Fit Mom Monday - Guest Blogger: Cortney

Not too long ago, I started posting Fit Mom Monday tips on my Fit & Healthy Mommy Facebook page.  They've been some of my more popular posts.  I love reaching out to moms and sharing fitness, nutrition and wellness updates!  I thought it would be fun to welcome guest bloggers and let other Fit & Healthy Moms share their journeys, successes, recipes and tips with us.

My very first Fit Mom Monday guest blogger is Cortney Blejwas.  Cortney is a mom of two little girls, ages 5 & 2 and she lives in the Anne Arundel County area in Maryland.  She is a very talented photographer and will be soon be certified to teach TurboKick!

I asked Cortney a few questions and here's what she shared.

·      What got you started on your healthy journey, was it before or after having children?
My journey started after having my daughters. Realizing that the way I felt, and looked could be changed if I put all of my will and determination into it, was really what got a fire under my britches. 

·     What are your current fitness & nutritional practices?I workout, one way or another, 6 days a week. My current fitness practice is that I am following TurboFire schedule for the second time, along with throwing in some circuits here and there. My first round of TurboFire deemed amazing results, and I knew I could go even harder my second time. I eat as clean as I can, and I track everything I put into my body. 

·         Do you have any tips you’d like to share?
Going with what I wrote in the previous answer, my biggest tip is to track everything you eat. It doesn’t necessarily mean calorie counting. Now, this is not to say it works for everyone, but simply writing down the type of food/drinks you put into your body will help hold yourself accountable. Another tip I have, and love, is to make it a point to find yourself a support system. There are so many people out there who are willing to be there for you. There are so many willing to be your accountability partner and biggest cheerleader. Debi, from Fit & Healthy Mommy, played a major role in my success, for just being the backbone of my support system.

I first realized I needed to do something about how I felt and looked, after coming back from a family vacation last summer. Consuming typical “camping foods” all of our vacation, didn’t help how I was feeling either. I felt sluggish, more tired than usual, my face was broken out all the time, and I was sick of feeling 10 years older than I was. I knew I had to put everything I had into making a change.

I have known Debi for about 5 years now. I followed her on her journey, and have always been inspired by her amazing ability to make goals and achieve them. I can’t answer why I never thought to turn to her prior to my “ah-ha” moment, but when I did decided that she was the one I needed to turn to, a whole new world opened up. When I first started to get on the working out train, I was doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I was not drawn to her style of instructing. I didn’t click with her way of fitness, and knew in order to be successful I needed to find something I loved. A friend, Sarah, told me to try Turbo Jam. She lent me some of the DVDs, and I was hooked! Cardio kickboxing was the way to go for me, I was certain! 

I wanted to go to one of Debi’s Turbo Kick classes as soon as possible. The gym she teaches at is approximately 40-45 minutes away from where I live. I didn’t, and don’t, care how long it takes me to drive there. Her class is completely worth it. She, and my friend Sarah mentioned I try TurboFire, since I loved Turbo Jam. I knew it was a bit faster of a pace than Turbo Jam, and that kind of excited me. I bought it, and fell in love! It truly was and is my soulmate workout. I have completed one entire 12 week round of the program, and along with eating clean and having the determination, have lost 17 lbs to date and about 10 inches overall. I feel amazing. After my first round, I stopped focusing on weight loss, and started to focus more on muscle gain. That was the best decision I have ever made in this journey. I am doing a second 12 week round and going at it hard core. I am also discovering that I really love circuit style workouts so much. I love to Turbo so much that I am getting certified to teach on March 9^th! Wish me luck! I am so excited for all of the plans I have that will come from having that certification. It is the step in the right direction of where I want/need to be. The biggest thing I learned in my journey so far is that I *can* do this. I have the will. I have the determination, and I *will* get where I want to be in due time.

You can connect with Cortney by visiting her blog, Cortney Kicks and on her Facebook page, also titled Cortney Kicks.

Here's Cortney's Chicken Avocado, Cranberry, and Almond Salad recipe

Makes 3 servings

254 calories

*4oz cooked chicken breast-diced

*2-3 organic celery stalks-chopped

*1/4 cup dried organic cranberries, roughly chopped

*8-10 raw almonds- crushed

*1 avocado-mashed

*1tbs organic mayo or Veganaise

*sea salt

*fresh cracked black pepper

Combine all ingredients and serve in a whole wheat pita pocket or on 3 romaine lettuce leaves. 

 

Shredded Chicken Tacos

Yesterday was busy.  Soccer, birthday party, KICK class...I knew it was going to be a crock pot dinner kind of day.  I won't mention that I really didn't feel like cooking anyway.  Oh.  Wait.  I did just mention it.  Ah well...

I had three chicken breasts in the fridge that I picked up from a local farm store on Thursday.  I tossed them in the crock pot with a packet of Frontera skillet taco seasoning for ground beef.  Totally cheaterly!!  Not only did I take the easy way out by using a packet, but I felt like a rebel because I wasn't using a skillet and surely wasn't using ground beef.  I didn't season the chicken.  I emptied the packet of sauce on top of the chicken, put the lid on, and let it cook on low for 6 hours.  Near the end of cooking, I took two forks and shredded the chicken so it could stew in the sauce for a bit.

I picked up a package of white corn taco shells and prepped the toppings prior to dinner.  I used bagged salad mix and ran a knife over it to finely chop it.  I also diced red onion & vine ripe tomato and set them in the fridge an hour before dinner.  While I should be avoiding cow's milk dairy, I opted for an aged cheddar that I grated and set aside as well.  

Right before dinner, I threw the taco shells in the oven to crisp them and mashed a couple of avocados with my Favorite Four (sea salt, white pepper, cumin & granulated garlic).  All I had to do when it was time for dinner was put everything on the table.  Easy peasy.  And, they were SO flippin' GOOD!

Prior to cooking

After shredding with 2 forks

Aged cheddar cheese

Avocados with my "Favorite Four" seasonings

Video coming soon re: cutting & storing avocados

Mashed avocado with seasonings

The toppings

I shredded the chicken further when took it out of the crock pot

Ready to eat!

A Fit Mommy Breakfast - Step by Step - Shakeology

Several people have asked me about Shakeology recently.  "When do you have it?  Is it a meal?  What does it taste like?  Will it keep me full for awhile or will I be hungry soon after having it?  Will it help with my cravings?  Will it help my digestion?  Will it help me to lose weight?"

I'll spare you the novel and simply say that for me, Shakeology is an integral start to my day.  When I'm not on top of my nutrition and I choose other breakfast options, let me tell you, my digestion gets "stuck", I get bloated and I crave chocolate.  Generally if I choose a different breakfast, it's something from Starbucks when I'm on the run or some other gluten, sugary food that I should be avoiding.  If that goes on for a few days in a row, I gain weight, eat an earlier lunch due to the empty calories, crave even more sugar, and so on.  Therefore, for me, it's a great breakfast option.

Mornings are crazy in my house.  I have to get three kids ready for school, do their hair, help them get dressed, make their lunches, get their backpacks ready and get them out the door on time.  Most days we don't catch the bus, so I drive them to school.  Having a shake is my best option because it's easy to make in a pinch and take in the car with me.

Here's a little step by step pictorial of how I make my morning Shakeology.

First things first - my Probiotic

Fish oil & Vitamins (I usually use New Chapter but ran out)

Start with crushed ice and water

Then some unsweetened vanilla almond milk

A scoop of Chocolate Shakeology

2T powdered peanut butter (PB2) - or sometimes 1T natural peanut butter

Throw it all into the Vitamix

Blend!

Yes, I had it in a Guinness glass today.  Don't judge.

40 Minutes of Awesome!

I had one of those days today.  Nothing awful happened, the girls were decent, I did pretty much everything I had to do today.  However, I felt lazy.  I procrastinated ALL day when I thought about working out.  I made excuses, found other things to do, and thought about bagging it...several times.  Have you been there?

Reluctantly, I went into the basement and made a mental checklist of my entire home workout library.  P90X, Insanity, Insanity: The Asylum, TurboFire, ChaLEAN Extreme, Les Mills PUMP, Les Mills COMBAT, Brazil Butt Lift - lots of choices.  I went right to my favorite workout - TurboFire: Fire 30 and Stretch 10.  I love the music, the moves, the HIITs and the stretch.  It's a whole body, high intense cardio workout.  The stretch helped with a lot of my soreness from yesterday's upper body weighted workout.  I didn't wear my heart rate monitor, but after 30 intense minutes, I was spent!  But, I felt AMAZING.  My mood lifted, my energy increased and my body felt less stiff and sore than it did before I worked out.  Why did I hem & haw all day when I knew I'd feel like this after?

I know you have heard this before.  We all have.  When you don't feel like working out...when the excuses are free flowing...stop and remember how GOOD you feel after an intense workout.  It doesn't have to take 2 hours - or even an hour.  If you give it all that you can, you will NEVER regret a great workout.  Who ever said "Gee, I really wish I hadn't worked out today".  Right.  No one.

Exercise not only helps you to lose weight, burn calories, melt fat and improve your cardiac health but there's also a plethora of other benefits.  The ones I experienced tonight are just a few.  I had MORE energy after my workout than I did before I started.  Exercise - while one might think it drains energy due to exertion - really does increase it over a period of time following the workout.  I know I'll be burning calories and fat for a few hours at a higher rate too.  Bonus!

Remember this post next time you want to bail on your workout.  Here's a tip - Journal!!  If you're already journaling what you eat and what your workouts are, add in how you're feeling throughout the day - especially following your workout - so you can look back and remember those thoughts & feelings when you're procrastinating.

Here's a few pictures from today!

Dinner - Zucchini Cashew soup and big salad

Stretching - it's SO important after your workout!

Post Fire 30 - and look, Ray's jersey over the TV - GO RAVENS!! :o)

After Stretch 10 - it took me a minute to get up off the floor after that 40 minutes

A Very Green Dinner!

In order to combat the nutritional damage I did over the long weekend, I decided on a green dinner tonight.  I planned on a good salad and one of my favorite meals from my Beachbody Ultimate Reset - Zucchini Cashew Soup.  Say it with me...YUMMMM.

The salad was easy.  I just tossed some baby mixed greens with leftover diced chipotle chicken, radish, red onion, goat cheese and one of my favorite dressings by Organicville - Dairy Free Ranch.

For the soup, I tripled the recipe from the Ultimate Reset nutrition guide so that I would have leftovers.  I soaked 3/4 cup raw cashews for a few hours this afternoon, then drained prior to making the soup.  The recipe, for a single serving, calls for one large or two small zucchini.  I used 5 small, organic zucchini tonight.  I love to steam vegetables, so I tossed the sliced zucchini in the steamer until they were tender.  One it was finished, I retained the water from the steamer for the soup.

Super simple preparation - add zucchini and drained cashews to blender.  Add water and blend to desired consistency (I used about 3 cups of the steamer water).  *Be sure to vent the lid on your blender to avoid an explosion from the trapped heat in the canister!  Add spices to your tasting.  I used my favorite four.  These are my go-to spices: cumin, HimalaSalt brand sea salt, granulated garlic and white pepper.  That's it!

Cashews soaking

Organic zucchini

Zucchini in the steamer

My Favorite Four!

Prior to blending

All blended and ready to serve!

You can add roasted or steamed veggies for a chunky soup

My favorite dressing

Dinner: Soup and Salad

Fish Tacos...YUM!

As I sit here looking at my blog, trying to figure out why I haven't posted since November 1st, contemplating the many posts I have swirling in my head and wondering why I cannot seem to get those thoughts into words, I figured it would suffice to do a quick dinner recap post.  No glass of wine needed for this post, friends.

Josh picked up a great piece of wild caught mahi mahi at The Fresh Market yesterday.  I was thinking I would season it lightly and bake it in the oven, serve it with greens and call it a meal.  You know, a nice healthy meal.  However, because I wanted to use up some (not-so-healthy) things in my fridge, I chose a completely different preparation.

When he was eating it, Josh kept repeating "Wow!"  Therefore, I consider it make again meal.  Maybe in 6 months...or maybe gluten free and without the sauce.  We'll see.

Let me start by saying that I really should not be having any cow's milk dairy or gluten due to my food intolerances.  This meal had plenty of both.  I'll be regretting it tomorrow.  If you are not sensitive to these foods, then please feel free to recreate this meal.  Put your own spin on it to make it dairy or gluten free.  Pretty much everything I used has a substitute available.  It is nice to use up things that were already in the house so I'm going with that.

We love fish tacos, so I rummaged through my pantry and fridge to see what I could use.  I found some whole wheat panko crumbs; whole wheat, low carb flour tortillas; fresh salsa; goat cheese; avocado and then the sauce ingredients (see below).

I seasoned the fish (after removing the skin) with sea salt, white pepper, garlic powder and cumin and then dipped it in an egg & almond milk wash, then into the panko.  I broiled it in the oven for about 25 minutes on a wire rack over a cookie sheet so that the bottom would crisp up too.

The fish was super tender so I flaked it over the flour tortillas and topped with fresh salsa, a sprinkle of goat cheese, sliced avocado and the sauce.  We each had two and they were fantastic!!

The Sauce.  Be warned - it's NOT healthy at all.  It's more like something you'd see on a Paula Deen program.  But once in a blue moon - go for it!  All measurements are approximate.  I don't measure.

~ 1T butter
~ 1/2 cup plain almond milk
~ 3T light cream cheese
~ 3T light sour cream
~ generous handful of shredded cheese
~ 3T salsa

Melt butter in skillet and add almond milk.  Whisk and add in the cream cheese and sour cream.  Once those incorporate, whisk in the shredded cheese.  Last, stir in the salsa.  Spoon over the fish in the tacos.  Enjoy!!  Drink lots of water (or a light beer - haha!)

 

A November of Thanks

Back in September I started reading a book titled A Simple Act Of Gratitude: How Learning To Say Thank You Changed My Life by John Kralik.  I'd been looking for ways to feel grateful for what I have in my life.  I know I live a life of abundance but oftentimes I get so caught up in the stresses of every day life that I forget to be thankful for my blessings.  I also thought that seeking out things that I could be grateful for would help me to heal from my adrenal fatigue (which is caused by many lifestyle factors including high levels of stress).  I loved how John's thank you note project aided in his personal transformation so I decided to follow suit.

I began by writing notes to two people who affected my life in a hugely negative way...but I found things I could still be grateful for in my relationships with them.  I knew this would be a big first step in emotional healing as well as starting this project off with a bang!  As seems to be the case with a lot of things I start, I stalled with my own personal thank you note project after a couple of weeks.  I was feeling tired and run down from my adrenal fatigue.  I was busy with the girls - school, soccer, homework, daily chores & activities.  I was trying to fit in gym time.  You can see I'm pretty good at making excuses for what I do with my time, yes?

With this new month, a month where we celebrate a holiday that reminds us to be thankful for the blessings we have in our lives, I thought that it would be a great time for me to reignite my project.  I pledge to write 30 thank you notes in November.  My notes will serve as a reminder of an event, a person who made a positive difference in my life, a service, a happy moment, a friendship.  Some notes may even be to people that don't even know me.  With each note I write, there's a memory of something that's impacted me...something I'm grateful for.  I will share these bits on my Facebook page Fit & Healthy Mommy each day in November.

I feel very strongly about letting people know when they do something positive, something that made me smile or turned my day around.  It could be something as simple as the first girl who extended her friendship to me when I was the new girl in school twenty years ago.  It could be the few extra minutes my doctor spent with me, listening to my concerns even thought her next patient was waiting for her.  Let's not forget my family's favorite restaurant where they once went out of their way to allow us to sit outside on the patio after they had closed it...just because my girls wanted to dance in the rain.

Last month I sent a letter to friend from high school.  We haven't talked in well over ten years although we connected on Facebook a few years ago.  I explained that while I know we went through some difficult times in our friendship, those times are nothing but a shadow of a memory compared to the vivid, colorful memories I have of all the good times we shared together.  I thanked her for having such a positive impact on the person & mother that I am today.  While I expected nothing back from her, I recently received a note in return.  Her gratitude towards me brought tears to my eyes.  To think that I affected her so positively when I sent my letter...that meant a lot to me.  And I was grateful that she took the time to write her own letter of gratitude back to me.

There's proof right there that giving thanks is healthy for our bodies, minds and souls.  We can help others to embrace a healthier body, mind and soul just by letting them know we are grateful to them.  Why wouldn't we want to do that?

Please join me in giving thanks this November.  You don't have to write thank you notes to show your gratitude.  But, if you would like to share your thoughts, please visit me on my Facebook page.  Each day I will create a post asking what we're thankful for on that day.  You can comment, you can like the post or you can even start your own conversation on my wall.  I'd love to see a huge participation in this month of gratitude.  Let's share with one another what we are grateful for...what we are blessed with...what has made a positive impact in our lives on that given day.  It can be something as simple as, "My husband emptied the dishwasher and put everything away for me" or "There was no traffic in the school car pool line today so I made it to my doctor's appointment with time to spare" or "I'm blessed to have an aunt who has devoted her time to volunteer at a local food pantry on Thursdays".  Anything at all!

Are you in?  Hop on over to my page and let's be thankful!!  Share this with your friends and invite them to be grateful in November too!