We can Wednesday!!

So, this week I'm not doing well at motivation, again........aaaaaaggggggain........but that's ok. I'm sorry. It's honestly just too damn cold. Maybe I can figure out how to get in the swing of things again when it's warm and then maybe next summer will be my summer to be skinny. haha. Pray for no broken bones!! If it wasn't for that stupid foot I'd still be on track. I just need a routine and not one that demands be to work out every single day of the week. And how can you resist doing things like this...

But one thing I am good at is meal prep. Well, at least for lunch and sometimes breakfast. lol. And the way I do it it doesn't take me long at all!! So....I figured I would share some things with you guys and hopefully it can help you, too!!

Breakfast, is so simple. Hard boil some eggs grab 2 every morning and enjoy. I also love me some breakfast wraps. Scramble some eggs, throw in a tiny bit of shredded cheese, some sauteed onions and peppers, turkey sausage if you have it, wrap it up. Wrap it in saran wrap or foil. Freeze. Grab one whenever you need it and throw it in the microwave on like 70% for a few minutes and turn halfway. Here is a recipe I wrote a while ago on Hopelessly Ever After.

OK, now lunch...now, to each their own, but I love seafood. So most of my lunches consist of fish or shrimp, but chicken is also definitely the way to go!! I usually get the big frozen bag of tilapia and the cooking is the EASIEST!! OK, thaw your fish, then sprinkle each side with some salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, etc. Then, broil top side down for about 5ish minutes depending on the size. When they start to turn white, you're good. Then turn it over and brush a tiny bit of light mayo...and I mean a tiny bit over the top and broil for a few more minutes. Done. Cook up some rice and broccoli and you're done!!

For the shrimp, I also buy mine frozen. I prefer the uncooked kind because I like to sauté mine in garlic and a little bit of olive oil, but it's up to you. The uncooked kind is a little more time consuming because you have to shell them. But honestly, so easy. Sprinkle a tiny bit of olive oil in a saute pan, then add some minced garlic. Drop in those thawed shrimp, sprinkle some salt and pepper and move em around a little until they turn pink. Don't overcook because remember you have to reheat when lunchtime comes. Then again, cook up some rice and broccoli and you're done!! 

OK and lunch numero tres!! Mike and I make an awesome, easy as 'ish crockpot chicken. It's not as healthy as grilled chicken, but it's soooo good. AND....you can use FROZEN chicken!! That's right!!! OK, so, put a few frozen chicken breasts in a crockpot, about 2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth, half a packet of taco seasoning, half a packet of ranch seasoning (you can do a whole packet we just try to keep it healthier). Cook on low at least 6 hours. We like to drain some of the broth out just to dry it up a little for tacos but if you're putting it on rice you might want it a little moist. moist. moist. Add some hot sauce or fresh salsa and voila!!

What do you prep for your meals?!?! I need ideas!!

Linking up for...

Accountability

Oh my Gooooooodness!! (Sheneneh style) I'm so excited to have all these new followers!!! Today is the last day to enter the giveaway so go head over there and be sure you did everything!!

Today is Friday!!!! Which means I have to tell you how well I followed through this week!! And ladies I'm excited!!! Well....about one thing at least. haha.

Here were my goals from Sunday:
 (remember I'm doing it Saturday to Friday now so I really started Saturday)

1. Work out at least 4 days including one day of cardio. (I know one day isn't a lot but I hate HATE cardio so start slow) I already got one good workout in yesterday and I know I will be getting in another tomorrow. That covers 2 days already which only leaves me two more. Totally doable. 

2. Get in 4 solid days of good water intake drinking at least a half gallon a day. I did this already once before so I know I can do it again. I find it so much harder to drink that water at home. There are so many more tastier options. I'm only at school 4 days this week so once again I'm setting a goal I know I can attain. Maybe I'll try for some days at home next week.

3. Eat a pre-planned or at least healthy meal for at least 2 meals per day. I've already planned out the dinners, but I know something will happen to where I don't actually make dinner. It always does. We've got 3 solid days already planned worth of healthy dinners. I hope I can get to them!!

4. Eat healthy snacks, and don't overeat them. I love "pops" (mini rice cakes cheddar cheese flavor). But the problem is I could literally eat the entire bag in one sitting. So....I need to pre package them I think. The problem that every time Mike has a day off we use the night to go in the theater and watch movies or catch up on tv shows. And....we take snacks up there with us. Usually gummy bears and pops. I think if I have a baggie full rather than the entire bag, it could definitely be a little healthier. I also want to get some pineapple, bananas, cucumbers, carrots, etc. and make a healthy greek yogurt ranch dip instead of ranch dressing. I love veggies and ranch dip so it would be a healthier option.

And here is how I did!!!
#1. I will just have you know that I did not workout 4 days this week. I worked out 6 baby!!! That's right. 6 damn days!! In the snow!! And one of those days I was hungover and tired, but I did it!! Now, unfortunately one of those days was not cardio. haha. Told you I h.a.t.e. cardio. But I mean I worked out 2 extra days!! Chum on Cletus! (update: clearly I wrote this the night before and had full intentions of going to the gym today, but I didn't make it. So 5 days. But still better than 4!!

#2. BIG FAT FAIL!! I actually didn't get in even one good day of water intake. We had off school literally all week because of the snow. I never drink as much as I should when I'm at home let alone that it be water. There are too many other options!! Maybe next week.

#3. FAIL! Once again, being home all week sucks for my diet. I literally planned the entire set of meals this week. I always have a healthy lunch. I usually make tilapia and rice or shrimp and rice. But, being home, and especially in the snow, makes me want everything unhealthy. And Wednesday I had an all time low. I told Mike I wanted to hit up happy hour. We usually just get wings which is bad enough, but this week we ordered loaded fries, wings, and then ate half of our friends deep fried jalapeno check dip. Ugh. makes me sick just thinking about it. (not really, it makes me hungry...)

#4. I actually think I did pretty well with this. I didn't prepackage my "pops" but I did only buy the small bag and I didn't finish the whole thing. I'm so in love with them, though. But, I also went and bought a pineapple and some cucumbers to snack on, too!! So, I wouldn't call this a fail, but I wouldn't necessarily say I did what I had intended to.

OK, so my goals for this week are:

#1. Continue to try to get at least 4 days of working out in. Since I won't be home as much this week it might be a true test of whether or not this goal is attainable for normal weeks. And, again, one day of cardio. I'm going to do this this week. I promise. I hope......

#2. 5 days of good water intake. Half gallon or more. I really think I can do this this time.

#3. 3 nights of healthy meals. I have a Pinterest board called "Gettin Right" where I have a ton of recipes and workouts and all that. Tomorrow, I'll sit down with Mike and we can choose three of them. Then, he can choose whatever else he might want this week. I like him to think he has a say in it. It helps him be a little more agreeable. lol. I'm going to do the premade lunches so that's easy, and hard boiled eggs for breakfast. Hopefully I can fit in a few snacks at work, too.

Alright chicks!! Your turn!! What are your goals this week??

We Can Wednesday!!

For those of you who haven't heard of this yet, Britney and Erica do this linkup every Wedesnday. I love it!! It holds me accountable through the middle of the week so I can update on my progress and goals.

So far I have done pretty good. We are snowed in at the moment so it's always harder for me to stick to my goals at home. But, things seem to be going pretty well. I did forget my water bottle for work yesterday, so I forgot to drink then, but I'm working on it for today. I also got to the gym three times so far already!!! Yay!! I get so excited to be able to go to the gym. I love the burn and how I'm sore afterwards. Yeah, I know cardio burns tons of calories, too, but I can't feel it. And, although we didn't think we were going to make it today, we're heading in!! So that means I met my goal already and anything else I do is extra credit!!! The food thing has not been good. lol. Being snowed in sucks!! All I want to do is eat pizza and soup. But, I did go buy some veggies and pineapple to snack on. We only brought in $7 however, so I couldn't get the greek yogurt to do the ranch dip. lol. Oh well.

How's your week going?? Are you meeting those goals??

It's a Giveawayyyyy!!

Hey ladies!! My other blog Hopelessly Ever After is hosting a Victoria's Secret giveaway today!!! Go check it out!!

Goals for the week!!

Last week I did a pretty crappy job of following through. I hope I can do a little better this week. I think I'm going to set my sights kinda low though because I want to be able to get back on track. I think when I set my goals so high, like working out every day, and then I fail for 2 days, I just kinda say screw it and don't do anything. Maybe this way I won't feel as bad.

I'm also going to start doing my goals from Friday to Friday. I think it's so much easier to get to the gym on the weekends and I want to be able to give myself credit for that. You know, toot my own horn a little. haha.

Goals for this week:

1. Work out at least 4 days including one day of cardio. (I know one day isn't a lot but I hate HATE cardio so start slow) I already got one good workout in yesterday and I know I will be getting in another tomorrow. That covers 2 days already which only leaves me two more. Totally doable. 

2. Get in 4 solid days of good water intake drinking at least a half gallon a day. I did this already once before so I know I can do it again. I find it so much harder to drink that water at home. There are so many more tastier options. I'm only at school 4 days this week so once again I'm setting a goal I know I can attain. Maybe I'll try for some days at home next week.

3. Eat a pre-planned or at least healthy meal for at least 2 meals per day. I've already planned out the dinners, but I know something will happen to where I don't actually make dinner. It always does. We've got 3 solid days already planned worth of healthy dinners. I hope I can get to them!!

4. Eat healthy snacks, and don't overeat them. I love "pops" (mini rice cakes cheddar cheese flavor). But the problem is I could literally eat the entire bag in one sitting. So....I need to pre package them I think. The problem that every time Mike has a day off we use the night to go in the theater and watch movies or catch up on tv shows. And....we take snacks up there with us. Usually gummy bears and pops. I think if I have a baggie full rather than the entire bag, it could definitely be a little healthier. I also want to get some pineapple, bananas, cucumbers, carrots, etc. and make a healthy greek yogurt ranch dip instead of ranch dressing. I love veggies and ranch dip so it would be a healthier option.

Alright. Cross your fingers. I want to actually succeed with this this week. haha. This is a pic from 2007. Notice the flat belly. I'm gonna get back there.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow!! There is going to be an awesome Valentine's Day giveaway!!!

A Crappies Follow Through Friday

It's Happies and Crappies day and Follow Through Friday, so I figured I would combine them.

Long story short. My week of "fitness" was crap. So, I'll start with those and end on my one Happy for the week.

Crappies

1. I didn't make it to the gym or do any kind of working out once this week. There. I said it. Mike asked me about 100000000 times, "Are you going to do T25 tonight?" "No." "What are you just done with that? You're giving up.".............. Shut up assmunch. Leave me alone.

2. I ate like 'ish this week. The only time I was decent was lunch and apparently my stomach thought otherwise yesterday. Houston, we almost had a problem. Actually I'm starting to feel a little rumble in the Bronx at the moment so maybe it was just the opposite. That the eating like 'ish is causing me an "issue". That's why it sucks being a teacher, sometimes. I have a one person bathroom in my classroom. But....I can't go in there and "use it" when I have a class. So, I have to pucker up and deal. (Sorry not sorry if this was too nasty for anyone. If so, you might not want to read the post I'm planning on for next week. If it uses a "crappy" word in the title, look away.)

Proof that I wanted to eat good this week......

3. I didn't get the water intake I wanted this week either. Same issues as #2. I can't use the bathroom whenever I want so holding your bladder for-ev-er is a problem. However, I did realize that peeing after you've held it for a REALLY long time is one of the best feelings ever!! Plus, I just wasn't really thinking about it so the jug just pretty much sat on my desk.

Happies!!! 

or "Happy" because there's only one.

1. Next week is a new week. I'm not going to dwell on how horrible I did this week. I'm going to suck it up and make it better.....I hope.

Stop back on Monday ladies!! Hopelessly Ever After and some awesome ladies are hosting a Valentine's Day giveaway and I'm posting it on here, too!!

Taste of Tuesday - Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

I know I've talked about it many Tuesdays before, but Skinnytaste.com is my most favorite website on the planet for healthy recipes. Not only do they make each meal healthy but they also taste AMAZEBALLS!!

I had made this dish one other time and remembered recently how good it was. So, I thought, while I was on my break I might as well try it out again! And it did not disappoint!!

I will tell you this recipe takes a little longer than my previous ones. It's not hard, by any means, but there are a few steps to get everything together. But it is worth it!!

I'm going to mention, however, that Mike wasn't a huge fan. Mike has always had a love/hate relationship with Mexican food. He likes most of it, but he can't take anything with a mushy consistency. These enchiladas do get a little mushy (kinda like normal enchiladas) with the way that I put it in the recipe, but read the suggestions in italics if you have the same issues Mike does. I think I know how to fix it!!

Skinny Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

For nutritional info head to Skinnytaste. And their pic is much better!!

INGREDIENTS:

For the filling:

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup minced white onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

15.5 oz can Navy beans

8 oz cooked shredded chicken breast

1/3 can water

1 chicken bullion

1 tsp cumin

For the sauce:

1 tsp butter

1/2 cup chopped white onion

2 tbsp flour

1 cup fat free chicken broth

7 oz can chopped green chile

2ish tbsp jalapeños, chopped (I used jarred)

salt (to taste)

1/2 cup light sour cream

3/4 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese

8 medium tortillas (they recommend low carb)

chopped fresh cilantro or scallions (for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375º. In a medium pan, heat olive oil on low and add in onions and garlic. Saute until soft. Mix in chiles, beans, water, bullion, and cumin. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes on low. Add chicken and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes. Set aside.

In a larger nonstick pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add in onions and cook until translucent stirring occasionally. Add flour and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and continue whisking until mixture becomes smooth. Cook over medium heat until sauce thickens and boils and then add chiles, jalapenos, and salt. Cook about another minute and then remove from heat. Stir in sour cream.

Spread about 1/4 of the sauce on the bottom of your baking dish. (if you don't like mushy I would skip this step but make sure you spray your dish with cooking spray.) Fill each tortilla with the chicken mixture and then roll them up. Place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until the mixture is gone. 

Pour the enchilada sauce over the tortillas. (If you don't want mush either wait about 5-10 minutes into cooking to do this or don't make as much sauce for your enchiladas.) Top with cheese. Cover with foil and cook about 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and enchiladas are hot. Garnish with cilantro or scallions. Enjoy!!

Sorry for the horrible pics for this. lol.

Follow Through Friday!!

It's Follow Through Friday!!!! If you don't know about it, click on the button at the top and you'll find out all about it. And thank God, too, because lord knows I need something constant to keep my on my goals.

So I'm doing okay this week. I wouldn't say I'm doing great but it's Friday so I have one more day to make myself feel better about it. lol. 

On Sunday I came up with a few goals for this week. I wanted to make sure I had something to hold me accountable. If you don't remember these were the goals...

#1. T-25 for 6 days unless I do 2 workouts on Friday and then T-25 for 5 days.
#2. Drink at least a half gallon of water a day. I know you're supposed to drink a gallon but honestly, water and I don't really like each other. It has to be cold for me to drink it and I don't have a lot of pee breaks throughout the day so I have to limit myself. I think I need to build myself up and figure how to get in that much water while I teach.
#3. Plan ahead 3 healthy dinners. I would love to do more than that but eating healthy is so expensive!! And...Mike likes to cook, too, so...I can't take that away from him. :) And, if they turn out good, I'll be sharing them for Taste of Tuesdays!!

And...here is where I am with my progress...

#1. I did T25 on Monday. I was NOT successful. I also have not done it since. lol. But I did go to the gym on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday I took my rest day because I'm going to be working my butt off Saturday morning with one of my friends and her cousin. She does all the awesome exercise classes that I have wanted to attend so I'm doooiiinnn it!!! So....kinda successful??

#2. Well...Monday I forgot my water bottle and, although I didn't win Val's giveaway, I found my half gallon water bottle so I can keep track of how much I'm drinking. But......I've drank a half gallon or more since Tuesday!! I honestly did not think I could do this. I'm not a big water drinker, but I'm proud of myself and could even up it if I wanted. Although, I don't think I'll be able to because I've about peed myself many times over the week when I can't get a break between classes.

#3. So................the "plan ahead" thing worked, but.......we didn't actually make the healthy dinners. I'm doing one tonight, though!! But I'm not sure it's honestly that healthy unless I put it into the recipe thingy on that website and find out. Monday Mike wanted burgers (but I only ate half), Tuesday we sucked and had Chinese, Wednesday we went to Mike's mom's which is something I can't give up because she is an amazing cook, and last night we made Cubans with the leftover pretzel bread from Monday.....tonight I'm going to attempt to make healthy ziti. Cross ya fingas!!

So, honestly I don't know how I did. I didn't meet my goals, but I did okkkkkk???? Maybe next week will be better. I'll update on the rest of my success (see...staying positive) on Sunday!!

Peace chicks!

Win some, Lose some...

Linking up with Britney and Erica for...

So, while I knew this journey wasn't going to be easy, I should have realized that starting it during the holidays would just set me up for failure.

As I mentioned, T25 and I haven't seen each other for 3 weeks. Except for Monday. I tried to do the Whole Body Circuit on Monday and failed miserably. I was out of breath within the first 5 minutes and just could not catch myself back up. I tried following the moderator and taking a few short 5 second breaks, but I couldn't get myself back into it. It didn't help that I truthfully didn't feel like doing it in the first place and had been dreading it all day. I think my mindset was just totally not into it. But, thanks to my amazing blog community I got so many encouraging words when I posted this pic and told everyone of my failure...I was truly bummed and your encouragement made me feel awesome.

I haven't decided whether I'm going to continue on with the entire program. I think I kinda knew at the beginning I wouldn't make it all the way through but when I succeeded for the first 4 weeks I thought I was in it to win it.

And then Christmas happened. It was so hard to get motivated over this break. Not to mention the major amount of food I consumed. I'm sure whatever progress I did make went down the crapper as soon as Christmas Eve and our plethora of appetizers came around. I forgot how good cream cheese is. lol. Well...just cheese in general, really. And dinner?? With the mac and cheese and corn pudding?? Ugh. Divine.

So needless to say I failed. Again. I'm pretty sure there are more posts labeled "failure" than any other posts in this blog. lol.

One good thing that came out of break was the amount of time I got to go to the gym. I know I talked about it a little but I really really love going to the gym. Even if it's cardio....and I hate cardio. Something about being around other people holds you accountable for what you're doing. Can't look like a little puss out there lifting light and everyone knowing you can do better. Mike proved that to me over break. He pushed me. Hard. And I did more than I thought I could.

I think I always knew I wasn't a "workout video" kind of person. I mean honestly, I could have just told you guys that I did the work and really sat on my tush with a margarita. But I'm proud I prooved to myself I can do it...even if I didn't really succeed. lol.

I'm working on a way to get to the gym more often. I know that's the only way I'm truly going to feel comfortable with this journey. I can always do a video here and there, it's just the errryday thing I can't handle. Too much pressure.

Mike was a sweetie and waited for me to get home from work yesterday to go to the gym with me. Working out with him honestly gives me a ton of joy. I know....I'm corny...but it makes me feel great to know he's proud of me. He's my favorite person to impress. Plus, he shows me new moves and helps me perfect them for when I go alone. I know he's not always going to be able to wait for me, and I don't expect him to, but he honestly is the best workout partner I could ask for. (Even if we do get beer and Chinese takeout after the gym......like last night...)

I'm still working though, and I know I can do it. It just might take a while to get myself back into that mindset from last year. I know I can't change my lifestyle cold turkey, and I have to accept that and make this something that will last.

I lied...

I was supposed to do my enchiladas for Taste of Tuesday today but I didn't get around to it. Yesterday was my first day back to school and it was EXHAUSTING!!

I'll be back tomorrow. At least with something small. Maybe an update on my weekly goals? Which aren't going so well.

I failed...miserably...

But don't worry....I'm back on it tomorrow!!

Over this break I was HORRIBLE! And I mean horrible. The only good thing I did was make three healthy dinners and I also hit up the gym about 6 or 7 times. Other than that, I sat on my lard ass and ate good food. Which really wasn't all that great!!

I drank beer. Lots of beer. And also a ton of liquor and wine. I tell you, alcohol is my downfall.

But........I'm getting back on it I tell you!! I just got done preparing meals for this week. I made some tilapia and rice and some shrimp and rice. I hard-boiled some eggs for breakfast and packaged some snacks for in between. I even found my half-gallon water bottle and filled her up ready for tomorrow!!

T-25 and I haven't seen each other for 2 weeks. But tomorrow, I'm going to go back to week 5 and starting her all over. At least I hit up the gym a few times while I was on break. Actually I worked myself the hell out a few of those days. I haven't deadlifted or done official barbell squats since I broke my foot and I sucked it up and got on it last week. I couldn't walk for a few days. And, thanks to Mike, I pushed myself way farther than I thought I could go. See!! This is why I need a partner!!

And I think my new Sunday thing is going to be setting my goals for the week. Probably a lot of the time they are going to be the same, but hey...why reinvent the wheel, right?!?

So here are my goals for this week:
#1. T-25 for 6 days unless I do 2 workouts on Friday and then T-25 for 5 days.
#2. Drink at least a half gallon of water a day. I know you're supposed to drink a gallon but honestly, water and I don't really like each other. It has to be cold for me to drink it and I don't have a lot of pee breaks throughout the day so I have to limit myself. I think I need to build myself up and figure how to get in that much water while I teach.
#3. Plan ahead 3 healthy dinners. I would love to do more than that but eating healthy is so expensive!! And...Mike likes to cook, too, so...I can't take that away from him. :) And, if they turn out good, I'll be sharing them for Taste of Tuesdays!!

Be sure to stop by for Taste of Tuesday this week because I have an awesome Skinny Enchilada dish!!

Anywhoo....thanks to all of you who are keeping me on track!! Now...let's do this thang!!