazy hard for a few days and running out of steam.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that I want to only do one workout a day, but that not every single one of them needs to be a balls-to-the-wall workout.

That being said, I still began my morning with my DailyHIIT routine.  I just love these routines because they are fast and intense but I am not going to kill myself for the rest of the day with it.  I was planning to do some light cardio during lunch break.  Probably just a walk on the treadmill at a moderate incline or a 30 min elliptical session, but I wasn’t able to make it to the gym today.  Instead I am sitting here writing this, so I think it works out.  Tonight I am going to hit another Jillian Michael’s routine.  Even though I haven’t been good about following her plan like I did the first time around – I still love the workouts and go back to them all the time.  Today should technically be my JM rest day, however I didn’t workout Monday so I am pushed back a day.

The second big change I am making is in my nutrition.  Previously I had a plan where my macros were 50% protein, 30% fat and 20% carbs.  While this works to help take off the weight fairly quickly, I don’t feel that this is something that would be healthy for me to continue over the long-term.  It was also creating a “carbs are bad” complex in my head and that is most definitely not true.  I’ve decided to change my macros now to 30% protein, 30% fat and, and 40% carbs.  This is all based on a goal of 1200 calories/day so it comes to 90g protein, 40g fat and 120g carbs.  I’m in the trial phase of this macro count but I’m looking forward to it.  I am now going to be able to incorporate healthy carbs in my diet like fruits, sweet potatoes, brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread, oats, legumes and such.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you carbs are bad and if they do, just smack them right across the face!  Carbs are what our bodies use for energy – you just have to be smart about what types of carbs you are eating and when.  I still don’t plan to have many carbs with dinner, but that is a personal preference and you will have to make that decision for yourself. 

I think initially it is going to be hard to start taking in more carbs, but I found something that is really going to help me out.  Overnight oats!  Ever heard of them???  They are a glorious little concoction I see on blogs all over the place.  They’re super simple to make, a great healthy food, and perfect for a girl on the go such as myself. You start with a nice little base of milk, yogurt and oats.  That’s it!  No seriously, THAT IS IT!  Easy peasy, right?  Below is my first ONO breakfast and I was very happy with the outcome.

 

Ingredients:

1/3 C Oats

1/3 C Greek Yogurt (I used plain but feel free to add any flavor you’d like)

1/2 C Milk (any type will work fine)

Sweetener to taste – I used 1 packet of Truvia but it seems a lot of people use Agave, honey or stevia.  Your choice.

Any toppings you like – in this batch I added 1/2 banana, 3 strawberries diced and chia seeds

Nutritional Facts:  232 Calories, 5g Fat, 42g Carbs, 13g Protein

This is the finished product:

Ok, I know, not really the best or most appetizing photo.  I wasn’t sure how big the batch would be so I ended up using a large soup container from a chinese restaurant. Note to self, large container is too large!  The meal itself though was just the perfect size to fill you up and keep you full until snack time.

I’ve got some apples and cinnamon at home and thinking I might make myself another little batch tonight using those ingredients…maybe even try it warmed up tomorrow.  I don’t know, but I’ll keep you posted.

Hallelujah a Rest Day!

It’s Wednesday and in the “Making the Cut” world, that means a rest day. In my case, a MUCH needed rest day!

Monday I began my morning with a DailyHIIT routine. During my lunch break I did a tabata routine you can find here. Then, nope I’m not done, I rocked out my Jillian Michaels routine after my clients. Tuesday wasn’t much different: morning HIIT, cardio lunch consisting of the below treadmill routine and 28 minutes on the elliptical and after clients another JM routine.

*Image courtesy of www.superskinnyme.com 

http://www.superskinnyme.com/butt-sculpting-cardio-workout.html

So, as you can see I’m not kidding when I say I need my rest day. I won’t be completely lazy though – it will be an active rest day. The hubs has decided it’s time to come back to the gym so we are hitting a spin class together. Maybe he’ll even let me snap a pic after so you all can see out hard work…although I won’t count on it. 😉

Anyway, here’s hoping my legs still work tomorrow! Happy training!

I got my pic…

 

 **Disregard our un-sexiness, we were sweating bullets and struggling to get out those smiles.

It’s Monday

Good morning all! I am chipper this morning because I am starting to see my hard work pay off again.

Last week I began my Making the Cut workouts again. I know you’ve heard this a million times before but I always go back to this book because I know it works and I love the routines. I’m trying my own meal plan this time around for two reasons. 1. Time and energy available to put into meal prep is very low these days so I’ve got to work around my current schedule, and 2. I feel that I need to be able to make healthy food choices on my own because I can’t always follow someone else’s meal plan. After 30 days, I’m back on my own so I figure I might as well start now.

That leads me to something that I discovered this weekend and that I’m absolutely in love with. Cauliflower pizza crust – OMG heaven!!! I’d seen this on a couple of blogs before but had yet to actually try it. Friday I used this recipe and both the hubs and I loved it. He made his with sauce, cheese and turkey pepperoni. I’m a big fan of white pizza so I made mine with ricotta instead. Both were delicious. One thing I will recommend however, don’t eat the whole damn thing. I thought it was a personal pizza size but I think you can go halfsies on it. Especially to cut down on calories! I was so tempted by it I didn’t even think to take pics so I’ll try to do this next time I make it.

Anyone else have any great cauliflower recipes? I’m trying to go low carb high protein so any other recipes that fit that description send them my way!!!

Mid-Week Update

In case you were wondering why I haven’t posted any recent updates, it’s because this happened Thursday!

I was driving my husbands Jeep when I completely lost control on some ice.  Luckily a very nice lady was able to stop my spinning with the front end of her car.  ARGH!  It was absolutely terrifying.  Luckily no one was injured, but mentally it sort of put me out of commission for a few days.  Friday I was depressed.  I woke up angry because I cost my husband and me the price of our deductible, we won’t be able to sell his Jeep for what it is fully worth because it’s been involved in an accident, and I felt extremely guilty that I wrecked his car and not my own.  Well, as many people are, I too am an emotional eater.  I started Friday off with a healthy breakfast, but that didn’t last.  By lunchtime I was ready to indulge…and indulge I did!

 

I ate every single morsel you see in that picture.  A salad with ranch dressing and pasta salad on the side.  A bowl of cream of mushroom soup.  A cheeseburger with all the fixins’.  And to top it all off a big slice of red velvet cake.  It didn’t end there either.  What else did I do?  Well I drowned my self-pity in my old friend BEER!

What a sad and pathetic face.  I just curled up in my living room, drank and ate all night  I attempted to have a healthy snack while I was drinking and found something new and delicious that I absolutely love.  Toasted Ezekiel bread with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light Swiss and Olive Tapenade.  Sounds weird but it was fantastic!

But that doesn’t really help when you consume more than your daily allowance of calories in just beer now does it?

Saturday I woke up feeling rested and surprisingly not hung over.  I decided to catch up on my 30 day Challenge from Daily HIIT since I hadn’t done my workout Friday.  I knocked that out, and started feeling better.  The rest of the day I did nothing but relax, pick up a few things and relax some more.  Sunday was pretty much the same minus the workout.  Instead of my BodyRock routine I went and walked an indoor track with my friend and got a little time to vent, which I needed…desperately!

Monday, I opted for one more day of rest and relaxation just to make sure all the depressed gookies were completely gone and lo and behold when I woke up Tuesday morning they sure were!

Tuesday I woke up early and knocked out my morning HIIT routine.  That afternoon I decided to hit the gym during my lunch break for a mid-day cardio session.  Those always seem to make the day go by faster and give me a little boost of energy.  At the end of my Coast Guard day I went straight to the gym to train with a few clients and followed that up with an intense Jillian Michaels routine.  You read that right, I got in 3 full workouts yesterday.  On top of all that, I ate impeccably. 

I guess what I am getting at is that life happens.  How you deal with it may not be the same as how I deal with it, however we all have coping mechanisms.  I’m not saying mine is a good one, because lets face it, it’s not!  I do not recommend you eat and drink away your problems because it really isn’t going to get you anywhere.  However, what I do recommend is that when you are ready you get right back on that horse and keep on trekin!  I had a mini-mental-meltdown and it sucked, but today I realize that it’s not the end of the world and I am ready to just keep moving forward.

What mental setbacks have you had in the past, and how did you deal with them?

Venturing Out with Food #2

I woke up this morning ready to knock out my workout and EAT!  The whole time I’m doing my Daily HIIT routine I was going through all the possible things I could make for breakfast.  What occurred to me first was the fact that I had crab left over from my lunch yesterday and I should try to incorporate that into my meal. I’m very excited to present to you what I came up with!

Carey’s Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

1/2 Pkg of Lump Crab Meat

2 Tbsp Plain Greek Yogurt

2 Tbsp Panko Style Breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp Finely Chopped Red Onion

2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Celery

1/4 Tsp Old Bay Seasoning

1/4 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 Tsp Coconut Oil or your favorite cooking oil

1 Tbsp Chopped Green Onion (optional)

1/4 Lime (optional)

Process:

1.  Heat coconut oil in a saute pan.  While oil is melting, mix all ingredients together.

2.  Create patties with the mixture (I made three small ones so they would cook a little faster –  I was super hungry!)

3.  Cook until golden brown and flip.

4.  Remove from heat and top with green onion and fresh lime juice

Nutritional Facts:  151 calories; 2g fat; 12g carbs; 19g protein

I made these crab cakes with 1 egg over easy and a side of fruit.  The cakes came out pretty spicy but the egg yolk really calmed them down.  Plus, the combo was damn delicious!  Hope you guys enjoy and I’ll have more recipes coming your way soon.

Oh and before I forget, I also started drinking Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) each day.  I make a quick drink using 1 Tsp ACV, a tiny bit of a calorie free drink mix and 8oz of water.  I’m only on day two so I haven’t really started to reap the benefits, but I’m looking forward to everything it can offer.  If you are curious about why I would do this, check out this post from Brittany at Eating Bird Food.

Working in BEAST Mode!

I’m feeling so great about myself and life this morning that I just couldn’t wait to post. I’m in BEAST MODE and I just gotta share!

Yeah, I realize that isn’t the most flattering picture but sometimes you just gotta ROAR!!!!

I’m excited about my progress this week both in the gym and in the kitchen. Monday after trying to get my phone and kindle to load the Daily HIIT routine with nothing but failure I was left with only 4 minutes to workout. Don’t fret, the time was not wasted. At the urging of my hubby I did some high knees and jumping jacks to get my heart rate up a bit. Each day since I’ve gotten up early and done the routines. They give me such a boost of energy in the morning I feel ready to conquer the long day ahead.

As well as keeping up with that 30 day challenge, I’ve mentioned starting back on with Making the Cut. I hit that hard Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was a rest day. I made it an active rest day by doing my morning routine and also squeezing in a quick 20 min on the treadmill before clients last night.
Most of my days I spend sitting at a desk. As many of you probably know, this makes you feel super inactive, well, because you are. So to break up my days a little I like to do little mini-workouts. There is a bench in my bathroom/locker-room on base so I’m using it to my full advantage. I’ll do 10 incline push-ups, 5 single leg squats per leg, and 10 in-outs each time I have to hit the head. So to recap I’m rocking the shiz outta some workouts this week!

On the nutrition front, well I’m killing that too! I’ve hit my calorie goals everyday this week. I’m getting lots of fresh fruit and veggies in. I’m eating salads and lean protein. And best of all, I’ve discovered new and exciting uses for cauliflower, HALLELUJAH!! Prepping Sunday made my life exponentially easier this week so I’ll try to do that again this weekend.

I’m hoping this motivation keeps on coming because the progress I’ve made over just these past 5 days has been amazing. I want to keep seeing results and reap the benefits of all my hard work! More updates to come and hopefully some positive progress photos. 🙂