No Gym? Make Do!

I have been up in Prescott for a few days to pass the long Labor Day weekend.  It has been so fun to enjoy the cool temps and be around family.  I knew that I would be able to get my 10k steps in but I was worried about getting some high level cardio in.  I had no need to worry though...just had to use my mind and get a little more creative than usual. 

 My mom and I were able to get in a few good walks.  She even took me up and through some good hills in a beautiful neighborhood that overlooked the downtown area.  We finished up running the steps at the courthouse on two different occasions.  It was awesome!

We even got down there so early to walk one day...that we staked out a picnic table so that we could return a few hours later to relax and enjoy a yummy lunch.  It was a great time!

Howdy, Pardner!

These two girls rock!  Sarah (middle) and I have been friends since we were 4 years old.  She is so supportive, encouraging, and helpful in all facets of my life but especially with this new health journey.  We get together 2-3 times a week in the evenings to workout together.  It is great because not only doesn't it encourage each other in a healthy way...we get to have girl time and catch up on our chatting.  Val (left) is a new friend of mine from church.  She lives near me and I get to see her each Sunday too.  It is awesome because she usually works out in the morning so we meet up occasionally at our gym to get our sweat on together. There you have it...my morning and evening workout partners.  The cool thing about today was that Sarah and I were finishing up our workout and Val and her hubby walked in the gym.  So fun to have them meet and workout together for a minute.  

Zumba, zumba...

Class tonight was awesome!!  This is Magdalena, my favorite instructor around.  Her classes are awesome!  She is so positive and fun as a person and while she teaches.  She has a great sense of humor, uses awesome visual cues as we workout, and I always walk away drenched from sweat.  So glad to have found her class!

Starting to see it!

I am finally starting to really see a change.  I feel different and am fitting in to different sizes of clothing now...but I haven't been able to SEE a visible difference in myself very much.  I decided to do a side by side comparison and tears literally feel from my eyes.  The left side pic is from June 23rd (the day before the program started) and the right side pic is from August 18th.  Not even two months...almost though.  Down 48 lbs!!!  What a difference!  I honestly cannot begin to thank Joy Bauer and her team enough.  Love them and Woman's Day too!  What a blessing this program and these amazing women are in my life!!!

Tasty lunch idea....

I used to eat a lot of turkey sandwiches, salads, and turkey burgers for lunch.  They were tasty but I got a little tired of them after a while.  Then I decided to cut out my bread at lunch all together.  It was good for me because I felt like by eating my bread at breakfast, I had the whole day to burn it off. Well, the other day I wanted a sandwich for lunch.  I have been missing "crunch" in my diet as well.  So I toasted a 100% Whole Wheat sandwich thin SUPER toasty and topped it with spinach, tomato slices, and a tuna salad mixture.  It had tuna, onions, and a 1/2 Greek yogurt & 1/2 Low-fat Mayo blend.  Delish!!  

Happy Feet...

You may not be able to see it here...but the straps on my sandals have gotten very loose.  It is crazy!  My feet had gotten so puffy, swollen, and retained so much water that these sandals used to be tight.  I used to wear other flats and notice that I had a big puffy bump on the top of my foot where the shoe was pushing all the fluid.  Not anymore.  It is like my feet have gone on a diet themselves and lost lots of weight.  They look very different from before.  Pretty amazing how the body works!  I truly have Happy Feet!  Ha!

Problematic Protein Smoothie

This was my breakfast this morning.  I have been eating my usual "go to" breakfast that I mentioned HERE almost every day and I wanted to switch things up a bit. I love the smoothie recipe that Joy gave us because it is quick and full of berries, some banana, almond milk, protein powder, and some other yumminess. My problem is that it NEVER keeps me full and doesn't hold me over until lunch.  I could always add a mid-morning snack but it just bothers me that it doesn't keep me as full as some other breakfast options.  Id like to get away from the egg whites, English muffins, Greek yogurts, and oatmeal all the time and mix it up with a smoothie. Oh well...just an issue that I have come across. 

My "go to" breakfast....

Here is one of my all time favorite breakfasts now.  I can never get tired of it! I toast a 100% Whole Wheat English Muffin, top it with 2 T of the Non Fat Greek Yogurt & Cream Cheese spread that is AMAZING, and I top it with tomato slices and cracked pepper.  Wash it all down with some lemon water and start your day!  Veggies, grains, and protein...Love it!!

Each and EVERY day!

 I try to get a work out in EVERY day!  I can tell that I am getting a little tired some days and so I will occasionally take a rest day...but I try to get in a good hour of cardio every day.  It makes me feel soooo great and it is becoming habit!  I was torn after work yesterday on what to do to get a workout in.  Go to a class?  Work out with a friend? Be lazy and take an unnecessary rest day?  I decided to just push myself and go to the gym RIGHT then so I could get it done.  It was awesome!  I was the only one in my little gym and I got a great workout in.  I had all the space I needed to so that I could do walking lunges and crab walks all over the place.  I had forgotten my headphones so I turned up the music on the TV real loud and jammed away as I got a few miles in too.  Then I went home and made some steamed asparagus, sliced up some tomatoes, and broiled some VERY peppered salmon.  Yum!!

Matt-ivation!

We had one of our bi-monthly conference calls yesterday.  It is always fun because even though we are all constantly communicating...this conference call is where we (the whole Womans's Day editorial crew, Joys whole Health team, our Health Coaches, and each of us 6 women) are all on the phone together.  I have had some assumptions about what might happen at the end of this program but none of them had been confirmed until yesterday on the call.  I cant quite announce them yet because they are still in the "works" but I am SOOOOOOOOOO excited!!  Talk about being MOTIVATED to try my hardest!  Wow!  I will share this though....I had a funny thing I got to share with Joy.  Back at the beginning of the program, I was talking to Abby (Health Director for Woman's Day) and I said some silly comment about hoping to get a hug from Matt Lauer.  She said, "Hey, whatever works...do it!  If it is Matt Motivation, go for it!"  We have joked since them about my "MM" or "Matt Motivation."  I told Joy about it yesterday and she cracked up.  She changed it and started calling it my "Matt-ivation."  Ha!  She told me that she was going to text him to tell him the story and that I should watch out because he would be hitting on me when I see him.  Ha!!  She is so fun!