WIAW

Lunch consisted of more Turkey Pumpkin Loaf alongside a whole wheat pita and tons of veggies

My afternoon snack, flax seed with protein powder and greek yogurt all mixed together..very very filling! Dinner below was a HUGE salad with stir fried veggies, lean ground hambuger and shredded lettuce with some more pita bread topped with greek yogurt.

My snacks today consisted of these babies made below..Jamie Eason's Carrot Cake protein bars, yum!!

The week sure does fly by when you have Monday off, I can't believe tomorrow is already Thursday. That means two more days until my big bachelorette!! Today was a rest day from the gym, well needed after my tough leg workout and tomorrow is back and biceps. I HATE biceps. I don't know what it is about them, I just can't stand to work them out. I would have to say my all time fav muscles to workout would be my chest and shoulders. I love chest presses and shoulder presses. Squats, hecks no!

So it is hump day, what has been the best part of your week so far??

Three Day Weekend!

Ever since I have been starting the Live Fit Trainer, I have really been trying to eat more clean protein and whole grains. My sore muscles crave it. Tonight I came across a recipe I had to try, Pumpkin Meatloaf.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pumpkin

1 pound lean ground beef or turkey (I used turkey)

1/4 cup egg beaters or 1 egg

1/2 tsp of each cinnamon, chili powder, salt and pepper

Bake for 40 minutes at 375

This was by far the easiest recipe to make. The outcome..tastey but next time I need to put in some chopped celery and onion and it will be perfect! I topped it for dinner with some BBQ sauce, baked veggies and crackers topped with crunchy almonds.

My upper body was pretty sore today from my last two workouts (shoulders and biceps) so I spinned for 50 minutes this morning and called it good. I really should have just taken a rest day because the spinning really wore me down. My body is just not used to all this weight lifting, and adding the cardio on top of it just makes it that much more hard to deal with.

I looked ahead and Phase 3 for Jamie's plan and I can tell you right now, for me the plan is not realistic at all. It calls for six days of weight training on top of four days of HITT along with Carb cycling. Um right! Seriously I don't know how someone could weight lift for 6 days a week plus high intense intervals and live off 1,500 calorie a day diet. I know the plan is to get you lean, but I know my body and if I were to be on a workout plan plus meal plan that like, I would be feeling like a train hit me. I will probably just do the workouts and 5 days a week and call it good. Even Phase 2 calls for six days of weight lifting...I have been doing a lot of reading on weight lifting and most experts say that if you are able to workout 6 days in a row then you are just not working hard enough..I agree with this 100%! Cardio I could do six days in a row, weight lifting heavy my body screams rest.

In other news, this weekend I started "The Girls with the Dragon Tatto." I know the movie is out but I am determined to read it before I spoil it with a movie. The first 100 pages were hard to get into, but now I am hooked solid!

Finally, my Mom and I went shopping today and I came across this cute little wonder at Express...guess where I will be wearing it to..my bachelorette party next weekend. Almost a month and I will be Mrs. Kwapnioski!!!!

Do you ever have negative feelings towards workout plans found on websites or in magazines?

What is a new recipe you have tried?

Cordon Blue-YUM

Once again, tomorrow is Friday already!! I don't know about you, but I love when the weeks just fly by like no other. So I did attempt my first workout this past Sunday on my spin bike. You can see above I had my gear all ready before I started. I worked up a HUGE sweat, but .to be honest I don't know how much I like working out in my room. I felt very confined and uncomfortable. I love being in the gym. Yes I am still very pleased with my X-Mas gift, but my days of going to the gym are not over. Even more so since I am doing Jaime Eason's Live Fit.

We received our yearly membership renewal for Costco in the mail today, I made sure to renew it asap! Can't get enough of HUGE bags of veggies and large containers of greek yogurt. YUM!

I have been adding some variety to my meals lately..still high protein, just different spices and meal options. Tonight Craig and I made healthy Chicken Cordon Blue.

We used: Chicken Breast

Reduced Fat Provolone Cheese

Egg whites

Ham

Panko Bread crumbs

Assembled them together with toothpicks, dipped them in egg whites and baked them for about an hour. I ate mine with a HUGE salad of course, gotta have those extra nutrients.

I am officially on Week 3 of Jaime's trainer. I am planning on doing week 3 over again next week. Last weekend, I decided to take advantage of working out on Sunday when it should have been my rest day. So Monday I was too sore and exhausted to work out. I took Monday off and completed an upper body workout followed by a leg workout yesterday. I decided to take today off again...I know what is wrong with me!! This way I could go Friday, Saturday, Sunday just cardio and Monday hit the weights again and get back on my normal routine. My normal routine looks like this: Lift/cardio on Monday, Tuesday

Rest on Wednesday

Lift/Cardio on Thursday/Friday/Saturday

Rest or light cardio on Sunday

Jaime's plan is all so new and exciting for me, but I will admit I get a little anxious lifting all this weight. I love becoming stronger, but a part of me gets weary about really bulking up. I know longer want to look "soft" I want o look "strong" so I know the cardio will not do that for me. It has been a while since I felt so sore and just exhausted from my workouts. On the flip side, I am doing a wonderful job taking my rest days and listening to my body when it signals hunger. I thought cardio made me hungry, try lifting weights for 50 minutes..my appetite seems to be out of the roof.

I still need to tweak a little with my diet, I have WAY to much protein, I am eating about 200 grams a day!! I know, not needed I just love my protein sources. I think I could move a little protein aside and focus more on fats and carbs.

You may be wondering why I put so much thought into diet and cardio verses weight lifting. Why don't I just workout because I enjoy it?? That I do, I love it! I am just sick of spinning in circles with overworking myself by doing way too much cardio and expecting to see some type of results. If I spend this much time in the gym, why not look like a person who lives in the gym :)

Happy Friday

Ahhh, the weekend is here once again! I really had all attempts to blog before the weekend hit, but look where that got me. This week has been a rough week getting back into the swing of things (waking up at 4:30 to work out and teaching all day long) on top of battling a slight chest cold that has been lingering for the past few days. I managed though, to make it to Friday!

I have always had a thing for Greek Yogurt, but lately I have been OBSESSED! I have been eating it like it is literally coming out of my ears...here are some of the ways I have been eating it

-Mix in with chicken/lettuce/salsa/peppers (pictured above)

-Add garlic and parsley to it and dip pita bread in it

-Mix with frozen peanut flour and chocolate protein powder

-Mix in with Kashi Go Lean or Oatmeal

-Dip pita chips and crackers

Tonight after school I came home and Craig surprised me by picking up our Spin Bike that had arrived and putting it together for me. I was super excited!! The only problem is, now that I have started Jaime Eason's Live Fit Trainer, my cardio has slightly decreased. I love the the program so far, only in my second week, but it has been kicking my butt. I have still managed to kick out 40 min. or so of cardio a day but it has been lower impact as opposed to higher impact. My ultimate goal is to become a little more muscular and I know that when I focus on just cardio alone I get more of a soft look. That and I have always been HORRIBLE about sticking to any part of a plan and would really like to see myself stick this Jamie Eason plan out to see results. I am going to try to fit my Spin Bike in sometime throughout the week :)

What is the one food you are loving this week?

New Year Resolutions

Perfect way to start the New Year of 2012, a brand spanking new pair of Asics for just 69 bucks and a clean lunch consisting of an egg white omelet and Brussel sprouts with a side of pita bread..not pictured.

It was nice to get back into the swing of things today. This weekend we spent in Kansas visiting Craig's cousin and girlfriend for NYE. It was one of night of acting young and foolish...this may be one of my last years to really go gung ho with the friends on NYE..turning 29 this Spring, buying house and wanting to start a family brings many new responsibilities on.

Of course just like every new year, I have to come up with some attainable resolutions. I want these resolutions to be realistic and ones that I can continue to work on everyday. So here goes!

1. Learning to Accept Myself More-this one is going to be one of the hardest resolutions. I go through phases where I love the way I look, proud of my muscular legs and full figure. On other days I look at myself and compare myself to other skinny twig like girls and wish that I did not have boobs to worry about or getting cellulite on my ass. I have to keep reminding myself that everyone has a different body, and I need to be thankful that I am healthy and strong and able to enjoy life at its fullest.

2. Complete a SPRINT Tri-yes sprint. I know for now I am not comfortable enough with my eating to do long distance training of any sorts. Hence, the overtraining issues I have had quite frequently. I do know that a Sprint is something I can attain, training plans are done in moderation and it still gives me breathing room to lift weights.

3. Moving Away From Safe Eating- trust me I eat, but at 99.9% of the time I stick to foods that are considered safe. I know I can eat limitless amounts of veggies and not worry about excess weight eating grilled chicken and fish. I do enjoy these foods, but there is no harm in trying new foods either. Calories in are more important than what type of calories you eat. This brings me to making new healthy meals for Craig and I as well.

4. Kick the Gum Chewing Habit-I can somehow manage to go through two packs of gum in a day..not always. I am not going to go cold turkey, but I would really like to limit my gum to a few pieces of day. There is no need to be shoving gum in my mouth every five minutes.

5. Add More to the Blog-get more creative, do give aways, just have fun!!

6. Work on my Money-yes I am getting married which means Craig is marrying my debt. That does not mean that I am debt free and able to rack up my credit card bills again. Once married, Craig and I have discussed setting out a budget to help with my credit card issues.

7. Getting Stronger again with my Faith-this is my last, but sure not the least of my resolutions. In the past couple of months I have felt that something has been missing from my life. I know that it is my relationship with God. Yes, I do still turn to him when in need and pray daily, but the daily Sunday church sessions have been far and few in between. I understand life can get in the way, but that is not an excuse. If I can make time to workout, shop and be social I can make more time for God.

What are some of your Resolutions for 2012?

Year in Review

What an amazing year 2011 has been! I always love the end of the year and the start of a new one. A perfect way to start new goals and start fresh. Here is a little of what happened to me this year!

I experienced my first official runner's injury which is still returning off and on. This injury found me a new love with the swimming pool!

Craig and I enjoyed way too much tailgating and attended way too many weddings with many more to come

I was able to rock it out with my girls a few weekends over the course of 2011 including fun girl trips outside of Nebraska

The biggest event of 2011 for me was my trip to Costa Rica with Craig and I got engaged!

Sporting a new diamond ring to take back to the states

Our home town covered in water due to major flooding this summer

Baby showers and going away parties for friends

I have had the chance to teach two amazing classes of students this year

Cooper joined our family, he is no longer a puppy but a 1 year old 90 pound dog!

I could post picture after picture, but I don't feel like boring you. Not only have I had a great 2011 I have learned a lot of life lessons this year as well. I have learned that less is better when it comes to any form of exercise. I have learned that to love someone means putting them in front of your own wants and needs sometimes. I have learned to move from my comfort zone and adapt to a smaller community. Finally, I have learned that close family and friends don't come around often and it is important to hold on and spend time to the ones you love the most.

So what does 2012 have to offer me...well just a few important exciting events

-Getting married on Feb. 18th!!

-Buying our first house after we get married

-Returning to school this summer for another endorsement in education

-Applying to a new school district closer to home

-Attempting to have our first baby!!

I am very excited for 2012 as you can see!

What do you remember most of about 2011 and what are you looking forward to for the new year?

WIAW

I love holiday sales! I grabbed these snazzy heels at Target for 10 bucks today. I am thinking these will be PERFECT for the New Year Celebration. My only concern is that I don't think they will actually stay on the entire night due to the size of the heel. I am such a wuss when it comes to heels.

I can't believe it is already Wednesday, time sure does fly by when you are not working and enjoying the days off. In the last three days I have accomplished much:

Changed oil in my car

Met with the band who will be playing at our wedding

Met with Lisa who is in charge of our reception hall to run through and finalize our reception

Met with my future Mother in Law and showed her our ceremony sight

Found earrings for my wedding

Returned all clothing that was given to Craig for Christmas and exchanged them for other sizes

Completed my wedding programs

Cleaned out three of my closets in my apartments and got rid of three trash bags full of clothes

Hit up Costco and filled up on dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, almonds, trash bags, grilled chicken, Splenda, foil, and zip lock bags (all for 170 bucks!1)

Re-filled my gas tank twice already this week from all the driving around

Completed Day 1 and Day 2 of Live Fit Trainer

Phew!!

Tomorrow is a planned rest day from the gym. Can you believe it my second rest day of the week, I am doing great! I plan on hitting the gym four times this week and next week back to my regular routine of 5 days a week. I will admit, the last two workouts have left me pretty sore, but a good sore.

In a random order here is some of my eats this Wednesday...

Grilled Chicken mixed with a ton of veggies and Mrs. Dash Seasoning

Peanut Butter cookies I baked with Hershey Kisses

Protein Cookies made with Flaxseed, Egg Whites, Kashi Go Lean and Protein Powder

More Grilled Chicken and Broccoli

Half a grilled chicken wrap and pita bread with jelly and cheese..YUM

What is something you have accomplished so far this week?

Heels or flats?