Hello my friends! I can’t believe it is now August. This summer has been flying by!
Well, I started my Oxygen Challenge, #OC4, two and a half weeks ago and I’m loving it, but I’ve been struggling a little bit this past week. Gah! I really love doing these challenges and I’m usually super motivated, especially at the beginning, but I’ve had a few things working against me. 🙁
My 14 year old got a really bad cold a couple of weeks ago and he’s still not quite over it yet. I think I caught his cold about a week and a half ago. I felt pretty crappy and blah for about 3-4 days and since then I’ve slowly started to feel better, but my stamina and energy are still lacking! I just feel like I’ve been draaaaaaagin’. I just don’t feel awesome and it’s soooooo hard to stick to a healthy diet when I just don’t have my oomph. Waaah waaaah!
My little sister, who lives in Connecticut, has also been in town this past week and we’ve been having a lot of fun and running all over the place! We’ve enjoyed a little crappy food together, which I haven’t decided if I regret or not. I’m all about the memory making and enjoying family time, but I’m also a fan of sticking with goals no matter the circumstance because heaven knows, there’s always something to celebrate, some crappy food to enjoy and temptations are everywhere!
So, I’ve found myself feeling crappy, run down and doing a half crap effort with my challenge. Aaaaaaand, I’m feeling a little discouraged and frustrated because of it.
Soooooo, what am I going to do about it????
Well, I know that if I continue to eat crappy food, I will not feel awesome, my immune system will remain in the gutter and I certainly won’t hit my goals! I’ve also learned many, many, many times over the years that a healthy diet, or lack thereof has THEE biggest influence on overall health, stamina, energy level and just quality of life!
Sooooo, I’m refocusing my efforts and am going to stick to my healthy goals, particularly my healthy diet goals 100% from here on out. I am DETERMINED to reclaim my health, my energy and my healthy living mojo. I know it will be especially hard and will require a little more willpower this next week or two, but them I’m hoping my stamina, motivation and strength will return!
That is the plan.
I’ve still been getting all my workouts in for the most part, which I’m happy ’bout. So far, the workouts for my Oxygen Challenge haven’t been too hard. For these first three weeks of the challenge, there are only four workouts a week with the option of adding two additional workouts if you want the added challenge.
The four workouts are amazing and very effective, but also fairy quick. It only takes me about 20-30 minutes to complete a workout. It’s actually been so great because I’ve still been able to fit in some of my favorite classes at the gym along with the four Oxygen Challenge workouts.
Right now I’ve been going to a yoga class on Monday nights, a Pop Pilates class on Tuesday nights, a total body weightlifting class on Wednesdays and I’ve been switching it up on Thursdays. I’ve tried out a Boot Camp class, a Power Pump class or I’ve just been coming up with my own thing in the weight room or doing one of the Oxygen workouts. Sometimes I’ll fit in one of the Oxygen workouts before my Yoga or Pilates class or I’ve even done some of them at home.
I’ve also been loving going to the gym during non-peak hours and going into the classroom (which is usually empty), putting in my headphones and getting my workout done in there. It’s actually been sort of relaxing and therapeutic and I’m loving it.
I’m so grateful that there are actually two different gyms (same gym, just different locations) close to my home, so I’ve been switchin’ it up between the two. Those two pics above were taken at the two different gyms. In that pic on the left I was actually showing my disappointment that the class I was going to go to had been cancelled. 🙁 But, I was happy to have the empty classroom mostly to myself so I could just do my thang.
I’m loving the flexibility of my workouts and am really just loving going to the gym! I actually look forward to it and looooove all of my workouts and my classes. 🙂 Woo hoo!
Apparently our coach for this Challenge, Jen Widerstrom, is going to change up the workouts entirely every three weeks. Soooooo, this is my last week doing these workouts and then I’ll see what’s new for the next three weeks. Woot!
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Well, I thought I would just share some of the yummy, healthy things I’ve been eating lately. I really am trying to fill my body full of good, clean, real food….even when I feel crappy and blah. I know a KEY to healthy eating is actually finding foods that you LIKE and that taste GOOD!
This has been one of my favorite things lately!
It takes about 5 minutes to make and is sooooooo dang tasty and comfort food-y. I really love it. I’ve just been toasting an English Muffin in the toaster (I usually toast it twice so it’s extra crispy!) As soon as it pops out of the toaster, I top it with about a Tablespoon of Olive Oil based mayo, some of that Hormel Cracked Black Pepper Deli Turkey (the bomb!) and some greens (the top pic is fresh basil and the bottom is romaine.)
It is soooooo good!!!
I also roasted some bell peppers last week (loooooove them!) and threw some of those on my English Muffin creation too. So yummy!
I know they don’t look very yummy, but they are so good! They are also very simple to make. You can click here for my recipe if you like!
I also had this for dinner the other night,
It’s a Burger Bowl! I made Turkey Burgers for the fam and I made this creation for myself. I actually got this idea from the Oxygen Challenge, as a version of this recipe was included.
I just mixed up some lean ground turkey with an egg, some Worcestershire sauce and some Weber Gourmet Burger Seasoning, shaped it into some patties and grilled it up! I mixed mine with some romaine lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, ketchup and mustard. So good and so easy!
I also made this for dinner the other night…
I made pasta for the fam and I made some zucchini noodles for me! I mixed some pasta and zucchini noodles together and it was perfect. We topped it with some Kirkland Marinara sauce and some Classico Light Alfedo sauce. Ya know, I really love both of those sauces. The Marinara is just basic, simple and real, which I love. I also looove that Light Alfredo sauce and have used it for years. It’s also very simple and the macros and just as good as the marinara sauce, which is sayin’ something for an Alfredo sauce. Love it!
I also served some broccoli and grilled chicken on the side and cooked up some garlic bread. I made me a garlic bread on a Jospeh’s Pita bread (topped it with a little butter, garlic salt, Parmesan cheese and parsley and broiled it in the oven) and it turned out great.
This is another typical dinner that I make quite often….
Quinoa topped with rotisserie chicken, roasted veggies and a few pot stickers. I think I put a little soy sauce on top too. Oh, and fruit on the side. This is such an easy meal, the kids all like it and it tastes awesome. I especially love it in the summer. Sometimes I grill chicken instead of the rotisserie, but the rotisserie makes this meal sooooo simple! Oh, and sometimes I do brown rice instead too. Yum.
Oh, and I have to share this pic of my hilarious protein shake the other day….
I don’t know what was going on, but something I put in my protein shake made it froth up and triple in volume! It started coming out the top of my blender, so I had to pour some of it out and mix it up in two halves. Crazy!
It was a pretty basic shake too; just kefir, water, Naked Whey protein powder, a scoop of Collagen Peptides, frozen berries, a packet of Emergen-C and a bunch of greens. I originally thought the kefir was the culprit, but now I’m wondering if it was my protein powder. I’ve been noticing my shakes are extra fluffy when I use it. Hmmmm.
Who knows, but it was funny nonetheless. Ha ha ha.
Well, I think that’s all I will share today! I’m hoping when I blog next time I will be full of energy, life, stamina and motivation!!! Here’s to hopin’! I love you all!!! xoxoxo
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