Swimming.....an AWESOME workout

I was on Toscareno.com looking at the forum and the recipes from other clean eaters and thought this one for firecracker pork looked really yuumy. Plus it's a crock pot reciepe! Even better. I will have to try this one for sure in next few days. If you try it before me let me know how you liked it.

Time for a Swim!!!!
If you want a low impact total body workout that is fun, take up swimming! I love to get in the pool! The nice thing about swimming is that it works you arms, shoulders, chest, legs, butt, back and abs! Seriously a killer workout, and you only have to get in and do it for 20-30 min to feel it's effects. If you are not a great swimmer that's o.k. too. get a kick board. I use one to really work my legs. Also you can use weighted pool belts, most pools/gyms provided them, and walk the length of the pool. You can also use the pool weights they may have. The pool weights look like plastic dumbbells.  If you want you could look into lessons like I did last year. I buddied up with my dad and we went to Dimple Dell Rec. Center and it was about $60 each for semi private lessons, 4-30 min. sessions. That was all it took for us to get the basics down and swim on our own. So go by yourself, or buddy up and get in the pool! It will lift your spirits to get wet and get in an awesome workout! It gets me out of the winter blues and makes it feel like summer. Good luck to you all and have fun swimming!

Cheating.......

Letting yourself have a cheat meal can be a scary thing for some. It can be tricky too. Notice I said "A Cheat Meal" not a cheat day, or weekend for some. There is a HUGE difference. You of course, after all of your hard work both in the gym and in the kitchen, don't want to spoil all of your hard earned efforts by destroying it all on a weekend binge. By keeping your cheating to ONE meal you wont feel guilty and it will be easier to stay focused on the gaol at hand. Here are some ideas to help you with your cheating so you don't go over board.
1) Have a plan. Plan when you will have your cheat meal, say a girls night out dinner, or if you want to go to a movie and have popcorn, a family BBQ. You get the idea.
2) Drink plenty of water. This will help to fill you up, especially if you are worried of over doing it.
3) Keep your goal in mind and stay focused. By doing so you will be reminding yourself what you really want. A nice lean, healthy body. Not the unhealthy, overweight one you are in now. So you wont be tempted to have that dessert after the calorie and fat loaded meal you just indulged yourself in.
4)Ask for a to-go box when they bring your meal out to you. Put half of your food in the box, and "accidently" leave it behind. This is good especially since some restaurants give you huge portions.
5) Get right back on track. The quicker you get back on your clean eating schedule the better you will feel about your self.  The day of your cheat meal I suggest a hard intense cardio workout session. It just makes me feel better about my cheating.
I hope this helps! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Just post a comment and I will always answer. I will be having my cheat meal today! After of course a 45 min session on the treadmill!! Good luck to you all.

So I am still feeling very sick today. I have a massive headache, major sinus congestion, a sore throat which in turn makes my ears ache, and now my stomach is in knots and is cramping up. Since I have a log 10 hour work day ahead of me today and tomorrow I have decided that it would be best to conserve my energy for work and not exercise today or tomorrow, but I will however still be keeping my meals clean. As long as I can keep them down. I am taking my gallon jug of water with me to work and some green tea.
My meals today:
Breakfast: 1 sm banana
Snack: low fat cottage cheese
Lunch: paprika chicken and celery
Snack: apple
Dinner: Scrambled egg whites
Lets hope I can eat it all today with out any problems! Happy Clean Eating everyone!!

Workingout while sick

Hello All,
I thought a perfect topic today would be exercising when you are sick. It is perfect because I am suffering from a huge head cold. First if all you can't use having a cold as an excuse not to workout. You can still get in your exercise, so sorry to get you out of getting fat while sitting on the couch sulking in your illness. As long as you illness is something minor like a head cold you are totally capable, but if you have say Bronchitis, Flu, Walking phnemonia or something where the Doctor says to rest then you shouldn't exercise. Basically the rule is if it is from the neck up you are o.k. to workout, if it is from the neck down then you need to rest. One thing I do when I am sick is I will find workouts I can do at home so I don't spread my sick germs all over the gym. Bodyrock.tv has a lot of good exercises you can do at home or outside with little equipment. They are killer workouts though, but I like them because they are really intense and don't take a lot of time to do. Also you want to make sure you stay hydrated. Make sure you are drinking lots and lots of water. Not only when you are sick but on a daily basis. Make sure to that you are sticking to your clean meals when sick. Good luck!! :)



Today I will be doing Zuzana's (bodyrock.tv) 15 min. killer cardio workout, then do some shoulder exercise then finish with Zuzana's extreme 15 min. workout. This whole thing should take about 45 minutes to complete. If you are interested in what the workouts consist of go to Bodyrock.tv My shoulders I will be doing some dumbbell shoulder press's, lateral raises, Work my rear delts and front delts and some shrugs for my traps.
My diet today is as follows:
Breakfast: banana, and green tea ( I felt horrible this morning)
Snack: 1/4c lowfat cottage cheese with raspberries
Lunch: Paprika Chicken in a green salad with balsamic vinegar for dressing
Snack: 2 stalks celery
Dinner: Chicken tacos
Lean ground chicken seasoned w/pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder. Whole wheat low-carb soft tortilla's, lettuce, tomato, onion, and avacado YUM!! If you don't like ground chicken you may also use lean ground turkey or bison. Do not use beef, it is too high in fat.

#1 rule to weight loss........

BREAKFAST!!!

Yes you heard me, you need to eat a good clean breakfast every morning. You can't expect great results in dieting if you are skipping the most important meal of the day. You wouldn't send your kids off to school without eating something first would you? So why should you make your body and mind suffer? I am not talking about a cup of coffee and a muffin from starbucks here, but something that will get your body and mind working. It only makes sense to eat first thing in the morning. Your body has just fasted all night long and needs fuel to get going. That is why it is called "Breakfast" because you are breaking your fast from the long night. If you are not a big breakfast person you can have some fruit like an apple or banana, some lowfat yogurt is a good choice too. Of course the best thing to start your day off right is oatmeal and some scrambled egg whites. 

I am getting ready to go do my in home work out today. I woke up with a bit of a head cold so I am going to keep it quick and simple. I will be doing Zuzana's (bodyrock.tv) 20 min. cardio workout and doing some weight training on my arms today. I should be done in less than an hour!! How Awesome is that. Here is my food for the day:

Breakfast:  1/2 cup oats with 1 table spoon each wheat germ and ground flax, I small banana, I cup green tea

Snack: 1 apple

Lunch: Egg white scramble- 4 egg whites, purple onion, red green and yellow bell peppers, top with 1/2 avacado and 1 tablespoon salsa

snack: 2 stalks of celery

Dinner: Paprika chicken, green salad with balsamic vinegar for dressing, steamed broccoli.

Getting Started

O.K. ya'll, I am starting this blog to keep me motivated and maybe motivate you all as well. I hope to achieve physical greatness and good health and well being. It won't always be easy or pretty but it will be worth in the end. I have a goal set in mind, I would like to weigh between 110 and 115 pounds. Currently I am at 136, I am giving myself until June 1st to reach my goal. I hope you all have a goal you would like to achieve and maybe we all can help each other along the way. I will be posting my daily food intakes and also my workouts. I would love your feed back thoughts and ideas. Thanks! Happy Clean Eating and training everyone!