Scrumptious Sundays!! Activia Deserts!! OMG OMG OMG

Now I have always been a HUGE fan of Activia yogurts but I went to Safeway the other day and my hubby saw these for 1.99!!!  So he snagged me a pack of them and now I just don't think I can live without them.  As always I get vanilla I am a sucker for vanilla yogurts and you can pair them with fruit and YUM!!

 

But with these little sinful beauties you need nothing, just a small spoon.  A big spoon you'll eat it too fast then you'll want another and that defeats the purpose of a low cal snack.  These divine and smooth yummy things are only 100 calories which is great!! They definitely don't taste as though they're only 100 calories lol.  

Now I have to admit since i got these at this crazy sale price I doubt I will end up buying them again at their regular price BUT they are definitely added to "mommy's treat list."  

On another note most of you have probably noticed my lack of posting lately.  I have to apologize to you as I have been bombarded with craziness.  I am moving to another place, during this randomly placed snow warning and crazy cold weather that has finally showed up AFTER Christmas.  I am trying to jump thru hoops to get on income assistance the whole nine yards kinda thing.  Our family has been in a tough spot for a while now and an opening finally came up in this cheap apartment building we have wanted to get into for a while.  So we're jumping on it and moving in a five day period... As of the 28th I will be in my new building, my new apartment and hopefully new life.  It will be nice to get out of the basement we are in currently, it is cold here, we have no heat controls of our own, people upstairs are horrible, dog barks at the wind blowing, door takes all my weight to open and close and sometimes that still isn't enough to shut the damn thing.   Plus a ton of other things i'll be happy to be away from.  But mainly just being able to have a place that feels more like "our own" is what we want. 

Again, on another note, I am still loosing weight and even though i'm not writing about doesn't mean i have stopped doing it!  I swear I am now 189 and going strong, i'm starting to fit into clothing that felt sprayed on before, more comfortably.  I'm all together happy with my progress etc, considering life keeps throwing things at me and my family lol!!

I hope you are all doing well and I hope to see you again in the future!! Hopefully everything will be hooked up etc by the 1st if i'm lucky :D!

ALSO a thank you for all your patience, awards and kindness xoxoxo i miss you all i can't wait to get back into things again!

Scrumptious Sundays! Healthy Chicken Marinade

So I wanted to find a good souvlaki recipe since my hubby loves it so much and it would be a nice change from the usual junk we have in the house plus I figured it was easy to adapt into a "healthy" version.  So I did!  I shall share it here with you!!

you'll need:

boneless skinless chicken breast

lemons I used two small ones for two breasts so guess how many you'll need 

EVOO

sea salt 

pepper

oregano

garlic

whisk together seasonings, EVOO and lemon juice. 

Throw together in a ziploc bag and marinade.

I have to make sure to tall you all to make sure that you don't let the marinade sit for longer than an hour.  If you notice that the chicken has started to go white you've let it sit too long.  The acid, if left too long, will change the texture and taste of your chicken apparently.  I saw this on a cooking show a while ago and have followed the rule and YES it makes a difference!!

YUM-O

Now my first instinct would have been to cut it up in to cubes, skewer with mixed vegetables, but guess who wouldn't eat it if i did that?!! My hubby so this is how we made it and this is his plate cause I gave him the best piece I paired mine with salad and corn instead of the toasted rice I make.

Unexpected absense

I know I haven't been hear feeding you the information that you all crave just so very much but I have been just up to my eye balls in BS to do!  My youngest's birthday is coming up here at the end of the week so i've been running around trying to get things done and money to do it kinda thing.  Valentines Day left me nursing a FULL DAY hangover.  But i did drink calorie wise... I drank bubbly all night... thus the INSANE hangover I ended up with.  Overall it was a night that needed to be guzzled away, just like that bubbly.

I didn't write anything yesterday as I was out ordering the cake and at government meetings trying to get some income assistance etc.  So that has been another handful but has at least added to my daily exercise with all this walking and pushing kids around town.  I haven't weighed myself in a couple days so i can't say if i have gained lost or stayed the same but I don't feel the pounds increasing nor feel guilty for any food choices at all.  I hope i'm right lol!!

I have to say that I had a pretty good dinner since I have never done anything like that before (we did lobster, crab and steak... unfortunately hubby also invited two friends to our dinner so thus why me and her just got trashed for once in years lol!  Good times!)  Anyways it was a good time till the next morning lol, as it always is lol.  So I hope that all of you had a good one, at least better than mine was lol.

All the best!  I'll write something better tomorrow!  I promise!!

Scrumptious Sundays Sugar Free Syrup Vs Regular Syrup

You know what my favorite breakfast is? Eggo Waffles and syrup. Yup you can have a waffle breakfast for 220 cals! Did you know that Eggo waffles are only 190 cals for 2 waffles?! It's normally the syrup that makes waffles unhealthy, so why not fix that. There are three pretty good sugar free syrups out there, Cary's, Aunt Jemima and Log Cabin. 

Out of all of them Log Cabin has the healthiest stats combined with the best taste. Yes I said taste, you can have sugar free syrup that taste awesome. I always measure out my serviving and did you realize that a 1/4 cup servering is pleantly to bathe my waffles in a nice syrupy goodness and have extra to lick off the plate when I'm done! This syrup may be a bit runny for folks who are use to regular thick syrup but if you can get use the consistency you'll save yourself a ton of calories. Lets take a look at the nutrion info of sugar free vs the regular shall we?

Sugar Free Log Cabin Syrup

Regular Log Cabin Syrup

So you get twice as much syrup to drench your waffles/pancakes in with the sugar free! If you put 1/4 a cup of regular you'd be adding 200 cals to your breakfast instead of 20! That's a whole extra 0! I don't know about you but I'll take a 220 cal breakfast over a 400 cal any day! Do you think you could give up your regular syrup for sugar free?

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

~Fitness Mama

A Minor update!

sorry i have no pictures for this

Okay I haven't done this in a while and I would like to let you all know that despite the PISSING rain that has been non-stop I have managed to keep up and improve my exercising!  In fact now I am 194.5!! horay!!

I know barely a change but loosing something or staying the same is a win for me so i'm very pleased.  I can even touch my toes now and that is amazing!! I haven't been that flexi since Eldest was born.  As for my water I still am having a hard time making myself drink more as well as reducing my sodium intake to try and help the bloat etc move along.  BUT I am still trying and that is the point! 

When it comes to my mental health my Dr. is on vacation out of no where so i'm still waiting as I don't want to see w/e replacement he has put forth.  So all of that is still up in the air but i'm making sure to take vitamins everyday and that has made me slightly chipper.  I don't even care if it is a placebo effect as long as i'm not a grumpy gills or a Debbie Downer. 

I would like to say to all of you that I am so happy to have you all here to cheer me on and keep me motivated.  I don't think i would be doing any of this if i didn't think I would get a "tisk tisk" from some of you if i just GAVE UP!  So don't expect me to lol.  I wish all of you the best, until next we speak!


I noticed that some of you are being sponsored by companies to help you with your weight loss etc.. I would love to know more and would love to get your e-mails talking about your experiences!  eschelle_w@hotmail.com!!

Soda is not our friend

I know I took an impromptu vacation yesterday and I didn't post anything so here I am trying to make up for that!

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The number on thing that you should weed out of your home is soda.  I refuse to have this stuff in my house unless it is to mix drinks with lol!! It is horrible for you, I stopped drinking it back when I was heavier in high school and my extra cushion literally melted away with ZERO effort.  But why is it so bad for you??  Well look at the ingredients in your average coke: carbonated water, caramel color, natural flavors, caffeine, phosphoric acid and high-fructose corn syrup.  Nothing good there for you at all, plus when we eat junk like this at least we feel full when you drink pop you are ingesting all those calories plus the other junk you have paired with it! 

Soda pop has been referred as "osteoporosis in a can," "diabetes in a can," and "cancer in a can."  DRINK UP!  Honestly that right there is enough to make me not want to drink it and it definitely ensures that my kids wont be either at any other time than special occasions at a restaurant, when it is inside a Shirley temple. 

Why osteoporosis??  Well the carbonation in these drinks actually depletes your calcium by irritating your stomach forcing to release its only natural ant-acid, the calcium your body needs.   Nuts right??   
Why diabetes??  Well when you put THAT MUCH sugar into a liquid can of pop it is easily carried to your bloodstream.  When it is carried thru so fast it literally sends your pancreas into overload.  This makes your pancreas pump out a TON of insulin.  This insulin release actually depressed your testosterone which your body needs to get calcium to your bones.  This is why we are seeing bone problems in teenagers and younger, that should only be seen in the elderly.  YES it is that crazy!

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Why cancer??  With the information above you can see why a soft drink will put you at risk for developing pancreatic cancers, but did you know what drinking just two soft drinks a week DOUBLES your chances of developing pancreatic cancers.  Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, meaning the rate of survival is really low mainly because when symptoms do show up you are going to be in the advanced stages of the disease.  That surge of sugar, which leads to the surge of insulin is what is said to "encourage" the cancer cell development.

There is so much more information and studies confirming just how bad soda is for you... So WHY do we all HAVE to drink it!?!?  I have no clue, damn stuff tastes so yummy, but is it worth it?! NO!

sources:

http://www.mindconnection.com/library/health/softdrinks.htm

http://www.healthiertalk.com/top-five-worst-foods-you-can-eat-1842

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Soft-drinks-increase-cancer-risk/articleshow/5547704.cms

Weight Training for Dummies

A while ago I was approached to do a review on this book for another blogger I have met who is actually a Vancouverite like myself.  I of course jumped on the chance and dove right into the book which was pretty good especially since I have such a short attention span those dummies books are great for me!  It is mainly I have a short attention span for sitting down and reading... I just have to find that PERFECT book and when I do I can't put it down anyways back to the point at hand here. 

I wanted to relay you to my book review that I think is worth taking a look at.  So visit her blog and enjoy it!!

So thank you again Aviva and I hope that I get to work with you in the future!  All the best love!!

Sweat while Cleaning!

I am so sorry I am destroying your excuse to go work out and leave hubby to clean the house... as long as my hubby doesn't read this over my shoulder while he's sweeping the floor I think I can get away with it.  Carrying on here, sorry off track a bit, I wanted to share with you the lovely calorie burning you can actually achieve in your own home doing the things that you are doing day in and day out.  Unless your me with an unemployed OCD cleaning hubby in the house lol.  Somehow our kids manage to create enough mess for us ALL the time though lol.

Now take doing your dishes.  I myself have a dishwasher and not even burning calories would make me not use it BUT if you do them by hand you wanna know how many calories that burns?!  Washing your dishes BY HAND can burn 65cal/hour.  NOW, if you are superwoman fast at doing dishes or are organized enough not to have an overflowing sink taking an hour might be a hassle but I know a way for you to UP this chore/workout.  Wash, then dry, then put away your dishes ONE AT A TIME.  Grueling? Yes, better workout?  FOR SURE!

UGH sweeping and mopping, some of my least favorite things to do but WOW you can really get a workout done doing it!!  When you are sweeping you burn about 37cal/30min and with mopping an average of 112cal/30min.  Your mopping workout can be turned into a really powerful workout if you do it the ole Cinderella way; on your hands and knees with lots of elbow grease!  Also you can get a better look at all the gross dirt you usually miss... I also end up cleaning the base boards when I do it this way. 

Now ironing I don't do EVER.  My hubby doesn't wear suites luckily but even if he did that guy would be ironing his own clothes... I don't even hang up any of my clothes in my closet, just goes straight into my dresser.  Anyways ironing burns a whopping 50cal/20min!!  Isn't that amazing?!?! I might just iron for no reason now!! 

Vacuuming is another chore that I don't have to do wince I don't have so much as a rug in my home.  In fact before I moved into this suite mine broke so we can't use it even if we wanted to.  For any 10 minutes that you vacuum you manage to burn 37 calories.  Which you can again add a little something something to by turning on some music or putting in your Ipod head phones and dancing around at the same time.  Face it, it will make it just that much more enjoyable. 

Last but not least is my most hated of ALL chores... laundry.  I don't mind DOING the laundry, its the folding I can't stand.  You can burn up to 73 calories in a period of 30 min.  I can't even think of a way for you to burn extra unless whilst standing there you could do squats and of course do what you can do with the dishes and put them away one article at a time, but honestly with the amount of laundry us moms have to do you would spend your whole day putting things away and folding them.  So I suggest the squats which is what I do when I unload the dishwasher!

I hope that this gives a good reason to do your chores... YA RIGHT!!



sources:
http://www.brighthub.com/health/fitness/articles/76402.aspx
http://hubpages.com/hub/BURN-HUNDREDS-OF-CALORIES-EVERYDAY-DOING-EVERYDAY-THINGS

My Progress

Alright so we all know that I have been having issues with my depression or w/e it is exactly so my activity levels haven't been AS amazing as they should be.  But with just watching what I eat and making a conscience decision to try not to sit down ALL the time I have managed to get myself to 196!! Horay so i'm one pound lower than I was when I lost that first three pounds!  EXCITING!!

Now I want to really stress this.  It is important to think about both your physical and mental health when attempting to better yourself and lifestyle.  So I wanted to take the time here to outline what some of the symptoms are for depression.

1. Loss of interest in things you normally enjoy.
2. Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless.
3. Thoughts of death or suicide. 
4. Feeling worthless or guilty or empty.
5. Problems falling asleep, staying asleep, waking too early or sleeping too much.
6. Unexplained decrease or increase in appetite, resulting in weight gain or loss within the last month.
7. Trouble thinking, concentrating, remembering, and making decisions.
8. Extreme tiredness or lack of energy that interferes with your ability to work or take care of your daily responsibilities.
9. Feeling restless, unable to sit still, or abnormally slow when moving.

I have 8/9 of these symptoms, luckily number three isn't veering it's ugly face, which is one of the reasons as to why i'm hesitant to take medication, as SOMETIMES medications can worsen your symptoms and THAT I don't really need.  All I can do is sit and wait for my appointment, where I can discuss my options, concerns etc.  I hope to figure out a way to manage my symptoms in the best possible way for myself.  

Scrumptious Sundays Special K Protein Meal Bar Review

When choosing a protein bar there is a lot to consider with the huge variety out there now. You need to think about what you want to get out of your protein bar. Is it the grams of protein, cals, fat, carbs or even price since bars can get pretty pricey. Personally I like my protein bars to be 200 cals or under and have at least 10 grams of protein, tasting good also kinda factors in lol.

I'm digging the Special K Protein Meal Bars right now. The two flavors I have tried so far are, Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Meal Bar and Double Chocolate Protein Meal Bar. These two bars have pretty much the same nutrition info give or take a stat or two. They each pack 10 grams of protein which is awesome if you need to make up for some in your diet, like me! But the best part about these bars is they taste really good! I love to nosh on my bar after it's been marinading in the freezer for a while. The coldness of the bar just puts it over the top! These bars are basically candied peanut buttery rice cereal enrobed in chocolate (OOOO I like that work enrobed). Think of it as a healthy rice crispy
treat!.

They are one of the more affordable bars out there as well. I got a 24 pack at Bj's for $17 and change! That is freaking awesome for a protein bar with this much nutrition! I say you should definitely give these puppies a try weather you want to use then as a post workout bar or just to add some boost to your diet! Special K Protein Meal Bar are definitely a good buy!

~Fitness Mama

Personal Training With Jackie Warner

I've heard lots of good things about miss Jackie. That she's a kick ass trainer, she's tough and she'll get you to where you need to be. This is the first time I have ever done anything by Jackie and I had pretty high expectations from all that I had read about her.

I picked Jackie Power Circuit Training as my first video to try her out. Jackie as a trainer is very good, she is likable and goes into depth about the moves you should do and how to do them; as well as how they should feel which I loved. It's awesome when your instructor actually instructs you! I do want to watch a few more of her videos to get a better idea of her personality, she did feel a bit stiff to me.

This video is broken down into four, 15 minute workouts and one, 40 minute total body workout. I did the total body to get an overall feel for the program. The circuits are broken down by specific body part.

1st Circuit works your quads, 2nd your hamstrings, 3rd glutes, 4th chest, 5th back, 6th biceps/triceps and shoulders, 7th upper abs, 8th lower abs and 9th obliques. Jackie does each exercise for a minute with the circuit containing 3 exercises in total then doing all three in the 4th minute.

All in all this was a very good and challenging weight/strength workout. Jackie does most of the exercises with you but does go into teacher mode on part of them. I was expecting a bit more cardio mixed into the moves and kinda felt like I only half worked out. You know I didn't have that out of breath feeling you get when you mix the two workouts together. Next time I do this I will probably only do half the workout and mix it with a cardio video to get a more complete workout.

~Fitness Mama

Half-Moon pose

Now I have become a real fan of yoga since it has this great way to give me a great workout without me having to jump around a lot.  Great morning workout or before bed workout, ironically both seem to be the only times I have to workout.  I have even found a favorite pose that I ALWAYS make time for.  I wanted to take the time to highlight it for its great benefits!

Half-Moon Pose

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What are some of the great physical benefits of this great pose?

• Helps to strengthen your core muscles.  
• Strengthening your core muscles in turn helps your spine and it's muscle support system.  
• Opens up your shoulder joints, which means it is a great thing to do for a "frozen shoulder."
• Manages to tone your spinal nerves and abdominal organs which in turn helps with your bowels overall health.  

Those are some great physical benefits, but what about your mental health?

• Helps you relieve anxiety and stress.  
• Adding this to your daily workout makes for a great way to manage your anxiety and stress levels.

The mental benefits to me are really important, all those stressful moments really add up for me and I can really get upset about it.  I battle with depression so to make sure those little things don't add up and end up being turned into a BIG thing.

So add it to your daily routine, its great for your body and GREAT for your mind! 



sources:
http://yoga.ygoy.com/2010/06/04/yoga-basic-pose-half-moon-pose/
http://www.bikram-yoga-noosa-australia.com/Ardha-Chandrasana.htm

Turkey bacon vs. Pork bacon

Now I LOVE bacon and I can't stand the idea of "turkey bacon."  Don't hate me there is just no way that turkey could possible replace my delicious little piggy. 

So I have been on a mission to try and figure out which is better for you.  By reading the ingredients AND nutritional facts, cause lets think people you DO have to look at both, you don't want to get something that they say is "healthy" based on it's "facts" only to take it home and find out it's filled with horrible preservatives and "artificials".  So how about we start there.  We will compare the nutritional facts of each option.

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So here we have Butterball turkey bacon.  Looks good right?  Then compare it to this: 

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Pretty similar yes??  Yes, not too much of a difference, they even have the same sodium levels, although you have to consider the servings sizes for turkey bacon it is 15g whereas here with the regular bacon it is 8g so for every ONE piece of turkey bacon you could have TWO pieces of regular.  Tricksy aren't they??  So when you actually look at that Turkey bacon has more sodium, more fat, AND more cholesterol!!  This floored me!! but secretly made me happy happy happy!!

So already I am still on the piggies side.  But what about the ingredients??  In "oscar Mayer turkey bacon" we have: Turkey, Water, Salt, Sugar, contains Less than 2% of Sodium Lactate, Canola Oil, Sodium Diacetate, Sodium Phosphates, Smoke Flavor, Sodium Ascorbate, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Sodium Nitrite, Dextrose, Soy Lecithin.  Then in "Oscar Mayer regular bacon" we have: Cured with Water, Salt, Sugar, Sodium Phosphates, Sodium Ascorbate, Sodium Nitrite.

So what do I take from all this research and all this extra time spent at the store browsing?!  That regular bacon is the better choice... granted not by much but it is a BIT better. 

sources:

http://cookingwithskinnyandmini.com/2009/06/bacon-vs-turkey-bacon/

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/truth-about-your-weight-gain

http://www.zeer.com/Food-Products/Oscar-Mayer-Turkey-Bacon/8a78c6e0213ae3fa01213c6c32105aa0

http://www.zeer.com/Food-Products/Oscar-Mayer-Bacon/000043247

Funny Thinner Faces

That's right you heard me facial exercises.  Something that I am sure most of you haven't thought of or heard of.  My mother used to preach and preach to me about how I need to do these exercises over and over to prevent her chin lol!!  I should have listened I can feel it forming as we speak lol.  Anyways I wanted to share with you some of MY exercises for your face that my mother taught me.  Note finding photos for these was hard so bare with me.... I wasn't about to use my face as an example lol.

The first one I would like to focus on is the "chin lift" i guess we'll call it.  It is very simple lift your chin up then press back down to your chest, repeat about ten times.  This one is to prevent a "double chine" or "collection of chins" AND the ever feared "turkey neck."

The "fishes" I shall name this one as you want to open your mouth obnoxiously wide like below.

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Then you want to bring your face down into a "fish face" like below. 

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I swear that was the best photo I could find to best express what you need your face to look like lol!! Probably some exercises you want to do alone so as to avoid being mocked for tons of silly reasons lol.  

Then we have the "scrunch" face, this one makes you look particularly silly, just when you thought that wasn't anymore possible I throw THIS at you!! 

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You of course "scrunch" and release a couple times over, doesn't take long for your face to get sore.  

Then you have my last and favorite one just cause it makes me burst out laughing is the "blow fish" face!!  If you have no idea how to do this I shall show you some GREAT examples!!!

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I hope that I can help you prevent the evil "turkey neck," beat the horrible "creeping chins" and punch out the "saggy cheeks."  From my mother to me, from me to you.  I hope this helps you work on a thinner, less saggy face lol. 

Rock Hard Body By Jake: Total Body

I'm sure you've heard of Body by Jake before. I mean common the guys been around for forever! One thing that people associate with his name, is a good quality workout! Jake is known for making programs that work and get you results. Exercise TV and Jake have teamed up to give you 3 awesomely tough and effective workouts. In the next 3 reviews I'll be going over each program for you and how I felt doing such hard and physical workouts as a disabled woman.

Total Body Workout is taught by trainer Marco Reed, who you can follow on Twitter if you want. Marco is no nonsense in his training, he pushes you and pushes you hard. If you are looking for working hard and being in and out Marco is your man. He's tough but not unlikeable, which as you know is very important to your training. He starts out by doing the exercises with his group then stops to do some instructing and joins in for the last 20 to 15 seconds or so.

This workout is 40 minutes of intense training. It is made up of two 20 minute sets of exercises, each one is done for 45 seconds with 15 seconds of rest time in between while Marco demonstrates the next one. You will need a set of dumbbells to complete this workout to it's fullest. The first 20 minutes is made up with lots of push-ups and weighted anaerobic exercises:

"is exercise intense enough to trigger anaerobic metabolism. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength, speed and power and by body builders to build muscle mass," Wikipedia.

So you are doing lots of jumping (with weights) and ab work with the push ups. After you complete all the exercises Marco has you go through them backwards before moving on to the last 20 minutes of the program. The last 20 minutes were almost easy in comparison except for the Burpees which ended with an explosive jump just to make them that more painful.

I thought that this was a great workout for intermediate to experienced people. Given my disability I had to do a few alterations in order to complete the workout. When doing weighted jump squats I had to keep my arms at shoulder height, I had to stay on my knees for the push-ups and I had to completely omit the last burpee in the last 20 minutes (although I did jump rope in it's place). Things to note about this program:

• There is no warm up or cool down so you will have to do them on your own
• Marco skips a few of the exercises in the reverse section of the last 20 minutes in order to finish within the given time. So it's up to you if you want to do them or omit them.
• Marco also gives you no modifications for any of the exercises. I'm sure if you want to give this a shot you can figure out a way to do them but it's at least nice for the instructor to have a non advanced option.

Overall this is one hell of a workout! You will sweat, you will cry and above all you will get into shape if you stick with it! Stay tuned for the review of Rock Hard Body By Jake: Xetreme with Steve Maresca!

~Fitness Mama