Baby Steps

When I put a shout out for motivation tips on Facebook, a dear friend of mine mentioned baby steps. Am I the only one who thinks of What About Bob when people say baby steps? Ha ha.  When looking at pictures of fit people I often forget that it took time for them to be where they are. We live in a generation of "want it now, get it now". Want new clothes? Go out and buy them. Want a new phone? Go to the phone store and get it. It's like we don't have any patience!

I see so many "lose 10 pounds in 10 days" type diets where you can lose weight fast. I forget that it takes time for your body to change. My weight loss/muscle toning won't happen in a day, or even a week. I need to take baby steps.

This friend also told me that making a clear and precise goal with an end date in sight is helpful.  Why didn't I think of that? Guys, I was in a funk, and I can feel myself coming out of it, thanks to your motivation and support!

I am going to make a goal for myself, a clear concise goal with an end date.  I will make baby steps for myself.  I will post my goal here to make myself accountable.   I don't yet know my goal but I will think about it this week.

The past two weeks have been crazy, but that's nothing new. I have had sick kids and I have been sick. I have taken it easy hoping that rest would make me better. I hope to get back in the swing of things soon.

Where Do You Get Your Motivation to Workout?

Hey guys. Me here.  I am on this constant fitness roller coaster with lots of ups and downs, how about you? Right now I am slowly making my way up from a huge downhill.  Even though I want to loose weight and or gain some good muscle and toned arms, I am finding it hard to be motivated to eat right and exercise.

I want to know what motivates you? What gets you pumped to workout? What keeps you from eating those fatty, sugary foods?

Today on Facebook I saw this:

Post by The Gym.

It made me laugh a whole lot, but I don't know if watching this when I am craving sugar will keep me from eating some.

I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to inspirational quotes or "motivating" pictures, but lately they just haven't been doing it for me.

Take this picture for instance: 

You know what I think when I see this? I want a snickers bar. I know that is horrible to think.  I should think Yes, junk food is a punishment to my body! I am so sorry, body!  I think my body is addicted to sugar and I need to cleanse it. But I am so scared!! The withdraw will be too much to take! Or so I think.

So what can I do to get out of this funk? Help! I would love ideas, suggestions, and anything you can offer.

*****************

On another note:

I have decided to start P90x again, but actually complete the whole 90 days.  I had started it in January but quit about 5 or 6 weeks in because I started training for my half marathon.  I really should have done both. I think I would have done so much better in that half marathon had I stuck with P90x. In those 5 weeks I did P90x I saw a lot of improvement. I was gaining some nice arm muscle.

So I "started" P90x last week, but only did the first 2 days of it.  I got my period and it was so painful I couldn't workout. And then I was "too sore" from the workouts I did do to do more. And then I was lazy.  But I decided to start again this week and really do it.  And I think it will stick this time because I have put it out there for the world to see.

I started a P90x workout journal to keep track of my workouts and my improvement.  I won't blog every day about my workouts but I will update from time to time about them.  I will, however, be taking pictures of myself every day after my workouts.  I am so tired of seeing people looking perfect after their workouts. It is so unrealistic.  I usually look tired and red in the face when I am done working out. Sometimes I am almost purple in my face after working out.

Here are my Day 1 and Day 2 post P90x workout pics:

Day 1

 Day 2

Gorgeous, right? Hahaha.  I know, with your help, I can get through the rest of the 90 days! Actually, I know in a few weeks I will enjoy working out again. Right now it is torture because I haven't really worked out like this in so long.  One thing I like about P90x is that I can alter the workout to my ability, and as I get stronger I can do more.  Love it!

-Kate

I Am Not a Cookie Cutter... Taking a Look at My Body Image and Self Worth

One reason I started this blog was because I wanted to keep myself on track to getting fit.  I thought that having a blog would make me responsible to keep up with working out.  Another reason I started this blog is because I wanted people to see that sometimes there are setbacks on the journey.

Well I have failed you in a way because this summer I have had set backs and I did not blog because of that. I feel like I have disappointed you by not being true to myself.  A part of me wanted to be this super fit, super skinny woman that got there fast and easy, but the truth is it is an up and down roller coaster ride for me.

I took a step back from fitness in the summer because I was becoming obsessed about this "perfect body image" that the media has put out.  It was not good for me.  I was losing myself, so I had to take a break.

Let's talk about body image for a minute.  When I started this fitness journey, I told myself "I just want to get fit. I want to look good in the clothes I have. I don't want to squeeze into my jeans anymore. I want that muffin top gone." But there was a part of me that thought: "I want to look like this":

or this:

And the truth is these are unrealistic goals for me to have.  I am 5'1". I will never loo like these women.
But for some reason the media is constantly telling me I have to be super skinny, or I am worthless.  I have let myself believe I am worthless because I don't look this way. (I know I am not worthless, but the more I read about women getting these great bodies super fast, or saw people who were naturally skinny, the more I fell into a hole thinking I could never look like them so what's the point?)

Photoshop is used so often in magazines.  Photoshopped photos give an illusion of these perfect bodies that don't exist.  The other day I saw these skinny dancers with the back crease (you know what I am talking about) and it made me so happy. I believe that all photos in the magazines like OK, People, Cozmo, ect. photoshop their photos, because I never see that back crease on skinny people in those magazines.  Why in this day and age do we strive for these impossible bodies? I am not saying it is impossible to be thin and fit. I'm saying that these celebrities don't even have the bodies they show off in photos.  Let's take a look at some photoshopped pictures.

Ok, so tell me why this already skinny model had to be photoshopped? It is obvious that her waist was made to be teeny tiny, but she is already small!  I would love to have the body in the first picture. The second picture says "Give, up Kate. It's never going to happen so don't even try."

I would rather see something real than something fake.  Yes, Penelope Cruz doesn't have a perfect model body, but she is still fit and thin.  I look at the picture on the left and think "she seems very likable.  I would want to be like her." I look at the picture on the right and think "I hate you, you perfect skinny b****!"

This woman is beautiful even without the photoshop.  And she is realistic to me.  As a mom of two with stretch marks and scars, I know I can't ever look like that picture on the right.  But on the left you can see she is fit, and really thin. That is probably what my stomach would look like once I thinned out.

If I hadn't seen the original photos, I would be so discouraged by the photoshopped photos.  Now I know I am not trying to get fit so I can wear a bikini and show off my body, but I still want to look good, you know?

I feel like the media shows us these cookie cutter women --tall, skinny, beautiful, and how can you compare? Well I am NOT a cookie cutter, and I want to be different. I don't want to look the same as these women, I want to look like me!

I made a decision to stop looking at magazines because they were bringing me down.  This time around I am going to get fit to be healthy and happy, not to look like a supermodel (by the way models are like at least 5'9". A "petite" model is around 5'7").  I had to realize that I have a more old fashioned body.  I am short, with a short torso, and short legs! Hahaha.  I have that hourglass shape. Since having kids my hips are wider than they used to be. So I need to be realistic to my body shape.

I am back to weighing 151 again and I am okay with that, for now.  I don't want to focus too much on the number anymore. Who said the number was important, anyways? Who decided that how much you weighed was more important than how you look and feel in your clothes.  I'll tell you something.  According to whatever chart is at the doctor's office I am borderline obese. But if you know me, I don't look obese, do I? I am 20 pounds heavier that the "fattest" that I should be in my weight range. Yeah, I could stand to lose 20 pounds, but if I focus on the numbers I will be super depressed if I don't see it go down.  The truth is, when I was losing weight earlier in the year I was looking really good but I wasn't at pre-baby weight.  I just want to fit comfortably in my clothes and look in the mirror and think "dang girl, you look good!"

No more looking at skinny women and dreaming of their bodies.  No more feeling down in the dumps because I can't just snap my fingers and be teeny tiny.  It is time to take charge of my body, mentally and physically! It is time to wake up every morning, look at myself in the mirror and love myself!

I am ready to be back and blogging again. I am ready to continue my journey.

-Kate

Zumba

I have always been really skeptical of Zumba.  All of a sudden it is this huge thing and most everyone is doing it.  I am not a fan of jumping on the bandwagon.  Even though I love to dance it just never really appealed to me.  But this summer I decided to try out different things, Zumba being one of them.

My husband's cousin is a Zumba instructor and offered a free class.  Who can pass up free? I decided to try it out.  To my surprise I really enjoyed it. In fact, it was really fun. I hate to admit when I am wrong, and my husband will attest to that, but I was wrong about Zumba.

We had a good group going on, and an awesome instructor with lots of fun energy.  In order to enjoy Zumba I think you need to have the right instructor.  It doesn't hurt to have lots of jingly stuff on you as well.  And I should add it shouldn't be done to a tape. That's just my opinion though.

You know, I always thought Zumba couldn't really be much of a workout, but oh how wrong I was.  You need to have a lot of energy to dance for so long.  And it works your muscles! Some of the moves we did had our knees going up to our chins, or had us holding our arms straight out for a length of time.  I was sore for days after! I could not believe how much Zumba worked me.  I would definitely try it again.

Oh That BodyRock...

I know I disappeared for a while there, but I am back.  I did most of that BodyRock challenge, except for the last week of it. I guess life got in the way. I have come to the conclusion that I am not a fan of BodyRock anymore.  Although I did start to build muscle, it just didn't work for me. I need a workout that is going to be fun for me.  BodyRock did not help with my body image at all. It's something I have been struggling with lately, but that is another post.

So adios, BodyRock. It is time for me to try different things.

-Kate

BodyRock Challenge Day 12

BodyRock Challenge Day 12: Bubble Butt Workout

Yet another time challenge workout. I am not a big fan of time challenges because who knows how long it will take me to finish the workout.

Sumo Jump Squats-30 reps

Taping Push Ups-26 reps  I did these on my knees

Lung Forward/Back-15 reps on each leg

V-ups-25 reps

Get ups and High Knees-30 reps

Leg Lifts-25 reps

Mountain Runner-60 reps

Tricep Dip-25 reps   I used two chairs for this and modified by keeping one foot on the ground

Skater Jump Lunge-30 reps

One Arm Push Up-26 reps   I did this modified again

I did this workout in just under 30 minutes.  I don't think I pushed my hardest but I completed the workout.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

BodyRock Challenge Day 11

BodyRock Challenge Day 11: 550 Fat Rep Massacre Workout

This was a time challenge. There were 11 exercises in this workout:

Backward Lunge Kick Up -25 reps on each leg

Walk Over Push Up -50 reps

Mountain Climber -50 reps

Sumo Squats Knee Up -50 reps

One Leg Bridge Leg Lift -25 reps on each leg

Side to Side Squat & Leg Lift -50 reps

One Arm Tricep Push Up -25 reps on each arm

Star Crunch -50 reps

Diagonal Touch Down -25 reps on each side

Side Plank Lift -25 reps on each side

One Leg Wall Sit -25 reps on each leg


To be honest, I lost where I wrote down my time for this workout.  I wanna say it was between 25 and 35 minutes. I need to post about my workouts right after I do them I guess.

I modified a few things.  For all the push ups I modified on my knees. I didn't use a weight for the Diagonal Touch Down.  I modified on the Side Plank Lift as well.  Hopefully the next time around I will be able to do the workout without modifying too much.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

BodyRock Challenge Day 10

This is the last BodyRock workout of week 2!! Yay! I wasn't in a very good mood for this workout, and I started out a little rough and not working at 100%. But I got my act together and got the workout done.

BodyyRock Challenge Day 10: Brunette Beating Blonde Workout

This was a 20 minute interval training workout.  Set the interval timer to 4 rounds of 50 seconds and 10 seconds. There are 5 exercises and you do each for the entire 4 minutes before moving on the the next.

Flying High Knees-The hardest part about this exercise was keeping my arms out while doing high knees. I put my arms down a few times. I didn't go down on my belly by the end. I modified and went down to my knee.

Side to Side Pike Jumps-Man, at first these seem easy, but as you go they get harder and harder to do.

Reverse Crunch-I always lat on my yoga mat when I am doing floor exercises.

Side Step Up- I used a metal chair for this one

Super Girl Push Up- I modified this exercise the whole time.  I still lifted a leg and arm but I did the push ups on my knees.

Here are my scores:

Since I wasn't that into this workout I am hoping I crush these scores the next time around.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

BodyRock Challenge Day 9

BodyRock Challenge Day 9: Tight Jeans Booty Workout

This was a 15 minute workout. Set a countdown timer for 15 minutes.  You have that time to as many rounds of the following as you can:

50 Jump Rope Jacks or regular Jumping Jacks --I did jump rope jacks minus the rope
30 Crunches- you do a crunch, roll to your side and do a crunch, go back to center, do a crunch, then roll on the other side and do another crunch. Each crunch counts as a rep.

My total was 350 Jump Rope Jacks and 180 crunches.

Because I took so long to post on this workout, I can't remember how I felt afterwards or if I worked my hardest. I do know that I sweat a lot doing each workout so I know I am working hard!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

BodyRock Challenge Day 8

I may be late in getting my "challenge" posts out, but I have not missed the workouts. I have done every challenge thus far and I am feeling sore! I know my body is working hard!

BodyRock Challenge Day 8: Fit Tight Hot Workout

There were 4 exercises, and you did each one in order. Each exercise was 30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest for a total of 4 minutes, using an interval timer. In each exercise you were going for maximum reps.

Here are the exercises:

1. Dynamic Squat

2. Reversed Push Up-- I used two chairs because I don't have the equipment shown in the tutorial. I also just hung there when I couldn't do anymore push ups.

3. Dive Bomber-- I modified this and did it from my knees.

4. Prisoner Get Up-- Yeah, I didn't end up doing this exercise. Yet again I waited until night to do the workout. I was tired. My brother came by during my workout because we were trading couches, and when he left I lost that motivation to keep going. I have my weak moments.

So I did most of the workout. I did 12 minutes instead of 16. Here are my scores:

I don't know if I have "good" numbers or not.  I hope to improve my score the next time around.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

BodyRock Challenge Day 7

Sorry I didn't get this post out yesterday.  I didn't get my workout in until 9pm. Eek! Procrastination is my worst enemy! I will tell you now that the next little while will be busy for me so I can't guarantee that I will post everyday, but I will try!

Didn't I say last week to never work out at night? Well I ended up waiting until the "last minute" to get my workout in. I told my husband "I don't want to work out, but I have to. So many people are depending on me!" I am so glad that I put my challenge on the blog, because I would have skipped so many workouts by now.  I know there are only a few of you out there doing this BodyRock challenge and that is fine. But just the fact that I have told the world that I am doing this challenge helps me to make sure I do every workout.

Yesterday was day 7 of this challenge.  I either didn't give nearly 100% on day 6 or I am getting stronger, because I didn't feel too sore from day 6's workout. Day 7 was another story.

BodyRock Challenge Day 7: Sexy Shape Shifter Workout

This was another time challenge. Time challenges are pretty brutal for me.  This workout was no exception.

You had to complete 4 rounds of 4 exercises.

1. Sandbag Squat Jump Up-20 reps.  I just used my bodyweight and it was still killer.

2. Reptile-20 reps. This was my favorite exercise of the 4. It worked my abs!

3. One Leg Squat Jump Up-20 reps on each leg. Whoops. I did 10 reps on each leg.. And it was still really hard! Towards the last round I was modifying this one.

4. Side Plank Lift Cross Over-15 reps on each side. Again, I did 10 on each side. And there was no way I could have done the cross over. Did you watch the tutorial?? It was crazy! I modified here and just did the Side Plank Lift.

If you want to get a good at-home workout in with just your body weight, try this workout! It killed me. By the end I could hardly walk, my leg muscles were done.

I used the online stopwatch to time myself.  I completed the workout in 23 minutes and 52 seconds.  I think I could have pushed harder, but I am proud of myself for completing this workout.  There were times when I wanted to do 10 Squat Jump Ups instead of 20, but I didn't quit. I did them all. And I was exhausted afterwards!

It is almost 8pm and I have yet to do day 8! I need to make a goal to get my lazy bum out of bed in the morning and do my workouts then!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

BodyRock Challenge Day 6

Did y'all have a good weekend? I did. It was nice to have a break from the intense workouts.  On Saturday morning I decided to go running. I have not really run since my half marathon.  It felt really good to run again. I ran down the road to an elementary track and ran a mile around it.  It was a great day to run.  The clouds were out and it was a little windy.  I don't know how many nice days like this I will have again this summer but if another one comes, I will definitely run again. If the weather gets hot than I will wait for fall before running too much.

I did not lose any weight last week, even though I stayed away from the sweets.  Hmm... I need to take a look at what I have been eating and do better this week.  Maybe I need to lower my carb and fat intake.  I see a lot of salads ahead for me this week.

Before I go into Day 6 of my BodyRock challenge, I want to talk about one reason that I am not the biggest fan of BodyRock anymore.  I like the workouts of BodyRock, but I don't like the image they put out.  That is the problem I have with fitness world in general. All these women wear just bras and tiny shorts to show off their body, to make you wish you looked like them.  They are all tan and wearing makeup, and it is so unrealistic the image that they are putting out.  I mean, who puts makeup on to workout? I roll out of bed to workout.  I would sweat all that makeup right off.

Take this picture for instance:

 I'm sorry, but what exercise is she about to do? This is what it looks like when a normal person does this pose:

Not very appealing, is it? It took me several minutes to even figure out how she got into that pose.  I took this picture after I worked out. I showered and did my hair and put makeup on (I never even wear makeup anymore).  I guess if you aren't a size 0 you look ridiculous doing this pose.  But this is reality folks.  The average person is not tiny hot and perfect.  I just wanted to share the ridiculousness of it all.

Ok, now down to business. 

BodyRock Challenge Day 6: Boom Boom Workout

This workout had 3 parts.

Part 1: Triple Sumo Squat. Set your interval timer for 6 rounds with 30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest. During the 30 seconds you are going for maximum reps.

My total was 18.5 reps.  My legs were really sore by the end of the 4 minutes.

Part 2: Time challenge.  Start the stopwatch. See how long it takes you to do the following: 6 rounds of Plank Side Jump (10 reps) and One Leg Toe Touch (10 reps).  I completed it in 4:52.

Part 3: Another interval training.  6 rounds, 30 seconds on and 10 seconds off. Side Burpees with Push Up and Knee Tuck. I modified here on the burpees and also I did a jump up instead of a knee tuck.

My total was 18 reps.

This workout totaled 12 minutes and 52 seconds.  It worked me. I just need to make sure the rest of my day I am staying active and drinking lots of water, and eating lots of greens.

Have you worked out today?

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

Abs Are Made in the Kitchen...

Hey guys! I just saw this video and thought I would share. This trainer has some good tips for loosing that extra belly weight. Check it out HERE.

Happy Monday!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

BodyRock Challenge Day 5

Wahoo, I made it to day 5 of my 30 day BodyRock challenge! This is the last BodyRock workout for this week.  I am feeling really good today. I don't feel very sore today so that is good.  The workout this morning was an interval training. I used this interval timer. Here's the workout breakdown:

BodyRock Challenge Day 5: Gaga for Tight Booty

Set your interval timer to 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 18 rounds. There are 6 exercises and you go through them 3 times.  This workout was only 12 minutes long but it was crazy!

1. Side Burpee
2. Mountain Climber
3. Ninja Jump Tuck -I modified this one
4. Mountain Climber
5. Step Up -using a chair
6. Mountain Climber

During the 30 seconds you are supposed to do as many reps of each exercise as you can. This work out kicked my butt! Those 30 second increments really wore me out. Let me just say that 10 seconds just isn't enough time to rest.  I kept track of my numbers as I went along.  Here is how I did:

In the past, with each round my numbers decreased. I was very pleased today, especially with mountain climbers.  I really feel like I pushed myself today. I am gonna be really fit by the end of this!

I am very excited for a weekend "bodyrock" free, only because they are so hard and my body could use a break. I plan on going for a run in the morning.

I spent all day cooking and making freezer meals. I will get that post up in the next few days.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

BodyRock Challenge Day 4

Yesterday was a really busy day for me, so I wasn't able to get this post out.  I didn't get to my workout until after I put the kids to bed. I do not like working out at night, and I don't plan on doing it again. By the time night comes my body is tired. I don't want to do a workout, I just want to relax. So it was a bummer to take time from relaxing to workout.

I did not like this workout at all. Maybe it is because I was tired when I did it. It was really hard. And not a good hard, not a "yeah I am getting so fit" hard. It was a "oh man this is awful" hard. I am not even sure if I was doing every exercise correctly, it was kind of confusing. Here is the workout:

BodyRock Challenge Day 4: Sweat is Sexy Workout

This was a 400 rep time challenge.  Well, actually, Zuzana gave you a choice of 200 or 400 reps. Because I was tired, and because I hated the workout, I chose to do 200 reps. It was killer. I used the handy dandy stopwatch to keep track of my time.

There were 5 exercises. Each exercise is 20 reps and you go through all 5 exercises 2 to 4 times. I went through them twice.

1. One leg jump up- 10 reps on each leg
2. Sandbag Full Body Exercise (I used a 15 pound dumbbell)
3. Crossed Leg Push Up and Jump
4. Snowboarder
5. One Leg Bridge and Star Crunch

The sandbag full body exercise was the hardest to figure out. Even after watching the tutorial a few times I was still unsure if I was doing it correctly.  I modified the crossed leg push up and did the push ups on my knees.

I didn't give this workout 100% but I did work hard.  I was sweating at the end of it. It took me 27 minutes and 30 seconds to complete 200 reps.  Man it was hard!

I always warm up before my workouts and stretch after. For the warm up I usually turn on some fun music and dance around to get my heart rate up.  I just found my new favorite Pandora station. Icona Pop radio. It is awesome!  When I am done with my workouts I do some yoga stretches.

I did really good with day 4 of my no sweet week. No cookies for me! Though I was tempted. This week has been good for me, though. I think I will be able to make better dessert choices after this.

Have you been working out? Let me know!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

Bodyrock Challenge Day 3

Quick update on my no sweet week: Day 3 and going strong.  I REALLY wanted a mint oreo cookie yesterday. There are two things wrong with that. One is that I made this challenge to not eat sweets this week. The second is that I do not digest those delicious cookies very well anymore, and I decided months ago not to eat them anymore.  Well be proud, because I resisted the minty temptation. Sweets-0, Kate-3! Well so far, because this is only the beginning of day 3.

This is also day 3 of the Bodyrock Challenge. Here we go:

Wow Booty Workout

This workout was a little crazy! It had 3 parts:

Part 1- set your interval timer to 10 seconds on, 5 seconds 'rest' for 16 reps (a total of 4 minutes). During the 10 seconds you are doing high knees, as fast and high as you can. On the 5 seconds you drop to the floor and 'rest'. I say 'rest' because it isn't really resting. It takes a second to get to the floor and next thing you know you have to jump up off the floor and do high knees again.  It was really hard. And exhausting.

Part 2- this was a time challenge. It was a little tricky to get down the steps. In this part you did some squats and push ups. Using a sandbag was an option, but I just used my body weight. So this is how it goes: you squat down like you are going to pick up your imaginary sandbag and put in on your shoulder as you stand up. Then you spread your legs out and do a squat. You bring your feet back together and go down into a push up, then jump back up. That is one rep.

The time challenge was to see how fast you could do 30 reps. Even using no weight it took me 10 minutes and 10 seconds to complete.  My legs were just tired from Part 1 of this workouts, and still sore from Monday and Tuesday's workout. I did modified push ups.  I think it only took Zuzana 2 and a half minutes to complete. I have so far to go to be where I want to be fit wise.

Part 3- Part 3 is just a repeat of part 1. So set that interval timer again and do the torturous high knees all over again. By the end of that I wasn't able to go down to the floor and back up again. I modified and went down to my knees. I was sweating so much!

I probably could have pushed a little more towards the end but overall I think I worked hard.  At least I did it, right? I wonder how my body will feel the rest of the day? We will just have to see.

Have you worked out yet today? If so, what did you do? I would love to know how everyone is doing in their own exercise journey, even if you are not doing my Bodyrock challenge. Let's motivate each other!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

Bodyrock Challenge Day 2

To start off, I am on Day 2 of my week challenge of not eating sweets. Yesterday I did good. I really wanted a cookie but I didn't eat one. I really wanted to make naughty treats and I didn't. So I am proud of myself for going one day without sweets.

I am feeling pretty good. My muscles are still sore but that's a good thing.  I am still having a hard time getting going in the morning, but I was able to start my workout at 8:15. That is a whole lot better than not getting going until 9:30. I did a 3 minute warm up and then the workout.

Day 2 of the Bodyrock challenge: Sexy Fit Beast Workout

So you do 15 rounds of the following:

30 Side Jump Lunges

3 Walking Planks

3 Push Up and Forward Jumps

This was a time challenge. So you were supposed to do it as fast as you could. Well as fast as I can means I take some breaks in between each round, ha ha. I used an online stopwatch to keep my time.  It took me 19:28 minutes to complete the workout.

Man it was killer! My legs were sore from yesterday so it hurt to do the side jump lunges.  By the end of the 3rd round I wondered how I was going to be able to do 15 rounds but I just kept going. Thinking positively really helped me stay on track.

In general I don't sweat very much. When I lived in Utah I just got really red in the face when I worked out. I don't know if I wasn't getting enough air, or because it was dry, or what.  Well I will tell you that today I sweat. Like a whole lot. Sweat was dripping down my face. It. Was. Awesome! I really felt like I had a good workout because I was sweating so much.

Day 2 of my Bodyrock challenge was a success! Have you worked out yet today?

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

Bodyrock Challenge Day 1

I wish that I could say that I started this challenge bright and early this morning, but that is not the case. I didn't get my lazy butt going until 9:30 this morning.  My body is still a little sore from the 1000 workout I did on Friday. That workout kicked my butt and I walked around like a cripple all weekend.

The workout for today is Smoking Hot Body Workout. This workout involved completing a certain number of reps (a lot of the time it is interval training).  There were 6 exercises:
Prisoner Jump Lunge -50 reps
One Leg Push Up -25 reps each leg
Mini Squats (with or without sandbag) -50 reps
Reptile on the Run -50 reps
Get Up (with or without sandbag) -25 reps on each side
One Arm Press Up -25 reps on each arm

I did a 3 minute warm up and then started the stopwatch and the workout.

One thing I like about Bodyrock is that you can modify to your fitness level. The site also shows you how to do the exercises. I worked out with my husband. He is more fit than me and can do more than I can.

We did all 50 prisoner jump lunges.

I modified the one leg push up and did them on my knees.  We did the mini squats without the sandbag.

We don't have a sandbag and it isn't necessary to use one in the workouts.   We have some dumbbells but that's it. If a workout involves expensive equipment than it isn't worth doing.

Reptile on the Run was really hard.  I did all 50 but it took a lot of motivation from my husband for me to finish.

We did the Get Up without the sandbag. That one hurt my husband's knee so he only did like 5. I did 20 and decided that was enough for me today.

I modified the One Arm Press Up and did that on my knees. I only did 25.

It took me 33 minutes and 19 seconds to do the workout.  I feel pretty good about the workout, even though I did not do all the reps. I still got worked.  Those one leg push ups were killer! I know I will be sore tomorrow.

Did anyone else do the workout today? If so, let me know how you did!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

Bumps on the Road

I hate to admit this but I have hit a few bumps in the road on my weight loss journey.  There have been a few up and downs this summer. I worked out hard to prepare for the half marathon, but I also went on vacation where I ate a lot. I mean A LOT. And I ate a lot of sweets. I ate a lot of bread. I gained about 4 pounds. To me that is a big set back because I had been at a plateau for over a month. I am disappointed in myself a little bit, but I am ready to get back to working hard and eating better.

I have set a mini challenge for myself this week. I am going to go a week without eating sweets. I am real scared to take on this challenge because I LOVE sweets. But I know I have been eating way too many. Today will be a day of temptation because I told my son we could make cookies for family night. I hope I will have the will power to resist.

It is hard to tell myself that the number is not important, the measurements are. But I grew up thinking how much I weighed is important, and I am still in that mind set.  I don't know if it helps me to stand on the scale and see the number or if it hinders me.  But I will continue to weigh myself and do measurements and see how it goes.

May 3rd,  2013

Weight 145.8

Chest 35.5"

Waist 28.5"

Hips 39"

July 22nd, 2013

Weight 149.8

Chest 36"

Waist 30"

Hips 40"

Eek. So I have gained a few inches in my waist.  I know it has been the naughty food. It has been the cookies for sure. I can't just eat one! So I guess I have to eat none for now. Time to eat super healthy. I know that if I drink tons of water and lay off the bread and dairy this week I can probably loose a few pounds right off. I think letting you guys know my plan and where I am weight wise will help me stay on track.

I'm really hoping this Bodyrock Challenge that I am starting today will help me lose some weight and tone up a bit. I would love to have some muscle in my arms!

I do want to say that bumps in the road are to be expected. And it is okay. I need to work hard for what I want and this set back was an eye opener.  I can't go around eating cookies all the time and expect to get smaller.  Back to juicing and and eating smaller portions and making delicious, healthy meals.

Well I better get going on my workout. Happy Sweating!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

30 Day BodyRock Challenge

Have you ever heard of Bodyrock.tv?  Basically it was a site created by a married couple involving HIIT- High Intensity Interval Training.  Zuzana, the wife, did the tutorials and Freddy, the husband, was behind the camera and in charge of the site. Well long story short, over the last couple of years the site changed a lot. It is now Daily Hiit and it is run by Freddy and his current girlfriend.

A few years ago my sister in law was really into it.  She invited me to join her in the workouts. I really enjoyed them. I really loved the way my body was getting into shape with these workouts-they only took around 16 minutes to complete. But I had a love/hate relationship with Bodyrock. I hated the way the site sexualized everything. Who goes around working out in practically their underwear? The names of the workouts can be a little raunchy. It wasn't a very family friendly website.  Also over time they started using more equipment and I didn't want to pay to get equipment.  But I loved how motivated I was by Zuzana and her workouts. I'll admit that her tiny figure intimidated me. One thing I loved is that she made every workout possible. Zuzana showed modifications to the exercises. When I originally started Bodyrocking I had just had a baby and couldn't do very much. It was awesome to see myself improve and slowly be able to do more, to be less modified in my workouts.

My sister in law challenged me to go back to Bodyrock for 30 days (30 workout days, which will be 5 workouts a week).  I decided to take on that challenge. We have not done the workouts in a long time because they have changed so much. I don't like change. When I find something that works, like HIIT, I like to stick with it. I don't like it to be different than what I know. I decided to go through all the older workouts and find ones from when I was doing Bodyrock before. I found a lot of good workouts.

This is how the 30 day challenge will work. The challenge will start on Monday.  Below are links to 15 Bodyrock workouts. The first 15 days we will do the workouts in the order that they are listed, then repeat them again the next 15 days. Each day I will post my scores. I encourage you, if you choose to take on this challenge, to post your scores in the comment section as well. I am hoping to improve my scores the second time around. I will post a before and after update on my body for this challenge.

I want to apologize ahead of time for a)the names of the workouts. I did not create them. and b)if you do the workouts there is a half naked lady in the tutorials. Oh and c)yes I will be recreating some of the pictures in these workouts. I think it is important to show crazy fit vs normal. At this point in my life I consider myself normal size (not fat, not too fit, not crazy skinny).

Here is the thing about HIIT. Because the workouts are shorter, you HAVE to put maximum effort in. I know in the past I have not given my all in these Bodyrock workouts, so my goal this time around is to give 100%.

Here are the workouts:
Day 1/16 Smoking Hot Body Workout
Day 2/17 Sexy Fit Beast Workout
Day 3/18 Wow Booty Workout
Day 4/19 Sweat is Sexy Workout
Day 5/20 Gaga For Tight Booty Workout
Day 6/21 Boom Boom Workout
Day 7/22 Sexy Shape Shifter Workout
Day 8/23 Fit Tight Hot Workout
Day 9/24 Tight Jeans Booty Workout
Day 10/25 Brunette Beating Blonde Workout
Day 11/26 550 Rep Fat Massacre Workout
Day 12/27 Bubble Butt Workout
Day 13/28 Sexy and Jacked Workout
Day 14/29 Real Hot Workout
Day 15/30 Bang Bang Workout

Now you will sometimes need a stopwatch and/or interval timer. I use this stopwatch. And I use this interval timer. Sometimes they have you use a sandbag. I don't have a sandbag. You can do the exercises without the sandbag. My sister in law used to use a huge bag of rice. I also do not have that dip station thing. I use two chairs for that.  I will post more modifications if I come across them.


I am really excited for this challenge.  Now that I am taking a break from running I am ready to tone my body.  If you are ready to take on this challenge, let me know! I would love to motivate you in this endeavor.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

The 1000 Workout

I haven't run since my half marathon on Saturday. I would like to run, I just haven't had a chance yet.  This morning was not the morning to run.  I stayed up late last night and woke early this morning. It took a while to "wake up". By the time I got around to working out it was 9 am.  I found the following workout on Pinterest:

This was a killer workout. I was not able to do 100 pushups. I did like 25. And I only did 60 walking lunges and 50 hover jacks.  It was hard, but it also felt really good to get a workout in. Now that I am done with my half marathon I am going to focus more on toning my body.

In the next few days I am going to put together a 30 workout challenge.  I hope you will join me in it.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

Juice Recipe--Mean Green

After two weeks of being on vacation and not eating too good, I am getting back on the healthy bandwagon. This morning I made eggs and a green juice. It felt so good to be juicing again! Here is what I made:

Mean Green Juice
serves 2

3 kale leaves
1 cucumber
2 celery stalks
2 apples

Wash all produce. Take out core and seeds from apples.  Add all ingredients through juicer. Drink.

I will admit it wasn't the tastiest juice, but it was good to be drinking healthy juice again!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

More From My Half Marathon

I am still in disbelief that I ran a half marathon. That is crazy! I seriously have forgotten a lot of the experience so I am glad I wrote it down right away, even though I was out of it when I wrote my last post.

I read a lot on preparing for a half marathon. I checked books out of the library and read running blogs. I read up on what to eat a few days before and what to eat the morning of the half marathon. I prepared myself for everything, except for what happens after the half marathon.

I did not really eat a whole lot the day I had the half marathon. According to my Endomondo app, I burned around 1600 calories running. I think that entitled me to a day of eating and not worrying one bit about calories. Well a lot of the day I didn't even feel like eating.

For breakfast I had one piece of toast with peanut butter on it. I did not eat again until after the race. After I stretched out I ate two blueberry muffins and had some water and Gatorade.  I didn't eat again until dinner time. I completely forgot about lunch. My body was dead, and my mind was in sleep mode.  My sister in law (who also ran the half marathon) and I went to Red Robin for dinner.

We pigged out. We were so excited to go out to eat and not even care about what we were eating (health wise). By the time we sat down to order we were ravenous.  We literally joked about just going up to other tables and stealing their food. We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip to share, and I got the teriyaki burger.  I also got a lemonade, which is super good, but really filled me and maybe not a wise choice.  I ate and ate, and was totally stuffed after that.

Honestly I wish I had eaten more that day. It was seriously a guiltless day, where I could eat whatever I wanted and not feel like I was going to gain weight. The problem was I wasn't very hungry. And after I ate dinner I felt stuffed the rest of the night.

On Sunday I felt horrible. I didn't know if it was my stomach or exhaustion. I had woken up on Saturday at 4:30 am, ran 13.1 miles, and stayed up until midnight with no nap in between.  I didn't eat breakfast. At lunchtime I ate but still felt just yucky.  I didn't know what to do post run because I hadn't researched.  I was supposed to pack up all my family's stuff to get ready to leave Utah but I felt horrible. My stomach was just unsettled.

By 7:30 at night I had major diarrhea. I wasn't sure if it was something I ate or if it was post half marathon stomach. I was just a poopin'. TMI I know, but it needs to be said.  I was able to go to sleep around 10 pm but I still felt sick. Monday morning I felt better but I felt drained.  Diarrhea takes a lot out of you, no pun intended.  If diarrhea is a result of running a half marathon then I might wait a while before doing another.

We got the race results and I placed 12 out of 14 women in my age group (25 to 29). I feel good about that. I wasn't last. And it was my first half marathon. My brother in law placed 3rd in his group, which is awesome! My husband was last place in his age group, and I am just so grateful that he ran with me.  If he had run on his own he would have gone a lot faster.

Below are some pictures from the half marathon.  I just want to tell you that I look awesome. I totally rock my look. I don't realize how ridiculous I look when I am running. The thing is I can't wear earphones in my ears, so I have to run with big, bulky headphones.  I also have to have a fanny pack on so I can easily reach my chap stick, water, shot bloks, and phone. And yes, I need to wear the silly visor. You know it! So here are the pictures:

This is us before the half marathon. Yup, I look awesome! lol

This is when we saw the camera guy and decided to try to look cool while running. 

And this is me just after the race. I tried hard not to look miserable.

I wish we had taken a post-race photo of the four of us, but we forgot. We weren't our selves after the race.  It took a lot out of all of us. Yeah, at this point a full marathon seems out of my range. Maybe one day... But for now, on to new things.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

Canyon to Canyon Half Marathon

Let me just say that I am feeling pretty proud right now.  I just finished my first half marathon, what I have been training for months for. I'm feeling proud and very, very sore.

I want to go back a little and talk about the last two weeks of running. I went from an elevation of 430 feet above sea level to an elevation of around 5728 feet above sea level. Let me tell you that there is a huge difference between those elevations breathing wise. I can't breathe here! We (my husband and I) had two weeks to train on Utah hills and in this high altitude and it was hard for me.

I felt like it took about 3 miles to get into any run we went on. The hills seemed like mountains compared to what I am used to.  There is no air here! How do people breathe? lol. I am glad we had some time to acclimate to this higher elevation and hills.

On Monday my husband and I went on our 10 mile run (we were supposed to do it last Saturday but our schedule was kind of crazy). We felt pretty good going into the run.  There were some hills and some straightaways.  It took us about 3 or 4 miles to get into our groove. Up until about mile 8 we did alright. Then I must have hit the dreaded running "wall", because I wanted to walk and not run, but my man encouraged me on.  There was a massive hill in the middle of mile 8 and we ran up the whole way, which I was pretty proud about.  We thought we were home free in mile 9, but I tweaked my left knee as we ran over a bridge.  It hurt so bad. I wasn't sure what I had hurt, all I knew was the pain was bad. I thought to myself, "really? I train for months with no injuries, and in the very last mile of our last long run I get injured??!!" I wasn't too happy about that. I also want to mention my husband's knees were killing him. His knees have been bothering him for a while.  So we finished the 10 miles in 1 hour and 56 minutes. I felt pretty good about that.

After running that 10 miles I felt pretty confident about the upcoming half marathon.  I was just a little worried about my knee though.  Within a day my knee felt fine.  My birthday was on Wednesday and my husbands family and I went on a 5 mile hike. I ran some of it and my knee didn't hurt at all. Again, I felt confident about the race.

Last night I laid out all my clothes (my awesome brother in-law and his girlfriend gave me a cool running outfit but I didn't get a chance to run in them before the race, so I stuck with what I have been running it) and packed some gatorade and water. I run with a fanny pack (I know, I'm so cool!) so I put my shot bloks in that with some water, my on-the-go phone charger, my chap stick, and some sunscreen. I went to bed an hour later than I planned on but I still felt pretty good and prepared.

I. Slept. Horrible.  I don't know if it was pre-race nerves or excitement, or if it was an uncomfortable bed, or if it was my stomach (Yesterday I had some digestive issues going on, if you know what I mead. I had an unsettled stomach the whole day, and I think it was something I ate).  I woke up so many times. So did my husband. So going to bed at 11pm and waking up at 4:30am, along with  waking up through out the night, didn't really make me feel too confident this morning.

My husband and I ran the half marathon with one of his brothers and his sister. When I say we ran the half marathon together I mean that his brother and sister ran really fast, and we ran together several minutes behind them. We left the in-laws at 5am and headed up this crazy canyon.  We got there, got parked, and got ready.

It may just be me but when I am nervous, or excited, or like today, nervously excited, I need to use the bathroom. A lot.  So I made a few trips to the port-a-potty before the race began.

We stood at the end of the start.  I guess a gun went off, I wasn't really paying attention. I turned my Pandora onto the Beatles station and started my Endomondo.  We headed out on the road for 1 mile before turning onto a dirt trail.

There was a water station at mile 1 (which is also mile 12 because the race was a down and back run). I didn't need any water at mile 1, I was just getting going.  When we signed up for the Canyon to Canyon half marathon, it was described like this:

"Gentle rolling hills" is an inaccurate description of what we came upon as we ran. Maybe a better description would be:

"You will be constantly running up and down steep hills, crying in pain, wishing you hadn't chosen such a hilly first half marathon. Your body will ache all over and you will want to ask the medic to drive you to the finish line every time you see him pass by. You will become bi-polar, switching from 'you can do this' to 'I can't do this' throughout the 13.1 mile course. You will enjoy it at first, but by mile 8 you will wish you could fly so your legs could get a break. You will see no porcupine, fox, or deer, but you will see some fluttering birds that can be seen anywhere. A tiny little stream can be seen at times if you are a tall person. "

It was hard, I'm not gonna lie. I think that if there weren't so many hills it wouldn't be so hard. And. There. Were. Hills. Monster hills. They weren't rolling.  I didn't take any pictures of the trail but it was hill after hill after hill. And you knew that if it was downhill on the way out that it would be uphill on the way back. Here is a picture from Google Maps:

This isn't quite the whole course. But every time the course does a little turn, that is a hill.  Endomondo said that we went from 5728 feet to 6194 in the course of the race. And with all the hills we had an overall ascent and decent of 735 ft.  There were 3 or 4 steep hills and then I guess there were some rolling hills.

There were actually 2 races going on, a 10k and a half marathon. The 3 mile mark was the turn around point for the 10k. I had a proud moment passing that, thinking of how awesome I was for doing the half marathon instead of the 10k. There was water there and I had some. I also brought water in my awesome old lady fanny pack.

At mile 4 there was a bathroom and we stopped for a minute to use it then kept going.  Unfortunately it was in the middle of a hill and it was hard to get up. I have to mention that I have the best husband ever. He was such a motivator to me. He helped me get up those hills. He took my hand and led me when I didn't think I could go much longer.

It had rained a little this morning before the race and that made great weather for us to run in.  It was cloudy most of the time and a little overcast.  By the end of the race it felt a little hot though. It was a beautiful run, I have to say. The view was spectacular. There were beautiful "rolling" hills all over. There were beautiful trees. We saw a really pretty yellow bird. There were times where we really enjoyed the run, but mostly it was hard and those hills really took it out of us.

We ran down the hills really well. We let them take us. That really helped with our time.  It also felt really windy which was nice because we were so sweaty. That cooled us down. In the last several miles we walked the hills.

There were several people running by us that we went back and forth passing each other. Bran and I decided to pick certain people to pass for good. It took a couple miles to pass some of them. In the end we were able to pass a dozen people which made us feel really good.

I took my shot blocks around 45 minutes in and again at an hour and 50 minutes.  We hit a wall around 8.5 miles. It was really hard from then on.  We hit 10 miles at 2 hours and 4 minutes, a little slower than our last long run, but we still had 3.1 miles to go.

We got excited when we saw the 11 mile mark, but we also knew there was still 2.1 miles to go. My husband kept saying "You are awesome! We are awesome!"  I felt a little tense in my shoulders and decided to stop briefly to stretch out my upper body. As we were walking up a hill my husband said "there's a camera man" so we started running. We were like "We have been running this whole time!" and we ran really well to get cool pictures. Haha.

We were so excited when we got to the 12 mile mark. Earlier in this post I mentioned there was water at the 1 mile mark (which is also the 12 mile mark). I thought it was silly to have water at the 1 mile mark, but I was so grateful to have water at that 12 mile mark. I poured some on my arms and then I drank some.

I was so hot. And so tired. I really wanted to be positive but negative thoughts had come into my mind and I was thinking I couldn't do it. And I was so close! I was super duper bi-polar in that last mile. It was back on the road, and it was flat. No hills. You would think I would do really well. Well I was exhausted. My body and my mind were fighting each other. I would say "Alright we can do this, let's go all the way" and just a few seconds later I would burst out crying and blubber "I can't do this! Carry me the rest of the way". I think I was having a panic attack. My poor husband must have thought he married a nut job because I went back and forth with those positive/negative comments.

It was hard. That last mile was do or die. I kept running but I didn't want to run anymore.  I just willed myself to keep going. That last .1 mile was my saving grace because it was downhill. It helped me to push a little harder to cross the finish.  By the time I got to that last .1 I was crying almost uncontrollably. I had my hand in my face as I crossed the finish line, bawling.  I had so many mixed emotions crossing that finish line: I can't believe I just ran a half marathon.  I am so proud of myself! Oh my gosh, I am so glad that it is over! I CAN"T BELIEVE I JUST DID THAT!! Have you ever seen the Disney movie Tangled, when Rapunzel leaves the tower and she says "I can't believe I did that!" several different ways and with different emotions? Yeah, it was like that for me. And yeah, it was a moment in which I looked like a crazy person. I was like hysterically crying.  My sister in law thought I had gotten hurt or something because of the way I was crying.

It took me a minute to calm down, but after that I was good. I had water and a muffin and I stretched out.  We were all proud of ourselves for completing a half marathon! My brother in law wasn't fairing so well stomach wise, but he ran the race in 1 hour 50 minutes! So awesome! My sister in law did awesome too! And I ran the half marathon with my husband in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I am really proud of that, because I just completed a half marathon.

I don't know in  this moment what other races will be in my future, because I am too sore and tired to think about it. I will post pics from today after I have had some rest.

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru

Water Aerobics

I know I said that I wanted to try out new workouts/exercises, and I am sorry it has taken me so long to blog about them.  I have tried several different types in the last couple weeks. I want to start off with water aerobics.

A lot of people have the misconception that water aerobics is for elderly people. I have had that misconception before. Why do people think that? Well truth is that there are a lot of elderly people who do water aerobics. I will tell you why.  When you workout in water you take a lot of tension off your muscles and joints.  Once when I watched a movie about training for a marathon, one of the athlete's broke her foot. She couldn't run for several weeks, but she was able to run in the water because it took a lot of the weight off of the foot.  Basically anything you can do on land you can do in water, without straining your body as much.

Who can do water aerobics?

Young people

Old people

Heck even the boys from 1D can (for all you One Direction lovers out there)

And you can do water aerobics if you are pregnant.

You can take a water aerobics class or do it on your own. You can use equipment or just use your body.  Of course you need to have water (haha) but there are options for that as well.

Outdoor pool

Above ground pool

Indoor pool

or the ocean

I have never taken a water aerobics class. I did it on my own in my pool.  I found several places online with water aerobics tutorials.  Here is a link to a few ideas for a pool workout. 

Water aerobics has a lot of health benefits. As I mentioned before the water takes off stress from your body. In fact, it takes off 90% of your body weight. You can find more benefits here.


I am not a swimmer. I am not a very good swimmer. I had some near death experiences in water as a young child so for a long time I was hesitant to swim around in the water.  Don't get me wrong, I know how to swim.  But I am not a very confident swimmer.

We have a pool where we live and my kids love to swim. Since summer started we have been at the pool every day. I decided to take that time at the pool and improve my swimming. I also decided to try out some water aerobics. Let me just tell you that swimming is exhausting, and I have woken up sore every morning. It may not tone you but swimming definitely works your muscles.

I want to share with you some of the exercises I have been doing in the pool.  We don't have a very deep pool. The deepest it gets is 4 1/2 feet deep.  One thing I do is walk or run around the pool.  It is really hard and you don't go very fast. I will lift my legs as high as I can as I am walking.

Another thing I do is the wave maker. You are in the water and hold on the side of the pool with one hand and the other is under the water against the wall. You kick your feet back (together) like a dolphin. It really works your legs.

I try to do laps around the pool. My arms get tired really fast doing that. Sometimes I doggie paddle around the pool. Other times I swim under water. I haven't done any aerobics with noodles or water weights. I just try to find exercises I can do with my body.

Even though I have woken up really sore every day after going to the pool, I feel a difference in my body. I am not toning it by swimming but I do feel like I am thinning out in places. I also feel like I am working muscles that I don't work when I run or weight lift.

I will definitely add more water aerobics into my routine this summer.

Late-Night Snacks

Just real quick I wanted to share a few healthy things you can eat when you get the late night munchies. I found a couple of things here like frozen blueberries or a strawberry shake. Or head over to Red and Honey. They give a list of 100 healthy snack ideas, including no-bake chocolate macaroons, chocolate pudding, and peppermint patties.

Another thing I wanted to share was this list that I found. It tells you what your body really needs when you are craving foods (like chocolate). Hope this helps. 

Protein

I had a friend mention to me that she isn't getting enough protein in her diet, and she wondered what foods were high in protein. Per her request, I am writing a post dedicated to protein. What is protein? Essentially protein is a nutrient needed to perform basic bodily functions.  Our body is partly made up of proteins.  You can read more about protein and its functions here.

How much protein do we need? You can calculate that here.  If you are a 145 pound woman like myself then you would need anywhere from 52-118 grams of protein, depending on how active your lifestyle is.

There are so many sources of protein. In my opinion, when people think protein they generally think meat.  Yes, meat provides a lot of protein.  3 ounces of lean beef has 31 grams of protein. One chicken breast contains 58 grams of protein. Animal protein is good, but you should also get your protein from other sources.

I know this week I am off dairy, but in general dairy is good in moderation. Cheese is a good source of protein. A tablespoon of parmesan cheese has 2 grams of protein.  An ounce of cottage cheese has 5 grams of protein.  A serving of greek yogurt can contain as much as 17 grams of protein.

Fish are full of protein.  A 3oz fillet of tuna, salmon, halibut or snapper has 22 grams of protein. Tilapia has 17 grams of protein.

Eggs are a great source of protein.  1 large egg has 6 grams of protein.  If you want to keep an eye on your cholesterol, you can use just the egg whites and still get 4 grams of protein.

There are also many options for those who do not do dairy or meat. 3 ounces of tofu offer 6 grams of protein. A cup of soymilk has 8 grams of protein.

Beans are a wonderful source of protein and there are a large variety of beans to choose from.  Soy beans (as I like to call Edamame) offer 29 grams of protein per cup. They make a great snack. They are really fun to peel open and pop in your mouth!  The following protein is per cup: kidney beans-17 grams, white beans-17 grams, lima beans-15 grams, fava beans-14 grams, black beans-15 grams, mung beans-14 grams. Beans are your friends! You could make a chili or bean stew and you have a high protein meal.

Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) have 39 grams of protein per cup. Most hummus is made from chickpeas, so a high protein snack could be fresh veggies and hummus. It is also really easy to make. Try this basic hummus recipe from the Barefoot Contessa.

Nuts and seeds also provide protein.  An ounce serving of either almonds, pistachios or sunflower seeds contains 6 grams of protein.  An ounce of peanuts is 7 grams.  2 tablespoons of peanut butter has 8 grams of protein.

You can also use protein powder, but be careful to look at the ingredients and nutrition facts.. Often a ton of sugar is added to protein powder.

A variety of vegetables provide protein, but a small amount. 1 cup of spinach has 1 gram of protein.  1/2 cup of steamed broccoli has 1 gram of protein.

Need some ideas for high protein meals/snacks? I have some for you!

Breakfast
Pumpkin Protein Shake at around 270 calories, this morning shake offers 30 grams of fat
Banana Oatmeal Smoothie 380 calories with 12 grams of protein
Breakfast Cookies and Bars 234 calories and 7.6 grams of protein

Snacks
Nutty Putty
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 cup powdered milk

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Roll into about 16 balls with hands.  Can keep in the fridge or freeze. This makes a great snack! Each ball is 170 calories and 10 grams of protein. Be careful with this snack, though.  It can be addictive!

Trail mix--an ounce of mixed nuts is around 5 grams of protein

High-protein Portable Snacks

Larabars are great snacks, made from fruit and nuts. They contain anywhere from 4 to 6 grams of protein. Plus they can curb the sweet tooth.

Like I mentioned earlier, hummus is a good source of protein. A half cup of hummus has around 6 grams of protein.  Here are a few other hummus recipes: Green Monster Hummus, Hummus


Meals
Chili is a great way to get in protein. 1 cup has about 14 grams of protein and is very filling. I found a few different chili recipes: Easy Vegetarian Chili, 6 Delicious Chili Recipes, Turkey Black Bean Chili, Paleo Crock Pot Chili

Taco salad-using black beans and ground turkey. I like to top it with tomatoes, corn, cilantro, salsa, a little bit of cheese, and avocado.

Baked potato bar-- a baked potato has 3.5 grams of protein. Add cheese, greek yogurt, beans, sliced ham and you have around 12 grams of protein right there.

Honey Ginger Grilled Salmon  306 calories per serving and 36.5 grams of protein

Grilled Chili Lime Chicken 239 calories, 25.6 grams of protein

Maple Glazed Salmon 454 calories and 66 grams of protein


That's what I have for now. I hope this helps you out.  I plan on getting another post out soon on good snacks and food to curb cravings and keep you from going off the healthy bandwagon.  Happy eating!

-Kate, your not-too-fit guru