Clean Cheesy Broccoli Soup

It's cold here in Marquette, Michigan. It actually snowed on Halloween. I felt so bad for all the little kiddos in their costumes. I literally had to bundle my Bubby up in a blanket between houses. It's crazy, but unfortunately quite normal for up here.

So I want soup. This is the time of year where the comfort food sounds so good. Bread, soup, mashed potatoes, and yummy coffee drinks. I went with soup AND bread last night. I still have goals, however... such as losing another 10lbs by Thanksgiving. My mother freaked out when she heard that goal. Mothers are great... they always think you're perfect the way you are. However, that is my goal and I'm sticking to it.

I'm the type of girl that likes to have goals and still get what I want. I just want it all. HA. So I made clean broccoli soup... I still get the cheesy goodness without all the heavy creams and processed crap. The bread I had to modify the original recipes A LOT to get it cleaned up, but it still turned out amazing.

Clean Cheesy Broccoli Soup: 

The original recipe can be found here. I used way more vegetables and so I had to keep adding water until I got the right consistency that I wanted. This also effected my seasonings so I doubled up on everything but the basil. Too much basil is a rough way to go with soup. 

4c Water

2 bunches of Broccoli, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 regular potatoes, chopped

2t minced garlic

6T of flour

6T butter

1c Almond Milk

1/2t garlic powder

1/4t nutmeg

1/4t basil 

salt & pepper

1c Cheddar cheese (I use a block and shred it myself)

2c Gouda, shredded (it's WAY cheaper in the deli, sliced) 

Put chopped onion and garlic in a Stock Pot over Medium/High heat. After about 5 min, add Water and bring to a boil. Add all your veggies. Add more water if needed, depends on how you like your soup. Let this simmer until potatoes are done and carrots are soft.

In a separate pan, melt butter. Add flour and whisk quickly, removing from heat as you do so. Once it's combine slowly add it to your soup creating a thinker consistency. Add almond milk and seasonings. 

Add cheese, stirring constantly. 

This was by far the best Clean (aka NON VELVEETA) cheesy soup I have made. Usually it comes out all stringy and weird, but this was creamy and smooth, even after it had cooled! I am really impressed! 

Now I decided I wanted bread. I'm a carb girl at heart. Seriously I could eat pasta and bread all day everyday. I didn't have time, however, to let it rise and do it's thing. I needed quick bread. Again, Pinterest to the rescue. 

Basic Quick Bread

Here is the original recipe. It's actually a very cool sit with a huge variety of way to makes this by adding all sorts of goodies. I kept it simple and modified it so I wasn't eating a bazillion calories with each yummy, crummy bite. 

2c Whole Wheat Flour

1/2c stevia blended sugar (it's regular and stevia blended together, HALF the calories)

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2t baking soda

1t salt

1c almond milk w/ 1T vinegar mixed and set for 5 minutes

1 egg

1/4c olive oil

Heat oven to 350.

Mix dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients. 

Pour wet ingredients onto dry ingredients and JUST mix together. It will be kinda of weirdly lumpy and sticky.

Pour into a sprayed 9x5 loaf pan and level it out. 

Bake for 40min. 

Now I read a lot of the comments on the original recipe and most people had a problem with the baking time. I check it every 5 min after 30 min and discovered 40min was perfect in my oven: knife came out clean. 

Let it rest for about 10min. and then slice and EAT. 

OMG was this amazing. My hubby referred to it as the bread version of graham crackers and then added "that's a good thing." HA. It was delicious. I'll add that you store the bread wrapped tightly in Saran Wrap and kept at room temperature. (if you freeze it, it lasts 3 months)

I hope you enjoy these yummy comfort foods on a cold day wherever you're at!! Leave me a comment and let me know your favorite comfort food ! 

xoxo,

Summer 

Creating a Cloffice or Closet Office

I posted a few teaser pictures on my Facebook  of what I was planning on doing with my random closet we have in our living room. The response was awesome so I told everyone I would blogpost the results. I'm keeping my promise... just a few weeks late. haha Such is life.

I started out with a closet that was collecting crap. 

Ya know, the usual: luggage, paper shredder, board games, and everything else still in boxes from our move that I didn't feel like unpacking quite yet. It took me a good hour to find new homes for all of this  move everything to the garage. Once it was empty I could begin. 

Step 1: Pick a paint color. 

Here's the trick: you have to pick a color that is going to keep you alive and awake. When you have a cloffice you are basically staring straight into closet. Now the rest of my upstairs is neutral. Forest green, deep tan, and white trim. I thought about picking a neutral color to coincide with my living room scheme. Seriously, though, who wants to stare at a neutral color??!?! Also I lucked out on the chance that my husband (the more "neutral" of the 2 of us) was traveling for work the entire week. I didn't have to consult anyone besides myself! My options were endless!! Off to Lowe's!!! Upon arrival I was quite overwhelmed but I was scanning some paint swatches and the same color kept screaming "PICK ME! PICK ME!!!". It was just meant to be. Enter turquoise.  Or aqua. Whatever you want to call it. I loved it. 

Step 2: Paint during nap time.

Yeah don't even bother trying to start this while the kid(s) are awake. Absolutely not. I painted one coat during nap time and shut the door. Wrapped it up with a second coat that night after bedtime and painted the ceiling and trim a bright white that I had leftover from the nursery. Good lord it looks fantastic. 

Step 3: Measure everything. Twice. Three times. 

Because if you don't you will realize too late that your Ikea shelves from the past apartment actually don't fit in the closet and you actually do need to run to Menards and get shelving. 

Step 4: Get generic shelves.

They had the cute shelves that would've cost me almost $80. I was freaking out and thinking I couldn't have shelves anymore when a really nice Menards guy helped me find the boring shelves that are perfect for closets and knocked my cost down to less than $30. My husband really likes this guy now. 

Step 5: Install shelves with a level. 

I don't own one. My shelves are crooked. I don't want to talk about it.

Step 6: Minimalism is your motto.

When you have such a small space to work with, keep it simple. I used the top shelf for board games and the second shelf for baskets of crafts and paper work. I also found (hello, Target) an adorable filing cabinet made of wood!! It's slim and keep everything super organized for me! 

Step 7: Step back and admire!!!! This really was a simple project. A few more trips than I had planned but ended up being well worth it!!! 

This was a really fun project! Let me know what you think!! 

My husband's reaction? "Oh... that's babe.... I'm just really glad that color is in a SMALL space!" haha I love that man. 

xoxo,

Summer 

Fighting Fear with Failure

Hello loves!!!
I've been wrestling for weeks and I finally must process this outside of my brain.

The only people who overcome their fears are those who are willing to fail. 

You can't demand perfection of yourself. You can't expect to know everything. You can't wait until you do know everything. You just have to try, attempt, step out, DO SOMETHING and begin to put your dreams in motion. It is the only way of accomplishing anything.

I have, for far too long, talked, dreamed, brainstormed, wished and fancied a career in writing. I want to share whatever small knowledge I have in my world with anyone that it might possibly help. I have been trapped, however, in a little cage of fear. Fear that it won't help anyone and fear that no one will care.

I've been a big scaredy-cat. I've been wishing I could be someone that I already am if I would just do what I am capable of doing.

It's the same for YOU. You already know the goal... you've been thinking about it since you saw the word "fear" in the headline. It's right there...and you have what it takes to reach it.

Start small. Take risks. When we think about risks our first thought is usually financial, but usually that isn't even a factor. Unless you are literally starting your own small business (way to go, by the way!!) most risks involved in facing our fears are actually mental and emotional. I'll let you in on a secret though. It's the key to protecting your emotions and not getting hurt on your road to success. You just have to know one thing.

You're are going to fail.

There. Process it now. Feel it. Let yourself cry for a moment. Failure is a fantastic key in the process of success. Maybe 'fantastic' is a strong word, but it's necessary. You need to grow, develop, and stretch out those wings. You have to hit a few roadblocks to get going in the right direction. The average novel writer pushes out 4-13 drafts before a Final Draft is formed. That is a lot of failures and red ink before getting approval from someone else. You have to know that you won't be producing rainbows and unicorns your first try. Maybe you will. Maybe you will be the random person who just does it perfectly the first time. In that case you don't need me and you may feel free to move on. For the rest of us Average Joes we are going to have a lot of rough drafts before we find success in whatever form you see that as.

It's what you DO with your failure that determines your outcome. Learn from it. Dissect it. Find out why it didn't work and change. 

You are choosing to jump off the cliff, knowing you're going to hit a few rocks on the way down before you learn to fly. <--- cheesy metaphor insert. That's just the way it works.

I'm calling you out on your fear. Face it and embrace it. Behind fear is usually where our deepest passions lie. The only way to fight it is to try. 

I'm hitting it head on from now on. What about you? What do you fear most and what are you going to do about it? 

I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!! 

xoxo,

Summer 

Chili and Cornbread Recipe

Quick update on my ongoing fitness journey before I head into the MOST AMAZING chili and cornbread recipes you've EVER had.

I have 2 more weeks of P90x3 left. My cleanse went exactly as planned and worked like a charm. I lost 6lbs total and had "skinny face" for my family photos (which I will be posting a few favorites SOON). They turned out fantastic and I felt so skinny and confident. I'm just so proud of myself for getting this far in my journey. It's be a rough road that sometimes feels rockier than other times, but it has always been worth it.

Remember, the choices you make to better your health and get the body that you were created to have will always be worth the sacrifices you make. Sometimes I'm the girl who says we can't eat there because I won't be able to find anything healthy and everyone gives you that look. It's worth it. Sometimes my groceries are boring. Sometimes I don't get the quick emotional fix of a doughnut and I just have to actually work through my true feelings. It's worth it. I'm going to be strong. I will keep up with my daughter on the playground. I'll be able to help my daughter practice sports. I'm going to enjoy my 50s and 60s with my husband just as much as our 20s. It's all worth it.

 Now onto the best Chili and Cornbread Recipe you've ever tasted! No joke this really is amazing. I even took this recipe to a large gathering where everyone was bringing different types of chilies and multiple people kept coming up asking what I put in mine that makes it soooooooo good.

The secret is this: nothing. I keep it so basic and I think basic recipes have gotten lost in world of foodies and culinary art. Most people are trying to create your grandmother's basic chili and then put 20 different seasonings in it that you would have to travel half the world to find. The result is chili, but not your grandmother's.

Here's to my grandmother, one of the best cooks I know.

Basic Chili

1 lb Ground Turkey (ok I actually grew up on ground Venison but I don't have any on hand)

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 T Worcestershire sauce (admittedly I put this in almost everything)

1 Green Pepper, chopped

1 Yellow Pepper, chopped

1 Orange Pepper, chopped

1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans (no sugar added), rinsed

2 cans Chili Beans (no sugar added) NOT rinsed

1 Qt Stewed Tomatoes (semi-blended so it's not so chunky)

1 T chili powder

Brown burger, onion, W sauce, for 5 min. Add peppers. Continue cooking until burger is completely browned and peppers are softening. Add beans and stewed tomatoes. Add chili powder. 

Let it simmer for 30 min. Taste test. If it's too acidic you can add 1 tsp of sugar. (it won't kill you, I promise)

Now onto the Cornbread. This has been a 3 year process for me. It can be SO HARD to find a good cornbread recipe. Too sweet. Too bland. Too crumbly. Corn or no corn. This is not something I choose to "healthify", but recently I did switch out the sugar for honey and was in HEAVEN. I have learned a lot of lessons and literally burned my way to finding the best cornbread recipe. Enjoy.

Johnston Cornbread

4 eggs, separated

1 C Buttermilk (or 1C reg & 1T vinegar, let set for 5 min) 

1t Vanilla

3/4 C butter, melted, cooled

1 C cornmeal

1 C Honey 

1T Baking Powder 

1t salt

2 C flour 

1 can Creamed Corn

Preheat oven to 375. Put egg whites in your mixer with whisk attachment and let it go to town while you do everything else because you  need them to form stiff peaks it takes FOREVER if you do it by hand. Combine egg yolks, milk, cooled butter, and vanilla in a bowl. Mix in honey and creamed corn. Stir in flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder until just combined. Don't go crazy. Fold in eggs whites slowly until mixed in evenly. Pour batter into greased 8x8 pan and bake for 40-45 min. Check center with a knife or toothpick until it comes out clean. 

This has BY FAR been my most successful cornbread venture to date. This recipe  is the best I found, and then adapted to create what I really wanted. 

I hope your family enjoys these recipes on a cold, fall evening. I'm horribly addicted to chili, so any semi-brisk day I am quickly pulling out my cans of beans! 

What is your favorite kind of Cornbread? Sweet? Plain? Do you love corn in yours? Let me know in the comments below!! 

xoxo, 

Summer 

Kill Sugar Cravings and Lose the Bloat

In my last post I talked about having to hit the reset button after a week or so of crazy binge eating. So easy to write about, not so easy to implement. Sugar has this lovely way of being literally addictive and once you start consuming it on a regular basis your body starts to crave it on a regular basis.

This means COLD TURKEY. The best way to beat it is to kill it. Now I don't know if you've ever tried to give up sugar completely but it sucks. Bad. You are actually going through withdrawal and it does not feel good. Headache. Stomach cramps. Depleted energy levels. I can't focus on anything. It is crazy hard to do and crazy awesome to accomplish. But I've found a better way. Or at least an easier route.

Shakeology. I do have an entire page dedicated to it on the tabs above, but let me just say that I love love love this stuff! I drink it everyday and my hair, skin, and nails are fantastic! I have crazy amounts of energy and I'm getting all the weird awesome vitamins the earth has to offer without having to go dig them up for myself. All of these are great benefits of Shakeology. My favorite, though? It kills sugar cravings. I've given up sugar a few time in my life and when I do it with Shakeology it is so much less painful.

The taste first of all is YUMMY. I've switched to the Chocolate Vegan since I'm trying to move in that direction with my life... slowly but surely. It tastes like a chocolate shake and depending on how you mix it you can create a "Frosty" texture or more of a "smoothie" texture. It comes in a variety of flavors (Strawberry, Chocolate, Greenberry, and Vanilla) so it's impossible to get bored with it, plus there are TONS of creative recipes online.

That is my Shakeology soap box... but what I'm really talking about is the cleanse. This was created by people who use Shakeology daily and wanted to step it up a notch and use it to it's fullest potential.

You can do either a 3 day Cleanse or a 5 day cleanse. My hubby happens to be traveling this week AND we are getting family photos done on Sunday so this was the perfect moment to crush my cravings and lose a little bloat and what I like to call "puffy weight" from my face. My face is talented at retaining water weight. I'm looking to have a skinny face in these pictures!

It seems crazy, but Shakeology is a full meal replacement shake. This means it has all the vitamins, proteins and nutrients that I would need for a full meal. This is not a protein shake on steroids. As you can see from the picture it is 3 Shakeology shakes, 2 optional fruit servings, and one salad with a 4oz protein. I've had a plain chicken salad the last 2 days now with a low fat olive oil based dressing. My shakes I've mixed with just ice, water, and a teaspoon of caramel extract because I like it that way. 

I'm currently on Day 2 and will continue until Sunday when we do the photos!!! I'm only down a pound right now, but this is really about not wanting sugar so badly, resetting my healthy eating habits, and losing the bloat! If I lose a few pounds along the way, which is super common, then so be it! 

If you're interested in purchasing a 3 day cleanse worth of Shakeology (9 packets) please email me @ summerfitness12@gmail.com 

xoxo, 

Summer 

How to get back on track

We've all done it.
You're on a roll. You haven't cheated in weeks! You've been getting your workouts in. You're already judging all those people at lunch drinking soda or eating those cheesy burgers. You have made it. You're one of the healthy people now.

And then you crash.
HARD.

Maybe it was poor timing. You just couldn't get up that early. So you sleep in and then when you're choosing lunch you realize you've lost a bit of your power you get from nailing your workout, and you choose the burger. It looks good, damn-it, and you deserve it. But then you miss it the next day. Your husband wants cupcakes after dinner and you want quality time with him so you can't possibly say no. So you eat it.

It can spiral easily. It's not like you woke up and decided "Screw this healthy eating good choices thing, I'm going back to my old ways!" You actually just made small choices without thinking about your goals first. It's possible your goals seemed tiny and insignificant compared to the major emotional problems that were blaring in your face in that moment. I get it, and I've been there.

That was my last week ^^^^^^^

It's not like I wasn't loving my program. I was in the rest week of Phase 2 of P90x3 and I was really happy. I just had some things come up that I should have handled differently. I was stressed out, tired, and overwhelmed. I chose cupcakes and apple crisp instead of my future body. I picked emotional binge eating to fix my problems.

This isn't about cheat meals. I am 100% for cheat meals and I don't think you can truly make this a lifestyle without them. My ovaries would quit life if I deprived them of the occasional Oreo or 2. The problem I had with accessing this past week is that it wasn't healthy. I was making bad choices because I didn't want to really deal with anything that was going on.

Sometimes it's easier. I get that. There will be times where you just can't eat one more piece of chicken and work sucks and you just need an Oreo (geez I can't get them off the brain today!). It's going to happen. Part of life is choosing to die to who you WERE and choosing to become who you really ARE.

So this week is new. It's Monday morning and I'm hitting the reset button on life. I've spent time with myself and reorganized my emotions. I've put my foot down and stopped the cycle here. It will not creep into this week; don't let it, friend. We can do this together. Today starts the journey to our better selves again. We just tripped and fell. I know it felt like a tsunami hit us and we'll never find the path again, but it's just not true. Step back and see that you just fell and it's not the end.

How do we reset? Simple:

1. Take a breath and step back. Analyze exactly where you decided against your goals. There was a deciding moment, find it and discover your emotions and the context of the situation. Part of this journey is learning the new you. You need to know how you USED to react to situations so you can learn how the new you will react to them in the future!

2. Plan a cheat meal. Girls night coming up? Dinner out with friends? Date night? Plan it. Having something to look forward to gives you resolve plus it makes it taste SO much better knowing you earned it all week.

3. Forget about it. That was last week. Move on. Today is new. This week is new. Today has no idea what you did yesterday, so don't give it another thought. Rock out your Monday like you've been fit your whole life.

I'm going to keep pushing forward. I started today with my Shakeology to reset my sugar cravings and I'm about to go tackle my meal plan for the week ahead.

What are you going to do to hit the reset button?



Join me in my journey of craziness and pushing towards a healthy lifestyle!!!!


xoxo,


Summer

Family Meal Plan PLUS bonus Toddler Meal Plan

It's Monday and in the Johnston household that means a lot of food prep and cooking! Mondays are my day off for the week (instead of Saturdays) so this is when I get things done to make the rest of my week work.
It all begins on Sunday afternoon. Bubby goes down for a nap and the meal planning begins. Now let me just insert a fun fact for a second: I HATE MEAL PLANNING. I will cook anything you ask of me, as long as you decide what we're cooking. It's insanely stressful for me. It wasn't until we started looking at our budget that I realized we were spending way too much money on food. Not just going out but throwing things into the cart without rhyme or reason. I had produce going bad, fruit flies everywhere, and always the wrong meat in my freezer! I realized I really needed to start thinking about what we were going to cook before we even bought the groceries. So enter Sundays. I sat down and thought of 3 meals. That's it: 3 meals. We usually have leftovers for 2 of the nights, we eat out 1 night a week and Tuesdays are special: I work late and Hubby is super awesome about coming up with anything to eat. Usually it's more leftovers or sandwiches or simple pasta dishes. Not because he can't cook (good lord he's amazing) but because it's usually crazy when it's only one parent at home with Bubby.
This is how I break it down and write a meal plan in about >30 min.

Start by writing out 3 different breakfast options:
Breakfast: 
Shakeology (healthiest meal of the day!! and easiest)
Eggs with potatoes and leftover broccoli (see dinners)
Oatmeal w/ banana and PB

Then think of snacks. Since I eat "clean" one of the rules is to eat frequently throughout the day, every 2-3 hours. Snacks are really important. Balanced snacks will pair a complex carb (such as fruit, veggies or I even count cheese) with a protein.

Snacks:

Cheese sticks (2) with almonds (12)
Cottage cheese and fruit (peaches)
Veggies (peppers, cucumbers, carrots) with greek yogurt
Fruit (grapes) with cashews

Lunch is the easiest for me to plan. I'm super boring, my Hubby eats carrots and a banana for lunch (I'm not even joking he is that easy to plan for) and Bubby has her own meal plan for lunches.

Lunch:
Salads with Chicken, feta, pecans
Frozen stir fry and chicken
Salad with Tuna Salad (made with greek yogurt and mustard)

Dinner is the trickiest because you're feeding the whole family at once and it has to get made between getting home at 5 or 6pm and Bubby going to bed at 8pm. I'm also trying to limit the amount of meat we consume (to save money and because I really value a plant-based diet).

Dinner: 
Whole Roasted Chicken, roasted broccoli, and sweet potatoes
-now there is no way my family is going to eat a whole chicken, but I can get chicken broth plus shredded chicken for either soup or bbq chicken sandwiches at a later date! Way better than just buying 3 chicken breasts for almost the same price! I buy a whole, unfrozen, natural chicken and just boil it in water with salt and pepper. Use the leftover broccoli in your eggs the next day!
Tomato Soup and Grilled Turkey cheese Sandwiches
-I do NOT buy canned tomato soup since I can't find a brand that doesn't put sugar in it. I found a great recipe on this site that I am using. I do buy fresh shaved deli meat turkey that I know some people would have a problem with but I don't.
Red Beans and Rice- SO excited to try this tonight!!! I've linked the recipe I'll be kind of using. I'm not adding any sausage and Hubby vetoed the creole seasoning so I'm going to make that part up as I go. This should give me leftovers for one of the other nights this week.


Then I just made a list of what I needed to get that I didn't already have, which was mostly produce and the beans. I only spent $59 at the store! Really excited about that! It's fun when you're trying and it literally pays off!

Below is the promised bonus Toddler Meal Plan with 2 specific recipes: one of my own creation and one I found on Pinterest. Here's a preview pic of what I have planned for my Bubby for the week

Toddler Menu 


I hope this helped you in some way. I'd love to hear how YOU meal plan! I'll take all the ideas I can get!!!


xoxo,

Summer

30 Day Results and Review

I can't believe I'm writing this: 30 days in the bag. Actually I'm a week behind in writing this so I'm a week into the new schedule BUT I'm crazy busy so you're hearing about it now. I just have to say that it seemed to go by fast! Which just really hammers in that quote I saw the other day "The time is going to pass anyways, you might as well DO something with it." Love it. My life is crazy busy with a baby, work, husband, coaching, and life in general. It's going to go by fast so I might as well get fit while it's happening. It's 30 minutes and I can make time for that. Even earlier this week I had slept in, put in a full day at work, made dinner, put Bubby to bed, and had settled down to hang out with the Hubby to watch a documentary on Unions (yeah, we're weird like that). All of the sudden I realized I hadn't worked out that day. The whole day had just flew by me and I'd completely forgot. I also remembered it was YogaX. Old me: oops, well try again tomorrow... plus it's yoga which is basically not working out anyways, right? (not that I would know because I always skipped the yoga dvds anyways). Not anymore!!! New me: Crap! I forgot to workout! Sorry, babe, I'm going to go push play and I'll be back in 30 min. Oh, it's Yoga? Sweet, I could use some balance after a day like today. THAT is what we call Life Transformation. I'm changing the way my mind reacts towards fitness which will eventually change my body. It's amazing.

So here's a gander at my before and after picture for just the 30 days. Explanation: 1st picture my husband was available to take it. 2nd picture he was still sleeping and the only full length mirror in the house oddly enough is in Bubby's nursery. So it's not as clear but you have a great view of her adorable room. 

Sweet, huh?? I wasn't sure there was much change before I took the photo. I knew one of my pants seemed a little bit bigger but not that much. The picture really shows it. 

Then I took my measurements. I lost 5lbs, 1" off my waist, and 2" off my hips. 

Holy Inches!!!! That is incredible! I'm so excited. I went from being able to do 5 normal pushups before switching to knee-style, to now I can do about 12 before switching!!!! My core is stronger, I can hold poses longer, and I can actually do more poses which means I'm getting more flexible! I still hate cardio but I don't think that will ever change. HA

So that's my 30 days in results! I still have 60 to go which is mind blowing what those results will be!! I'm so jacked to see my 90 day picture! 

What are your goals? Where do you want to be in 30, 60, even 90 days!?! 

Hit me up at www.facebook.com/Summerfitnesslife   or email me at summerfitness12@gmail.com

I'd love to help or get you plugged into one of my Challenges! 

P90x3 Week 1 Review

I made it! Week 1 finished! It wasn't so hard that I wanted to die and quit but I had my butt handed to me by Tony every single day. I loved it. The workouts were very calculated so I didn't feel any of the 30 minutes were wasted. There were rests just when I needed them and I was always just sore enough the next day to know I did some real work. Let's take a gander, shall we?

Monday/Day 1/ Total Synergistics
   Very creative moves. I wasn't bored at all, in fact most of the moves were new to me. There is a little bit of chin-ups, push-ups, squats in new positions, and resistance training. It wasn't as "fast-paced" as some of the workouts, but the focus isn't on cardio so that made sense.

Tuesday/Day 2/ Agility X
   Ok if we're being super honest I didn't like this workout. It's not that it wasn't challenging or different, it was both.... but personal preference I'm not a fan of jumping. The point of P90x3 (and all the p90x series) is to give you well rounded workouts that increase your physical abilities in all areas of fitness. This is jumping. Quick movements. Speed. You tape the ground and use it as reference points throughout the workout. It was still a great workout, I was sweating by the end of it, and it's only 30 minutes. I can do anything for 30 minutes.

Wednesday/Day3/ X3 Yoga
   Yoga is a great day to have a workout buddy. My sister stopped by and I didn't really give her a choice. I put my daughter to bed and told my sister where my workout clothes were located. We pushed play. We laughed a lot. We discovered yoga is hard, we're both not very flexible, and there's a joke in every pose. My husband could hear us laughing, yelling, and falling over. A lot. Great video for a buddy. Great active rest day.

Thursday/Day 4/ The Challenge
   Do you like pushups? Do you like pull-ups? Great because you're going to do them back to back for 30 minutes. It was an excellent workout. Remember that I'm a stylist during the day? Yeah, I could barely lift my arms at work. One of my goals in P90x3 is to kick girl pushups to the curb, so I'm excited to see myself get stronger and stronger with this one!

Friday/Day 5/ CVX
  Welcome to your Cardio session for the week. Except I usually hate cardio and I LOVED this. Cardio with weights?!?! Yes, please!! Cardio without tons of jumping? Even better. I'm actually looking forward to doing this again this week.

Saturday/Day6/ The Warrior
   Sir, yes Sir! This was a salute to the military. Tony came up with this one for soldiers who needed a workout they could do anywhere. No equipment needed. This will be great when I'm downstate or on vacation. I came upstairs after doing this and told my husband, "That was defnitely my favorite so far."

Sunday/Day 7/ Dynamix
    Another great active recovery workout, but I still felt like I was accomplishing something. In this one you're working on flexability and stability, both things that I really need work on.


Overall I'm jacked on this program. The 30 minutes make it completely doable, even on the days that I don't quite get up at 5am. Tony's funny, but not over the top (like in p90x where I wanted to mute him the whole time) and the "backup dancers" are great inspiration and motivation. I always want to push to be just a little better than them. There are modifications on just about every move, especially the more difficult ones. For any of you that have completed any of the Beachbody programs before I really think p90x3 is a great way to take your fitness to the next level. I'm so excited to reach my 90 days!!!!


If you have any questions about the workouts or about Beachbody programs in general, shoot me an email @ summerfitness12@gmail.com  or comment below!

xoxo,

Summer

Meal Prepping

You've heard about it. You may have even seen co-workers that seemed to have balanced, healthy lunches everyday and your first thought was, "Omg, how do they find the time to make that every morning?" They don't. Well most normal people don't. You get the occasional "I have tons of free time in the morning" person, but in the real world most of us have barely enough time to eat breakfast and put clothes on. So I'll show you how it's done. It's all about preparation. Think ahead to what you want or think you might want that week and make it happen when you do have the time rather than fighting for it 5 minutes before you're supposed to be in the car.

Now I'm going to lay out a Meal prepping plan for you exactly how I do it every Sunday afternoon. Feel free to get creative. Use different meat. Change up your veggies. Buy different seasonings. This can vary based on the nutrition plan you're following. This is what I did when on the Fix and currently on p90x3.

Here's what you will need:

Tupperware- I don't care if it's brand new from Costco or your grandmother's hand-me-down from a tupperware party she had in the 60s. It will work. 5 containers should do it.

Cooking spray- olive oil or coconut oil spray are my fav.

Chicken- if you can afford it get the good stuff. I can't, so I buy the stuff in the bags. I typically get the "tenderloins" instead of breasts because they cook better and I can portion control them as well.

Seasonings- I love Mrs. Dash Original. No salt and it tastes great with whatever I decide to do with my food. Anything will work though (The Fix has great seasoning recipes!)

Bake sheet

Frozen Veggies- this makes my life. Seriously. And now just about every brand makes them in the steamable bags. It's a win/win world. Now I have tried just about every "mix veggies" package out there. California blend kinda makes me hate lunchtime. Stir-fry mixes are where it's at. Particularly at Target. Market Pantry brand is great, just the right mix of veggies and NO MUSHROOMS. (blech.)

Quinoa- it can seem intimidating but it's not. Super easy. I buy bulk organic so that I don't have the "rinse" step taking up my time, but if you choose to buy it "normal" than just rinse your quinoa in a really really fine mesh strainer first.

Ok. Got it all? Let's get started.

First you want to Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Great. Now place 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of water in a pan, cover, and let it come to a boil. 

While that is heating up, let's tackle the chicken prep. Gather your supplies:

Spray your baking sheet down, distribute your chicken, and then spray the chicken a little just to make the seasoning stick to the frozen surface. Then sprinkle a little of the seasoning over the chicken. Now you're probably thinking, wait how much chicken am I going to need? If you did the tenderloins about 2 is a serving. If you did breasts then 3 is about what you need. Think 5 portions at about 3 oz a piece. 

By now your oven should be preheated. Set the timer to 7 minutes and throw them in. Check on your quinoa. If you're boiling, turn in down to just a simmer and keep it covered for 15 min. ( or when we're all done with the chicken b/c that's how awesomely this is all timed out)

VEGGIES. Thank God for microwaves. I have friends who don't have them. What the what?!?! How do you survive. Actually my husband didn't own one when we met. He literally heated leftovers on the stove. Sounds exhausting I know, but if you don't have a microwave, there are instructions on the frozen veggies on how to heat them on the stove. For us microwave people, I heat them for 4 minutes. Not enough to actually cook them, but just defrost them a bit so I can measure them. You'll end up cooking them when you heat them for lunch the day of. Here's so you can see which ones I typically buy:

When the timer goes off for the 7 minutes mark, check your chicken and flip it over. I HATE dry chicken and this seems to be the best way to cook it without over cooking it. Set the timer for another 7 minutes. 

When that is finished pull it out and set the chicken to the side. Check on your quinoa. It should be fluffy and all the water should be cooked out. Lay out all your tupperware. 

Now here is where you would cut up the chicken if you needed to measure it in your RED container on the Fix or you can just weigh it like I do and stick to 2-3oz as a portion size. 

The veggies I do 1.5 cups for regular or p90x3 portioning... if you're on the Fix just use your green container. 

Quinoa is a yellow container OR 1/3 cup.

Mix it together and you have a great stirfry that's read for you to just grab and go for the week!!!!

There are all sorts of clean stirfry sauces you can find on Pinterest. I'll try and upload a recipe soon! I personally like it plain but I appreciate the need to spice it up. Also I've found that these keep for a week. I know people say don't keep things for more than 3 days, but I've never found that to be a problem. I make them on Sunday and eat my final one at work on Saturday. Works for me! :-)

 I hope you found this helpful! Please comment any questions or ideas! I'd love to hear them. Also shoot me an email if you would like more details on eating clean or the 21 Day Fix or P90x3. 

And so it begins...

I'm a little nervous as I write this. I've begun my 90 day journey with p90x3. It's been a 6 month process getting here. In January I decided to really buckle down and start taking my fitness seriously. No excuses. I would MAKE the time to workout. I ordered t25 becuase I work full-time and have a family. My time to workout is 5am, so the shorter the better. It was a great program and I definitely got into better shape. My results were sub-par. I hadn't followed the eating plan. We eat pretty clean around here and I just thought "I'll eat healthy, workout and the weight will fall off". That didn't happen. I realized I needed a reevaluation of my diet. Abs are made in the kitchen folks!!! So I ordered the 21 day fix. This is amazing. If you're feeling confused about portion control for your body or even how to just eat balanced throughout the day, this is a great program to get you started off in the right direction. I lost 10lbs in 1 round of the Fix.


I happen to be one of those body types that carries a lot of weight spread all over her body so it never looks like much but it's always adds up fast. I lost a total of 5 in over my whole body! An inch off each arm!!! I can't remember the last time my arms were smaller than 12in! Then I took the summer off. By that I mean I maintained my weight and worked out a couple times a week. I live in beautiful Marquette, MI. Which means we wait through 9 months of winter for 3 gorgeous months of summer. We play outside... A LOT. Mountain Biking, hiking, and walking down by the water or basically everywhere. I love it here. I realized though, as does anyone who goes without routine of any kind, that I missed it. I missed waking up with purpose and having goals. I also craved paper and yellow pencils but that maybe the impending fall creeping into my thoughts. So I began my search for something new. Sure, I could do the programs I have and get great results.... but I know me. I L.O.V.E change. I crave. I wake up every morning hoping today is going to be drastically different than yesterday, even if yesterday rocked my world. So I was looking for new. I knew I loved p90x but my only complaint (and most peoples) was the 1-1 1/2 hr long workouts. Yeah, I could MAKE the time, but that was a lot of time and I was spoiled from t25 and the Fix 30 min workouts. I needed to get in, get my butt handed to me, and get out. I have a 15 month old, a husband and a full-time job. I need simple, laid out for me programs that can give me the results I need with the time I have. p90x3 was it. It has everything I need. Now I won't rant in the post (no promises for the future) but I love Shakeology. Seriously. You need to try this stuff. It's got everything I need in one shake... I already told you how busy my life is. One less meal to worry about? Yes please! All the vitamins and nutrients from around the world in one shake? YUPP! Easy. Done. On with my day. PS it's awesome at killing sugar cravings and getting my chocolate fix at the same time. BOOM. So much for not ranting. All this to say that I decided to go with the Challenge Pack. You're getting your ShakeO and program in one package at a lower price. You can't argue with that. Plus it sets you up to keep getting the ShakeO at discounted shipping. Win Win. Then I decided to get a little crazy... I became a Beachbody Coach! I'm already a huge supporter of the programs and lifestyle. I love that the company is all about helping people commit and succeed at being the best versions of themselves possible. And I already have people asking me all the time about beachbody. It was time to take it to the next level.
So that is how my journey began.... and now it has started. I took my before pictures and measurements yesterday

and I woke up to Total Synergistics this morning and loved it! I'll be posting my meal plan later this week and then reviewing my first week this coming weekend! So watch for those posts and thanx for checking out my journey.

xoxo

Summer