HONEY WE'AR HEALTHY

Asian Salmon

Like anyone, I get bored of eating the same meals all the time and look for ways to add flavor to meals, while still keeping them healthy. Right now, I'm hooked on this Asian Salmon dish that I've made several times now. If you try it, please let me know what you think. The recipe below is for one meal, so make more marinade if you're feeding your whole family.

40-Day Fat Loss Challenge (Day 14 Update)

It's time to check in and update my progress for the 40-Day Fat Loss Challenge I entered at my gym. For my body fat percentage, I'll use my trainer's caliper measure since I won't have access to the machine until the 40 days is up. The machine measured about the same as my trainer anyway. My goal is to lose at least 1% body fat each week so that at the end of the 40 days (nearly 6 weeks), I'll have gone from 24% down to 17%. I'm on track for that now, but would love to get closer to 15%.

PROGRESS

Day 1: 24% body fat (112.4 pounds)

Day 7: 22.4% body fat (110 pounds)

Day 14: 21% body fat (109.4 pounds)

(These numbers reflect what I weigh when I weigh-in at the gym mid-morning. My weight below I take first thing in the morning when I wake up, so it's slightly lower.)

Below is a picture of where I'm at as of Day 13. I didn't take a good "Day 1" picture, so the "start" is from December, but it's a good representation of me on Day 1.

You're not going to notice a dramatic difference week by week, but over many weeks, and then a couple or few months, you definitely will. If there's one thing I've learned it's to be patient, take it one day at a time and TRUST THE PROCESS. If you look carefully, you'll see my arms and tummy are leaning out a little

Healthy Meal Prep | Grilled Chicken Salad

Today (Thursday) marks Day 7 of our 40-day Fat Loss Challenge. I measured in on Day 1 at 24% (calipers) and today was at 22%! Woo-hoo! A 2% difference in 1 week is a big deal! I'll show you some progress pics soon so you can see what it looks like. I'm also using my heart-rate monitor (twice) and have been surprised at how little amount of calories it says I'm burning during my workouts. I'll get into more detail on that in another post soon too.

Today, I'm sharing one of the meals I've been eating- a Grilled Chicken Salad and I always make multiples at a time so I can just pull the assembled salad out of the fridge and I don't have to spend time reprepping.

Step 1 is to always have grilled chicken on hand or prepare enough for several salads. If I'm just cooking 4-8 chicken breasts at a time, I use a grill pan. Spray that pan with cooking spray, and heat to medium-high heat. I pound my chicken breasts a little so they are thinner and cook evenly. My seasoning of choice is Mrs. Dash, which I put on both sides, then cook for about 4 minutes per side or so until they are cooked through, and let rest before eating so they stay moist.

40 Day Fat Loss Challenge

At the beginning of last year (2014), I challenged myself to get in shape for my first ever NPC bikini contest and reached that goal after 5 months of training (July 2014). Since then, I'd been pretty much slacking on the diet and workouts, but by October 2014, I was not liking how I felt physically when I had gotten used to being in great shape. My weight was creeping back up and my muscle was turning into fat. In November, I started back with my trainer and by December had started embracing my bikini meal plan again, but not nearly as strictly and not without lots of "cheats". It was the holidays after all. And I like to eat as much as the next person.

Healthy Afternoon Snack -Yoplait Greek 100 Yogurt

Hi friends! I'm definitely back in the workout/eat healthy grind, training with my trainer 3 times a week and doing 30 minutes of cardio 4 times a week. It feels good to be back to it and I'm already noticing my jeans fitting better again, but being back on my meal plan where I eat every 3-4 hours is where I feel the most benefit. If you're like a lot of women, you might actually skip meals (and I'm guilty of that too!) but eating consistently throughout the day keeps my energy level constant and there's no energy dip mid-afternoon.

If I'm in a pinch and can't eat a whole meal (or I'm just not hungry enough) around 3:00 p.m. (the time I'm typically heading out the door to pick up my son from school), I'll grab a Greek yogurt because it's delicious, low calorie, and full of protein.

I was asked by Yoplait to try their Yoplait Greek 100 Yogurt, and since it's something I eat anyway, was happy to try their brand and flavors. I didn't realize Yoplait made Greek yogurt, so I was surprised to see the varieties of flavors they had. To name a few: Coconut, Honey, Banana Caramel, Orange Crème, Apple Pie, Strawberry Cheesecake, Mango, and Key Lime.

My favorites are Peach and Honey. My husband likes Strawberry Cheesecake and Mango. So yummy!

5 Month Post Bikini Contest Check-In

It's been a little more than five months since I competed in my first NPC bikini competition and I wanted to share what life's been like since then and where I am now with my (lifelong) fitness journey. I say lifelong journey because as long as I'm alive, I want to take care of myself and never take my health for granted. With my Dad's illness, I've painfully watched his physical ability diminish to the point where he cannot walk, so I'm always mindful of how grateful I am to be able to move and exercise.

the beginning

Almost one year ago, I had gotten out of shape and was ready for a big change. I couldn't fit comfortably into my clothes, felt sluggish and missed feeling good about myself. I started working out and eating better in February 2014 on my own, and began working with my trainer (3-4 days a week) at the end of March 2014. We trained together for 15 weeks and I competed in the bikini contest on July 4, 2014. I went from 112 pounds and 25% body fat (Feb 2014) to 100 pounds (July 2014). We didn't test my contest body fat because I was supposed to go the BodPod for a very accurate reading, but the facility cancelled my appointment because they machine wasn't working. My trainer guesstimated I competed at about 15% body fat.

Meditation Challenge Update

It's been about two weeks since I wrote in, declaring my intentions for the 21-day meditation with Oprah and Deepak. The update is I have failed miserably. Like bad. In the past 14 days, I have meditated a total of three times. Yeah. The challenge started on a Monday, but I began on Tuesday because that's when I got the email linking to the first meditation. I also meditated on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is where I fell off the wagon. I totally forgot about meditating on the weekend and then into the next week I never got back on the wagon. Now, I feel too far gone to continue.

The meditations are only available for 5 days, so I could start back up (having missed some) but I'm so not into it right now. Admitting this to myself and you feels like a big failure, but I would rather be real about my failures than pretend to be someone I'm not. I hear the negative voices in my head and have to work to let them go.

I still crave a quiet, still alone time in the morning and will be making an effort to incorporate that more, but I think pulling out my Bible/praying/journaling would be more natural to me than meditating.

How are you doing with the challenge if you tried it? If you've stuck with it, I applaud you. And I hope you are getting something good out of it. Are you hating me for not continuing? I feel like a workout partner who quit, leaving you hanging. And that feels bad. When it comes to certain things in life, we absolutely have to keep going, whether we feel like it or not. You have to wake up to feed the crying baby, you have to go to work, you have to take your parents to the doctor, you have to pay the mortgage, you have to meet that deadline. But, there are other times when it's really okay to let something go. Only YOU can decide what those situations are. And you have to face the consequences for your decision. I completely get it if you're disappointed in me or upset or think I'm not good with my word. I have to live with the fact that I said I was going to do this and I didn't finish. And I chose to put it out there on the Internet, so it's a public fail.

I would appreciate your grace, your kindness, your empathy. The friends who support us when we've let ourselves down are the kind of people we need in our lives. It's the kind of person I want to be in return.

My intention for trying the meditations initially was to try to still myself each day so that I could be more present and more peaceful on the inside. Admitting that I failed makes me feel human, vulnerable, and a little bit brave.