Pushing my Limits

I only have one more week left of boot camp, and then I decided to keep at it for at LEAST one more month.  The great thing about this place is that I can pay on a month by month basis, as long as I give them a 30 day warning to cancel my membership.  We will see if I continue on with it after the next month.  Honestly, I would like to, but I’m not sure about the funds.  With this + what I pay for zumba, that would come out to $1200 for the YEAR in fitness related stuff. Blerg!! So, we will see. 

The thing I am enjoying about boot camp (can those three words- “enjoy” and “boot camp” be used in the same sentence??) is that it really pushes my limits.  Tonight was ROUGH.  I was sweatin’ like crazy, and I physically felt like I was going to throw up and/or pass out at one point(and that hasn’t happened since day one of boot camp).  My abs(that are hidden under all this fat..somewhere, hope to find them one day!) felt like they were going to melt off from doing so many bosu ball crunches.  My biceps were yelling at me to stop pulling the giant TRX cord thingy-mabobs. My brain was telling me to just stop, give up, I can’t do this anymore, after just 3 rounds(3 more to go!).  But I kept going.  I kept pushing myself even though I wanted to vomit my grilled cheese all over my neon pink Nikes. 

And THAT’S what I am enjoying about boot camp.  I never thought it was possible for me to push myself like this; to be able to talk myself out of quitting something that was “too hard” for me to do.   Do I look forward to boot camp? Not really.  But once I’m done trying to talk myself out of going, or done listening to my inner self tell me I am not strong enough or fit enough to finish each circuit, I feel accomplished.  I feel like I CAN do this.  I feel like I CAN get to my goal weight(whatever that may be), and that I can do whatever the eff I want and do it good.  It doesn’t matter what that voice is telling me; what matters is that I start and finish this!

Grilled 7-Up Chicken!?

In keeping up with my must actually try the pins I pin to my Pinterest boards, I tried another new recipe this evening that was pinned to my Recipes Board.

I was slightly puzzled and also very intrigued at this recipe, as it is called Grilled 7-Up Chicken. I don't know about you, but when I think of chicken, I don't really think of pop(It's NOT soda, it's pop, kthanks).

What came out for the end result was a nice, juicy yet crisp piece of chicken that tasted buttery and just plain delicious, with not even a hint of lemon-lime flavor.

Grilled 7-Up Chicken

I made a few adaptations, as the Original Pinterest Recipe called for Horseradish(which I've honestly never had. I know, I know.) & also said to use REGULAR Sprite/7-Up as opposed to Diet.  In order to save on a few calories and sugar, I was rebellious and used Sprite Zero.

Here's what you'll need for my version:

This was SO tasty.  I served mine with a little side of Brown Rice, but it would be fantastic with some roasted potatoes, or even used as a chicken on a big ole delicious salad.

This chicken will not disappoint, as it is succulent and very flavorful! Enjoy!

When you drop a dish on the floor, do you go back and drop the rest of your dish set?

Today was my first day back to WW meetings in well over a month or two.  I had been weighing in at a center, but loathed the At-Work Leader we were given, so refused to go to her meetings, and I never made time to go to a center to stay at a meeting.  It is SO convenient to have At-Work meetings! Well, today we got a new WW Leader, who I have previously had! She is great.

Today’s topic was all about the weight loss lessons we have learned, in addition to mistakes and how to avoid these issues in the future.  This topic really struck a chord with me, as I fall into this slump every few months; sometimes it is easier to pull myself out of it than other times.

My leader, Cristi, asked us this:

**When we slip up, how can we recover, so that we don’t let days, weeks, and months go by without ever able to pull ourselves out of the slump?**

      1. TRACK IT(duh!) & then MOVE ON!  I know, what a hard concept, right?!  I have this issue of “throwing in the towel” for the whole day if I make a slip-up(say, eat pizza), causing myself to fall into the Binge Mentality.  Ya know, I already screwed up and ate pizza, so why not eat 3 no 4 cookies, 2 mini bags of chips, a banana, some Chinese, and then ice cream!  Because THAT logic makes sense… Oh, and I never track any of it because I feel so GUILTY about the choices I have made.  Then because of this guilt, I continue the vicious cycle for another day, and then another day, and then another day.  It is HARD to pull myself out of this cycle once I have started.  BUT! I am making a promise to myself(and to you), that next time I find myself fall prey to this disordered way of thinking, I will simply TRACK IT and move the hell on.

      2.  EXERCISE.  If I ate 20 points in Pizza, why not go to a ZUMBA class and burn off 8 points at least? That would be less damage done!

      3.KIND TO MYSELF.  This is the hard one.  Cristi brought up an excellent point; she said that if our best friend approached us and said, “oh man, I gained 2 pounds this week. I’m throwing in the towel because I’m worthless.”  Our response would most likely be along the lines of: “Girl! Pick yourself back up! One gain is just a tiny set back! Today is a new day!”  So, why do we all beat ourselves up? Why not take the advice we would give to our friend?  I must work on this one so that I don’t feel guilty about my slip-ups when they occur.   Cristi said to, “Wipe the crumbs off our face and MOVE on.” Amen.

And on a final note, back to the title of this post, if you drop a dish on your floor, would you go back and drop the rest of your dishware on the ground?  The answer is “NO”, unless you had a God awful day ;) We should apply this analogy to making ONE slip-up; one slip-up of food does not give me the right to slip-up for the rest of the day or week.

What lessons have you learned along the way???

5 Things I'm Digging

I’ve seen a lot of Bloggers recently post 5 things they are digging, or thankful for.  Here’s a list of the things I’m diggin’ lately: 

 Lost

I know I’m realllllly late to the party(like…7 years late), but I am ADDICTED to this show! Mike and I started watching this on Netflix two weeks ago and each night we watch an episode or two before sleepy-time. Daaaang.  What a brilliant show. I am typically not into shows like this, so I was shocked that I got sucked in, but now I definitely see what all the hype is about! I love all of the characters so much, and I can really see how they are developing.  Honestly, I loathed Jin for the first few episodes(like when he yelled at Sun for wearing a bathing suit?! Shut up, yo), but now I absolutely love them together. And also, could Sawyer be anymore dreamy?! Yum.

 

SOURCE

My dog

Yep. You knew she’d have to make this list. How could I resist her cute little face?? A coworker just lost her dog, and got the phone call today saying they found her and that she was dead when they found her. So.freaking.sad. This lady was sobbing her eyes out, and left immediately, and it just reminded me how much we sometimes take our loved ones(whether they are pets or “real” family members—but as far as I am concerned, pets are part of the family) for granted.  So yes, as big of a pain in the butt Sophers is, I heart her to pieces, and all of her annoying habits(ya know, like barking every time I take a shower, or dragging the T.P. roll through the house, etc.) are worth it.

  

  McDonald’s Chocolate dipped cone

If you’re craving a sweet treat, you should hit up your nearest Mickey D’s and try this baby.  It’s only 7 Points Plus, which really isn’t bad for a splurge treat on the weekend, especially with how hot its been!  I tried one last weekend, and boy did it ever hit the spot! I kind of can’t wait for this weekend to treat myself to another one. ;)

  

   The pool

I got some much needed Vitamin D last weekend, and it feels good to finally have some color on this Casper skin of mine.  I got a little burnt, but it was worth it.  Am I the only person that no matter what I do, my legs still stay Casper-the-Friendly-Ghost white?!?! #Frustrating

  

  Dresses

(Please excuse the dirty mirror!Eek!)

Maybe it’s because it’s been as hot as the 7^th circle of Hell all week, but I am lovin’ the summer dresses lately.  I’ve worn a dress every single day this week!  I also may have went a little crazy at Target last weekend and possibly bought 4 dresses + one green skirt; I will neither confirm nor deny that fact though.

What are you diggin’ this week?

Sunday Funday: Batch Cooking & Meals for the week

Phew. Where did this weekend go to?!  I feel like I need an additional day added onto the weekend, in order to feel ready to take on the week ahead.

After spending a few hours in Mike's parent's pool this morning/afternoon, I decided to get my grocery shopping done and out of the way.  Once I was done with that, I decided to start cookin' for the week! This week is going to be chaotic with work, so my meals are really quick and easy ones.  I will not be spending a lot of time cooking in the kitchen this week since I will be working long, late hours.

This afternoon I batch cooked breakfast and lunch for the week!  For breakfasts, I so made another batch of the spinach and mozzarella egg bake that I just posted about.  Seriously looking forward to munchin' on that for breakfasts this week! For lunches, I made black bean wraps.  I took a whole wheat tortilla, some canned refried black beans, a little cumin, and some reduced fat cheddar cheese.  I spread the beans/seasoning on the tortilla, tossed some cheddar on there, rolled 'em up, and place on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes in the oven.  I hope they taste delish! I saw that Laura made something similar for dinner last week, and had to try my own concoction out!  The wraps come out just 6 points, and should be pretty filling with all that fiber! Woot


My quick dinners for the week look like this:

Monday:

Whole Wheat spaghetti with olive oil, fresh garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes

Tuesday:

French Bread Pizzas w/ frozen steamed veggies

Wednesday:

Whatever my aunt cooks

Thursday:
  
Grilled Cheese on Jalapeno Cheddar french bread(this stuff is seriously amazing. If you have a Jewel Osco near you, do your tummy a favor and go get some from their bakery!)

Friday:

Depending how late I stay at work, I may or may not be grabbing dinner with some friends, but if I can't get out of the office on time, I will be grilling up some hot dogs + Alexia frozen fries 

So there you have it as far as my nomming goes for the rest of the week!

What are you planning on making for meals for the week?

 

Recipe Review: Spinach Moazzarella Egg Bake

Who's addicted to Pinterest? *Raises hand*

Yep, that's right, I'm addicted to Pinterest and proud of it!  Everything anyone ever dreamed about can be found on there, basically.  That being said, I have a baaaad habit of posting a gazillion recipes, organization, and beauty tips without ever doing anything with them.. Hmm... That kind of defeats the purpose of this website, no?

So, I made it a personal goal to incorporate some of the ideas I've found on there on a regular basis.  This week, I wanted to try a new, quick recipe, and found Spinach Mozzrella Egg Bake! You had me at mozzarella, I tell ya!

I didn't go crazy with the spinach because the rest of the family are not fans of spinach, even though I heart it.  Next time, more spinach WILL be added! This was AWESOME. Seriously, absolutely delish!  I give it a 4.5/5 stars.  The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I think next time I will add something else to it-- maybe some center cut bacon or lean turkey breakfast sausage to take it up to the next level.  Next time I will also serve it with some hashed browns because it didn't really work so well as a main dish for dinner.

I enjoyed this dish so much, that I've added all the ingredients to my grocery list to make tomorrow to take for breakfasts for the week!

The best part about this quick, easy, yummy meal? It's only 6 Points Plus for 1 decent sized square!

Zumba playlist

I have a confession: For the last 5 months(since I've been regularly attending Zumba classes), all I've listened to while in the car, at work, cleaning the house are songs from Zumba.  It's probably a bit unhealthy really.

Every time I dig a tune at Zumba, I Google and Youtube the heck out of it to try and figure out what it is, who it's by, and if I can download it to my iTunes.  I figured it was time to upload my most recent collection of Zumba songs here! Normally I don't listen to crappy pop music, so I am a bit embarrassed that I have religiously been blaring music that is for the most part not even in English, but what can I say? It's catchy as all heck!

(J. Biebs may or may not be on this Playlist...So ashamed..)


WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ZUMBA AND/OR WORK OUT SONGS?