Week 3 BodyRock 30 Day Challenge Update

Alright so I've been doing the 30 Day BodyRock Challenge and I'm still going strong. I have added a new tab/category that will make it easier to find anything specifically BodyRock related and I will post updates and some hints or tips I've found along the way.

I'm on Week 3 and that includes another fit test. Yesterday was Fit and Flow Test #2 So exactly two weeks from when I've started and I will say it went better. Although my numbers were not amazingly better I found feel that my form was better and it just felt good.

Fit Test:

• Squats:  23, 19, 20
• Pushups: 6 real 19 on knees, 5 real 18 on knees, 17 on knees
• Dips:  19, 19, 20 (soooo much better)
• Crunch: 21, 22, 20

Flow test went well and I am feeling more flexible although it's hard to measure.

So I have seen some improvement with the fit test which is exciting especially in my upper body. I have also been losing weight and seeing slight changes in my body in the mirror as well so I am stoked and that much more motivated to continue. I will post before and after photos at Day 30 and although it may not be a huge difference in a couple months it will be awesome! As another one of those famous Pinterest/Motivation quotes go....

Today's work out included a lot of equipment so just a reminder to always watch the tutorial video if they post one to see way to modify it for what equipment you have/your personal fitness level. I am going to post something (tomorrow hopefully) with pictures of all my make shift equipment so if anyone else needs ideas they will be here. I was also so unmotivated to work out today since it was a very long day of class and traffic but I just made myself do it. I love having the 30 Day challenge and need to find a way to hold myself this accountable and stay this motivated once it's over... maybe just do it again? Or just say 5 days a week I have to do the daily video? We shall see. If anyone is reading this... are you doing this too? ideas? hello?

Low Carb Fajita Lettuce Wraps

Last night I made fajitas but instead of using tortillas I used large iceberg lettuce leaves and they were awesome!

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• Red and green bell peppers
• Onion
• Olive oil
• Mexican spices (I use salt, pepper, cayenne, cumin, and taco seasoning)
• Iceberg lettuce (or tortillas if you're making regular fajitas)
• Toppings: fat free sour cream, 2% shredded mexican blend cheese, tomatoes, avocado

Directions:

• Chop about 1/3 cup of each (or about half of each) of your red and green peppers and onion into bite size pieces/strips
• Rinse chicken breasts and cut into bite size pieces
• Coat the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon, and turn burner on to medium/medium-high
• Place chicken cubes in pan sauté the chicken for about 2-3 minutes on each side
• Once chicken is white on all sides add your peppers and onions
• Add seasoning. (Salt, pepper, tiny dash of cayenne, garlic powder, cumin, and a little bit of taco seasoning from one of those packets. Use what you like!)
• Sauté mixture for about an additional 10 minutes (make sure the internal temp reached 165 degrees), turning the fajita mixture often to cook evenly.

• Now build your fajitas...
• Place a scoops of your mixture into 2-3 layered lettuce leaves
• Add shredded cheese, 1/4 sliced small avocado, diced tomato, and a dollop of fat free sour cream
• Eat like a taco and enjoy!

I should have put my cheese on after the fajita mixture so it'd melt/be prettier but i forgot, but you get the idea. So good!!

Baked Salmon and Secret to No More "Fishy" Taste

So my dad has thought me the secret to making fish, mainly salmon because it is the best thing ever, not taste fishy. I have also included the recipe for the salmon I made for dinner two nights ago. Mmmmmm :)

The Secret:

• Fill bowl or deep dish with one part plain distilled vinegar and two parts salt water (about a small handful of salt... say about a Tablespoon for every couple cups of water)
• Rinse salmon in cold water and place in bowl or deep dish with vinegar and water
• Let sit for 45 min to an hour and then rinse, marinate, and cook how you choose

My Baked Asian Sesame Salmon:

• I followed the above directions with about 1 cup of vinegar and about 2 cups of water and a small handful of salt. Let sit for 45 min and then rinse.
• In new bowl I mixed about a half cup of soy sauce half of light asian sesame dressing and about a half cup of garlic balsamic marinade in a bowl (use any sauce/marinade you think taste good)
• Place salmon in bowl and make sure both sides are covered in marinade. If you have a large plastic bag this may work well too as you can turn it and coat it easier.
• Let fish marinade for 30-45 min.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Place salmon on baking sheet (if you have aluminum foil cover sheet with it because it makes clean up 100X easier b/c the marinade will stick) and pour about a 1/3 of your marinade on top.
• Bake for about 15-20 min flipping fish half way through and adding more marinade if you choose. (Don't add any more marinade after half way or at end since it had raw food in it)
• When it's done it should be a nice light pink color (in my picture it looks more white than pink but thats the camera)
• If it needs to go a little longer you can turn the heat down to about 350 and give it a couple more minutes.
• Enjoy!

I served with steamed/sautéed asparagus. If you want to make this coat pan with a little bit of olive oil and turn to medium. cut about 1/2 inch to inch off the bottom of the asparagus spears. Place in pan and toss to coat them with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cover with lid for about 7 min flipping/turning them a couple times. Then uncover and cook for another few minutes turning regularly. This helps them not get too soggy and be somewhere between steamed, sautéed, and grilled.  Sorry I don't time everything perfectly. I will try to start doing that more to give exact times. But cook them until they are to your liking. I'm a picker so I try everything as I cook until it's where I want it.

Motivation, Small Life Changes, and the 30 Day Challenge

So I am Week 2 Day 4 of the 30 Day Body Rock Challenge and I love it! I haven't done my work out yet today as I'm a bum and got up not too long ago and I'm still enjoying my coffee. The BodyRockers are amazing. First of all they have such hot bods I just watch it and think ok I can look like that! Also with the burn segments only being 12 min long in combination of having the timer beep at you it goes by so quickly. So my shout out to them is because I want to share with you (is anyone doing this with me?) what other changes the 30 Day Challenge is helping me make....

Food:

I have been eating really well lately and I feel I've found a balance of eating right and tasting good. My boyfriend has agreed that he wants to eat healthier so I've decided that as long as he wants to help me pay for produce (which I usually buy) and other ingredients I will make something tasty but healthy almost nightly. I will be posting some of the things I've made the last few nights in a little. So with that support and us not having two separate meals all time that makes it a lot easier. I have been doing really well with portion control also and because of that I am finding that I am getting full faster so it's becoming easier not to over eat. I am not cutting out refined carbs but I am limiting them.

Flossing:

So I went to the dentist the day before I began the BodyRock and although the exam went well I definitely need to floss more (who doesn't?!) but I've decided to add this into my daily routine.

Skin Care:

So I've always had problem skin. I've delt with acne as a teen, scars, oily skin, basically I hate my skin but I've decided that I need to do what I can to make it the best it can possibly be. If I have crappy skin and then I'm not consistent about taking care of it it's just going to be worse than it already is. I figured it's time to pay the big bucks... well not really but more than the $4 I was paying for face wash. I bought Loreal's Revitalift face moisturizer and although I don't really have wrinkles yet I have noticed a difference with skin texure, tone, brightness, etc. I am also making myself ALWAYS wash my face before bed. No more of this I'm so sleeeeeppppyyy screw it attitude.

Positive Affirmations:

The last thing I have decided to change in my life is my self talk. I have spent a lot of time wishing and hoping for different features, a flatter tummy, nice skin, a difference appearance. I have also spent a lot of time telling myself that I'm ugly and fat. Well I'm done with that. I have started to really take to heart some of those motivational quotes that you see on Pinterest, you all know I'm such a fan haha. Here is one my my favorites.

And it's true. I am in control of my body and it is one of the few things in my life that I have complete control over. I may not be able to change certain features like the width of my hip bones, of my nose, etc. But I can have a sexy body and I am in control of that. One of the most important things is believing in yourself and knowing you can do it. So I've started doing positive affirmation (I hope someone remembers those from SNL hehe) but seriously it's so much healthier than negative self talk. I tell myself, outloud, every day that I have a beautiful, sexy, and athletic body and I can do the things necessary to keep it that way. Although I am a work in progress currently, if I can tell myself this daily it will help encourage me to follow through with exercising and eating right. It also is true no matter that size I am for at least the beautiful part (sexy and athletic have yet to come but I believe), because if I believe I am beautiful and can exude positivity then that makes me a beautiful person.

So here is what I have done to remind myself of these things... I have written them on my mirror so I see them everyday. I can't just ignore them and they help keep me responsible.

3 Day Diet Completed and 30 Day Challenge Update

Alright so this morning I woke up and weighed myself just to see how realistic the 3 Day Military Diet really was and... I lost 3 pounds. So this diet is definitely far from a miracle diet, which I had doubted but was curious to see the results. I followed everything strictly to the diet except I had coffee (with a little tiny splash of fat free milk) each morning. I highly doubt this made the difference of 7 pounds. However, this does say you can lose UP TO 10 pounds in 3 days. Although it's probably unlikely it may be possible. I don't have a ton of weight to lose so maybe if I was much heavier I would have lost more. I do have to say I really liked eating real ice cream guilt free the past three nights as it was part of the diet. I think the point is healthy portions and everything in moderation. The diet for the tree days was around 800-1100 calories each day. If I were doing that daily it's perfectly acceptable to work in some ice cream.

I am taking this as a good jumping off point for continued healthy eating. Even though I am not on the diet I had a hard boiled egg and half a banana for breakfast. For lunch I had a good sized slice of cheddar cheese, 4 pieces of turkey meat and carrots, I really enjoyed it too! I rarely buy full-fat dairy products so that is a treat, like I said, everything in moderation

As for the BodyRock.tv 30 Day Challenge, it is going great! The work outs are a really doable amount of time and they give you tips on how to modify it if you're not quite at the level yet at which they are doing them. I just got done with Day 4! The next two days are active rest days so I plan to work in some running (it's been awhile), cleaning up around the house, and other things to stay active. Please let me know if you decide to do this too and keep me updated on how you're doing and what you think. I have been finding different ways to do the exercises that require their equipment by using things around the house. I needed a small weight but only had 10 lb hand weights so I taped two cans together! They worked perfectly for the exercises that called for multiple reps with a lighter weight and for a work out today where they used their equalizer bar to balance when doing squats!

30 Day BodyRock Challenge

Alright so I know exercise is an extremely important part of weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. I run occasionally and will go back and forth to having a regular routine and then sitting on the couch for weeks at a time. I have decided that along with using the 3 Day Diet to kick start my healthy lifestyle changes I would also find some sort of exercise regimen to compliment that.

I have decided to do the the BodyRock.tv  May 2012 30 Day Challenge

Everything can be found here

3 Day Diet Revisited

So if anyone has been following I was going to do the 3 Day Military Diet (Aug 28 post) but due to dinner plans with the boss and me being embarrassed to be like "no sorry I can't eat anything here on this nice dinner you're paying for" I didn't exactly follow it. I still lost a few pounds but nothing major.

Tomorrow I am going for attempt number two. I didn't have a problem sticking with the diet in terms of doing the breakfast and lunch so I don't think it will be bad for the 3 whole days. For a recap the diet is below. By googling 3 Day Diet I have found slight variations here and there as to what days you're allowed to have coffee or different vegetable for dinner.... Basically it's just a low calorie diet but apparently the chemical breakdown of these specific ingredients help loose more weight than usual. We shall see. You are also "allowed" to do this then eat normal/healthy for 4 days and do it again to keep losing weight until you have achieved your goal. We'll see, I'm more just giving it a shot and then will continue to eat healthy afterward.

Tonight I will go and get what I need from the store and also something to make a tasty, but healthy, dinner for tonight and then I will post pictures and the recipe. I am thinking some kind of stuffed bell pepper. mmmm :)

** Please consult your NP or Dr. before beginning any kind of weight loss/diet/exercise regimen**

"DAY 1:

Breakfast--1/2 Grapefruit, 1 Slice Toast, 2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter, and Coffee or Tea

Lunch--1/2 Cup of Tuna, 1 Slice of Toast, and Coffee or Tea

Dinner--2 Slices of any type meat (About 3 ounces) 1 Cup of Green Beans, 1/2 Banana, 1 Small Apple, and 1 Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream (YUM)!!!

Tip to Try: Warm the apple and/or banana and eat them over the ice cream. Delicious!

DAY 2:

Breakfast--1 egg, 1 Slice of Toast, and 1/2 Banana

Lunch--1 Cup of Cottage Cheese (Or 1 Slice of Cheddar Cheese, 1 Hard Boiled Egg, and 5 Saltine Crackers

Dinner--2 Hot Dogs, (no buns), 1 Cup of Broccoli, 1/2 Cup of Carrots, 1/2 Banana, and 1/2 Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream

DAY 3:

Breakfast--5 Saltine Crackers, 1 Slice of Cheddar Cheese, and 1 Small Apple

Lunch-1 Hard-Boiled Egg, and 1 Slice of Toast

Dinner--1 Cup of Tuna, 1/2 of a Banana, and 1 Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream

This diet works on chemical breakdown and is proven. Do not vary or substitute any of the above foods. salt and pepper may be used, but do not use any other seasoning. diet is to be used three days at a time.

In three days you should lose 10 pounds. After three days of dieting, you can eat your normal foods, but do not over do it. After four days of normal eating, you may start back on the three day diet. You can lose up to 40 pounds in a month if this diet is followed precisely.

This is a safe diet.

REMEMBER: Do not eat/snack between any of the meals!

NOTE: Coffee or tea for the first two meals of Day 1 only. Water only from then on. Water intake is unlimited."

Chicken Crescent Bake

So I saw a recipe on Pinterest yesterday and made a few changes based on what I like and thought would taste good...and it turned out to be AMAZING!

Ingredients:

• 1 roll 8 count reduced fat crescent rolls (or jumbo size if you are making more than 4)
• 1 cup shredded reduced fat colby jack blend (or cheddar, or whatever cheese you want) cheese
• 2 chicken breasts
• Light cream cheese (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can fat free milk (use the soup can)
• Sliced Baby Portabella Mushrooms (about 1/3 cup)
• Olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Cut chicken breast into cubes
• Coat the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil, about 1 tablespoon, and turn burner on to medium/medium-high
• Place chicken cubes in pan sauté the chicken for about 10 minutes (make sure the internal temp reached 165 degrees), turning the chicken cubes often to cook evenly.
• Unroll crescent dough and separate into 4 rectangles, two triangles to a rectangle, and pinch the seams so that the triangles won't split apart when you build your biscuits
• Spread about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese onto each rectangle
• Place 1/4 cup shredded cheese on top of the cream cheese
• Place 1/4 cup of your cooked chicken cubes onto your cheese and begin to fold/wrap the crescent to seal it up
• It doesn't have to look pretty just make sure to pinch and wrap the crescent so that it won't break/split apart
• Place in 9x9 baking dish

• Make soup mixture with one can of soup and can of milk. Pour half of the soup over the biscuits.
• Place some sliced mushrooms around the biscuits in the soup
• Place in oven and cook for 30 min on 350.

Ta-Daaa!!!

I served this with steamed broccoli and made a cheese rue with the left over soup. If you want to do that too here are the  brief steps:

• Place one bag of frozen broccoli in a pot with 1/2 cup water, bring to boil, cover and turn to medium-low and simmer for 8 min, drain and serve.
• With the left over soup place on low on the stove top, stir in about 2 tablespoons of flour and about a half cup of shredded cheese.
• Pour soup over broccoli and serve

Excuses, Excuses...

Ok so an update on the 3 Day Diet.... it's full of excuses. I wasn't able to/chose not to do it for the 3 days mainly because I didn't know that I had been committed to a dinner date with my boyfriend's boss and wife. I didn't think they would care for why I wasn't eating anything at the dinner they were paying for. So I gave in and bought a salad and had some wine. Overall I did the diet for breakfast and lunch each of the three days and then had a decently healthy dinner those nights. I lost a few pounds but would still like to give it a shot at the 3 full days and see how it goes.

My boyfriend will be out of down for two weeks as of Saturday so that will be a good chance to make food decisions for myself and do the 3 Day Diet. I will post with results and how it went. Speaking of the bf that is one of my excuses/downfalls when it comes to eating on a regular basis. The month we didn't live together I lost 9lbs. I love living with him and I often will make my own dinner so that I'm not eating hamburger helper on a regular basis. But I love cooking for people and I want him to think what I make tastes good. So for him I usually add in extra cheese or butter or sauces. I will usually make mine differently but something I just say screw it and eat the same thing or the hamburger helper or whatever it is. I go through a lot of trouble to eat better than he does, we buy separate: refried beans, tortillas, cheeses, sour cream, milk, and coffee creamer. So there you have it one of my number one excuses for not eating healthy all the time. Also it tastes so good to have fried cheese curds (best thing ever btw) every once in awhile. I will revisit this issue again....