Kick Your Own Butt

You would think sitting in front of a computer all day would mean I had time to write a blog post! Summer has been crazy. I hope everyone is getting out to enjoy the sun, beach, lake, vacations, or whatever else you may be doing. You deserve it :) I'll share my Summer adventures a little later!

It's been too long since I last posted. I've had a few topics I wanted to cover, but I'll split them up since they're pretty different and I'll bring a guest interview on by the end of the week too! It'll be a great, exciting week!!

Summer is my favorite season because I am obsessed with the beach and pool. It can be a little intimidating to put on a little bathing suit when you see so many beautiful around you. Guess what? You're beautiful too!! It would be so boring if everyone looked the same, and just because some people are born with fast metabolisms, doesn't mean yours can't be too!

Now, I must start with a disclaimer. Your metabolism isn't really to blame if you have a little extra weight. It usually always comes down to diet exercise, but your metabolism plays a big role in your energy level. If you're eating unhealthy foods, youre lowering your energy level and probably are not getting a very good exercise in because of it, right? I can tell you this weekend at the beach, I stopped and got a cheese danish on the way (I have really bad cravings.. It's a problem haha). All I wanted to do is sit and do nothing all day, when our original plan was to go for a run on the sand, play in the water, and be pretty active! 

What you put in your mouth could really determine how the rest of your day goes. So, here are some foods to add to your diet to give you the energy you need to be/stay active! (Brought to you by my sweet husband)

Fruit/ Vegetables          Healthy Fats           Protein                             Spices

Blueberries                   Coconut Oil            Almonds/tree nuts            Garlic

Strawberries                 Flax Seeds             Salmon/healthy fish         Ginger

Raspberries                  Chia Seeds            Whey Protein                   Cinnamon

Avocado                       Hemp Seeds          Eggs/egg whites               Hot Peppers

Spinach                        Olive Oil                 Chicken breast

Broccoli                        Almonds                 Turkey

                                                                    Lean Beef

                                                                    Cottage Cheese

Other                            Grains

water                            Whole Grains

yogurt                           Psudograins: quinoa, buckwheat

                                     Brown Rice

                                     Red beans/ black beans/ edamame/ legumes

                                     Psyllium husk (fiber, in metamucil)

I've been taking a Tabata class at work, and it's been unbelievably awesome. Here are a few Tabata work outs that will let you Kick Your Own Butt 

What kind of day would it be if you didn't have a delicious, healthy treat to go along during your healthy day?

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

3.75 oz 93% fat free lean ground beef, cooked (3/4 Lean)

1 oz 2% reduced fat Mexican Cheese (1/4 Lean)

1/2 cup or 90 grams cooked from frozen cauliflower, grated (1 or 2 peppers to cook the meat in)  (1 Green)

1/2 cup Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies (1 Green)

1/2 cup or 68 grams green pepper, cooked (1 Green)

2 tsp low sodium taco seasoning mix (3 Condiments)

Skinny No-bake Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (or crunchy; if using natural style peanut butter make sure it is not oily)
• 1 small very ripe banana, mashed (about 1/3 cup) (we used 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce because our bananas we're ripe)
• 1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup or agave)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup milk (coy, almond, soy)
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats*
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, optional

Coconut Bread

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (we used 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla)
2 1/2 cups flour (we used whole wheat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon or 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon oil
1 cup superfine sugar (we used 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/2 cup sugar)
5 ounces flaked coconut (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (we used coconut oil)

Thanks for visiting :). Don't forget to find happiness in all that you do. If you need some help, here are a few pictures to give you ideas.

Visit a pet store or animal shelter

Take a tour of a local hot spot or news room

Find free food and enjoy the summer weather

Admire peoples' creativity

Take a trip to the beach or lake

Visit local architecture or learn about religions

Get active- play some ball

     

Change of Pace

Happy Sunday!

First, I want to do a big shout out to my cousin Jon who did an amazing job on his mission farewell talk today. What a stud!! San Jose is lucky to have such a great missionary headed their way.

Summer is officially here and there's no turning back to the time when we were supposed to be working out rather than downing that carton of ice cream (guilty!!). Always remember how beautiful you are, inside and out. But, if you feel like you could look or feel a little better, it may be time for a Change of Pace.

I gave Garcinia Cambogia a try and unfortunatley it made me feel a bit sick, so I couldn't finish my challenge. I miss taking Metamucil, so I'm definitely adding that back into my diet. 

A few weeks ago I started at my new internship (If you're between 18-25, feel free to take my short survey to help me with a project I'm working on for work). I've taken a class called Tabata and it's a killer! My butt and thighs have never hurt so good. I'm going to start writing down the workouts and post them here. It'll rock your socks. In the mean time... 

If you're like me last summer and don't have or can't afford a gym, here is a great workout you an do at a playground. It's awesome. 

Ultimate Summer Strength Circuit

Five Move Full Body Playground Workout

Want a break from your regular meal menu? Here are some INCREDIBLE RECIPES for you to try! They're all chicken, healthy and the best meals I've had in a really really long time.

 Pesto Ranch Crockpot Chicken


Best chicken I've EVER had. It's a long time keeper. I literally craved it for days after we ate it. I wish we had more left over... Give it a shot! The original blogger ate it with mashed potatoes. We served it over whole grain noodles. It was delicious!!!!

 Slow Cooker Chicken Philly Sandwiches


A very tender, moist, unbelievable recipe. I can't even describe how good it is. We used Lawrys steak and chop marinade to replace the Dale's steak seasoning since we couldn't find it anywhere. We also put a little extra sauce on the sandwich before we ate it. So good!!

Cheesy Garlic Baked Chicken



We tried this one for the first time and it was really good! I probably would have used less brown sugar, but that might have just been me. Give it a shot! It's definitely added to our meal list.

Healthy Pumpkin Bread

What a fun treat to have! I loved taking the banana bread to work with me for my lunch (from last post), but ran out last week. Of course I didn't have any bananas to make more for those week, but I found this recipe and just made it. I traded the nuts for dark chocolate chips, and it tastes great! If you bake it in a 10" loaf pan and cook it for 30-32 minutes, it may be a little gooey, but when it cools, it's great! Big fan!!

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Prepare for Potty Talk!

It's been too long... It's been a busy month of taking finals, moving out, living with my wonderful in-laws, vacationing in California, moving into my parents house, and starting work. But, I'm glad to report that I've lost two skirt sizes in the process! Why skirt sizes? That is what I'll be spending my summer wearing... pencil skirts. Woot woot!

Want to know how? Welcome to my first (and hopefully only) 

 Potty Talk Session

During my busy month, I watched Dr. Oz (very skeptically because I know he gets paid for almost all products he features) while waiting for my car at Jiffy Lube. He showed a diagram of how Metamucil works. This powder supplement is mixed with water/juice and after a few minutes it turns into a gel-like consistency. As it goes through your digestive process, the gel collects unnecessary sugar, water, and junk and pushes it to your poop. It's healthy, lowers cholesterol, you get a great amount of fiber, and better yet, IT WORKS! I've taken it almost every day for the last three weeks and love it.

You should try it. The Target brand mix is good too and much cheaper. Give it a try!!   My next challenge... Garcinia Cambogia. Stay tuned!!!

Need a new healthy dinner and snack idea?! Try these recipes! They're delicious :)

Zucchini Lasagna

This Zucchini Lasagna is delicious. I couldn't find a link to the recipe, but of course I'll list it below.

Ingredients: 

2 Zucchini (thin sliced with peeler)

16 oz Ground Turkey (very lean)

2 cups Low-Carb Spaghetti sauce (I've made it with tomato pure and italian seasoning)

1 cup Spinach

12 oz Cottage Cheese (1%)

1 Egg

4 oz Mozzarella (low fat)

Instructions:

With a potato peeler, slice zucchini into thin ribbons for "noodles". Brown ground turkey and add sauce. Combine spinach, cottage cheese, and egg in bowl. Layer with turkey and sauce. cottage cheese mixture, and zucchini "noodles" repeat layers. 

Cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 4. 

               Secretly Healthy Banana Bread

Click here!

2 large eggs
1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup, sugar, or other sweetener)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup oat flour (or any other type of flour; gluten-free, all-purpose, or whole wheat. I actually used white rice)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (more or less as you prefer)
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (the ones pictured are not quite ripe enough, I used four smallish brown speckled bananas, mashed well)

Thanks for reading! Love your body :)

Relieving Stress Is Just A Gym Away

Relieving Stress...

Three final exams in 24 hours is not fun. Especially when it isn't even during Finals Week. Neither is needing to pack and clean your apartment all at the same time. Oh well! I'm back and done with all that chaos!

I noticed a new crowd at the gym today and it made me realize what my blog topic should be. 

    ...Is Just A Gym Away

In high school I did a DECA project with Danielle M. and Sarah N. where we changed the marketing plan for Sport & Health during the recession. Through our research we found that most people go to the gym to relieve stress, not to look good (even though, that was the second highest reason for going). 

Cool huh? Exercising pumps up your endorphin, improves your mood, and allows your mind to focus on a single task which results in energy and optimism (thank you, Mayoclinic). So, if you're studying for finals, going crazy cleaning your messy apartments, or even just stressing about life, get off your bum and go walk around the track or on a treadmill, lift some weights, Youtube some Dance Central or Zumba moves, do some yoga, play a game of.. anything!  They will help so much. I always run when I'm stressed and it seriously makes the biggest impact!

                      

                              Click for exercises

Click for yoga poses

Healthy Meals with "Power Foods"

Here are some foods you can snack on while you study to help you relive your stress!

We cooked all of these a few weeks ago and LOVED them!! You can use the same ingredients for quite a few of the meals. 

These Chicken and Avocado burritos were so good! Did you know avocados are a great stress relief food? Very high in vitamin B! I forgot to buy cilantro, so we used spinach and pesto (to add some flavor) instead. We also used whole wheat flat breads and made them in our panini maker. They were awesome, light, and filling. 

We used the same whole wheat flat breads for this meal too. It had all the great flavors of a juicy hamburger, but was less calories, and I didn't feel guilty eating it! These two meals were pretty quick and easy to make. Grilled Cheeseburger Wraps.

This spinach (which is another stress relief food) and tomato pasta tastes better than it looks. We used whole wheat noodles, used fresh spinach instead of frozen, and cut down the amount of cream cheese. It was delicious. I would make it tonight for dinner if we weren't cleaning and packing tonight! So good!!! 

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Pass the Weight-loss and Workout Plateau

   HAPPY NATIONAL SIBLINGS DAY

My big brother as a little boy

What a week. I admit, I cheated a bit. Our car broke down, so I spent a few days driving all over northern Utah to get it fixed. We ate out and I ate desserts because that's what you're supposed to do when you're stressed, right? After all, desserts spelled backwards is stressed. Just makes sense. JK we all know that's NOT what you're supposed to do. But, a big thanks to my big brother for taking his Thursday night and full day Friday to help me fix my car. He rocks. And because it is National Sibling Day, I will tell you about him and how awesome he is! Blows my mind he's still single. He's the greatest. He plays rugby for USU and is going to grad school this summer for accounting. He's been my best friend forever. Here he is... Let me know if you want to be hooked up with him ;) Thank goodness he doesn't read my blog posts! At least that I know of...

Little Lyssa :)

Why stop with my brother?! My sister's cute too, huh? She's the little one in the back. If you can't tell, the major winks are apparently a family thing we like to do? Boys, if there are any that read, she's
single too. Darn best sister ever. She keeps the peace in our house and is going to school to teach special ed, or something like unto it. She's funny, smart, and loves... puppies? I don't know, that's all that's coming to my mind. Rock on.



Enough of me trying to brag about my siblings. There's a real issue I'm writing about today...
Weight-loss and Workout Plateaus. They're the worst, right? We've all seen it at some point. You see awesome results from a diet or more exercise that you're doing, then, all of a sudden, it just stops. You're not alone. Here's why you see this sudden stop in progress and a few quick fixes to try.

WHY DOES IT HAPPEN:  

I feel like we can all agree that Jillian Michaels has a good grasp on what she's doing. From her workout videos to Biggest Loser, she's got the whole diet and fitness thing in control. She explains that when we diet and exercises we decrease calories and increase exercise (duh). Our body tries to conserve those calories for the energy it needs resulting in our metabolism slowing down. BUT she believes plateaus are a myth. Say you cut out soda or candy, whatever it may be, your body will eventually get used to not having it. "Focus on what really matters", she says, "how many calories your consuming and how many you're burning."

HOW TO MOVE PAST IT: Keep your body guessing. The best thing you can do to move past it is increase your calories for a two-three days. (Sounds weird, right?) Anywhere between 1,800 and 2,400 calories. Of course it should not all be candy and cake and sugar. But, cheat days ARE GOOD. Don't feel bad about cheating on your diet, but when your cheat day(s) is/are over, count your calories. Don't loosen up the rules just because you liked the taste of your dessert yesterday. You'll have another cheat day before you know it.  Be strict again, but don't go under 1,200 calories.
Shocking your body is what it needs to get out of that plateau. 

Changing up your exercises is a great idea too. If you run every day and use the same three machines to work out certain body parts, change it up. Try a "Pintrest exercise" with moves you've never tried before, pull up Zumba videos on youtube and dance, try out the machine you've always wanted to (can be a great excuse to talk to the cute girl/guy you've been wanting to!), what ever you do, don't do what you normally do :). Here are a few "Pinterest exercises" I've been trying. I throw on my Spice Girls Pandora station and make my workouts fun! The workouts are tough, which is good, because when they get easy you need to change them!

Click for Workout

Click for Workout

Click for Workout

Interview with Janie

Everyone, meet Janie. I met her my freshman year at Utah State University. She's seriously the nicest person I've ever met. I loved living close to her! Janie is from Farmington, UT. She's an FCHD major and wants to be a high school counselor when she graduates. Her favorite healthy meal is a Subway sandwich loaded with veggies, and her guilty pleasure is Cadbury eggs (isn't everyone's?!) A fun fact about Janie is that she's a sucker for boy bands. N Sync, Backstreet boys, Jonas Brothers "love 'em all."

Janie shared with me her experience, struggles, and dieting secrets along her journey to success. Take a look!

When did you start your diet transformation and what was your "breaking point" that caused you to start?

In August Janie had lost 50 pounds!

I have always been overweight, even as a small child. Growing up I tried all kinds of diets. I did weight watchers several times and was successful, however the weight alway seemed to come back. High school is when I realized just how bad it was. I remember looking at my senior picture and thinking, "is this how I want to live my life?" I lost a little bit of weight that year, but after my freshman year of college, I had gained it all back and then some. I was mortified. I hated myself and the way I looked. That is really when I started. I signed up for a half marathon and began training for that. I cut down my portion sizes and cut out treats and fast food. I worked hard, and by the time I completed my first half marathon, I was down thirty pounds. That was about a year ago, and since then I have lost about 25 more through constant exercise and mindful eating. I still have about 50 more pounds to lose, but I'm so much happier with myself. I am confident in myself and have learned to accept my body. It has been the HARDEST journey of my life, but the most rewarding and life changing. And I am running my second half marathon in about a month!

Wow, thank you for sharing, Janie! And good job on another half marathon! I don't know how you do it!! Do you know why you seemed to put the weight back on?

Yes! Definitely. I would be super strict for a while, but as time went on, I would be more lax, and eventually just stop [dieting] all together.

At her heaviest, she was a size 19/20.
Here she is in single digits in March.

As you've watched yourself go through this transformation, what have you learned? about yourself? About dieting? What products work/don't? 

I have learned so much about myself. I have learned to love myself, to have confidence in my own abilities. I learned to be patient and to not expect immediate results. I have learned that it's ok to make mistakes, and it's not the end of the world if I don't eat perfectly that day, or if I don't exercise six times a week. I have learned that's it's about balance!

Very true. And you're still working on reaching your goals, right? Do you have any advice for those who are working hard to healthier and are learning to love their body?

Yes! Still working on many goals . My advice is to never give up. If you screw up, try again tomorrow! Start recognizing the small changes in your body. You won't have a six pack overnight, but the small changes you see, be proud of! Be proud of your body and be proud of your courage to become healthier and happier. It's YOUR body, so love it.

Is there anything else you'd like to share? Experiences, tips, do's and dont's, etc.

Tips that have worked for me: not eating after 9, drinking 64 ounces of water. (This was tricky for me at first, so I used propel packets and dumped them in my water. Made it easier to drink!) not bringing money to campus. (So I couldn't buy fast food/vending machine items. I also LOVE the light progressive soups. You can eat the whole can and not feel guilty! 

WAY TO GO JANIE!!!!! 

How I Lost Two Inches in One Week

Guess who lost two inches and three pounds in just one week?! This girl!!

My stomach feels smaller, I eat less and the healthy foods help me feel great. Through the day I always eat about 1,100 calories and I notice a huge difference. I also have been able to enjoy a treat or two each week and still have noticeable changes.

Sorry it took so long to post. Three tests in two days that all count for half of my grade in the courses. Not a fun weekend!

I'm not going to spell out every meal I ate, but I'll add the good dinner recipes we had and exercises because I found some awesome ones!!

Recipes: 

It was a long week, and I wanted to mix things up a little bit. Here's a great copycat recipe for Cafe Rio that we love. I didn't add rice, dressing, or guacamole to keep calories down. Great meal!

Kraft's Fresh Takes are so great. There are so many flavors and you can change up your boring dinners. We love them! Here are the different kinds and recommended recipes. 

Workouts: 

First, a workout tip. My husband introduced me to these, and it's a great little energy boost before a workout. It gets your heart pumping a little more and helps you burn more calories. It's great :). 

Leg Workout

Seriously, this one is a killer. I've done it three times and my legs feel like they're going to fall off. My cellulite has noticeably gone down and my legs and butt look and feel great! Give it a try! I split up the big sets into a few separate parts (100 squats= 4 sets of 25 etc.) Let me know what you think.

Love Bob Harper's circuit workout. Swings are one of my favorites. When you use weight that's a little heavier, you can feel it all through your back, arms, legs, everywhere.