Week One...and Done!

6FIT Week 1 is over!  I will admit, I really loved week one.  Cardio week, leafy greens week and water week...for me, they all went really well together.

I logged 10 miles of cardio: a hike with my daughter, double stroller hill torture runs, single stroller runs and finally a solo run yesterday where I broke a personal record and felt really proud of everything I accomplished in the past week.

Here I am after my final Cardio Week Run, sporting my DanceFIT Studio gear, of course!

I participated in 10 Virtual Skype classes, including a new class where I got to be a Rockette for 45 minutes--it was amazing!  Saturday was my rest day, and boy did I need it.  My muscles were sore and I felt physically exhausted.  It was a welcome day off.  I spent the day with my daughter...we went to see Elmo Live and then to a BBQ at my brother's house.  The weather was beautiful and it was just a great day.  My husband was away all week so it was jut me and the kiddos.  Surprisingly, I did OK...no major anxiety attacks and the babies behaved themselves (for the most part)...I feel like super mom!

As for water, I averaged about 75oz a day...I learned that when I wanted to snack, stop and sip some water first.  The phantom hunger went away.  What a concept! I will admit, there were a few nights that I realllly wanted a glass (or 3) of wine.  I went out with my girlfriends on Thursday and used the 80/20 rule.  I had a salad and some wine.  I resisted the fries and dessert.  It was a special treat.

My meals were FILLED with leafy greens.  Almost every single meal I ate last week contained at least 2 cups of spinach, kale or both.  I felt really healthy all week.

Here are a few pictures of my meals this week:

Salmon over quinoa and spinach with a side of broccoli 

BBQ Tofu/Kale/Quinoa Bowl

Shrimp, asparagus, zucchini over spaghetti squash

Last min meal:sauteed spinach, asparagus, pine nuts, spaghetti squash and chicken

Lettuce wraps with roasted chicken and tomatoes for lunch

Cardio Week might be over, but I have signed up for a training plan via Run Keeper so I am going to stick to my overall 6FIT goals that were set before I even started and get more cardio into my life.  Now I just have to get over my fear of running by myself in the morning!

Quinoa- The Super Food of All Super Foods

I was introduced to Quinoa about 3 years ago when it was "trendy"...everyone was eating it, talking about it, blah blah blah.  I read up on it, bought it and tried it.  First I just cooked it up and threw some frozen veggies into it...not good.  The next time I made it, I replace the typical brown rice we use for out chicken curry dish with it.  I warned my husband in advance and he promised he would try it and also not complain about it.  This is huge in itself.  Anyway, he didn't like it, but I thought it was OK with the curry.  Either way, I decided it was too annoying to prepare (rinsing it, letting it sit, 15 minutes to cook) and I just stopped using it.  When my first 6FIT rolled around in December of 2011, I tried it again.  This time, I looked up some recipes (which I will share with you below) and made it a point to love quinoa!  Even my daughter was eating quinoa in her prepackaged baby food.  Today I LOVE, am obsessed with, replace everything with quinoa.

Did you know that 2013 has officially been declared "The International Year of Quinoa"?  It must be good!

Here is a list of tips and tricks that I have found helpful for eating and preparing quinoa:

• Buy in bulk (if you can).  I buy a 2lb bag of quinoa at BJ's for $4.99.  In the regular grocery store, the same brand costs $5.99 for a 14oz bag.  No brainer.  
• Buy pre-washed.  This takes a lot of time out of prepping quinoa.  
• Make a big batch.  2 cups of quinoa and 4 cups of water will make a batch that will last about 5 days between myself and my daughter.  During 6FIT Quinoa week, I make more.  I literally put quinoa into everything so having it premade makes it really easy to add it to salads, sauteed recipes, etc. Also, most recipes called for cooked Quinoa but always double check.
• Replace pasta and rice with Quinoa.  I will admit, it took a while to get used to this.  My family does not eat a lot of pasta, and when we do we make a chili type sauce and put it over pasta so it is easy to replace.  We also eat a lot of veggie/chicken stir fry with brown rice.  Brown rice is not forbidden during bread/pasta week in 6FIT, but seeing as it coincides with Quinoa Week...go ahead and replace it! 

This is the brand I use (chubby baby legs are not included):

Want some details on the health benefits of Quinoa?  Go here:

Quinoa is great; here's why.

Ok so onto some recipes.  I usually keep it pretty simple, but I have been branching out lately.  

One of my go to recipes for lunch (or dinner) is roasted veggies over satueed kale and spinach with quinoa.  Roast veggies at 400 for 40 minutes (I like sweet potato, parsnips and brussel sprouts- toss in olive oil, salt/pepper and cayenne).  Saute the kale and spinach together in olive oil, salt pepper, cayenne (see a pattern here?) and stir in the cooked quinoa at the end. Serve together and voila! 

Pinterest is a fabulous place for Quinoa recipes and it's where I get most of mine.  I have linked my health recipes pinterest page as I am constantly pinning quinoa stuff! 

Below is a list of recipes I have tried and approved!  They are all links to where I got the original recipes.

Quinoa and Kale Patties  I posted this in the 6FIT page, but I just want to stress a few things.  Make sure that once the batter is mixed, it sits for a while- even 30 minutes.  It is still going to be really runny.  Try to form into a ball anyway.  Cook for 10-12 min medium heat on BOTH sides. These are so good.  I used them as breakfast cakes, in lettuce wraps for lunch and then again for breakfast sauteed in with my spinach.  

BBQ Quinoa/Kale Bowl.  So here is the recipe I base mine off.  I made it a lot easier though and substituted a few things.  First of all the BBQ tofu: I just tossed in BBQ Sauce and tobasco, baked for 30 min at 400 (tofu cut into cubes).  Instead of brown rice I used quinoa and instead of blackeyed peas, I used garbanzo beans.  So So good.  If you don't like tofu, you can use shrimp of chicken! It is very filling.  

Quinoa/Avocado/Corn Salad The recipe calls for soaking the quinoa overnight...here is where the pre-washed quinoa comes in handy.  You can omit that step all together.  

Quinoa Breakfast Bowl  One of my favorites.  My sister shared this recipe during winter 6FIT and it is absolutely delicious.  Note- This recipe calls for walnuts, so if you're allergic  it still tastes good without.  Just add more berries!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers  I will not lie.  I don't follow a recipe for these, but the one linked comes pretty close to what I do.  I usually just stuff peppers with quinoa and steamed spinach, add some spices and bake them.  So good and 2 peppers lasts 2 days. 

I think those recipes should get you started on your journey to loving Quinoa! I wish I had tips of how to make kids like quinoa, but I don't.  It's just one of the things my daughter loves...she will eat it plain without spices too.  

Enjoy!

A New Day

As Spring 6FIT  with DanceFIT Studio kicks off tonight and tomorrow, I can't help but feel very grateful for a happy, active, positive 6 weeks ahead.  It has been an emotional roller coaster of a week here in our beloved city of Boston and all over the nation really.  There is no sense in getting into during this post because I could go on and on, but as I start to have a sense of closure and my paranoia goes away, I will continue to pray for the families who are still grieving, healing and struggling and pray for a peaceful future for all of us.

Ok friends...so HERE WE GO!  Week 1 is finally here.  This happens to be one of my favorites.  Cardio, Kale and Water.  This is going to be my final week as a stay at home mama...I was offered and accepted a great position last week.  That said, I have this whole week to get out and run, hike, walk, climb.  Personally, I am going to be logging miles for Miles For Boston and #runforboston over the next week.  

I am also going to take my kids for a hike in town, we are going to take a trip into the city, and we are going to try and concur a 180 elevation hill near our house.  We went up it last week and I honestly didn't think I was going to make it.  Pushing 80lbs of kid and stroller was a feat in itself and I don't think Run Keeper took that into account when calculating my calories burned! Speaking of Run Keeper- I highly recommend it!  You can make a friends list, etc.  it is wonderful.  It also reminds you to get you behind moving when you haven't logged in, in a couple days...!

Kale.  I have blogged about kale before.  I used to hate it...like literally couldn't swallow it.  Today it is one of my DAILY staples.  I eat it for breakfast a lot.  I usually just saute it in olive oil, add salt and pepper and for some spice, a sprinkle of cayenne.  Scramble with eggs or make an omelet.  If I eat kale for lunch I saute, roast a lot of veggies (I usually roast enough veggies for 3 meals), grill tofu and mix it all together.  Delish.  In the winter, I put it in soups.  Smoothies with kale are really good, although you need to get a good balance of kale vs fruit.  I use kale, almond milk, ice, a banana and frozen berries.  A plus is that my 2 year old daughter loves this smoothie and thinks it is a treat! Ha!  Have her good and fooled.     

Water!  Water week is not too difficult for me...besides maybe cutting out the wine :)  I do not drink anything except water ever.  I have previously blogged about water tips, but in case you missed it, but #1 tip is to get a great water bottle, keep it with you and refill when it's empty.  For those of you who have trouble with water, the good news is that it's spring and I personally find it easier to get water down when it's warmer.  There are a lot of great ideas out there to naturally flavor water as well.  Berries, mint, cucumber and the old staple- lemon or lime are all great options.  Have a Pinterest account?  There are hundreds of water "recipes" on there.  

Good luck to everyone this first week.  If there is one thing I have learned from my past 6FITs, is that even though we all on separate teams, we are are really on one big team.  Don't be afraid to ask questions, vent, share bad days and good days.  No one judges.  Everyone sympathizes, gives advice and provides motivation to get you back on track.  

More Hours Needed

Ok friends.  The time has come for this Mama to get back to work.  I am just going to write this blog as if I 100% have a new job because I need to keep the positive thinking up! With any luck, I will be going back to work by the end of the month.  I have been at home with Caoimhe for a year and my little man for 6 months now.  We have a good routine going.  I have time to think about what I am going to make for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, I am able to workout in the middle of the morning while the baby naps and C is running around and most nights I am able to get everything done before my evening workouts.  For the most part, I feel like I have the "work life balance" thing under control, but being out of the home after so long is going be hard for me and I tend to easily get overwhelmed. Never mind missing my babies, but that is a whole other story.

Now, when I go back to work my schedule is going to look something like this:

5AM- wake up, shower, get ready for work
6AM- leave for work
7AM-4PM - work
5PM- 7:15PM- Get home, dinner, play with kids, bedtime routine
7:30-9:30PM- Workouts
9:30-10:30PM Relax with hubby
10:30PM- Sleep!

So that schedule takes care of the daily necessities right? Work, commute, kid time, me time, hubby time, sleep.

WHAT ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE?? Laundry, nutritious meals for all of us, grocery shopping, cleaning?  I need sleep.  I can't give up sleep...I barely have any as it is.  Why are there not more hours in the day?

So, I have been thinking of things I can do in order to try and simplify my days during the week.
The actual ideas are good, but I have no idea how to make them real...that's where you come in.  I need help!  Ideas, recipes, advice from other busy parents...SOS!

Here's what I've come up with:

• Meal Planning- for both dinner and lunches.  The kids are not a problem, but for instance- can we make a full weeks worth of sandwiches for my husband's lunch?  What can I make ahead of time for breakfast and lunch for myself to take with me to work for the week?  I usually eat sauteed kale and veggies for breakfast.  What about dinner?  I want to make nutritious dinners for my family, but I don't want to spend the whole night making it when I could be playing with the babies instead.  I am a fan of the crockpot, but I can't use it every night...am I making any sense? 
• Food Prep-  Preferably, I like to eat meals fresh, but I feel like if I have everything I need ready to go cooking won't take as long. 
• PeaPod...I really might just give in and have all of my major groceries delivered.  I feel like this is going to take a lot of pressure off. The only thing is that I have some control issues and a little bit of OCD so not being able to pick out my own produce and meat is going to bother me.  Does anyone else use this service?  
• Take advantage of my Rest Day.  I am going to try to not twitch when I see laundry piled up or toys all over the place and just SLOW DOWN and enjoy the time I have with my family that day.  

Spring 6FIT with DanceFIT Studio is 1 week away.  I need to make a list...I need to start planning!  Listed below are a few blogs that I have found with great meal plans and ideas, but how do I actually implement them into my daily routine? How do I start this new routine?  

The Naked Kitchen: http://www.thenakedkitchen.com/category/daily-menus/

100 Days of Real Food: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-resources/

Deep down, I know everything will get done, everyone will be happy and we will have a good balance, but seriously- I would kill for maybe 5 more hours a day.  That would really help, wouldn't it? 

Yoga.

I have never been a yoga buff.  Like ever.  I had taken maybe 10 total yoga classes in my entire life...I am more of a pilates girl.  So when Gina put CountryFIT Yoga on the virtual schedule I was hesitant to add it to my workout routine.  I have now taken about 7 (ish) CountryFIT Yoga classes and I have gone from not being able to hold a pose more than a few seconds to almost the entire time.  Yay!

The reason I am blogging about yoga tonight is because I just finished the most amazing class.  I had a busy weekend and a busy day and the last thing I wanted to do was workout tonight.  I just wanted to sit on the couch and stare mindlessly at the T.V. or go crazy on Pinterest.  Anyway, after the dinner and bedtime routines were over I felt calmer and ready to work.  Saturday was my rest day after all.

I am SO HAPPY I didn't cancel my class because I truly feel so good after that class.  Proud of myself for being able to get through about 90% of a very challenging yoga class (finally).  I felt insanely strong, I held a bind on both side, my hips are stretched from pigeon pose, chaturanga has gotten better and I made a little bit of progress in crow.  By progress, I mean I held it for about two seconds without falling flat on my face after.  Joy!  Gina put a few twists and turns in class tonight too, which I took in stride, focused and accomplished them.  On top off all that, I felt like my planks were really strong tonight.

I am making such a big deal about this because I've been feeling a bit slumpish the past few days and just by taking this one class tonight, I am instantly out of it.  I am ready to start the week off strong and positive.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a happy a positive week ahead!

Namaste!

With A Little Help From My Friends

Can Spring 6FIT start tomorrow?  I wish! Three weeks seems like an incredibly long time to wait. I had been doing really, really well post 6FIT and then I hit a wall.  I have been keeping up with my exercise at about 80% from where I was during winter 6FIT, but the past couple of weeks my eating habits have been sub par.  For instance...today I went to Panera for lunch after a grocery shopping trip.  I wasn't in the mood for a salad so I searched the menu for something somewhat healthy.  I decided on a turkey and avocado club sans bacon, and mustard instead of mayo.  When they asked if I wanted an apple, bread or chips on the side, I said apple.  I got into the car, opened up the bag and there was my sandwich with a side of warm Mac N' Cheese!  Ummm thank you Panera for completely sabotaging my day.  I cannot resist mac n' cheese and will eat it whenever it is put in front of me.  My daughter (lucky for me) doesn't like it so it is never a temptation.
Reason #1 I cannot wait for Spring 6FIT to start! If I was in a 6FIT session, I would have seen that gooey, cheesy bowl of goodness and immediately thought of my teammates, everyone's healthy and colorful charts and all of my hard work and tossed it.  Man N' Cheese bad...Apple good.

Another thing that I am lacking in is my water consumption.  I can feel it too.  My skin and lips are dry, I am getting lots of headaches and I am snacking like an irrational maniac who has never eaten before.  I am usually such a huge advocate of water.  I drink nothing else (well, except for wine).
My main tips for getting enough water is to buy a 24oz water bottle that you LOVE!  Mine is a Nathan water bottle.  It is pink and cute and can hook onto things for easy transport.  I take it with me everywhere.  My daughter, of course, loves it too so if you don't mind toddler backwash, it's good for sharing.  I fill mine up every time it's close to being drained and try to drink at least 3 bottles a day.

Thankfully, the 6FIT Facebook page is still active and I am friends with a lot of 6FIT graduates.  On days I feel completely gross about my nutrition choices, I can reach out to them or to DanceFIT Studio staff for help, advice or just an ear.  I "see" a lot of my 6FIT pals in Virtual DanceFIT classes multiple times per week which makes me happy and motivated.  Some of us check in with each other to see what classes we are signed up for in the coming week.  I am so grateful to be a part of such an amazing group of people.  Everyone leads different lives, but we all have one thing in common- wanting a healthy and fit life for ourselves and our families.  

I hope you will join me in my next 6FIT endeavor! Good friends, healthy food, sweaty workouts- what more could you ask for?  

Until then, I will remember this and keep trucking:

Body Image and Reality

I have had two babies in under two years, and for those of you who don't know, being pregnant changes your body in a lot of different ways.  Some good, some bad.  Personally, I didn't exactly enjoy being pregnant and all the changes that came with it.  Especially towards the end, I just wanted my body back.  About a year after my first child was born (yes, I waited that long), I started working out, got strong, lost weight, felt a bit more back to my old self.  Then I got pregnant again.  Repeat.  I worked out until 30 weeks with my son until my doctor advised me to stop and rest for the remainder of my pregnancy.  About 5 weeks postpartum I was itching to get back into a healthy routine.  I started back with my virtual skype classes with DanceFIT Studio a few nights a week and then amped it up when 6FIT started in February.

After 6FIT was over, I was feeling good, feeling healthy and had lost about 5 pounds and 11 total inches.  Not too shabby, if you ask me.  Then someone on Facebook posted a picture of Giselle (we all know which Giselle I am talking about), about 3 months postpartum with her 2nd child, on the beach in a bikini...WEARING AN ERGO.  In case anyone was wondering, she had 0 muffin top, meanwhile my Ergo waist strap is almost at full extension.  I am only human and my first emotion was discouragement.  What have I been working so hard for when I have people like that to live up to?  Ugh.

I take to Facebook (duh).  "Blah blah blah, Gisele with an Ergo, no fat, perfect as always, blah blah blah."  I might just have amazing friends, but the responses I got were so sweet and uplifting and REAL.  Here's a summary:

• Gisele's body is her money maker.  Her lively hood (well, besides her superstar, millionaire, quarterback husband).  She actually gets paid to look like that.  
• She has nannies, cooks, housekeepers
• She has personal trainers 
• She is able to spend lots and lots and lots of time in the gym

My husband said the exact same thing (twice- the first time was when I got all depressed about Megan Fox looking like she was never even pregnant).  

Duh!  My peeps were right...what was I thinking?  I am home all day with a toddler and an infant.  I take care of the house, feed my two children a total of about 13 times a day, cook dinner every night, make lunches AND workout 6 days a week.  Plus, I am going to be starting a full time job again soon (where I will find the time for everything, I do not know- another story for another time) Anyway,  I think I'm doing alright!

I started thinking of all the celebrities who I actually really like that have kids and maybe they have nannies or whatever, but they take care of their bodies in a healthy way and also take care of their kids.  

My top two favorites are: 

• Jennifer Garner (for obvious reason, how can you not love her?) 
• Hilary Duff (don't ask me why- I have a weird obsession with her.  I follow her on Twitter and Instagram and she just seems totally normal and in love with her kid.  I also like her style and she does Piloxing which I really want to try!)

I feel like they both set really good examples of moms being good to their bodies and their children at the same time.  They don't feel the need to have a baby, and be back in a size 0 in 2 weeks.  Amen to that! Those are the types of people I want as an example.  

I don't want my daughter growing up staring at airbrushed magazine covers thinking that's how she needs to look like I did.  Today during my yoga class she asked why I was exercising.  "To be strong" I said. "Ohhh to be strong Mommy" and showed me her guns and best strong girl face :) 

I want to set a good example for my daughter.  Next time I get down about not having the perfect post baby body I will remember what I am trying to instill in her:  Be healthy, Be strong, Be active, Be happy.