LiveFit = Complete!

Well.... I haven't posted on here in quite some time, but I wanted to let you all know that I stuck with the program and finished Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer!!! It was a great program and I definitely built alot of muscle. I was a little disappointed, however in the lack of fat loss. I didn't feel that I lost as much fat as I really wanted. I followed the program really well by eating clean and followed all the workouts to a T. But I honestly think, for my body, the calories were just too high. I could be wrong because it seems like all of these weight lifting programs say that you need to eat enough calories, but I do have a slow metabolist. RM of 1337. :/ And a general rule of thumb is that you eat 200 calories less than your RM. However, it's unhealthy to only eat 1137 calories a day. Plus, I need more for fuel for my workouts. I was generally consuming 1500-1800 calories. If you have any suggestions, let me know. As of now... I'm upping my cardio and attempting to only consume about 1300 calories. If I burn alot of calories in my workout, I will consume more calories, but only half the amount I burned, if that makes sense.  Bottom line is.... I finished the program! YIPPEE! :) I'm pretty embarrassed about my before LiveFit pic because I can't believe I let my body get that out of shape after doing Insanity last summer. But it happened and I can only work extra hard to get back to that body! So... If I work up the guts, I'll post before & after pics... But not quite yet. ;) Enjoy the rest of your Sunday Funday!! :D

To Be A Kid Again...

Breakfast: 4 egg whites & raspberries
Snack: 2 turkey meatloaf muffins
Lunch: PB&J Sandwich, carrots
Post-Workout: banana berry protein smoothie
Dinner: 2 whole wheat beef tacos
Snack: 2 pumpkin protein bars

Exercise: LiveFit Day 38 - Legs & 10 minuts on the StairMaster

I was slacking on the food pics today! I kind of forgot... oops! Anyhow... today was kind of a busy day compared to most. I worked my usual job which was actually quite slow. Then I did my workout after work. Legs = deadly!!! :D I am gonna be SOOORE tomorrow! :)

Then I went home and whipped up a quick protein smoothie for the road and went and picked up Matthew from daycare. Then we went to the grocery store quick to pick up a few things. He rode in the cart with the car in front. lol One of the cashiers noted what a cautious driver he was. ;) ha! Then we went home and I made some yummy tacos for dinner. They were delish! 

We spent the rest of the evening setting up & playing trains!

And then we played with his farm set. And then some hockey.... of course hockey.  We can never forgot hockey with this boy...

Then we put together some puzzles and it was bedtime!! Aww... to be a kid again. I think I could have went to bed when he did! I am tired tonight.

BUT... I had to bake some more pumpkin protein bars!! They are super yummy. :) Hope you have a great night!! :D

Weekend Shinanigans & Whatnot!

Brunch: Leftover Red Lobster - jumbo coconut shrimp & lobster & shrimp pasta
Dinner: ham & (thin) cheese sandwich on Ezekiel bread with hummus & carrots
Post-Workout: dreamsicle protein shake

Exercise: LiveFit Day 37 - Chest & Abs & 30 minutes or Cardio --interval running

Okay.... I will be the first to admit that the last couple of days have not been very good in the eating department!!! Let me explain...although these aren't excuses!

Last week I was on jury duty for a rape trial all week. (Google Jermaine Jones Fargo if you're interested) That equals stress. LOTS OF STRESS! It was also a totally different schedule that I wasn't used to. I did miss 1 day of working out last week due to just plain old exhaustion. But my eating was actually pretty good last week. 

My mom & sister surprised me last Friday after I got done with jury duty. They were on their way to Fargo to pick up a puppy at the pet store!! He was such a cutie!! She later named him Cooper! He's a maltese chiwawa mix.

Josie was sooo excited to have a playmate!! They played so well together. Here's a video of them playing. --So cute! hehe

Then on Saturday we went and seen the movie Safe Haven. Me & my mom ready the book and the movie is very different from the book but it was still a good movie. I loved it! :) I'd definitely suggest going to see if you like romance type of movies!

Then they left that afternoon and I went and got my workout in and just relaxed. 

Sunday, Justin and I celebrated Valentines Day by going out for lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube! The place is a pretty neat bar & grill. They have lots of motorcycle and racing type stuff. The food was okay... I ordered wings and I have to say that I like B-Dubs & Applebees wings better. I'd go back & eat there again though. I just would order something different. Then we went and did our grocery shopping and went home and chilled that afternoon & then I went and worked out and that was pretty much my Sunday.

Monday we were in blizzard conditions but I made it to work anyways. Then planned on going to the gym but it was closed due to the weather so I just chilled Monday night.

Tuesday I had jury duty again and we reached the verdict (guilty) in the morning and I went straight to the gym at about noon and got my workout in. Then that evening I was so excited about being done with jury duty that Justin and I thought we should celebrate by going out to eat at Red Lobster!! And naughty me... I didn't choose a healthy option because my favorites looked too tempting and I had been stressing about the damn trial all week! :D Anyhow, it was delicious and satisfying and I didn't even finish half of if after eating the biscuits and salad before. Then we took a fun little trip to the pet store and looked at the ferrets for fun! It made me miss Phoebe (the ferret that I once had). Then we went home & went to bed!

Today was back to work...however, I was up half the night with a bad cough and fever & didn't feel well at all. So I when I woke up in the morning I was exhausted! So I called into work and slept until 10. Then I went into work at noon until 5. Then came home and ate a yummy grilled sandwich for dinner & went and worked out at Family Wellness with my friend Annah. We had a great workout. We did chest & abs and 30 minutes on the treadmill. I ran a mile and then did interval sprinting for the next 20 minutes. It felt GREAT! But I also felt like I was going to die....  :D --Just bein' honest!  Then I came home and had a protein shake & was making my lunch for tomorrow and realized that I had used the last of my hummus on my sandwich for dinner. I was panicked!!! WHAT WAS I GOING TO PUT ON MY SANDWICH FOR TOMORROW!?? NO HUMMUS!??? OMG! lol Anyhow... I was about to put my coat on and run to the store at 9:30 to go get some hummus when I decided to go old school and have a PB&J!! That will taste yummy tomorrow. :) So now my lunch for tomorrow is all packed and so is my workout stuff! That means I can go to bed! WOO HOO! Tomorrow will be a good diet day! I promise! I am BACK ON TRACK! Adios friends!

Quick Confession!

This week has been a crazy week! I've been on jury duty all week and its been more stressful than I'm used to. Therefore, I did miss 1 day of my workouts. I also didn't eat quite as clean as I would have hoped to. I guess I just need to get back on track tomorrow!! :D I have to go back to jury duty on Tuesday, but I work my regular job tomorrow since it's a holiday and the courthouse is not open. Anyhow... I just thought that I'd give you a quick update on why I'm slacking on the blog! ;) I promise I'll be back to regular blogging sometime this week. Thanks for understanding!

Snow Day!

Breakfast: 4 egg whites with pico de gallo, strawberries
Snack: 2 honey almond protein crisps
Lunch: open faced turkey burger & parmesan crusted tomato
Snack: 2 pumpkin protein bars
Post Workout: Dreamsicle protein shake
Dinner: 3 chicken tenders, carrots
Snack: 2 rice cakes with pb

Exercise: LiveFit Day 29 - Back & 30 minutes cardio 

Today was a SNOW DAY!! I was snowed in all day! They just came and plowed our apartment in the last hour. I didn't mind. The gym was closed today anyways so I had to do my workout at home. The cardio was difficult but I do have my Wii Fit so I did a little free jogging in place while watching Friends. :) Since I took a super long nap yesterday, I was up until 3 am because I couldn't sleep. Then I woke up at 5 to get ready for work to realize that I was most definitely snowed in. Josie sure loved to play in it though.

So I went back to bed until about 9:30 and then woke up and showered and made some breakfast. Then I did a little cleaning and gave Josie a bath. She's nice & fluffy now!

Then I made some lunch and did my workout. Then I relaxed and did a little magazine reading! Then I made dinner & am now watching Biggest Loser!  I have to try really hard to get some good sleep tonight because I have jury duty bright and early in the morning. 

Honey Almond Protein Crisp

Friday

Breakfast: 4 egg whites with pico de gallo & raspberries
Snack: 2 turkey meatloaf muffins
Lunch: spinach salad with immitation crab, peppers, cucumbers, sunflower seeds & balsamic vinaigrette
Snack: 2 double chocolate pb bites
Dinner: 2 turkey meatloaf muffins & a Luna protein bar
Snack: 2 pumpkin protein bars

Exercise: LiveFit Day 26 - shoulders & abs

Friday was a fun day! After work, we decided to go and watch the Kindred girls basketball team play against Oak Grove. It was a fun game to watch. I always enjoy watching basketball. :) They won by the way! We also attempted to drive by a house we were interested near Kindred. However, it was dark and we found it...but we couldn't really see it. It's on the river and kind of in the trees. Beautiful home though & it seemed like a nice neighborhood in the dark. I could see myself living there someday. ;) Ya know... starting a family and stuff. muahaha Then we went home and I was super tired so I actually went to bed right away.

Saturday

Breakfast: 4 egg whites with pico de gallo & strawberries
Lunch: canned chicken with hummus on Ezekiel bread with thin cheese, cucumbers & cottage cheese
Snack: 2 double chocolate pb bites, 1 pumpkin protein bar, pistachios
Dinner: Famous Daves - grilled lime shrimp with grilled pinapple, broccoli & some of Matthews fries
Snack: 2 pumpkin protein bars, 3 double chocolate pb bites

Exercise: rest

Saturday was a nice & relaxing day for the most part. Justin went with one of his friends out of town and Matthew & I hung out. We played lots of Spiderman and we dressed nice n warm and he rode his bike in the garage and Josie ran around playing with a ping pong ball. Then when she got cold, she would lay in the bike trailer. :)

 

Then we happened to come across something in the garage that Matthew was VERY excited about! A HOCKEY HELMET! lol so we had to take it upstairs!

He wore that for quite a while. Then it was nap time and Justin came home and we hung out and played some hockey and video games. We all ended up going to bed pretty early. I was in bed by 8 and fell asleep faster than I have in a LONG time! Then... I woke up at about 3 am after having a bad dream (apparently my dream catcher isn't working) and couldn't fall asleep since I'm used to getting about 6 hours of sleep, my body thought it was time to wake up. But eventually I did fall back asleep until Matthew woke up at 7 and Justin went to plow some snow!

Sunday

Breakfast: protein pancake with almond butter & strawberries
Lunch: turkey and cheese sandwich  on Ezekiel bread, cottage cheese & carrots
Snack: 2 rice cakes with Planters energy pb
Dinner: broiled tilapia with quinoa, peppers, onions & carrots
Snack: 2 pumpkin protein bars, 1 honey almond protein crisp - see recipe below

Exercise: rest

We hung out in the morning and watched Planet 51 and played hide & go seek. We also went in the garage and he rode his bike for a little while again and I even took out the bean bag toss & practices up for lake season!!! ;) Then we went upstairs and had some lunch before taking a long nap. We both slept from 1:30 to 5!!!! :/ YIKES! I didn't think that I'd sleep that long & I can't believe that he did either. I guess we were tired. Then we woke up and had some dinner and Daddy came with the plow pickup to take him to his mom's friends house. His mom didn't come to Fargo since the roads were bad. It's been pretty crazy weather here! I'm thinking that I'll most likely have a snow day tomorrow. I have about a 2 foot drift in front of my garage and its still snowing....and Justin said that since there is a no travel advisory out, they aren't going to plow the apartments anytime soon. We shall see. I'm rooting for a SNOW DAY! :D I had some yummy tilapia for dinner and then I baked my turkey meatloaf muffins for the week and also made a new recipe!! Check it out! They're my kind of rice krispie bars!

Honey Almond Protein Crisp

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Nature's Path Crispy Rice
• 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 cup whole oats
• 1/4 cup crushed almonds
• 1/2 cup Xylitol brown sugar (I skipped this ingredient)
• 3/4 cup smooth almond butter
• 1/2 cup honey

Directions:

1. Pour the crispy rice, protein powder, whole oats and crushed almonds into a large bowl and shake gently. Avoid stirring, to keep the protein powder from settling on the bottom.
2. In a small glass bowl, combine the brown sugar, almond butter, and honey, and microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring until combined.
3. Add the almond butter mixture to the crispy rice mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until every piece is coated.
4. Spread the mixture evenly into a 9x13 Pyrex dish, or use cookie cutter shapes as molds, and fill with the mixture, pressing firmly into place. Place the 9x13 Pyrex dish in the freezer for at least one hour. Allow the crisp to soften a bit before cutting the squares, or simply break off pieces with your hands. (If using cookie cutters, be sure to remove them before putting the crisp in the freezer.)
5. Store in the freezer.

Recipe from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-recipes-honey-almond-protein-crisps.html



Now I think I'm going to relax and catch up on some of my magazine reading! :) I got a couple of Shape & Fitness! Goodnight friends! Happy Snowday!

An Uneventful Day...

Breakfast: Kashi go lean crunch
Snack: 2 turkey meatloaf muffins
Lunch: 3 bean turkey chili, carrots
Snack: 2 pumpkin protein bars
Dinner: spaghetti and carrots
Snack: 3 immitation crab sticks, 2 double chocolate PB bites

Exercise: LiveFit Day 25 - Legs

Today was uneventful.... so this may be a boring post. Plus, I'm tired so I want to make it quick. I got my leg workout in and I got to wondering HOW on earth am I going to be able to do cardio after my leg sessions with the weights!??  I can't imagine running after doing all those squats. I can hardly walk to the locker room. I guess I'll find out on Monday! :/ I'm a little nervous but SOOO excited to start incorporating cardio! 

I picked up Matthew from daycare today and he was so excited to see me! I love that. :) and then we went home and he ran around in his spiderman costume for a while and then we played some knee hockey as a family. I made some dinner while catching up on some Facebook time & emails & whatnot. Then we went grocery shopping and I restocked on my egg whites, since I'm out. Although, I was running late this morning so I had to grab cereal and eat it at work anyways. But it will be nice to have some eggs with pico de gallo in the AM! This time, I got mild instead of HOT. lol I had a snack when I got home and now I'm thinking that my bed sounds pretty amazing right now! So... I'm gonna call it an early night! Enjoy your evening!