Monday Musings: Muffins!!

Hello all!

Please excuse me for my absence this past Friday. I thought I would try to make it up to you all with a delicious Monday Muffin recipe. This recipe was inspired by the delicious recipes on blogilates.com.

Alrighty. Here we go!

What you will need:

2 cups oatmeal

2 over ripened bananas

2 eggs

2 TBS light agave syrup

1 TBS vanilla almond milk

Your favorite berries (I used raspberries and blueberries. Yumm)

*Preheat your oven to 350º

*Add your ingredients other than the berries to medium mixing bowl

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*Blend ingredients together until smooth. You want to get out as many of the banana chunks as possible, but the mixture will still be fairly chunky because of the oatmeal.Chopping up the bananas may make this easier if you don't have a stand mixer. :)

*After your muffin mix is smooth, spoon it into a greased muffin pan. Fill them about 1/2-2/3 of the way full. I use a small ice cream scoop to dollop cookies and mix into pans. It gives you even portions and makes the process a lot easier. 

*Now its time to add the berries! Add your washed berries to each muffin.

YUMMY!

*Put your muffins on the middle rack in your oven and bake them for 12-14 mins. 

*Check them to make sure the middle is cooked thoroughly. Let them cool 10 mins and then enjoy!

(If you want you can also sprinkle a little Stevia on top as they come out)

And that's it! Totally easy and totally delicious. Let me know what you guys think!

Thanks for reading!

Monday Musings: Fooducate

Hello all!

It's Monday again and I thought I would do a review of one of my favorite apps in regard to my health. Before we go any further, though I'm sure you already know this, I'm not being paid by anybody to review this app. I just really like this app and I thought I would share it with everybody. :)

Okay, so this app has a ton of great features and great options to help you track your health. You can change the settings to make it specific to you and your needs/goals. I've provided a few screenshots below to help give you a small tour of the app and how awesome it is. Let's begin!

When you open up the app, this is one of the first things you will see. It is the home screen and it is pretty self explanatory.

From the home screen you can open this little side bar which allows you to do a ton more stuff. You can track what you eat and how much you exercise with you health tracker. You can set your own goals. You can personalize what you want the app to check for and notify you of such as GMOs, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, and gluten free.

This is the second part of the side bar menu. Here you can make your own lists of products you like or favorite, your own shopping lists, and you can check for products you have searched before. Pretty cool right? It gets better!

This is what the scan screen looks like. You place the bar code in that little frame. Yes, that is a blanket that I'm "scanning."

Here I scanned some Stax. I think this screen has some of the coolest options. Here it shows you what the overall food rating is of this product according to your interests, how many people like or recommend the product, the nutritional values...etc. It also shows some of the major points, good or bad, about the product. For example, this product has a high probability of GMOs so it is the first thing listed as that is one of the criteria I personalized the app to search. You can also rate this yourself (whether you like or don't like), add it to you shopping list, AND see alternatives if it isn't the best version of this type of product.

These are the Stax alternatives, They normally provide better alternatives.  Yummmm.

This is just a screen shot of the health tracker. Depending on how you personalize it, the app with give you a goal of calories. Then you can add what you have eaten, what you have drank, and how much you have exercised. This is like MyfitnessPal a little bit.

Then, if you don't have a bar code or are just curious about a certain food, you can just browse through foods, or search for something. :) So cool! AND to top it all off.....this app is FREE! YES! FREE! Woah! What more could you want?

So that's about it. Some more in depth info on my favorite little helper. I hope this inspires you to go check it out and make your own opinions on it.

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for reading!

Foodie Friday: Chocolate!!

Yeah you read that title correctly. Chocolate! And not just any chocolate, but clean chocolate! What?! I know!

I know the ladies out there often have a craving for this sweet and tantalizing treat especially around shark week. I can tell you now that chocolate is probably my best friend around that time. So I was sad when I couldn't find really any chocolate that met my standards of clean eating. I had to find another way. So what did I do? I made my own! And the following is the delicious outcome. 

Here is what you will need for your clean chocolate:

3/4 cup coconut oil (I use LouAna thanks to Megan! :D)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup honey (I buy local honey)

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp freshly ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

1/8 tsp freshly ground sea salt

Extras: Smart Balance creamy peanut butter, organic milk+, almonds

*In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients (except extras). You want to get out as many
clumps as possible. I try to warm up my coconut oil a bit to make it easier to mix.
*When everything is thoroughly mixed, spread mixture evenly out over a baking sheet lined with waxed paper.
*Next comes the extras. I sometimes like to sprinkle unsalted almonds over the cookie sheet to make almond chocolate bars, but the peanut butter was the biggest hit with my family. After I spread the chocolate out I took 2 TBS of the Smart Balance creamy peanut butter and dolloped it on top of the chocolate. I then took a butter knife and swirled the PB into the chocolate (like making a marble cake).
* Next, put the chocolate in the freezer overnight.
*Once frozen, cut up and enjoy!
+This chocolate is very dark. You can optionally add a splash of organic milk to the original mixture to make your chocolate a little less intense. 

This chocolate is very soft so I recommend cutting it and then putting in a seal-able container that you can keep in the freezer. This is because there is no paraffin in this chocolate to keep it hard at room temperature, we alleviate this (sorta) with the coconut oil. The chocolate will still melt quickly, but that shouldn't be a problem as I'm sure you will gobble it up lickety-split!

That is all for now! Let me know how your chocolate turns out!

Thanks for reading!

Monday Musings: 3 Months

Hello All!

It's a wonderful Memorial Monday and today also marks about 90 days that I have been on my fitness journey. I'm in shock at how much I have accomplished in the last 3 months and I can't even believe that my body is actually mine. I have completely transformed my lifestyle to one that has made me much happier and healthier in the long run.

I thought I would just try this for a few months and see where it left me or I would just drop it within a few days, but the results I've seen and the knowledge I've gained has invaluable. This has been an amazing learning experience and the knowledge I have will stay with me forever. I only hope that I can continue to learn more about my own body, my limits, my strength as well as teach others who wish to learn. This journey is not over by any stretch of the imagination though i think now this is almost purely just my lifestyle. I no longer believe that this is a "plan" or a "diet" or anything like that. This is just me.

I don't think i will always be training as diligently or as often and I don't think I will always be as strict with my nutrition, but I do think I will stay healthy and not allow myself to ever go back to the unhealthy life I was leading.

Well, I have a personal announcement to make. I'm done with my 90 day journey, but that doesn't mean I'm done. I could just stay healthy, but I'm setting some new goals for myself. Here, today, with all of you as my witnesses. My goal was to always be in a size twelve. I wanted to be in the average. The normal. Well, I'm pleased to announce that I made that goal! I went from a size 16/18 down to a comfortable size 12! Though I know this isn't the best way to track your progress, it is a good way for me to track my progress without using the number on the scale or using super expensive equipment to track fat loss.

I know I'm never going to be stick thin. I enjoy my curves and I'm so much more confident in my body. Hourglass figure. Check. No thigh gap? Don't care! I'm just happy I'm healthy and I'm so happy that I'm setting my new goal! Are you ready for this? Okay.....

I've always said I wanted to be a size twelve. Well, I'm there. So what's the next step? A size 10! Oh no! Craziness! Yes, I'm going to do it! My goal is to be in a size ten before I go back to school in August. That is about three more months from today. You think I can do it? Well I dropped almost 3 sizes in the past 3 months, I think I can go one more in the next 3. I'm a goal oriented person and I think keeping this goal will even further set my clean lifestyle and help me keep going. If I have something to work towards, I know I'm not going to be lazy. I know I can do it. Can you?

I sure think you can! I challenge you to do it with me! Set yourself a goal of one size difference or a couple inch difference or even just a piece of clothing that you want to fit into and feel fabulous. Make it a goal that you want to reach by the time school days come again. Make it a reasonable goal and then let me know what it is. We will do this together and end up more fabulous and confident than we already are!

I will keep you up on my progress and you can do the same with me. If you set yourself a goal, let me know what it is by leaving a comment below, tweeting it to me, or send me a shout out on Instagram. I'm hoping that your goals will motivate me and my goal/progress will do the same for you.

So go out and grab life by the horns. Let's do this!

This is me as a new Leah:

Thank you guys for reading!

Foodie Friday: Meal Prep Madness

Hello again everyone and welcome to yet another Foodie Friday! 

I know...you were waiting all week just for this moment. Well its here and today I'm going to be sharing with you some of my recipes and tricks for my meal preps. Leggo!

1. Chicken

Ok, so chicken is a major part of my nutrition. I love it and eat often. I'm also one to get bored easily so I need to have options. Normally I will defrost all my chicken for the week and then split it up. I usually take half and marinate it with one of my delicious chicken marinades that I talked about during our first Foodie Friday. You can find those recipes HERE. I will take the other half and season it with my spicy taco seasoning. I grill all of my chicken now that it is summertime because I love the flavor that the grill gives.

2. Sweet Potatoes

I LOVE sweet potatoes and I love to have them at least once a day. They have great vitamins and minerals, they are lower in starch than normal potatoes, and they satisfy my sweet tooth. Well they don't freeze well so to make them freezable I turn them into twice baked sweet potatoes. They are delicious and nutritious! 

3. Green Beans

Gotta have those veggies. I don't enjoy too many of them so green beans are my go to. I buy a large portion of them and cook them for the week in some water and low sodium veggie broth. Then I store them in the fridge for the week. Easy Peasy.

4. Awesome Flax seed Pancakes

Gotta have these things too! I love them and they are the perfect touch to my egg whites in the morning when I'm not feeling oatmeal. Topped with a bit of PB2 and organic strawberry jam they are perfection. I usually make a double batch and freeze them. Pop them in the toaster when I'm ready to chow down.

5. Rice

Make it with chicken broth to give it a little extra flavor.

Here's a BASIC run down of my daily meals:

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That's it for now! If you have any questions, leave me comment. :) Let me know what you think of the new look. I'm trying to make it all easier to navigate.

Thanks for reading!

*All recipes I didn't link will be posted later today under my recipes tab and then linked back to this post. :)

View Megan's Foodie Friday post HERE. 

Thursday Thoughts: Beauty Picks for Fit, Fierce Femme Fatales

Whoa! That's a lot of f's!

Hello all and welcome to another episode of Monday Musings...err...Thursday Thoughts. Due to some medical issues, I have been on a mini hiatus and missed my normally schedule Monday Musings post. Well, I thought I would do a Thursday edition to make up for it. 

I have been talking a lot about my fitness and clean eating and blah blah which I know can get boring sometimes (or annoying, you take your pick) so today I'm going to switch it up....slightly.

As many of you may know already, I'm a girl. And I enjoy the girly things in life like makeup, fashion, fuzzy animals, small dogs...you know. All that bologna. Well, when I was online the other day, I noticed a fitfam member criticizing another woman for wearing makeup to the gym saying that she obviously didn't get a good enough workout and she needed leave the gym to "really dedicated" gym goers. I love my fitfam, but this bothered me. We are all on our own journey here and nobody has any right to bring somebody down because their path is different. We should be supporting each other, I would tell that girl to "Get on with ya bad self!" because she took the time to look nice before she ventured to tear it up in her own way. 

Fitness is all about being healthy and body positive. If that girl is anything like me, then working out with her eyelashes on probably makes her feel more confident and thus makes her go at her workouts even harder. And if her face melts off, then so be it. This unknown girl and her "attacker" inspired me to write about the products I use to satisfy my beauty and fitness needs.

I usually work weird shifts so keeping my workouts on schedule is quite hard, but they normally happen in the evening when all is quiet. So I usually like to go home, go straight to getting my sweat on, and then get ready for bed so I can do it all again the next day. This means my makeup needs to transfer from work to workout with no problems. When I first started this fitness journey, I was rockin the full face (foundation, eyeliner, powder, eye shadow...etc) I quickly found out that wasn't going to work. My face ended up on my mat every night. So, I did some research and found some awesome drugstore products to move with my lifestyle. Without further ado, here are my beauty picks for fierce, fit femme fatales.

1. Cetaphil gentle cleanser and moisturizer


This stuff is great! (I'm officially switching to it after I finish my last bottle of Olay) I've used Olay for a long time, but I'm switching because this cleanser and moisturizer is much more gentle and you get way more bang for your buck. Working out can cause those sweat glands to kick into high gear, especially since its summer. Using this makes my skin smooth, clean, and keeps those facial demons from popping up.

2. Garnier BB cream

I'm obsessed with BB creams right now and this one is my favorite. It gives you coverage comparable to foundation, but make no mistake that this is NOT going to give you full coverage. It is lightweight and smooths out the face taking attention off any trouble spots. It is great for those who want to wear something, but not a caked on face. Plus it stays true when you work it out. :)

3. Revlon Photoready Powder

I usually take a fluffy brush and pat this on top of my BB cream to set it. The Garnier BB cream especially is quite "dewy" looking when applied so I like to "matte" it up a bit with this. If you have dry skin, I don't recommend this step, but your results could also vary depending on what BB cream you use.

4. NYC Park Avenue Plum

I'm a bargain hunter, for sure. So when I first saw this, I almost died! I used it once and instantly fell in love. When you want to look "natural" but still glow, you should use a blush that has a peachy-nude tint to it. It will make you look naturally flushed and not too done up or like you are constantly embarrassed. The reason I'm so glad this is a bargain is because I usually stick with the Mark Kay sunny spice blush for this purpose and that normally costs around $15. Yikes. That's a lot for me. Well, this blush maxes out around $3 and looks exactly the same!! Talk about a deal! Not to mention it holds true and stays on all day. Even through the sweat.

5. Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Eyeliner

I'm pretty faithful to my Maybelline black liquid liner, but recently I've been craving a pencil. The problem with pencils is that they are poke-y and glide on like a rock. Plus, they usually don't last very long. When I saw this, I had to try it and it turned out to be great! It glides on just like a liquid liner, smudges nicely to create a soft look, and stays on all day! Thank you waterproof! An added bonus is that it is fairly easy to get off and it has a touch of sparkle to it so it brightens the eyes even more. :)

6. Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Mascara

This has also been a recent favorite. It plumps and spreads my lashes really well while making them look equally natural and done up. The waterproof does make it a bit to get off, but it stays on great all day and I haven't had any troubles with flaking.

This is my usual line up for an everyday look that can go from work to working out. Sometimes I will add a lip gloss (NYC NudeYork) or eyes shadow to glam it up. Other things I use during the day are chap stick (Nivea A Kiss of Moisture) and makeup removing wipes (Simple makeup removing wipes or Burt's Bees makeup removing wipes).

I hope this has helped some of you or inspired you to try some new products. :) Let me know what some of your favorites are that fit into your healthy lifestyle. Have a great day!

Bye for now!

Leah ♥

P.S. You've probably noticed the new look, thanks for understanding and being patient while I do some construction. Let me know what you think of it. :)

Foodie Friday: Cookout

Hello all!

It is time for another Foodie Friday to satisfy your taste buds! It is getting close to summer time and one thing I know I love are the cookouts I have with my family. Unfortunately, some of those cookout foods can be hiding something more sinister and can be quite tempting. So here are a few recipes to clean up your cookout and satisfy the whole family

Clementine & Spinach Salad:

This salad is soooooo good! I absolutely love it and it is an amazing side for those summer cookouts. It is fresh and satisfies both the sweet and salty cravings you may have. Here is what you will need:

2 lbs clementines, peeled and sectioned                                     2 TBS red wine vinegar

32 oz baby spinach                                                                  1/4 cup olive oil

4 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced                                          1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 cup red onion, thinly sliced or chopped                                  1 clove fresh garlic, minced

1/2 cup unsalted walnuts                                                           1/8 tsp Stevia

1/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries (optional)                          Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

§In a large bowl toss rinsed spinach, celery, onion walnuts, dried fruit, and half clementines. Spread remaining clementines across top of tossed salad.

§In smaller bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, mustard, garlic, Stevia, salt, and pepper. When ready to serve, pour whisked dressing over salad and serve immediately.

I don't have any pictures to show you guys, but I assure you this salad is amazingly satisfying and so pretty with all the different colors.

Cheeseburger Roll-Ups

For those of you who don't have a grill, too bad no problem! You can still have delicious cookout foods without the hassle. These babies are super good and super easy to make. Perfect for picky little ones and all those kids at heart. Here is what you will need:

2 lbs lean ground beef (I get mine from a local butcher fresh)

3/4 cups soft bread crumbs (I like to make my own bread and crumble it up)

1/2 cup red onion minced

2 eggs, beaten

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (Or use Mrs. Dash C:)

12 oz shredded white cheddar cheese*

§In a large bowl combine beef, bread crumbs, onion, eggs, and seasonings using clean hands (My favorite part. :D) When mixed thoroughly, pat out onto a large cookie sheet covered with wax paper roughly leaving a 3/4 inch border around the edges (Kind of like pressing out a pizza crust). 

§Sprinkle shredded cheese over the surface of the meat until desired coverage is achieved.

§Then, start at one end of the meat and start rolling the the short side in a jelly roll form towards the other short side.

§When the meat is all rolled up, bake the roll at 350 degrees for an hour (make sure the internal temp is appropriate. 160 degrees). Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes.

§Slice the meat to your desired burger thickness and serve on homemade bread or buns of your choice. Top with your favorite condiments (Remember to read the label or make your own C:)

I hope you guys enjoy these recipes. I will try to get some pictures up of each as soon as possible and will notify you when I do. Let me know what you think and what you would like to see next. 

You can find Megan's "Foodie Friday" entry at her website HERE.

Thank you so much for reading!

Bye for now!

*Did you know that nowadays, most cheeses that are orange are dyed to that color? Cheddar especially. "Yellow" cheeses used to be naturally that color because of the enzymes found in the food that cows were eating. Such a grass. Now, it is often too expensive to just let cows graze on grass so they are fed supplement foods like corn. So, the cheeses that cows milk produces are very rarely naturally "yellow" when they are made and often cheddar cheese is the most common form of cheese that is made. So, when you see "natural" yellow cheddar cheeses in the store, take a closer look. The color may not be natural at all and it doesn't have to be labeled as a color. It is normally labeled as an "enzyme." Your best bet is to go with natural white cheeses.*

Monday Musings: Confessions

Hello all!

Well it is another Monday and I feel like I really need to get something off my chest. Last week was a terrible week for me when it comes to my fitness journey. To put it in perspective, I usually weigh myself at the beginning of each week just to get an idea of where I am (not as my measurement of progress) and this week I am afraid to.

This past week has been full of early mornings, late nights, working hours, bad news and skipped meals. Even when I tried to keep myself on track it just felt like I would fall off the cart as soon I got on. I worked out 3 times this past week when I normally workout 6 days a week. One night I only got 3 hours of sleep before I had to go to work and then followed that up with a 4 hour sleep night to go to work again. Working strange hours threw off my eating schedule. Working in an ER makes it hard to squeeze in those scheduled eating times. Don't get me wrong,I  absolutely love the fast pace of my job, but it doesn't always allow for me to follow through with all my healthy choices, even if I had everything planned out. One day I only ate two meals.....Yikes. The rest of the week was not much better.

Not to mention some bad news, some anxiety attacks (yes, I battle with these), crying, and attempted retail therapy (not always the best choice), and bad food choices. Can anyone say sweet tart gummies? (which did not help the sluggish-ness). I think I was chugging more coffee than water. *face palm* Every time something bad happened it would make me more discouraged and angry with myself just adding to my stress level and generally making me more exhausted. I felt so bad yesterday because I felt like I ruined everything I had worked for in one week.

Then I went to sleep...

This morning I woke up after 10 hours of rest and I felt great. I took a look at everything around me and realized that it was okay. I looked in the mirror, i still had the start of my bicep muscles, my butt was still more lifted and toned than when I started, my legs still looked more toned than when I started, I still looked taller, my face still had more definition, and (to top it off) the bags underneath my eyes were pretty much gone. I was smiling too.

What's the point? Everything was and is still good. I didn't ruin everything. This is a lifestyle, not a diet. I will have bad weeks and really bad weeks, but I will also have great weeks! Life throws some punches and I will have to roll with them so I can't give up on myself for trying to persevere through all that (even if I crash and burn). I want to be honest with everyone and tell you guys that I am human. I think at some point I started to believe I wasn't and this week was a way of showing me that I still was. It was a way of humbling me and letting me share that with other people. I make mistakes. Everyone will make mistakes, but you just have to learn from them and move forward.

I want to thank everyone for reading this and supporting me. Thank you for all your positive and comments because they make me feel like what I'm doing is really important. I hope it will continue to be important and I will continue to feel your love and support.

So thank you all!

bye for now!

Mother's Day & Musings

Hello all!

It's Mother's Day! What can I say? Wow. Moms. They are amazing. Where would be without them? Literally: We would be non-existent. But, seriously, moms are the greatest!

I owe a lot to my mom. She is the strongest and most powerful woman I know and I couldn't fathom doing what she does all the time. I guess you could say she has been an inspiration to me in my fitness journey as well. 

My mom has always been one of those people who has done the "right thing" in life. She got married to my dad, she had my brother while going to school to be a nurse, got a lot of training and great jobs to help support her family (whether that meant being on call, working thirds, or just plain working her butt off), then she had me and the rest of my life is history. She and my dad have always tried to do what is best for my brother and me and, comparatively, we have had a pretty fortunate and good life.

Turns out biology doesn't really care if you have done the right thing. For the past two years I have watched her battle a crippling disease called Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). For those of you who don't know, RA is an autoimmune disease (meaning the body attacks itself) that affects the joints and causes them to swell, hurt, and become immobile. This disease has cost her so much. She had to stop pursuing her passion of nursing, she has missed holidays because of stays in the hospital, she almost missed my brother's wedding, and countless other things that her RA has taken away from her. 

Normally, RA is treatable and maybe even curable with proper treatment and medication. My mom does not have this luxury. A doctor once told my mom that she was Murphy's Law (Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong). Basically her body has rejected most forms of modern medicine in relation to her condition. I won't go into her entire medical history, so take this as you will.

Though she has had some nasty habits, she has generally stayed active and led a healthy life. She even tried to let go of her bad habits to become even more healthy right before she found out what she had. So what is the point of telling you all this? Preparation. My mother wasn't. This was not her fault. We have not, to my knowledge, had any complications like this in our family tree. This is a one in a million case. This has made me see that I need to treat my body like a temple and be prepared for the future because you don't know what life is going to throw at you and you need to live life the way you believe to be the best for you. One day you may no longer have the chance.

 Though I made the decision to change my lifestyle on my own, she has been a major inspiration and has supported me unconditionally with my choice. She once said, "Leah you need to stop losing weight or otherwise I'm going to start feeling bad about myself" in a joking way pointing to her belly. I had never before seen someone find the strength to be humorous, supportive, and humbled all in one sentence. She is a fighter. 

This is just one aspect of my mom. I am in awe of her for so many other reasons and I hope some day I will be able to be half the woman, hard worker, and mother she has been. I love you mom. Thank you for absolutely everything.

Happy Mother's Day!

If you feel so inclined, I would love to hear about you and your mom. 

Are you fitness fiends together?

 Fashionistas?

Or culinary artists?

Let me know with a comment below! C:

To wrap this all up, i want to say that Ia would like to start a new little series called "Monday Musings." This will just be a way for me to reflect on the past week and the week ahead and share with you guys my thoughts, opinions, feelings (related and unrelated to fitness) about whatever and also talk about a topic that   you choose. Hopefully this can be a nice way for everyone to chat and ask each other questions or share your own ideas. Let me know in the comments if you like this idea and what you think I should talk about?

Thank you all so much for reading!

Have a great Mother's Day!

buh bye!

My Plan...

Hello all!

As some of you may know, I posted some of my progress pictures yesterday. As a result, I got an overwhelming response from people asking me what I am doing to lose and keep off the weight. As I have said before, there is no magic or miracle involved in what I'm doing. There should be no mystery to the whole weight loss thing and it is not just one thing you can do. It is a lifestyle choice.

Before I go any further, I should put the disclaimer on this that I am NOT a doctor or a nutritionist and I am not a trainer. Every body is different and mine is no exception. So though this works for me, you may have to tweak things for it to fit you, if you so choose to do anything. 

Now that is out of the way, I feel that I should start out with my workout. I have been using the workout calendar from blogilates.com. This website is run and updated by a pilates instructor named Cassey Ho. She posts a free calendar every month with what exercises to do every day and she posts her workouts on youtube. So I usually just make a playlist of videos to do everyday and just do them. Her attitude is great and her personality is so infectious. I never get bored with her workouts and she kicks my butt. I love it! You can visit her website here. I figured I would also save you some time and post this month's workout calendar:

Because it is summer, I have also decided to add in some biking during the week or other forms of cardio during the week. This is inspired by lovemeganalexis and also the fact that since school is over and I'm not dancing anymore on a daily basis, my largest source of cardio is gone.

Ok. Now that the easiest part is over (and yes that is the easiest part to explain) it is time to talk about clean eating. What the heck is it? Well in the simplest terms it means you are trying to get as close to the food source as possible. This is really difficult to do in this day and age sometimes as many things are very processed before they hit store shelves. So, needless to say, the food I end up buying goes through a vigorous test before it ends up in my cart. Here are the criteria that my food has to meet before I eat:

• I have to be able to read most everything that is on the label: Honestly this is a little vague for my liking, but it is the simplest way I can state it outright. If you're like me, you can read everything on the label, but that doesn't mean you can understand what all of it is. So, I have to be able to read and understand what exactly is in the food I am buying based on the label. If I don't understand, I can usually search really quick for what it is.
• I can't have any artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, msg (monosodium glutamate), artificial preservatives (especially benzoate preservatives like BHT, BHA,...etc) and I have to try to stay away from genetically modified ingredients (GMOs). This is really difficult because companies are not required to list any GMOs that might be in their products. Thankfully, I have an app called "fooducate." It scans barcodes and tells you if there are artificial colors, sweeteners, preservatives, and GMOs! It is very handy and I recommend it to everyone.
• If I can make it, I try to do so (I say this because it does not always turn out the way I want it especially on the first try. I tried to make mayo and the first time, i failed miserably). So I make my own Italian dressing, marinades, soups, sometimes bread...etc. They usually turn out better than store bought things. It goes without saying that there are some things that are non-negotiables because of convenience. Like OJ. I can't live without it and juicing oranges every morning is exhausting (and now mayo. I've given up). But I try to stay away from too many things like that.
• All-in-all everything I eat must be minimally processed (the fooducate app also tells if something is highly processed. Awesome, right? I know).
• I also try (notice I say try because it doesn't always happen) to eat roughly six meals a day. I do eat every 2-3 hours.
• I also have a cheat day once a week. This is important. You should not be afraid of eating. It is fun and necessary for life. If you allow yourself a cheat meal or some chocolate every now and then, it can jump start your metabolism and keep you from going crazy. 

This is all daunting. I know. To see it written out is scary to me too, but the first step is the hardest. After you take it, everything eventually becomes second nature and you just do it. It becomes a chore no more. I started out by using Cassey's 90 day meal plan. Note that I used it as a starting point and I do not follow it exactly. Because every body is different and every life is different (I will say it till I'm blue in the face). I have changed small things to fit my own life and my own tastes. :) If you would like to start with that, I have provided the link below:

Blogilates 90-day meal plan 

*you will have to download the plan. It is an excel spreadsheet and has multiple pages. I just printed it out and hung it on my fridge to refer to C:*

I honestly do not count calories. I tried it. It is exhausting and I hated every minute of it. AND I didn't see any results. I am more free and happy with myself. I see more results and it doesn't feel like work. It just feels like life. Thus why it is a lifestyle choice NOT a diet. 

I know I wrote a lot, but there still probably a million questions floating around out there. So if you have any, please do not hesitate to comment and ask me. I will answer you as soon as I can and to the best of my ability. Plus it is always great to hear from people.

Okay, now that all of that is written out I challenge you to go out and do it! If you want it, you gotta do it and remember the first step is the hardest. If you take it, you are already one step ahead of all those couch potatoes. Drink more water, eat more veggies, and change your life! 

buh bye for now!

It's Marvelous Monday!!

Hi Everyone!

It is Monday once again and I thought that since in my last post I talked a little about my journey and what led me to starting this blog, I thought I should talk about what who inspired me to start this journey in the first place.

So let's start by saying my weight has always been fluctuating. It has always been an issue and in the last few years. it has been a crazy ride. Just a few months ago in December of 2012 I tore a ligament in my hand and had to have surgery. Around this same time this woman I knew from high school started talking about changing her life around. 

While I was going through physical therapy, I watched as she bravely took the first steps towards changing her body and I saw how she actually started changing. I saw her turn her body and life around in the simple things she was doing and it made me believe I could do it too! And so when I finished physical therapy, I made the change because of the inspiration her progress gave me. And I will never be turning back.

So who is this wonderful, dare I say, marvelous woman?

Drum roll.....

*fanfare*

TA-DA! Megan! Or lovemeganalexis as many of you know her. This beautiful woman right here has been my inspiration and the reason I gave up my fat pants and fast food for leggings and lettuce. Megan is an amazingly hard worker and somehow managed to juggle everything in her life while making all these changes. Talk about inspirational. Truly inspirational. Her positivity and determination are infectious and because of them I knew that I had to try changing.

In 90 days she has accomplished exactly what she originally set out to do, but she isn't stopping now and never turning back. She is a changed woman and thus so am I. I can't possibly thank her enough for being patient with me, answering all my questions, talking with me about my progress, motivating me, and just generally giving me help along the way. She deserves a shout out and a giant THANK YOU!

I would not be where I am without her and her constant advice. Along with that I would be nowhere without her friendship. It has been my honor to know her for some of the best years of our lives and I hope we know each other for many more to come. She is one of my best friends and, for that, I am extremely grateful. That is why lovemeganalexis is my Marvelous Monday Marvel! Congrats on all your progress and I love you!

Not only is she all these wonderful things, but she is a wonderful blogger as well. :) You can find her and all her info at her blog which you can read here. 

Well, that is about all, but I do have one more great, exciting, and equally marvelous thing to say. Not only do I have to say thank you to Megan for her help, but I also have to say I'm so excited to be linking up with her for a new featurette she is calling "Foodie Friday!" We are going to be sharing our delectable and healthy recipes with all of you for your viewing and eating pleasure. So on Fridays there will be a mouth watering masterpiece posted for your enjoyment. Be there or be square.

Alright!

buh bye!

Leah ♥