Returning in August

Posting has been few and far between due to a super hectic schedule. I can barely find time to work out, let alone blog about it!!! I play to return the week of August 8th :) Hope everyone is having a fabulous rest of July. See you in August :)

Our Top 10 Ten Go-To Snacks Healthy & Diet Friendly

So one of the biggest problems in a diet is usually that the urge to snack in between meals is SO strong. We are huge snackers, and when published reports came out that you should be eating every 2-3 hours we just about went to heaven. After doing some research we pulled together a list of our Top 10 fave go-to’s on the healthy side and snackies that won’t blow your diet to help curb the not so hip friendly cravings.

Healthy Non Boring Snacks

-          1) Sliced apples with almond butter

Love Justin's individual packets!

-         2) Celery, bell pepper, or any other crunchy veggies with 2 tablespoons hummus (Jalapeño and sundried tomato is deeeelish)

3-        3) Cut up tomatoes and cucumber with 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

-          4)  2 hardboiled eggs (yolks removed) with a teeny tiny bit of salt

-          5) 1.5 cups of any dark berries over a half a cup Greek yogurt

Diet Friendly Snacks

-          6) 1 bag of Pop Chips or Pirates Booty

-        7)   Laughing Cow Light cheese wedges (each flavor is amazing) on a bagel thin

(add veggies if you like for a veggie Sammie)

-       8)   ¼ cup semi sweet chocolate melted and poured over 1 cup dark berries (I LOVE blueberries)

-          9) 1 oz. Butter Toffee or Dark Chocolate Almonds from Blue Diamond

-          10) ThinkThin, Kashi, or Special K bars that are 190 calories or less.

ThinkThin Bites=Amazingness

Workout Update: Still going strong on Level 2. At first I thought I would hate doing the same workout for 10 days in a row, but now I love it. By day 4/5 you start to really get the hang of it and by day 9/10 you feel like a professional and are ready to take on the next challenge!  Will be posting some new pictures soon..eeeek!

73 more days to go!

These last 2 days I have done the workouts without any distractions. Not only am I able to focus more on my workout, I definitely feel more in tune with myself. Instead of treating myself to a massage, I am treating my body to something better. I feel AMAZING after and feel the burn wayyy more in my booty.

5 Things That I am Grateful For This Week 

1. Sunflowers.  Something about this flower just instantly puts a smile on my face 

2. Spending time with friends. An evening at the fair was filled with competitive game playing, lots of laughter, yummy food, a stomach-dropping ride, and a lute of stuffed animals 

3. Housewives of New Jersey. A guilty pleasure that just reminds me how lucky I am to have a family that isn’t getting sued, a part of the mafia, wanna-be singers, or filled with bratty children

 4. Paycheck Friday.With money in my account I now can afford our weekend gateway and a little shopping spree at the outlet

5. My soar butt. I am finally seeing some lift in the buttox area that means that my hard work is actually paying off!

Have a great and safe weekend everyone!
xoxo Sarah

A Yummy Detox? Yup its Out There!

So I have been researching Detox’s for a long time and I have to say the thought of just juice has always gave me the eeby-jeebys. I stumbled upon Gwyneth  Paltrow’s detox on her website Goop.com (which is uhh-mazing) and I was surprised to find she actually shows the recipes!

Why I love it? It HAS FOOD! It incorporates food with juices that will help rid your body and the recipes actually look delicious!  It’s a great help for those who want to make just a  “clean” meal or who are looking for a detox that doesn't make them shiver :)

Over the next couple weeks I am going to test out each recipe so when I finally decide to do it I can alter it to my taste.I made the Super Greens Juice for dinner last night. It was very tasty EXCEPT for the ginger. If you love that spicy taste leave it in, if not I would opt out

As Gwen would say "Health in a glass"

Recipe:

(serves 1)

·         1 cup tightly packed kale

·         4 stalks celery

·         1 1/2 pears, cut into large pieces

·         1" piece of fresh ginger

·         1/2 lemon, zest and pith removed

Juice everything into a glass, being sure to alternate the kale with the other ingredients to help it get through the juicer easily. Give the juice a stir before drinking.

For a printable version of this recipe and all the rest click HERE.

Don’t forget to give Gwen some love too :)

Tracy Anderson and Molly Sims Treadmill Workout

So I am not a huge fan on the dance cardio and I have to say I haven’t been doing it. I came across her treadmill option with Molly Sims. It looks great and I plan to attempt this weekend. However be warned, it might be a little embarrassing at a gym so I plan to do it on a friends treadmill.

I learned a lot about the dynamics of her program. She explains a little bit more why she chooses these specific moves and how things like running and the elliptical can mess them up! Oops.

Check em' out!

Here are the 2 links for the videos:

http://youtu.be/eVLD5TOi6g4

http://youtu.be/sKk1rkFGoNQ

Level 2 Here we Come!

Just finished our second day of Level 2 : ) Even though we love the leg section, the ab section is still hard to get the hang of! Anyone else have some great tips for conquering these abs??

3 "Thank Goodness" Moments this week:

1. Clothes are starting to feel a bit looser

2. Sarah almost broken out of my 130's lb rut

3. Last minute vacation with our men to Palm Springs this weekend is SO needed!

Below is a video of our first day of Level 2. I must say this mix of us being confused and kids running around is pretty humorous

Work Out Going Strong...Diet Not So Much

Oh man. Well I would highly suggest not starting this diet right after you graduate college and are about to have a huge grad party. Lets just say Saturday nights extravaganza pretty much messed up all the hard work of the juicing diet. Who could resist homemade BBQ, authentic mac n' cheese, and s'mores after a week of baby food. Even tho I went in with mind set that I won't eat any thing besides the smoked chicken and veggies I am a 22 year old human and after 2 glasses of wine (which will get you buzzed incredibly quick after a liquid diet) my strict food plan went right out the window. I woke up Sunday very disappointed in myself. Was it worth it? Probably not. But it's all trial and error.

So today Monday July 18th I am making an oath to myself to eat according to the diet for 14 days no matter what comes in my way. It's only 14 days of my life and maybe small goals will be much easier to accomplish than one long (90 day goal).

Things to remember when getting off track
1. Its not the end of the world. Self guilt is a horrible little bugger that can eat away at you so forgive yourself and promise to do better next time
2. Recognize the triggers that made you eat bad and remind yourself to not surround yourself around them until your mentally strong enough to resist the temptation
3. Learn that you do have the ability to enjoy small luxuries yet not get carried away. Have a bite of the cheesecake instead of an entire slice
4. Physically speak out loud when you know your eating when your full or something you shouldn't. Things like "I don't really need you I am just bored" or "I am full and don't want to wake up tomorrow with regret" are powerful statements when spoken out loud that can alter your judgment. It's almost like once you say it out loud you are able to move on rather than just constantly thinking about whether or not you should go back for another helping
5. Try and stay as active as possible. Clean, walk your dog, go for a run, read a book, call an old
Friend and catch up, water the plants. Anything to get your mind focused off food.


I know it's so much easier said than done. Trust me if I was doing them all the time this post wouldn't be written. All I can do is try again. Once I stop trying is when I have truly failed.

Proof That We are Human and Not Diet Robots

Posted by: Sarah

We already promised to be honest and real. No telling you its easy if it isn’t and no acting like we are perfect when we are not. The truth is the diet is HARD. Day one wasn’t bad, day two was okay, and day 3 was rough. The lack of coffee caused caffeine headaches which made me moody and I kept mentally freaking myself out about eating the food. I couldnt stomach the thought of the sweet potatoes and the gazpacho anymore.. which caused me to skip those meals... which caused me to be ridiculously hungry... which then lead to extremely bitchy Sarah :( By Thursday I was a mess and wasn’t a fan of the constant bad mood that were causing problems with loved ones around me (sorry boyfriend!)

An excerpt from Sommer and I’s Yahoo IM session at work that embodies our feelings perfectly:

Sommer Shankle (Jul 13 1:19 PM) but you know what was helpful, i brought a tiny bit of chocolate pudding [to work], and i ate it after my potatoes and i am better now with the cravings, before i ate the chocolate i could have flipped over my desk like the hulk i was so hungry

Sommer Shankle (Jul 13 1:20 PM): i just wanted to end it all about an hour ago and go to los golandrinas and get a bean and cheese, but i remained calm and composed

What Could Be...and Exactly What We're Trying To Avoid

I learned that you have to make the diet worth it to for you and this exact just plan didn’t for me. I want to lose weight but I also don’t want to be so incredibly grumpy all the time that no one wants to be around me and I sure as hell don’t want to turn into the hulk. The biggest thing for me is I didn’t want to be so miserable with this diet that I ruin all my hard work by eating everything in sight. So I will tell you about a minor adjustment that worked for me.

Breakfast: Power Juice

Snack: blueberry applesauce

Lunch:  Instead of eating the sweet potato pudding and gazpacho I substituted both for an egg white omelet for lunch which curved my craving for real food.

Snack : the carrot/parsnip puree

Dinner: I had the veggie soup and the chocolate pudding for desert

Just that minor change in eating some real food for lunch helped me put myself back on track. Sure its not exactly the Tracy Anderson plan but I am still sticking to most of the meals and substituting a super healthy and high protein alternative. We still plan to finish out the week mostly eating the  Nutrient Boost meals but also incorporating one small, healthy, non-processed meal for lunch that will help keep us on track. Some examples of go to meals would be

• 1/2 cup home made hummus and fresh cut veggies
• Egg white omelet with a little olive oil and chopped bell peppers, spinach, or any other fresh veggie
•  Dr. Oz's Green Drink
• 2 hard boiled eggs and a half cup of blueberries

I mean look at this: egg whites, veggies, and avocado....it's not like I downed a cheeseburger and fries. Def worth it my friends! No regrets here

 

A tip from one of our followers:

"Since I'm busy and do not want to peel a million apples for 3 months...I went to Trader Joe's and bought Organic no-sugar-added apple sauce, frozen wild blueberries, pre-cooked chicken breasts (super clean - for the soup), pre-made low-sodium chicken stock and a few other things to get started"

 -Natalia, Orange County

Love the idea of the no sugar added apple sauce! So much easier then peeling, coring, steaming, and blending 24 apples!!!