Halloween

Today is Halloween! In Switzerland we never really celebrated Halloween so it isn't a big deal for me but it is here in North America.
Personally I also do not like candy that much but I LOVE plain chocolate or very chocolaty chocolate cakes! Once in a while I allow myself a treat because as long as it is in moderation I think it won't hurt and I just can't be strict all the time. But because I have my honeymoon coming up I do not want to "cheat" for the next few weeks so for my chocolate cravings I found a healthier treat for me.

You take nonfat plain greek yogurt (I used 1/2 cup), sprinkle in some unsweetened cacao powder, cinnamon and if you want it really sweet you can even put some Truvia/honey in it. I also added some chocolate protein powder and had it as an evening snack last night. I also already mixed some peanut butter or unsweetened apple sauce or fresh berries in it. Not like my favourite chocolate but good and does the trick!

What is your favourite sweet treat?

What is in your bag?

It happens so often that you plan a short trip out of the house and then you actually spend hours doing all kind of other things too. You get so caught up in doing things that you don't realize that you are hungry and should eat so you just go to the next fast food chain and pick something up to fix your hunger. I never planned to bring some snacks with me before I leave the house but I do now because I want to make better choices for me.
When I leave the house now I always carrying a few items with me (aside from my wallet, cell phone, keys and some beauty products :-)!) which help me if I am busy and do not have time to eat or I just have bad options to choose from. In my bag a have:
- a bottle of water
- an apple
- a little bag of almonds
- a Quest bar

Almonds are full of fiber, protein and healthy fats so they help you keep feeling full longer. Apples are high in fiber, low in calories (around 95) and are a good source of vitamin C (an apple a day keeps the doctor away :-)!).
Quest bar's are high in protein and low in carbs (http://www.questproteinbar.com). I normally try to eat whole foods but they are super handy for that busy day, travelling or at work if you don't get a break. And Water which helps you to keep full longer too and has a lot of other benefits (I will blog about that in a few days). This items saved me already a few times and helped me stay on track with my goals.

What do you carry in your bag!

Benefits of Green tea

Growing up I never liked tea. If I had a hot beverage it was hot chocolate but I never enjoyed a cup of tea until I moved to Canada. The winters in Canada can get very cold. We lived in the North of Quebec for a few years and we often had -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) or colder during the winter. It didn't matter what temperature it was, I walked my dog every single day 2-3x a day. Because the hot beverage helped me warm up after a walk I started drinking tea (I do not drink coffee).

After starting the Jamie Eason's LiveFitTrainer (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html) and changing my diet to clean eating I started to read everything I could find about health benefits of certain foods. One day I found out that green tea has a lot of health benefits (Helps against cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol,.....http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/green-tea) and it increases your metabolism which helps to loose weight. I thought I give it a try and started drinking green tea and now I am hooked. I have a cup of green tea every morning with breakfast and an other cup after working out.

Have a great day and enjoy your green tea :-)!

Pre abs picture

Here are the promised pictures of my abs (I took them Saturday morning). I started two days ago with the challenge and did on both days 50 seconds plank three times.

Next to the plank challenge I will keep working out normally. I hope to get some more definition. As many other women I have the problem with my lower abs.  It is really hard for me to tighten them up. But I am working on it!

I am off to my 30 minutes interval training. Have a great day!

Work HARD, dream BIG!!!

Weekend fun

I am always amazed how fast the weekends go by. Was it not just Friday?!? But I had a great weekend! On Friday evening I didn't feel like cooking so I picked up some Sushi. Not clean but I tried to make a better choice and got Sushi rolled in Cucumber and no rice.

Tuna and Salmon roll with Cucumber and low sodium soya sauce...yum yum

On Saturday morning I went on a fundraiser walk for Alzheimer's. It was my rest day too and a gorgeous day.

And today I went for a run and did some prep cooking so that I am ready for the new week. I baked some sweet potatoes (I just love them), Fudge Brownie's made with black beans and avocado (http://blog.beingfatiseasy.com/?p=680) and I made a crock pot meal (Chicken, spinach, tomato's, mushrooms, onions and garlic)

What did you do this weekend? 

Are you ready for the new week?

Challenge

My honeymoon is getting closer (yeah) so I want to work a little bit harder for the next few weeks and challenge myself a little bit more. My workouts are going well and my eating is about 80-90% clean which is great but I am still hoping to see more results. So I will try to eat clean 100% for the next few weeks and I will do a plank challenge :-) for the next 30 days starting today.

This is the 30 Day Plank Challenge. The left lane is for beginners so I changed mine a little bit up. I also will repeat the plank 2-3x.

Day 1 - 20 seconds              me: 50 seconds
Day 2 - 20 seconds              me: 50 seconds
Day 3 - 30 seconds              me: 60 seconds
Day 4 - 30 seconds              me: 60 seconds
Day 5 - 40 seconds              me: 70 seconds
Day 6 - REST                      me: REST
Day 7 - 45 seconds              me: 75 seconds
Day 8 - 45 seconds              me: 75 seconds
Day 9 - 60 seconds              me: 90 seconds
Day 10 - 60 seconds            me: 90 seconds
Day 11 - 60 seconds            me: 90 seconds
Day 12 - 90 seconds            me: 120 seconds
Day 13 - REST                    me: REST 
Day 14 - 90 seconds            me: 120 seconds
Day 15 - 90 seconds            me: 120 seconds
Day 16 - 120 seconds          me: 150 seconds
Day 17 - 120 seconds          me: 150 seconds
Day 18 - 150 seconds          me: 180 seconds
Day 19 - REST                    me: REST 
Day 20 - 150 seconds          me: 180 seconds
Day 21 - 150 seconds          me: 180 seconds
Day 22 - 180 seconds          me: 210 seconds
Day 23 - 180 seconds          me: 210 seconds
Day 24 - 210 seconds          me: 240 seconds
Day 25 - 210 seconds          me: 240 seconds
Day 26 - REST                    me: REST 
Day 27 - 240 seconds          me: 270 seconds
Day 28 - 240 seconds          me: 270 seconds
Day 29 - 270 seconds          me: 310 seconds
Day 30 - PLANK FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!

I will also take some pictures so hopefully I will see some changes in a few weeks. Are you with me?

Work HARD, dream BIG! 

Friday motivation from Arnold Schwarzenegger

Great motivation speech!!!

Work HARD, dream BIG!!!

Have a great day!

My favourite things right now

I am sick :-( so no gym for me today. Plus I do not feel like cooking/baking or eating at all so I thought I show some of my favourite things right now:

1. My new wunder under crock pants from Lululemon (http://shop.lululemon.com/home.jsp). I love the flower pattern. They are comfortable and so much fun!

2. My Gramercy Grand watch from Kate Spade (http://www.katespade.com). Matches with everything and is big but not huge. I love Kate Spade!!!

3. My skin serum from Origins "A Perfect World". (http://www.origins.com/index.tmpl) OMG I love this product. It makes your skin super soft and it smells really good.

and last but not least

4. My new Celfie T-Shirt from Sincerely Jules (http://sincerelyjules.com). I feel great in it and it fits with my life motto Work HARD, dream BIG!

I am obsessed with Peanut butter

I love peanut butter and could seriously eat it all the time. If I have a leg day I sometimes put peanut butter in my overnight oats or I have it with my snack on my ezekiel bread with banana or low sugar jam. But one thing I do a lot is to eat peanut butter at night when I relax and I start to feel hungry again or if I crave something sweet.

I just put a little bit on a spoon and eat it like a treat ;-) (my husband finds this really funny)!

;-)

Have a great day!

Some of my eats lately

Here are some of my snacks, lunches and dinners I had in the last few days:

This is my kind of burger that I had Sunday night. Tomato, avocado, lettuce, extra lean ground beef burger and sweet potatoes with a little ketchup. Yum yum

I had some leftovers for lunch on Monday. I made a clean pineapple chicken crock pot meal last week.
http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-crock-pot-pineapple-chicken/

I can never decide on having my ezekiel toast just one way so I always cut it in half so I can have it both ways :-). One half is peanut butter and low sugar jam and the other side is coconut oil and cinnamon. With it I had one whole egg and one egg white.

This is a weird one but still good. After leg day on Tuesday I had my protein shake (1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup almond milk, 1\2 banana, 1\4 cup greek yogurt and spinach as much as you want) and some sweet potatoes.

Mixed salad for dinner on Monday evening. Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, avocado, spinach and tuna mixed in mustard.


I have a hard time eating my greens right now so I am working on it. Cooking just for one person can get very boring and just isn't much fun.

Have a great day!

Fitness Motivation

I try to workout five to six times a week. I love to workout because it makes me feel better, happier and I love to see the changes in my body.
But as everybody else I am not always motivated to go. I do have days I am very busy and would like to skip it or I am super tired or I just don't feel like it. But over the last year I found ways to keep myself motivated.
One thing that helped me a lot was that I started adding people I admire to my social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, subscribe to their blogs,...). This way I see what they are doing. I read their posts and see their pictures.
An other thing I do is to find a goal to work towards to. It can be a wedding, a vacation, a long weekend, a party or just a simple dress that I want to feel and look good in it.

My short term goal right now is my honeymoon in a few weeks. Wearing a bikini every day and looking good in it.

I can't wait to be on this beach ;-)!!! 

My long term goal is to build more muscle and becoming stronger and leaner. 

What is your fitness goal? 

Work hard, dream BIG!!!

Life is good!

Sometimes it is the little things in life that put a smile on your face or make your day :-). Today it was on my walk with my doggy. Look how happy he was...

Hope you had a great day too!

Monday motivation

I will kick some ass this Monday ;-)!

Work hard, dream BIG!

Have a good day!

It's Sunday the Funday

It is Sunday which normally is my rest day but because my husband isn't home I went to the gym and did biceps, abs and 20 minutes interval. I got my sweat on :-)

After my workout I did some food preparation. I baked sweet potatoes, boiled eggs and made some home made granola bar's. I am obsessed with the granola bar's right now! 

Are you ready for the new week?



Now I am enjoying some cuddle time with my doggy.

Rest day

My husband left today for work for a few weeks so we went out last night for dinner. I enjoyed a delicious meal (salmon, cauliflower and wild rise) and I also had a glass of wine and enjoyed it very much.

After we were done with our meal the server came over and brought us this:

One of our neighbours saw us there and surprised us with champagne and a piece of chocolate cake. Our neighbour came over and thanked my husband for his service (yes he is in the Military) and said he wanted us to have a special evening. How sweet is that!?!?

I am not a big drinker so the glass of wine and the champagne made me quite happy ;-) and the food very full. So today I feel very tired and a little bit sad because my husband left so I give myself a rest day. I will not just sit on the couch! I will take my dog on a few walks but other then that I try to relax and eat well.

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!!! 

I am ready for the weekend!

This morning I did a 30 minutes interval training. I am going to a gym 2x a week which offers group personal training. It is so much fun and perfect for busy days because it is short but intensive. 

Workout is done :-) and now I am ready for the day/weekend!

Nails for the weekend ;-)

Friday motivation

Work Hard, dream BIG!

Happy Friday!

Veggies

Some days to make sure I get all my vegetables in a simple mixed salad just does it. Today I had a spinach salad with tomatos, cucumbers, peppers, mushrooms, avocado and some hard boiled eggs.

I know a lot of people put vegetables already in there morning eggs but I just can't do that. I think it has to do with me growing up in Switzerland . For us breakfast was fresh bread, butter, jam, honey, cheese and milk. On Sunday mornings we often also had eggs and my parents loved bacon (I do not like bacon...seriously!). When we kids were really young my mum send us sometimes to the farmer to get fresh eggs and milk. The milk came right from the cows.
It is funny because this days I rarely eat milk products. I just feel better without it. I am not lactose intolerant but overall I just feel better and it works for me.

StairMaster

Do you have a favourite cardio machine? I have to say for me it probably is the StairMaster or the Treadmill. I don't like doing cardio and if I do it I have to do it ether outside or where I can change it up every few minutes.
Yesterday after my Shoulder and Triceps workout I went on the StairMaster and did 20 Minutes interval. In the slow phases I waked up the stairs sideways. This made my legs burn!

My shoulders start to grow :-) but I need to work on my triceps and hopefully I will get some more definition on my abs in the next few weeks.

Have a great day!!! 

I LOVE Nailpolish

With clean eating and a healthy lifestyle comes nicer skin, hair and nails. I LOVE doing my nails and I probably change my nail polish every few days if I have time.

If you do not know Pinterest you have to check it out. It is great for inspiration (I got a lot of ideas for my wedding from there)! So my newest creation is inspired from Pinterest ;-)

My snacks for the day

After my workout this morning I had a delicious protein shake. I always have a shake after working out so that I get my protein in. Today I had a banana, berry, spinach smoothie...so good! 

You take 1/2 Banana, 1 scoop of whey protein powder (Vanilla), 1\4 cup of greek yoghurt, 1\4 cup of frozen mixed berries, 3/4-1 cup of frozen spinach and 1 cup of vanilla almond milk. 

I was pretty hungry when I came home from the gym so I also had a slice of Ezekiel bread. I cut it in half and one half was with peanut-butter and banana (I am addicted to peanut-butter :-) ) and the other half was coconut oil with cinnamon. Yum yum

This afternoon I will snack on some almonds, a hard boiled egg and an apple. 

Have a great day!!!

Food preparation

Yesterday I spend some time in the kitchen to prepare some food for the next few days. I made sweet potatoes, granola bar's (http://blog.beingfatiseasy.com/?p=1239), overnight oat's and I boiled some eggs.
I personally do not like to pre cook vegetables and I do have the time right now to prepare them every day.

Overnight oat's

Sweet potatoes

eating a granola bar :-)

Granola Bar's

I just finished my green tea and now I am off to train shoulders and triceps. Have a great day!!!