DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

OH HI! NEW SITE!

2009-04-24T18:59:00.001-06:00

i have a new blog. it is about food/exercise. i still have my other blog, but this one is more just what i eat.

http://www.mealsandmoves.wordpress.com

go there! read it! love it! haha. xo.

challenge ended.. right?

2009-04-09T11:38:00.002-06:00

hey folks. just got back from mexico yesterday..

so the 12 week challenge that i screwed up so horribly is over now. i am not going to cry about it, people make mistakes.

how did you all do? i know andrea kicked all our butts. and my mom gave me a big run for my money.

i ate like 8 thousand carbs in mexico.

not going to cry about it, just going to get back on track.

i had my oatmeal and protein powder this morning and i am chugging water like i am the hoover dam.

it is nice to be back on track..

i am sick again, however. blech. i am going to an ear nose throat specialist tomorrow.. see why the crap i keep getting horribly sick.

on a side note, it has come to my attention that keeping up with two blogs does not fit into my life. so, i am stopping posting here and i am going to keep my other blog:

http://www.janethab.blogspot.com

i will post crap about my life there, since that is what it has been used for up until now, but i will also incorporate all my body for life, eating, recipes, all that junk on there too.

lurk away over there if you would like.. if not, that is cool too.

thanks for reading the ramblings i did have on here, sorry i ended up letting life get in the way.

i hope you liked some of the stuff i had to say!

anyway, that is all for now, hope to see you commenting over on my other blog sometime.

just keep taking care of your body, it is the only one you've got.

xo janetha.

breakfast burrito.

2009-03-27T12:45:00.002-06:00

sorry i have been MIA. i am going to mexico next week, i have been super busy in the meantime, i can say sorry over and over but really.. what can i do?

i COULD give you a recipe for a delish breakfast burrito!

ingredients:

1 whole egg + 2 egg whites
3 oz turkey burger~sausage style (see below)
1 wedge laughing cow light cheese
2 TB red pepper hummus
1 low carb high fiber tortilla--two brands i use are Don Pancho or La Tortilla Factory. they are both found in the refrigerated section by the pepperoni, not out with the other tortillas.

directions:

first, make your turkey burger. i made a LB of this stuff the other day and LOVE it.

spray a skillet with non stick cooking spray, put 1 lb ground turkey in there, mash it all up. add a whole bunch of fresh ground pepper, 2 TB of fennel seed (this is what makes it taste sausage-y), 1 TB garlic powder, 1 TB onion powder, a few shakes of basil, oregano and whatever other seasonings you have in you cupboard :) also add a few pinches of salt. cook it until it is done! viola, yummy seasoned meat for 5 meals.

ok THEN..

put eggs and egg whites in a microwave safe bowl, beat them up really nice, then add the cooked turkey burger. microwave on high for a minute and a half, stir, and microwave for another minute and a half.

heat up your tortilla for 15 seconds so it is warm, then spread on the hummus and laughing cow light cheese. add the egg/burger mixture.

roll it up and eat it!

SO YUMMO!

what does 200 calories look like???

2009-03-09T10:11:00.003-06:00

my fabulous sister marisa shared this website with me and i wanted to post it here for all of you to check out. it really puts things into perspective.

click here to see how much of what food adds up to 200 calories. be prepared for an eye opener.

oh and make sure you click on the photos to see them full view, it puts everything on the same size plate to really put it into perspective!

thanks ree!

accountability: sunday 3/8/09

2009-03-08T22:55:00.003-06:00

hey everyone, hope you had a good weekend.

first, to answer andrea's question about the laughiing cow light wedge cheese. YES they taste like you are cheating and YES they are ok to eat! i would limit myself to only one wedge a day, and andrea you are right, you would need to include a protein with the cheese and cracker combo. try some grilled chicken diced up or some thinly sliced turkey. my favorite way to enjoy the laughing cow liht cheese is in my scrambled eggs.. delicious. i also like pairing a wedge with sliced red peppers.

the stats for one wedge is 35 calories, 2g fat, 1g carb, and 3g protein. so.. basically they do not add too much of anything to your daily count, but make sure to limit yourself to just one a day. the nice thing is one wedge goes a long way.

onto today's accountability. i did not do so hot today, but i also wouldnt consider it bad. i only ate a few times and so that is why i don't think it was great, and i also cheated with some popcorn.

m1. 12 noon protein pancakes, coffee

m2. 4 pm egg beaters, spinach, mushroom & avocado omelette, diced potatoes, coffee (this was @ blue plate diner w/ marshall), lots of water

cheat: popcorn @ movie (no butter), lots of water

m3. 1/2 cup high fiber protein cereal, muscle millk light

the end. and nope i didnt work out. moving onto monday!

i wanted to type up some goals i have this week...

*get all 6 workouts in (only ot 5 in last week)
*drink 1 gallon of water every day--even free day!
*absolutely positively NO BLT's. none no nada nil.
*1000 reps of ab work in any type of variation throughout the week
*eat more veggies

and how have i prepared myself to accomplish these goals?

*gym clothes already packed for tomorrow
*50 oz bottle of water sitting bedside for when i wake up
*got rid of all the treats sitting around my house
*fixed a huge bowl of salad with lettuce, spinach, cucumbers and red peppers ready to go in my fridge

hopefully i will be able to hit these goals! what are your goals this week?

accountability: saturday 3/7/09 free day

2009-03-08T15:02:00.001-06:00

i didn't eat anything until 5:30pm. it was a cafe rio salad with half the amount of beans and rice they usually put, no tortilla strips

then i shared a tres leches w/ marshall.

had some ice cream.

later on before bed i had a bowl of honey bunches of oats and a bowl of crispix. it was national cereal day, i had to celebrate!

accountability: friday 3/6/09

2009-03-08T15:00:00.002-06:00

let's see if i can remember.

m1. protein oatmeal

m2. fajita grilled chicken, low fat mozzarella, salsa, 1/4 of an avocado, low carb/high fiber tortilla

m3. mini cheesecake. oops!

HIIT 20 min on treadmill it kicked my butt, probably because i was having a sugar crash from eating that stupid cheesecake.

m4. shrimp, string cheese, bowl of high fiber protein cereal

m5. same as m2!

almost a gallon of water, and i had some almonds late at night.

accountability: thursday 3/5/09

2009-03-05T22:46:00.002-07:00

erm. ok so i made a tiny mistake today.

m1. 1 egg, 1 egg white, 1/3 cup soy meat crumbles, handful of spinach, 1 wedge laughing cow light cheese. allll scrambled and super good! and 3/4 cup trader joe's cereal with soy milk.

m2. 3 turkey meatballs w/ 1 cup v8 tomato soup. 1 string cheese.

m3. wasa crackers & cottage cheese.

UBWO: cable bicep curls, hammer curls, overhead tricep extension, skull crushers, db chest press, db flyes, db overhead shoulder press, db lat raises, barbell rows, single arm db rows. in between bicep sets i held the 25# plate and did standing side crunches, total of 60 reps each side. in between tricep sets i did jumping jacks. in between chest press i did bench tucks total of 60 reps. in between rows i did reverse crunches total of 60 reps.

m4. 100 calories worth of almonds, 1 apple, some shrimp

m5. salmon w/ capers & ff cream cheese, 2/3 a bag of steamfresh carrots, broccoli, carrots and snap peas.

1 gallon of water

CLA

then. i made white chocolate cheesecake cups. cause tomorrow is national white chocolate cheesecake day and i made them for work. well. so i had a few licks of the filling. and then when they were done there was a little leftover filling and so maybe i ate that, it was probably 1/3 of a cup. so there is my confession, i should do some pushups or burpees to make up for it, eh?

pressing on to tomorrow! good night!

2-Step Sautéed Chicken & Sweet Peppers

2009-03-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

i haven't tried this, i saw it online today. looks good!

Makes: 4 servings
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Vegetable cooking spray
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves (about 1 pound)
1 pkg. (about 14 ounces) frozen mixed pepper strips
1 carton (18.3 ounces) Campbell's® V8® Sweet Red Pepper Soup

Directions:

Spray a 10-inch skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until it's well browned on both sides.

Stir the peppers and soup in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the peppers are tender.

Nutrition Info

Calories 212, Total Fat 4g, Saturated Fat 1g, Cholesterol 69mg, Sodium 391mg, Total Carbohydrate 16g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Protein 27g

That is the nutritional info without the rice in the picture. If you do add rice to the dinner, make sure it is only about 1/4 cup cooked since the recipe already has 16 carbs.

accountability: wednesday 3/4/09

2009-03-05T10:19:00.003-07:00

i am feeling so good, back into the swing of things. how are you all today?

m1. protein oatmeal

m2. v8 tomato soup (1 cup) with 3 trader joe's turkey meatballs, suuuper good. 2 stalks of celery.

hiit on treadmill maxed @ 8.5 and 3.0 incline. 20 min.

m3. apple, huge salad with spinach romaine peppers and albacore tuna with balsamic vinegar

4 calcium chews

m4. protein shake

i have not been fitting all my meals in, because i have not been eating first thing in the morning and i am trying not to eat past 8pm from now on. but the important thing is i have not been hungry, so i think that is good.

i had probably 3 liters of water yesterday, and i remembered to take my CLA. woohoo!

UBWO later today, getting stoked! good job on the weights andrea!

BLT's: They Are More Harmful Than You Think!!

2009-03-04T10:34:00.003-07:00

hi everyone. in my accountability post below, i mentioned the BLT's. no, not the sandwiches with bacon lettuce and tomato.. rather, the Bites, Licks and Tastes we have throughout the day.. usually mindless, usually unintentional, and usually dismissed with the excuse "it is just a little taste".

i have been guilty of waaaay too many BLT's lately. like.. way guilty. so while i would love to type a long drawn out article on BLT's, i just don't have the time here at work. BUT i did do some research on the internet and found some writings that i found very relevant to the topic and i will share them here with you.

the first reading i took from this link: BLT's - Bites, Licks and Tastes – They’re not Free!

please read!

Do you count your BLT's? And no, I’m not talking about bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. BLT’s are bites, licks and tastes that we all seem to partake in now and then and yet, somehow, we either don’t think they count or believe they don’t count that much.

In reality, BLT’s can add hundreds, even thousands of calories, throughout the day and week. Over the course of time, it not only explains why we’re not losing the weight we feel we should, but it can actually cause us to gain those unwanted pounds.

As a child, my mother had a rule that taught fairness. Whether it was my turn or my sister’s turn, one of us was given the duty of cutting the last piece of cake or splitting a sandwich in half. Following this, the bystander had the privilege of being the first to choose the half they wanted. Trust me, every effort was made to divide it into equal portions.

I wonder why, when we start measuring for ourselves, that we tend to make the cut a little to the right of center, keeping the largest piece for our self but somehow think it is a fair division. Don’t we realize that the only one we’re truly fibbing to is our self?

It’s not like we can’t see the results of these choices or that they don’t catch up to us. Do you suppose it has anything to do with our reluctance to step on the scale, to hide from the camera or walk quickly past the full-length mirror?

OK … so it’s time to be truthful! Let’s do this together and, in friendship and support, help each other be honest about BLT’s and make a plan to change our behavior.

Here are a couple of little sayings that might help you remember to count your BLT’s.

If it crosses your lips, it can end up on your hips!

If you bite it, write it!

The tools needed for success in overcoming BLT’s are simple … a journal (paper, electronic or notebook), a pen/pencil, measuring cups and spoons.

I’m a big advocate of journaling because it helps us record the BLT’s, learn about their true caloric values and assists us in making a conscious choice as to whether to grab a few M&M’s from the candy jar, a few potato chips or pretzels, eat a few bites you’re your children’s plates or eat the corner of the brownie from the plate in the lunchroom. In essence, it allows us to be responsible for every bite that crosses our lips.

When I started my quest for a healthier lifestyle, I faithfully wrote down everything. I was astounded at what I learned and realized there was a very good reason I weighed 330 lbs. I’ll share a few of my eye openers with you.

Coffee Creamer

Before – I poured coffee creamer into my coffee on the “guess” method and, in hindsight, I was using approximately 125-150 calories with each cup and I was drinking several a day.

After – I now use 1 TBSP of either liquid or powdered creamer for approximately 35 calories.

Results – Based on 3 cups of coffee, 270 to 345 calories are saved per day, which is the equivalent of 2 ½ pounds per month.

Dipping in the Candy Jar

Before – I used to grab M&M’s out of the candy jar at work. Mind you, I wouldn’t do this only once, but two or three times. Somehow my brain thought that since I was dividing it up into smaller “dipping” cycles, it wouldn’t add up to eating a lot of them! Well, the truth is, I actually ate at least ½ cup and that corresponds to 420 calories.

After – With my newfound knowledge, I usually stayed clear of the M&M’s and made better choices, like one piece of hard candy for 20 calories or some sugar free mints I kept handy in my purse at 15 calories for 2 chocolate covered mints. On those times I did elect to have M&M’s, I held myself to 1/8 cup for 105 calories.

Results – New learned behavior that saved me 300-400 calories an occurrence.

Salad Dressing

Before – This was another one of those items that I half-knowingly did not measure. It’s because I did not want my salad to taste like I was having less; I didn’t want to sacrifice flavor. Why I didn’t think it would count is beyond me. In hindsight, I was using dressing containing 73 calories a TBSP and I used plenty, approximately 500-700 calories worth.

After – I located Paul Neuman’s Light salad dressings for 40-80 calories for 2 TBSP and I now only use 2 TBSP.

Useful Tip – If you place your salad in a large 44 oz convenience cup, add carrots, mushrooms, green peppers or other similar garnishments, then add the 2 TBSP of dressing, place the lid on the cup and shake, shake, shake … Voila … everything is covered with dressing!

Results – Knowledge, creativity and a savings of an amazing 460-660 calories per salad. At three times a week, that calculates to a little over a ½ pound a week and a whopping 29 pounds a year!

Here are a few other items to watch out for …

Sugar
Licking your fingers, the beater or the bowl while baking
Multiple tastes of the food you are preparing for dinner
Bites from the plates of family/friends
Just a few chips or pretzels

Helpful Hints to Avoid BLT Temptations

Rinse your hands and wipe them on a towel to remove food and resist the temptation to taste.

Pour water into a baking dish and promptly insert the spoon and beaters.

Scrape plates from dinner immediately into the garbage.

Enlist your spouse or children to taste what you are cooking to see if the seasoning is correct.

Try chewing gum or carrot sticks while cooking.

There is a huge price to pay for BLT’s. So … before you follow in my path and arrive at 330 lbs … get your “mitts” out of there!!! Would much rather watch you harness the BLT’s, cheer you on to success and meet you for a shopping trip. Then we can change our old BLT’s (Bites, Licks and Tastes) for new BLT’s (Buy Lots Together) as we celebrate your success in a smaller size!!!

(end article)

what an eye opener, eh? also another good technique i have been using is brushing my teeth a LOT.. because i never want to eat after brushing my teeth.

another little story was pulled from the Tracker Website on a thread someone posted. it is what the registered dietitian Joy Bauer suggested on the Today Show:

"LIFE Secret No. 1: Eliminate extras
Linda used to be a major snackaholic and nibbler. I explained to her that "picking" on tiny amounts of food throughout the day may not seem like such a big deal, but it's amazing how quickly those calories compound. In fact, I once had a client who claimed to be eating everything I instructed her to eat, yet the scale wouldn't budge. On a mission to figure out what was going wrong, I asked her to carry around a plastic bag for two days. Each

Linda lost 146 pounds.

time she reached for a nibble of her daughter's fries, her son's cookie or her dinner stew, she was to place it in the bag instead of her mouth. After two days she brought the bursting bag to my office. Mystery solved! In 48 hours she would have mindlessly munched 1,000 additional calories if they hadn't ended up in the bag. Lesson learned: Every bite counts."

WOW.. so that is a real eye opener as well!

please take these articles into consideration the next time you reach for a little bite, lick, or taste of something. it could be the reason you are not making any progress at all!

xo.

accountability: tuesday 3/3/09

2009-03-04T07:54:00.002-07:00

hello!

m1 protein oatmeal

m2 edamame, 3 turkey meatballs from trader joe's, 1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese.

m3 chocolate protein powder, soy milk, ice shake. 1/2 cup low sugar trader joe's cereal. PLUS a handful of kashi go lean and a handful of oatmeal squares cereal. more on that at the end of this post.

LBWO:
warm up 10 min on bike
bulgarian split squats reps 12, 10, 8, 6, 12
barbell squats, 12 reps w/ 12 second hold
deadlifts reps 12, 10, 8, 6, 12
reverse crunches between sets, total of 100
ham curl machine 12 reps
standing weighted calf raises reps 12, 10, 8, 6, 12
single leg calf raises, 12 reps each leg
glute machine, 3 sets 10 reps on each leg
walking lunges w/ 10# plate, 3 sets of 28
stability ball ham curls, 3 sets of 25
single leg kickbacks, 3 sets of 10 reps each leg
ball crunches, 3 sets of 50
lying butt bridges, 2 sets of 25
cooldown 10 min on bike

..i think i covered it all?

m4. 1 egg, 1 egg white, 2 oz green chile chicken shredded, a sprinkle of low fat mozz cheese, salsa..scrambled. 1 cup cantelope, honeydew and grapes.

3 calcium chews

1 gallon of water! woohoo!

that is all the time i had as far as meals went because i wasn't awake long enough to fit more in! ha! oh well.

i am concentrating REALLY hard on not having any BLT's. no no, not bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches... BITES, LICKS and TASTES. you will see on my meal 3 i had a couple slipups, with the cereal. it was either that or the cookies sitting on my counter, so i think opting fr the cereal was better than a cookie, BUT those carbs and calories still add up from the cereal. i think that has been my problem lately, too many "just a bite" here or "just a taste" there. it doesn't seem like i am cheating because it is just the tiniest bit of something, but it all adds up and can sabotage me in the end. i will post more on BLT's later today.

time to work, how did you do yesterday? mom? suni? ree? braithwaites? others lurking?

xo.

accountability: monday 3/2/09

2009-03-03T10:07:00.002-07:00

as promised, here i am putting it down in writing. this WILL keep me accountable, this WILL help me not cheat at all this week :)

m1. 2 eggs scrambled with spinach, 1/2 cup mixed fruit (bananas, blueberries, boysenberries, strawberries), coffee

m2. plain non fat greek yogurt, 1/2 cup cheerios with soy milk

m3. 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1/2 frozen banana, 4 oz soy milk, 3 cubes ice

HIIT on elliptical, 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of moderate cardio on elliptical.
ab work:
2 sets of 50 weighed (10# plate) crunches on decline bench
2 sets of 25 (one rep is one time on each side) of weighted (10# plate) oblique twists on decline bench
2 sets of 25 (one rep is one time on each side) of standing plated weight crunches w/ 25# plate
2 sets of 25 bench/leg tuck crunches
1 set of 50 ball crunches

totaling 300 ab reps.

m4. 1 serving of EFL turkey meatloaf, 7 stalks of asparagus

m5. 2 baked chicken tenders, marinara sauce. 3 calcium chews (chocolate sugar free chews found at costco-a calcium supplement)

probably only had about 2.5 liters of water, i need to work on getting that gallon in.

also, i need to go back to taking my CLA and multivitamin. i need to remember to grab those from home before coming to work.

feels good to be back at it full force. i slept for 10 hours last night though.. yawn.

Set Yourself Free

2009-03-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

There is no outside force holding you back. You are holding you back and you are blaming it on someone or something else. The way you are able to continue holding yourself back is by maintaining the illusion that you're a victim. Once you release that illusion, you will naturally and easily move forward.

In fact, it is easier to fulfill your best possibilities than it is to avoid them. So let go of the blame and watch the limitations drop away.

Certainly there will always be challenges, and yet it is not the challenges that hold you back. For each challenge provides you with a pathway through which you can move toward fulfillment.

It is your very nature to accomplish. Lovingly accept your destiny, and allow that accomplishment to be manifest through you.

Set yourself free to follow your purpose. Set yourself free to truly live.

-- Ralph Marston

oh, here i am.

2009-03-02T12:52:00.002-07:00

hi all you body for life loving blog readers.. if there are any of you still out there, that is :)

so, i went on a month-long hiatus. first i had food poisoning then the laptop broke then i got bronchitis then i got a sinus infection and then i had the laptop back but then the internet at my house was disconnected and then i got the stomach flu and then i went to california and all the while i could not blog at work because i was working in the front office.

whew.

WELL, i am back. no internet at the house yet, but i am up at my desk, home from california, and am happy to say i am healthy as can be.

needless to say, my body for life challenge has suffered. i have not been horrible with my eating, but as far as the exercise goes.. well i probably only worked out half as much as i should have. i am not making excuses, i didn't do the exercise and i was not extremely strict with my eating like i should have been and in turn my results have suffered.

but you know what? i am not giving up, i am not a quitter. and i hope you are not either. i am not sure what is going on with each and every one of you, i have talked with a few of you and i know we are all having "life" thrown at us full speed ahead. but let us roll with the punches and take control of our situations.. because if i can do it, you can do it too!

so it is back on the wagon today. i am not sure what day we are on, what week we are on, i have no idea. what i do know is i am back in it 110% today and i will be blogging my accountability again and i hope you will participate. i will be exercising my little heart out and planning my meals perfectly and i will blog as much as humanly possible about anything and everything that i think will help us along the way.

please leave a comment, let me know how you are, and that you are still plugging along!

xoxo
janetha

Sorry!

2009-02-09T18:46:00.003-07:00

Hello team.......well poor Janetha is sick again and is still waiting for her lap top to return from the repair shop, it is getting a new mother board and you know how testy that can be!

I have been out of town in the sun and heat of Palm Desert, tough duty, but oh so much fun!!

I have to confess it was about 5 free days just running together!! I managed 2 clean meals every day and the exercise consisted of a lot of swinging of my golf clubs!! I actually found some muscles I didn't know I had, I was sure I had really bruised my ribs, I guess I haven't been twisting quite as much as I thought.

We are still here, we are concerned and really do care about all of you. So come on, send us a note and let us know what's up in your world.

How is the eating?
How is the exercise?
How is the water consumption?
How is your attitude?
How do you feel?

Send us a comment and I'm sure as soon as Janetha can she will be posting up a storm. She is still busy in the kitchen making up new recipes and cooking up a storm.

Love and hugs to you all! Stay strong, remember we really are in this together!

accountability: day 24 (wed 1/28/09)

2009-01-29T15:06:00.003-07:00

6:30 am HIIT max out @ 2.0 incline 10.0 speed

m1. 8 am protein oatmeal, coffee

m2. 11 am spaghetti w/ meat sauce, green salad

m3. 2 pm cottage cheese, wasa crackers

m4. 5 pm ff greek yogurt, apple

m5. 8 pm spicy grilled chicken sandwich on ww bun, green salad

m6. high protein cereal bar

little over 1 gallon of water

accountability: day 23 (tue 1/27/09)

2009-01-28T10:34:00.002-07:00

i am sorry that all you see is accountability posts. i am such a loser. haha actually it is that i do not have my laptop back yet and it is too busy at work to blog anything worthwhile. hopefully i will be back in commission soon. im sorry!

m1 7:30 protein oatmeal

m2 10:30 3 egg whites, 1 egg, 2 slices sara lee 45 cal wheat toast

m3 1:30 spaghetti with meat sauce, green salad

m4 4:30 8 oz ff greek yogurt, 4 oz fiber one peach yogurt, slivered almonds

UBWO

5 min elliptical warmup

the numbers are pounds.

db bicep curl: 10, 12, 15, 17.5, 12 hammer curl: 10

barbell deltiod rows: 20, 25, 30, 40, 24 db lateral raises: 5

cable tricep ext: 30, 35, 40, 45, 35 overhead db tricep press: 25 jumping jacks between sets

single arm db rows: 15, 17.5, 22.5, 25, 15. reverse db flyes: 8

db chest press: 12, 15, 17.5, 22.5, 15 db flyes: 10 reverse crunches between sets

m5. 7:30 muscle armor + WPI

m6. 8:30 spaghetti with meat sauce, some wasabi peas

i had probably 180 oz of water!

accountability: day 22 (mon 1/26/09)

2009-01-27T10:30:00.003-07:00

m1 @ 6:30: protein oatmeal, coffee

m2 @ 10:30: 3 egg whites, 1 egg, 2 pieces sara lee wheat toast

m3 @ 1:30: veggie soup w/ turkey burger

m4 @ 5:00: south beach hig protein cereal bar

HIIT on elliptical maxing @ resistance 8 speed 13.0-14.0

ball crunches, bicycle crunches, plank w/ feet on ball, crunches w/ legs against wall, ball handoffs

m5 @ 8:30: spaghetti w/ lean beef, mushroom & onion sauce, salad

1 gallon h2o

great day

accountability: day 21 (sun 1/25/09)

2009-01-26T16:28:00.003-07:00

well i did not wake up until about 11.. oops.. ha!

and then i did not want to eat before my workout, so i didn't.. and i made it to the gym around 1:30.

HIIT on treadmill maxing out at 9.4 MPH and 1.5 incline

then

m1. kashi go lean/soy milk

m2. stuffed chicken breast/risotto/asparagus

m3. protein shake w/ chocolate powder & frozen banana

yeah i was not awake long enough to have anything else!

probably about 3/4 a gallon of water.

so glad to be back on track today!!!!!

accountability: day 20 (sat 1/24/09)

2009-01-26T16:25:00.002-07:00

free day!

i woke up feeling way better. whew.

here is the damage...

*turkey sausage & egg bagel sandwich, coffee

*1 cup nielsen's custard

*1 fish taco

*mac & cheese w/ chicken from noodles, side salad

*half of a snickerdoodle

*a sugar cookie

*some bites of birthday cake

*a little glass of champagne for a birthday toast

*lots of water!

did not feel too bad after this free day. probably because i finally was able to eat something!

accountability: day 19 (friday 1/23/09)

2009-01-26T16:22:00.002-07:00

okay so this day was not good, i was sick. so sick.

m1 10:00 am bowl of kashi go lean w/ soy milk

had some sprite throughout the day

m2 5:30 pm 1/4 cup tomato soup, a breadstick, barely got that down

m3 9:30 pm another bowl of kashi go lean, a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch

hardly any water, no workout

damn the food poisoning!

accountability: day 18 (thurs 1/22/09)

2009-01-23T12:20:00.002-07:00

okay, so i have food poisoning. ughhhhhhhhhh soooo sick. yesterday was a bad day. well, after the food poisoning incident, that is.

m1. 8am protein oatmeal

m2. 11 am turkey hummus avocado sprouts wrap. this is what made me sick, not sure what it was. maybe the turkey?

m3. 2 pm chicken and veggies

then i went to marshall's, went to bed at 5pm, woke up at 8pm, had some sprite and some slices of bread, and went back to bed

woke up feeling awful, so today is not looking so good either.

i got 100 oz of water down yesterday, and no workout. first workout missed. sigh, cry. i am feeling awful so i will probably be missing today's workout too. on the upside, i have not been overeating. heh. haven't been able to eat at all :(

i did not take photos today, just because i am sooo bloated and whatnot. i will have to do that soon when i feel better!

how is everyone doing? hopefully everything is going great for all of you. i will get the at home LBWO posted this weekend, it is so hard without a computer! im sorry for the delay!

hope you all have a good weekend, hooray for 3 weeks down!

accountability: day 17 (wednesday 1/21/09)

2009-01-22T09:18:00.003-07:00

hola!

m1 8:00 am: protein oatmeal

m2 11:30 am: turkey burger patty, spinach, avocado, red pepper hummus, ww kangaroo pita pocket

m3 2:45 pm: 3/4 c low fat cottage cheese, 2 multigrain wasa crackers

HIIT 20 min on elliptical max out @ 10mph at 2.0 incline

m4 handful of wasabi peas, indian masala simmer sauce with chicken, broccoli, green and red pepper, celery, sweet potatoes all chopped up and simmered together. yes it was the masala simmer sauce from TJ's, if you eat a fourth of the recipe you are good to go. i also had a piece of bread with this, probably shouldnt have because i had the potatoes but what can ya do...

cheat: 2 bites of marshall's cookies and cream ice cream. my weakness, my downfall, ice cream. i really wish he wouldnt eat it around me because it is WAY too hard to resist! i am going to try to go a whole week with NO cheats next week. wish me luck!

m5 chocolate protein powder/banana/soy milk shake. didn't have any ice cubes at marshalls so it was not as good as usual!

184 oz of water! i rocked it on the agua!

i took my fish oil, CLA and multivitamin.

so, it was a pretty good day! how did you do?

im taking photos tomorrow and weighing in! eeek! hope i see a change!

delicious turkey burger patty recipe.

2009-01-21T16:19:00.007-07:00

this is a recipe i got off of the tracker website for turkey burger patties. it is sooo good, and you can make a bunch and eat them however you wish. in pitas, on bread, on a bun, alongside a potato or rice, with some fruit, you name it.. just a quick easy way to have perfectly portioned protein on hand! and you can freeze these babies if you want as well!

ingredients:

1.25 lb turkey burger
4 TB hummus (i used roasted red pepper hummus)
2 TB worcestershire sauce
1/2 of a diced medium onion (i used red)
2 tsp cumin
lots of black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper for added spice

mix all ingredients and form into 5 equal sized balls. this makes each patty a quarter pound, or 4 ounces. perfect portion size! yes there is one ball missing from the photo below, it is already on the grill.

smash balls between some foil and grill on the foreman grill or on the stove.
i cant get these photos to rotate, weird, oh well

i have been eating my patties ina kangaroo pita pocket with avocado and spinach.. YUM!

i want to try them on a whole wheat bun with all the burger fixings.. i will have that next time i am craving a burger :)

try these, you will NOT be sorry! super easy and yummo!

turkey meatloaf.

2009-01-21T16:11:00.002-07:00

this recipe is out of the eating-for-LIFE cookbook, slightly modified.

yield 6 servings for me, and probably all other ladies out there. or 4 servings for a man.

ingredients:

1.25 lb ground turkey
2/3 cup oats
1 cup salsa
1 package knorr vegetable dip mix (or spinach dip mix if you cannot find this one)
1 diced medium red onion
4 egg whites
a whole bunch of black pepper

mix all ingredients together and put in either a 9x5 meatloaf pan.. or if your meatloaf pan has gone missing like mine did, you can use these totally awesome silicone baking cups.. which actually worked out better for me because it made 6 perfect servings!

put some low carb/low sugar ketchup on top of the meat and bake at 350 for an hour.

serve with veggies. you can also serve with a different carb, but keep in mind the oats in the recipe already do add a little carbs to the meatloaf, so do not eat quite a full serving of whatever carb you choose. i just stuck with a huge heaping helping of steamfresh veggies because i think my carb allowance was over for the day!

the EFL book has it paired with green beans and mashed potatoes, i believe. this is fine, just go easy on you big your mashed potato portion is!

i made them and froze them for later. they turned out so cute!

accountability: day 16 (tuesday 1/20/09)

2009-01-20T19:58:00.002-07:00

quick post--

m1. 7:45 AM protein oatmeal

m2. 11:00 AM ezekiel tortilla, red pepper hummus, spinach, deli turkey, avocado wrap

m3. 2:00 PM red and green bell peppers, sliced. turkey burger in a ww kangaroo pita pocket with spinach

LBWO:

2 min warmup jog on treadmill

60 obliques on decline bench with 10# plate

hamstrings:
ham curl machine 12-40#, 10-50#, 8-60#, 6-70#, 12-50#. deadlifts 12-50#. stability ball curls-20. ball crunches/oblique crunches in between sets, a total of 100 reps

calves:
standing calf raise machine 12-40#, 10-6-#, 8-80#, 6-100#, 12-60#. single leg calf raises with body weight-12 each leg. 30 second plank between sets.

quads:
leg press 12-115#, 10-135#, 8-155#, 6-175#, 12-135#. stability ball agianst the wall squats holding 17.5# dumbbells in each hand-12 squats+12 second hold.

50 reverse crunches.

hip adductor machine 12-65#, 10-70#, 8-75#, 20-80#. back extentions on stability ball between sets, total of 80 reps.

theee end. good workout.

m4. 4:30 PM fuji apple, 6 oz fat free greek yogurt

m5. 7:30 PM turkey meatloaf, 1/2 bag of steamfresh veggies (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli)

m6. 10:30 PM chocolate protein powder+frozen banana+soy milk+ice protein shake

1+ gallon of water, 1 coffee, fish oil once, thermoCLA twice, multivitamin once.

hope to get some quality blogs up tomorrow!

accountability: day 15 (monday 1/19/09)

2009-01-19T21:28:00.002-07:00

hey everyone! ok so the deal is my computer is in the shop for like the next 12 days. ugh. SO i am going to TRY to get my posts up by staying late at work a couple days this week. so far i have a LBWO at home post, a meatloaf recipe blog and a super yummy turkey recipe blog. i also have a post ready for gingersnap pumpkin cream cups. and a recipe blog on shrimp and chicken with feta and tomatoes. oh and a post regarding protein shakes. sheesh. i hate not having a laptop! but i will get on it ASAP i promise! for now, the posts will be lame, until i can do more, which will probably be wednesday after work. sorry! talk amongst yourselves in the comments in the meantime! oh and please give me your vote on what post you would like to see first!

today's accountability:

m1 7 am protein oatmeal (1/3 cup oats+scoop vanilla protein powder+6 oz water.. microwave, then added 1 TB sugar free log cabin syrup and a splash of plain light soymilk)

m2 10:30 am 8 oz fat free voskos greek yogurt+one fiber 1 peach yogurt (4 oz)+handful of slivered almonds

m3 1:30 pm shrimp&chicken with tomatoes and feta, green beans

HIIT on treadmill, 22 minutes. hit my "10" on 2.0 incline and 10 mph.

m4 7:30 pm turkey burger patty (yummmmy recipe soon to come)+baby spinach+red pepper+avocado all in a kangaroo pita pocket. i have a ton of these kangaroo pockets at my smith's here on 33rd. let me know if you would like me to pick you up some and i will!!!

m5 10:30 pm protein shake: 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 frozen banana, 6 oz plain light soymilk, 6 ice cubes

had thermoCLA twice today, multivitamin once, fish oil once, 1 coffee (black) and over 1 gallon of water!

glad it was a better monday!

accountability: day 14 (sunday 1/18/09)

2009-01-19T09:25:00.003-07:00

okay this was for yesterday, i did a little bit bad but not HORRIBLE. i need to plan better for days i go snowboarding, and i need to be stronger against temptations. i really kind of blew it at dinner but i am moving on to a new week!

m1. protein oatmeal

m2. south beach diet high protein cereal bar in peanut butter, apple

m3. 3 egg whites+1 whole egg+2 slices dry sara lee 45 cal bread

m4. olive garden: half of the apricot chicken dish (suni is right, this is yummy and basically the ONLY healthy option on the menu that includes protein and no starchy carbs) i did have a little salad and the bad part is i had a breadstick. le sigh.

only had time for 4 meals. i did munch on some wasabi peas throughout the day, i really love them i hope they are not too bad for me... i should look into it i think!

i had almost a full gallon of water. that is good! it was my day off from exercise but i did go snowboarding for 3 hours.

onto week 3! let's make it better than ever! how is everyone doing? i have an at home LBWO post planned, but does anyone else want to see info on anything else? let me know! xoxo

accountability: day 13 (saturday 1/17/09)

2009-01-19T09:04:00.002-07:00

well it was KINDA free day for me on saturday. here is what i had:

m1. protein pancakes

UBWO
i forget the weights i used.. ugh i hate that.. but i know i maxed out on DB chest press at 25# and single arm DB rows at 25# (i will catch you mom!), DB bicep curls at 17.5#, DB shoulder press at 17.5#, and overhead tricep extension at 45# on the cables.

m2. south beach diet high protein cereal bar in peanut butter, a string cheese and a slice of sharp cheddar cheese and 1 apple. random i know. i was at the grocery store.

came home and had a little ice cream before going to eat with marshall and amber.

m3. red robin: cheeseburger and fries (i ate half of it. sooo filling.) and 2 mozzarella sticks.

came home and hung out and then some more ice cream. and then i went out to key's on main and the woodshed and came home and had more ice cream. and some kashi go lean cereal.

had probably a little over half a gallon of water. not too shabby.

okay, tomorrow will have day 13 and 14 :)

2009-01-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

So, my computer is in the shop and im posting this from my phone. Too hard to say a lot, so ill post from work in the morning! Hope everyone is doing GREAT! We've made it 2 weeks!

Xoxo

accountability: day 12 (fri 1/16/09)

2009-01-17T11:22:00.003-07:00

hi guys! happy free day! (if it is yours, that is)

yesterday:

m1. 8:30 am protein oatmeal

m2. 11:30 am leftover shrimp/chicken feta dish

m3. 2:30 pm 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, bag of green and red peppers with some roasted red pepper hummus for dipping

cardio: didn't do hiit because i wanted to see how fast i could run a 5k (3.1 miles) i got it done in 26 min and 2 seconds. hope for a better time by the end of the 12 weeks.

i had some wasabi peas when i got home, i have started to snack on these a LOT.. they are not toooo bad for me i dont think. they are 16g carbs/7g protein for 28 grams.. but i dont know how many peas are in 28 grams.. so i figure a few here and there won't kill me. haha.. hope not

then m4. 7:00 steak, dry baked potato, green salad CHEAT: some white rolls.. not wheat. i was out to dinner and had a hard time resisting. i hate going to dinner on non free days, but it was marshall's step mom's bday dinner. what can you do? i think i did ok. i drank unsweetened iced tea.

m5. 10:30 pm tiny apple, kashi go lean (dry)

had probably 80 oz of water. not enough. today is free day but i am eating clean for most of the day because of last night's meal. i am also going to do my UBWO today and try to get a gallon of water in. wish me luck!

how are you all doing?!

accountability: day 11 (thurs 1/15/09)

2009-01-16T10:17:00.003-07:00

hi guys, sorry i am late getting this up. i have been ULTIMATELY busy lately! i have been neglecting this little blog a tad but i will be back on track with posting this weekend, i've got lots to talk about just no time to type!

anyway, some of you have been tapering off on the accountability posts and others have not even posted it yet, please let us hear how you are doing! i think it helps everyone!

here is how my day went yesterday:

m1 7:30 protein oatmeal

m2 10:30 3 egg whites, 1 whole egg [scrambled] 2 slices whole wheat sara lee 45 calorie toast

m3 1:30 edamame

m4 5:00 banana chocolate peanut butter protein shake. this is my new favorite, it tastes JUST like ice cream, i will do a recipe feature on it soon. it will curb those sweet tooth cravings without the sugar!

m5 7:45ish shrimp and chicken with tomatoes, dill, parsley and feta; spinach salad with avocado, red peppers, green onions and balsamic dressing. mmmm i will also do a recipe feature on this meal ASAP! i took photos!

workout LBWO:

quads:

bulgarian split squats w/ DB: 12 reps @ 10 lb, 10 reps @ 12.5 lb, 8 reps @ 15 lb, 6 reps @ 20 lb, 12 reps @ 12.5 lb. wall squats aganist ball w/ 10 lb db in each hand, 12 reps and hold 12 seconds. i did bench tucks between sets here.

hams:

stiff legged dead lifts with barbell: 12 @ 35, 10 @ 45, 8 @ 55, 6 @ 65, 12 @ 45. exercise ball ham curls 15 reps. i did ball crunches between sets here.

calves:

laying calf raises on machine: 12 @ 160, 10 @ 180, 8 @ 200, 6 @ 220, 12 @ 180. standing single calf raises, 12 reps each leg. i did decline drunches with 10lb weight between sets here.

abs: obliques on decline bench, 2 sets of 30.

lower back: hyperextension bench w/ 10 lb weight, 3 sets of 25.

a few squat-and-holds on bosu ball, some single leg squats on bosu ball. i was just waiting for my mom to get done with her workout.

after my workout is was still full so i just had some almonds and a clementine!

how was your day 11? can you believe we are almost 2 weeks done?!

accountability: day 10 (wed 1/14/09)

2009-01-15T07:23:00.002-07:00

hi everyone! happy thursday! here is how my day went yesterday:

m1.7:30 am: protein oatmeal

m2.11:45 am: (yep.. big gap there. i was BUSY at work) sloppy joe pita, green beans

m3.1:45 pm: apple, cottage cheese, almonds

m4.4:30 pm: greek yogurt, fiber1 yogurt, slivered almonds

HIIT on treadmill.. well warmed up for 10 min on elliptical waiting for treadmill to open up, then i did my HIIT the same as monday but increased the incline from 0 to 1 to 2 to 3 and maxed out at incline 3 at 10 mph only made it 42 seconds. now i have something to work on!

m5. 7:30pm piece of ww toast with natural PB, 1 clementine (no protein here, i was tiding myself over for dinner which i thought would be around 8:30.

m6.10:30pm pork loin roast with mixed rice, asparagus, mushrooms, onions and red peppers. mmmm it was so good, my super wonderful friend neal made 12 of us dinner, it was fancy and delish!

i had about a gallon and a half of water! 1 coffee, 1 batch of my supplements

pretty good day, i am just eating my oatmeal now.. how was your day 10???

accountability: day 9 (tuesday 1/13/09)

2009-01-13T21:48:00.004-07:00

m1 @ 7:00: protein oatmeal, half a grapefruit

m2 @ 10:00: fiber one peach yogurt mixed with 8 oz fat free voskos greek yogurt and some slivered almonds. about 30 min later i had 1 whole chopped cucumber.

m3 @ 1:00: sloppy joe in ww pita, green beans

m4 @ 4:30: some green and red peppers, a string cheese, tuna and ff cottage cheese and a chopped pickle mixed up in a low carb high fiber tortilla

UBWO:

bicep curls while sitting on stability ball, dumbells (weight is for each hand) were 8lb-12 reps, 10 lb-10 reps, 12.5 lb-8 reps, 17.5 lb-6 reps, 10 lb-12 reps. hammer curls while standing- 10 lb-12 reps. i did ball crunches in between sets.

tricep overhead cable extension, 12 reps-30 lb, 10 reps-35 lb, 8 reps-40 lb, 5 reps-45 lb, 12 reps-35 lb. tricep cable pulldowns 12 reps-30 lb. jmping jacks for 30 seconds in between sets.

rowing machine: 12 reps-30 lb, 10 reps-40 lb, 8 reps-50 lb, 6 reps-60lb, 12 reps-40 lb. dumbbell rows 12 reps-20 lb dumbbells in each hand.

dumbbell chest press (weight is for each hand): 12 reps-10 lb, 10 reps-12.5 lb, 8 reps-17.5 lb, 6 reps-22.5 lb, 12 reps-12.5 lb. dumbbell flyes: 12 reps-12.5 lb.

single arm alternating shoulder press while standing (dumbbells for weight in each hand): 12 reps-8 lb, 10 reps-10 lb, 8 reps-12.5 lb, 6 reps-15 lb, 12 reps-10 lb. lateral raises: 12 reps-5 lb dumbbells in each hand.

i was shaking after! yay!

m5 @ 8:00: 3 egg whites and one whole egg, scrambled, 1 slice 45 calorie sara lee toast with spray butter, half a grapefruit

m6 @ 10:30: 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 frozen banana, 4 oz soy milk, ice. blended.

had about 115 oz of water today, 1 black coffee, all my supplements (yay) CLA and multivitamin.. ummmm i think that sums it up.

how did you do today?

body-for-LIFE tracker: my (not so) secret support system

2009-01-13T19:36:00.017-07:00

ok, so some of you may have visited the body-for-LIFE tracker website, some of you may have not. but i have to give credit to this website because it is probably the only reason i actually made it through my first challenge.

i know sometimes it is hard to understand new websites.. this one is no exception, it can be a bit confusing and overwhelming at first. but once you figure out your way around it, it will be the most beneficial tool in surviving your body-for-LIFE challenge. i PROMISE.

so, i decided to give you all a quick little tutorial about how to use tracker to your advantage. i will list a few things you can use tracker for and also include step by step instructions how to go about using each feature. PLEASE take the time to check this website out, i promise it will help you.

first thing you may want to do is create an account, just so you can post questions in the message board forums. if you choose not to make a profile, you can still check out the website and the message boards and the other people's profiles!

1. message boards!

okay, so on the front page if you scroll down a bit you will see a list of links that looks similar to this (click to enlarge):
each link is a "thread"..and a thread is a post that a user has posted about one thing or another.. and this list is the most recent threads that have been replied to. SO.. if there is a topic that catches your eye, you can click on it and read it.

OR.. you can go directly to the forums page.. where there are individual forums for different categories such as support, beginners, exercise, eating, recipes, supplements, teams, etc etc... to get to this page, click the link at the top of the thread list on the front page that says "go to forums now" see photo:

once you click this link, this page will come up, with the list of different forums:
the forums you will probably be interested in will be support, beginner, exercise, and eating. these are the main forums.. aside from the teams forum, but unless you belong to an internet team (yeah, my mom and i both do.. we are rad computer geeks!).. you probably won't find much interest in the teams forum.

SO.. click on a forum to see what posts ("threads") are in there. you can just click on threads other people have started and read them.. or if you have a question of your own you would like to ask, you can create a profile and post a question! when i first started my challenge, i was posting in the beginner and support forum like there was no tomorrow, and i always got lots of responses to my questions. even if you just want to read and not participate in the posting, that is fine too. it can still be very useful just to lurk on the forums and read what other people have to say.

so, take a gander. if you are having a hard time finding your way around the forums, post a comment here or email me and i can help you navigate.

take advantage of this huge online community of people who are doing the same thing we are doing! it is AWESOME!

ok, now for the next part, a bit more tricky!

2. viewing other profiles.

option A: latest photos

on the home page, you can look to the right and find a section that says "newest photos".. this is probably the easiest way to look at other profiles without getting too specific. click on the "More.." link under the newest photos category:

obviously your screen will look a little different since i am signed in on that example above. but you get the idea. so once you click on this link a list will come up of recently updated profiles. it looks like this:

this is the list of peoples' profiles that have had photos recently added. it first says their user name, then their age, then their gender, and then the day it was updated. you can browse to find someone who is around your age and gender, or you can look at all of them, or you can just click on whatever your little heart desires. this is one way to see profiles with photos on the site.

once you click on a profile, there is some navigating in order to see their photos, you can select front, side or back view. it is not a requirement for anyone to upload any type of photo, so some people may have lots of photos and other people may only have one. some people may have side and back views and other people may not.

i will use my profile as an example on how to navigate a profile.

once you click on a name, their profile will come up with this page:

this has basic user info. to get to the photos, click on this link:

it will automatically bring up the front view and you can scroll down to see any and all front view photos. you can click on side or back to view the other angles:

you can also check out other features of each profile by using the toolbar at the top of their profile.. such as their progress log or their 20 most recent posts.. most people do not use the meals/activities feature, and not very many use the blog feature, but you can check those out too if you would like.

option B: search profiles

you can search all the profiles on tracker if you wish. you can choose to search by user name, state, gender or age.

from the home screen, click on "search profiles":

this screen comes up, and you can plug in search criteria. you can only select one category to search under. for example, you cannot filter by both age AND gender.. you have to pick one or the other. anyway... may i suggest searching by age, because you can enter a range here and it will bring up all profiles within that age range, and you can later click on specific profiles depending on which gender you wish to browse.

so, say i want to find all the profiles ranging from age 23 to 27. i would type it in like this, and click search:

a list like this will come up, and the profiles which have photos will have a camera icon next to their name. it will also list their specific age and gender. from here you can click on whatever profiles you wish to view:

you can also email people from their profiles by selecting "send private message", but you have to have an account set up to do this. setting up an account is free and you do not have to enter any information about yourself if you do not want to. the choice is yours.

please take advantage of this website and learn as much as you can from it. it is a great community of people who are all in the same boat as us, and there are lots of great ideas!

once you get more familiar with it, you may want to join an online team to help support you through your challenge. cross that bridge if you come to it.. but if you never feel like that, that is fine too. my mom and i, along with my friend pixar, all belong to teams on there. we post daily and just chat with our teammates about body for life and exercise and eating and whatnot. it is actually really fun! and my team also posts accountability each day so it is nice to have to report to them.

well that is a quick rundown of what is probably my favorite website. i hope you check it out!

quick cobb salad.

2009-01-13T09:19:00.005-07:00

i pulled this recipe off an e-mail i got today from the National Body Challenge by Discovery Health.

TOTAL TIME: 10 minutes

ingredients:

3 cups chopped hearts of romaine
5 each grape or cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced cucumber
1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
5 cooked, peeled large shrimp
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons light blue cheese dressing

Makes 1 serving.

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Per Serving: 273 calories; 13 g fat; 3 g saturated fat; 348mg cholesterol; 556 mg sodium; 13 g carbohydrates; 5 g fiber; 27 g protein

OK.. so this is the way the recipe was written on the website, i think it is really perfect except for the dressing. you can cut down on unhealthy fats by nixing the light blue cheese and using olive oil and vinegar for a dressing instead, or you could use a wishbone spritzer dressing. this recipe was quick, easy, and super high in protein and veggies so i thought it was worthy of being posted! add some avocado for a healthy fat!

accountability: day 8

2009-01-12T22:42:00.003-07:00

hey everyone! how was your monday? sorry there are no new posts, i had an ultra busy day. i have some things in the works for this week though, not to worry. lots of recipes and good info! anyway, just wanted to get my accountability up for today so you could all post yours as well!

m1. 6:00 am: protein oatmeal

m2. 9:00 am: wasa crackers & low fat cottage cheese

cheat (yep, first one of the challenge.. ugh) 1 bite of a pumpkin cookie that a girl at my work made and brought in for me.. sigh, cry.

m3. 12:00 pm: enchiladas AND i will have you know, it was a birthday at work, i had to order 3 large pizzas, there was a big cake, and i had neither. whew.

m4. 4:30 pm 1 string cheese and some red and green bell peppers... i was sooo hungry but was on my way to do cardio so i didnt want to eat something, but had to curb my hunger.

workout 5pm-6:30pm.. i warmed up for 10 min on the elliptical while waiting for a treadmill to open up, and then i did 20 min HIIT on treadmill increasing 0.5 incline at each interval and also increasing speed at each interval from .5 to .6 to .7 to .8... and then hit my 10 at a 1.5 incline and 10.0 speed. i had my new oxygen magazine so i rode the bike for an hour while i read it. my favorite thing to do each month at the gym!

m5. 7:30: sloppy joe and green beans

m6. 10:30: chocolate protein powder (1 scoop) 1 frozen medium sized banana, 6 cubes of ice, 8 oz plain light soymilk.. mm.. so good

only had 2 liters of water today, i had my body fat checked so you are not supposed to chug the water before hand.. i felt quite thirsty all day!

i remembered to take my supplements: CLA and multivitamin. still need to purchase some fish oil.. it is buy 1 get 1 free at smith's right now but i am pretty poor.. even for that kind of a deal! oh well, i will get it eventually!

how did your day 8 go?

accountability: day 7

2009-01-11T21:01:00.005-07:00

well one week down! how is everyone doing? here is my post for today's accountability!

m1. 12:30 pm (yes woke up LATE) breakfast wrap w/ sundried tomato flatout wrap, 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 2/3 cup morningstar soy meat crumbles, and salsa

m2. 2:30 pm 1 apple, 8 oz greek yogurt with about 1/3 scoop of vanilla protein powder mixed in to up the protein

lower body work out-same as tuesday's

m3. 5:00 pm sloppy joe pita

m4. 8:00 pm 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 frozen banana, 4 oz fat free soy milk.. blended.. this tasted like ice cream :)

ok, so i failed at the water. like.. i probably only had about 32 oz of water today. i don't know what my deal is! that is SO bad! i also didn't take any of my supplements. i will do better tomorrow.

off to bed! xoxo

green chile chicken enchiladas.

2009-01-11T20:24:00.005-07:00

this recipe is modified from the eating for life cookbook, i have changed it to be a little more bfl-strict and balanced. also, this is more of a casserole style dish rather than rolled up enchiladas.

*this recipe makes 6 servings for me

nutrition stats per serving: 260 calories, 28g protein, 23g carbs, 5.5g fat. this breaks up into 44/36/20 for protein/carb/fat ratios.

ingredients:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
12 corn tortillas that have these stats per tortilla: 30 calories, 6g carbs, 1g protein
1 large can green chile enchilada sauce (i believe it is 28 oz)
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch green onions
1 medium red pepper
1 can sliced black olives
optional: jalepeno
optional: salsa, fat free sour cream, fat free shredded cheese, diced tomatoes

*please note, the nutrition statistics i have figured do not include the optional ingredients.. salsa and jalepeno would not add much to them stat-wise.. but the sour cream and cheese would, and i have chosen not to use these items.

instructions:

1. boil chicken in a pot of water

2. when chicken is cooked through, dice cilantro, green onion and red onion. put in large deep saucepan over medium heat

3. shred chicken with 2 forks, as you shred it, put it into the saucepan with the diced cilantro and onions

4. add 2/3 of the large can of enchilada sauce and can of olives to the saucepan, let mixture warm through

5. spray a baking pan with pam, place 6 tortillas on the pan as photographed

6. pour the mixture onto the tortillas and top with half of the remaining enchilada sauce (you have 1/3 of a can left, so you will pour on half of that.. making that 1/6 of a can). if you are going to use cheese, this is where you would sprinkle it on.

7. put the remaining 6 tortillas on top of the mixture, and pour the remaining 1/6 can of enchilada sauce on top.

8. cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

9. as you can see, the enchiladas do not look much different after baking. they are now ready to serve. top with salsa, diced tomatoes, and/or fat free sour cream if you are using it. you could also throw some avocado on top, that would be yummy!

i am not eating these right now, i made 6 servings to freeze. i packaged them into 6 containers and threw them in the freezer. this way, i can pull a container out and take it to work and throw it in the microwave. so easy!

o

these are really easy to make, and great to make lots of for freezing. try them out today!

fabulous find: flatout light wraps

2009-01-11T12:59:00.002-07:00

like i said i want to give you good product ideas that are cheap, because i am poor! haha, so.. anyway these are on sale right now at smith's for $2.50 for a pack of 6. that is about 42 cents per wrap. they come in plain, italian herb nad sun dried tomato flavors. these are 90 calories per wrap, 16g carbs, 9g protein and 9g fiber! SUPER great stats! check out their website for recipe ideas here! they have a section for light recipes, if you click "recipes" and then "light recipes".. some of them are not totally BFL friendly so be careful.. but i like the recipes for the tuna wrap and the cracked pepper turkey and mozzerella wrap. they have pictures of the recipes too! also check out the zesty shrimp and feta flatout thin crust pizza recipe!

today i used one to make a breakfrast wrap, i filled it with salsa, 2/3c morningstar soy meat crumbles, 2 egg whites and 1 whole egg.

yummo!

accountability: day 6

2009-01-11T12:31:00.002-07:00

hi, i know below my mom posted her first free day accountability.. but my whole scheme of things for my own tracking is to have 84 accountability days titled "accountability: day #" sooo you can put your accountability on her post or mine, doesnt matter! :)

lets see..

i will just post it as the day went on

10:30 am: cinnamon bagel and cream cheese, coffee and cream

12:30 pm: bowl of tomato soup and half of an SKS and one breadstick and 2 saltine cracker things from soup kitchen. water.

somewhere between 1:30 and 3:30 while waiting in line for body worlds..i had 3 bites of lindsay's rice krispie treat made with real vanilla, nice touch, and a bottle of water.

5:30 pm cup of nielsen's frozen custard.. my favorite!

6:30 pm bite of marshall's no bake cookie, a wheat roll with natural peanut butter, handful of cashews, a couple of ambers cheetoes

8:00 pm we went to the old spaghetti factory, i had spaghetti, salad, bread, unsweetened iced tea, water, and spumoni ice cream.

11:00 pm half of marshall's vanilla frosty, 1 ruby red squirt (which i will never drink again, 45 rams of sugar for one can of squirt. ugh disgusting)

ok well that was it. kind of crazy. i always eat ice cream throughout the day though. oh well, onto day 7! i woke up at noon and just had my first meal. i never fit 6 meals in on sunday.. haha.

First Free Day!!

2009-01-10T21:50:00.003-07:00

Hello everyone, Sue here. So how did you all fare on your first free day?? Here's my accountability.......oatmeal, one slice of cinnamon burst toast, skiff butter. Water, but not near enough. Couple of bites of Janetha's bagel and cream cheese, yummm! Great cocoa from starbucks with a shot of de-caf espresso (left most of it at the Soup Kitchen at lunch time :()
Ate at the Soup Kitchen with most of my girls, Linds, Suni and Neef (we missed you Risa) Had tomato soup and 2 bread sticks and a couple bites of cheese sand, very full! Went to stand in line for eternity to see Body Worlds.....no kidding, in line for over 2 hours, the tour took about 1 hour, wow, I did eat a couple almond roca candies (I LOVE chocolate!!) Janetha and I got a cup of custard on the way home! I went to a neighborhood party with soup, salad and bread sticks, I sampled a few different soups, a little salad, 2 truffles, water. Came home and had a couple of scoops of ice cream (wow, I really hit the ice cream hard today!) I love to have a free day because I REALLY look forward to the next day to get back to clean eating, I know I am a real geek that way. However, I think the more you eat clean the more you will get a gut ache on free day and be anxious to get back to the clean eating.

Andrea again, I am SO proud of you!! I'm glad you tried the cardio method at home, just use your imagination, jump rope works too. Elastic bands are good for some weight training exercises at home or if you go out of town. Thanks for having such a positive out look on this program, you will suceed!!

Pat, be sure to take a look at the recipes and easy foods Janetha has posted for eating clean. Maybe you could pack up your stuff the night before and just throw it in a cooler and head out the door in the morning. Also, try a protein shake for breakfast instead of oatmeal, that is a lot quicker.
There are some days I will have oatmeal and egg whites for dinner. Mix it up and be flexible. We don't want you worn to a frazzle at the end of the day!! I'm excited that you have such a great attitude - keep up the good work, check in on the blog and ask questions, we are all in this together!!

Suni, it's fun to have you in this with us! It is great to learn new things together - you did a great job on your night out and I know it's not easy to ignore all of the food they set down in front of you! It was fun to spend a free day with you - and you didn't go nuts-I'm proud of you, keep up the good work!!

Marisa, thanks for your candid accountability comments! Eating a chip to make sure it isn't poison.......where have I heard that before!! You and Bills are our Body for Life founders, we should probably have a parade in your honor!!

Janetha, wow, this blog is a riot! It is beginning to take on a life of its own and I love it. Thanks for all of your hard work, research and diligence to keep us informed and on track!! You are an inspiration to a lot of people!! TOWANDA!!

Hugs to all of you - always remember-we are in this together!!

sloppy joes.

2009-01-09T23:24:00.003-07:00

this is a recipe i pulled out of the Eating-for-LIFE cookbook. this book has a lot of great recipes, but some of them are not very BFL strict. also, the serving sizes listed in the book are worthless.. if i ate the portion size that the book suggested, i would not ever make progress. SO, anyway, this recipe says 4 servings in the book, but i break it up into 6 servings for myself. also, i do use a little bit more turkey burger than it calls for because the turkey burger at smith's comes in 20 oz containers. this is 1.25 lbs instead of the 1 lb it calls for. plus.. splitting 1.25 lbs of turkey burger into 6 serving is perfect for a protein portion!

this recipe is QUICK, EASY and makes LOTS of leftovers! you can double the recipe if you want and freeze the leftovers in serving size containers for up to two months, or you can keep the leftovers in the fridge for about a week. i love making lots of the mixture and pulling it out of my freezer to take to work, because i do not have to refrigerate it before heating it up, i just let it thaw throughout the day until it is time for the microwave. this could be useful to those of you with access to a microwave but not to a fridge.

onto the recipe!

ingredients:

1.25 lb lean turkey burger (or lean ground beef)
1 red onion, chopped
1 tsp black pepper
one 8 oz can of no salt added tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup, i use heinz low carb/low sugar ketchup
1/2 cup bbq sauce, i use whole foods 365 brand tangy bbq sauce
optional: red pepper flakes or chili powder or hot sauce.. if you like spicy

instructions:

dice the onion and put in pan over high heat

add the turkey burger and pepper, saute until meat is cooked through

add the tomato sauce, ketchup and bbq sauce. simmer about 5-10 minutes until mixture reaches desired consistency

serve a portion on either a whole wheat bun or in a whole wheat pita or pocket.. i used my fabulous find! perfect for the sloppy joes because none of the filling falls out like it does when i use a bun.

you can top the sloppy joe with lettuce if you want, i didn't this time around.

serve with your favorite veggie, i had half of a bag of the bird's eye steam fresh green beans.

enjoy!

fabulous find: kanagaroo salad pockets

2009-01-09T23:17:00.003-07:00

ok, so i am poor. like, more poor than usual. SO i want to feature cheap items this week! i have used these before, and i bought some yesterday and have been using them instead of bread as my carb.

kangaroo salad pockets: $1.99 for six. i buy them at smith's marketplace. that is a whopping 33 cents per pita! and they are good! make sure you buy the wheat ones.

one pocket has 80 calories, 16g carbs, 3g protein and 3g fiber.

you can shove anything into these bad boys. check out my next recipe where i used one tonight!

super fabulous find!

accountability: day 5

2009-01-09T21:19:00.004-07:00

wow, we have almost made it a whole week. how do you all feel?! i hope you are feeling healthier and like you have more energy. if you feel exhausted, that could be because you are not used to all this new effort. you will get the hang of things and BFL ways will come super natural soon. and you will FEEL GREAT!

anyway, onto accountability.

i had a bad bad day at work. i was the only one running the whole office. it was insane, so my meals were kinda crazy. here goes.

m1. @ 7:00 AM protein oatmeal

m2. @ 10:00 AM wasa crackers and cottage cheese

m3. @ 12:00 PM an apple (no protein, CRAP!)

m4. @ 2:00 PM my usual turkey wrap! yummo

m5. @ 4:45 PM greek yogurt with slivered almonds and splenda, slice of ww bread with natural PB

HIIT 7:15-7:35 really really good workout on the treadmill! i increased the incline by 0.5 with every interval, and also increased the speed by .1 extra each interval. so for the first interval i started at 6 for the first minute, then 6.5, 7, 7.5. then, for the next interval, i increase by .6 each minute. third interval i increased by .7 each minute, and last interval i increased by .8 each minute. hit my 10 at 1.5 incline and speed of 9.5! whew!

m6. @ 8:30 sloppy joe in pita pocket and 1/2 bag steam fresh green beans.. i will post this recipe i took photos!

150 oz water, 1 cup coffee, CLA and multivitamin

im tired! i am debating going out tonight or just resting. im excited for tomorrow, free day for me. anyway, not much to say about day 5.. just TGIF!!

xoxo

accountability: day 4

2009-01-08T21:05:00.003-07:00

hey guys! i got done with my eating early today so i am going to throw this up. PLEASE start posting your accountability! nobody will judge you and it really does help others along if they can see how everyone else is doing. i know it helps me personally and i am so grateful for all those who have been posting on the daily accountability :) hey pixar this means you! haha and the rest of you!

m1 @ 7:45: less than half of my protein oatmeal. it overflowed in marshall's dumb microwave. luckily i had a muscle milk lite in his fridge and drank that also.

m2 @ 10:45: i was hungry so i had my turkey wrap, 4th day in a row!

m3 @ 1:45: edamame

m4 @ 4:30: 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese, 2 wasa crackers

UPPER BODY WORK OUT (UBWO) @ 5:45-6:30

shoulders:

dumbbell shoulder press
12 reps @ 7.5 lb
10 reps @ 10 lb
8 reps @ 15 lb
6 reps @ 20 lb
12 reps @ 10 lb

dumbbell lateral raises
12 reps @ 5 lb

triceps:

overhead cable extensions
12 reps @ 25 lb
10 reps @ 30 lb
8 reps @ 35 lb
6 reps @ 40 lb
12 reps @ 30 lb

(i did jumping jacks for 30 seconds in between each set)

tricep cable pulldowns
12 reps @ 30 lb

chest:

dumbbell chest press
12 reps @ 10 lb
10 reps @ 15 lb
8 reps @ 17.5 lb
6 reps @ 20 lb
12 reps @ 15 lb

(i did 25 bench crunches between each set)

dumbell flyes
12 reps @ 8 lb

back:

dumbell single arm rows
12 reps @ 10 lb
10 reps @ 12 lb
8 reps @ 15 lb
6 reps @ 20 lb
12 reps @ 15 lb

reverse flyes
12 reps @ 8 lb

biceps:

bicep curls
12 reps @ 8 lb
10 reps @ 10 lb
8 reps @ 12 lb
6 reps @ 15 lb
12 reps @ 10 lb

hammer curls
12 reps @ 8 lb

m5: muscle armor & 1 scoop lemonade whey protein powder mixed with water

m6: 1/2 bag of birds eye steam fresh veggies, 1 wheat pita pocket (18 carbs), 3 oz diced grilled chicken (butterball precooked), a few marinated mushrooms, red pepper and artichokes from the olive bar at smiths, smear of hummus, sprinkle of fat free feta. yum!

150 oz water, 1 black coffee, 1 green tea

CLA and multivitamin

notes: wow, this was my first upper body work out since the week before christmas. i have lost a lot of strength and my arm hurt REALLY bad while working out. for those of you who dont know, i have a titanium rod in my left arm 8 inches along my humerus. i have a hard time with upper body, but after my last challenge i was really building muscle. it is hard because my left arm gives out before my right one and i have to stop. it is important to train both sides the same. i need to concentrate on proper form so i dont tweak my arm, it is real sensitive. eating was right on and no cheats.

4 days down, 80 to go! we can do this everyone! what did YOU do for day 4??

The At Home Cardio Method!

2009-01-08T20:25:00.004-07:00

Hello everyone! I sure hope you have had a great week so far! I just read Andrea's comment on accountability day 3 and decided this might help some of our team mates! When I first did a challenge in 2007 I didn't have a gym in my home and I was too lazy to go out to the gym that I belonged to (I just liked to give them my monthly fee, duh!) I learned this routine from Marisa and Eric who did their first successful challenge this way.

For cardio at home start out with a march and/or jog in place for the first minute
Second minute step it up to a jump kick or a grapevine or a step together with a small hop
Third minute really run, either up and down some stairs, or run in place harder than the first minute or actually run up and down the hall or run around the room (I ran up and down my halls in the basement and then around the pool table)
Fourth minute all out full on jumping jacks (sometimes I couldn't get my arms going too, it was just way too much for me so I would simply do the bottom part of the jumping jack)

Then repeat, beginning with the same routine until you have completed the set 5 times and wallah, that equals 20 minutes of cardio!!

I'm so proud of Marisa and Eric and how well they did in 2007, they really paved the way for the rest of us!!

Keep posting, we LOVE to hear how everyone is doing.......that goes for you Pat, Melina, Susan, Robyn :) .......give us a shout! Remember, we're in this together! Hugs to you all.

"nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels"

2009-01-08T13:10:00.006-07:00

as some of you know, i am a total nerd (along with my mom) and we are on a BFL "team" on the internet website BFL tracker. ANYWAY.. one of my team members, em, is TOTALLY inspirational to me. when i started my first challenge she gave me lots of good advice and she has since become a personal trainer. this girl knows her stuff. in fact, she is featured on the body for life website as one of the finalists for the national body-for-LIFE challenge! i am so proud of her! click here to read her story.

the title of this post is a quote she once said, not sure where it came from.. either she made it up or heard it somewhere, but i use it daily.

"NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS BEING SKINNY FEELS!"

it is so so so true. every time i am about to put something unauthorized in my mouth, i literally say this out loud. i may take a bite of this now, but in a few seconds the taste will be gone and the calories will be glued to my butt. or my thighs. or my belly. and i have to ask, was it worth it? it is never worth it. that is why i wait for free day to indulge in treats. i make a list of things i want to eat on free day and then when saturday rolls around, i indulge in some of the items i have been craving.

use this phrase. if you feel silly saying it out loud, at least say it in your head. one day i was going tanning, and you know how they put a piece of candy on the tanning bed? well i unwrapped it, put it in my mouth and IMMEDIATELY spit it out, said "nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels", and was empowered with the fact that i made the RIGHT decision!

please remember that while treats may taste good, they are not worth the both negative effects they have on your progress and the guilt that comes with them.

stay strong! have a GREAT day!

accountability: day 3

2009-01-08T08:29:00.002-07:00

hi!

sorry i am getting this up here a bit late...

m1 @ 7 AM: protein pancakes leftover from monday

m2 @ 10 AM: 2 wasa crackers, 3/4 cup lowfat cottage cheese, black pepper

m3 @ 1:15 PM: the turkey hummus avocado sprouts wrap as per usual!

m4 @ 4:45 PM: 8 oz fat free greek yogurt, 1 honeycrisp apple, 5 almonds, a few slices of cheese

HIIT @ 6:30-6:50 on treadmill, the same speeds as i did monday but no incline this time, i wussed out but i still hit my 10!

m5 @ 8 PM: steak fajitas consisting of bite size pieces of filet, green pepper, red onion, chopped avocado, pico de gallo, skiff of fat free sour cream wrapped in a high fiber low carb tortilla (tortillas i found at albertsons rule.. they are 10g carbs, 6g fiber, 7g protein! 70 calories!) and a big heaping serving of asparagus

only 5 meals today, had probably 150 oz of water (there are 128 oz in a gallon) and my supplements CLA and multivitamin.. and a black coffee

HOW WAS YOUR DAY THREE?

GET YOUR BODY COMPOSITION TESTING DONE!

2009-01-07T16:24:00.003-07:00

ok i can't stress this enough. you will never see your leaps and bounds of progress unless you accurately monitor your body fat percentage. the scale, honestly, means nothing. it can vary as much as 5 pounds from one hour to the next. the scale is not your pal. but the BODPOD is!

if you live here in utah, call the university of utah PEAK academy at 801-585-7325 and schedule an appointment to get your body composition tested in the BodPod.

this will determine how many pounds of fat you have and how many pounds of lean mass you have (which is bones, muscles, internal organs.. basically everything else aside from fat).. the process includes sitting in a container to measure how much air your body displaces. not sure how it works exactly, but it does, and the girl who does the testing is SUPER nice.

the cost of the test is $25, my mom and i did it at the beginning, middle, and end of our challenge.. but i know that is a little much so i think you would be just fine doing it at the beginning (as in ASAP) and at the end. this way you can know for sure how much fat you lost. it tells you both in percentage and in pounds how much fat you lost. i lost 12 pounds of fat during my challenge, but i also gained i think two pounds of muscle. the BodPod gives you an exact account of how much fat you have lost, and i believe that this is the very best way to monitor your 12 week success.

do it! i made my appointment for monday!

My Confession......by Sue

2009-01-07T16:17:00.009-07:00

This may take some time so sit back with your jug of water and relax for a minute!

I love to eat Wendy's chili and it is pretty ok to eat. I was doing a mini challenge by myself but had quite a few cheats (like eating most of a Red Velvet cake) Marshall (Janetha's beau) was quick to notice if I was cheating or really keeping to clean foods.

Well I had brought a bag home with the chili and ran to the bathroom (you know that feeling of a bursting bladder!) I then went about what ever I was doing. Well, Marshall happened to use the bathroom and see the Wendy's sack in the garbage and of course he decided I was "hiding" french fries or a junior cheese burger or whatever haha, the funny part was that he didn't say a word to me but he called Janetha to tell her he was sure I was cheating, too too funny!!

Well as you can imagine I was NOT about to CHEAT again. So when Janetha and I did our first challenge together I absolutely did not cheat even one time, really, I just couldn't because I would have to tell Marshall and well Janetha too!

Ok, with that background, now comes my confession. Yes I know only 2 days into the challenge and here I am pouring my heart out looking for forgiveness and love! Here is more story to lead up to my EXCUSE!!

We go to Institute every Tuesday night with the Young Single Adults. Treats are served every single week, part of the fun of being there every single week is to see and sample the treats. Normally I take celery, carrots, water and nuts and I do ok. Well one of my most favorite Stake leaders, Holly, made home made pies for 80 people, honestly do people still make home made pies?? I looked at all of the pies (I won't name them all because it would make your mouth water!) I got a whiff of a few of them and they smelled wonderful.......so I had a teeny bite of banana cream and one teeny bite of lemon and one taste of an apple........not like eating the whole pie Olga!! But I must admit I did not feel great after this ever so small "cheat" - but I really did have to indulge because I didn't want to hurt Holly's feelings, even though I am sure she would understand. Whew there you have it. Now it is off my chest. Yes, Marshall I did cheat a little yesterday!!
I share this crazy story with you for a few different reasons:

1) we all will have moments of weakness, if you do give in don't go hog wild and just know that the next meal or the next day will be totally clean and resolve to do better!

2) this whole accountability thing really works, knowing I would have to "come clean" kept me to the ever so teeny tiny tastes!!

3) we are all human, none of us are perfect, we are works in progress, we are all moving in the same direction and we are here to help each other!

4) this tiny cheat made me run even harder this morning!

On one other note: If you are getting headaches that is totally normal. My system was overloaded with sugar that last week of vacation and I am paying the price these past 3 days with killer headaches. I know they will leave and ultimately I will feel absolutely wonderful! Hang in there! You're all doing such a great job, please leave us a note and let us know how you are doing!!

Hugs to you all.

accountability: day 2

2009-01-06T22:05:00.004-07:00

i am so stoked there was so much activity on the day 1 accountability post! i hope more people begin to participate. while it is important to write your meals and workouts down in a journal, it is also important to hold yourself accountable. posting your day publicly really does help keep yourself in check. i am more inclined to resist the brownies sitting in my kitchen because i know i will have to type that bite of brownie on my accountability if i cheat.

i appreciate everyone sharing their day's meals and moves. i love feeling like this is a team effort. i also love how everyone just wrote about their day, their meals, their workout.. that is exactly what i was going for, because i didnt want anyone to feel like it was critique time or anything.. it is basically cut and dry, post what you ate and exercises and what you drank.. and move on to the next post. i hope more of you decide to participate in the accountability threads!

moving on!

day 2

m1@7 am protein oatmeal
black coffee
m2@10 am 2 wasa crackers, 3/4 c low fat cottage cheese, black pepper
m3@1 pm turkey hummus avocado sprout wrap like ive explained before (my new fave)
m4@4:30 pm 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1 tb natural peanut butter, 3 oz ground turkey (separate) weird i know
LBWO: 5:15-6:00pm

hamstrings:

stiff legged dead lifts
12 reps w/ 30 lb barbell
10 reps w/ 40 lb barbell
8 reps w/ 50 lb barbell
6 reps w/ 60 lb barbell
12 reps w/ 40 lb barbell

stability ball leg curls-set of 12 reps

quads:

bulgarian split squats
12 reps w/ 5 lb dumbbells
10 reps w/ 7.5 lb dumbbells
8 reps w/ 10 lb dumbbells
6 reps w/ 15 lb dumbbells
12 reps w/ 7.5 lb dumbbells

squats with stability ball between my back and the wall-12 squats with one 12 second hold at the end

abs:

4 sets of 25 ball crunches with small rest between
2 sets of 50 oblique crunches on decline bench with 10 lb plate weight
2 sets of 50 lower ab crunches on decline bench with 10 lb plate weight

calves:

standing calf raise machine
12 reps w/ 40 lb
10 reps w/ 60 lb
8 reps w/ 80 lb
6 reps w/ 100 lb
12 reps w/ 40 lb

single leg calf raises with body weight
12 reps each leg

the end.

m5@8:30 2 oz sprouted wheat pasta, 4 oz turkey burger, 3/4 cup pasta sauce (see below) 1/2 bag birds eye steam fresh veggies-the water chestnut/broccoli/snap peas/carrots medley. yum.

over 1 gallon of water today, both doses of CLA and multivitamin

ok. so now that that is out in the open.. i want to make some comments and notes about my day, both to discipline myself and help others.

EAT MORE VEGGIES! ugh, i only had one serving of fibrous veggies today, i wouldnt count the sprouts on my wrap as a serving. i do not think the BFL book stresses the importance of veggies enough, i hardly ate them at all at the beginning of my first challenge and then a friend on tracker clued me into how important it was two get at the very least two servings of fibrous colorful veggies a day if not more than that. i increased my veggie intake and felt a LOT better, more full, more energy, veggies are good. and here i am slacking on the veggies again. i need to get back in the habit. i will have to do a veggie post soon.

second.. you will notice my ab routine was not by the book as far as BFL workouts go. yeah, cause i hate that method for abs. i think it doesnt work me enough. so what i do is pick a lower ab exercise, an upper/mid ab exercise, and an oblique exercise and complete 100 reps of each exercise with my LBWO. you can click here to find each type of exercise i listed, it will bring up a whole list of animated ab exercises for all three regions. i pick one off each list. this is just what works for me, you can do your abs like the book says by all means.. but doing 12, 10, 8, 6, 12, and 12 crunches just doesnt cut it for me to hit my 10. ya know?

third, sometimes it is hard for me to hit my 10 with the weights. what i do if this is the case, is i keep going on that last set of 12 (on the second exercise) so you know how you do the first exercise for 12, 10, 8, 6, 12? i do that.. and then when i switch to my next exercise, if i feel like i can make it past 12 reps then i keep going until fatigue, i make a note of it, and i increase the weight next time. for example, i didnt hit my 10 today on the hamstrings. i should have done more stability ball curls until fatigue to hit my 10, but i was lazy, and just hit my 9, and was mad at myself looking back on it. i will learn from this and give it my all next time, i will either do more reps til fatigue or i will add a weight plate to the stability ball curls. oh by the way, this is what stability ball curls look like: http://www.shapefit.com/hamstrings-exercises-exercise-ball-curls.html

also, try to keep the same upper body and lower body workout for the first 4 weeks. document the weights you use and if you hit your 10s, and this way you can document what gains you are making strength-wise. since you are going to do the same workouts for 4 weeks, it is easy to monitor where you are improving and where you need to work harder.

ok it is late, ive said enough, so go ahead and post your accountability for day 2! dont worry about doing all the workout details if you do not want to, or go ahead and type it up if you feel like it! it is totally up to you! i hope everyone had a wonderful day 2, please feel free to email me or ask questions here.. comment on the posts and let everyone know how you are doing with all of this! we are all in this together, so let's get a support system going on :)

good night all!

fabulous find: roasted vegetable pasta sauce

2009-01-06T20:15:00.004-07:00

collectively, i have probably spent over an hour standing in the pasta sauce isle reading labels. seriously. i have searched for the best bottled pasta sauce for many many months. i think i have found it! i was at whole foods the other day and i stumbled upon this little gem of a jar. it is the whole foods generic brand "365". most pasta sauces are loaded with sugar and carbs, and since pasta sauce is usually pair with, well, PASTA... lots of carbs in the sauce is no bueno. SO! i am sooo stoked to have found this. check out the stats!
with such low calories and carbs for a half cup, you could honestly get away with having 3/4 cup or even a full cup if you wanted! but that would be a lot of sauce...but still, you know what i am saying! and i just ate it.. it is delicious! so, next time you buy pasta sauce.. buy this one!

wait, just HOW many grams?

2009-01-06T19:13:00.007-07:00

ok, so i know BFL is all about not counting calories and whatnot.. but sometimes you may have to ask yourself.. how many grams should i be having? it is important to know the ballpark figure of how many grams of protein and carbs and fat you should have in a day. it is a good idea to aim for that many grams each day. how many is the right number for you?

well, i had an attempt of a written explanation here, but then i did some research and found an AWESOME calculator that does all the work for you, based on your body type now and what your goals are. it even breaks it all down into specific grams for the meals! it is very similar to what the BFL gram goals are.. and it lets you put in the 40/40/20 ratio. so stoked!

ok, so FIRST.. click here and calculate how many calories you want to aim for. this calculator uses your age, sex, weight, height, and activity level to determine the number of calories needed for maintenance, fat loss, or extreme fat loss. the only downfall of this calculator that i have found, which is a very important detail in order to get an accurate goal while doing BFL, is in the activity level section. you cannot put anything but desk job or 3 times a week or else it will tell you too high of numbers, even though we are exercising 6 days a week. just trust me on this one, i played around with it for a good hour. i guess no online calculator is perfect, but other than that it is great. so leave the exercise at 3 times a week or bump it down to desk job then click calculate! pick the number according to your goals.

SECOND click here to enter the calorie number. then, fill the ratios in. disregard the common ratios box and enter your own ratios. you will put 40 for carbs, 40 for protein and 20 for fat. then, click 6 meals a day, and calculate! this will show you the number of grams of each item for every meal.

wow, what a rad tool!

this is technical, i know, and you dont HAVE to figure it out if you dont want to. but some people are number lovers, like me, and like to know what to aim for. if you want to know about how many grams you should be having each day and for each meal, use the method i just described. and every chance you get, take a look at how many grams of protein, carbs and fat certain foods have. the more aware you are of what you are eating, the smarter you can be about staying healthy and fit. you can never know too much! just learn to read labels when you can, and retain the knowledge as best you can so you can make the right choices. sometimes people THINK they are having a balanced meal of protein and carbs but then their protein source will actually contain some carbs already, and then they will add a carb to it, and it throws the balance out of whack. just be aware of what you are eating, and you will learn more as you go, and you will get the hang of knowing what to pair with each other to create a balanced meal for you!

here is a little list i complied of the average grams in certain foods.. obviously the numbers will vary.. but it will give you an idea at least!

PROTEIN SOURCES:

4 oz chicken: 27g protein, 0g carbs, 1g fat
4 oz 93/7 ground turkey: 21g protein, 0g carbs, 5g fat
3 oz sliced deli turkey: 22g protein, 0g carbs, 3g fat
4 oz salmon: 21g protein, 0g carbs, 5 fat
4 oz shrimp: 18g protein, 0g carbs, 2g fat
4 oz scallops: 23g protein, 3g carbs, 2g fat
3 oz tuna fish: 20g protein, 1g carbs, 1g fat
4 oz 93/7 lean ground beef: 22g protein, 0g carbs, 8g fat
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese: 12g protein, 6g carbs, 1.5g fat
1 cup fat free greek yogurt: 22g protein, 7g carbs, 0g fat
1 egg white: 4g protein, 0g carbs, 0g fat (you can see you need a lot of egg whites to make a meal)
1 whole egg (white and yolk): 6g protein, 1g carbs, 2.5g fat
1/4 cup eggbeaters: 6g protein, 1g carbs, 0g fat
1 scoop EAS 100% whey protein powder: 23g protein, 2g carbs, 2g fat
1 stick low fat string cheese: 8g protein, 1g carbs, 5g fat

CARB SOURCES:

1 medium apple: 19g carbs, 0g protein, 0g fat
1 medium orange: 21g carbs, 1g protein, 0g fat
1 medium banana: 29g carbs, 1g protein, 0g fat
2 oz whole wheat pasta: 41g carbs, 7g protein, 2g fat
1 whole wheat english muffin: 29g carbs, 7g protein, 1.5g fat
1/2 cup brown rice: 22g carbs, 2g protein, 1g fat
1 small potato: 29g carbs, 3g protein, 0g fat
1 medium sweet potato: 26g carbs, 2g protein, 0g fat
2 wasa crackers: 16g carbs, 2g protein, 1g fat
ONE slice average whole wheat bread: 18g carbs, 0g protein, 0g fat
TWO slices sara lee 45 calorie whole wheat bread: 18g carbs, 6g protein, 1.5g fat
1/3 cup old fashioned oats: 18g carbs, 2g protein, 1g fat
1/2 cup old fashioned oats: 27g carbs, 5g protein, 2.5g fat

FAT SOURCES:

1 TB olive oil: 14g fat, 0g protein, 0g carbs
2 TB avocado: 5g fat, 1g protein, 3g carbs
1 TB natural peanut butter: 8g fat, 3.5g protein, 3g carbs
1 oz (about 20) almonds: 15g fat, 6g protein, 5g carbs

ok, that is all for now. i pulled these numbers off of thedailyplate.com. feel free to look up any food you are wondering about. hopefully this post doesnt confuse you or stress you out, it is more for the people curious as to how many grams of what they should be consuming at each meal. if you do not want to bother with it right now, dont. keep up the good work, keep eating clean, and keep that metabolism up by balancing your proteins and carbs, eating 6 times a day, and drinking your water. remember, healthy fats keep you full for longer.. so make sure you are getting those in, even if it is just a handful of nuts! it is easy for me to over do the fat.. i have to be careful around a jar of pistachios!

anyway, thanks for reading, please post any questions you may have!

The Ideal.....

2009-01-06T12:58:00.007-07:00

We all know what I mean by "the ideal". The ideal day, ideal body, ideal meal, ideal job, ideal weather, ideal work out, ideal vacation, etc etc etc!!

As you can see by my first day accountability I didn't do a great job on my meal times, but the beauty of this whole program is that we ALWAYS have tomorrow!!! :)

Janetha is so great to share her knowledge with us. Be sure to take a look at her meals and if something looks good then incorporate it into your day. Her recipes are always yummy (well except for the protein oatmeal!) I wish she could be my personal chef every day!

But alas, she can not so I am left to my own weak attempts at good eating! Fortunately I can read and as long as she posts recipes and ideas then I can cook something up.

When it comes to the exercise part I say wahoo! I never thought that would be my mantra, but in all honesty I really do look forward to work out days. I prefer to work out in the morning, to start my day out with a real jump start and then to feel like the muscles are continuing to work and burn fat throughout the day.

We can all aspire for that "ideal" but please remember that flexibility is the name of the game. We are all at different spots in this journey of life and we are trying to help each other catch a glimpse of the "ideal" once and awhile.

I look forward to hearing how everyone is doing, take a minute and leave a comment - hope no one is running right off of the treadmill, be careful and have FUN!!

"When you make a change, you make a difference!" Here's to a great year of making changes! :)

accountability: day 1

2009-01-05T22:15:00.004-07:00

so just so you know, i am going to post an accountability post for every day. this keeps me in check, gives others ideas of meals, and basically just gives me a reason NOT to cheat. anyway, i will categorize them all under "accountability" and they will all be short and sweet. i am not always going to post my "plan" for the next day, but i will today just because i have nothing better to do. so usually you will just see a post regarding the day before. if you think it will help you, i invite you to please post your own accountability on the day's post as a comment. for some reason, typing out what you eat, drink, and what exercise you do has a huge power over making sure you do NOT mess up. who knew?

anyway!

things were not on plan, time was tight before work so i started my meals a tad later, after my monday morning meeting. mondays are busy!

m1 @ 7:30: protein oatmeal
m2 @ 10:50: 8 oz nonfat fage greek yogurt, 1 honeycrisp apple
m3 @ 1:50: 1 ezekiel whole wheat tortilla, 3 oz sliced turkey, 2 tb red pepper hummus, 2 tb avocado, sprouts (wow SO SO good, im going to make this a lot. i concocted it just today for the first time and fell in love!), 1/2 bag steam fresh green beans
HIIT @ 4:30-4:50
m4 @ 6:30: protein pancakes
m5 @ 9:30: chocolate protein powder (1 scoop), 1 medium frozen banana, splash of soy milk, blended

fluid intake: 1 gallon of water, 1 black coffee

supplement intake: 2 doses of CLA morning and night, 2 doses of multivitamin morning and night

notes on day 1: i need to try to plan so i can get all 6 meals in. getting 5 in is still ok, not the end of the world since i was still eating every 3 hours except before and after my work out. water intake was GREAT, really can feel the sodium from the holidays flushing out. did NOT eat enough veggies today, that was bad, goal tomorrow is to eat all my veggies and remember to put some fibersure in my water. need to purchase more fish oil capsules, although i did get healthy fat from avocado today. had a great HIIT. all in all i think day 1 was successful, ate 100% clean, got my work out in, no cheats, feeling great!

plan for day 2:

m1 @ 7:00 AM: protein oatmeal
m2 @ 10:00 AM: 2 wasa crackers, 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 bag steam fresh green beans
m3@ 1:00 PM: whole foods 365 brand organic vegetable soup (whole can is 20 carbs and 140 calories), 4 oz turkey burger
m4 @ 4:oo PM: turkey hummus wrap same as day before
Lower Body Work Out (LBWO) 5:00 PM-5:45 PM
m5 @ 5:45 PM: 1 scoop EAS muscle armor, 1 scoop syntrax protein powder, ice, 12 oz water
m6 @ 8:30 PM: 2 oz whole wheat noodles, 1/2 cup low sugar/low carb marinara, 4 oz turkey burger, 1/2 bag steam fresh broccoli

*1 gallon water
*all supplements

that is the plan! talk to you later!

HIIT that TEN!

2009-01-05T19:35:00.003-07:00

so i did my first HIIT today. for those of you who don't know, HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. it is the cardio workout that is used on body-for-LIFE. the beauty of HIIT is that it is only 20 minutes long, yet when you have finished you feel as if you had run a marathon. seriously, it's the bestestest.

first, i will post my HIIT routine i did today. i was lagging, i think for a two reasons. 1-i am sick, have a cold. 2-i took TOO much time off from the gym over the holidays. i was tempted to not go to the gym at all, but i remembered how good i feel after a workout, and battled the snowy roads to good old gold's and honestly, i am SO glad i did.

everyone's RPE (rate of perceived exertion) is different, as i explained before in my nutshell post. in the body-for-LIFE book, billphillips explains this as the intensity index and it is found on page 61. i will copy a paragraph from the book:

"on the low end--at a level 1--you've got the intensity of sitting on the couch watching tv. level 2 would be standing; level 3 might be walking; level 4 might be carrying a couple bags of groceries in from the car; level 5 might be carrying those groceries up a flight of stairs, and so on, up to level 10, which in an all-out, 100 percent focused effort."

your level 5 is going to be something totally different than the next person's level 5. everyone has different limits. the important part is that you HIT YOUR NUMBERS. you are spending the time to work out, make sure you give it your all, make the most of your time, and do the exercise the proper way so you benefit from it to the fullest.

my workout (mind you, the levels listed alongside my speed were my levels for ME, yours could be totally different):

treadmill.

incline=0
minutes 1 & 2: 4 mph (level 5)
minute 3: 6.0 mph (level 6)
minute 4: 6.5 mph (level 7)
minute 5: 7.0 mph (level 8)
minute 6: 7.5 mph (level 9)

incline=0.5
minute 7: 6.0 mph (level 6)
minute 8: 6.5 mph (level 7)
minute 9: 7.0 mph (level 8)
minute 10: 7.5 mph (level 9)

incline=1.0
minute 11: 6.0 mph (level 6)
minute 12: 6.5 mph (level 7)
minute 13: 7.0 mph (level 8)
minute 14: 7.5 mph (level 9)

incline=1.5
minute 15: 6.0 mph (level 6)
minute 16: 6.5 mph (level 7)
minute 17: 7.0 mph (level 8)
minute 18: 7.5 mph (level 9)
minute 19: 9.0 mph (level 10)
minute 20: 3.0 mph (cool down)

notice i increased the incline after each set of intervals. i sometimes will increase the incline more than just 0.5, but today i wasn't feeling it. i still wanted to push myself harder with every interval, so i did the 0.5 increase each time. the incline increase is not necessary, but i enjoy it for a little extra push.

this is what is important, something i learned about half way through my first challenge. i was selling myself short on my HIIT. i know i was hitting my 9's with each interval, and for sure hitting my 10 at the end every time.. but it was that dang 6 i was selling myself short on.

when i was supposed to be at a level "6", i was slowing down to a level 4 or 5. i would get a drink, walk fast for a minute, and then up the speed again. well, this was wrong. level 6 is not time for a break. level 6 is the time to decrease the intensity but not to the point where you are comfortable. that would be something like a 3, 4 or 5. i realized i was wasting my time with my intervals and selling myself short on that level 6. i changed the way i performed my HIIT, i made sure that when it was time for a level 6 that i would still be running my little heart out, just not as intensely as my 7, 8 or 9. i feel i made a lot more progress and burned a lot more fat when i changed the effort i was giving on my level 6.

it will take you time to find your levels.. and of course your levels will change with time because you will be gaining strength and endurance with each workout, but once you get the hang of gauging your levels, make sure you do not slow down too much for your level 6. give it your all those 20 minutes, it is like my mom said, you will never get those minutes back so you might as well make the most of them!

one other point i wanted to bring up regarding cardio. you will see those people running for 40 minutes, 60 minutes, or even longer on the elliptical or treadmill. that is GREAT for your cardiovascular system. that is going to make you have fantastic lungs and your endurance will be better because of it.. but it is NOT intense enough to burn fat. if you want to burn fat with cardio you MUST have high intensity levels, and also the intervals is key to kicking up the fat burning notch. so if fat loss is your goal, make sure you are hitting your 6's, 7's, 8's, 9's and 10! it is crucial to your success. you are doing this for yourself, so don't cheat yourself.

oh and one more thing, if you look like a dog who has chased the mailman for 18 blocks at full speed ahead after your one minute at a level 10, good job. dont feel silly. i used to think people were looking me like i was some maniac when i was gasping for air after my level 10.. then i got wise and realized i was getting a WAY better workout than they were! who cares what they thought!

so that is my shpill on HIIT. i love it. i love that i can work out for 20 minutes 3 times a week and in 12 weeks lose 9% body fat. it works, i promise.

my favorite BFL meal: protein pancakes.

2009-01-05T19:15:00.005-07:00

well, i am feeling sick again. some of you know i have had a cold the past couple weeks. so my plans changed today for dinner, i felt like having my #1 favorite BFL meal. protein pancakes. so of course i documented it with radtastic photos for my first recipe post!

the good thing about protein pancakes is that they have the carbs and the protein all together in one simple meal. if you have the eating-for-LIFE cookbook, this recipe is in there, but i have modified it to make it more balanced. the pancakes in the book are really carb heavy, so i added some more protein to the batter. i will be doing a post down the road about how some of the recipes in the eating-for-LIFE cookbook are definitely healthy, but not necessarily the best choice if you are doing a strict challenge. some of them are higher in fat or carbs than what you should be having.

ok, more on that later. onto the recipe!

this recipe makes 3 servings for a woman, or 2 servings for a man. you can either make part of the recipe if you do not want leftovers, or you can make the whole recipe and refrigerate or freeze the leftovers. they will cook up just like ego's in the toaster, you can take them from your fridge or your freezer and pop them right into the toaster for a quick meal!

the recipe makes either 6 regular size pancakes or 9 small ones. i opt to make 9 small ones because i like the way they fit into my toaster for leftovers. for me, a serving is 3 small pancakes.

recipe:

1 cup old fashioned uncooked oats
1 cup egg whites (roughly 6 large egg whites, but i buy my egg whites in a carton)
1 cup fat free cottage cheese
1 scoop EAS 100% whey vanilla protein powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp splenda

blend all of the ingredients in your blender and cook like pancakes in a pan over medium heat. i use pam olive oil cooking spray (very, very little) to coat the pan.

these do not cook like buttermilk pancakes, they are much thinner and burn quicker. make sure to flip them ones the batter has set up just enough to lift them with a spatula.

pre flip (totally ready to flip):

post flip:

9 finished pancakes!

i top mine with some i cant believe it's not butter spray and a little log cabin sugar free syrup (i hate all other kinds of SF syrup) and if i have not had enough essential fat for the day, i will sometimes add a skiff of natural peanut butter. make sure you are NOT eating regular peanut butter.. you do not want to be eating any hydrogenated oils. ick. if you are going to have peanut butter EVER, make sure it is natural and make sure you limit it to a small skiff because it is high in calories and fat, even if it is a good fat, it is easy (for me at least) to go overboard on the peanut butter :)

anyway, here they are! yummo!

store the leftovers in a ziplock for tomorrow!

more to come tonight, i have lots of thins to post! make sure you check back frequently and read all the new stuff, as well as any comments that may have been left!

thanks for reading, bon appetit!

my plan for day one.

2009-01-04T10:00:00.002-07:00

hi guys! so, i wanted to jot down my plan for day 1. i have a lot of goal setting and recipe nonsense and supplement talk to type about, but i am going snowboarding in about 10 minutes and wanted to get this up.

Challenge 2, Week 1, Day 1 (C1W1D1)

meal 1 @ 6:30 AM: protein oatmeal. this is 1/3 cup old fashioned oats mixed with 1 scoop EAS vanilla 100% whey protein powder and 6 oz of water. microwave for 4 minutes on microwave power 4 (if you do it full power it will not cook and it will overflow in the microwave) stir, if the oatmeal is not done, then microwave for another minute on power 4. before eating, squirt some log cabin sugar free syrup in it if you want to sweeten it up, and stir. i have plugged this recipe into thedailyplate.com and it is perfectly 40/40/20 for protein/carbs/fat. i eat it every morning.

meal 2 @ 9:30 AM: 8 oz plain fat free greek yogurt, 1 honeycrisp apple the size of my fist

meal 3 @ 12:30 PM: 1 cup Amy's organic lentil soup (canned) 4 oz ground turkey (i have it precooked in the fridge and portioned out into ziplock baggies.. 1 lb of ground turkey makes 4- 4oz servings), 1 serving steamfresh veggies (green beans)

meal 4 @ 3:30 PM: wrap made with: 1 la tortilla factory high fiber low carb tortilla, 2 TB roasted red pepper hummus, sprouts, 2 TB avocado, 3 oz sliced smoked turkey (the only deli meat i like that is not too sodium filled or slimy is at whole foods.. i get a pound and separate it into 5 servings)

HIIT on treadmill for 20 minutes from 5:00 to 5:20

meal 5 @ 6:30 PM: 2 oz wheat spaghetti noodles, 4 oz ground turkey, 1/2 cup low sugar.carb marinara sauce, 1 serving steamfresh veggies (broccoli)

meal 6 @ 9:30 PM: protein shake made with 1 scoop EAS chocolate 100% whey protein powder, 1 medium frozen banana, splash of soy milk, blended.

that is the plan! more later! be sure to take your photos in the morning!

in a nutshell.

2009-01-02T10:50:00.003-07:00

hi everyone! hope you are all getting pumped to start on monday! have you set your goals? have you planned your workouts and meals? have you purchased a notebook to document your progress? i hope the answers are YES YES YES!

also, i wanted to point out that everyone should be sure to read the comments to the blogs, my mom will be replying with advice and also as the blog grows, you can ask questions here and i will answer them.. all in the comment section. so make sure you dont overlook that mmmk?

moving on. some of you may have read this before, because i typed it at the beginning of my first challenge. i typed it to summarize BFL in a nutshell for those who were struggling to understand it. anyway, i am just copying and pasting this. hope it helps at least one person!!

email:

hey everyone!

you all asked to be forwarded my meal plan, so that is what i am doing. sometimes i use recipes out of the body for life cookbook and i just write them down by their name. i you want the recipe, let me know and i will do my best to get it to you.

let me start out by giving a little background structure of body for life, because some of you getting this have no idea and asked me to explain it. i know most of you have heard how it works so bear with me.

first, read the book if you have it. if you have already read it, read it again! check out the website, there is lots of useful information. i like this specific link http://bodyforlife.com/exercise/tools.asp

here is a link to some nutrition outlining and whatnot:

http://bodyforlife.com/nutrition/guidelines.asp

the goal is to eat 6 small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 large meals. instead of getting super full and not eating forever (ahem--sunday meals at mom's :) ) you basically 'graze' all day, a lot like elk and buffalo! (who happen to be very lean) instead of stocking up on food like a bear who eats a ton, hibernates, and lives off his fat. you dont need to stock up, you have means to eating when and where you want. this is 2008. so, instead of eating a ton in one sitting, just eat a little all day long and this will do lots of things. it will keep you full all day, it will keep your metabolism up, it will make your body keep the lean muscle you already have because when you get hungry your body panics and starts storing fat, it will change your body's programming into knowing that it will be fed every 3 hours, and it does not need to hold onto that fat!

the second thing you need to know about the food is WHAT to eat.

here is a food list:

http://bodyforlife.com/nutrition/foodlist.asp of course, this is just some foods you can eat. not everything.

you need to fuel your body with a protein and a carb because somehow they work together i really dont know how yet but hey, it works i guess. the key is to portion your meals correctly. you are going to be eating more frequently so you need to eat smaller portions. generally, a portion should be the size of your fist or the palm of your hand. so an apple or potato the size of your fist is a portion, and a piece of chicken or fish the size of the palm of your hand. it is crucial to eat the right potions or you will be eating too many calories. but it is easy to eyeball. for each meal, pick a carb and a protein. carbs include fruit, brown rice, wheat pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread, low or no sugar regular (not greek) yogurt, bran or whole wheat cereal, etc. protein includes chicken, lean ground beef, lean steak, turkey, fish, shrimp, turkey burger, cottage cheese, greek yogurt (fat free), soy, protein powders, and eggs. with at LEAST two of your meals, you should have a serving of veggies. you should also snack on veggies throughout the day. lots of colorful ones so you get in your fiber!

here is a link on creating meals:

http://bodyforlife.com/nutrition/createmeal.asp

the carbs and protein amount should be about equal, or if anything a bit higher on the protein. your balance goal for each meal should be 40% carb 40% protein and 20% fat. if you have a hard time computing if your meal is 40/40/20, you can plug what you eat into thedailyplate.com and it actually breaks it down into a pie chart FOR you. you can put in just one meal or you can put in all the food you eat in a day and see how it breaks down. make sure not to eat saturated fat...which can be read on labels or anything that is a solid at room temp...like crisco or butter, that is saturated fat. only GOOD fats like olive oil, avocado, nuts, fish, etc.

i think the best way to get a better explanation of all this is to read the book, or check out the website bodyforlife.com because i really cant explain it well. there is also a support forum with several message boards and profiles where actual people doing this post questions and opinions and also post their progress photos so you can see how it works for different people. that website is bfltracker.com i want to post a few links of people who i have seen that have been an inspiration...i mean these people are just like you and i and by changing a few habits they have made incredible transformations in just a matter of 3 months..you can click to view the front, side, or back view of their photos...

link #1: http://www.bodyforlife-tracker.com/searchprofile.cfm?id=26299&sid=2

link #2: http://www.bodyforlife-tracker.com/searchprofile.cfm?id=25497&sid=2

link #3: http://www.bodyforlife-tracker.com/searchprofile.cfm?id=24780&sid=2

link #4 is someone who has been doing several challenges in a row: http://www.bodyforlife-tracker.com/searchprofile.cfm?id=21690&sid=2

and then link #5 is a pretty good story a girl told through photos: http://www.bodyforlife-tracker.com/searchprofile.cfm?id=18974&sid=2

sorry i did not post any guys links.. i dont look at dude transformations. i know it works for guys though because of bills! (my brother in law)

it is fun to look for people around your same age or body height or type and see their progress..because everyone has different results. play around on the site and read the forums and look at the photos!

ok, so enough of that.. here is my meals

well i am on day 2, but i will start with yesterday

*i have the goal to drink 1 gallon of water each day. i dont drink anything but water, no soda, no juice, nada. i can have black coffee in the morning.

MON AUG 25th:
meal 1 @ 6:30- 1/2 cup eggbeaters w/ 1 slice of whole wheat, 45 calorie sara lee toast

meal 2 @ 9:30- myoplex lite ready to drink-chocolate (they are a balance perfectly already and are easy for on the go or at work.)

meal 3 @ 12:30- shrimp salad: romaine lettuce, baby shrimp, avocado, some broccoli slaw (found in salad section), cherry tomatoes, a few sprays of that spray dressing we use. for a carb, an apple.

meal 4 @3:30- chicken (butterball precooked grilled chicken strips) & a little low sugar bbq sauce rolled up in a low carb whole wheat tortilla

5:15- HIIT cardio work out on treadmill, 20 minutes

meal 5 @ 7:00- grilled chicken, brown rice, broccoli

meal 6 @ 9:30- 1/2 cup ff cottage cheese, fiber one peach yogurt (has way less sugar than regular yoplait, and it is only 4 oz, the correct serving size for me)

TUES AUG 26th

M1 @ 7:30 am
1/2 c egg beaters, 3/4 c kashi go lean cereal, 1/4 c non fat plain soy milk

M2 @ 10:30 am
1/2 c low fat cottage cheese, apple

M3 @ 1:00 pm
1 can tuna, 2 small pickles, 1 Tbsp fat free mayo or mustard, 2 slices of 45 calorie sara lee whole wheat bread

M4 @ 4:00 pm
myoplex lite RTD chocolate

Upper Body Work Out @ 5:15 pm for 45 minutes

M5 @ 7:00 pm
grilled chicken breast, leftover salad from monday, spray on dressing, 1/2 cup fruit

M6 @ 9:00 pm
1 hard boiled egg, fiber one yogurt in strawberry

WED AUG 27
HIIT cardio @ 6:15 AM

M1 @ 7:30 am
same as tuesday

M2 @ 10:00 am
3 boiled egg whites, 1 yolk, an orange

M3 @ 12:30 pm
3 oz premade chicken, romaine lettuce, spray on ceasar dressing, reduced fat parmesean, whole wheat tortilla
rolled up into a wrap

M4 @ 3:30 pm
myoplex lite RTD chocolate

M5 @ 6:30 PM
Taco Pasta Salad (made on Tuesday night, it is in the book...it is basically whole wheat rotini pasta, lean ground turkey, ...maybe a few other things but the carb is pasta and the protein is the turkey..you can also use lean ground beef..i will be making a batch so i have leftovers. it is good eaten hot or cold, make sure you do not have a huge portion! divy it out into tupperware after making it and set aside for later meals)

M6 @ 9:30 pm
myoplex lite chocolate RTD (i dont like to do RTDs that often, but i will be in class so i have to)

THURS AUG 28

M1 @ 7:00 am
same as days prior

M2 @ 10:00 am
3 boiled egg whites, 1 yolk, an apple

M3 @ 1:00 pm
wendy's baked potato, cottage cheese and salt and pepper on top *do not eat whole potato if it is big

M4 @ 4:00 pm
Taco Pasta Salad leftover

Lower Body Work Out @ 5:15 pm for 45 min

M5 @ 7:00 PM
Sesame Beef Stir Fry (in cookbook...has a lot of ingredients! it is one of my favorites)

M6 @ 9:30 pm
1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, fiber one yogurt

i dont have friday planned yet. i am a busy girl. i will be eating leftovers of pasta salad and sesame stir fry though.

let's face it, i love ice cream, i love donuts, i love smothered burritos, i love creamy pasta and garlic bread. while body for life has recipes that you can MODIFY to satisfy cravings, such as mexican and pizza and pasta and brownies and whatnot...those recipes never fully fulfill a craving. that is why i love body for life. ONE day a week, every single thing you are planning, eating, doing, gets thrown out the window. you can be like templeton on charlottes web and have a smorgasbord of whatever your little heart desires. that is why, for me, it is easy to resist temptation all week. i just write down what i am craving and remember to eat it on my free day. when you are on a diet that is so restrictive that does not allow you to eat anything you really love, it is hard to stay on track because you dont see the next time you can have it.. but with this, you can say ok, its tuesday, and i chose my free day to be saturday..so i can have my smothered burrito with cheese and onions and fresh tomatoes with a side of sour cream on saturday..for now, i will have a chicken fajita with green and red peppers in a whole wheat tortilla with reduced fat cheese and fat free sour cream. see how that works? and for me..on free day..i eat a LOT of ice cream. there is more to free day than just satisfying your cravings. it boosts your metabolism as well. for 6 days, your body gets used to a set schedule of eating certain foods and is training itself to live that way..but when you do this constantly all the time, your body will plateau. by having a free day it kick starts your metabolism some way or another and, as long as you only do it once a week, it is actually good to splurge on anything and everything as long as you go back to your plan the next day. i have found before that on my first free day i go crazy, but after awhile i just eat the few things i have been craving because ive gotten used to a healthy lifestyle. well.. i never leave out the ice cream though.

if you dont know what the workouts consist of, you should read the book. they are short and simple and allow you to push yourself only to your own set limits.

you work out 6 days a week. 3 of the days, alternating, so like..mon wed fri..you do 20 minutes of interval cardio.

the other 3 days, say tues, thurs, sat...you do 45 minutes weight training, alternating between upper body and lower body. so one week you will hit your lower body twice and the other week you will hit your upper body twice, alternating each week. make sense?

so basically, you work out 6 times a week but it only adds up to 3 hours and 15 minutes of exercising. you cannot say you dont have 3 hrs 15 min in a whole week to exercise, everyone can find the time if they want to.

you can choose to work out whatever 6 days you want, you can work out on your free day or you can choose to have your day off on your free day...the choice is yours. i think ill be taking my free day on saturdays, but i dont like working out sunday so ill probably get up saturday, have my work out, and then have my free day. that way on sunday i can eat right, but dont have to worry about getting a work out in.

a few things about working out. it is BETTER to work out in the morning when you wake up, before you eat. this is not always ideal for some people, including me, so an afternoon workout is fine, but you get more out of it if you work out first thing after waking up.

it is best to do cardio on an empty stomach. i wouldnt eat for at least 1 hour before HIIT, so i try to plan my meals accordingly. the reason to work out on an empty stomach is you get right to burning fat instead of burning whatever you just ate.

also, it is best to not eat for one hour after HIIT. i am not sure of all the logic behind this, but i think it has something to do with the fat burning process. i try to eat at 4, work out at 5:30, and eat again at 7.

the cardio work out is 20 minutes long. here is a link to the cardio program outline:

http://bodyforlife.com/exercise/cardiotraining.asp

you have your own 'scale' of what you can do. it is called your RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) and it goes from 1 to 10. say your level 5 is a brisk walk, and then you have a 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10...where a 10 is an all out sprint where you can't even breathe. well, someone elses 5 may be a very slow walk, while their 10 is a brisk jog. it all depends on what YOU say is YOUR scale. but be honest with yourself. they call the cardio 'HIIT' which stands for high intensity interval training. intervals are more worth your time because you make more progress than running for an hour at a steady pace. you can really accomplish so much more in 20 minutes than someone who jogs for an hour, but you have to remember to follow the levels, hit YOUR scale, and after you do your cardio you will feel like you worked out for 2 hours, not 20 min, i swear.

remember, your '10' should be totally all-out, where you cannot possibly work yourself any harder or you think you would die. a 9 is working very hard, but not your very hardest.

you can do your cardio any way. running, treadmill, elliptical, bike, jump roping, and even skipping! anything that gets your heart rate up and that you can do harder and harder til you reach your '10'

the layout of the 20 minutes is this:
minutes 1 & 2- start at a level 5
minute 3-work out at a 6
minute 4-work out at a 7
minute 5-work out at an 8
minute 6-work out at a 9
minute 7-back down to a 6
minute 8-work out at a 7
minute 9-at an 8
minute 10-at a 9
minute 11-back to a 6
minute 12-at a 7
minute 13-at an 8
minute 14-at a 9
minute 15-back down to a 6
minute 16-at a 7
minute 17-at an 8
minute 18-at a 9
minute 19-work out at a 10! exercise your little heart out for one minute! you can do it!
minute 20-cool down for 1 minute

the end!

let me tell you how my HIIT went yesterday, i chose the treadmill. the numbers i give you are the speed of the treadmill. a '6' is 6 miles per hour, or a 10 minute mile. most of you know how that works. anyway...

minutes 1,2: i warmed up at 5 mph
minute 3: 6 mph
4: 7 mph
5: 8 mph
6: 9 mph
7: 5.5 mph--my level 6 went down because i was pretty winded by now
8: 6.5 mph
9: 7.5 mph
10: 8.5 mph
11: 5 mph--my level 6 went down yet again, but i was still working at a 6 for me
12: 6 mph
13: 7 mph
14: 8 mph
15: 4.5 mph---by now my level 6 was way down because i had been running for so long without a walk break. this was the high intensity intervals at its best!
16- 5.5 mph
17- 6.5 mph
18- 7.5 mph
19- 9 mph---this was my 10! notice it was also my 9 in the first round of intervals, but i was so worked up by now that a 9 was seriously all out, running my face off, wanting to die!
20- 3 mph cool down

afterward, i felt amazing. i felt like i got more out of those 20 minutes than i do when i run 4 miles on the treadmill. it was great.

you can adjust the program to what works for you, but if you are doing short burts of all-out energy according to YOUR body, you will make progress and burn fat. don't feel bad if your 10 is different than someone elses 10, nobody is in the same shape as the other person. as long as you are being true to yourself, you will make progress.

the weight training program is a bit more difficult to explain. i have been writing this email all day, by the way...in between working. i am going to briefly out line the weight training. like the cardio, you set your own limits and only do what you can. if you start with 1 lb weights, so be it. some people are more comfortable starting out with 10 lb weights. its up to you and your strength. you have the same type of scale and work your way up with every muscle group. today will be my first upper body work out...i have not done work outs this way ever, but i am willing to give it a shot, because i am not an expert on weight training.

you can see the link on the body for life website about this: http://bodyforlife.com/exercise/weighttraining.asp

for your upper body work out (UBWO) you work each group of muscles in a matter of 45 minutes..biceps, triceps, back, chest, shoulders

that link above has different exercises for each muscle group. it explains what you do but it might be confusing, it was for me, so ill try to break it down for you.

for each muscle group, you pick 2 exercises. take triceps for example. you pick seated tricep press and bench dips. so, you want to hit your levels as explained with cardio. you would start with a lighter weight, lets say 2.5, and do 12 reps. (or whatever is a level 5 for you)..and do 12 reps, then increase the weight, do 10 reps, increase the weight, do 8 reps, increase the weight, do 6 reps, THEN.. you are going to be on level 9, so you will want to decrease the weight a bit, maybe to what you used on level 6 or 7, and do 12 reps. after that, you will be very fatigued, and it is time for your level 10...you will do the OTHER exercise picked for that muscle group, for 12 reps...this should be very difficult, you should be giving all your effort, hitting your 10. note, you will have a 1 minute rest between all sets EXCEPT between level 9 and 10. see the example i made, but note that your weights will vary depending on what YOUR strength is and what YOUR levels 5 through 10 are.

seated tricep press:
level 5: 12 reps @ 2.5 lb
1 min rest
level 6: 10 reps @ 5 lb
1 min rest
level 7: 8 reps @ 8 lb
1 min rest
level 8: 6 reps @ 10 lb
1 min rest
level 9: 12 reps @ 5 lb
NO REST
level 10: 12 reps of BENCH DIPS

after awhile, you will be able to increase the weight on your exercises. that is why you should write down what you did that day, you can look back in your journal and see what worked, what was too easy, what was too hard...what you should change. make notes like 'this was too easy, i did not hit my ten' or 'decrease weight, i was not able to complete my level 10 set' yadda yadda.

as i sit here and eat my cottage cheese and 1/2 cup of fruit (yes, i had planned a myoplex drink, but i am having fruit and cottage cheese instead...see, you just work with it, not according to plan, but not the end of the world)..i realize this email is really long. so sorry if you hate it, but chances are if you hate it you have not gotten this far. i am almost done.

anyway, you will have a 2 minute break between muscle groups...following the same routine for each muscle group, trying to hit your ten with each group...can you see why planning your exercises ahead of time is necessary? you should also get a stop watch. workouts should run 45-50 minutes...you should be able to complete it in this amount of time, no wandering around the gym looking lost or wondering what to do next..you get in, you get out, you get on with your life. after a few times, the work outs should be second nature. i am a bit nervous to do my first upper body one today because i do not know where all the weights i am using are located, but i am confident that i will figure it out.

so, it is safe to say you do the lower body work outs (LBWO) the same routine as the upper. the lower body groups are abs, quads, hams, and calves. this has one less group so it will take less time. check out the list from the link and choose your exercises and do them in the same fashion as given above. i am way more comfotable with lower body work outs, they are easier to do for me and i know where i can do them and what equipment. that is why i am starting with upper body today, get the hard part over with.

you need to keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat, so it is important to find out your body fat % somehow. there are lots of ways to do this, most local gyms can test it or you can get it done up at the U for $25 if you want exact results. you will be gaining muscle and losing fat, so the total weight lost is a combo of the muscle gained and the fat lost, while you might be losing a ton of body fat percentage. make sense? so when you step on the scale and you have been working so hard and it has not gone down as much as you wish it would, or as much as maybe if you were just dieting, you need to remember you are gaining muscle and that muscle is important. the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn just by sitting there watching tv...by sleeping at night, if you have lean muscle, you will burn more calories than having fat just sit there. i never understood this before body for life, i thought i just wanted to lose weight..but in reality, i want to lose body fat, and gain muscle, so my body fat % is what i want to see go down.

it is important to measure yourself. your calves, neck, shoulders, waist, hips, thighs, arms. you will see drastic changes in inches all over your body, and it is encouraging to see that on a tape measure. jot down your measurements in a note book so you can track your progress.

i am weighing myself only once a week, writing my weight on day 1 of each week, so i can see my progress. i am also recording measurements every 4 weeks, and body fat tested this friday and again at the end, itis $25 so i may or may not get tested half way through.

my final word is this. if you are going to do this, or even do part of it, or make any changes at all, GET A JOURNAL! even if you dont spend time planning things out, you can still write down what you ate and what you did that day, it takes 5 minutes, and you can reflect back on it to see what you were doing and the progress you made..i have a journal that outlines every single thing i PLAN to do, and a spot next to it to fill in what i ACTUALLY did. already a few things have not been met, and i wrote in what happened instead. like the times i planned to eat have changed, or the content of my food changed, so i can see what i planned and what actually happened. remember, life gets in the way of plans...but that is ok. just cause you miss something you had planned to do does not mean you should give up entirely. just let it go and get back on track with your plan. its not worth worrying about and you have already been doing better than before you even started! here is a link to planning materials you can print out:

http://bodyforlife.com/exercise/journals.asp

please be sure to explore the body for life website..it has so many useful tooooools!

so, it is almost quitting time, i have spent hours on this email, have put my hawaii blog aside to type this, and i hope it has been beneficial to at least one person. if you do decide to jump on the BFL wagon, please keep in touch with me so we can talk about it! i love sharing ideas and getting advice from other people. if you want to continue to get my meal plans and whatnot, please reply and ill make sure to send them to you. if you dont want them, tell me. i wont be offended. and if any of this brought up any questions.. ask me and i will try to answer anything. i am no expert but i think i have the right attitude and outlook and if you got through reading this, then you do too :) good luck to all of us!

love,
janethaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

p.s. i am NOT spell checking this thing. dont get on my case about mistypes...ha

END OF EMAIL

ok, read that, let it all soak in.. and i will be working on another post later today. so much to say!! for now, i am going to hit the gym :)

xoxo. janetha.

Do Something About It!

2009-01-01T15:58:00.003-07:00

this is where the title of my blog comes from.. words by ralph marston.. seriously i LOVE this:

"Do something about it. When something is troubling you, make the commitment to change it. Then begin to act on that decision right away. Some of the influences in your life are under your control, and many of those influences are outside your control. Yet you can always decide upon and put into action a positive response to anything.

Don't sit around being amazed at how miserable you are and at how unfairly life is treating you. Instead, be amazed at how quickly and effectively you can do something about it.

Don't complain to others about how tough it is for you. Instead, inspire them with your positive and enthusiastic attitude and actions.

When the world feels all wrong, that's a valuable signal. It's your way of telling yourself to get going and make a difference.

You have plenty of good options if you'll simply make the effort to find them. Pick the best one, get busy putting it into action, and take positive control of your world."

think about it.

hi, hello, how are you?

2008-12-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

hello people out there in blog land. i hate the word blog. really, it is awful. it sounds so gross.

ANYWAY, that is not really here nor there. you are reading this because you have interest in changing yourself for the better! good job! pat your back! can't reach your back? not flexible enough? too much extra weight holding you back from patting your own back? give yourself 12 weeks, that will all change. you will be patting your back with ease in no time, and with good reason!

so, i have not made a real set plan about how i am going to do this little body for life page i just created.. so bare (or is it bear?) with me while i ramble along, i tend to do a lot of that.

i made this page for a couple reasons. one, for me. selfish, right? i have become a huge fan of body for life, nutrition, and fitness.. and well, i need a place to write it all down. second reason: for other people to read. so yeah, for you! lucky, you ranked in at the second reason! ;) naw, honestly, that is probably the main reason i decided to start this up. a lot of people have asked me lots of questions or for advice. i think if it is all written down in one place, and people ask their questions here, then what i reply with will be a lot more useful if more people read it. also, i know when i find recipes, work outs, and other tips online i am stoked. so i hope you are stoked too.

briefly, i will tell you what is up. my fantastic mom, sue, and i did a BFL by the book challenge on aug 25-nov 16. loved every minute of it. sure, it is hard work, but we had amazing results (more about that later) sooo, we are starting another challenge on january 5th. 12 weeks, hardcore, no cheats, 100% by the book. i welcome you to do the challenge with us, the more people doing it...the more fun it is!

i have so much to say regarding body for life, my experiences i have had, what i have learned, what i plan to do..etc etc, but really do not have the time to ramble right now. i had to get this blog up and running though.. so in the meantime this is your assignment, should you decide to take on this challenge:

1. READ the body for life book. the one by bill phillips. the original. not the body for life for women. not the body for life champions book. not the eating for life book. just the plain and simple body for life book.

2. think about your plan. i know sometimes we want to be told what to do, that it is easiest just to follow someone else's plan.. but since this plan is for LIFE, not for 12 weeks, it MUST be something you can live with. after reading the book, start pondering what your goals are and how you are going to reach them.

in the meantime, i will work on lots of things i have planned for this page. also, my mom will be adding her two cents every so often, so get excited for that, she has lots of wise knowledge!

so what are you waiting for? go get the book and start reading! and check back here soon!

xo.