Strawberry Banana and Nutella Smoothy

I made this smoothy for my kids. My 5 year old said, "This is the best smoothy ever!" He wanted seconds before he was even done! This smoothy would be great to make extra and freeze for pop cycles.

Recipe 


1/3 Cup Nutella 
1 1/2 Cups Strawberries
1/3 Cup Skim Milk
1 Ripe Banana 
12 Ice cubes. 

Blend Nutella Strawberries Milk and Banana together until smooth. Add ice cubes and blend. ENJOY!

( This is not the best picture, but you get the idea! ) 

New Month New Goals

Its almost June! I can't believe Summer is finally here! This year has gone by so fast, I guess its true what they say "Time flies when your having fun". My deadline has come and gone. I am about 3 pounds away from my goal weight, of 145. It really give me motivation to set a deadline. Because I know that I only have a small amount of time and I need to give it my all to work on it. So my new weight loss goal is to get to 140 by June 30th. 

I am doing really well at making sure I am working out. I exercise ever morning. I never skip a day. I do my best to stay active. I can see that I am really gaining muscle. My biggest problem is food. I might workout like crazy but when I eat ice cream and pizza I am never going to loose this fat. Goal # 2 for June. I am sticking to Clean Eating, its was got me out of the 150's, and I like the idea of it. I feel like its what is best for my body and my family. We are not going to eat out anymore because its fast. I am going to plan our meals out. Our garden is starting to produce and I plan I eating out of it daily. I don't want to diet. I want to change our way of eating. I want my kids to live long healthy lives and they learn by example. This is motivation enough for me. 

I found this sign on Pinterest. I love it!!! June is going to be a start of a new Me and I am excited to take on the challenge! 

Orange Peach Banana Smoothy

Time for another Smoothy of the Day!!! My husband was home and I wanted extra, so this made a lot more then normal. This recipe will make about 7 Cups.

1 Ripe Banana
2 Peach Yogurt
1 1/2 Cups Peaches ( I used a can of peaches and juice )
3/4 Cup Orange Juice
1/4 Cup Oatmeal
12 Ice Cubes

Blend very well until smooth. Drink and Enjoy!

New Exercises

I added some new exercises into my workout today, I really liked them. I love using the resistance band, its a great way to change it up and use my muscles in a different way.

Here is the LINK for the resistance band exercises. 

I also did all of this. I liked seeing what muscles I am using doing each of these exercises. I added a couple of my own and felt like I had a successful workout! I found both of these on Pinterest. 

Crazy Week

This has been a CRAZY week. My sisters wedding was friday, and I weighed 147. Not 145, but it was close. This weekend has been a weekend of eating and family. I have been pretty good. It was a good feeling when everyone told me how skinny I look! I really felt like all my hard work was paying off!!! I still have a ways to go to get to my dream body, so I will keep working at it!

Some new workouts that I have been doing! Found these on Pinterest. I LOVE the bottom one!

Check Up on my New Years Resolutions

Its almost half way through the year!!! The last 6 months have gone so fast! I was looking back on my blog and found my list of new years resolutions. I need to start working harder on my new years resolutions!!!!

My New Years Resolutions -

• Get to 140 pounds ( I am close, oh so close! ) 
• Run a half marathon ( I don't know if this will happen this year ) 
• Work out 6 days a week - DONE! 
• Try new recipes - DONE! But I want to try more!
• Save Money - Better then before, but not great! 
• Finish the Book of Mormon - Have not started : ( 
• Read more books - DONE! 
• Do more crafts - DONE! Just with my craft nights I have done more then last year! 
• Spend more time with my kids - I am working on it! 
• Grow a garden - DONE! 
• Be more organized - DONE! 
• Be a better wife - Working on it! 
• Try new things - DONE! But I want to keep trying new things! 
• Be more understanding of others - This is a hard one. I am a judgmental person. I would say that I am more compassionate, but this one still needs work. 
• Gain a Testimony - Working on it! 
• Be a good YW leader - I would like to say DONE! But, thats something has has do on all year. 
• Serve - Need to do more. 
• Get to a size 6 - PRETTY CLOSE! I fit in a size 7!!! 
• Learn to Wake Board - THIS SUMMER! 
• Be a better house keeper - DONE! 
• Potty Train Isaac - STILL WORKING ON IT!!! Poor Kid, no, poor MOM! 

Weekend Eating

This weekend was a HUGE fail for my diet! I have never felt so disappointed with myself then I do today. I did not eat clean the last 3 days. I ate like I was 120 pounds and never gain weight, haha! Today I am paying for it. I got on the scale to see a higher number. Its the worst feeling in the world, knowing that all the hard work I did last week was thrown away in 3 days! It makes me sad and angry and I hate myself for it. Now I am going to have to KILL myself to get to 145, by Friday for my sisters wedding. Its impossible. Its just going to be really really hard. I am going to do it. I am not going to come this close, to make it all go away.
After looking at what I ate this weekend. I see what I did wrong, and what really needs to change, next weekend!

• I need to buy lots of fruits and veggies! I grocery shop at the first of the week. I buy lots of healthy food, but by the weekend most of its gone. So we are left with eating out, or eating junk. I am going to change this by switching up my grocery shopping. I am shopping on Monday and Friday, now. I am going to buy enough healthy food to make it through the week. I am going to meal plan and I am going to stick to it. 
• I had WAY to much sugar. Sugar is fine, if you don't eat 4 brownies . . . That being said, if there is a dessert, I will stick to one, and one small one. Its not the end of sugar and there will always be treats. I don't need to eat like I will never see it again! 
• Make time for exercising. My last good workout was Friday morning. Saturday I set my alarm, and never woke up :( So when 8:30 rolled around and I had to be places by 9:15 and my kids are waking up, 25 minutes at the gym, is not enough for me. I need my hour workout. Even though Sunday is my rest day, I did not even do a bike ride or a walk on Sunday! 
• Did not drink enough water. Throughout the week, I have water with me at all times, I try to drink about 50 oz a day or more. This weekend I had maybe 30 oz TOTAL! That is horrible! No wonder I feel bloated and sick today! I need to keep water with me and make sure that I drink it all. 

This is it.  What I need to change. This weekend I learned that even though I have had a great month of loosing weight I can still gain it back really quickly. I know what I need to change and I know that if I really try I can do it. I am going to do it! 

And I saw this on Pinterest, and it fit perfect for today!!! 

How I've Lost Weight

I want to share some of the tricks to my weight loss. It has not been easy, but it has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done. So, these are some of my own ways that I have been able to loose weight!

1. DRINKING WATER. Lots of water!!! I know you hear is a million times, but really drinking water has helped me. It has also helped my skin not be so dry!

2. MAKE SURE THE JUNK IS GONE. Having NO junk food in my house, is a big one for me. I am a bored eater, when I get bored I eat. So making sure that there is no junk food in my house makes me reach for an apple or carrots.

3. STOCK UP ON HEALTHY FOOD. I have to have LOTS of fruits and veggies in my kitchen now. Since I have been doing Clean Eating, I need a lot of fruits and and veggies so that I can add them to all my food. I grocery shop at the first of the week, and make sure that I have all my food for the week, so that I don't run out, and have to go eat out.

4. NUTS. In the afternoon when I need a snack, I have a handful of almonds or pistachios. They keep me held over till dinner time.

5. EXERCISE DAILY. If I don't work out 6 days a week, I feel like I am not trying my hardest. I feel tired and lazy on those days. I never liked to workout. Waking up early seemed like the worst thing in the world. But, now I LOVE it. Its makes me feel amazing, it gives me motivation to do more the next day. I love to look at myself and see a muscle showing that I never even knew I had! I love the feeling the next day of sore, because I know that I pushed myself.

6. KEEP ACTIVE. Even if I have had an amazing workout that morning, I still need to keep going. There is no sitting around. I will go on a walk, ride my bike, do some stretching while watching TV. Do some leg lifts while I am doing the dishes. Every little bit helps!

7. TRY NEW THINGS. This goes for food and workouts. You never know what you are and are not going to like. So try everything. I never knew that I could really like Green Peppers!

( Found this on Pinterest, and I love it ) 

Wonderful Wednesday!!!

Today I had an amazing day because it started out with me jumping on the scale and seeing this . . . 

I was SHOCKED! I ate very well yesterday, and I had an amazing workout, but I did not think that I would ever see this number. Since my weight loss challenge last month I have lost 10 pounds! This is HUGE for me! I feel so good about this, I want to keep going! I only have 8 pounds till I am in the 130's. 

Mothers Day Craft

I loved the pots I made for craft night! I thought this would be the perfect Mothers Day gift for my mom. This time I adde my kids cute little hand prints on each. I planted Basil and Cilantro. I loved these colors together! They turned out so cute and my mom loved them! 

Fruit and Oatmeal Smoothie

Time for another one of my amazing smoothies!

Recipe

2 Bananas
1/2 Cup Honey Greek Yogurt
1/2 Can Pineapple
1/3 Can Frozen Orange Juice
10 Ice Cubes
1/4 Cup Oatmeal
3/4 Cup Juice ( I used Bolthouse Berry, but you could use Orange Juice or Pineapple Juice )

Blend VERY good. You want oatmeal to be broken apart. ENJOY!
( This recipe made about 6 Cups )


When I have left over smoothy. I put it in an ice cube tray and re-freeze. I put them in my next smoothy. Or I make pop cycles!!! I bought some cheap pop cycle trays, and when I have left over smoothy I fill them up let them freeze for a couple hours and my kids LOVE them. Its cheaper then buying pop cycles and I know that there is no added sugar.

Great Monday Workout

Yesterday, I had a great Mothers Day. I am blessed with a great mother, and mother in law. We had a fantastic day spent with family. We had yummy dinner, that followed by have pie and s'mores! I gave in and had a small piece of each ... and it was so good! 

So this morning I knew that I had to have a great work out to make up for my extra calories yesterday, and I did. I woke up and found some great exercises on Pinterest and out of my binder. I added some resistance band exercises as well, put it all together and I worked out over an hour and worked up a sweat! 

I got a resistance band for Christmas and did not even know what to do with it! I went to my Tone and Define class on friday and they used resistance bands! I finally learned all the cool things that I can do with it! Today I added the resistance band to my work out, I worked legs/butt and arms with the resistance band! It was great to add something new! 

Here are some of the exercises I added today! 

I did it!

I got to the 140s today! I weighed in at 149! I am so excited that I am out of the 150's FOREVER! I never want to see 150 again! I worked out every day, at least for an hour. I ate pretty good. I know where I can change. We ate out a lot this week. I always chose a healthy item, but its still not as healthy as eating at home. So this week I don't want to eat out. I want to go eat healthy and make my own meals. I have about 2 weeks to loose 4 more pounds. I am still going to hit my goal of 145 by my sisters wedding.

I am really loving to go the gym and work out. I can't wait to go Tues. Tomorrow is my day to workout at home. I have a great work out planned and I am actually excited to do it! Its just so fun and so rewarding. If I don't workout I don't feel like I have worked towards I want more than anything, and that is to be healthy and to be fit. I am so close to my goal how can I stop now?

Accomplishments

I started my weight loss challenge almost a month ago. I have been doing as much as I can. I have had good days and bad days. Today is a good day! A month ago I bought a size 11 jeans. They are way to big now!!! Not a bad thing right??? Monday I bought a new pair of Jeans, they are a size 9! I have not been a size 9 for 4 years! I bought an x-large shirt a month ago. Today I have it on and its HUGE! I really am so happy that I am down clothing sizes! Its a great feeling.

Its no secret that I love to pole dance! I have a hot pink pole in my living room! No, I am not a stripper or ever have been, I just love to dance and excersize and have fun! I have had my pole for almost 5 years and until recently I have not tried anything new. I have been able to go upside down for a couple years, but once I got upside down, I did not know what the heck to do and when I would try something I was not strong enough to do it and end up falling! ( I have some crazy huge bruises from pole dancing, haha! )

Today I was able to do this and I was able to hold for over 30 seconds! Long enough that I was screaming at my husband to come see my new trick!!! I am super excited that I am strong enough to do anything on the pole like this and I can't wait to try other new pole tricks!! 

Coconut Honey Salmon

I found a new Salmon recipe that my family and I really enjoyed. It was very easy and had a great flavor. I will be making this again! We served with steamed rice and veggies. 

Recipe 

4 Salmon Fillets 

1/2 Cup Honey

1 1/2 Cups Sweetened Shredded Coconut 

Brush the fillet with honey back front and sides, then dip into shredded coconut. 

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes on metal pan. 

( I use a stone pan and it took 18 minutes ) 

* Not exact picture from this recipe. This is what it looks like though. 

I never knew . . .

On Friday, I finally was able to go to the 9:00 class at my gym. It was the Tone and Define class. I thought, this will be fun, I can change it up and have a good workout. I had a GREAT workout. It hurt like I have never felt before. We did 30 minutes of lunges with a 20 pound bar. We did free weights and some squats. Even though it was the hardest workout I have ever done, I can't wait to go back, because I know that its giving me results, it has to for how bad it hurt :) 

I had a pretty rough night and did not sleep. When 5:30 rolled around I could not wait to get out of bed and go to the gym. I needed to get out and relieve some stress. I walked into the gym, just in time for a Spin Class. I walked right passed the Spin Class and headed into the weight and machine room. Then I thought, hey why not try the Spin Class instead of my normal workout. I have done it a couple times, but that was 4 years ago! 

I am so glad that I chose to hop on that spin bike and work up a sweat! It was fun, and different and it made me want to keep working out. After an hour of spin I did 25 minutes of arms using free weights. I feel really good this morning. I have a good amount of energy considering I only slept about 2 hours. 

What I am trying to say, it that you never know how much you are going to like something until you try it. Its intimidating, when you walk into that room and you see a bunch of super skinny fit women and men. They all look like pro's! But, I guess I don't care what people think anymore, because I am there for one reason and that is to get healthy. Who cares if I am using a lighter weight, one day I will be using the heavy weight. We all have to start someplace. 

( This is what I felt like on the bike today ) 

:) 

Berry Oatmeal Smoothy ( My new Favorite )

I have just made an amazing and HEALTHY Smoothy!!! This smoothy is going to be one of my new favorites and one that I am going to use to create my other healthy breakfast drinks!

Recipe

1 1/2 Cups Strawberries
1/2 Cup Bolthouse Farms Berry Boost Drink
1/3 Can Frozen Cranberry Juice
10 Ice Cubes
1/4 Cup Oatmeal ( Add more if you don't want a super sweet smoothy )
1 Cup Strawberry Yogurt
2/3 Cups Greek Strawberry and Honey Yogurt ( Or you could add just another cup Strawberry yogurt )

Blend very well and Enjoy . . . 
* This made about 6 cups.  I had to blend this smoothy for about a 45 seconds. You want the oatmeal to be broken apart, and blended to smooth.

19 Days

I have 19 days till my sisters wedding and my goal of 145 pounds. I still weight 150 :( But I took before and after pictures and I can see a little difference! Working out 6 days a week and eating healthy are paying off, and see the small changes are making me want to see a HUGE change! So my journey continues! I will be in the 130's by July. I can't wait to see the after pictures then!!!

Well here they are, 3 weeks down! Its funny cause most before and after pictures show the tan person as the after, mine are opposite! Hahaha!!!

Orange Smoothy

Another smoothy creation of mine! This orange smoothy was YUMMY and my kids never knew it had veggies in it! That made it even better. 

Recipe 

2 Oranges, Pealed 

1/4 Can Frozen Orange Juice

1 Peach Yogurt 

10 Ice Cubes

5-10 Baby Carrots 

1/2 Can Pineapple and Juice 

like always . . . BLEND AND ENJOY! 

Sunday Morning Smoothies

Smoothies for Breakfast??? How about a yummy Orange Strawberry Banana Smoothy? Mmmmmm...

5 Ice Cubes
1 Cup Orange Juice
1 1/2 Cups Frozen Strawberries ( You can use non-frozen, just add a couple more ice cubes )
1 Banana
1/2 Can Frozen Orange Juice
1 Strawberry Yogurt

Blend and Enjoy!

Pinterest Ideas that WORK!

Going through my pins, on Pinterest and there are a couple that I have done and I have not talked about! How can I not share some pretty cool ideas???

The first one, is the Mascara Trick.
- Add 4-5 drops of saline solution to your dried up mascara. It works!!! I have done it 3-4 times to the same mascara tube and I am still getting more out! This is a great idea to save money.

Stain remover from carpets.
- Sprinkle baking soda on the stain, let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then vacuum it up. Make 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, and 1 drop of dish soap, add it to spray bottle and spray on stain. Let it sit for a minute and then scrub. Stain came right up! I even used this on high traffic areas, works great!


Then we have one that I pinned and it does not work.
- Put one cup of baking soda in your toilet and let sit for an hour, then flush and its clean. THIS DID NOT WORK. DON'T WASTE YOUR BAKING SODA! It did not even work a little bit, and my toilet was not that dirty. I will stick with Comet!

Weekly Goals

I am at a stand still in my weight loss. Today I kinda gave up, and gave into the movie theater popcorn and a chocolate treat. Tonight, I am so mad at myself. After all my hard work, why did I give into my cravings and give up what matters most to me? As I sit here and regret my choices for the day I am thinking about what I am going to change, and what I need to do for me. This week I am getting out of this weight loss rut, and I am going to hit my goal of 145 by then end of this month. I can do this. I just need to try.

My weekly goals this week are not just weight loss. I am going to try one thing each day from Pinterest for kids. I have a board labeled "kids" I don't know if I have ever tried anything on there and I have a TON of pins!

This week I am going to try new recipes that are healthy. My family is sick of eating the same healthy food, so I am going to kick it up and add some new flavors. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I am going to try one new workout a day. Just one new set of exercises that I can add to my routine.

This week, I am going to do a service project. I don't know what that is going to be, but I was reading over my new years resolutions and on my list was. Service. This week I am going to find a way I can serve.

Daily Update

I am just going to say it . . . I AM THE SAME FREAKING WEIGHT AS YESTERDAY! grrrrrr!!!! I am so close to just hitting the 140's that its making me mad! Yesterday I worked out TWICE! I even went to a Zumba class, that makes me sweat and turn all red. And today I weigh the same, 150 . . .

But, I have to look back on what I ate, and although I thought I ate really good yesterday, I don't think that I did. I had pasta, and even though it was a small amount it was white pasta. I did not eat as many fruits and veggies and I did not have any leafy green veggies, not even a small salad with my pasta. So I can see what needs to improve and today is a new day.

Pre Workout Breakfast

I found a YUMMY breakfast that is light, but gives the perfect amount of energy before a work out! 

• Strawberries cut into slices
• 1 Tsp Peanut butter
• 1 Slice Whole Wheat Toast  

Put the peanut butter on the toast and cover with the cut strawberries and ENJOY! 

Ewwww . . .

I found this on Pinterest this afternoon and I am amazed that in 3 weeks I have lost 7 handfuls of FAT!!! And in the last year I have lost 29 handfuls of fat! That is gross and amazing at the same time!!! I think I have about 10 more handfuls to go ;) 

Thursdays Exercises!

I have always had long lean legs and NO butt. I WANT A BUTT! hahaha!!! So today I woke up and worked on legs and glutes, and I feel good! I found this workout on Pinterest. I started with this workout and did a bunch more squats and other leg and glute exercises that I have in my binder! This was a great workout and I could really feel the burn. I wanted to do a more mild workout because tonight I am going to ZUMBA to get a good hour of cardio in!

Today I got on the scale and it showed 149.8 I was SHOCKED so freaking happy so I ran to get my phone to take a picture and when I cam back I got on the scale and weight exactly 150 :( hahaha! So tomorrow I should be able to take a picture of the 140's! I was hoping today would be the day, but that just give me motivation to eat super good and workout really hard today!!!

Update

I am happy with progress so far this week. I have gotten so much done, I have spent time with my kids. I have worked out HARD every day. I have been working on our garden. I have planted plants, cleaned my house and so much more! I am really proud of myself, for getting so much done! But what I am most proud of is . . . . I got to 150 pounds today!!!! I know that by Sunday I can get to the 140's and I am so excited!

Last week I went through my closet and got rid of clothes that are to BIG! I have NEVER done that!!! Usually, its get rid of the small clothes that I think I will never fit into again! So far I got rid of about 15 things and I can't wait to get rid of more ;)

I can already see that my body is changing. That I have way more muscle and that my face looks much thinner. My legs and my butt look smaller too. Now for that horrible mid section, I AM WORKING ON IT!!! haha!!!

I never thought I would love to workout. But I love the way that I feel after I workout. Its addicting! I can't wait to go to exercise tomorrow. Every day I am getting closer to my goal. Every day I look in the mirror and I can see a small difference. I am liking the way that I look, so why would I stop??? And this last week I had 2 people call me skinny. Random people at my sons soccer practice and at physical therapy! I don't remember the last time that happened!

I read a quote on pinterst ( where else?? )

" Girls that are naturally skinny are lucky, but the girls that have to fight to be skinny are strong"