SexyBack Challenge - Week 5

Here's my SexyBack Week 5 check-in!

This week can be summed up with one word, VEGGIES! You can tell that our garden is in full bloom with all the fresh veggies we’ve been eating this week. Okay, so maybe it’s just the zucchini and cucumbers, but still.

Here's a picture of our garden.

One of my favorite things to have for lunch is a veggie sandwich. I make it with a sandwich thin, a little Chipotle Lime Mayo (à la Wildtree Herbs), a thin slice of mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and lots of spinach. It’s easy and quick to make and the ingredients are usually in the fridge.

My physical activity this week has mostly been work. I’m constantly walking, moving, squatting, lifting my camera and so on. I’ve also gotten a few evening walks in as well.

At the Canyon County Relay For Life [last month] I ended up winning one of the raffles, which just so happened to be 4 months free at a local fitness center. I’ll probably be splitting the fourth months with Heather so that we can go together. I need to go on the website and sign up, but hopefully I’ll be able to start this next week if things don’t get too busy.

My goals for next week are to step up my exercise game [5 days - 30 minutes minimum/day] and continue to drink lots of water. I feel I’m at a good place with my food and I’m continuing to cut back [or cut out] pop. What are you goals this week?

Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four

SexyBack Challenge - Week 4

It's time for the SexyBack Challenge Week 4 check in!

This week started out a little wonky. I didn't have to work on Friday, but I was miserable and sick in bed all day. Besides getting off to a rocky start I ate pretty good throughout the week. I had fresh salads for lunch everyday and drank at least 2+ bottles of water. Although I must confess that Coke is probably going to be my downfall. I'm trying to be more conscious of how much I drink or choose something different to drink.

Halfway through the week a switch flipped in my workout routine. I started going on walks in the evening with the sister. We're trying to find the perfect walking loop. When we lived in Cali we had the perfect 3 mile loop to walk through Claremont. When we were really ambitious we'd walk the 4 flights of stairs (multiple times) at the parking garage in the center of town. We tried a new route last night and went 1.7 miles. Tonight we made it 2 miles. But we're pretty sure we know the exact route to get over 3 miles. We're slowly working our way up.

Here's my picture for the week, it's from our walk tonight:

One of my favorite things is using my Runkeeper App on my phone during our walks. It easily calculates the length, time, calories and minutes per mile.

This weekend the sister and I are housesitting. We don't know the area well enough to be comfortable going on walks so we'll definitely be bringing along a workout dvd.

Week One
Week Two
Week Three

SexyBack Challenge - Week 3

This week for the SexyBack Challenge I feel like I’ve improved over last week. I’ve gotten physical activity in almost every single day; from cleaning the house, to sweeping off the deck, washing my car, working and doing a Jillian Michaels’ workout dvd. You don’t HAVE to “workout” to get physical activity in.

As far as my food goes, I’m probably right in the middle of the road. I didn’t eat horrible [except for one trip to McDonald’s and one trip to Taco Time – same day, and too much pop all around], but I know I could have done better. One day at a time.

I didn’t drink as much water as I should have, shame on me. It should be easy since I have such awesome water bottles, haha.

I’ve written about Miir bottles before [see HERE], but I thought it would be fitting to talk a little bit about them in this post too. As you can see by the pictures my whole family loves Miir bottles. Not only are they generally great waters bottles, but they’re customizable AND they also support an amazing cause. Miir donates $1 from every bottle they sell to provide clean water for one person for an ENTIRE year [one4one].

During July 16-19, 2011 the Miir Team will be attempting to summit Mt. Rainier and raise $14,411 [which also happens to be the elevation] for clean water projects with One Day’s Wages. I encourage you to check out their Climb for Clean Water page and donate if you can.

Go check out Miir and tell me what’s your combo?

Follow Miir on twitter
Like Miir on facebook

SexyBack: Week One
SexyBack Week Two

SexyBack Challenge - Week 2

I’ve had a strange week and haven’t been as dedicated to the sexyback challenge as I should or could be. Shame on me. Besides Friday night, at the Relay For Life, I haven’t pushed myself to get any physical activity in. I need to MAKE time in my days because otherwise it’s not going to happen. My goal next week is at least 4 days of 30-45 minutes of physical activity. I’ve been in somewhat of a haze and I think that physical activity will definitely help to clear my head.

What do you do to keep your workout and fitness motivation?

Besides basically failing on that part of the sexyback challenge, I did much better on food this week. I’m not consistently drinking 3 miir bottles a day, but I’m drinking much more than in the past. I still want to step it up to hit at least 3 a day.

I’ve been eating more vegetables, including salads which lettuce from the garden! Some of my favorite meals this week includes: chickpea tacos, fajita bowls [aka peppers, onions, pinto beans & quinoa], black bean & veggie burgers, zucchini quinoa lasagna, broccoli quinoa casserole, steamed broccoli, tex-mex veggie salad [see picture], and homemade strawberry rhubarb smoothies.

I've included the recipe for this because it's one of my favorites! It's super easy and makes enough for lunches, snacks or dinners for a week. See variations at the bottom of the recipe!

Tex-Mex Veggie Salad
1 can (14 oz) black beans, drained & rinsed
2 tomatoes chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can Mexicorn
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1 jicama, peeled and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced

Dressing
1 1/2 tsp Garlic Galore (Wildtree Herbs)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil (Wildtree Herbs)

Place salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Chill overnight.

Variations:
Add chicken (if you're a meat-eater) with Chipotle Lime Rub and Roasted Garlic Grapeseed Oil (Wildtree Herbs)
Add to cooked, chilled quinoa for a heartier salad

SexyBack Challenge - Week 1

I was excited when I saw these posts [ONE. TWO.] by Carlos Whittaker last week. I finally got the chance to watch this video on Sunday.

I think this SexyBack challenge is perfect for me. I’ve been slacking on my fitness and don’t remember the last time I worked out. My eating habits aren’t horrible, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

Every Thursday during this challenge [12 weeks] I’ll be posting my weekly update and how I’ve done on my goals. Most of them are general because I don’t need to lose a lot of weight or anything. I really just want to focus on eating healthier and making better choices. I also want to get back into a great workout routine and get toned [where are you abs?].

Here’s a list of my goals for SexyBack:
- 45 minutes minimum of physical activity or exercise 5-7 days of the week
- Utilize workout dvds (30 Day Shred, 6 Week six-pack, BL Cardio)
- Nightly walks/runs
- Use RunKeeper app
- MORE water (3+ miir bottles/day)
- Eat healthier
- MORE veggies, utilize the garden
- Less processed food and more fresh food
- Homemade meals
- Less pop and coffee, green monsters, fresh fruit smoothies or tea instead
- Use MyFitness app & website to track calories & exercise

In addition to my update I’ll include a photo each week that's related to my #sexyback11 journey.

Here’s my picture for the week.

My recap for this week is pretty general, but it might get more specific in the weeks to come. Since I started on Sunday I've done the 30 day shred twice and gone on two 1.5 mile walks. I've made better choices as far as food goes. I'm definitely eating more fruits and veggies and snacking less. I've done really great on drinking more water, especially with working out more & it's been getting hotter here too. I'm struggling with drinking pop and I'm slowly working on cutting it out.

I'll be picking up Jillian Michaels' 6 week six-pack levels 1& 2 workouts from the library tomorrow and will hopefully be doing [almost] everyday for the two weeks I have it checked out. Tomorrow night I'll be participating in the Relay for Life and will definitely be getting some walking in. It's not too late if you want to join the challenge. I'd love if you'd join me, whether you're looking to lose weight or get back on track. You can search #sexyback11 on twitter to see what other people in the challenge are doing.

5 Things I Love

1. Commander in Chic: The last couple times I've been to Target this nail polish has caught my eye. The last time I went I finally got it. It's my new fav. Depending on what I'm wearing it looks grey, taupe or purplish. It's the perfect fall color.

2. Grey Gardens: PLEASE tell me you've seen this movie! It's definitely on my top 10 movie list (or would be if I actually had one, haha). The original documentary was made by Albert and David Maysles in 1975 (a must-see too!). Edith "Big Edie" Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale were the aunt and first cousin of Jackie Onassis. They lived together at Grey Gardens for decades, in squalor and isolation. The HBO film, stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore. It flashes back and forth between Little Edie's life as a young woman and the actual filming of the 1975 documentary. I was beyond excited that it won two Golden Globes and six Emmys.

3. Pssssst Dry Shampoo: I heard about this amazing stuff from Promise last fall. It's a life saver! I shower every night after work and use a little of this in the morning to freshen my hair. I don't know of a ton of places that carry it. I usually pick mine up at Walgreens.

4. Simple Joys: This company was started by my mom's cousin. She recently got a bunch of stuff from them and I've fallen in love with it. They use pure, natural ingredients without artificial color, fragrance or preservatives. Their website says, "We are passionate about offering a superior quality soap that is safe, healthy, natural, environmentally friendly yet effective and enjoyable." Their soaps are made with goat's milk, which has health benefits. It is rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals. They also create their soaps with aromatherapy qualities. Each bar is $4 and there are over 40 kinds to choose from.

5. MiiR: This company was started by a fellow SPU alum and they are doing great things! "At MiiR, we believe in changing the status quo. We believe in thinking differently about what we create and who it may impact. We do this by making our products highly functional, well designed while giving back to those in need. We decided to start by making great bottles with significant purpose behind them."

One dollar of each MiiR bottle provides one person with clean water for one year. Their one4one initiative goes straight to charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe water to people in developing nations.

During the month of September (yes I know it's the last day of the month), for every new fan on Facebook they are donating $1 to charity: water. Also, they were also giving away two bottles a day during September if you signed up for their newsletter on their website. I got an email on September 20th saying that I won one! I was pleasantly surprised when my pretty new water bottle showed up just 4 days later! I uploaded one of my pictures for a customized skin. I can't wait to get it!

Check out MiiR on Facebook and Twitter.

MiiR Digital Short // 001 from MiiR on Vimeo.