Chia balls....

I like that title.  Reminds me of this.  And it's so appropriate because it's a Christmas segment.  Right?  I made some raw chia seed balls today but first...the workout.

I started off with a Jillian Michael's workout from her book "Making The Cut."

Wide grip lat pulldowns-15
Medium underhand lat pulldowns-15
Jumping Lunges-20
Hill sprint-1 minute

Terry pulls-20, 12, 10 (upping weight with every set)
Standing lat pulldowns-20
Back kicks with shoulder press-10 each leg
Hill sprint-1 minute

Seated cable rows-20
Step ups-20 each leg
Butt kicks-1 minute

Incline bicep curls-20
Pike crunches-20
Hamstring curls on ball-15
Butt kicks-1 minute

Supermans-20 then hold 30 seconds
Boat pose-30 sec
Reverse Plank- 1 minute
*Basically just speed through the workout as fast as possible.


Then I did a little more back/biceps:

Bar curls on pulley-15
Standing lat pulldowns-15
*repeat three times

Reverse fly on incline bench-15
Incline bicep curls-15
*repeat three times

Did stairs for 15 minutes and a sprint workout on the treadmill for twenty minutes.  One minute on one minute off.

Breakfast was oatmeal with a few banana slices and a protein drink in the form of hot cocoa.

I snacked on a string cheese and pirate booty while we were out and about.  Nice.  Lunch was a chicken sandwich with goat cheese and spinach on a sandwich thin.

This was soooooooo good.  I devoured it.

After lunch I whipped up some new balls.  I wanted to use chia seeds in them.  Chia seeds are a great source of energy and I usually take them in the morning.  Put a tablespoon in a cup of water and let it sit fifteen minutes.  The seeds form a gel around them so it has kind of a really thin tapioca pudding texture. I just down it real quick.  The taste isn't bad at all.  Here are some facts about chia seeds:


1.  Helps stabilize blood sugar
2.  Promotes energy and sustains energy
3.  Good for your heart, lowers cholesterol
4.  Maintains hydration
5.  Helps build lean muscle mass
6.  Fiber for digestive health
7.  Builds strong bones
8.  Excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids
9.  Loaded with antioxidants
10. Gluten free
11. Good source of protein
12. Packed with vitamins and minerals

After reading all of those plus more that are not listed.....who wouldn't want to eat/drink chia seeds.  I think these seeds are especially important for athletes.  If i can get all that nutrition with the added energy and protein I am all for it.  Now for the balls:

Mix all together:

1/4 cup chia seeds
2 cups raw old fashioned oats
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup almond butter
2-3 tablespoons agave nectar
2 tablespoons truvia
1/4 coconut (I didn't have any unsweetened so I threw in the sweetened kind.  If you have unsweetened...go with that).
2 tablespoons raisins
10 prunes chopped
* I didn't add protein powder because I didn't think about it...but next time I will add a scoop.

Form into balls.  You can refrigerate these or freeze them.  Great for a long run or an endurance workout.

I'm all done Christmas shopping.  Anyone else?

I love to bake....and it's bad

Yesterday morning started out really well.  I slept in.  I usually always find a lame excuse to sleep in on Mondays.  I got up at about 7:15 because I had to be to the dentist by eight.  When I came home I made myself a healthy smoothie.  This one had spinach, strawberries, guava, plain greek yogurt, vanilla protein powder, and water.  It was a good way to get my fruits and veggies in early in the day.

Then because I am so productive everyday of my life I put together a really hard dinner in the crock pot.  This is my most favorite taco meat and it is so easy.  When people ask what is in it they don't believe me when I tell them.  All it is is chicken tenders and a can of green chilies.  Nothing else.  Nothing!  And it is really yummy on tacos.

Just put it in and your set.  Easiest dinner ever.

I snacked on rice cakes and a Kashi cookie before fitting in my workout.  I did the gpp workout of the day.  This is one of my favorite workouts to do.

STABL = (shoulders,triceps, abs, biceps and legs)

Class does reps in unison on trainers count:

Shoulder Medley - 3 rounds

           20 front raises 15/20
           20 upright row 15/20
           20 OH press 15/20

Triceps Medley - 3 rounds

            10 narrow push-ups  BW
            20 skull crushers 15/20         
            20 OH French press 15/20

Ab Medley - 3 rounds

            20 situps 
            20 R side ups
            20 L side ups          
            20 Superman back ext's 

Biceps 21’s - 3 rounds   (see demo)      

            7 bottom to half 15/20
            7 half to full 15/20
            7 full 15/20

Legs Medley -3 rounds

            20 BTB squats 
            20 alternating lunge switches
            20 single leg DL 15/20

*Try not to rest during the three exercises at all.  Rest at the end of the triple.

I fit in a pretty healthy lunch after.  A spinach salad with chicken and a couple kashi crackers.  I put too much dressing on which turned out OK because Ollie ate half of it.  :)

Then my day got so much better and so much worse.  I made this stuff.  It's HORRIBLE for you.  I mean, just awful.  But I had to make it to take to my parents and so I ate it for afternoon snack and dinner.  Sweet.  At least it tasted yummy.

I went to bed feeling gross.  Today has been much better.  After a day like that I don't even have to try to eat good.  I just want too.  I skipped spin this morning because I am going to go tonight with my sister.  So I got to the gym at six and my workout was really random:

TRX push-up-15
TRX tricep dip-15 (hands on bench, feet in the TRX)
Woodchoppers-15 each side
*repeat three times

DB chest press-15
DB fly-15
*repeat three times

DB decline chest press-15
Pike push-ups-15
*repeat three times

After that my friend shows up and is doing the gpp workout of the day.  I couldn't not do it with her.

Perform 4 sets of each of the following:

10 BB biceps curls AHAP
20 DB presses strict 15/25
30 KB swings 35/53
40 crunches

Those KB swings were so hard the third and fourth rounds!  Then we hit up the treadmill together for a quick cardio session.  We did a hill workout that looked like this:

Minutes 1-20....9.0 incline, walk one minute, sprint up that hill one minute for twenty minutes

Minutes 20-30...11.0 incline same thing.  Sprint on and off.

I was a sweaty nast.

Breakfast was 1 whole egg + 3 egg whites with a half of a sandwich thin toasted.

Snack was a protein bar while I was out running around.  I just finished lunch which was a salad.  Spinach, chicken, carrots, broccoli, a little feta, and one bacon strip.  I was in a salty mood which is why I added the bacon.  I NEVER add bacon to my salads.  Now I know why....it was totally grossing me out while I was eating my salad.  I'm a sausage kind of girl and even that's rare.  I gagged this salad down.  Really.  It was not good to me.

The rest of the afternoon will be spent trying to avoid the couch or my bed and to get something done.  Anything.  Ya right...gotta save my energy for spin tonight.  Right?

Where is the motivation?

I don't know what it is lately but my motivation is lacking in all departments.  I have worked out at the same gym regularly since I was fifteen.  I have never had a problem being motivated to work out.  I have always had a problem being motivated to eat better.  :)  But lately I feel like my motivation for working out is slipping and it's freaking me out!  I think it is a combo of waking up before five when I am not at all a morning person, and the fact that it is cold and dark outside my covers.  I think my body wants to gain the extra five pounds of winter blubber to keep me warm.  I guess I just have to be OK with that.  I know it will come off next summer right?  I still get to the gym about five days a week but it just seems harder lately.  I need more sleep people!!!

I did really good the end of this week with the workouts.  But I have eaten lots of treats.  At least I got a few semi healthy snacks/meals in over the weekend.

Protein shakes of course.  They are a staple around here.

I made some healthy cinnamon almonds the other day.  I snacked on them when my pms-ey sugar attack came on.  

Salmon burgers for the busy losers we were this week with no time for making decent meals.  I should have been more prepared I guess.

We love rice cakes around here.  They are made with brown rice so if you need a snack/treat these are a great low calorie option.

Oatmeal with bananas, plain greek yogurt, and a little agave.

These have been good to my sugar craving these past few days too.  Almond butter and jelly rice cakes.  Yes, still sugar but at least its not chocolate cake people.

Speaking of chocolate cake, I made a really good on tonight and ate too much of it.  I haven't eaten a ton of sugar lately so when I do binge on one thing it makes me a little ill.  But still yummy.

So I need to go in search of my motivation.  I hope my future posts are not as boring as this one was.  On a happier note, Neil at GPPfit.com sent me a bumper sticker today.  Whoo whoo!  I will be putting it on my car asap.  Thanks Neil!

This will be quick

It's late.  I need my bed.  But I wanted to at least post my workout.  I just got back from dinner with some neighborhood friends and ate way too much today but who's complaining?  Breakfast was sweet potato pancakes that turned into scrambled pancakes because they would not hold together.  They still tasted yummy.  All the rest of my meals were all over the place.  So no pics today.

Workout:

Spin class

Gpp:

Complete 5 supersets of ea.

5 weighted pushups AHAP
burnout set of chest flys (band) med/heavy
Rest 90 secs

Then,

5 weighted chinups AHAP
burnout set of bent rows 65/95
Rest 90 secs

Then:

4 handstand push ups (nose to floor)
12 strict OH DB press AHAP
25 side lateral raise 10/15 (strict)

12 OH triceps French press AHAP
25 BB skull crushers 25/45

And a couple of abs at the end.  I ended up almost doing two full gpp workouts but the second one wasn't quite the full thing.  Legs tomorrow.  Bring it on.  G night!

Lets start with today...

then do Thanksgiving recap shall we?

Before we left on our little Thanksgiving getaway I happened to open a box from the Fed Ex guy.  I thought it was my kids presents I had ordered but no, new shoes for me!  Hooray.  Thanks to my boyfriend who was going to save them for Christmas.  I could really have used them now though.  If I would have known something for me was in that box I never would have opened it.  But I'm glad I did.

My workout today was killer after the holiday of stuffing my face.  I did this workout from gpp:

For time:

1600 m row (or 160 rowing alt.)
200 KB swings 25/35
1000 rope jumps
200 box jumps
200 situps
200 squats
200 ab bridge jacks

Seriously???  I wanted to throw up.  But it was awesome at the same time because I needed it sooooo bad.  If you need a good workout, try this one day.

I skipped a protein shake because I was starving so eggs and a plain greek yogurt parfait it was.

The protein shake came in later for snack time.  Chocolate mint hot cocoa.  Perfect for this cold, cold, day.

I made this cake last night for dinner and I think I ate a fourth of it today.  I felt like I snacked on it all dang day which isn't good.  But I am pre menstrual so there.

Lunch was cafe rio soup with a bunch of my girlfriends from the gym to celebrate Xela's birthday which was Friday.  Happy Birthday Xela!!!

Dinner was a salmon burger, salad, and a little sweet potato.  It was nothing gourmet but it was quick and easy.

For Thanksgiving my in laws so graciously rented out a beautiful home down in Zions National Park for all of us to go stay at together.  We had a lot of fun, good food, laughs, and great cousin time.  My kiddos loved it!

I love this man who changes all of the poopy diapers when he is around from this guy....

Peekaboo!

The morning of the big Turkey fest I really wanted to get a good workout in.  The hubs said he would do a six mile trail run with me.  Well.......he hasn't run in a while and was sick on top of that so it wasn't the best workout.  We went about three miles walking/running.  I did get in 125 burpees along the way though so I counted it as good enough.

It was freezing when we first started out so he let me wear his shorts.  They were huge but we managed. Thanks darling.

When we got back to the house it was cooking time.  I was in charge of the yams, salad, and apple pie.  I am so good at making salads.....see?  Joey peeled all my yams and apples and relayed them to me from across the kitchen.  No one got hurt.  We are that good.  This is the apple pie I made.  I don't even like apple pie and this baby was amazing.  For my yams I did the sweet potatoes and apples my family always makes on Thanksgiving.  I will put the recipe up another time.  But they are good...like really yummy.

My plate.....I think I ate more crap this weekend that I have all year.  It feels so good to be home again and getting back into the routine.

What we do for fun.  Dress people up so they look like idiots and laugh at them.  This was four of the kiddos doing the upside down puppets that I made.  It is so funny to me to watch these.  The kids love them and laugh so hard.

Then Heather and Benji pulled this one off and I was peeing my pants.  I know....guess you had to be there.  Big Whoop.

Friday morning we got up and went into the park to hike.  We did the hike to the Emerald Pools.  I got my workout in by packing my boy both ways.

All my kids absolutely love hiking.

The scenery was so gorgeous.  The hubs and I are going back down in February with no kids and I can't wait.  It will be so nice to enjoy the view and do some longer hikes.

Friday night a couple people went to the sand dunes.  I was home with a sleeping sick baby but I'm sad I missed out.  The hubs did some awesome cartwheels all the way down I hear.

He loves me.  :)

We had such a good time but we all got sick.  We are all exhausted and ready to be home.  Our week this week is out of control crazy.  It's insane.  I can't believe how much we have going on these days.  Hopefully we make it through it.  I just don't think about it because if I do I go nuts.  Wish me luck!

Congrats to Luke and Jess on your new baby girl!!!

Healthified Stuffing

I could not get up for spin today.  I made it to the gym about eight.  It was awesome.  I got to see my friend Shari who I never see anymore because she comes at seven and I leave at seven.  I got to talk to her for 45 minutes while I doing the stairmaster.  Here is what I did today:

45 min stairclimber

This gpp workout:

Perform 5 sets of each:

5 weighted chinups AHAP
5 BB curl cleans AHAP
10 bar grippers (forward) AHAP (R + L = 1)

Then I did:

Woodchoppers-15 each side

BB bicep curls-20

One minute sprint

*repeat four times

I had to leave to take my little one to school or I might have stayed another hour or five.  :)

I made this stuffing on Sunday night.  I tried to make it semi-healthy since I love stuffing but I don't love the cup of butter that usually goes into it.  

Saute together:
4 tbs coconut oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery stalks


Add:
1 cup chopped apples
1/2 cup craisins
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbs sage


Mix in 4 quarts of dry whole wheat bread crumbs.  It will be dry.   Then add 1/2 - 1 cup water with chicken boullion mixed in as strong as you like.  Bake in an 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.


With Thanksgiving in just two days this will be a good one to try out.  We liked it a lot.  This is my mother in laws recipe that I altered to make healthier.  She always has good recipes.


Gotta get up early to hit the gym and go run bleachers.  I am so excited to run bleachers.  Its been too long.

Injuries

I started to get a pain in my outer arch yesterday.  When I woke up this morning it was killing I could barely walk.  But it was weird....it didn't hurt to push on it, just to do the walking bending toe motion.  And it hurt when I lifted it off the floor.  Has anyone else had something similar?  I was really angry when I got out of bed because I have three days to get a good workout in this week.  Three.  And I can barely walk.  Sweet.  Soooooo, that on top of my mom getting injured at the gym, the workout kinda blew this morning.  I usually do squats on the Smith Machine when my mom is working out with me.  Well today we did free standing squats and when she lifted the bar off the pegs she lost her balance.  She threw out her back and i think her hand is broken.  She says it isn't but it was black and blue and so swollen.  This was out first exercise, first set.  Judas.  Bad luck today....

Here is what I did:

30 minutes on stairmaster

Squats-10 heavy
Inner thigh raises-50 each leg
*repeat three times

Quad burnout on Leg Extension
Wall sit till failure

Glute raises-15
Deadlifts-15
One legged squats-10 each leg
*reapeat two times

I threw in some abs in there somewhere but my workout was not very hard today.  My foot is feeling a little better so maybe tomorrow?

I got sidetracked today doing something very important.... 

Yes, I got all my Christmas decorating done.  I don't decorate a lot but at least it's something.

My family has an annual pie night the Monday before Thanksgiving every year.  Everybody brings a pie and there is a couple of prizes for best tasting, most unique, best crust, etc.

I took a pumpkin, gingersnap, butterscotch, cream pie.  It was OK.  Not my favorite but pretty good.  My favorite was my sisters cranberry pie!  Yum.

This is not all of them.   More came and they go all the way down the counter.

We like to keep things as proper and classy as you can at our house.  So my brother brought a cow pie.  I didn't taste that one but it was some sort of mocha brownie and peeps said it was tasty.  Just need some Rocky Mountain Oysters to go along side of it.

We all look forward to pie night every year.  Thanks mom for the soup and bread and for hosting pie night every year.

Tomorrow I have a healthy and yummy (cuz that's important) Thanksgiving stuffing recipe for ya'll.  And hopefully a harder workout.  :)