Another Yummy Smoothy!

I don't know what to call this breakfast drink, but its AMAZING! Perfect for right after a workout.

Amazing Breakfast Drink Recipe

You Need:

1 Cup Strawberries

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein 

1 TBLS Frozen 100% Cranberry Juice 

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

2 TBLS Strawberry Greek Yogurt 

Blend and Enjoy! 

Monday Motivation!

I had a fantastic weekend, and I am actually glad its Monday and back to the normal. I had a great workout this morning, and I feel refreshed and ready to start my week!

How about some motivation, to keep going through out the week! Since I forgot last week, I added some extras! 

Quick Thursday Update!

I have thought a lot about yesterdays post. Its not a super happy post. I guess thats the point of a journey though, its not always going to be easy! I have really watched what I have eaten, and have made healthy choices, I also went all out in Kickboxing today. I have already lost another pound and am thrilled! This means I only have 8 pounds to loose before Summer. 

My husband was so reassuring yesterday, telling me that if I stop worrying so much about it, I might just loose the weight. I think his advice helped. I know that I eat healthy, I know that I exercise 6 days a week. I may have hit a bump in my weight loss, but I know that I am doing what I can to loose fat. I am proud of how far that I have come. I was looking back at my old blog posts and was shocked at my old pictures. I am so close to the body I want, I am not giving up. 

I found both of these motivational posters on pinterest.com. This is just what I needed this week! 

Oops I forgot!

I forgot Motivation Monday . . . I have to tell you the truth about the last couple days, because if I told you I was motivated and happy it would be a lie.

I got on the scale monday morning, and saw that all the weight that I had lost 3 pounds was added back, and I felt like a complete failure. I cried. I could not believe what I had done to myself. I ate mint chocolate pie and pizza and I did not think about what I wanted most, for what I wanted then.

I cried to my husband how unfair it is, that I work my ass off at the gym, eat healthy and I still look the same. Then it hit me, that what I am doing is enough, to maintain. If I want to loose another 10 pounds, I have to kick it up. I am the one in control, and I have to make the effort. Its hard, Seriously I want to eat a giant mint milkshake, but I have to remember that a mint milkshake will taste awesome for about 15 minutes, but I will be working that off in the gym for an hour, is it worth it???

My sweet husband, calmed me down and told me that I look beautiful. He told me that he can see how hard I have worked and the results have paid off. Since monday, I have dropped 2 pounds. Thank goodness! I have about 73 days till Summer. I can't wait to post pictures of my new bikini in 73 days!

Nike Training App

My sister has been raving about this app for MONTHS, the Nike Training App. I really enjoy going to the gym and feel like I don't get a great workout from my living room, so I never tried it. Last week, my sister and I worked out together and she said I had to try these workouts. We did an ab and a leg workout, both 15 minutes and both were KILLER workouts! I went home and immediately put it on my ipad and iphone. This morning I did not want to go to the gym because Monday mornings have way to many people. So I did a 15 Minute Ab workout and a 30 minute total body cardio. Usually I work out for an hour, but seriously this workout kicked my butt, and 45 minutes is a good amount of time. I highly recommend this app. Thank you sister!

Saturday Morning Workout!

I found all these awesome Pictures on Pinterest! Add them together and you have an awesome arm and ab workout! All you need is a stability ball and a pair of weights, I would do this set at least 3 times! 

Enjoy! 

Th

Chicken Okra Stir Fry

This week I tried Okra for the first time. I can't believe I had never had it before! I made Gumbo with it at the first of the week and tonight I made Chicken Okra Stir Fry. AMAZING! I found the recipe in a magazine, but since I did not have half the ingredients I made up my own stir fry, and it turned out great!

Chicken Okra Stir-Fry

You Need: 

3 Chicken Breasts Cooked and Diced 

1 TBLS Coconut Oil 

1 1/2 Cup Cut Okra ( I used Frozen ) 

1/2 Purple Onion Diced 

1 Cup Chopped Celery 

1 TSP Cajun Seasoning 

1 Can Diced Tomatoes 

1 Can Chick Peas (rinsed and drained) 

1/2 Cup Chicken Broth 

1 TBLS Minced Garlic 

Juice of 1/2 Lemon 

Salt and Pepper (to taste) 

1. Melt coconut Oil in Large Pan. 
2. Add chicken, onion, celery, cajun seasoning, garlic. 
3. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on medium heat. 
4. Add tomatoes, chick peas, broth, lemon juice. 
5. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
6. Add okra, salt and pepper. 
7. Cook for another 15 minutes. 

I served this dish over brown rice. Enjoy! 

We are on Facebook!

I have created a facebook page. LINK HERE. I will post daily inspiration, tips and blog updates! I hope this helps keep things more updated and on track! 

Thanks! 

Marissa 

Recipe Fail!

I have been trying a couple healthy treats, but this week I have failed on 2 of them! Last week I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, they were flat as paper and hard as rocks! Today I made no bake cookies, and they won't harden!!! AHHHH!!! Sometimes using healthy substitutes throughout the whole recipe does not work :( And now I feel like I have wasted so much food. Maybe the 3rd times the charm???? Maybe!

Yummy Oatmeal Breakfast

This morning, I needed a big breakfast, I have a lot to do today. Oatmeal or smoothies are my favorite, but I was getting bored with plain oat meal. So I changed it up! Not only is this new way healthy its soooo good!

Oatmeal 

You Need:

1/2 Cup Oats 

Water 

1/2 TSP Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Almond Milk 

1 TSP Flax Seed 

Cook Oatmeal, with water. 

Add all other ingredients and mix. You can add a low calorie sweetener if you want. Enjoy! 

145 Calories 

6 Grams of Protein 

22 Carbohydrates

5 Grams Fat 

Strawberry Banana Milkshake

Strawberry Banana Smoothy

You Need: 

5 Frozen Strawberries 

1 Banana 

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein 

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk 

Blend and Enjoy! 
About 350 Calories

Motivation!!!

What did I do???

A friend of mine talked me into doing a half marathon at the end of Summer! I just signed up for it, and now I have a sinking sick feeling . . . What have I gotten myself into??? 13 Miles is a long ways, and I have signed up before and not done it and I think thats what makes me the most nervous, that I just blew $55.00, again!

This year will be different. This year I am running a half marathon! Maybe next year will be a full . . . maybe ;) Wish me luck!

After Workout Breakfast

I have been experimenting with protein powder recipes. I have come up with a couple great breakfast drinks! Seriously, they taste amazing, not like protein at all.

Strawberry Banana Smoothy 

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder 

1 Banana 

1 Cup Frozen Strawberries 

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

Blend well and Drink! 

I Don't know what to call the next one, but here is the recipe! 

1 Scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder 

1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/2 Cup Strawberry Greek Yogurt 

Blend well and Enjoy! This one is really creamy, with a great taste! 

New Recipes

Each month I get Shape magazine. I pull out the workouts and usually skip over the recipes, because A. they look way to complicated B. I can't pronounce the name of some of the stuff they use C. I am lazy and want quick dinners.

The Link for the Recipes is HERE.

None of these excuses are going to work anymore. My husband was flipping through it and said we should do this. It was a grocery list and 5 recipes. Everything was very detailed. I looked through and thought it would be good to try new things. The next day I went to the grocery store, picked up the ingredients that were called for and I was actually excited about trying something new.

The first night was chicken and quinoa. AMAZING! My kids ate it all up and I thought that the portions sizes looked small, and that I would still be hungry. NOPE, I was full and did not even crave a late night treat.

Tuesday, was red snapper and couscous. I could not find Red Snapper fish, so we made salmon, and it was just as good! Never tried couscous before, but I must say I was impressed and we will be adding couscous to our dinners weekly.

Tonight, was lettuce wraps. My boys loved them. They loved all the meals that we have had this week, but tonight they kept saying they wanted to make it again. I was shocked, I thought this is the night they would not want to eat!

I am so excited to have 2 more nights of dinners planned and I know they are healthy, and I know that they are something different. I loved how even though monday took some time to prepare all the food, I have food then entire week. Wednesday is a busy night for us and we usually end up making something fast. Tonight was fast, and so good. Much better then the normal food that we eat. I will post about Thursday and Friday dinners, but I am sure they are just as good! Thank you Shape magazine!!!

Just an Update!

Finally the snow is melting a little, a very little . . . But, I can see sunshine and hints of grass, and it makes me so excited for spring. I am starting a 90 Day Challenge. 3 months till Summer, and I am determined to be in Bikini shape. I have said it for months, that I am going to do it, that I am going to look awesome, but yet changed nothing. The last two weeks I have changed my workouts to the Jamie Eason program and I can tell a difference. Pushing myself for 30 minutes of cardio is really helping me loose fat. I have also cut out sugar and sticking to low calorie healthy meals. As long as I don't buy it, or have it in my house, I will not eat bad food. This is working for me because in the last 2 weeks I have lost 4 pounds! WOOHOO!!!  My weight has stayed the exact same for 4 months, so to see that scale going down makes me want to scream it to the world! I am back!!!!!!

So what I have changed:
- I am drinking more water. A lot more water.
- I have upped my cardio to a minimum of 15 minutes HIIT training after each time I lift weights.
- No Sugar.
- Only Consuming good calories. No Junk Food.
- Trying new meals and different types of food. I was getting sick of the same thing over and over!

I don't want to do this alone! Join me on my 90 day challenge!!! 

New Healthy Food

This week, I have tried a couple new things, that I have NEVER tried, and wished that I had. So good!

First Unsweetened Almond Milk. I always buy coconut milk, but yesterday at the grocery store, they were out. After a big discussion on Facebook with a friend about almond and coconut milk, I was convinced that I should try unsweetened almond milk. I have had regular almond milk, with added sugar, and its amazing, but I don't need extra sugar trying to cut fat.

I was so excited to try this that I poured a glass before even putting my groceries away. For only being 30 Cal. it was good. It was not what I was excepting and I don't know if I could drink this plain, all the time, but I added it to my morning oatmeal, and it was so good. I cant wait to add it to my healthy drinks.

Next thing I tried was quinoa. I have been meaning to try this for months, and every time I go to the grocery store I pick it up and think do I really want to spend $5.00 on a small box, and put it back. This week my family is trying 5 new recipes and this the main ingredient in 3 of the dinners! So I figured for 3 meals spending $5.00 on a small box was not that bad. 

I cooked the whole box last night to save for my next 2 meals. I added vinegar and pinto beans (recipe to come) We ate it with chicken and it was so GOOD! I will never worry about the price again, because one box actually made a lot and my kids ate it and loved it. It has an amazing texture, with great flavor. I can't wait to use it again. 

I am so glad that I was open to trying new things, and I have more new ingrediants in my meals that I am making this week. If I like them I will blog about them! Thanks for reading! 

Monday Morning . . . Motivation TIME!

I had a pretty good weekend spent with my boys. It was nice family time, that was needed! Now, its Monday and its time to get back into the swing of things. I really love mondays, I have said it before but I really do feel like I have a fresh start. I can do anything this week and I have 7 days to do it. I started my morning out at the gym. Had a pretty good workout, I feel good this morning. Part of our family time was shopping and I found 2 new swim suits. This alone is motivation to eat healthy and work harder! But, this week I found some great motivational pins on Pinterest. Here they are! 

Easy Pumpkin Carrot Cake

After trying the black bean brownies I was up for some experimenting. I found a recipe for spice cake and pumpkin. Since I did not have a spice cake, I used a carrot cake mix. It turned out so good. Really amazing flavor, and its 80 calories less then making the carrot cake mix with oil and eggs. I will be making this again! My kids loved it. In the fall we had over 30 pumpkins in our garden, one late night my mom and I canned pumpkin, the smartest thing I did with our garden. I have been trying to find new recipes to use up all my pumpkin cans.

Recipe for Pumpkin Carrot Cake 

You Need: 

1 Box of Carrot Cake Mix

1 15 oz Can of Pumpkin 

1/2 Cup Rasins 

1/4 Cup Craisins 

(I added 1 TBLS Flax Seed but this is optional) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix Pumpkin in mixer until smooth. 

Add Cake Mix. 

When mixed add raisins/craisins. Flax Seed. Or other ingredients you want to add. 

Bake for about 25 minutes. 

Enjoy! 

You could also add nuts, oats, chocolate chips, etc. This recipe would taste good with any of these ingredients! 

*This picture is not mine. I found it on google search. My cake turned out just like this! I just forgot to take a picture before my kids devoured them!