Documentary Weekend & {Say It, Do It}

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I spent my Sunday watching food documentaries and now I'm obsessed! So I'm going to rant for a bit about them.

1st one we watched: Super Size Me. I watched this one in High School, but my boyfriend (who is a fast food junkie) hadn't seen it, so I made him watched and now he loves and hates me for it! Some things are little dated, but basic principles are the same. We all know fast food is bad for, but I just don't think we realize HOW bad it is and how much damage it can actually do to our bodies. It's a definite must see if you haven't watched it yet! On to the next one....

2nd one we watched: Food, Inc. OMG! I cried during this.. yes actual tears! As some of you might know, I've recently gotten into clean eating and trying to eat more organic and stuff. Well after watching this movie I'm OBSESSED with eating local, fresh food... especially meat. The animals got me in this movie. Seriously. I think I'll only be able to buy meat from farms that pasture-raise their animals and treat them humanely from now on. I spent the rest of my afternoon looking up local farmers markets that sell more animal products, because the one I go to just mostly has veggies and fruits. Definite life changer! I loved this movie! But I'm going to warn you if you watch it, you're definitely not going to be able to look at Tyson, Smithfield, and other well known companies the same ever again!

 

Ok getting off the heavy stuff now... Here's my week's workout schedule.

 

Monday: Spin class

Tuesday: Run club (5k)

Wednesday: Spin class

Thursday: Pilates

Friday: Pilates

Saturday: BodyPump?? (I'm leaving for the beach, so I don't know if I'll have time to fit it in before we leave)

Sunday: Run/Walk

 

I'm probably not going to post next week, I'm not even sure we have internet at the house we're staying at. It's my vacation, so I'm not going to be working out as much as I have been, but I walk every morning with mom and I'm definitely going to run a couple of days! Also, I have officially started Blogilates DietBet. It's not too late join me!

Have a great day! <3

{Say It, Do It}

Hey guys! So I'm going to plan out my workouts for the week so I can be held accountable :) Just saying them out loud makes me feel more motivated. So here we go...

Monday: Ran 2.5 miles
Tuesday: Run club (5k)
Wednesday: Spin class
Thursday: BodyPump
Friday: Run ~2.5 miles
Saturday: BodyPump
Sunday: Misc. workout (weights, etc.)

On top of these workouts, I'm following the Tone It Up daily workouts and trying to also workout in the mornings (which hasn't worked out so well for me) and I like doing Blogilates in the morning. I don't want to add these because sometimes they change last minute. You can still join the Bikini Series at Tone It Up and follow along with me!

WHAT?! NO REST DAY?!

My goal is to work out everyday between now and the beach (only 11 more days!)
I also planned all my meals out for the week so I can stay on track with my clean eating.

Also, Blogilates is hosting a DietBet starting June 1. It's $25 to join and the goal is to lose 4% of your body weight by the end of the month. So for someone that weighs 200 lbs that's a total of 8 lbs and for someone that weights 150 lbs that's 6 lbs. That's a totally realistic goal! I'm betting myself that I can do it and maybe make a little extra $$$$ while I'm at it. :) Join me!

 

 

Have a great week! <3

 

Clean Eating

Hey guys! It has been a BUSY week!! (or at least it seems that way) So since my last post (and I might've mentioned it) I have been following Tone It Up (TIU)'s Bikini Series.. or trying to follow it. I'm doing pretty good but could be doing much better. I love their workout and they're really challenging for me. I haven't purchased their nutrition plan yet because it's pretty pricey, but I think I'm going to in the upcoming weeks. Basically, they believe in clean eating.

What's clean eating? Pretty much eating whole, natural, unprocessed foods. Cut that crap out of your diet. We eat so much processed foods that we don't even realized what's processed anymore. It's new to me, and  time consuming, honestly, but totally worth it. It's best if you prep everything at the beginning of the week, but I feel the more I get used to it, the less time consuming it will seem to me. Now, this isn't to say that I'm never going to eat processed foods ever again, because I am, but if I'm at home cooking it's not going to be processed 99% of the time! Or that's the goal anyways...

Anyways up until this weekend (definitely went off the diet! and slacked on the working out) I had lost a few pounds and I can tell a difference in the way some of my clothes fit. HOLLLLLA! I'm going to the beach in less than a month so no slacking off.

I've made a couple recipes out of Clean Eating Magazine this week and they were delicious! My favorite was the Shrimp & Goat Cheese Quesadillas. I love me some goat cheese!

Serves: 4
Hands-on time: 9 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 oz frozen cooked shrimp (peeled and deveined, tail off), thawed, drained and coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 4 oz goat cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup jarred sliced roasted red peppers, drained
• 1/4 cup jarred sliced green olives, drained (I left these out b/c I don't like green olives and I didn't think they would go well with the other ingredients)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 4 small whole-grain tortillas (each 6 to 8 inches in diameter)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425˚F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix shrimp, cheese, roasted peppers, olives and basil. Lay tortillas out in a single layer on a flat surface. Scoop quarter of shrimp mixture into center of each tortilla. Fold tortilla over filling into a half-moon shape, pressing gently to flatten filling evenly inside tortilla.
3. Place tortillas on a parchment-lined baking tray. Brush tops of each tortilla with 1/2 tsp oil and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake for 6 minutes, until quesadillas are golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 1 to 2 minutes. Cut each quesadilla in half and serve immediately.

Nutrients per quesadilla (2 halves): Calories: 308, Total Fat: 13 g, Sat. Fat: 5 g, Omega-3s: 240 mg, Omega-6s: 460 mg, Carbs: 26 g, Fiber: 3 g, Sugars: 2 g, Protein: 18 g, Sodium: 554 mg, Cholesterol: 78 mg

Quick, easy, clean, and delicious!

Thanks for reading! <3

Time to get FOCUSED {been MIA}

Ok, so I haven't been on here in a month, and to be perfectly honest I don't have a good excuse. I was out of work for a month and had plenty of time, but felt so unfocused and frustrated. I've been dieting and exercising since January and have only lost 10 lbs! Yes, I'm a scale person, but I'm learning not to be. I haven't weighed myself in a couple of weeks because I honestly feel like I look better. It doesn't matter what the scale says, I healthier because I am working out (usually 5 days a week!) and I'm eating healthier. So for all of those of you that feel discouraged... I'm right there with ya!

But just keep going!!! We'll get over these plateaus together.

YEAH.. I read motivational crap on pinterest... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't (that's what he said)

This Saturday I'll be running in my first "race"! I've been doing the C25K and I'm on week 7! The race I'm doing this weekend is a 4k. I think I mentioned it in my other posts, it's called the Tap 'N' Run. Some of my friends are doing it with me and I'm pretty excited! :) Soon I'm going to sign up for a 5k, and I'm thinking about doing The Color Vibe 5k on June 22nd, which is my sista's birthday!! If anyone in the Raleigh area wants to do it with me.. let me know!

I've started doing more weight training, which I honestly feel has helped me the most. My body is firming up and less jiggly :) I'm going to the beach in a little over a month, and I'd like to not look like Flubber. One reason I've been unfocused is that there are so many workouts and programs out there that I want to do and I can't commit to just one. I'm obviously doing the C25K, I did the fit test for Insanity because I want to try to get up and do that in the mornings before work. I also belong to a gym, which I like going to. I enjoy the classes, but I also wait to lift weights. My favorite is Les Milles BodyPump because it does both! I was so sore the next day after my first class I could barely walk. So  because I don't have enough options I decided to do the Tone It Up Bikini Series and I'm a few days behind so I'm going to try to get somewhat caught up today. Definitely putting a few hours at the gym tonight! Good thing my boo's going with me.... awwwwww <3 (yeah I really don't like that mushy crap!)

I promise I'll try to do better with keeping up on here, mainly to hold myself accountable, but it's time to get my lazy ass in gear (for realz!).

And on an unrelated note (kind of).. I went to Disney over my month off. MY FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! (I make my mom feel guilty about this one often) "Why didn't I get to go to Disney as a child?????" My mom's my best friend and we rag on each other all the time! (but seriously, why couldn't I go to Disney as a child..) We went to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.. Obviously I wasn't dieting during my 2 days at Disney World. It was AWESOME! And sensory overload.. I can't wait to go back because I feel that I'll be able to relax and enjoy everything instead of worrying I'm going to miss something (because you're going to miss something!) We're planning on going back for my birthday in November and I'm hoping we can go the weekend of the Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon because I would loooove to mark that off my bucket list and accomplish something like that! It gives me something to work towards.

 

This is Di,my sistah from anotha mista!
Thanks for reading! XOXO

Say It, Do It {New For Me}

If you're new to SIDI (as am I), it's where we say our workouts out loud for a week to hold us accountable to our fitness goals. So here we go....

Monday: C25K Week 4 Day 2 (I think I'm going to have to repeat day 2)
Tuesday: Zumba and arm workout
Wednesday: C25K
Thursday: Swim
Friday: BodyPump
Saturday: C25K
Sunday: Rest

Yesterday I went to my very first BodyPump class which is a LesMills class using barbells. I really liked it, but my legs are so effing sore today. I pulled myself together anyways and tried to do my week 4, day 2 workout on C25K. It was rough! I didn't run the whole time I was supposed to, so I'm going to repeat day 2 on Wednesday. Hopefully it'll be better by then and my legs will feel a lot better.

For my arm workout... I'm using Mama Laughlin's Arm Workout... (love her!) She's gotten fantastic results with her workout, she does it 5 times a week. She's fantastic and if you haven't checked out her blog.. DO IT!

Also, in high school I was on the swim team my senior year (HOLLA!). I've always loved swimming and it's a great workout so I'm trying to get back in to it. I'm going to post my swim workout this week, but I want to test it out first and maybe tweak it a little bit.

Sunday's Easter so I'm resting, going to church with my family, and then going to my grandfather's for Easter lunch... I'm still debating on what to make!

Off to make make my peanut butter energy bites. These are great snacks especially before workouts... What I use to make these:

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites

• 1 cup dry oatmeal
• 1/2 cup nut butter (I just used peanut butter)
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 tsp vanilla

You can add customize these to your preferences... add chocolate chips, coconut flakes, dried fruit, etc.

Combine all the ingredients together and refrigerate for about an hour. The longer you chill it, the easier it is to form the balls. Roll in the 1-inch balls. I keep them refrigerator and enjoy! 

Makes about 20-30 balls.

Happy Monday!

XO

Ellie Review

Last month I joined a monthly subscription box, like Ipsy and Birchbox, except they send you 2 items of workout clothing. The monthly fee is $49.95 (which most people are like whaaaaaat?!), but if you've ever gone to buy workout clothing it's expensive. Getting a new outfit every month helps motivate me, so whatever works for you, right?! So, you pay the monthly fee and you can pick out 2 items--2 tops, 2 bottoms, or 1 bottom and 1 top, and the collection changes every month. When you sign up you take a style quiz which will recommend certain items for you, and if you don't choose your items the first week of the month then they will choose 2 items based on your quiz to send to you. You can skip a month whenever you want, with no penalty charge. If you don't want to purchase the membership you can buy items a la carte. I think it's a great company! Also, if you don't like an item you've received then you can exchange it for free (and shipping's free back and forth!).

They're going through a lot of changing and growing right now, so it does take some time to receive your items, and I'm hoping that once they get everything worked out things will go smoother. That's my only complaint about the company, because the customer service staff is so friendly and awesome! Ok, so let's get to the good stuff... THE CLOTHES!

In February I ordered the Catch Me If You Can shirt and the Electric Love Capri.

Obviously, I didn't purchase this to wear together because I would look like a freakin' smurf! But I just loved each piece so much I had to buy them. 

I LOOOOOVE this shirt. It's so soft and the thumb holes are awesome for runs. There's also a mesh panel that runs around the shoulders to keep you cool. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but I think I'm going to wear this on my run today. You can also pull the sleeves up and over your fingers (kind of like a mitten) for chillier runs. (Why didn't I think of this?!)

The capris are very lightweight and honestly feel like a second skin. They're thick enough to be covering where everything's not showing. I work them to Zumba yesterday and were so comfortable to move in. I love the details on them, and they're so different from anything I own.

The pictures from the website:

I've already ordered my items for March, which is the Little Black Collection, and whenever they get in I'll do a review of those items also. If you want to join/check out Ellie click my link below!

Join Ellie

XOXO

I workout!

I'm trying to get back on the diet and workout trail. Diet's been going pretty well.. working out? EHHHHHH :/ Better, but definitely not as regular or as much as I should be doing. I get on my running kicks (even though I hate running! but that's probably because I'm out of shape and it's hard)! No excuses. I WANT to be a runner... I enjoy the way I feel when it's over, it's just the doing it part I don't like. Overall, I would just rather veg out on my couch than do any kind of exercise... LOL (lazy, I know, but I don't!) So I'm going to talk about some of the types of workouts I like to do, because there are so many out there, you just have to find out what you like because it's easier to stick to.

ZUMBA.. Probably my favorite. I love to dance and the class is just so fun and energetic that it just puts you in a good mood. I started doing to Zumba about 5 1/2 years ago and I loved it from the beginning (it was also A LOT harder than I thought!). I will say that instructors can seriously make a class from being pretty good to FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!!!!!! If you don't belong to a gym there are alot of instructors out there that teach class for the public and usually it's around $5 a class, and you can also try the video games. I own 2 of them and I do like them, but I personally like the classes much better. After I lose this weight and get in better shape, I want to become a Zumba instructor so maybe more on that later!

Bikram Yoga is new obsession of mine, only taking my first class about a year ago. This is hot yoga... HOWEVER, there is hot yoga that's not bikram yoga (but I think the original hot yoga is bikram). I've never tried the other hot yoga classes, but I LOOOOVE this one. The room is heated to around 105F and it's the same 26 postures every class. It's nothing like traditional, quiet, soothing yoga. The lights are on and the instructor talks the whole class. That being said, because of the intense heat you are very focused on yourself and your movements. I personally feel more relaxed after these classes than other yoga classes (which I do also like!). It is a little on the pricey side (at least here in NC) so unfortunately, I normally go to bikram classes.

OK, now for my love/hate relationship with running. I don't enjoy the doing, but I love the way I feel after it's over (and I feel accomplished!). I'm definitely not a natural runner, it doesn't come easy to me, which brings on the hate side of the relationship. Right now I'm doing the C25K to get started back on track. My friend Julie came to me the other day, and I was like I've finally decided what my New Year's resolution is (a little late Jules). She's getting in to running also, so she's like a want to do a 5k, a 10k, and a 1/2 marathon this year. I was thinking that sounds great, so I'm jumping on her resolution! We've signed up to do a 4k the last weekend in April, Tap 'N' Run, because me and Julie are just fun people! Combining running (healthy) and beer (not so healthy). Hey it's a good time! Now we just have to decide on the costumes... hmmmmm. Have any ideas??

So those are my main (perferred) types of workouts. What are yall's?

Southern dictionary: yall=y'all- meaning you all

<3 have a great day!

Workout, Review, Dinner... oh my!

ZUMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAA... Ok so I went to Zumba class last night (didn't LOVE the instructor, but whatever). I love Zumba! I own the games and everything, but the classes are WAY better (in my opinion). If you haven't ever tried a Zumba class... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

This was my workout outfit of the day (WOOD)

Sorry I couldn't get a good picture of the whole outfit!

I got the sports bra at target and the tank top from walmart ($4!!!!)
I wearing black HotPants Flares from Zaggora... I'm going to review these for you guys because I debated on buying them for a long time because they're kinda pricey! (for me anyways!)

These are the flares I have:

I heard about this company about a year ago and their sportswear's designed to make you hotter (hence HOTpants). They make you hotter so you sweat more and burn more calories. I wanted to buy some but didn't want to spend the money. The flares (which are leggings that go all the way to the ankle) cost $120 (flares 2.0) and $112 (original flares), but luckily I found a Groupon one day and decided to try them out! And seriously you sweat a ton in them.. It's kinda gross, but mostly just awesome! The more you move and workout, the more you sweat (obviously!) as it's working with your own body heat. They just came out with a bunch more stuff and I can't wait to try! I have the older flares, because they just came out with 2.0, which I think are thinner and a little more comfortable. I definitely recommend their products (pants anyways) because they definitely do help you burn some extra calories. When you get your pants, they urge you to do a 2 week challenge, which means measure yourself and then in 2 weeks see where you're at. Oh and you have to wear the pants everyday for 30 minutes a day (while active). Sitting on the couch doesn't count! I didn't really follow the challenge very well, but after 2 weeks I had lost 1.5" around my stomach!! And I was dieting and working out so I don't believe that these results could've been seen without those essentials, however, I think the pants definitely helped me get there a little faster!

The only downside (besides the $$$$) is that the shipping to the US is a little slow because it's based in the UK and still a relatively small company.

If you're interested sign up on the website because they're always have specials and groupons!
http://zaggora.com/

And here's a story that GMA did..
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/zaggora-hotpants-promise-help-wearers-burn-more-calories-131420654--abc-news-fashion-and-beauty.html

OK I know this is getting long.. For dinner last night we had a baked ziti with ground deer meat. It was delicious! (I love deer meat!) My dad is my supplier, but I'm not sure if you can buy it anywhere.. I've never seen it! If you're interested in the recipe I can post it, but I wanted to wrap this entry up!

Hope you guys enjoyed and if you have any questions, just ask!

Entering the world of blogging...

Ok, so I think I've tried to start a blog like 23492384029384023 times and I can never start/stick with it. I love finding blogs because you can find out the most AMAZING information out there. Everyone has their own ways of doing things. When I originally created this blog, it was going to be predominately a food blog (and trust me there will be plenty of food because I loooooooove to eat); however, I definitely going through some lifestyle changes and will include those kind of posts as well. So let me tell you a little bit about myself...

I've always struggled with my love of food and my love of not working out.. The two really don't go hand in hand. When I was a freshman in college, me and my roommate joined Weight Watchers and started running everyday (and it wasn't half bad!). I lost 25 lbs but when I plateaued I got frustrated and kind of gave up, I did keep the weight off for a while, but in the past 5 years I've gained it all back (and little more!). So now I'm back on track. I've rejoined Weight Watchers and joined a gym. I've been at this for a little over a month and lost around 8 lbs (yay!). But being from the South, we love our unhealthy, deep-fried, delicious food so it's a struggle being around those eating biscuits and fried chicken while I sit here and eat vegetables and fish. And because apparently this isn't hard enough, I'm going back to school in the fall to become a chef... and not just a chef and pastry chef! I love making sweets, I just can't sit there and eat them all. Good thing my sister and my boyfriend are HUGE sweet tooths :).

ANYWAYS... I'm going to post recipes on this blog (some healthy and some not so healthy). At this moment, I'm probably going to focus more on healthier recipes, but occasionally I might through in a cupcake recipe or something (I'm currently obsessed with making cupcakes!). I'm going to share my fitness and weight loss journey with you guys and because I'm losing weight and gaining more confidence, I want to reflect that confidence on the outside as well. So maybe some makeup and fashion. I told you... lifestyle change! Wherever the wind blows me (and whatever you guys want to see!). So pretty much there isn't a main focus for this blog, but if I had to say it would be food, fitness, and fashion. Hope you enjoy!