Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
10 Reasons Your Body Isn’t Changing
You’re eating healthy, exercising and watching your diet, with little to no results to show for your effort. Before you throw in the towel and give up on your weight loss goals all together check out these Ten Reasons Why Your Body Isn’t Changing according to A Calorie Counter and Spark People to see how you can get back in the game!
1. Are you eating too much?: Weight loss is a simple equation of eating fewer calories than you burn in a day. If you’re not ending the day with a calorie deficit you won’t be losing weight. Instead you’ll be just maintaining or even gaining weight. Try keeping a thorough food journal with what and how much of everything you eat for a week. You’re probably eating more than you think!
2. Pounds vs Inches: How are you measuring your progress? If your workout routine includes weight training you’re most likely adding muscle mass, and subsequently changing your body composition. With muscle weighing more than fat, relying on the scale alone may not be giving you an accurate reading of your progress. Taking measurements of your arms, thighs, mid-section, and hips on a bi-weekly basis may paint a different picture of your success!
3. Change It Up: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.” This well known adage is especially true of your fitness routine and diet. If you’ve hit a plateau, you may need to change up your routine and increase the intensity, as well as adjust your daily calorie intake. The less of you there is the fewer calories you need.
4. You’re Only Doing Cardio: 45 minutes on the elliptical may feel like a good workout, but without weight training you’ll never change your body composition by adding more muscle. A greater muscle mass increases your daily calorie burn, leading to a lower body fat percentage and a leaner you. If you love cardio try a Kettle Bell class or circuit training in place of typical weight training.
5. Falling for the Flavor of the Week: Making too many changes too quickly can be just as detrimental as getting stuck in a rut. Ballroom dancing may be the latest fitness craze but it may not be the calorie burn or weight training routine you need. Figure out what works for you rather than everyone else and stick with it.
6. Fact vs. Fiction: Are you doing or trying? You may feel like you’re eating healthy and exercising regularly, but a well kept food and exercise journal may tell a different story. Take a close hard look at your food choices and fitness routine and see what is really going on and where you can make improvements. (photo credit here)
7. You’re Rewarding Yourself with Food: It’s awesome that you just ran three miles, but rewarding yourself with a Starbucks Frappuccino will do nothing but negate all your hard work. Rather than food, try setting a long term goal and reward yourself with a gift when you reach your goal.
8. You’re Not Working Hard Enough: Are you challenging yourself with your workouts? If you’ve found yourself getting through your fitness routine with less or minimal effort it may be time to take it up a notch. Add weight training, High Intensity Interval Training, or a faster pace on the treadmill to keep your workouts challenging and you seeing results.
9. You’re Working Too Hard: As crazy as it sounds, working out too hard can be detrimental to meeting your fitness and weight or body measurement goals. Make sure to take at least one rest day a week, drink plenty of water and eat nutritious foods to replenish your muscles after a hard workout. Remember you want to build muscle, not break it down without recovery.
10. You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep: Few of us can say that we get the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night. Although it may be hard to forgo productivity for sleep, your efforts for a good night’s sleep will pay off in the long run. Lack of sleep can lead to hormonally charged weight gain and poor workouts due to fatigue and lack of concentration. Set a sleep schedule complete with a bed time and wake time and stick with it.
See what areas you can improve on and start seeing the results you’ve been looking for!
*Courtesy of Skinnymom.com*
1. Are you eating too much?: Weight loss is a simple equation of eating fewer calories than you burn in a day. If you’re not ending the day with a calorie deficit you won’t be losing weight. Instead you’ll be just maintaining or even gaining weight. Try keeping a thorough food journal with what and how much of everything you eat for a week. You’re probably eating more than you think!
2. Pounds vs Inches: How are you measuring your progress? If your workout routine includes weight training you’re most likely adding muscle mass, and subsequently changing your body composition. With muscle weighing more than fat, relying on the scale alone may not be giving you an accurate reading of your progress. Taking measurements of your arms, thighs, mid-section, and hips on a bi-weekly basis may paint a different picture of your success!
3. Change It Up: “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.” This well known adage is especially true of your fitness routine and diet. If you’ve hit a plateau, you may need to change up your routine and increase the intensity, as well as adjust your daily calorie intake. The less of you there is the fewer calories you need.
4. You’re Only Doing Cardio: 45 minutes on the elliptical may feel like a good workout, but without weight training you’ll never change your body composition by adding more muscle. A greater muscle mass increases your daily calorie burn, leading to a lower body fat percentage and a leaner you. If you love cardio try a Kettle Bell class or circuit training in place of typical weight training.
5. Falling for the Flavor of the Week: Making too many changes too quickly can be just as detrimental as getting stuck in a rut. Ballroom dancing may be the latest fitness craze but it may not be the calorie burn or weight training routine you need. Figure out what works for you rather than everyone else and stick with it.
6. Fact vs. Fiction: Are you doing or trying? You may feel like you’re eating healthy and exercising regularly, but a well kept food and exercise journal may tell a different story. Take a close hard look at your food choices and fitness routine and see what is really going on and where you can make improvements. (photo credit here)
7. You’re Rewarding Yourself with Food: It’s awesome that you just ran three miles, but rewarding yourself with a Starbucks Frappuccino will do nothing but negate all your hard work. Rather than food, try setting a long term goal and reward yourself with a gift when you reach your goal.
8. You’re Not Working Hard Enough: Are you challenging yourself with your workouts? If you’ve found yourself getting through your fitness routine with less or minimal effort it may be time to take it up a notch. Add weight training, High Intensity Interval Training, or a faster pace on the treadmill to keep your workouts challenging and you seeing results.
9. You’re Working Too Hard: As crazy as it sounds, working out too hard can be detrimental to meeting your fitness and weight or body measurement goals. Make sure to take at least one rest day a week, drink plenty of water and eat nutritious foods to replenish your muscles after a hard workout. Remember you want to build muscle, not break it down without recovery.
10. You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep: Few of us can say that we get the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night. Although it may be hard to forgo productivity for sleep, your efforts for a good night’s sleep will pay off in the long run. Lack of sleep can lead to hormonally charged weight gain and poor workouts due to fatigue and lack of concentration. Set a sleep schedule complete with a bed time and wake time and stick with it.
See what areas you can improve on and start seeing the results you’ve been looking for!
*Courtesy of Skinnymom.com*
Skinny Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken
Skinny Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutesYield: 4-5 servingsServing size: 4.5 oz cooked chicken with 1 tsp honey mustard
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of fat
- 2 cups pretzels
- 1 cup light honey mustard
- 1/2 cup light honey mustard reserved for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a food processor, pulse pretzels until they are a bread crumb consistency.
- Add 1 cup honey mustard to a shallow and wide bowl.
- Add pretzel crumbs to a separate shallow and wide bowl.
- Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dip chicken in honey mustard and cover evenly.
- Immediately dip chicken into pretzel crumbs and cover the chicken completely.
- Place covered chicken breast onto the cookie sheet.
- Repeat with remaining chicken.
- Add leftover pretzel crumbs to chicken on cookie sheet.
- Bake chicken for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- Serve chicken with remaining ½ cup honey mustard dipping sauce.
Nutrition Info and Tips
Per Serving (4.5 oz cooked chicken with 1 tsp honey mustard):Calories: 312Fat: 4.8g
Carbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1.2g Protein: 32.4g Sugars: 1.2g WWP+: 7
*Recipe courtesy of Skinnymom.com*
Carbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1.2g Protein: 32.4g Sugars: 1.2g WWP+: 7
*Recipe courtesy of Skinnymom.com*
Thursday, September 19, 2013
ACHIEVE!
I saw this quote today and fell in love! All of us get tired and discouraged, but what a great reminder that you can achieve anything you set out to do!
Friday, September 6, 2013
Fire-Roasted Meatloaf
Fire-Roasted Meatloaf
1/2 head cauliflower, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 pound grass-fed ground beef (I buy this at Sprouts.)
1/2 c. of fire roasted salsa
1 small can of fire-roasted diced green chilies
1 egg
1/2 c. almond flour
2 1/2 tsp. of chili powder
3/4 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. basil
5 T. organic tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Using food processor, finely chop the cauliflower, garlic, and onion and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, salsa, chilies, and egg.
3. Add the cauliflower, garlic, and onion mixture to the beef mixture.
4. Add the almond flour and spices to the beef mixture. Using your hands, kneed and mix all the ingredients together.
5. Shape the beef mixture into a loaf and place it in the slow cooker.
6. Using a spatula, evenly spread the tomato paste on top of the meatloaf.
7. Cover and cook on high for four hours or until the internal temp. of the meatloaf has reached 160F. Salt and pepper to taste.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Juicing
Back to school for my kids means back on track for mom!
I had a great summer! A staycation here and there with my hubby and kids. A girls weekend in Vegas with my sisters to see Beyoncé! And an amazing trip to Hawaii with my cute fam! But what do these places all have in common...Food! And whoa am I feeling the effects!
My good friend, Lara, introduced me to juicing a few months ago and I absolutely LOVE it! It helps me feel energized, (yes, even more than a Diet Coke), and helps clean out and regulate my system. I've even noticed a change in my complexion! So, wanted to share a few recipes that I have found and have enjoyed...
This first one I call "Lara" since this is what she had me try, and got me hooked! Super simple, and my kids love it too!
Lara
1 apple
1 carrot
Approx. 1 Cup strawberries
(And sometimes when my kids aren't looking, I'll sneak in some kale or spinach.)
Citrus Green Juice
6 kale leaves
6 Swiss chard leaves
1/2 cucumber
6 clementines
Carrot Apple Ginger Juice
3 carrots
2 apples
1" Ginger
Green Juice
1/2 cucumber
3 celery stalks
1-2 apples
6 kale leaves
1/2 lemon
1" ginger
And one more that I am going to try later this afternoon...
Sunset Blend Juice
1 lg. sweet potato
1 med. carrot
1 red bell pepper
2 lg. red beets
2 Golden delicious apples
1 orange (optional)
I like to get creative as well, and add pineapple, mango, spinach, kiwi, etc.
There are a lot of juicing cleanses out there. If you choose to do, for example, a 3 day juice cleanse, prepare your body by drinking a lot of water in the days leading up to your cleanse. Eat clean. No red meat, soda, sugar, dairy, or caffeine.
Personally, I love balance. I eat 3 healthy meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each meal includes a lean protein. And for snacks I drink my juice along with a handful of almonds, or I'll add a little protein powder to the juice to get my protein intake.
Happy juicing!!!
(And yes, I'm drinking my juice from a Thor cup...Kind of a crush.) :)
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