Fitness Update

It's been so hard to keep up with posting lately, I'm so sorry! I normally like to blog late at night or while the weather is crummy so I can snug up in bed and write all day. Unfortunately, (yet fortunately) there hasn't been much of that weather lately. It's been Minnesota beautiful all day everyday for the past few weeks so I've been soaking up the rays on walks with Rue or in my parent's pool.

I wanted to do a fitness check-in and let you all know how my clean diet and new workout plan are going.

I have officially joined a gym with classes and all the extra goodies like free weights, cardio machines, personal trainers, etc. etc. And I recruited a workout buddy to join me, my best friend's mom! We are on track taking classes together which always proves to be more fun than working out alone. When I can't make it to classes (which are my favorite) I've been working out at home and exercising with Rue which is good for both of us. Last week I managed a few classes including weight classes like Tone Up and BodyPump as well as a cycling class or two. Does anyone else find working out to be incredibly cathartic? I've cried in yoga before during certain poses but I was having a rough day on Friday and found myself letting the tears run during my cycling class. Thank goodness the lights were off but there's just something about pushing yourself physically that helps you let out the emotions. Good stuff all around.

My diet has also been going really well and I've allowed my self 1 cheat day a week in moderation which is helping an cravings. It's also a good way to figure out that you don't really "need" something when you're craving it in the moment. If you tell yourself you'll just have it on your cheat day and you no longer crave it on the cheat day, it's just a win win. You really didn't need it and you saved yourself the guilt of giving in.

I've also been steaming and grilling lots of veggies which I find much tastier and I'm making salmon a few times a week which is a nice change from chicken. I've been incorporating a lot more water and have been thinking about buying a few gallons and giving myself the "gallon a day" challenge to see how I can do. Smoothies have also been a nice go-to for me when I'm too lazy to make an omelette, I just throw all the fruits and veggies into the blender and I'm good to go.

I'm trying to do some serious research about which kind of protein powder to buy and am more convinced now than ever that I need to incorporate it into my fitness plan. MuffinTop-Less has been giving good recommendations and references a few good websites that will help you if you're trying to decide which protein you should be taking.

I know it's summer time so I'm sure you're all trying to keep up on looking good for this bikini weather so good luck on sticking to your goals and plans!

Love&Luck

Eating Clean

It's official, I'm completely unmotivated to work out almost 100% of the time lately. The worst part is, I would like to change a few things and yet here I am, not doing a thing about it. Then I was thinking...they say your body is 75% diet and 25% exercise so if I want to change my body, why not start in the kitchen? So I am. 

I love to cook and have been slacking in that department ever since, well, M and I haven't lived together. When we lived together he was obviously hungry and didn't just want to eat cereal, frozen pizzas, etc. so I had to experiment with recipes and try new things all the time. That was great because I didn't have a job and I just spent a lot of my time cooking and trying new things in the kitchen. Well since we haven't lived together for almost a year, the cooking has really taken a backseat. 

Now that I've decided to eat clean and make a serious change to what I put into my body, the kitchen is back in action. A few things that have helped guide me on my journey to clean eating would be:

- My dear friend Sara at PudgytoPaleo is a regular gal turned Paleo-passionate hustler who provides me with lists of can and cannot eats. She also creates challenges at her local CrossFit center that anyone from anywhere can participate in. Check out her website for recipes and encouragement and if you would like a personalized meal plan, send her an e-mail and she would be happy to create one for you at a small fee (this is her job!). 

Here is a sample of her work...

- I LOVE checking out Savannah's blog at Muffin Top-Less. She posts recipes, workouts, encouraging quotes and provides plenty of motivation through her own photos. The great thing about her is that she provides pictures of her before and after and seems so relatable making me that much more motivated. 

Today I made this salmon recipe by Giada DeLaurentis (via Food Network) without the salsa verde and this recipe that I have from Pinterest. I've been making veggie fries with almost every meal if I don't have anything planned because they are so easy and quick. I've been trying to eat a lot more fish which is an adventure in itself because I haven't really cooked much fish. 

I've also cut out alcohol because if I'm going to be serious about this, I better go balls to the wall and be committed so if I really want a cocktail I drink Bethenny Frankel's Skinnygirl cocktails because they're low in calories and have a decent alcohol content (in my opinion). 

What do you use for motivation? Please share, I'd love to know!

Love&Luck