"Firm" believer

Pretty good week so far.... had a few really good workouts... the fact that I can't squat, bend down or sit without wimpering makes me feel oh so good :)

Anyone ever done "The Firm" videos? Can I just say that I LOVE them. I don't love a lot of videos. In fact I am pretty picky as to which ones I will waste my money on ;) Anyway, I have a few of them, and I haven't done them in a while but as I sat here Tuesday afternoon I just thought I am going to DO IT... just get up off this couch... put the laptop down... and do a video! I am so glad I did. I forgot how much FUN they are and how good of a workout I get from them. My legs were JELLO, my heart was racing, I was dripping in sweat and it felt amazing! Now I am reminded that I don't NEED a gym to feel good, I can do something each day even though I can't make it to the gym.

So do you all have any favorite videos that you turn to when the gym isn't an option?

Pump-it up-kin

Hi all!

First off a recipe... today I was just craving PUMPKIN... its that time of year where I just can't get enough of it. I wanted something GOOD :) I found a recipe for Pumpkin muffins and altered it to suit my diet needs and what I got turned out pretty darn good! Here is what I did....

1 egg + 1 egg white
3 cups Oat flour
1 cup splenda brown sugar mix
1 cup Almond breeze
1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons splenda
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; mix until smooth.

3. Fill sprayed muffin tins with mixture until ¾ full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.

I didn't have all the seasonings so I used my Torani SF Pumpkin Pie syrup along with cinnamon, and all spice in place of all the spices. I also threw in 1/2 C of SF chocolate chips to keep the kids smiling... what.... you don't believe me? I swear it was ONLY for the kids ;) Nuts... I should have added NUTS! Didn't think of that until now. Oh well... next time!

Anyway, today was my gym day... I had plans to hit the gym at 4 with my girlfriend and at 1:30 I got the call. "Hello... Mrs. Brown? This is so and so from such and such... your daughter is not feeling well, she has a temp of 99 and says her tummy hurts". Sigh... there goes my workout. Good thing my job is very cool with things like that! So... I am about to pop in one of my favorite workout DVD's and get my sweat on. Hopefully my baby girl (who by the way has not stopped eating since we got home today... ahem... sour stomach???? hmmmmm) is feeling better tomorrow so she doesn't miss school, and... I don't miss the gym on my ONE DAY OFF this week!

Quickie

Where have I been? Truth is... I have no clue!!! :) Things have been a bit nutty around here and we have been having lots of fun with my mom here and birthdays and just the normal daily activities. I am however hoping for things to slow down just a bit! I need some down time!

Lets see.... a few updates.... I went to the Doctor to get some tests done, I wanted to make sure that all of this dieting and supplementing hasn't done any damage to my thyroid or anything else. Tests are in and I am healthy as can be. Good news! PHEW!

I have been able to hit the gym a few days a week too, that has helped mentally! I still have a ways to go but I am on the right track. I also have been getting the "itch" you know the one I am talking about. I miss the stage... I miss the drive, the passion... however I can't even think about that right now with everything else I have on my plate! Maybe Spring???? I may try out bikini for a season and see how that goes. We shall see.

I am trying out a few new recipes this weekend so I will be posting my reviews on that! Stay tuned!!!!!

Moving on...

ROUGH WEEK... ended up super sick yesterday. I woke up with this headache, but had to work so I just went and hoped that I could work through it. It started getting worse and worse and then the stomach started turning. Then I was running to the bathroom. Every five minutes. The end of the day couldn't come soon enough. I picked up the kids from school, came home and popped some Excedrin Migraine and passed out for an hour on the couch. Woke up to a rolling stomach, throbbing head... and hungry kids. :) I tried to eat a bowl of cereal (yes I know... mother of the year!!!) but it made me feel even worse. I went to bed at 8:30 with my kids.

It must have been a 24 hour flu. Some other girls at work were complaining about the same thing today. Loverly. I do feel a little better. Still a bit QUEEZY but do able!

So enough is enough. It's almost a new week, new goals, one of which may or may not include birthday cake. (ugh). My kids both have birthdays next week... and my mom is coming to visit. Those two things usually consist of LOTS AND LOTS OF SUGAR... and costco muffins... and all things that I avoid all year! Wish me luck :) I'ma gonna need it!

Happy Friday!

If I never.....

I am really struggling lately... struggling with a few different things but mostly I just want my old body back. In a very bad way. So bad that it almost literally HURTS. These are things that run through my mind DAILY.... if I never started competing, I never would have had to put on that extra weight. If I had never started competing I might still be my teeny tiny 110 pound self. If I never started competing I would have never gotten such a deep CRAZY complex about my body. If I never started competing I would NOT be so dang critical of myself ALL THE FREAKING TIME. If I never started competing I wouldn't be so miserable.

How stupid does that sound? It sounds even more stupid now that I wrote it down and could actually LOOK at it and read it out loud. S-T-U-P-I-D!

What I need to start doing is looking at the good things that came out of it. If I never started competing I would not have met so many AMAZING women. If I never started competing I would always wonder "what if". If I never started competing I would not know how good it feels to achieve goals. If I never started competing I would have never known how far I COULD go.

The fact is, it has brought the most joy and the most pain in my life. Joy that can not be replaced. A different kind of joy than what I get from my husband and my children. A feeling of accomplishment, an "I DID IT" kind of feeling. But the emotional and mental aspect of it sometimes overwhelms me and sometimes I think I just need to get it out so I can see how stupid it is and move on. So there you have it. Its out of the bag. Time to move on... to set some new goals... to love, live and enjoy every day being the best me I can be.

Sleep is over rated!

So.... this whole 30 days to me again... who's idea was this anyways? Ha ha! I had a rough time with my diet this weekend. ONLY because it was my time of the month. For some reason I have no control a few days before I start. I hate that. However today I literally had no time to eat much so maybe that makes up for it ;)

I did however make it to the gym 4 days last week. Doesn't mean I did a hardcore workout. A couple days of yoga, some cardio... nothing too intense but hey I made it right? Has to count for something!

Back on track this week though. I have to be. Time is ticking... those holidays are just around the corner... my husband returning... just around the corner. I owe it to myself to get my body back to normal for my own sanity! First thing I need to work on is my SLEEPING... meaning I need to try and GET SOME! I have not had a good nights sleep in I don't even know how long. UGH! If I have to pop some Nyquil or Unisom tonight I will. My problem is that I lay down and the wheels start turning for the first time all day. I could use those turning wheels so much more at work.. but NOOOOO... bedtime! Stupid! That and the fact that I have kids who are in and out of my bed all night lately too. Making me crazy. I think I have averaged 4 hours a night for two weeks now. NOT GOOD.

Baby steps. Baby steps.

I hope you are all off to a great start this week.

Crispy Rice Bars

Today I received a few new products from Nature's Path in the mail. I love trying new products. I will tell you about these in a few different posts because there are a few different items to tell you about. First off are the EnviroKidz organic Crispy Rice bars, Peanut Choco Drizzle. I think this is GENIUS. Halloween is just around the corner. We all know what that means. For me it means Mommy has to search through your Halloween bags and make sure there is nothing harmful in there (by harmful that usually means I am stealing all of your Tootsie Rolls and Reeses). In all honestly though, I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. I love seeing the kids have a blast, I do not love having all of that candy in my house. Natures Path is marketing their snack size Rice bars for Trick or Treating. LOVE IT! They are not only good, but good for you. They are Gluten Free, ORGANIC, low fat, low sodium, whole grain, and non-GMO verified. One bar is only 60 calories!

Not only that but EnviroKidz donates 1% of the sale to the Lemur Conservation Foundation!

http://www.naturespath.com/products/vegetarian/treat-sized-lemur-peanut-choco-drizzle-crispy-rice-bars