Goodbye June...

{ clouds over Tampa Bay on June 18 ~ photo by me }

I'm baaaack! This month has been the lowest number of blog posts I've had in a looong time. Today was a good day! I got a massage with Margie first thing this morning. Picked up some of my healthy habits again. Ate pretty much all whole foods and I feel like I'm on the way back up. I did a few Basic Workouts, many a sets of Hoe Downs and applied some T-Tapp techniques throughout the day (shoulder rolls, curling my core, sitting and walking in alignment, etc, etc). I've been really needing more consistency with exercise this past month, but have been so busy. Anyway, I decided to do a 4-day boot camp using Tempo 2 (8 Reps). Today is day 2! A bit sore, but the massage helped a bunch.


Healthy Habits

Body Care
Body Brushing - check!
Oil Pulling - check! (Oil pulled while brushing this morning... multitasking!)
Salt Bath and Sauna - I miss you! We'll meet again soon.
Workout/Exercise - Tempo 2 (8 Reps)... Boot Camp Day 2!

Nourishment
Fruits - check! 2 servings today.
Veggies - check! 5 servings today.
Water - check!

Supplements
Alfalfa: 6 caps
Emergen-C: 1 packet
Natural Calm - Raspberry Lemon: 2 tsp
Vitamin D3: 4 sprays


Eats

Brekkie

Yummy Purple Monster.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen wild blueberries
• 1 frozen banana
• 2 cups fresh spinach
  
• 1 1/4 cup original Almond Breeze
• 1/4 cup Chobani 0% plain Greek yogurt

Boiled Egg with sea salt.

Lunch

Crispers Spinach Salad.

A bit too much cheese and bacon for me, plus I'm not really down with the crispy Ramen topper. The Light Ranch dressing was delish! I ate about 1 Tbsp.


Dinner

Black Beans and Brown Rice with fresh spinach, onion and garlic.

Yesterday...

Healthy Habits

Body Care
Body Brushing - check!
Oil Pulling - check!
Workout/Exercise - Tempo 2 (8 Reps)... Boot Camp Day 1!

Nourishment
Fruits - check! 1.5 servings today.
Veggies - check! 5 servings today.
Water - check!

Supplements
Alfalfa: 6 caps
Emergen-C: 1 packet


Eats

Brekkie

Yummy Purple Monster. (Same recipe as today's with less banana and milk.)

Hot organic green tea... and a Starbucks Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte.

Lunch

Boiled Eggs and Salad... plus a few bites of that Ezekiel wrap.

Post-workout "snack"???

(Let's just call it that!)

I just had to try these... Chocolate Lucky Charms with original Almond Breeze.

They were good, but not enough marshmallows and I prefer the regular ones anyway.

And this one too... gosh, guess I was hungry!

Can you tell that cheap-o cereals were BOGO @ the store?

Dinner

1/2 of this Stuffed Pepper with Cabot 50% Reduced Fat Cheddar.

Au revoir!

Surprise Boot Camp

This is my new cute ♥ Earth bag from Old Navy.

Happy Earth Day!

Exercise

Body/Face Brushing before leaving my place.

Ladybug Workout Standing with Margie. Guess what... after doing 3 workouts in the past 2 days with Teresa and Kayla, this workout counts as Day 4 of Boot Camp! Surprise. I didn't even mean to do one. Oops. Will be taking tomorrow completely off for sure.


Eats

Brekkie

Pineapple Orange Green Monster.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen organic pineapple
• 1 cup organic OJ
• 2 cups fresh organic spinach
• 1/4 tsp bee pollen
  

Very tart! Wishing I had some Chobani yogurt for this smoothie.


Plus a Grande Unsweet Iced Green Tea.

Snack

KIND Fruit & Nut Almond & Coconut bar.

I practically inhaled this. SO good!

Lunch

Leftovers! A Burger Salad of sorts.

Supplements

Alfalfa: 3 caps
B-12 Plus: 4 sprays
Pyruvyl Glycine: 4 sprays
Vitamin D3: 4 sprays

Water intake: 1 liter

Au revoir!

{ weekend } New Hair + Pampered Chef Party

I'm got a new hair style today! Much overdo, my friends. It's been a busy hair salon time-warp for the majority of my Saturday.

I ♥ purple hair!

{ Note to self: Bring laptop to salon next time. }

Let's start with this morning...


Workout

Tempo 2 + body brushing.

I worked out first thing this morning. Man, what a big difference from yesterday afternoon. I feel weaker today, like my body doesn't want to cooperate as much. And I thought Day 3 was hard! Now I'm in the routine and will continue with daily exercise.

My Boot Camp was successful! I will be taking tomorrow off to rest, relax and try that meditation CD I got for Christmas.

Here's the Get Healthy & Fit Game Plan for this week:

• Starting an Every Other Day Schedule: Complete 3 full workouts (30+ minutes each) per week with days off in between. I will start to mix up my routine a bit by using different T-Tapp workouts during the week (see notes below). Starting Monday, February 22nd I will be on an every other day schedule; full workout days being M, W, F, if possible. 3-4 full workouts per week schedule will continue until I reach my goals.
  
• Off Day Routine: AKA Rest Days can be taken completely off OR do 20 minutes or less of T-Tapp movement OR walk outside using T-Tapp techniques. Either Basic Plus Tempo, T-Tapp MORE OR Primary Back Stretch + Organs in Place/Half Frogs, 30 Crunches, 15 Oblique Sit-ups (each side), Awesome Legs, Pretzel Twist and Diva Derriere. Mix it up and start to add more standard core building and stretching moves like yoga, planks, wall-sits and push-ups.
  

Notes for this week:

1. Get Maxi Max #1 back into the workout rotation again. It's an hour long with all Total Workout standing exercises and Hit the Floor exercises + OIP/HF, AL, PT, DD and all the crunches. I really like the pace of this workout, but apply more of the newer muscle activation techniques Teresa Tapp created.
2. Celebrate success. Next time I achieve a goal I will treat myself by investing in a new piece of fitness gear from my wish list. A calorie-free way to enjoy success!
3. Try some of those new moves this week for more core and stretching.
4. Relax: Listen to the meditation CD, take a salt bath
   

This Boot Camp has been a bit different. Instead of the 2nd or 3rd day being the hardest, the 3rd was the most enlightening and tuned in I've been in a while.


Food Log

Snack

Organic Baby Gala Apple and Babybel Cheese.

Brekkie

Scrambled Eggs, Slice of Bacon, Spinach, Avocado, Tomato.

Latte

Starbucks Iced Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte.

Sorry, I drink iced coffee very quickly!

That photo on the left is an inspiration photo of what how I wanted my hair colored. Not sure how I would look with a cut like that. My hair is super thick!

Late Lunch

Reheated Organic Turkey Chili.

Pampered Chef Party: Dinner & Dessert

Then I headed over to Valerie & Matt's house. The food was amazing!!!

I enjoyed a glass of red in this beautiful glass...

Had some of the chicken lasagna and a slice of toast with cheesy bacon dip.

And for dessert...

Iced pound cake with sorbet and fruit.

That's a winning ticket! I won a little cookbook.

Then snacked on some green M&Ms and roasted salted peanuts.

I ended up ordering one of these pretty babies...

Large Round Stone with Handles — $29.50 $23.60 sale
Bake large frozen pizzas, appetizers for a get-together, and gooey chocolate chip cookies. Contoured handles are molded directly onto the baking stone, making it easy to move recipes into and out of the oven and carry them to the table. 15".

My cookie sheet died last week. It's too scratched to continue to use. I want to switch to stone, glass and iron cookware this year.

About Stoneware:

• Evenly distributes heat and draws moisture away from the surface
• Retains heat, so your just-out-of-the-oven foods stay hot longer
• No presoaking needed before use
• Virtually nonporous, so it doesn't retain oils, odors or flavors
• Microwave-, freezer-, and conventional and convection oven-safe

I canNOT wait to use this stone!


To end the evening, we played Scattergories and had a few laughs. It was a good night!


Supplements

Alfalfa: 3 caps
B-12 Plus: 4 sprays
Cellfood: 8 drops
Jus: 1 ounce
nutraMetrix® Isotonix® Calcium Complete: 2 servings
nutraMetrix® Glucosatrin® Bone & Joint Formula: 3 caps

Water intake: 2.5 liters

Au revoir!

Fiesta Friday & Fierce Fitness

We're celebrating another Fiesta Friday! On the menu tonight was Wild Cod Organic Tacos and Salad. Holy deliciousness!

Check out the size of this avocado:

This baby was HUGE!


We ate half with dinner, covered the rest with fresh lime juice and stored for tomorrow.

But first, let's talk fitness...


Tonight's Workout

Tempo 2!

Today was Day 3 of my 4-day Boot Camp. Let me just tell you that it was a killer workout day. I didn't make the morning workout and it ended up turning out to be a good thing. Some days I feel like I have better concentration and control during workouts. This morning I was too sleepy and today was one of those days.

You know you're doing T-Tapp right when you already feel the heat after just part of Primary Back Stretch. During my workout I really paid attention to my breathing; exhaling on the hard parts and inhaling on the rest parts. It made a difference and helped me curl my core even more... exhale and then tighten tummy. Ah-ha! I was dripping sweat, getting back into alignment and feeling the burn with each exercise. Really focusing and tuning into how I felt with each movement took my workout to the next level. Amazing!

As corny as it sounds, T-Tapp makes me feel alive! Tempo 2 is fierce.


Food Log

Snack

Chobani Peach Nonfat Yogurt.

Dinner

Wild Cod Organic Tacos and Salad. And a tall glass of Pinot Noir.

Fiesta!

On this plate:
1 taco stuffed full with everything else you see... Wild Cod seasoned and pan-fried in a little EVOO, purple cabbage, avocado, cilantro, jalapenos, a little extra sharp white cheddar, low fat sour cream. All ingredients were organic, except the cheese.

You'll see this meal on the menu again soon. It was light, refreshing and absolutely delish. Next time we're going to try blackened fish and make salads with organic blue corn chips on the side.

Recipe coming soon!


Reviewing today's food log:
I ate a few too many processed carbs today... from the instant oatmeal to the organic corn bread and the organic yellow taco shell. Tomorrow will be upping my veggies, for sure. Would love to get in 6 a day again.

Think I will cut out the coffee and lattes this coming week. Time to switch back to hot tea!


Supplements

Alfalfa: 3 caps
B-12 Plus: 4 sprays
Jus: 1 ounce
nutraMetrix® Isotonix® Calcium Complete: 1 serving
nutraMetrix® Glucosatrin® Bone & Joint Formula: 1 cap

Water intake: 2 liters

Off to catch up on Project Runway and chill out for the evening. Stay tuned for tomorrow... I'm getting a new hair-do and attending a Pampered Chef party with friends! Oh, how I adore the weekend. ♥

Au revoir!

Get Healthy & Fit Game Plan

This time of year is known to get people to make healthier choices. Spring is just around the corner and I want to be healthier and fit by then. I was planning on starting a new Get Healthy & Fit Game Plan after seeing my depressing January Jump Start Challenge results. Normally I get amazing results with T-Tapp, but there is so much else going on with my body that I need to take other things into account. What better time than NOW to begin making healthier choices.

"Exercise is your king, and nutrition is your queen. Together they create your fitness kingdom." -- Jack LaLanne

I'm going to take that quote to heart focus on those two things: exercise and nutrition.


Here's my plan...

Do At Least Three 45+ Minute T-Tapp Workouts Per Week
Now that the January Jump Start Challenge is over, I can do whatever workouts and exercises I want to do. It's a sigh of relief really. I loved using T-Tapp MORE, but will be glad to go back to using workouts like Tempo 2, Maxi Max #1 and Ladybug Workout.

Workout Plan:

• I'm going to start with a 4-day Boot Camp using Tempo 2 - 8 Reps. If I have enough time and energy after that workout I will go to the floor and add: Organs in Place/Half Frogs, 30 Crunches, 15 Oblique Sit-ups (each side), Awesome Legs, Pretzel Twist and Diva Derriere.
• After Boot Camp I will switch to an every other day schedule, which is 3 full workouts per week with days off in between. I will start to mix up my routine a bit by using different T-Tapp workouts during the week.
  
• Off days (aka Rest Days) can be taken completely off OR do 20 minutes or less of T-Tapp movement OR walk outside using T-Tapp techniques. Either Basic Plus Tempo, T-Tapp MORE OR Primary Back Stretch + the floor moves listed above will be my go-to off day routine.
  

I want to start doing some yoga and more core building moves in addition to T-Tapp. Angela @ Oh She Glows did a Whittle My Middle 30-Day Challenge that included a lot of core building moves that I would love to do. So I may work in her little routine a few days a week.


Body Brush Daily
I need to keep up this habit up. Found that I really missed brushing during my vacation! Body brushing helps with reducing inflammation, as well as exercising the skin to keep it tight and reduce the appearance of cellulite, but it also has a lot of other benefits too! Click that body brushing link above to read my previous blog on this subject.


Eat Clean, God-made, Organic and Anti-inflammatory Foods
I will try to follow Teresa Tapp's God-made/Man-made (GM/MM) dietary guidelines for the most part. These simple guidelines limit the amount of man-made processed foods to every third day. So you eat clean, wholesome, naturally found-on-Earth foods for 2 days; then can eat something you've been craving, like pizza or brownies, on the third day. The 2 days of eating clean allow your body the time to process the man-made foods. God-made foods include: fruit, vegetables, lean meats, dairy, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.

I will buy all organic produce, meats and grains as much as possible. I want to feed my body the best nutrition I can find, without all of the pesticides, chemicals, food additives and GMOs.

I really like Dr. Weil's Anti-inflammatory Diet Tips! And Dr. Perricone has always promoted eating anti-inflammatory foods to slow aging and increase body efficiency. Dr. Perricone even calls the T-Tapp workout "the anti-aging workout" in his book Dr. Perricone's 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health, and Longevity: The Miracle of Cellular Rejuvenation. Amazing! Here's his take on pro-inflammatory foods:

Foods can be pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. Pro-inflammatory foods promote wrinkles, disease, accelerate aging and cause the storage of fat. Pro-inflammatory, sugary, starchy foods causes a loss of radiance, dark circles under the eyes, loss of tone, increased line and wrinkles, loss of facial contours, increased puffiness and pore size. These foods also exacerbate acne, which is a systemic, inflammatory disease. Sugars and starches rob your youth, health and beauty.

Beauty, yet another reason to eat clean!


Limit Alcohol to 1-2 Glasses of Wine Per Week
I'm omitting beer and grain alcohol since they tend to put on weight faster. All alcohol is pro-inflammatory, so I figure a glass or two of wine per week won't hurt my results much.


Limit Added Sugar and Dessert
I want to try to cut out sugar in my coffee in the morning and other products that have added sugars as much as I can. I may even cut out coffee altogether and switch to organic tea instead.

I'm also going to limit dessert to one time every other week. Not that I eat that many sweets, but over the last month I did enjoy some ice cream and chocolates.


Getting waterlogged daily with 2-3 liters
Lately I have been reaching my 2 liter goal per day, but it can't hurt to drink more water.


That's it for now! Some of my other goals are nutrition related. I need to find a good daily multi-vitamin/mineral supplement and to start taking Vitamin D3 and Omega-3 daily.

Wish me luck!

Getting Bikini Ready

My goal: Get bikini ready... and fast.

This means stepping up my workouts to 30+ minutes at least 4 times per week. Adding Organs in Place, Awesome Legs, Gymnastic Stretch , Pretzel Twist and Diva Derriere into the mix. Maybe even doing those moves as an off day routine a few times per week to target the abs, legs and butt even more. Drink more water and eat more veggies, etc... I need to sweat off these calories and inches!

Already after consistency this past week or so my skin feels tighter/smoother and I'm starting to feel trimmer as well. So I'm on the right track.

Hello Beach, here I come!

Bikini Bootcamp

This is the real deal. A tropical getaway that helps you shape up and rejuvenate your life. I would LOVE to do this (would be awesome as a T-Tapp Retreat too).

Bikini Bootcamp takes place in Amansala, Mexico. Sounds like a fabulous vacation to me!

Bikini Bootcamp Book