Workout Log

This morning I woke up by 6:30am for absolutely no reason at all! Kids were sleeping and it was nice and quiet. I asked myself, should I take this opportunity to head out the door for a run? Or should I just lay here for awhile even though I know I won't fall back asleep? The athlete in me got up, got dressed, and headed out the door for a quick jog around the neighborhood.

It was a little pathetic and a lot sweaty! This weather is not my favorite. Hot and humid-even at 6:30am!! 30 minutes was enough for me today. I was supposed to start my push up challenge today but didn't get to it and so tomorrow it is! No excuses. I'm waking up early in the morning. That's that.

100 Push-up Challenge

New week, New Challenge!

I came across this website called one hundred pushups and thought, "What better way to improve my upper body strength and tone up using my own body weight?" Not only is this a challenge for me, but for my husband, too. Push-ups are great for toning and using core strength-an important element in any fitness regime.

Since our last challenge ended(21-day detox), I felt compelled to keep us motivated, and one key way to staying motivated is to set up goals.

We are going to start Monday and the plan is for 6 weeks. Today we did our test to see how many push-ups we could do without compromising good form. Taking that number, I will go to the website and find a plan of action for the next 6 weeks. If you are interested in doing it along with me, go to http://www.hundredpushups.com/ and find out exactly what to do. Learn how to do it correctly and there is even a website/blog badge that says "i did the hundred" to proudly post once you've completed the challenge.

Below is a video of my test today. I hope it works since I'm emailing it from my phone.

Ok, so who's in??

New "Blook" Club Coming July 1st!

My first pick for this online book club will be "Run Like a Mother...How to Get Moving-and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity." We will be spending July & August reading and discussing the chapters in either a Q & A form, or any input on each chapter in a positive manner or how it directly relates to you personally if you'd like to share.

Once a month if you live near me, we will meet up at a local coffee shop or maybe a little vino!

So you have a couple of weeks to get your books. You can post a comment below this post, or on my Facebook Page if you plan on participating.

I think this is going to be a LOT of fun!
Feel free to invite others who are interested in reading and/or fitness!

Most posts coming soon!

Detox is Over and Feeling Great!

So the detox is over and my husband and I couldn't feel any better! He's losing weight, we both feel great, and the best thing is that I feel like the 21 days has turned into a way of life for us. We are going to stick with the gluten free at home. If we go out we won't worry about having the wheat since neither one of us are allergic. However I do notice a more bloated feeling when I tried a little wheat. The worst thing that I ate on the detox that made me feel awful was instant mashed potatoes. I know that sounds bazaar, but it's true. I normally keep some on hand just for days I don't have much time for the real thing. Well I did make them once and it was late one night after taking my daughter to swim practice and I was starved! My stomach felt so bad after eating that. I had veggies with it so I know it wasn't that.

I have discovered some new and delicious products like Sunshine burgers, brown rice tortillas, Gardein Orange 'chicken', Van's Waffles(gf & vegan), Rice chips, and much more.

One dish that I discovered when we were out last Monday was in Nature's Table. A new twist on the traditional fuit salad! It was so delicious and new to the taste buds. It was a fuit & veggie salad :) Diced up cucumbers, zucchini, green peppers, grapes, green & red apples tossed with a light, sweet & savory herb dressing. My husband and I were out that morning and trying to find a restaurant that served anything vegan was so difficult. Unfortunately, all the vegan restaurants don't open until 11am and it was only 9:30am. That was really frustrating! But the fruit salad saved the day...or my stomach for that matter ;)

I love a good challenge! I have a new idea for my husband and I-maybe even the kids too!
Stay tuned :)

Lunch!

Now that's a salad!!

Week 1 Detox Recap

So the first week is done!

Honestly the hardest thing for me has been having no coffee. I miss it even more on Sundays. But with 2 weeks left in my detox, I think I still have room to grow. In a way, it's so binding to feel that way about food. Once the craving passes, I will start to feel freedom from something that used to hold me down. I know at times I had though about how coffee was hindering my performance as an athlete. I wasn't eating breakfast as well and went I went out for a run, I felt dehydrated. I would get cramps easier, too. I am so glad I am doing this detox to better my running and also my body.

Last night I made another awesome Mexican Monday recipe. Last week it was tacos using the Boca crumbles. This week, it was roasted POTATO tacos! Not only do I love this recipe but my husband and kids were loving it too! I also happen to think it's great to use something in place of meat that doesn't resemble meat...get me?

This dinner was inspired to me by something my mother ordered at Infusion Tea in Orlando. I made it my own creation by making a corn, black bean, & avocado salsa to top off the Roasted Potato Tacos. I used my brown rice tortilla and filled it with vegan sour cream, roasted potatoes, and my homemade salsa. On the side we had some whole grain brown rice with cumin and black beans and a green salad(that I ended up using to stuff in my taco instead.
The pictures do it NO justice :)

Today is the juice fast. I went to the market and bought some fresh organics to use today. Something different that I bought was daikon, a root vegetable and was told I could juice it and the stems too. I even went crazy this morning and added a small bit of garlic to the green juice I made. I was a little skweemish to think about drinking garlic, but I'm glad I only used a tiny bit and it came out ok-not too strong. I did cucumber, spinach, celery, red apples, ginger & garlic.

So tomorrow is my birthday! I will be following my detox, but for dessert I have my vegan cake! I'm so excited to see what it is. My husband went to the bakery the other day to order it and came up with some creation of his...he said there is two types of fruit in it...but that was all the clues I got...hmmm.

Now to make some more juice!

Week 1 of the Detox and More Pictures

This is a green juice using green apples, cucumber, celery, ginger, kale

 Below is a picture of the "chicken" salad I'm trying to replicate from a nearby heath store that sells this. My mother-in-law and husband are big fans of it so far! Go me :) It's main ingredients are TVP, celery, & carrots.

 My berry smoothie I made yesterday. Strawberries,

 bananas, peaches, blueberries & agave. This one was a

big hit with the kids too.

 For dinner yesterday I made a tofu lasagna. I had enough ingredients leftover to

make two individual dishes for my husband and I for the next day that we

could have for lunch. I used brown rice pasta and almond cheese for the top.

 Below is my regualar lasagna with fresh tomato slices on top(covered by cheese).

It came out really good. Everyone ate it up! I love the brown rice noodles. Have to be careful to overcook them or they fall apart.

In the mornings I've been faithful to having my tea. I only miss coffee sometimes. Mostly when I pass a coffee place. What I'm hoping to get out of this 21 day detox is a healthier body, improve my endometriosis symptoms by eating a lot of anti-inflammatory foods, reduce my risk of injury, and to get leaner in my bodyfat percentage. Being a personal trainer, it is important to me to have a low bodyfat percentage. And I have already lost a couple of pounds. I'm not restricting my calories, but just by following this detox, I have been eating more greens and less bad carbs. I'm not feeling hungry. At night I have not been snacking either which is something I would normally do. If I do get hungry, I would probably have some fruit or tea. My husband is doing really well so far. He likes all the green juices and smoothies I've been making and especially this veggie sandwich I made twice this week on millet garlic & basil bread. WOW, this bread is good! I am going to the health store tomorrow to order some for next week(probably 2 loaves) and while I'm there, maybe grab some millet hamburger buns for my veggie burgers. I am going to try using the veggie pulp from my juicing to make some dip or into burgers...or who knows what I'll come up with! But whatever it is, I will blog it :)

Oh and my birthday is next week!! No cheating for me, EXCEPT for a vegan birthday cake-I'm not giving up my once a year tradition, but it will be vegan.
Til, tomorrow!
See ya then.