National Women's Health & Fitness Day + New Recipe!

Happy National Women’s Health & Fitness Day!

I love all of the National Days. I subscribe to the emails from National Day Calendar, and post them in my classroom for my kids. Sometimes I pull them in to my lesson plans, but mostly I just think they are fun and interesting. I was super excited to find out today is National WOmen’s Health and Fitness Day! Coincidentally, it is also one of my best friends' birthdays! Toady is her Golden Birthday - meaning she's 27 on the 27th! I didn't even know about Golden Birthdays were a thing until a couple of years ago. My Golden Birthday was 14 years ago - oh, well! :)

Additionally, I'm amping up my healthy eating (in preps for my wedding + it is just a necessity). With this, tonight's dinner was Chicken and Rice Soup.  It makes a huge batch! I'm pretty sure you could feed an army with it!

Chicken & Rice Soup

Ingredients

2/3 Rotisserie Chicken (diced)
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
2-3 stalks celery, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
2 cups brown rice, cooked
32 oz low sodium chicken broth
2-3 cups water
Sprig of fresh rosemary (optional)
Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions

Cook rice according to package instructions. Dice chicken and all veggies. Place in a 2+ quart pot with broth, water, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low medium, add rice, and cook until veggies are tender (usually 1-1.5 hours). Or throw all ingredients in your crockpot on low all day. Make sure to precook the rice, so it doesn't absorb all of the liquid. 

Back at it... umm sorta

Today I started back on the T25 program and clean eating. The holidays certainly derailed me - think wine, gluten free pizza, goodies that I can't get in bush Alaska, wine, gluten free cookie dough cookies, and so on and so on. While I tried my best to maintain my healthy eating when I went home for the holidays, I couldn't help but indulge in the holiday goodies AND in foods that I am not able to get where I live. I've been slowly getting back on track, but there is just SOMETHING about setting a date. Once you have a definitive date in mind, it seems to go in to our routine.

My boyfriend mentioned that he had got off track, so he was wanting to start the 21 Day Fix on January 19th. I thought, "what better time than for us to start back on track TOGETHER!" I have a passion for health and nutrition, and he is a Beach Body Coach; so we work hard to keep each other on track and motivated.

On Sunday night, we both shared our Monday meal plans. I ussually plan my day in advance, but I told myself I wouldn't leave room for any fudging (no pun intended) on my meal plan.  I knew I had teacher inservice today, so I would just pack my snacks and come home for lunch - as usual.

This morning came and I rocked out my first workout with T25. The first workout is a hard core, fast-paced cardio work out. I was drenched. I really had to push myself, but I finished. Finishing = feeling like a rock star, right?! After my workout, it was time for breakfast. I LOVE breakfast. Seriously, I really stinkin' love breakfast. I can eat it for any and every meal. Well, today was cottage cheese with crushed pineapple. It was wonderful, honestly. It's the easiest, tastiest, and most protein packed meal. I LOVE IT. Anyhow, I got a phone call mid meal. Another teacher was calling to let me know that our inservice was earlier than expected AND at a school across town. UH OH. This resulted in a mad dash to the shower, then of course hair, makeup, and getting dressed. I had just enough time to grab and apple, a back of raw almonds, and some left over steel cut oats from the fridge. Were any of these items on my thoughtfully planned menu for the day? Nope. Not one thing.

I'm glad I grabbed those items, because my table at the inservice had a plate filled with fun-size candies. Ugh. I wasn't able to grab a lunch at home, so another teacher and I went for lunch. I got a salad. It wasn't the cleanest salad, but it was cleaner than the other options available. I did end up grabbing a fun-size M&M pack. Beyond that, I did the best I could. I'm not going to fret about the candy. It wasn't ideal, of course, but I am just moving forward.

If you are interested in the 21-Day Fix or other Beach Body programs to help you get on track. Just click Here and you can get started with your own personal coach! You can even sign up for free.

Take away: I rocked out to my T25 cardio work out today.
Lesson learned: Life can and WILL throw you curves. Do your best and don't be hard on yourself.

7-Day Clean Eating Challenge

For those of you that particpated in my challenge - how did it round out for you? A couple days in, I noticed my skin was brighter and younger looking and my eyes were brighter and whiter. I also noticed my energy levels were up. I had been slacking on my clean eating the past few months, with the shift in my job. This past week was an AMAZING reminder of why I should eat clean. I even had more energy for my morning workouts and I didn't even need that extra snack. Some days I was able to get in a second workout at night.

Free 5-Day Healthy Eating Challenge

I hope you've been loving the 7-Day Clean Eating Challenge. As a fitness coach, I'm offering a FREE 5-day Healthy Eating Challenge. Grocery lists, scrumptious menu, group support and individual guidance/advice come with it! Here's all you need to do:

1. Decide

2. Commit: Visit my coaching page, www.teambeachbody.com/pieceloveandpb and sign up with the free membership, so I will be your official coach. I'll contact you and get you set up with your info!
*There IS a paid membership, too. You can choose that one if you wish. You'll get extras on the website and a discount on Beach Body products - hello!? 10% off Shakeology? That's a win!

3. Succeed!

It's as easy as 123! :)

7-Day Clean Eating Challenge: Day 1

I've been hitting my clean eating pretty hard the past week, and BOY can I tell a difference. My energy levels are sky high and I noticed if I sneak in a "non"clean item, then I get a headache. WOW! It's crazy how you're body can react once it starts getting fueled properly. The craziest thing is how fast your body adjusts to your new diet. (BTW when I say "diet," I mean a way of eating and not the latest craze, crash diet. We don't roll like that at PLPB! :) )

I have to admit - I'm starting my 7-day challenge Monday! I wasn't prepared yesterday, and I had breakfast with my boy manfriend (ode to my mom). I'll post pics of my meals for all of you lovelies to see.

Also, I am pretty darn excited about the pull-up bar I got the other day at Bed Bath and Beyond ( love me some BBB! :) ). And yes, I saved 20% with my coupon! Anyhow, enough of that. For my P90X workouts, I've been using the bands to simulate the pull-ups. I decided to be a big girl about it all and actually go get a bar. I've tried a few - or one - and holy cow that's hard! The bands don't nearly do the workout justice. I don't have to use it for a few days, because I don't have a P90X workout on the schedule with pull ups until later on this week. 

Also, I'm attempting to fix the Protein Blueberry Muffin recipe I posted. I realised the font that I used didn't recognize "/ , ." and other characters like that. I went to make  some muffins of my own this weekend and I knew I knew the recipe did NOT call for 1 4 cups of almond milk. :)

<3 and God bless,

Erin

Workout

Turbo Fire 45 EZ


Today's Menu
Pics posted soon! :)

7-day Clean Eating Challenge - Let's get started!

Today is THE DAY! Let's get pumped, change your life 1 day at a time. Here is my menu for the week. You don't have to follow this. You can sub some meals with your own clean foods.

As for the Blueberry Protein Muffins, check out the "Eats" tab for the recipe. They are YUMMY and super easy to make.

Remember - eat clean and train mean!

7-Day Clean Eating Challenge - The Rules

The 7-day challenge kicks off on SUNDAY! If you're like me, you need rules and boundaries. I am and always have been a big rule follower. The same goes for eating clean. In my head I think, "i can have a diet soda..." then I see ".... no artificial sweeteners." And there went that...

Again, thanks to Tosca Reno and the Eat Clean Diet, I have the "rules" for eating clean.

7-Day Clean Eating Challenge: Food Tracker

Before you kick off this thing, I suggest you take a gander at Tosca Reno's book(s), "The Eat Clean Diet." I've read "The Eat Clean Diet: Recharged" 3 times now, and I always get something new out of it! It's insane, how much there is to "chew" on - no pun intended!

First things first, you need to know how to tracker your food. I find the MyFitnessPal app on my food is not useful for tracking eating clean. For eating clean you must pair a a protein with a complex carb. I tend to forget servings for each day, so I made this handy tracker for myself. I hope you find it useful! Download the Food Tracker.

Click the link above or the image below to get started!

But, what food is what? Thanks to Tosca and the folks at The Eat Clean Diet, I have this handy dandy cheat sheet for you to help see some of the foods you should have in your diet and how much you should have of each Nutrition Rules.

7-Day Clean Eating Challenge