I Choose the Chocolate

Day 3

Started my day by making a nice bowl of steal cut oatmeal topped with dried blueberries and almonds, too bad that I didn't get to eat it while it was hot, but alas 'tis the life of a mom. Anyways, made it through my morning on a high note- got to lunch and made myself chicken topped with roasted red peppers and mozzarella.

Chicken and Fire Roasted Peppers

2 frozen chicken tenders

2 slices of roasted red peppers (I got mine from Trader Joe's)

1 light string cheese

1/4 cup spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce

water

olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Thaw chicken for a minute or two in the microwave, while a drizzle of olive oil heats in a med skillet. Add chicken to pan and season however you want (today I used pepper and some seasoning salt) brown on one side and flip to brown on the other and add pepper slices to the pan to warm, once the chicken is browned turn heat to medium/low and add 1/4 cup spaghetti or pizza sauce and water to cover the bottom of pan and top chicken with pepper slices and shredded string cheese. Cover with lid and steam for 8-10 mins or until chicken is cooked through and cheese is melted. I served it with 8 tortilla chips and my tasty treat for the week.... DIET ginger ale! My fav!

Little Stinker discovered what cassette tapes are while I was busy making myself lunch.

Mmmmm.... I LOVE ginger ale, but I don't indulge often,  so this is a special treat for me this week!

Somewhere between lunch and dinner something happened, I crashed. I crashed right into a pile of chocolate. I couldn't stop eating them! Then the guilt kicked in and the old familiar thoughts of "screw it, you already messed up your day, why bother eating healthy now-- might as well just eat ice cream......" floating around in my head. Thoughts like that make you feel like a loser, they are not the thoughts of  success. So, being a personal trainer, I put on my trainer hat and made myself stop my self defeating attitude and think positively! I tell my clients all the time that you are only ever 3 hours away from making a new choice, there are no failures in getting healthy only choices. Today I choose the chocolate, BUT today I also choose the oatmeal and the chicken, and I didn't give up and for dinner I made a choice to eat healthy again. So I hope I encouraged you to not give up on yourself!

See you tomorrow Fit Mommas!

Monday, Monday!

Happy Monday Fit Mommas!

Day 3!

This morning I actually woke up and got in the shower! Yahoo!!! That's a major accomplishment in my world! The morning was off to a great start and I managed to feed, bathe and dress all my children before hurrying my little chicks to the car for school and a hundred errands. Sadly, I forgot to feed myself. So, as I'm running out the door, I grab a dove chocolate from my secret stash, and I pop it in my mouth and reach for 3 more for the road when suddenly I remember "Crap, I'm going to have to blog this.....Put the chocolate down and walk away!" (It worked I actually stepped away from the chocolate!!!!) Accomplishment #2!!!! YES! I returned to the kitchen and grabbed a low fat string cheese and a small handful of raw almonds.

Off  to run errands with the little kids and then home to make some lunch for them. I realized that I tend to not eat and then when I'm staving I eat junk food, so while I'm waiting for water to boil I cut up some apple and celery and peanut butter for myself to munch while the kids eat. Today I also blended up a carrot orange smoothie (recipe to follow). I am happy to announce that I managed to make it through the kids lunch and I only had two bites of mac and cheese (Hey, stop judging me! I had to be sure it wasn't poisoned! )

For dinner tonight, chicken tortilla soup served with chips and salsa! (I choose to save my daily calories for a family dinner)

Orange Carrot Smoothie

Hardware: Magic Bullet type blender

4 oz Carrot Juice ( I get mine from Trader Joe's)

2 Tablespoons Orange Juice Concentrate

3 pieces of Ice

water to "Top Off"

Blend till ice is crushed, add straw and be impressed that your drinking veggies! If you want to add a banana it adds a bit of a creaminess to the drink. This recipe is a knock off of my favorite Jamba Juice smoothie. Enjoy!

Fast Food Fight

Day Two:

Today the family planned on taking a drive to see some friends in the valley, about a 2 hour drive from home. So we set the alarms to get up early and hit the road! Unfortunately, the alarm didn't go off so we woke with a "Huh, wait... what??? HOLY CRAP GET UP WE'RE LATE!". So off we went without breakfast and with sleepy eyed kids in toe. Made it to town on time so the husband pulled into McDonald's and I had a choice to make. Sausage egg biscuit with cheese or egg McMuffin??? First fight of the day and I am happy to report that I ate my egg McMuffin with a smile on my face! SCORE ONE FOR THE WAISTLINE!

We had a great time at church and met with friends to get some lunch and decided to go to Burger King to let the kids (who already ate pizza at church) play while us grown- ups enjoy some not so adult conversations. So, once again we entered the 2nd fast food joint of the day. My growling stomach ached for a whopper with cheese, but in a decisive moment I conquered my  will and ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with no cheese and no mayo, I used the calories I saved to indulge in a small fry and fry sauce (Mmmmm......Fry Sauce......) and a couple bites of my friends brownie sundae! SCORE TWO FOR THE BUTT!

Although it was hard to stick with the program I finished the day at 1160 calories-- rounded out with an Cliff Bar in chocolate chip flavor.

Here's to NOT choosing to waste a days worth of Calories on a single meal!

(Meal above is a double whopper with cheese, medium fry, and medium coke)

Baby Fat

Sam is my baby, he's 11 months old, and he's my one and only son in this estrogen filled household. He's an angel, he is also making me fat. Well that's a lie, he's the excuse I use to allow myself to eat the food I want regardless of how I KNOW it will effect my waistline. Well, I'm done using him as my buffer, bottom line is I've been slacking and cheating and taking "short cuts" that have proven to do nothing more but provide instant gratification and a lot of "wish I hadn't had that" moments. But when your nursing a baby your hungry all the time! True- but I should be taking the time to eat a balanced meal and instead I've been doing a lot more  "HAND OVER THE CHOCOLATE AND NO ONE GETS HURT!" Yeah, I'm a fitness professional so all I ever crave is brown rice and steamed chicken right?? WRONG! I'm a transformed fat girl and all I want when stressed (Did I mention we just moved, switched jobs, left all our friends and I'm an entrepreneur of a new business...) is chocolate and carbs. Today I unpacked all my workout gear and got the office set up for my own personal use and maybe even a client or two. Sam played on my urban re-bounder (yeah, fancy name for a mini trampoline) and I actually worked out for the first time since we moved. Felt good to break a sweat even if it was short lived as duty called and a diaper change was called for but I did something today and progress is taking it one step at a time.

Today:

Step steps with Shoulder press

Bicep curl

Triceps (skull crushers)

Chest press

Push-up

Crunches

Frog crunches

What is Fit Mommas- Fit Families all about?

Fit Mommas- Fit Families is all about teaching and empowering mom's to make healthy changes in their lives. It's more then an exercise program or a diet, it's a change in mindset. Mom's are busy, we (as a group) are the sole "providers" of the family. Sure, we may not bring in the paycheck, but we are the provider of health and energy in our families everyday lives! The job is exhausting, time consuming and full of trials. It is, however, the most rewarding and important job we moms will ever know! As a side effect of this, we often find that we give ourselves away to our families day in and day out and there is often little time left for Mom. Although giving is part of the job, our children need moms who know how to care for ourselves. Fit Mommas empowers moms by teaching them how to have the best of both worlds, by giving them the tools they need to get healthy and teach their kids what true health looks like. I'm not about hype, crash diets and fad workouts, I know that your time and money is valuable and I honor that by giving you proven, science based facts about how to eat to be healthy, how to make healthy changes in your family's favorite foods as well as how to effectively exercise to transform into the most healthy version of you.

This blog is a chance to meet the real me: I'm a momma of four kids all under 6, a wife to a great husband and a woman who has seen the dark side of the bathroom scale. I've struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. I've dealt with bulimia, horrible self esteem and a life as an overweight teenager- turned wife- turned mom. But my story doesn't stop there, one day I woke up and realized that I needed to stop. That was the last day I felt like I couldn't, suddenly I knew I HAD to change for good. Thankfully, I had a personal trainer and friend that saw the fire in my belly and encouraged me, taught me and most importantly believed in me during the times I couldn't see past the slice of cake sitting between me and my dreams. I took control of my life, made some remarkable changes and pursued the same profession as my leader. Since then I went to school and learned all I could soak up about health and fitness and became a personal trainer and nutrition consultant, I also had another baby (#4 and my one and only boy!) In a lot of ways I feel as though I am starting over. Last night, as I was practicing the womanly art of shuffling through clothes in my over-flowing closet and lamenting that I have nothing to wear, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Who is that woman?? She looks too much like that one I left behind nearly 3 years ago, *GASP* I have to change! This is not who I was meant to be! So today marks the first day much like that day once before where I dare to see over the bowl of ice cream in my lap and into my dreams. So this blog will follow me as I take a stand once again for my own health and in doing so I hope that you will give me a chance to empower you to come along with me in your own journey to the healthier, happier you.

This is our year!