Walk this Way

Recently, I have made it one of my fitness goals to run more. I have always been more of a walker, but it seemed like an easy way out. It was too easy to be a good workout, or so I thought, so I started trying to incorporate more run time into my walks.  I can run, or I can at least do some version of running... 

but I always end up wanting to walk. I sure hope that some people know where this picture is from and got a chuckle out of it. I even got new running shoes with high arch support and blah blah blah running terms blah blah blah.

Over a few weeks, I was up to 3-4 miles daily, which for me, is pretty good. I was pleased with my accomplishment, but I didn't like what my body was telling me. 

1. My joints hurt. My knees, ankles, hips, even lower back. Maybe I should blame it on form, or not sticking with it long enough, I don't know, but I do know that I did not enjoy the way my body felt during or after.

2. My thighs were growing. The muscle tone was nice, but I don't want hulk thighs.

3. Interestingly enough, my ab definition disappeared.

I went back to walking in addition to my Piyo and other various beach body work-outs. During one particularly long walk, I started paying attention to how I felt. I felt my core muscles working way more than they did when I was running. After changing back to all walking (still 3-4 miles per day), I am starting to see my thighs thin back out and my core definition is making a comeback. Now, I am not an expert trainer, I am merely telling you how I walk in order to tone my core. It works for me, of that I am sure. All you can do it give it a try.

Walk this way

Sorry, I couldn't help it.

1. Stand up straight. 

As a chorus teacher, I say these words every single day. They apply to singing posture, but applying them to my walking posture opens me up so that the core muscles have the space to move. Shoulders up, back and down, chin parallel to the floor, spine straight. As I am walking, I constantly remind myself of these posture corrections.

2. Strive to lengthen the size of your steps. 

This practice seems like it would target the leg muscles, but it's actually very much lower core.

3. Think about exaggerating hip rotation. 

The rotation of the hips is the huge basic difference between running and walking. When I run, I feel my hips squared forward, placing most of the tension on the leg muscles. When walking, I feel the hips rotating from side to side, engaging the entire core, especially the side obliques.

4. Breath deeply. 

Deep breathing is a core exercise in itself. When combine with the other core attributes of walking, thats a killer ab workout.

5. Stretch afterwards.

 I do cat/cow, runners lunge, and pigeon pose after my walk/workout.

So, get outside! Make up a route, download some podcasts. Take the dog, take the stroller. Enjoy nature, get a tan. Walk this way!

21 Day Fix Bracelets

When I get a good idea, I get a little CRAZY with it. My ideas have tendencies to be all-consuming and I spend ALOT of time working on them when they happen. Some have worked out great for me, others have naturally fizzled out, but either way, I love the moment when a good idea strikes!

Let me explain.

If you aren't familiar with the 21 day fix meal, well, it's the absolute best. Cancel everything because this is it. It's realistic, reasonable, not weird, and doesn't force you to drink any weird herbal teas that make you pee a lot. 

Anyways, the concept is that each person is allotted a certain number of color coded containers every day according to her (or his) calorie bracket, which is determined by height and weight. The containers are different sizes, which regulates the portions of each of the food categories. For example, I can eat 4 red (protein), 3 purple (fruits), 3 green (veggies), 2 yellows (carbs, starches, some other randoms foods), 1 blue (healthy fats), 1 orange (seeds), and 2 teaspoons (oils/butters), which I like to refer to as silver or gray.

At first, I found the diet to be pretty easy, but then life hit and I realized that I don't always have time to meal plan that intensely. I needed something to help me keep track of all of the foods that I consume without having to be the weirdo that pulls a meal plan out of her back pocket every time I want to eat something.

Instead, I decided to be the weirdo who strung beads non-stop for the next 2 weeks. I made a small bracelet to represent every portion that I am allotted throughout the day. 4 red ones, 3 green ones, 3 purple ones, etc.

The idea is to start with them ALL on your left wrist.

Say that you have your Shakeology for breakfast and put spinach and grapes in it. Thats one red, one green and one purple. You then move those bracelets over to the right wrist.

Then for lunch, you have a chicken salad with vinaigrette dressing and sunflower seeds. Lets see... one green, one red, and one silver all over to the right wrist.






The color bracelets left on your left wrists are the foods that you still get to eat. By the end of today, all I have left is....

ONE YELLOW. You know what that means.

21 Day Fix Chicken Stir Fry

SUMMER! Well, almost. It FEELS like summer and SMELLS like summer, but I still have to go to school every day for 4 more weeks, so not quite! I do, however, get to come home right after school, which is nice. Normally, there are rehearsals of some sort that I have to run. 

Its great to come home after school because I actually get a chance to cook a nice dinner! This recipe is for a night NOT like this- its for nights when you get home late from work and are so hungry that you have no more than 15 minutes to prepare something before you decide to eat your shoe.

The trick is in the PREP. This Sunday, I chopped a ton of veggies and grilled up like 10 chicken breasts to use for the week. I cubed the chicken up into little bite sized pieces to use for this stir fry recipe, as well as for lunch chicken salads. This recipe is GOOD, thanks to my secret weapon ingredient! You can really use whatever veggies you want, but I think that these ones are the perfect combo. This serves 1- double or triple or whatever you need. Here it is!

Ingredients:
1/2 green container chopped carrots
1/2 green container chopped bell peppers
1/2 green container onion, chopped into chunks
1/2 green container chopped mushrooms
1 red container cubed grilled chicken breast
1 blue container crumbled goat cheese (you may like less- I am a goat cheese fanatic)
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbps. PB2

Yes, the PB2 is the secret weapon, it adds a bit more protein, taste, and thickness to the stir fry.

Directions:
1. Heat oil on medium heat in large skillet
2. Add carrots, cook for approximately 3 minutes
3. Add the rest of the vegetables, cook until tender
4. Add the cubed chicken, herbs and spices, and PB2, cook for another 3-4 minutes to warm the chicken.

And there you have it! Delicious, nutritious, and quick dinner!

Here are the 21 day fix portions:
2 green
1 red
1 blue
2 teaspoons (I count the PB2 as a teaspoon)

Try it out and let me know what veggies worked best for you!

Chicken Bacon Melts

Hey Guys!

As a diamond BeachBody coach, I am always trying to invent new clean eating recipes, especially ones that fit in with the 21 day fix meal plan. I try to make them as SIMPLE as possible because I work full time and when I get home, spending an hour in the kitchen is for real the LAST thing I want to do.

I also try to make things that can be made by prep work- basic foods that I have cooked in advance and are just waiting in the refrigerator for me to lazily through together in 10 minutes and pass off as a meal.


This recipe that I am going to share with you today is a hit! My husband gets really excited when I make this for dinner and my sisters family is a huge fan too! I call it: drum roll please.....

CHICKEN BACON MELTS!

I cook for two, but Kris eats twice as much as I do. I also make extra so that we can eat it for lunch the next day too. Here is what you need to serve 1 regular, non 6'5" 260 lb. person. Double or triple or quadruple as needed to serve your family!

1 Red Container of cubed, grilled chicken (prepared in advance)
1/2 Red Container of cooked turkey bacon, chopped (prepared in advance)
1/2 Red Container of plain greek yogurt
1 Whole wheat pita (1 yellow containers)
1 Blue Container shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix together bacon, chicken and yogurt
2. Spread mixture onto pita
3. Bake on 350 for 10 minutes
4. Sprinkle cheese on top
5. Bake for another 5 minutes
6. Add salt and pepper to taste

Once, I didn't have plain Greek yogurt and used vanilla. It was actually really good! The sweet and savory contrast was awesome. I think I liked it better with vanilla. Give it a try!

I hope you enjoy this easy, healthy, clean meal!

The Sasquatch of Squash

April 13th, 2015

I don't have a good track record with following directions. Even back in elementary school I struggled. Remember those mean worksheets that teachers would give with crazy, out landing instructions like "circle number 5", "underline number 12" and then progressively the instructions would get even weirder like "shout your name three times" resulting in an obedient "AMY! AMY! AMY!" and my feeling of pride that I was the first one to shout my name three times, so I must have been the furthest in the class. I was awesome. Then it would turn out that the instructions of the worksheet said something like "read every instruction before beginning" and the last one would say "Do not do anything listed. Turn your paper over and put your head down." I walked into that trap every time.

Its the same now with cooking recipes. Too many words, if you ask me. When I copy recipes onto notecards, I can summarize the whole thing in a few words. This sparked an idea for me- I want to start a collection of recipes that are EASY. Like, stupidly easy. It would come in handy for people like me who don't like to read instructions and for busy people, moms, lazy people and dumb people. I've started creating a few, and one of them required spaghetti squash.

It turned out REALLY good and it was so easy! I went back to the grocery store to get another spaghetti squash and was so lucky- there was only ONE left. It was about four times the size of the one I cooked before, but I'd figure it out, right?

Well, I managed to pierce the skin of the sasquatch squash with my scary cutco knife, but couldn't get much further than that. I wiggled, jiggled, pushed and pulled, but the thing would not come out and I knew that if I tried any other angles, I was going to end up in the hospital with one or more fingers missing. It was the first time in my life that I cussed out a vegetable. After a bit more struggle, my brain power FINALLY kicked in and I got out the meat mallet. I started tapping the knife with the mallet and it acted as a wedge and split the whole thing open. Success! Then, out of curiosity, I googled "how to cut a spaghetti squash" and there it was- my brilliant meat mallet wedge idea. Damn.

Early Mornings

April 11th, 2015

My husband and I have been waking up early to workout before we go off to work. He goes to a near-by gym and I prefer my home-workout DVD's. I need to clarify what I mean by early, because I know that people have various ideas of what early means. When certain people claim that they have "slept in", I don't know where they mean that they woke up at 7:00 instead of 5:00, or if they rolled themselves out of bed at 2:00 pm. I like to be at work at about 7:15 each morning. My workout takes about 45 minutes, and I have an unwavering need to watch an episode of Friends on Netflix before I hit the road. Then adding in my preparation time, I wake up at 4:15.

A lot of people think that I'm nuts- why on earth would I wake up at 4:15 when I could wake up 2 hours later, still get to work on time and then just workout after I get home from work? There are so many reasons.

1. Afterwork, the chances of my actually working out are cut in half. I'm tired at that point, and don't feel like doing anything.

2. At 4:15 am, I don't know whats going on enough to second guess doing it. I'm done before I'm even fully awake.


3. You won't believe it until you try it, but there is an amazing ENERGY BOOST. I'm not kidding, I am not even tired after work anymore. In fact, I've been running 2.5 miles when I get home just because I have excess energy. You might be rolling your eyes at me right now, but don't knock it till you try it! You will surprise yourself.

4. It's better for you metabolism- your body will burn fat at a faster rate all day long.

5. The sunrise. Oh, that beautiful sunrise. I never want to miss another one by "sleeping in".

There is No Limit

April 9th, 2015

"There is no limit"

I have to admit that I am having a difficult time deciding exactly where to start. A lot of people have that defining moment, the moment that they consider to be the spark that started the great fire that is now their success and happiness. Or they have the low point- the rock bottom that ricochetted them back into normalcy, eventually leading them to what they have become. I struggle to pin-point either of those moments in time when it comes to reflecting on my life journey. My defining moments have been sporadic, happening when I least expect them and usually when I am not looking to find them. At times, when I am at a crossing point and need to make a decision, a defining moment re-surfaces to me. Things people have said to me that didn't mean anything at the time pop back into my memory and save me.

"There is no limit"

This January, I began a second job as a beach bodies coach. This is not the subject of my first post so I will skirt around it, but warm up to it now because it has become a huge part of my life and will be the subject of many future posts, I am sure. The coach of my first challenge group (Ali, for future reference) asked me a question and a decision had to be made. She asked me "would you like to become a coach, like me?" She of course told me all of the benefits and was extraordinarily convincing. I wanted to. I wanted to very, very badly.

The problem was, I am a middle and high school music teacher and director of theater at the school. For about four months out of the year, I am so busy with putting a production together that I am barely a person. How in the world would I find time to be a coach?

"There is no limit"

Last year was my first year at this school. In order to ease me into the theater program, another teacher with many years of theater experience took on the role of head director with me as the assistant and musical director, with plans of transitioning me into becoming head director the following year (NOW). About half way through, I vented to her saying, "I am already so busy with teaching classes, putting on two concerts (I was K-12 last year), organizing choral festivals, and working on this production. For the first time, I feel like I have met my limit, and I am terrified to have to do even more next year! I don't know how you are doing all of this!"

Her response was "Your limit? Haven't you learned yet? There is no limit."

"There is no limit"

She spoke those words to me over a year ago, but there they were- like they had been waiting in the back of my brain all of this time just waiting to float back up to the front and help me to make this decision.

I said yes and started my coaching business in the midst of what I formerly referred to as "hell month". If there were a limit, I most definitely would have found it by now. Trust me, there is no limit.