Ericka: Struggle Fest (7.5.13)

So I did my usual yoga stretches followed by 2 dance warm ups, then I spotted a "Sexy Chair Dance Workout" by Keaira LaShae. OMG, talk about struggle fest. I got a work out from the tutorial portion alone. If you know me, then you know I am uncoordinated and super clumsy. This girl had me jump up and down on a chair several times in rapid succession. Then there was the awkward moment when I thought the routine was over and then she made me do the same thing on the other side! LAWDEE! And that was just the tutorial. When she put the routine to music, I was a hot mess. Nothing sexy. Just struggle fest. But all I have to say to that workout routine is "Challenge Accepted!" I am going to try that routine over and over again until I get it down pat, and then I'm going to do it over and over again until I actually look good doing it. I was supposed to do pop pilates afterwards, but I'm done. I'm spent.

I'm so clumsy that my children will be clumsy. In fact, my son is already clumsy. Sorry Chris, but I don't see super athlete in the future.  I found this YouTube clip, and all I could think was "my daughter's future". Sorry little future baby girl.

By the way, I actually didn't do too bad yesterday with the eating. My family stepped up and added some healthy options (veggie shish kabob, naked ribs & chicken) so that made it a lot easier to say no to the potato salad, and one of my favorite desserts, punch bowl cake.  I made Kale chips, which wasn't enough to go around so I ate it as a pregame snack, and I also made an avocado salsa. I had a little bit of all the above, and sipped on some Skinny Girl Margarita. I hope your 4th of July game plan went just as well.

Just as good as chips

Avocado Salsa w/ Fat Free Feta

Veggie Shish Kabobs

Make Mine Skinny

Be Blessed,

E

Ericka: Happy Independence Day! (7.4.13)

I'm going to celebrate Independence Day by being independent (bringing healthy & delicious meal alternatives) and not dependent on traditional cookout food. Yesterday I set a goal of 60 minutes of exercise. So here's what I did.

1. 6 minutes of yoga stretches. 
2. YouTube Workouts
1. Move Your Body (4 min) 
2. Tiffany Roth- Boxer Babe (10 min) 
3. Keaira Lashae Interval Training (20) 
4. Keaira Lashae's Twerk Workout (8 min) 
5. Tara Stiles Beginner's Yoga for Weight loss (10 min)
3. Then the following 8 minute routine 
1. 100 jumping jacks
2. 10 jump squats
3. 70 russian twists
4. 10 modified push ups
5. 5 regular push ups
6. 50 crunches
7. 40 lunges (20 on each leg)
4. Bonus: Deuce, who is an avid Rocky fan ( I know, weird right?) did his own workout while I did my lunges. He took Chris' golf club and started raising it above his head. He then brought it to me and said "shoulders" so I started doing it too. While I repeated his actions he said "push, push, push it." He's my own little personal trainer. Next time I'll be sure to have the video camera handy

I still haven't figured out what I'm bringing to the cookout, but I will update the blog later with pics of the meals.

Have a great 4th!

E

Update!

Ericka: Food Holidays (7.3.13)

Sorry about the late entry, but it's been a busy day. I am so looking forward to my vacation which kicks off tomorrow. Actually it kicked off today at 5:01 p.m. Too bad I don't have a celebratory drink in my hand. Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and you know what that mean... barbecued food, baked macaroni and cheese, potato salad and whole bunch of other stuff I need to avoid. Holidays centered around feasting activities are tough. In my family, every holiday is centered around food, every Sunday for that matter too!

So what's my game plan? Well I'm going to make one of my tasty but health dips. I'm thinking about either my tried and true pico de gallo, or my avocado salsa, or my corn, crab & tomato salsa. I'm going to go with the most economical option lol. I'm also thinking about making kale chips and zucchini chips. I don't have a mandolin slicer for the latter, but I do have a cheese grater that may just do the drink. Whichever dish(es) I decide to do, I will definitely post pics. I'll also have a bottle of skinny girl margarita handy.

Now as for today, I got early again to make a smoothie and lunch. Today's lunch was garlic salmon with mushrooms, yellow bell pepper & onions. I cooked it all in one pan, which my husband (make sure you stretch out the hus when you read that) appreciated.

 1 Pan Dish

Today's workout was only 32 minutes. I did 10 minutes on the StairMaster, 12 minutes on a spin bike, and 10 minutes on the elliptical. I like to switch it up because A. it can be borrowing running, walking, biking etc on a stationary machine, and B. it creates muscle confusion when you mix it up. Tomorrow I'm going for an 1 hour 6 a.m workout. I haven't come up with my routine yet, but it will set me up for the day. If I start off on a good foot, I will be less inclined to ruin my good work, at least I hope.

It's the weeeeekkkkkeeeeend baby!
E

Ericka: I should be skinny by now (7.2.13)

Yesterday, I made up for missing my evening Tabata class by getting on the elliptical for 20 minutes in my parents' hot garage. It was like a Bikram studio in there! Then Joe wanted to show my mom the "Move Your Body" warm-up so I put the video on and began doing the moves. My mom liked it so much that she joined in. We ended up doing the video 1 1/2 times, because it froze up on his. I wasn't finished working out so I invited Joe to do the Keaira Lashae's "Hip Hop Tabata Workout". We were done after that.

Post Workout

I almost cheated myself out of a workout today. I just did not feel like going to my lunch time Tabata class. I came into work looking for an excuse to miss it, and I took that opportunity when my friends asked me to join them for lunch. Then I started to write in my blog, and I just felt guilty. I told myself "you can just work out this evening," but I knew I would probably find a way to bail on it. Then 11:30 a.m. hit, and I said "screw it, I'm going". It's easy to go to gym or workout when it's convenient and you are in high spirits. It's those blah days where you just want to be a bump on the log and revert to your old ways. I knew if I didn't go today, I would probably skip another day this week and we all know about slippery slopes. I just told myself "You know where you would be right now if you didn't quit last time and the time before that?" If I had stuck to my many diets and proclamations of lifestyle changes, I would have met my fitness goal by now. I don't want to do that again.

So I went to the class, and it was a beast! The instructor must have made us do at least 50 burpees. I hate burpees. I think I hate them more than I hate jogging. The only thing that got me through the class was thinking about my lunch. This morning I grilled some marinated chicken and  added it to a mixed green salad topped with almonds, fat-free feta, onions & a light dressing.

Le salade

So in other news, I've been coming up with the various challenges. Some are really fun, e.g. learn the choreography to your favorite music video, and some are not so fun, e.g. jog 3x a week. I've decided we will pull from 3 bowls every month: 1. Exercise 2. Diet 3. Random. The random bowl challenges will cover everything from finance, to love & relationships, parenting, and paying it forward.  I am nervous and excited at the same time. The only problem is the challenge starts Monday July 8, and I'll be in Chicago, home of the deep dish pizza. Who's bright idea was it to start a 30 day challenge the same week I go on vacation!?! Oh right, me.

So what's going to be my game plan for Chicago? Well I'm sure there will be a gym in the hotel, so I have no excuse for not exercising. And I am going to rent a tandem bike for us to use for 4 hours. I'm still mapping the route. Now the eating will be a different story. Hopefully the diet challenge will be something that can be easily adapted in Chicago. Sunday morning we are going to pick our challenges! If you have any challenge ideas, let me know.


Until tomorrow,


E

Chris: Call me butter cuz I'm on a ROLL!!!!! (7.2.13)

Okay, well yesterday was a rough day with all the car issues, but as far as my dieting goes, it was a very successful day. Even with a dinner with my coworkers, I was able to not go off course and had a salad, so I felt really good this morning. Today has gone well so far. I had a green smoothie for a breakfast, and a salad for lunch. I plan on going for a run this afternoon, so I'm actually looking forward to it. Lately, I have had some cravings, but overall, I don't miss the carbs as much as I thought. I even feel better. I don't feel as sluggishor tired after lunch, and I have noticed I have a lot more energy in the evenings after work.

Chris: Drama (7.1.13)

So, Sunday went well. We had dinner by my in-laws, which was challenging because they don't mind eating multiple starches with their meals (i.e. potatoe salad, mac&cheese, and biscuits). However, when we received the invitation, Ericka let her mom know that we are on a strict diet and some arrangements had to be made for us to eat dinner. My mother-in-law agreed to alter the meal to assist us by cooking with only a pinch a salt, although I must say that the hen she cooked had to be the best unseasoned chicken I ever ate in my life, which had me questioning her definition of a pinch, lol. But, I must also add that she had cheddar biscuits that I had to refrain from eating, well to be honest, I had a teeny weeny piece of biscuit just to curb my curiousity and I didn't touch it after that. So, I had a salad and couple pieces of baked hen. It was really good and I felt good about it. Also, we took Deuce swimming earlier that day, and he loved the water. So much so that he didn't want me to hold him because he thought he could swim on his own. All in all, we had a good day all around.

Now today, I stepped on the scale and while I had lost a total of 4 lbs for the week, it was a 2 lb increase from yesterday, so I was a little discouraged. I told Ericka I was ready to quit, but she convinced me to stay the course, and I calmed down. Now,  I was headed to work and Ericka called me saying that she was stuck in the car, and she couldn't get the car to start. So, I headed to the parking garage and sure enough, the car wouldn't start for me either. After trying to jump start the car, I contacted a towing company only to be told that the truck wouldn't fit in the garage, and we needed to push the car down 4 levels of ramps. At this point, I was ready to scream, not to mention I could only imagine how much it was going to cost to fix the car. By time we pushed it all the way down, I took one last chance to jump the car.................IT WORKED!!!!!!!! I didn't know whether to go to AutoZone to get a new battery or go to Church!!!! Needless to say it was a rough morning today. But all is well and back on the grind.

Ericka: Temptation (7.1.13)

My mom invited us over for dinner last night, so we took Deuce over there right after we finished swimming. Upon arrival I see my dad in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on his cheddar biscuits, and by finishing touches I mean brushing melted butter on top of the already cheesy & tasty carb laden side. Then on the stove is red beans and rice with smoked sausage and pickle meat,corn,  baked hen and turkey necks, and some delicious looking pasta loaded with tomato sauce and 2 of my favorite things, scallops and okra.

Now I tried to prepare for the worst by telling my mom that we are on a no salt no carbs detox diet, and by bringing a salad topped with raspberries, sliced almonds, and red onion, but that food was so tempting. My mother assured me that she only used a pinch of sea salt so I had a turkey neck, my salad, and I picked out a bunch of okra and scallops. It was good, but not as good as everyone else's plate. I had to remind myself that I am on a journey and that I am making a lifestyle change. While a cheat day once a week may be okay for some, it's a slippery slope for me, at least for right now. It starts with one cheat day, and then I'll tell myself "oh you can have that little piece of XYZ, you worked out today". Then it becomes a cheat week, a cheat month, a cheat year. I've cheated myself out of a lot, like being confident when I go shopping for new clothes, or feeling good in a bathing suit. It's just not worth it. Maybe one day when I have better control over myself I'll be able to indulge every once in a while, but right now I just can't. I need to prepare for the 4th of July, because there won't be too many healthy options at the annual bbq. I will have to come up with a tasty and healthy dish that everyone will love.

On to today. It started off on a good foot. I got up and did the "Move Your Body" warm up to get me ready for Monday, and then I did Tara Stiles 10 minute "Beginners' Yoga for Weight Loss".  The yoga felt really good, because my back and shoulders were so sore from swimming. Then I went to work. I backed into my parking spot, turned off the car and then tried to open the door. Apparently, I parked a little too close to the post. I tried to turn the car back on and it would not start so I had to crawl out the other side of the car and wait for assistance which was in the form of Chris and my boss.  I got back into the driver's side so that could try jumping it, but that didn't work. We decided to get it towed, but the clearance was not high enough. The boys had to push the car down 4 ramps while I steered the wheel which was super tight. It took all of my non-existing abs and arm strength to navigate those turns down the ramp. I felt like I got a workout in.

I planned on going to Tabata this evening, but I have to work late so I am going to hop on the elliptical by my parents' house and do one of my tried and true YouTube videos.

I hope your Monday is going a lot better than mine,

E