21 Day Fix Results-Round 1!

On September 1st I started my first round of 21 Day Fix. By now, y'all know I love my Beachbody programmes....I'm not a beachbody coach or anything so this is a totally 100% honest opinion.

As a note...please ignore my messy room. I take these photos first thing in the morning before I even leave the bedroom so they aren't typically the neatest background ;) hehe

This is September 1. I felt fine, and didn't mind where I was at...but, I didn't like how tight my jeans were in my thighs and how my stomach looked over my jeans, it was pooching. Also, I didn't like that my sugar intake had increased while I was struggling to make myself eat vegetables. So, I bought the 21 Day fix extreme for the following reasons:

1) I knew the workouts would be tougher than 21 Day Fix original

2) I liked the portion control and emphasis on getting in veggies

3) I just felt like it was a programme I could be super successful using

Before

After-September 21. I wound up losing inches all over and I could really see that my lower abs pulled up. I have also seen a huge increase in balance. I'm not tripping and falling as much as I had been before this program. Also, my triceps are incredibly tighter. I started noticing a bit of a bat wing but it is completely tight in that area again. My jeans are also quite loose in my thighs, I don't need new jeans yet, but they do finally fit comfortably in that area. Also, my husband has said my thighs are noticeably more shapely and my calves have grown a bit.

This round went so well, I did a refeed week last week, and have restarted the 21 Day Fix today for round two. It was really easy to stay on track last week and there were only 3 times I really went off the meal plan and treated myself and I noticed it was easy to control how much of that bad stuff I ate. Today I jumped right back in and my teenager joined me. She's really looking to increase her veggie intake and cut down on the amount of sweets she's been eating...which as her mother I am happy about that as I'm sure her dentist will be too! ha! So, stay tuned for the end of round two on October 18th. I will post an update but won't be taking a break, I am going to see how many back-to-back round I can fit in before my birthday in November!

Have you done the 21 day fix? How did it go for you?

What I Ate Last Wednesday

This week I am back to my usual What I Ate Wednesday posts. The last two weeks were specials from my trips to Berlin and London. 

I'm linking up with Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for the What I Ate Wednesday Party, come check it out!

This week, the photos I took were from my sight seeing day with my good friend, Jackie. She came over to my side of Amsterdam and we took a very long bike ride, which I will tell you more about tomorrow, but the food of course was delicious as always. See it now...

As always, starting off with my favorite bullet proof-esque coffee. 

Here is my favorite recipe:

1 lungo nespresso capsule

1 espresso nespresso capsule

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 tablespoon grass fed unsalted butter

1.5 tablespoons local honey

75 ml steamed milk (this recipe is now steamed, local raw milk)

Mix together with a spoon or an immersion blender if you are super picky...it usually blends really well for me, so I don't typically have to use the immersion.

This is so high in calories and good fat from the oil, butter, and milk that it serves as my breakfast along side a banana with peanut butter, which will not be having it's modeling debut today ;) But, it is good and gives me the energy I need to get a workout completed most mornings!

But, this particular morning I did not workout as my friend met me at my house at 10, we had some lavender mint water I'd made. Super simple and delicious:

1-2 sprigs of dried lavender, with the buds, a sprig of mint, let sit in 1 liter of water over night and then drink up!

Now, when we left for our bike ride, we were out for a basic stroll, but I knew we were going to wind up at the local Melktap as she grew up on a dairy farm that her family still owns, so I wanted her to see this. There are several around the Netherlands, this one is just 3 quick miles from my house. It is raw milk that you vend yourself...come back tomorrow for more info on it. The milk is amazing and we each had a cup before we left!

Yum, yum...fresh from the cow milk!

After this we made our way back over in to the city, but we weren't done with nature yet so decided on lunch in Amstel Park. This park is wonderful because you are completely surrounded by nature, but can be back in the city within a 10 minute bike ride. There are two full service restaurants in the park. The one we went to, De Hop 2.0, is the more laid back of the two and has much better food.

Exhibit 1: Pancake. It is filled with cheese and ham and is as big as that plate. It was amazing. I could only eat about a quarter of it though....and they were worried I really didn't like it...I'm all over here do you people see how big this thing is?! 

Exhibit 2: Wine, pretty large pour as well, gotta love Europe!

After eating I headed home to meet my teenager. We weren't very hungry so we went for a walk and stopped by the grocery store, by the time we got home we were starving! She wanted to cook so I threw the menu out the window and let her have at it..how cute is she?!

Cooking up a storm in the  kitchen!

She wound up making a delicious, healthy, protein packed dinner of red lentils, she topped it with chicken, scrambled egg, tomatoes, and sweet chili sauce.

This week wasn't filled with tons of food, but what I did eat was extremely filling. Tune in tomorrow for more on the bike ride we did!

Menu Plan Monday 2015 #10

 Last week's menu was pretty successful for the most part, we took lots of snacks to Belgium and threw out a couple of meals in favor of leftovers! ha! My workout schedule was not successful, I tried a couple of days, but coupled with all the sight seeing we were doing and still not being 100% apparently I had to abandon my plan and listen to my body.

Let us move on to this week!

Workout Schedule

• Sunday: Yoga
• Monday: 3 mile run, fit tutor
• Tuesday: Insanity workout
• Wednesday: 2 mile run, fit tutor
• Thursday: Yoga
• Friday: 3 mile run, fit tutor
• Saturday: Insanity workout

Weekly Goals

• Meal plan, prep, and stick to it.
• Bike to one cultural event.
• Create four items to list in Etsy store.
• Complete 4 hours of Dutch practice, and try and conduct one meeting with a Dutch person in Dutch.

Weekly Menu

Breakfast

• Sunday: Cheese Crescents with fruit salad
• Monday: Smoothie bowl
• Tuesday: Quinoa Oatmeal (Thug Kitchen Cookbook)
• Wednesday: Eggs with sweet potato
• Thursday: Quinoa Oatmeal
• Friday: Eggs with sweet potato
• Saturday: Eggs, pancakes, sausage

Lunch

• Sunday: Snacks/Leftovers
• Kiddo: Sandwich with cucumber and orange slices x2
• Kiddo: Leftovers x2
• Kiddo: Buy one time
• Me:
• Monday: Grilled chicken with Italian cabbage salad
• WF: Chicken Salad
• Tu/Th: Tuna Salad
• Will Have a potato and leek soup to go with the meal each day (didn't get to this last week)
• Saturday: Panini's with Veggie Soup

Dinner

• Sunday: Tacos/Roasted Chickpea and Broccoli Burritos with side salad and apple-pear (once upon a time this said broccoli-pear sauce, I meant apple-pear, that is what I get for writing while hopped up on cough medicine! ha!) sauce. We are having a dinner guest and will serve for dessert Stroopwafel and coke floats!
• Monday: Coconut-lime rice with red beans and mango (a meal I didn't get to last week)
• Tuesday: Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf with side salad and apple-pear sauce
• Wednesday: Roasted cauliflower/chicken wings for the hubby, corn, fries, green beans
• Thursday: Zoodles with creamy tomato sauce and chicken (optional), from 21 Day Sugar Detox cookbook; Chicken carbonara for hubby served with a side salad for everyone
• Friday: Leftovers/breakfast for dinner
• Saturday: Create something fabulous out of the leftovers, date night for the hubby and I, we will probably go for a movie and walk depending on the weather.

Snacks

• Rosemary almonds
• Cinnamon Spice Peppitas
• Banana and Coconut Slices (for the afternoons) with Earl Grey Lattes from Thug Kitchen Cookbook
• Dark Chocolate Trail Mix Bites
• There will also be a selection of string cheese, local cheese, leftovers, and smoked meat.

What are you eating and planning this week?

P.S, Join in on the parties over at Mommy Run Fast, Jill Conyers, and I'm an Organizing Junkie.

5 Great Activities When Stuck Inside!

Oh man, you know when it is pouring rain, really cold, or snowy and you are just stuck inside?! I know that feeling, we have had plenty of it over here...mostly rain though so it really isn't very pretty to look at; oh, and please, don't get me started on the wind! It is making it quite impossible to even ride our bikes. I mean look at this...

So, to keep you entertained this winter I will share with you a few of our favorite ways to keep busy as a family when we are stuck inside!

Cabin fever can get all of us. For me it really strikes about halfway through January. So, to keep it away we try not to just lay around all day, we want to interact and bond as a family, so here are five ways we stay active and have fun inside at home!

One of our favorite activities is playing a game. Any game. Board game, card game, Wii game, etc. Anything that gets us together as a family and interacting is where it's at...if you need some suggestions on great games check out this post.

 2. Bat Around Balloons

This can be done the old fashioned way by just tapping it around with a partner using your hands or, if you want to get real fancy and stuff you can make paddles out of wire coat hangers and old tights.

3. Make a catching game

Above you see we recycled two old milk jugs and used something we had as a "ball" (ours was a duck lol) and we would just toss it around catching the "ball".

4. Have a dance party

5. Build a Fort

Contrary to popular belief you are NEVER too old for this ;)

These are some fun ways we like to get active when it is too cold to go outside. What sort of fun things does your family do when it is too cold to go outside?

What I Ate Wednesday +workout update!

Whew, hump day already!! I know my husband and kiddo are glad the week is half over...can't wait to sail into the weekend! But, this last week I had some delicious eats...here are the highlights:

This was our breakfast Saturday. It was so good. The night before I made croissants, then I took the leftovers and stuffed them with egg, cheese, tomatoes, and onions and put them on our George Foreman grill and grilled them up like Panini's! Everyone agreed they were amazing. On mine I put a smear of laughing cow & mustard too.

This was my post workout lunch one day last week...I made mini caprese pizza's! Just a few thick slices of tomato, put a basil leaf on and sprinkle with cheese. On one I had a leftover bean burger so I put that one there too. I had a few hard boiled egg whites...my dirty little secret: I DESPISE hard boiled egg yolk lol

This was our Saturday dinner. We had some amazing fries, but had them fairly late and weren't super hungry so I just rolled out some croissant dough, mixed some tomato sauce & tomato paste together, seasoned them added cheese and we had an instant quick light dinner! It hit the spot after a long day in the sun doing tons of walking sight seeing around town.

This was post workout just yesterday. Some brown rice with tomatoes sauteed in garlic butter with cheese, and some salad on top! Super filling.

Now on to my workout update! I am still plugging along with my double days...some days are better than others with hitting the doubles here lately. I am really sore everyday. Not a bad sore, definitely a good sore, but sore none the less. I am seeing huge differences all over my body...my hubby said he is too. I don't know if he is just saying that because he knows how sore I am or if he is really seeing them...I am going to trust him, he usually won't lie to me about that ;) haha

Last Thursday: Piyo Drench...today was a rest day from X2

Friday: X2 Yoga...was also supposed to do Piyo Buns, but this workout tends to bother my hips and
I was so sore so I skipped it.

Seeing major changed in my flexibility and balance. I can hold crow for a good 10 seconds and I am getting my legs closer together in wheel! YAY!

Saturday: Rest day but did tons of walking.
Sunday: Piyo Strength and lots of walking

I included this just because I love pictures of my jumping! ha! Plus, the shirt in this picture was really form fitting at one point and really tight and now it is loose! Look at it flying up in my jump! :D

Monday: This started a recovery week for X2. Piyo Drench and foam rolling
Tuesday: X2 Yoga
Today: Piyo Hardcore on the floor and buns. My two least favorite but they need to be done. I am finally seeing major changes in my bum and my stomach is definitely pulling up and getting flatter and I am seeing tons of definition in my obliques so I know they need to keep getting worked so I can continue to see that definition.

I am so glad this is a recovery week. I am taking it easy with the workouts and trying to do just one workout a day, making today my hardest day all week and I may not do the buns one will just depend on my hip.

I have been proud of myself for really cleaning up my eating again. I am feeling so much better and have a ton of energy, but at night I crash and I sleep super hard and have even been waking up naturally before my alarm (which is a big deal with our blackout curtains lol).

So, that sums it up for me! What have you been eating this week?!

A Day at the Beach in Holland, Part 2

Now, as I told you in Part 1 just going to the beach and laying out is a lot of fun, but having stuff to do is even more fun! My kiddo loves to surf. Back when we were in Hawaii she took a lesson and had a great time and had been begging to go again....so, we took a family day to the beach!

Has nothing to do with our trip but gave us all a good laugh...the Putz Bus!

(...and yes, in good fun when we were leaving for the day the people were going back to the bus and they were all 70+! hahaha)

We go to a great place called The Spot and they rent all kinds of beach sports equipment at a reasonable rate.

Obviously she rented a long board and a wetsuit...

The wetsuit was a must she said. Not only are these able to keep the majority of your body from getting stung by jelly fish (which there were a lot in the are at the time), but it keeps you very warm and able to enjoy yourself.

There are tons of people out there without a wetsuit...they apparently did not grow up in Florida!

Seems like the wave aren't very good right...

Well, the waves are different here...

Even when they are "high" they aren't really high...must be location...but you have to learn to surf differently.

Going...

Going....

Gone! hahaha

But, back at it!

She was exhausted...

But stayed out there for two solid hours.

Toward the end she was figuring out how to work the surf...

Dad went to watch...

While I used his extra clothes as a pillow....

He's engrossed, really....

...and I'm still chillin'....

I love this one because he is just watching her watch the surf....hoping for one more set.

Talking about how much fun she had.

This one was hurry up, Mom, I'm hungry!

At the spot for some lunch! ...service was quick and easy. 

They channel the Aloha spirit...they must have known we were missing Hawaii.

After this we headed over to Aquamundo it is near some cabin rentals and has a swimming pool/wave pool and water slides...I didn't take any photos but it is a blast!

We then took a walk...

....and came across a place that cooks food over an open bar-b-que...The Safari Club. They didn't have an extensive menu and no pulled pork or anything crazy like that, but they did have good, smokey flavored food!

We got some bitterballen because ya just have to....

Mmmm...smoked ribs and fries...these were amazing!

This is one of the better burger's I have had since moving here....probably because it was cooked over the open flame.

Nothing like a beautiful sunset to end a day on the North Sea.

What is your favorite beach activity?

Stay tuned for Part 3 on Saturday!