So I didn't really want to have to do this.  But just so I do have some kind of credibility I'm going to show a few before and after pictures.  So you can know that how I'm eating and what I'm doing really does work.


This one was me when Kambree was 4 months old and I first decided to go on my journey.  Right before I did Insanity

 This one was me after Insanity and zumba along with online workout videos, right before I started to weight lift at 23% body fat

This one was me 1 week ago when we decided to take the Bodybuilding.com Challenge.  I had been lifting weights for about 2-3 months at 20% body fat

Then this was me 5/25/2014 after 1 week of the challenge going on with my 1.5 hour workouts.  I can see a huge inprovement at 17.9% body fat!!!

I would consider myself on a scale of 1-10 of how well I do, 10 being highest I would say I'm about an 8.  There are definitely a lot of things I could still do better, but I'm learning and getting better as I go.  

After my dad passed away, and my mother and father in law both had close calls I new I needed to make a change.  Seeing all that happened it hit me that we NEEDED to make a lifestyle change.  We had to be better about what we ate if we wanted to be here on this earth for a LONG time with our children.

This definitely wasn't an easy thing to accomplish.  You have to WANT it for yourself.  I started off slowly.  We started by changing a few things at a time.  We completely cut out any kind of boxed dinner.  We also started using ground turkey instead of beef, and we made sure we at 100% whole wheat.  Many companies will try and trick you saying it's "Whole Wheat"  when if you look at the nutrition facts it will say "Enriched."  Anything that you see that says "Enriched" isn't good for you.  They want you to think it is, but it isn't.  

Protein is one thing I really focus on now that I never used to.  Experts tell you that you need to eat 1 g of protein per pound of body weight daily.  Having a balanced diet full of protein is crucial for weight loss and muscle gain.  So now that I'm working on it, here is a list of a lot of the things that I like to eat now and some of the benefits.  6 months ago I wouldn't have been caught DEAD eating some of this stuff.  But the more you eat it, the more you like it!

Every morning I wake up and do my 1.5 hour workout.  Right after that I always drink my CHOCOLATE whey protein shake with 12 oz. of milk.  I always have to get my chocolate fix ;-) I never have anything else because I love it so much!  Plus it's so good to get it right after your workout to help you recover and get your strained muscles the nutrients they need.

Snack!  I usually have one around 10:30 everyday.  I usually try to get some more protein in here by eating protein bars.  Something to look for are ones with at least 20 grams of protein.  If they don't have that much it's not worth the calories in my opinion.  We really like:

- , Pure Protein Bars: they have 20g of protein and you can get them in bulk at Costco for really cheap which is a plus!  This is my favorite flavor :-)

-  Clif Builder Bars are an excellent choice. They have some really really good ones!  

-  I recently discovered this one that I really love.  Plus it has fiber in it so it's helpful for me since I tend to get low in fiber.  I love how it tastes and makes me feel :-)

You may try these now and think they're gross, but keep trying because some of this stuff you learn to love it's not easy at first.

Lunch: For lunch I love to have 

- Homemade turkey chili! Yum so good and packed with protein and fiber

- Cottage Cheese:  Now this is one I had always HATED!  But now I love it.  I use a little salt and pepper and it taste just like squeaky cheese.

- Brown rice/Quinoa and chicken:  Once a week we crock-pot a big thing of chicken to last us the week.  Then we make sure we always have brown rice or recently we discovered quinoa which is actually a really good substitute for rice and very good for you.  

- Fruit:  I love to have some kind of fruit with my lunch, whether it's a mango, pear, peach, apple, banana..... All yummy

Dinner: For dinner we really make all kinds of things but these are the ingredients we stick to.

- Vegi/100% whole grain noodles

- Ground Turkey

- Chicken

- Vegi's

- Fruits

For now we usually used most things canned we just make sure to rinse them really well.  I know as I keep getting better I want to start making my own things.  I really want to start making my own condiments like ketchup, bbq sauce, ranch and those things so I can make sure they don't have those nasty additives in them.  

Then before bed around 8:30 I will have some kind of snack.  I usually try to stay away from carbs as much as possible since they're not that good for you right before bed.  A few things I like

- Eggs with some kind of yummy thing to drizzle on them like salsa or hot sauce.

- Greek yogurt and homemade granola.  I used to also HATE greek yogurt, but if you buy the right kind it's actually very good, and good for you.  You have to be careful because a lot of the greek yogurt you can buy is loaded with sugar.  The one we really really love is the Dannon Light & Fit Greek yogurt.

If you compare it to the others it has only 7g of sugar compared to 16g.  WOW! What a big difference.  Plus they have some really yummy flavors.

Then I recently ventured into making my own granola.  I was tired of all the crap in the stores.  I used a recipe that included almonds, plain old sunflower seeds, coconut oil, honey, and a little bit of cinnamon.  I didn't do the best at baking it, but it is very good stuff!  Especially when you mix a 1/2 cup with your greek yogurt.

So that's most of the stuff I eat on a daily basis.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.  Next blog I will go into more depth on why I weight lift. Thanks for reading this!

Remember this stuff takes time!! It's ok if you can't do it 100% of the time.  At least try your best and even your best will make a difference.  Remember it's a lifestyle change, but it is SOOO worth it!  The way it makes you feel is the difference :-)

The Beggining of my Journey to Health

I'm not just skinny because that's how I am.  I work my butt off (literally). My metabolism used to be shot!  I used to live with back pain everyday!  I used to get sick constantly!  I used to just drag through my days wondering if I'd make it to my pillow that night!

A year ago I decided to make a lifestyle change after a few crazy things happened in our families.  I really believe that eating poorly and not working out leads to many kinds of illnesses.  I lift weights every morning 6 days a week for an hour and a half.  I also make sure to watch what I eat.  Healthy eating is 80% or weight loss.  I try to balance my diet as much as possible.  I used to HATE so many of the things I eat now.  I eat all 100% whole grains, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, nuts, quinoa, brown rice, chili, fruits, vegetables, LOTS of chicken and ground turkey.   Once you start out it's HARD.  But the more you eat of the good things (less bad things) the more you start to like it, and not want the bad things you used to eat.

I only eat out once a week for my one cheat meal.  Experts say having one cheat meal a week is good for you.  Who would of thought?  But it resets your metabolism so you don't get sucked into the black hole of your body getting used to it.  Anyone can do it!

Just a few months ago is when I started lifting.  It took my hubby a long time to finally talk me into lifting.  I didn't want to bulk up and look like a man!  I started off using internet videos and zumba on my XBOX.  It definitely started me in the right directions, but eventually it wasn't getting me anywhere.  Finally after much coxing I told him to write me up a program and I started down the path of weight lifting.  It's amazing how fast I started to see results.  The pounds just started to fall off along with eating healthy.

When I first started I would do maybe a 45 minute workout.  Waking up early for me was like unleashing a lion in town!  I hated and despised it.  Now I look forward to waking up every morning.  I feel like CRAP if I don't get my workout in.  Not to mention the migraines I get when I eat poorly now.

If your curious here is the program I'm following right now.  I'm on day 20 and I feel awesome!  I use my bow-flex at home and get to watch tv while I do it!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jim-stoppani-six-week-shortcut-to-shred.html