Menu Plan Monday 2015 #12

Wow! It has been a while since I have written one of these! I wasn't feeling well there for a while and fell a bit off the wagon...but, I'm back!

So...on the menu this week...

Breakfast
Sunday: Cereal
Monday: Same; applewich for kiddo; cereal for hubby
Tuesday: Apple cinnamon oatmeal
Wednesday: Applewiches
Thursday: Peanut butter banana toast
Friday: Apple cinnamon oatmeal
Saturday: Egg sandwiches

Lunch
Sunday: Avocado toast with fried egg
Monday: Leftovers/eggs/smoked meat
Tues-Friday:
Kiddo: Sandwich with egg and fruit or leftovers
Hubby: Hard boiled egg with cheese and nuts
Me:
Tuesday: Avocado toast with egg
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Ladies lunch...still not sure what I will make yet
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Broccoli rice noodle soup

Dinner
Sunday: Easter...eat out
Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: Chicken legs with potatoes and broccoli
Wednesday: Hamburgers with rice and squash
Thursday: Rotisserie chicken with potatoes and broccoli
Friday: Pizza and salad
Saturday: BBQ chicken with rice, salad, whatever leftover veggies there are

Snacks
Hard boiled eggs
Cheese
Apples and pb
Pepperoni
Nuts

Workout Schedule

• Sunday: 5 mile run, challenges, and stretch
• Monday: Warm up, quick sweat workout, 5 minute workouts, challenges, stretch
• Tuesday: 2 mile run, challenges, stretch
• Wednesday: 3 mile run, challenges, stretch
• Thursday: Warm up, quick sweat, quiet apartment workout, challenges
• Friday: 5 mile run with a boot camp in the park
• Saturday: Stretch and challenges, possible bike ride
• Sunday: Challenges and yoga

Goals

• cut final bit of added sugars {my one cube of sugar in coffee is all that is left *le sigh*}
• no processed foods {gotta get off the cereal, which is a recent reintroduction and I do not feel well after eating it}
• finish Hawaii section of scrapbook
• get balcony set for spring
• organize craft supplies...don't have many but the few I do have are a bit out of control ;)
• make packing lists and itineraries for Berlin and London
• keep up with A to Z Challenge

Weekend Fun

• Saturday: Bike ride to enjoy the sun and 60 degree temperatures
• Sunday: *possible* trip to Keukenhof, but may put this off until next weekend

Doesn't look to be an incredibly busy week, but should be relaxing and full of getting stuff done! What are you up to this week?

P.S. Linking up with Mommy Run Fast, Jill Conyers, and I'm an Organizing Junkie.

March 2015 Goals

I didn't really set any specific goals for February and I feel like the month was a crap-shoot. I fell off my workouts after being sick for two weeks. I kept eating decently most of the time so I suppose that is something. This month though I really want to be focused and get a lot done.

1. Focus on Dutch. I have been here nearly a year and still can't understand anything beyond basic greetings, "Do you want a receipt" (which I only know because of the word "bon"), and some gibberish I can't understand that is, "do you want a bag?" I want to know more than this so I am really going to get back on it.
2. Stop watching so much Netflix and get back to reading. I have so many wonderful books I wanted to complete this year so I will be focusing on reading.
3. It is March and getting warmer I will run at least 3 days a week incorporating Fit Tutor as well as Insanity Asylum Vol. 2. To hold myself accountable I will be posting on Instagram, so follow me there and let me know so I can follow you too! 
4. Clean eating.
5. Focus on creating inventory for my Etsy shop and post at least one new item every other day.
6. This is the big one so I saved it for last. We have really been trying hard to save money and focus on getting ahead. A while back I read about this 31 day no spend challenge so we are going to attempt to complete it. Things we will have to do differently are:
1. We will have a weekly grocery budget as we do not have a stock pile or stocked pantry/freezer so we will have to buy groceries weekly as usual
2. Meals will first and foremost be planned around anything in the freezer/pantry to ensure those items are used in a timely manner.
3. No prepackaged products will be purchased, most everything will be real whole foods made from scratch. 
4. We are going out of town as we have a weekend away pre-planned but we will have a budget and will not spend on souvenirs and we will bring our own snacks, breakfast items, and water bottles.
5. The kiddo and I will ride our bikes as much as possible instead of the train. there will be a once a week exception for cheer, but otherwise we need to get comfortable going longer distances on our bikes.
6.  Date nights out of the house will still happen but will need to be creative and find fun, free/cheap things to do, each date night will have a spending cap if we feel the need to spend.
7. Do a daily post of what we did that day, and how much we spent, if anything.

Spring is on its way and I really want to feel like I am accomplishing the things I aimed for this year, so this month I will be crushing goals! What goals are you focusing on completing?

The Fit Tutor +New Workout Schedule for February

Last month after going hard core on my workouts with Asylum Vol. 1, I decided to take things a little "easier" this month and create my own workout calendar and focus on eating less sugar.

I was offered a membership at The Fit Tutor in exchange for my opinion on the service Allison offers. I promise, as always, all opinions are my own. Keep reading for a special offer for my readers too ;)

I took this first week to just focus on the Fit Tutor program and see what it was like for me.

The advanced level was still a bit "easy" for me as far as exercises go, I do the max number of sets, 3, and get a pretty nice sweat going, but I have yet to wake up sore.

This program is nice, especially if you are a busy Mom because you can bring the example video up on your phone, watch it, then do the number of reps Allison suggests. You can move from room to room if you need to and do the exercises through out the day. Heck, you could even do these at the park while your kids play, that is just how versatile this sort of program is!

Allison is a great personal trainer. You can email her with any questions and she answers in a timely manner. Each instructional video is short and to the point. If there are variations for beginner, intermediate, and advanced she tells you in the video so even if you choose the "beginner" schedule, but an exercise is particularly easy you can choose to do a more advanced option and vice versa, if you choose the advanced version but it is too difficult you can do the beginner version (I have to do this with the ab exercises.)

So, if you would like to work out with me this first month use the code BloggerFIT over at The Fit Tutor and check it out! I will be doing daily check-ins over on my Facebook Page so come and join me, this will be fun!

Workout Schedule

So, tell me what does your workout look like this month? What are you doing to move? Do you think you'll join me over at The Fit Tutor?

Disclaimer: Like I stated earlier, I was offered a free membership in exchange for my opinion on the services offered at The Fit Tutor,  but all opinions expressed are my own.

New Years Eve/Day Recap!

New Year's Eve was definitely one of the highlights of 2014. Some friends from our home town were visiting so we all bought tickets to a local club that serves a full menu and then they have dancing after dinner. 

Escape is normally one of my favorite places during the day, on a nice day to sit outside and have a drink and enjoy Amsterdam. I had never actually had anything to eat there, I was pleasantly surprised though! 

The table was adorable. The night's menu and some winter confetti. So fun!

Dislaimer: I didn't take a photo of everything we ate. I honestly forgot some of the time because we were having so much fun!

First course I didn't get a photo of was a duck breast salad...it was delicious!

Next course you could get either beef or fish..I opted for the Cod.

....and I stole the sweet potato puree from hubby's beef plate haha

Next we got some sort of bubbly something or other....I'm guessing this was a bit of cava. Whatever it was made me extremely bloated! Ugh.

Last came dessert...it was "sparkling"

Sorry, I know it is blurry, but how cool are all those desserts on "fire"! It was pretty hard to breathe in the room though after these went out haha

The full dessert was a chocolate moose with a white chocolate ice cream rolled in white chocolate shavings and some sort of fudge cake with nuts. It was very delicious.

After this we went upstairs to the club part for dancing. It was packed and hot but we had a great time!

Our one friend is ridiculously tall, I stole this picture from him. haha

Such a fun night. I won't post the picture we had someone take of the four of us just before we left at 2am...we were so sweaty it looked like we'd just done a full workout! ha! But, felt great and was such a fun way to bring in the new year.

New Year's Day we decided to make use of our unlimited movie passes and went to see Interstellar, which was fantastic! ...and since I was feeling lazy we went out to eat too.

These were the spiciest meatballs I have ever eaten. It said they came in a spicy tomato sauce but failed to mention there were also giant red pepper flakes in the meatballs as well. ha!

Somewhere under all that cheesy goodness is a vegetable lasagna ;)

Then, on the way home hubby stopped and picked us all up some mini Ben and Jerry's to nosh on while we cuddled in bed. 

Such a great way to start off the new year...now though we are back to reality...

....which isn't so bad.

Now, since it is the new year, lets talk workouts!

January 1st I was supposed to start Insanity Asylum, but I was tired so I took a "rest day" haha but, here is what Jan 2nd on has looked like:

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: Speed and Agility

Saturday: Back to Core

Sunday: Vertical Plyo

Monday: Speed and Agility

Tuesday Back to core

Today: Vertical Plyo

*there is a Strength DVD I am supposed to be doing but I don't have a proper band so I need to pick one of those up. asap. Here is a break down of all the DVD's I've done so far and what I think of them. It is important to note I have completed all of the P90X series multiple times and I have done Insanity 5 times, so some of my opinion(s) may need to be taken with caution:

Rest Day: was awesome haha

Speed and Agility: It was tough, but seemed just like a tiny bit more advanced version of insanity. The moves were a bit more advanced, loved the progression moves like in and outs where you'd start on the first rung of the ladder then move to the second and then the third. I thought that was a great way to measure your movement and go from easy to advanced.

Back to core: This one may have been my favorite. I still didn't think this one was super difficult. It starts off with three different types of jumping jacks, all of them working the back. After the jumping jacks you moved on to monkey squats...I LOVE these things. I could do them all day every day (ok, probably not but they are my favorite exercise haha). The reverse planks at the end I found the most difficult move of the workout. There are some one legged bridge moves, no matter how in shape I am these kill my hips so I modify them. I do a few and then just do regular glute bridges. I figure no reason to injure myself over one move. I will say though the more I practice doing the one legged glute bridges the stronger my hip gets! I used to only be able to do one then I'd throw my hip out of whack and couldn't do any thing for weeks, but now I can do four before I feel a "pull" and know I should stop..so YAY!

Vertical Plyo: I am pretty sure this is the DVD where Shaun-T lost his freaking MIND! I found it EXTREMELY difficult..could be too I was just exhausted from the other days and was surprised by how much more advanced the moves could get. I cannot express how insane this workout is. So you know power jumps where your legs are wide you squat down and jump up both knees coming up and feet off the floor? Well, here you do one legged ones of those. Yeah, those are insane, you have to be really, really, really careful. At the end as I am flinging myself all over the mat during one move I was totally regretting saying any of these workouts seemed "easier" than I imagined. 

So, that is what my week has looked like...what have you been eating, and how have you been moving?

P.S. I'm linking up with Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for WIAW, come on over and check out the party ;)

What I Ate Wednesday +Week in Review of Workouts

Been a bit since I've written one of these. Been forgetting to photograph most of what I've been eating...probably because it all isn't healthy for me! ha!

I have been unmotivated to workout. I was doing P90X2 and it just wasn't challenging enough for me so I have gone back and am doing a round of Insanity with one day a week of some P90X upper body work. I will also do one to two days a week of running anywhere from 1-3 miles. Just sort runs but enough to keep my muscles long and stretched out.

Last Wednesday: PIYO Sweat
Thursday: PIYO Strength Intervals
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Bike ride and walk
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Tuesday: Cardio Power and Resistance + a nice long walk downtown to see a church and grab some fresh juice and tea at La Place at the top of the library
Today: Bike ride to my bookclub, one mile run, and Insanity Cardio Recovery

I am feeling great so far this week. I forgot how awesome this programme is and how moving at a high intensity really gets my body feeling good and trim so quickly. Of course, I am pairing it with super healthy eating. I have found gluten and alcohol just make me really tired so I have completely cut alcohol out and I am eating more and more gluten free, just having a few items that are low on the gluten scale.

So, without further ado...



Morning Coffee

Snack

I didn't actually eat the pumpkins but I couldn't resist making the smiley face ;)

Post Workout Breakfast

Eggs with tomato, onion, cheese, and pepper! YUM!

Lunch

Tuna salad with balsamic, apples, onions, and cheese

Snack

Best snack ever: 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1T chia seeds, 2T raw cacao powder, 1T wheat grass powder, blend!

Dinner

Chicken burgers over lettuce and acorn squash with caramelized onion.

Bonus dinner from Tuesday:

I took some leftover chili I had in the freezer and warmed it up while I roasted a small pumpkin. Then split the pumpkin in half and scooped out the seeds (save them and roast them excellent when the seeds have already been steamed), and put the warmed chili in and top with a little cheese...it was so amazing!

So, that is it for me this week, folks! What has been your favorite meal this week?

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?!

I'm baaaaaaaaaack! WIAW +my week in workouts!

Well Hello! It has been about three weeks, maybe four since the last time I posted! Here's why:

S-U-M-M-E-R!!! 

Here in Holland my daughter only gets a 6 week summer holiday. I wanted to take that time and truly enjoy it with her and to enjoy the lovely weather we had. I say had because I am convinced all vestiges of summer are gone...we are well into fall-like weather. I do have a ton of posts to come though about all the fun and exciting things we did during our summer holiday. Most people left Amsterdam to vacation other places, but we had so much to see around here we decided to stick around and explore the city. It truly is a gorgeous place to live!

Anyway, I haven't done one of these for quite some time so thought, since today is the first day of school I would take some of the free time I now have and show y'all what I've been eating and what I've been doing for workouts!

Some things I had for breakfast this week:

That cinnamon toast reminds me of a donut. I put a good helping of butter on it, sprinkle it liberally with cinnamon sugar then put it in the oven just until the butter is melted so the bread isn't really toasted, it is gooey and amazing.

Sweet potato apple hash & I threw in some shredded carrot ;)

Examples of lunches:

This was lunch yesterday, 8/19...bbq chicken pizza made on a tortilla...it was delicious!

This was "lunch" last Tuesday when we went back to school shopping. This was at the "largest Starbucks in Europe". It is in an area of town called Rembrandtplein-where there is a giant sculpture recreating the Nights Watch-it is always packed with expats and travels, hardly ever locals.

Dinners:

Homemade chicken nuggets, black bean burgers, and some pumpkin soup, and cranberry juice which may or may not have been spiked with the Ciroc my husband brought me home from his visit to the states ;)

This was one I made while hubby was in London last week as it is one he would NOT have been a fan of! haha it was whole wheat ravioli stuffed with spinach that was cooked in a little tomato puree and some cherry tomato and purple onion! Served with an amazing salad of course!

Snacks/Desserts:

Dessert a few nights ago: Shakeology date smoothie with a little whipped cream ;)

Delicious cinnamon latte.

Shakeology bowl! It makes sooooooo much! 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup almond milk, scoop of shakeology, 1/2 banana, tablespoon of chia seeds...blend together and top with other half of the banana and a generous spoonful of peanut butter!

Week in Workout

A few weeks ago, back in June or July sometime I watched that video that went viral of that girl on American Ninja Warrior that absolutely kicked butt on that obstacle course, this inspired me to really get my upper body strength up and really get back to being serious about my health. This really started back in May/June, but I have kicked my workouts in to high gear since then. I started running again and then just last week I started P90X2 & PiYo. I am doing doubles each day. I chose these two because I knew they would both work the areas I am weakest in: upper arms and core.

Seriously, I am not sure how long it has been since I worked my transverse abdominal muscles but it must have been a while and I think it is why I was getting such a bad "pooch" in my lower belly. I will say after taking up running again and doing these my abdominal muscles have pulled in a bunch and I can pull myself up 2/3 of the way on our pull up bar!

So, without further ado, this has been my schedule:

Last Thursday 8/14: X2 Total Body, ab ripper, and PiYo lower

So much DNA removal! hahaa

Friday 8/15: X2 Yoga...Skipped PiYo Upper

I woke up so sore Friday morning and I modified all the pull ups in Total body...I could hardly move my upper body...Yoga was painful, but helpful and I modified just about everything. I couldn't imagine doing upper so I skipped it.

Saturday 8/16: X2 Balance and Power and PiYo Drench

This is what it came down to lol I had to put down a towel so I wasn't sliding around on the mat!

Sunday 8/17: Rest day...it was so glorious I literally laid around all day, didn't get out of my PJs and made some easy Taco's for dinner.

Monday: 8/18: X2 Core and PiYo Sweat

Was finally feeling human again and could do an arm hand on my pull up bar.

Tuesday 8/19: Plyocide and Lower Body

Today, Wednesday 8/20: X2 Recovery and Mobility and PiYo Core. I may or may not do recovery & mobility. I like the basis of it with foam rolling and stuff but it doesn't have enough flexibility work for me so I think I will do my own stretching routine where i can really work my splits, and my standing splits. I am also working on my scorpion and a few other more difficult flexibility poses. 

Well, I think that about sums it up for this week! I am so excited for the end of this month, I am determined to be able to do at least one full pull up by August 31st! What have been some of your goals this month?!