FIT AND SPAZZY MOM
FITANDSPAZZYMOM.COM
Long Weekends and BBQ Potato, Bacon & Corn Salad
Talk about the week flying by. This long weekend went by even faster. I know it is shorter in the number of days but why is it any time off from work flies by so fast? This was our Victoria Day Weekend. Even though it was cloudy and overcast, not much rain fell at all but I managed to get out and do some walking. Nothing better than strolling with a latte in one hand, along with your sweetie and enjoying the sights and smells in a trendy part of town.
My legs are feeling a bit better. I did do the relief workouts from Asylum 3 days in a row and did some foam rolling as well. My poor quads are so tight as is my IT band. That reminds me, I need to foam roll again tonight. So easy to get it done while you are watching TV. I managed to get several of the workouts done over the weekend. Saturday I did Vertical Plyo which went well after taking an extra rest day. I think the reminder for working out within my skill level is a really important one. I also rocked it with the reps as well. Sunday was Back to Core which I needed to modify the warm up since my other knee was not doing well. I did not perform as well as in the past but that means that I just need to push myself harder. Monday was the Relief workout and foam rolling. Today I did Speed and Agility. Only one more time to do this workout. I have to say it is the toughest one for me with those mountain climber, in and out progression and agility bear crawl moves. So NOT easy.
With it now getting warmer, I am tending to rely more on my BBQ to get dinner on the table. I have a great side dish to serve. It is called BBQ Potato, Bacon & Corn Salad. I so love this one! Thanks to Kraft for this recipe.
what you need
1/3
cup KRAFT Classic Ranch Dressing
1/3
cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
2
Tbsp. GREY POUPON Dijon Mustard
3
lb. small red potatoes, cooked, quartered
1
can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
1/2
cup sliced celery
1/2
cup chopped red peppers
1/2
cup chopped red onions
8
slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
make it
MIX dressing, barbecue sauce and mustard in large bowl.
ADD all remaining ingredients except for the bacon; mix lightly.
SPRINKLE top of salad with bacon. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Aches, Pains and Honey Garlic Chicken
This last week feels like it has just flown by super fast. Can't believe it is the weekend again. Not that I am complaining. Better yet, a long weekend to boot as well. We are supposed to have sunny weather with some rain. This week there was a grass fire in the city. As much as I would really like some hot sunny weather, we really do need rain to deal with how dry everything is. How can it be so dry when we had all that snow? That is the million dollar question.
I am continuing my Asylum workouts. I am finding that I am trying to increase all my reps each time I repeat a workout. Doing that also increases the need for extra breaks as I am sucking wind at times since my heart rate likes to jump over 200 beats per min. Totally crazy! Speed and Agility really was tough. Some of those workouts are killer but the more I do them, the stronger I am getting. Vertical Plyo continues to be difficult but I managed to do all the routines as demonstrated which really made me happy. Strength was an awesome workout. I really rocked it. Had to really push to make it through but the fact that I survived and seeing my strength and endurance continuously improving makes my day.
I had a massage on Wednesday and after the massage I did the relief workout. Loved doing it in the evening. Totally relaxed me! Even my massage therapist has been watching how my body has been changing, getting more leaned, toned and tighter. Her comment made my day. Game Day and Overtime was a total of 75 mins of continuous working out. I was totally beat after that one. The next day my knees and hips were aching tons that I decided to take an extra rest day, no regrets. Today I did Vertical Plyo and the relief workout. I am hoping that doing the relief workout everyday for the next 3 days will help manage my achiness in my knees. I am also going to do some foam rolling in the evening to see if that will help too.
I treated myself to a pedicure today. Nothing better than being spoiled for a little bit. Having pretty toenails is a bonus. I did make one of my go to recipes. It is called Honey Garlic Chicken and we serve it over cooked rice. Super quick to prepare and always tastes so good. Enjoy!
Honey Garlic Chicken
Skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soya sauce
1 Tbsp grated ginger
1-3 Tbsp garlic
Preheat oven to 350. Arrange chicken thighs in a pan. Mix all other ingredients. Heating it up for 20 seconds allows for the honey to mix better. Pour over chicken. Bake for 45-60 mins, turning over once halfway through.
Hope you are enjoying your weekend and looking after yourself. Here is hoping I have inspired you to try a new dish or get more active. We only live one life. Let's live it well.
Celebrations & Lasagna
This weekend is one that will be full of celebrating. We are going to my mom's house for dinner to celebrate not 1 birthday but 3 of them. My dad, sister and nephew all share the same birthday. I am so looking forward to a meal made by my mom and the ice cream cake I am bringing. Who doesn't like a Dairy Queen ice cream cake? Not me and especially not my dad. He has a serious weakness when it comes to ice cream.
We will also be celebrating Mother's day. I have bought tickets for my mom, sister, daughter and myself to see "My Big Fat Calgary Wedding" when it plays in August. That should be a great show and evening out. Growing up, my life was exactly the way it was for the lead character in My Big Fat Greek Wedding minus the windex. I am sure we will all have a good laugh. This is playing at Jubilations so it will be dinner and a show.
My Asylum workouts still continue. My back no longer is bothering me so taking that rest day was a good decision even though it puts me behind by one day. The Back to Core workout was a good one. My back did not ache at all during or after that one. The Strength workout was amazing. Love that I upped all the weights. Today I did the Fit Test & Relief workouts. Relief always feels so good and I improved in all the fit test routines. Now that made me really happy. Click on any of the links to get a more indepth review of my thoughts on each workout.
It is supposed to be quite a hot weekend and I am really looking forward to it very much so. Hope you are getting some great weather too. No new recipes tried over the last few days but I do highly recommend the lasagna from Costco. It is called Zenetti's Italian Sausage lasagna.
Tastes great, meaty and was a hit with everyone here. Some days I am too tired to make something so this is an easy meal to make when you are low on energy. Nobody here had an complaints about it so that makes me happy. In fact, they all gave it a thumbs up which is a good thing since it came as a double pack.
Listening to Your Body and Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas
I am really enjoying the challenge of the Asylum workouts. I finally got to try the Asylum Day 10 Relief workout. This is one of the best stretch workouts. It is only 24 minutes long and hits all the areas you need stretched. Unfortunately, I did not get my usual endorphin release post workout so I did feel a bit sluggish for a Monday morning. That was not the case for Tuesday. I got to finally do Asylum Day 11 Gameday. Now that was one fast paced workout but it had a bunch of different sports moves in it. I had an amazing calorie burn and was pumped for my entire day. Love days like that!
After work yesterday, my lower back on the right side felt like I pulled a muscle. It was bothersome during the night too. I decided to make today, day 12, as a rest day. I don't want to overdo anything that may prevent me from continuing with this program. As much as I want to stick to the schedule, I don't want to further hurt myself. I just have to make sure to ensure perfect form at all times while doing these workouts. I am thinking I must have done something during the Game Day workout. Need to pay greater attention next time
I tried a new recipe called Oven Baked Chicken fajitas. Chicken had a great flavour to it and was very tender. Took me 10 mins to prep and about 45 mins to bake. Here it is and enjoy!
Oven Baked fajita
Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut
into strips
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
(Rotel)
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into strips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken
strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish.
In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder,
cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt.
Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir
to coat.
Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the
dish and stir to combine.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken
is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
Hello Sunshine! It's About Time!
What beautiful weather we have been having the last 3 days. Today is very warm, dare I say even hot? My daughter and I went out for a walk and I was even sweating. No complaints though. It seems we have had to wait forever for this type of weather. Motorcycles are out, lawn mowers are mowing and the smell of fresh cut grass in the air. I cannot ask for anything better. Hang on. Yes I can. I wish I had today off. Sad to say, but we can't have everything.
My Asylum workouts are still happening. My right knee has been giving me a lot of issues. I finally bought a very simple knee tensor brace and it has made all the difference with the workout. Vertical plyo has tons of jumping. This time with the brace, I was able to jump higher and do more reps. It feels great when you can find an option that works for you. I really want to be able to complete these 30 days and earn my free t-shirt. For those of you who are interested, I have posted my thoughts on the workouts. Day 5 was a rest day. I thoroughly enjoyed it but did not make a video post on it. Here they are:
Unfortunately, no new recipes to share. We have been using the BBQ tons. Steak followed with pork. Looking to try a new recipe, oven baked fajitas. I will share how that recipe turned out in my next post. Here is hoping that you are having weather like I am here. Now go outside and enjoy it!
Crazy Weather, Keeping Warm & Baked Spagetti
Believe it or not, we had snow yesterday! On my drive home from work, snow was blowing and the temperature dipped.
Today it is almost all gone and tomorrow the temperature is supposed to climb quite rapidly. Gotta love the Calgary weather however for those who suffer from migraines (like I do), it makes life pretty painful at times. Glad I can self alter my dose of Elavil and hopefully avoid one altogether.
I am pretty sore from the intensity of the Asylum workouts. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day. Here are my thoughts on the last 2 days of workouts from the program:
Here is a great recipe from Taste of Home called Baked Spagetti. I always freeze any leftover spagetti sauce and this is a great way to use it up. We had it last night for dinner. Took me 20 mins to assemble and then threw it in the oven. Quick and easy. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped green pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
- 1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained, optional
- 12 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained
- 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- In a large skillet, saute onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, oregano. Add ground beef if desired. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
- Place half of the spaghetti in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Layer with half of the vegetable mixture and 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Repeat layers.
- In a small bowl, combine soup and water until smooth; pour over casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 12 servings.
Teen Overload, Weekend Warmth, Workouts & Diet
What a great weekend! Very windy at times but not having any snow or rain was so nice. The ability to be outside, have the sun on my face and get some good old Vitamin D makes me hopeful that Spring is finally here to stay. Today I took advantage of this weather to go for a walk to the grocery store. An hour later, I returned armed with apples, blackberries and strawberries. Yum! I even enjoyed having some good old steak on the BBQ. Gotta love my Weber. How I have missed you you my good old friend!
Friday morning my son and I were able to spend some alone time out for lunch. Like I have said before, food is the tool I use to spend time with my son. Nothing better than bonding, finding out what is going on with friends, school and girls over a plate of eggs benedict. I relish each of these moments with him as he tends to be so open and emotionally available.
Friday night our house was overtaken by 10 teens, friends of my son. Somehow they all managed to fit in the downstairs room that my son has converted into his own space. Six can be kind of tight but 10, oh my! They were in and out of the house numerous times. Kids need a place that is safe to hang out and I really enjoy meeting them and knowing where my son is. The next day I asked my him how he fit everyone in his room and he said he managed but he was not expecting 2 people who showed up. They were invited by someone else. See how easy a small get together could get out of control if there was no parental supervision. Scary. All those movies with those out of control teen parties aren't so far fetched after all. I am just glad that we are home during these situations so things don't get out of control. It may be loud, noisy and too much activity but at least they are all safe.
Yesterday was way too windy to do too much outside. Having brunch at our favourite pub, Kilkenny's on a Saturday is a tradition that my hubby and I like to maintain. This is our way of having date time together. That and a great breakfast with only adults in the building is a huge bonus. No crying or out of control kids to distract us from one another's company. I find the older I get, the less tolerant I am for misbehavior, from young and old alike.
This weekend has also been the return to working out with Asylum. So far so good. Love having a new workout and the excitement of doing something totally fresh and unknown. Embracing the soreness that comes with it. A soak in a nice hot bath with epson salts works wonders. I have already needed to evaluate my weekly goals. I will either do a bonus 10 Minute Trainer workout or another activity such as walking, tennis, a deep water workout, etc 5 times a week. This way I am not overdoing it. Continuously assessing and adjusting will help keep me on track and focused.
For those ineterested, I will also be posting my daily thoughts on the Asylum workouts. Check them out:
I am tracking all my reps, weights and breaks taken to not only gauge my progress but to push myself each and every time. It is when you push past your limits that greater success is achieved.
Find Your Why & Goal Setting
When it comes to exercise and nutrition, identifying your "why" is extremely important. It gives you focus and helps to keep you on track on the days you don't feel like working out. Believe me, I have had many of those days! This "why" has to be something that you want to do for yourself. Doing it because someone else wants you to get more fit, lose weight or eat better won't keep you on track for the long term. You are worth it. Find out your "why" and then you can goal set. My "why" is this:
I want to be in the best shape ever so that I am able to have full mobility, energy and strength. I want to be as active as possible with my body working with me and not against me. I do not want to "feel" my age. I want to be confident in my own skin.
Finding your why can take some time. Invest the time. I promise you will not regret doing this for yourself.
Goal setting is the next step. What is it that you want to achieve? For me, I want to wear a bikini with confidence this summer. Sometimes your goal can really make you feel overwhelmed. Stop and take a nice deep breath. It is time to plan. Your goal may not be something you can achieve in 30, 60 or even 90 days. Think how you are going to achieve this? Taking the goal and breaking it down into smaller, manageable goals really help.
For example, my new mini goal is to weigh 150 lbs and fit into size 8 clothes. I will be using the Asylum program which is 30 days long. I will do this by achieving these weekly goals:
-workout 6-7 days a week doing the Asylum workout that is on the schedule
-eat within my calorie range 6/7 days using myfitnesspal.com to help me track my calories
-lose 1 lb
-add in one 10 minute bonus workout 5 days per week using the program, 10 Minute Trainer
-Drink Shakeology daily
Each week I look at how things are progressing and will alter my weekly goals as needed. Continuously assessing and adjusting will help keep you on track and focused. One big point here: If something happens where you do not meet that weekly or daily goal, do not beat yourself up! Life happens and every day presents you with a clean slate. Giving up gets you no where. Getting back up will get you closer to that goal you want. On the days that are really mentally/emotionally/physically tough, remind yourself of your "why". Post it somewhere where you can easily see it.
Having said that, I have been itching to start Asylum. I missed the feeling I would get after a really good workout. Today was Day 0, the Fit Test. I am calling this day Day 0 because the schedule has you do both the fit test and a 45 minute workout on the same day. Seeing that I have not worked out for the last week, I thought it was best to only do the fit test today and then do the scheduled workout tomorrow. It is all about listening to your body and doing what is right for you. Click below to listen to my post workout thoughts:
Here are my Fit Test results:
Agility Heisman: 6.5
In & Out Ab Progression: 24
Pushups: 16
Mountain Climber Switch Kicks: 39
Agility Shoulder Taps: 3
X Jumps: 30
Moving Pushups: 2.5
Agility Ladder Shuffle: 14 (had to take a break here)
Agility Bear Crawl: 5
It was a fierce workout. It will take time to learn the moves with the agility ladder but it will be worth it. I intend to meet all my weekly goals so that I am on the path to rocking a bikini this summer.
Investing & Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken
It is really difficult to get any alone time with my 17 year old son. He is either busy with his friends, doing homework, tired or working at his part time job. On Thursday, he suddenly, out of the blue, ended up going out with his friends and I jokingly said that he had to spend time with me on Friday. He laughed and said, sure okay. Guess what? We actually spent time alone and together. We went to the mall, shopping for some personal items but during that time I was able to catch up on stuff that was going on with him. I was so happy and grateful for the time we had together. As our kids get older, the available time they seem to have for us as parents seems to be less and less. Spending time with him was vital, he admitted that he enjoyed it and I felt closer to him. Investing time into my relationship with him, whenever I can get it, is a huge priority for me. No regrets there.
I still haven't gotten over this virus/head cold I have. I have decided to hold off on doing any workouts for the next week. I just feel so physically drained and need the extra sleep and rest so that I can get better. The next workout program I intend to do is Asylum which I want to be as healthy as possible before I start it. I do intend to keep a video blog on my experience with it since it is the first time I will be doing that program I really want to earn that free tshirt that says I'm committed on the back of it. Love the play on words.
Today I tried a new recipe. Super easy to do. It is called Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken.
Ingredients
1 lb diced raw chicken
1 cup chicken broth
1/2-3/4 teriyaki sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
Minced garlic, as much or as little as you like
Bean sprouts, whole package or less
Snap peas, whole package or less
1. Add diced chicken, chicken broth, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar and garlic to crock pot. Mix well.
2. Cook on low for 4-6 hrs.
3. In the last 15 minutes, add bean sprouts and snap peas to top of mixture but do not stir.
4. Mix contents of crock pot well right before serving. Serve with hot rice. Add extra teriyaki sauce as desired.
Sticking Up For Yourself & Sticky Wings
My 14 year old daughter is one strong young lady and I am proud of her. She came home from school and said to me that she smacked a boy really hard today. That really got me interested. It seems a boy she has known since kindergarten, was on the same bus as she was and he was continually pulling on her backpack that she had on and laughing. She asked him to stop several times. When he didn't, her temper got the better of her. She said she turned herself around and gave him a big slap across the face. Guess what? He let go of the backpack and he was no longer laughing.
I do not personally condone violence however standing up for oneself is not a bad thing. If it was a different situation or with a different person, it could have turned out in a variety of different bad scenarios. For this situation, I actually commended her for standing up for herself and making it clear that this was not acceptable behavior that the boy was exhibiting. No and stop should mean exactly just that. She told me that the next day, this same boy avoided her like the plague, would not even come near her. Can't say that I am disappointed to hear this, especially considering this same boy is a bit of a bully himself. My daughter did admit that having an older brother taught her how to defend herself and fight back. I think she won't be having any issues from this same boy. What is really sad is that she has always stood up for him when they were younger because he was always teased (and still is) about being overweight. If this was his way of showing her that he liked her, his plan backfired on him big time.
As a mom, it is so hard to empower our daughters to stand up for themselves, be strong and not be a pushover. It seems it is a fine line to walk. The one thing we can do is always talk to our daughters about what is going on in their lives, explore the different ways they could have dealt with situations and if they did something wrong, to acknowledge it and give them ways on how to rectify it. It is tough to be a 14 year old girl nowadays with all the scary technologies out there to capture them doing something and then have it rapidly shared with "everyone" but being open and available for our daughters to talk to us is vital.
Okay, another recipe. This is another recipe that everyone in our family loves. I struggle with portion control and have issues restraining myself from having "just having one more". It is called Sticky Wings:
Ingredients
-chicken wings
-1/3 cup each of teriyaki sauce, honey and soy sauce
Preheat oven to 425F. Bake your chicken wings for 20 minutes. In the meantime, combine the honey, teriyaki and soy sauce. Once 20 minutes is up, turn over the wings and baste the wings with the sauce mixture and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Continue to baste every 15 minutes until your wings are well-browned and glazed.
I leave mine in for about 1 hr, 15 mins. Since it is a finger food, serve with fresh veggies and you are set. Enjoy!
