Started My Day Off Right...

So, I've started my day off right with a good healthy breakfast... now to get myself motivated to do more. I'm thinking I might head to the gym this afternoon and work on the treadmill and maybe the weight room. With all the hectic days I've had at work the past few weeks...think I might just enjoy my day off today and do the housework and stuff tomorrow...

Daily Body Blessings:

Breakfast: Grab N Go Cottage Crunch (cottage cheese, pineapple tidbits..drained, Cranberry Pecan Granola Cereal) V8 Spicy, diet Green Tea with Citrus.

Lunch: Grilled Pork Loin, Broccoli Alfredo Pasta, Wax Beans, Green Olives

Dinner: Lasagna, Veggies, 1 slice Garlic Bread

According to FitDay calculations, I'm within goal on each of my Daily Nutritional Goals:

My Daily Goals (from Sparkpeople calculations):

1200-1550 Calories
162-236 Carbohydrates
32-56 Fat
60-127 Protein

Today's Totals:

1,458 Calories
49.2 Fat
158.8 Carbohydrates
102.3 Protein

Today's Workout:

200 Crunches... 4 sets of 50 each set a different variety

100 Squats... 4 sets of 25

60 Push-ups... 4 sets of 15, modified

Not too shabby on my workout considering it's been close to two months since I've done any of my strength training... Really struggled though to get the last set of 15 push-ups in. Arms are aching now!

Daily Doer Plan...

This will be my workout plan for the upcoming challenge. It comes from Denise Austin's book "Fit & Fabulous After 40". (This is a GREAT book by the way...) And this time, when I use it... hubby can't make fun of me that I'm not 40 yet... LOL Never too early to be fit and fabulous though so if you've not yet reached 40 years of age, don't let it stop you from checking out the book!

I will attempt to do the Daily Doer Plan but I know with my hectic work schedule, I won't always be able to complete my workouts daily...so I will show the alternate plans here also...

Daily Doer Plan

Monday: Cardio (Total: 30 minutes)
Tuesday: Strength + Flexibility/Balance (Total: 30-40 minutes)
Wednesday: Cardio (Total: 30 minutes)
Thursday: Strength + Flexibility/Balance (Total: 30-40 minutes)
Friday: Cardio (Total: 30 minutes)
Saturday: Strength + Flexibility/Balance (Total: 30-40 minutes)
Sunday: Cardio (Total: 30 minutes)

Time-Crunch 4-Day Plan

Monday: Cardio + strength training + flexibility/balance (Total: 60-70 minutes)
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: Cardio + strength training + flexibility/balance (Total: 60-70 minutes)
Thursday: off
Friday: Cardio + strength training + flexibility/balance (Total: 60-70 minutes)
Saturday: Cardio (Total: 30 minutes)
Sunday: off

Weekend Free Plan

Monday: Cardio + strength training + flexibility/balance (Total: 60-70 minutes)
Tuesday: cardio (Total: 30 minutes)
Wednesday: Strength + Flexibility/balance (Total: 30-40 minutes)
Thursday: cardio (Total: 30 minuets)
Friday: Cardio + Strength + flexibility/balance (Total: 60-70 minutes)
Saturday: off
Sunday: off

Weekend Fat Blaster Plan:

Monday: strength + flexibility/balance (Total: 30-40 minutes)
Tuesday: cardio (Total: 30 minutes)
Wednesday: cardio + strength + flexibility/balance
Thursday: off
Friday: strength + flexibility/balance (Total: 30-40 minutes)
Saturday: cardio (Total: 30 minutes)
Sunday: cardio )(Total: 30 minutes)

Recipes to Try...

As I posted the other day, I'm working on Planning ahead for the GAG Challenge starting on September 1, 2009. Tonight I am working on my lunch plan in order to have healthy nutritious meals while at work rather than fast food. I'm planning on making these up and freezing them in individual servings for lunch..

Here is a few recipes I found in the current issue of Simple & Delicious Magazine put our by Reiman Media Corp.

Savory Onion Chicken
recipe by: Julia Anderson

1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 broiler/fryer chicken cut up (I will use boneless chicken breasts)
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Envelope Onion Soup Mix (I will see about a lower sodium version though)
1 Bottle of Beer or non-alcoholic beer

Place 2 Tbsp. flour into a large Ziploc bag. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, shake to coat. In a large skillet, brown chicken on all sides. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Add Soup Mix and remaining flour to pan, stirring to loosen browned bits. Gradually whisk in the beer or non-alcoholic beer. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until mixture has thickened. Return chicken to skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

Yield: 6 servings

1 serving equals:

231 calories
11 g fat (2g saturated fat)
73 mg cholesterol
469 mg sodium
7 g carbohydrate
trace of fiber
25 g protein

Onion-Dijon Pork Chops

4 boneless pork loin chops (5 oz. each)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 Tbsp brown sugar (I will use the Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)
2 Tbsp honey Dijon mustard

Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook pork over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove from Skillet and keep warm.

Add the remaining ingredients to the skillet; stir to loosen the browned bits. Bring mixture to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until mixture has thickened. Return chops to skillet. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 4-5 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160°

Yield: 4 servings

1 serving equals:

261 calories
9 g fat (3 g saturated)
69 mg cholesterol, 257 mg sodium
17 g carbohydrate
1 g fiber
28 g protein

Italian Roasted Vegetables
recipe by: Simple & Delicious Test Kitchen

2 medium yellow summer squash, sliced
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato salad dressing
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp pepper

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Transfer to an ungreased 15-inch x 10-inch x 1 inch baking pan.

Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 15-20 minutes or until tender, stirring once. Serve immediately

Yield: 4 servings

Each Serving equals:

61 calories
3 g fat (trace saturated fat)
0 cholesterol
322 sodium
9 g carbohydrate
3 g fiber
2 g protein

Sauteed Corn with tomatoes & basil
recipe by: Patricia Nieh

1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

In a large skillet, saute corn in olive oil until tender-crisp. Stir in the halved cherry tomatoes, salt, and pepper; cook 1 minute longer. Remove from heat; sprinkle with basil.

Yield: 4 servings

Each serving equals:

85 calories
4 g fat (1g saturated)
0 cholesterol
161 mg sodium
12 g carbohydrate
2 g fiber
2 g protein

Planning Ahead...

OK... I think I am getting bored this morning sitting on my computer while my hubby is at work and the daughter is still in bed sleeping...

Think I shall dig out all my weight loss/fitness magazines and start planning out my plan of attack on our upcoming challenge. There is so much good information to be found in them... With all the different workouts listed, one should never get bored...

I can start planning new and exciting workout routines, start planning for my lunches at work (which can not include ARBY's every day), etc...

So, it's really time to get my brain focused and win this battle once and for all. I can do it... I will do it!

BUMMER!

Well, my plans on making the gym for Spin Class may be going down the drain with no choice to any of us in the class...

I dragged my butt out of bed again this morning at 5:10, got dressed and met Desiree at the gym for a half hour of walking on the treadmill before attending the Spin Class being held on Tuesday & Thursday mornings. We get to class, have yet another sub (we had one last week, my first week of class too) and she informed us that the Base or whoever is in charge has decided to cancel the 6:00 am classes in order to make room for two more classes in the evenings. They are adding a Zomba & a Yoga class at 6:00 in the evenings... at times which both Desiree and I will both still be at work.

Everyone in the class is bummed by it as it's the best time for us to be there... Desiree has a baby, so her hubby is still home to watch the baby while she works out... Me, I'm just not always motivated to go on my own and evening classes just do not fit my schedule at work. Having Desiree to motivate me (she's actually a certified fitness trainer...which I just found out on Thursday while in class) is great for me. Besides, she inspires me. She loves to RUN. She starts out running for 30+ minutes straight. Such endurance she has. I don't have the endurance yet...but hopefully in time I can build it up too.

Work has been CRAZY for me lately. I've been down to about 5 people working for the past couple of weeks... 5 of us to cover almost 200 hours and to offload trucks, run merchandise pick up, process merchandise, etc. It's been taking it's toll on all of us, but we've all stuck it out and stepped up to make sure things are getting done. I really do have an awesome team back there... just wish we could always get along, though we have been doing much better.

I will slowly be making the transition to the sales floor doing merchandising and signing though. I did help out this past Sunday and really enjoyed it. It was nice to be back out there again. Hopefully with the change in my job, it will give me more motivation to make it to the gym and or at least work out at home.

We're getting closer to our new challenge... sorry to those who I joined up with their challenges for the summer and not made it in to report, encourage, and whatnot. I never expected my summer to be as hectic as it has been at work... plus we had family visit for a few weeks last month. First my MIL & FIL visited...we had a great time hitting places of interest here in ND...then we took a weekend to head to SD and saw Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, & Deadwood. It was an awesome time and a much needed vacation time for the entire family. A week after they left my Grandparents came to visit. That was great too. We mostly sat around the house, I had to work a couple of the days though. Grandma is not doing well at all anymore and can't get around without Grandpa's help. It's so sad to see a woman who was once so active be so inactive now.

Well, I shall close for now. I think I need to work over the next couple of weeks planning out my plan of attack for the upcoming GAG Challenge. I remember last Christmas I found it to not be so easy when everyone kept bringing homemade bake goods to work...so I really need to find something to keep me away from it... being out of receiving should help big time though as I won't be that close to the break room to sneak just one more... :)

Good luck to everyone with the challenge... and for those in the other challenges, I hope you are all meeting your goals you had set for yourself.

Woo Hoo....

Well, I finally got my butt out of bed and went with Desiree to work out yesterday morning...and man do I feel it today. She's been trying to get me to go do a Spin class with her this past week. I was closing the night before and the class was at 6:00 in the morning... wasn't sure I would make it as I need my sleep...

Well, I set my alarm, almost didn't get up because I only got about 3 hours sleep...but then I felt guilty...she closed too and if she can drag herself out of bed to work out, why can't I?

We did 20 minutes on the treadmill... she ran from the get go.. me, I did my standard fast paced walk as it's been weeks since I've worked out. Still do alot of sweating though. At 6:00 we headed to the class room for the spinning class. It was the first time I've done that. I was so afraid it would just about kill me being I could barely make it through the warm up when I did the ab lab a few months ago and we did the warm up on the bikes...

Well, I survived the 45 minute class... then went to do abs with Desiree. She's an awesome coach! I found out too while we were in class, that she is a certified trainer. I never knew that! She gave me all sorts of ab workouts...some I have done before...others I've not. A couple, because of my scoliosis I found hard to do because I couldn't keep my lower back on the ground...but we worked through it and got a great workout in...

Today I'm feeling every bit of the workout. But it feels GREAT!

Making The Cut...

OK, after reading an article with Jillian Michaels a couple months ago in one of my fitness magazines, I decided I REALLY like her bad ass attitude! I wish I could have her as my fitness and life coach everyday! I think her attitude is just what I need to get my butt in gear and reach the goals I have set for myself and learn to maintain them...

Well, today, as we were walking through Target, we saw one of her books "Making The Cut"... Drew bought it for me and I started reading it... I may give her program a shot... though, I've not totally checked it out yet... recipes and such... I may have to adjust those a bit as I know Drew will not want to be fixing those kinds of meals on a day to day basis...

I signed up for Sheila's challange too... so with the help of all my blog friends & Jillian Michael's bad ass attitude I may be able to win this fight once and for all!