Flat Out Fold Its & Goals Filed under ( goals, product review )

Today was a nice/easy day. The combination of a later work meeting, dinner plans with friends, and some extreme weekend workouts, helped me to decide that today was going to be a day off from working out (did everyone read/watch MizFit’s post about her day off?). Sooo after work, I got a two pump pumpkin spice misto and ran a few errands.

Now, I’m doing a few things around the house and getting ready for our dinner out.

I make sandwiches for Josh for lunch almost every day (when there aren’t leftovers to be eaten). Josh loves more meat/cheese and less bread so when I saw these new Flat Out Fold Its, I knew he’d love them. Here are a few pictures prior to sammie making:

Josh thought the flat out fold its were pretty tasty! He likes how thin they are and noted that it was nice and doughy! I will defintely be rotating these in with his usual Arnold's Thins.


I wanted to use this post to focus back in on my goals. I was pretty successful in terms of my goals from last week (one night I missed my 6.5 hour sleep goal, but I hit all the rest!). In terms of goals for this week, I am branching out a bit. I know these aren’t as measurable as some of my past goals, but they’re areas I’d really like to work on:

• Happy driving. Do you all get angry at slow drivers? I am use to a more…I guess northern mentality when it comes to driving (i.e. I gotta there 10 minutes ago so get out of my way…which is probably why I got a ticket haha) and get a little frustrated with the “Sunday driver” mentality. This week I’d like to take more deep breaths while driving and enjoy the ride (rather than stress)
• Core focus. As much as I encourage my students to make sure they suck in their belly buttons and focus on core strength during my classes….I often forget to do so. This week I will try to keep my core in mind during all my workouts

The longer term goals I had set are as follows (with updates in the parenthesis):

• RUN: Complete at least 1 race (2 would be ideal) before December (signed up for IOP Connector 10k run on October 3rd)
• RUN: Run 12 straight miles by the New Year (I’ve gotten to 9!)
• GROUP FITNESS: Train to teach a new group fitness program (signed up for Body Pump training first weekend in November- yikes!)
• EAT: Try at least 1 new restaurant a month (I tried a Greek restaurant in Columbia this past weekend, but would still like to try a new Charleston area restaurant before the end of the month!)
• FRIENDS: Have coffee with two new people/friends by the New Year (no progress…)
• JOSH: Take 1 walk a week with Josh (I have done this each week so far!)

Have you made progress on any of your goals?

Off to dinner (GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Pumpkin Spice & Goals Filed under ( Family, goals, group fitness )

Pumpkin seems to be EVERYWHERE these days. While I love all things pumpkin, squash, and apple… I am not ready for fall- I am a summer baby all the way! Luckily, SC weather isn’t anywhere close to ready for fall either. I hit up Starbucks this morning for my first (of many) pumpkin spice mistos! I get mine with two pumps of pumpkin spice (I think four is over kill) and loved every sip.

There have been a lot of posts floating around about goals and getting back on the fitness train. As I am working off my remaining pregnancy weight, I decided it was about time for me to set some goals! I loved how Heather laid out her goals, so I am going to do something similar:

Diet

• Get at least 75 grams of Protein a Day
• Drink more water!  At least 80 ounces/day (extra is required for breast feeding & working out)
• Eat more complete meals, less random snacking
• Lose remaining pregnancy weight gain by Thanksgiving (~8 lbs to go! Post Pregnancy updates will be monthly now)

Fitness

• Start teaching Body Pump and Body Step or Attack by the end of September
• Slowly increase Body Pump weight back to pre-pregnancy totals by end of December
• Focus on increasing running endurance- complete the two races I signed up for in October
• Take a Bikram yoga class

Life

• Stress less about the little things- enjoy every moment with Kaylin! I didn’t buy her this onesie….but I am pretty sure she loves it. The bottom picture is blurry, but captures her smiling:

 

• Make sure Kaylin gets in tummy time and a book reading every day
• Continue to meal plan and cook nutritious meals at least 5 of 7 nights a week
• Get back to work work (mid September)
• Purchase furniture for new screened in porch and living room
• Pick out paint color and paint two walls downstairs
• Make weekend “dates” to see friends
• Have a “date night” in or out with Josh (and Kaylin) at least once a week

There you have it!!  Do you have any goals right now?

Birthday Wishes & A Winner Filed under ( giveaway, goals )

Monday, Monday…I hope yours is treating you well! What do you have on tap for this week? I am traveling for work the first couple days of this week and then Thursday is my birthday! I will be turning 28! What is your ideal birthday? For me, its the little things that really make the day special. My wishes for this year are as follows:

Lots of time with Josh:

My parents:

 

and my fur child, Frank:

 

I’d also like to go for a nice, long run. In terms of eats, I’m not a big cake person, but instead would love some Charleston’s Cafe parfait action:

 

and a pumpkin spiced misto from Starbucks (I heard they come out on Tuesday!!!!):

 

Other than that, not a whole lot I need :) I may treat myself to a new pair of Ryka cross trainers (my favorite!!), as the two pairs I currently have are pretty beat up from all of the teaching I’ve been doing lately:

 

(photo courtesy of Ryka).  I’m excited for the year ahead!!

And now, for the winner of the Galaxy Granola giveaway….

Stacey from Healthy Life!!! Congrats, send me an email (itzyskitchen at gmail dot com) with your address and I will get your prize sent to you. Thank you again to Galaxy Granola and Fruit Not Fat for the giveaway.

Rice & Beans, Goals & Superbowl Filed under ( Beans, goals, group fitness, Healthy, Vegetables )

Thursday- at last! Few things I want to post about today: 1. New Goals, 2. Quick and Easy Rice and Beans recipe (with added veggies), 3. Weekly workouts, 4. Super Bowl Menu:

Now that its February, some of the goals you set for the New Year may be slipping out of your mind. I think today is a great day to revisit your goals and either celebrate yourself (if you’re achieving them or working towards achieving them), adjust them (if you’ve found them to be unattainable) or reset yourself (if you’ve let them slip away). One of my main nutrition goals is to focus back in on protein. Since becoming a vegetarian, I’ve let my counts get a little slow. I am now setting a goal of 75 grams per day. I am going to achieve this by incorporating some form of protein into all of my meals and leaning back on my Jay Robb Egg White protein a bit. I will be holding myself accountable by posting my daily protein intake here at the end of each week. What are your goals? Are you meeting them or working towards meeting them?

Second up, I made up an easy recipe of beans & rice with vegetables to eat as part of my dinner later tonight

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked brown rice (you could also use quinoa, barley, etc)
• 1 cup drained beans (or you could use a combination of a few different kinds of beans)
• Olive Oil (~1 tablespoon)
• 1/3 cup Chopped onion (or more if desired)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• Other veggies (frozen corn, frozen peas, bell pepper, Brussels, whatever you have on hand)
• ½ cup salsa (or tomato sauce or marinara)
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon cumin

Directions

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook 4-5 minutes. Add beans, fresh vegetables (if using), tomato sauce and spices. Heat through or until vegetables are at desired tenderness level. In last few minutes of cooking, add frozen peas/corn (if using). Stir in rice, serve.

Not a difficult recipe, but totally delicious. Can't wait to eat it all up later!

Third, how are your workouts coming this week? My classes are going well! I have a heavy teaching schedule this week, as I’m subbing for a few instructors.

• Monday: Taught Body Pump, ran to warm up
• Tuesday: Taught Body Attack
• Wednesday: Off
• Thursday: Teach 45 minute Body Step, 45 minute Body Pump
• Friday: Teach Body Pump, quick run to warm up
• Saturday: Teach Body Step
• Sunday: Teach Body Pump

Lastly, thank you all for sharing your super bowl plans! We’re having a few friends over our house. My plan is serve turkey chili, Rhodey Girl’s Zaatar Bread, Vegetables and Spicy Hummus, Chips & salsa, Fruit and Cool whip (or TruWhip) dip (combine one container of cool/truwhip and 1 fruit yogurt) and a few desserts (black bean brownies and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies).

What are you up to this weekend??