Settling In and Working Out

Now that we're all settled in and I've yet to find a job, I've picked up a new hobby, utilizing my free gym membership on base. Although almost everything I do at the gym can be done from home, it's just nice to get out and be around people while Trent is at work. I started March 9th and by the time April 9th rolled around, I had already lost ten pounds! I have been trying my hardest to eat healthy and go to the gym everyday. I don't hesitate if I have a sweet tooth though.  Moderation is everything. Just a handful of M&M's or a fun size Snickers bar, enough to treat the sweet tooth, and then right back to healthy foods. That doesn't mean that you should eat a whole bag of chips or candy and then go back to healthy foods, just one serving size will do you just fine.

I'm definitely not a professional when it comes to dieting and working out, but I'm just sharing what has been working best for me.

3/9/15 - 4/9/15

At the gym:

1) Put treadmill at highest incline, mine is 15%, walk briskly/jog at a 4-5 mph pace for 35 minutes.  That burns at least 500 calories every time. 

2) Bike for 15-30 minutes and/or stair step for 15-30 minutes.

3) Lift weights/do weight machines for 20 minutes.

At home:

1) Squats. I am trying to do the 30 Day Squat Challenge.

2) Crunches and push ups. It's as easy as doing these during the commercials of your favorite TV shows. Or you could do what Trent and I like to do and that's to put on a 30 minute episode of one of our favorite shows and workout together for the whole episode. 

3) Biking. I love riding my bike. If I get the chance, I'll bike at least ten miles every time I go out. It is so refreshing, just make sure you have a comfortable bike seat!

My meals normally follow along these lines:

Breakfast: Some sort of egg. Scrambled, poached, omelet with only a little bit of cheese and spinach, egg sandwich, anything. I am crazy about eggs! I always have an egg sandwich on one piece of bread instead of two though!

If you don't like eggs, my husband always goes for oatmeal, Raisin Bran Crunch, or parfaits. I can't tell you have many of each of these we've gone through since moving in together.

Post workout: Since I normally go to the gym within an hour of having breakfast, my favorite post workout snack is my parfait smoothie since it's so hot down here already!

Parfait Smoothie

Super simple and takes five minutes to make!

Parfait Smoothie

1 cup vanilla greek yogurt

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 tbsp granola (I prefer peanut butter)

Blend and enjoy!

Lunch: I normally will have a homemade salad, those prepackaged ones really aren't the best for you. I prefer to get all the ingredients and make one myself. If I'm not feeling a salad, I'll have a rice cake patty, cover it in vanilla flavored greek yogurt, and throw some fruit on top of that with some. Normally this is about an hour and a half after I get back from the gym so I'm still content from my smoothie, this just tides me over until dinner.

Midday Snack: If I'm getting hungry by about 3 o' clock, I'll have a handful of crackers and/or an apple. Apples always fill me up. The best thing about apples is they are mostly air, so you're hardly adding to your calories but you're beyond full!

Dinner: For dinner, I always have some sort of chicken. Whether it be grilled, baked, or boiled I always have chicken for dinner. My favorite dinner, which is actually pretty healthy for you, is jambalaya. 

Jambalaya

Zatarain's Jambalaya Original Mix

One chicken breast

Chicken broth

1) Boil your chicken for about twenty-five minutes, pull that out and let cool.  

2) Use your chicken broth as your water for the jambalaya and follow the directions on the box.

3) Shred chicken and mix it into jambalaya and enjoy!

Another dinner we like, that isn't chicken, that is healthy is stir fry.

Stir Fry

Olive oil

Frozen veggies (I prefer Birdeye stir fry veggies)

Beef

Brown rice (I use Uncle Ben's 90 second Whole Grain Medley if I don't have time to cook my own)

Stir fry flavoring of your choice (I prefer beef and broccoli)

1) Put about 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet

2) Saute the frozen veggies according the the package

3) Remove veggies and cook beef thoroughly in skillet

4) Combine veggies and beef and add stir fry flavoring

5) Dish it up over rice and enjoy!

These are easy recipes and each take about twenty-five minutes top to make, can't argue with that!!!