–Why do songs and commercials insist on having sirens?!? I mean my heart legit stops for a minute and I begin panicking immediately. It never fails. Then I am like….stupid song!!!
–I forgot to mention two weeks ago when we went to the Black Jacket Symphony concert, I was carded to make sure I was 21 to get in. Chris was all like, “Ummm why did they card her?” His dad was like “Because they think she is a kid.” YES!!!!!!!!!!
–Sometimes you gotta go off roading to avoid traffic. Or, at least that is what I did yesterday. I drove through a muddy/grassy median after realizing that I-59 was completely stopped. I felt like a bad-ass rebel, too! Take that traffic!!!!!
–Speaking of commuting, I will sacrifice my safety to spare an extra 10 minutes. You know that moment in your commute when you are driving around a super sketchy part and you hit the lock button on your doors and hope that no one walking the streets heard it? Yup, that is me every afternoon on my way home. BUT I get home TEN minutes earlier going that way. Ain’t nobody got time to be safe.
–The other day a co-worker asked me to witness a document. I haven’t signed my name to anything in…months? I had to pause and focus to sign my name correctly. Wow.
–I am way more excited than any 30 year old should be about Mario Kart 8 coming out. Chris and I have been counting down for months. MONTHS. We are probably going to go to the midnight release..and have Mario Kart party at our house that weekend. Let me know if you want to join!
A few weeks ago, we were really craving pasta and I wanted something quick and easy since it was a weeknight. I mean, who doesn’t love pasta? While this isn’t the “healthiest” meal idea i have ever posted…it was certainly delicious. It is all about portions and balance, people!
What You Need:
chicken breasts (I used rotisserie chicken because it is easy!! I just pulled off the white meat and boom. Done.)
1 box of rigatoni noodles
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
pinch of salt
pink of black pepper (a pinch is about 1/8 teaspoon)
1 cup marinara sauce
3/4 cup Alfredo sauce
olive oil
What You Do:
1. Cook noodles according to package instructions
2. Heat oil in a pan on medium heat.
3. Add red pepper, black pepper, salt and garlic. Let heat for about one minute.
4. Add chicken and saute to coat/flavor the meat.
5. Add marinara and Alfredo sauce and bring to a simmer. Make sure to cook long enough for the sauce to thicken some and the chicken to be heated through.
6. Turn off heat, toss cooked rigatoni noodles to mix.
Notes: You can garnish this with a little extra red pepper on top. The dish certainly has a kick to it, you could make it without the red pepper…then garnish with red pepper at the end for only the people who like spice. Also, feel free to add some vegetables to this if you like. I think peas or green beans would taste delicious. Or even some pancetta.
We have made this recipe twice now, and the first time I made it as above the second time I only added red pepper to my dish, as it was too spicy for Chris the first time.
I sprinkled a little Italian cheese mixture over top and served it with a slice homemade garlic bread.
Friday: I made a super delicious protein smoothie on Friday morning. It was one scoop of chocolate protein powder, 2 tablespoons of PB2, one cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a small banana and one tablespoon of flax seed. It tasted like a Reese peanut butter in a cup!
For lunch, the “Friday Lunch Club” met at Urban Cookhouse where I proceeded to order a Very Berry Salad with smoked turkey. It was delicious. I might have also ordered a side of broccoli salad because it was leg day and I was extra hungry.
Friday after work I stopped by Petsmart to pick up some more kitten food. Apparently we adopted a piglet that happens to look like a kitten. When I got in line, this guy in front of me literally had over 100 cans of dog food. There was a lot more still in his cart when I took this picture!!! I fear this will be me one day. As I want to adopt all the kittens and puppies. Whatever, he seemed so happy.
We just hung around the house Friday evening and watched Surviving Jack and The Big Bang Theory. Sadly, I heard that Surviving Jack was cancelled for next season. This makes me super sad for two reasons: 1. Stabler 2. Stabler. Just kidding….2:90’s music, clothes, hair. I hate when my shows get cancelled.
Saturday – I spent a few hours Saturday morning doing my weekly cleaning. I also got my father’s day present ordered, and a few things done around the house. Then Chris and I headed downtown to World of Beer to grab a drink. I had a craving for some Wells Banana Bread Beer. Freaking delicious as always. I was just said that they ran out of it on tap and I had to order it in the bottle. I like all beers on tap better than in a bottle…but what can you do!?!
After, we drove to Chris’s parents house where they had a birthday dinner for Chris. It is always good seeing family and hanging out. The food was delicious!
Sunday – I meal planned and went grocery shopping. We watched No Strings Attached because it was on TV. I love a cute little love story. The rest o the day basically looked like this:
and this:
Some of this:
And most definitely this:
This week I will be finishing up week 2 of month 2 of Body Beast. I think it is almost time to be going up in weights again for a few sets that I do. Mostly for biceps and leg days. Yesterday when I was unloading the groceries I carried a 15 lb bag of dog food and a huge bag of cat litter (not sure how many pounds?) at the same time up the stairs with no struggle. Heck yes! Also, on Saturday when we were sitting at WOB I had a dress on and Chris looked down and said “Your legs look smaller.” Two non-scale victories in one weekend? I will take it!
I hope that everyone had a great weekend! Mine was too short, but what can you do?
1. Favorite Lunch – I have been craving sushi for EVER!!! No one that I go to lunch with eats it, and Chris usually goes at some point during the week for lunch so he never wants to go on a Friday night with me. I finally gave in and stopped by Whole Foods for lunch yesterday and got some. Whole Foods brown rice sushi is my FAVORITE. It is so freaking delicious.
2. Kittens – Because she is freaking adorable!!! Olivia has been adjusting well here over this last week and I think she has decided to keep us. The dogs aren’t sure what to think about her yet.
3. Favorite song of the week – What a Night – Lil John remix – Fun story, Chris and I are good friends with one of the DJ’s who put this song together. It reminds me of fun nights in Atlanta hanging out with them 🙂 It will certainly get your weekend started right!
4. Favorite Want – This Dress – It is at Kohl’s, thoughts?
There are so many excuses that we come up with to not work out. One of the top ones on the list is that there is no gym close by, or you can’t afford the monthly memberships. I am here to tell you that this should not be one of your excuses.
Chris and I live outside of Birmingham….I have a good 35 minute to hour and a half commute each way to work every day depending on traffic. Since we live in a smaller “city,” there was no gym close to our house. When you leave your house at 7:30 am and don’t return back until at least 6:30 pm at the earliest…the last thing you want to do is prolong getting home any longer by hitting up a gym. Waking up and getting to a gym in the mornings and making it to work on time wasn’t really feasible either.
Either way, one day I woke up and decided that not having a gym was not an excuse anymore. That one day we will buy an elliptical machine wasn’t coming soon enough. I had to do something.
Last summer I started the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I decided that if I was going to get in a work out, it had to be in the morning before work, as I can come up with a million excuses and distractions after work. I can think of about 10 reasons right now actually….
I started waking up about 45 minutes earlier than I usually did. The work out was 30 minutes long and I knew I needed a few minutes to “wake up.” I would get the work out in, then get ready for work. After about two weeks of forcing myself to wake up earlier, it started to become habit. After I completed the 30DS, I started her RIPPED in 30 program. After that, I did T25. And now? I am doing Body Beast.
Now you might say to yourself, I am not a morning person. Well, neither was I really…but my health is more important to me than sleeping til the last possible second before work. And if you can absolutely not wake up any earlier….then make time in your evening schedule to fit in the work out. I could find 30 minutes at night to work out, but I don’t want to…so that is why I now wake up at 4:25 am. Body Beast can be anywhere from about 29 minutes to almost an hour.
Another reason I found for not working out at home was I didn’t want to pay for programs. Well…with YouTube and Pinterest you now don’t have to!!! You can pretty much stream any work out on YouTube these days. And if YouTube isn’t your thing, many discount stores, close out stores, or even Thrift shops will sell work out DVDs for $1. I have picked up SEVERAL at places like Bargain Hunt. Know someone who has completed something you want to try? Borrow or swap with them.
Depending on what program you plan on following, you may have a few items you need to purchase. For me, I needed a yoga mat for any ab or plank work that I do, a stability ball (which can double as a weight bench) and free weights. As time has gone along and I tried out different programs, I add more stuff. For instance, recently I have had to up my weights because I am getting too strong for the super light weights that I had originally purchased. I have also added a resistance band in place of a pull up bar.
While purchasing these items can be expensive at times, shop smart! You can find work out equipment on craigslist pretty much any day of the week. If you don’t want to mess with that, look at Ross, TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I purchased a set of free weights, a resistance band and work out clothes from TJ Maxx recently. Target some times has their free weights on sale for $3-$5 off per weight, which is a huge savings when you know you have to purchase weights in pairs. Sometimes they are even in cartwheel for an additional savings. So don’t pay full price when you don’t have to!
Don’t want to mess with following along to a DVD or program? Make up your own! Pinterest is filled with ideas! Don’t even pretend like you haven’t seen these floating around:
I have a Hot Body board that you can follow. I pin work out ideas, motivational quotes, healthy tips, natural remedies and more on there. Pick a few of these cards and do one each day. They don’t take long and doing something is better than doing nothing.
Sometimes I find myself doing some squats or calf raises while I am waiting for my water to boil. Maybe a few crunches during commercial breaks. Tightening up my abs while I am driving around corners in the car. That last one sounds weird, but trust me…you feel it!
Do you need inspiration? Do you need someone to hold you accountable? Leave me a comment. I am constantly emailing back and forth with a few of my fitness blogger friends and IRL friends. I love nothing more than to get encouragement, motivation and support from them and I can do the same for you.
Need some good recommendations of bloggers to follow?
They all post tips, rants, and all kinds of stuff about fitness Jesus and their soul mate work outs.
Confession: I have my work outs down. I have no problem working out at least five days a week. I get it in and get it done. I make no excuses for it. Where is my trouble area? Food!!!! I want all of the bad food all of the time. I really focus on meal planning, watching what I eat during the week, and trying to keep my weekend splurges under control. I know I can improve even more in this area. It is all about making little lifestyle changes and not being too restrictive and giving up. Balance is my friend.
Also, being conscience of boredom eating and emotional eating is key.
Some people talk about where they get their motivation and will power from. The thing is, there is no magic answer for this. You have to want to work out and eat healthy. You have to want to feel good. Your want has to be stronger than your desire to keep going on the path you are going now. And to be honest, you have to want more than to just look better or loose weight. You have to want to be healthy and feel better too.
For me, I got tired of standing in my closet every morning and trying on ten different outfits before settling on something that I still didn’t feel comfortable in. I got tired of feeling tired and bloated all the time. I got tired of that nasty feeling you get after eating fried or fast foods. I got tired of looking in the mirror and knowing that I could be so much better. I got tired of getting sick. I knew I had to do something.
And remember:
Are you working out at home and loving it? Is there one fitness tip that you wish you would have known when you first started out? What do you do to stay on track with eating healthy?
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