Back at the Gym

I haven't been to the gym since Thursday!  I haven't really even worked out since then either.  I've been a combination of busy and lazy. I decided to take a TRX class today. [First day back in 5 days and I decided to take a class I've never taken before, I'm super smart!]  If you aren't familiar with TRX it's the suspension training class.  It kinda looks like this:

Photo From: Workout Wonks
 
Luckily today's class was the "beginner" class.  I was one of only 2 people UNDER 50.  This class was brutal.  I thought it would be easy since I'm fairly strong and lift weights on most days.  But, NO!  This was not easy.  My legs were dead 15 minutes into class.  I found maneuvering the straps a bit tedious but, besides that it was a great workout.  I would highly recommend it.  According to my friend who does TRX, it takes about 3 weeks for your body to stop hurting from it.  I guess I better start counting down the days.   

I think tomorrow I'm going to check out a Spin class.  I'm not too certain I'll be able to walk tomorrow though.  Oddly though, I love being sore.  It means I got in a good workout.
 
The more I learn about fitness, the more classes I take, and the more active things I do, I have decided that if money was no option (or if everything was free) I would be certified in EVERYTHING.  TRX certified, Paddlefit, personal training, everything that I've taken so far I love and I want to teach it to the world (or atleast Flagler County.)

If you want to find out more about TRX or find a gym/trainer that teaches it check out the TRX website
TRX Training

Muffin Monday

My banana muffins were running low so I started searching for a new muffin recipe.  Every single one I came across wasn't very different then a cupcake.  Tons of sugar, and not very nutritious. They were basically cupcakes without the frosting!  In my world a muffin should be just a bit sweeter than bread, and not as sweet as a cupcake.

I borrowed the book The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough from my local library and started look through it.  This book has a great variety of recipes.  They are not all the healthiest muffins but, they have some great non-fat and low-fat recipes.  The book also includes some sugar-free and gluten-free ones too.  They also range from sweet muffins to savory muffins.

I finally decided on Orange Muffins.  It was a nice change from the ones I've been making over the past month.  Plus, I remember the awesome orange muffins I used to get at the farmers market.  I had to alter the recipe to make it sugar free.

The muffins turned out nicely.  They were a bit dry but, I'm going to try them again and make normal sized muffins out of them instead of muffin balls.  They also could have used a bit more orange flavor.  Next time I will try upping the zest in the recipe.

Orange Muffins
adapted from The Ultimate Muffin Book

Ingredients
1.25 cups All-Purpouse flour
1 cup Whole whole wheat flour (you can substitute for more All-purpose flour if you'd like)
2 t baking soda
6 oz blood orange fat free Greek yogurt
6 T plain, vanilla, or blood orange fat free yogurt
1 egg white
1 T orange zest
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup skim milk

Directions

• In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flours and baking soda
• In a separate bowl whisk the yogurts, egg white, orange zest, orange juice and milk
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry

Option 1
119 calories and .3 grams of fat

• Preheat over to 400 degrees
• Green a muffin pan (or use cupcake liners)
• Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full
• Bake for 20 minutes

Option 2
40 calories and .1 gram of fat

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Spray a cake pop pan
• Bake 20 minutes

What's your favorite type of muffin?  Is there a recipe you'd like to see on Muffin Monday?

Pannuts and Puffins and Huevos Rancheros

OH MY!

Pannut -- (noun) Pancake batter baked in a donut maker

Puffin -- (noun) Pancake batter baked in a muffin tin

Huevos Rancheros -- (noun) a super yummy breakfast dish


This month I had originally made a menu made up completely of breakfast foods.  I realized after making it that the hubby wouldn't be too happy with it so, I just added a few extra BFD (breakfast for dinner) meals to the menu on nights he works.  Saturday was one of our added BFD nites.  When I asked the girls if they had any suggestions Mantha instantly piped up with "Donuts!  But not the normal kind, a healthy version."  So I set to work figuring it out.  I remembered seeing a recipe for Bisquick muffins before and then I realized that I could make donuts out of a pancake batter.  

Perfect dinner for a girl who won her first soccer game today right?  Yep that's right, Kaylee's team won their very first game of the season 2-0!  

Don't these look yummy?  And even though they aren't fat free the calories aren't through the roof.  You could make them healthier by substituting the whole eggs for either egg whites or egg substitute.  If you can find fat free pancake batter these can easily be made fat free.  (Krusteaz and a few other companies make a fat free mix)

 Sunny decided she needed to make her presence known in my last photo.  That one is the Dark Chocolate Dream filled Puffin.  Puffins are on the top and the Pannuts are on  the left. 

Puffin and Pannut Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups Bisquick
2 eggs
1 cup skim milk
1 T sugar
juice of 1/2 an orange
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Mix together Bisquick, sugar, and baking powder.
2. Whisk in wet ingrediets (eggs, milk, orange juice and vanilla)
3. For Puffin preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin pan.  Fill each cup 2/3 full and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
4. For Pannuts preheat and spray you doughnut maker (I have a Sunbeam donut maker and I love it)  fill each cavity and bake for about 5-7 minutes.  Repeat until batter is gone.

If you want to add mix-ins into your puffins or pannuts then feel free and have fun.  I used craisins, blueberries, strawberries, cinnamon sugar, peanut butter, and Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dream.  The possibilities are endless!  

Tonite was another BFD nite.  This time it was Huevos Rancheros.  I combined a few recipes to get a perfect one.

The top photo is my fat free one (I only used half a tortilla in order to save a few calories), and the other two are the girls with a normal sunny side up egg.  Don't they look good?  Kaylee wasn't a big fan of it but Mantha and I loved it.  


Huevos Rancheros

Ingredients
4 fat free tortillas
2 onions, minced
2 tomatoes, minced
Pickled Jalapenos (to taste), chopped fine
1-2 cups egg substitute (equivalent to 4-8 eggs) [you can use either the yellow kind or all whites]
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
1/2 cup shredded fat free cheese
1 can of black beans (I only had kidney so that's what I used)

Directions

1. Spray and heat a medium skillet on high.  Saute onions until slightly soft (about 2 minutes) add in tomatoes and jalapenos and cook for a bit longer.  If you need to add a bit of water to the pan to keep things from sticking.  Set aside when done.
2. In a separate bowl put the beans and mash with a fork.  If they are too gummy you can add a bit of water.
3. Spray a skillet with non-stick spray and heat each side of the tortillas one at a time until brown and bubbly
4. Cook the eggs.  (Standard Huevos Rancheros is done with sunny side up eggs so, if you aren't watching you fat, feel free to use normal eggs)
5. To put them together place a tortilla on the plate, spread beans on the tortillas, add eggs, then top with the salsa.  

The tomatoes and onions can be substituted for jarred salsa.  I actually used both.  

I made extra eggs so the girls could make themselves burritos also.

Excited About Salad

[Forward before I start my ranting: Since I am participating in National Nutrition Month I have to say that I am proud of people for whatever healthy lifestyle changes they decide to make.  This post is aimed at a select few.  If a salad is your first step toward a total healthy life change then I back you 100% but, one salad does not make up for eating artery clogging junk the other 20 meals out of the week]

See these texts?  I get these texts quite often.  A Greek salad can have upwards of 600 calories.  So, half a Greek salad would have the same calories as a normal lunch.  These types of texts do not get the reaction from the that the senders are expecting.

You want to know a secret?  I rarely, [I mean like 2 times a year rarely], eat a salad for lunch.  I'm more likely to eat a sweet potato or a huge bowl of popcorn for lunch. 

People need to change their way of thinking.  A turkey sandwich on whole-grain bread with lettuce, tomato, onions, and mustard is a very healthy meal also.  (As a future R.D. I recognize the fact that properly prepared meat can be part of a healthy diet.)

One salad for lunch does not instantly make you healthy!  I also know that personally, a salad does not fill me up unless it's loaded with vegetables and some sort of protein.  A "healthy y" salad to most people is a small bowl.  A salad that size would fill me up for about about an hour.  

A salad for me is in addition  to my regular meal.  It contains:

1/2 a head of Romaine Lettuce, or 4 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 - 1 whole onion
4-7 mushrooms
2-3 baby carrots (I hate carrots!)
1/4 cup fat free feta/shredded cheese
1 whole cucumber
1/4 cup imitation crab
1/4 cup corn
a few bunches of green onions

Other people's lunch salads:
3-5 iceberg lettuce leaves
1/2 a cucumber
2 mushrooms
2 baby carrots
full fat cheese


If you want me to be proud of you then tell me you chose a salad over a greasy burger, or that you ordered a non-fat, no whip latte at Starbucks, or you skipped your daily Starbuck's completely!  But, PLEASE don't tell me you "had a salad" because I will not give you praise.  

What are your feelings on salads?

Gym Review: Thriv

I joined a gym today.  Joining a gym is a big risk to me just because I normally hate gyms.  It wasn't until recently that I learned to appreciate them and love them.  Plus I know that I have previously talked about not needing a gym.  The gym will never replace my bike or my love of doing things the traditional way (for example, taking a bike ride instead of a spin class)  Plus, this membership is attached to a 1 year contract.  To me there's the added risk of something happening and I'm going to waste money each month by not going.
I was originally planning on taking a tour and doing a test day at this gym and the other gym with a daycare.  I was going to review both gyms for you.  But, I really liked this gym so I decided to sign up instead of checking out the other one.  [Plus I didn't have to pay a signup fee if I joined today]  I'm super excited because this means that I can spend more time exercising.  Maybe I can actually gain that 4 pounds of muscle my trainer says I need to gain.  I have still decided to include my review.  Obviously I liked it enough to join but, I just wanted you to hear why I love it so much. 

Name:

Thriv Fitness Center

Address:

3 Commerce Blvd, Palm Coast, FL

Phone:

(386)446-7462

Website     Facebook

Hours:

Mon-Friday  5:30am-9:00pm

Saturday  8:00am-4:00pm

Sunday  9:00am-3pm 

Membership Prices:  Depending on which plan you choose it can be as low as $25 or as high as $45


Staff:  They are great.  I met the owner.  She's really nice and helpful.  I was amazed when they acknowledge Sunny before they said anything to me when I first walked through the door.  The staff in the daycare was great too.   

Cleanliness:  It was very clean.

Equipment:  Some is a bit outdated but they have a good variety and I didn't have to wait for anything. 

Amenities:  Daycare, lockers, a wide variety of classes and they also offer personal training

Classes:  Too many to count!  But, the ones I want to try are TRX, hot yoga and spinning

Other gym-goers:  These are some bad-ass people.  [In a good way]  At the school gym I am a very confident person.  But here, MAN do I feel out of my league.  But in a way I like that.  I like being pushed to get better [I'm slightly competitive]  

Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day

March is National Nutrition Month.  The theme this year is "Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day."  This statement is broad and specific all at the same time, in my mind.  If you type "healthy eating" into Google you get over 245 million results.  Obviously, this is a hot topic.  But, not every diet is right for every person.  I have tried a handful of diets over the years.  I even did a diet test for a month.  I stuck to a certain diet each week for a month to see how they compared.  And from reading up on 90% of the diets that are out there I know I definately can't do a raw vegan diet due to my dietary needs.  There are too many nuts and too much fat.  But it works for many other people including body builders and fitness models.  I also know that the Paleo diet seems completely crazy to me.  Plus, it's not the easiest to follow if you don't eat meat.  (It is possible and I'm NOT saying that people who follow it are crazy, it's just too crazy for me)

I follow the KT diet.  I eat what works for me.  And this is how I believe everybody should eat.  Stay away from the foods that have been deemed "bad for you" and eat the foods that work for your body, and your lifestyle.  

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a TON of useful information.  Go check them out!  And just remember...  

Who's got 2 thumbs and great news??? THIS GIRL!

That's right!  I have BIG BIG BIG news!!  Last Friday I got my AFAA book in the mail. Saturday I signed up for my certification course. I am officially on my way to becoming a certified personal trainer! 2013 is seriously going to be my year. They have a schedule that says it's possible to finish the course in 30 days but since I've also got 4 classes and a lab to work on I think it will take me a bit longer. I'm so excited.
My goal is to finish by Kaylee's birthday in May. From the looks of it right now I'll finish way before then. I'll keep you updated on my progress.  
And another exciting thing that's driving me to finish? One of the local gyms are currently hiring trainers so, once I get my license I can get a job. Speaking of gyms, in the next few weeks I will be posting a gym review of the local gyms. The city I live in is so small that we only have 4 gyms. The city I grew up in had atleast 20.

NaBloPoMo Prompt:  Do you think it's better to play it safe or take risks?
My answer:  I think it's best to take safe risks.  Like I'm doing with my certification course.  To me it's a risk because I am spending money on something that I could hate or I could be really bad at.  But, it's a risk I'm willing to take because I could also love it and it could be a very lucrative thing for me (which is what I'm hoping for)