Happy 2 Years to Me!

It’s obviously not my real birthday, but it is my 2-year birthday for my “new” body and life.  I could call it my anniversary, but I feel like I have been reborn into a new body that I re-created from hard work and a new mindset.  I give all the credit to eating clean, weight training, and my determination to achieve a goal and live a new lifestyle.  Trust me, at 46 years old, I’m trying to forget about real birthdays, but this is one that I will never forget!  I will continue renewing the commitment that I made to myself two years ago when I felt and looked terrible due to my own actions, or non-actions.  Knowing that I have cleansed my interior by eating clean and sculpted a strong new body is absolutely the icing on the cake for this old toddler!

(Minus the icing and the cake, of course.)

Watchoo talkin' bout??

Check out my interview with Joey Atlas about my personal transformation.

http://joeyatlas.com/

My apologies in advance for all the times I say "ya know" and "umm".

Take Note!

This may look like gibberish to others, but this over a year of my life of daily workouts.  Yes, I’m definitely “old school” and actually write!  I started tracking my weight training and cardio so I could plan ahead and look back at my progress, or any lack of…  It’s interesting to look back through the year as well.

I also have a food journal that I update daily.  This may sound absolutely crazy and obsessive to some, but it’s truly helped me stay on the right path of maintaining a fit and healthy lifestyle.  I never did it before my transformation, and obviously it showed.  I could deny some of the things that I was eating because I never saw it in writing.  The only numbers I associated with my body were from the scale, which I tried to ignore and forget. 

As I’ve said before, plan, plan, plan!  Not matter what you use, old-school pen and paper, I - Phone-Touch-Pad, Smartphone, or your PC, track your progress and guide yourself into a beautiful new and healthy body.

Note taken?

Something smells good...

These are two of my favorite recipes and I make them often.  They’re super easy and taste great! 

Root Vegetable & Chicken Soup

Ingredients

2 large parsnips, peeled, diced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled, diced

2 medium carrots, peeled, diced

1 small yellow onion, peeled, diced

1 clove garlic, peeled, minced

1 Tbls olive oil

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

4 C chicken broth

3 cooked chicken breasts - shredded

1/4 C chives

1 C plain greek yogurt

Sea salt (pinch) and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Peel and small dice all root vegetables. Heat large soup pot over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp oil, sauté root vegetables for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add curry powder, fresh ginger, onions and garlic, sauté for 5 minutes. Add 4 cups of broth, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

Add cooked shredded chicken breasts to soup and let simmer until vegetables are tender. Finely chop chives and add to soup. Add greek yogurt and stir. Bring back to simmer and serve warm.  Yummy!

Nutrition Information: Calories 247, Fat 8g, Sat Fat 1g, Protein 25g, Carbohydrate 22.5g, Fiber 4.5g, Sodium 500mg

TURKEY - LOAF

INGREDIENTS


1-1/2 lbs. lean ground turkey


1 medium onion, chopped


4 egg whites


1 cup salsa

1 cup old-fashioned oats, uncooked


1 pkg. Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix


1/4 tsp. ground black pepper


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl combine ground turkey, onion, egg whites, salsa, oats, soup mix and black pepper. Press mixture into a 9 x 5 loaf pan.  Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 60 minutes.

Serve with a sweet potato, couscous, quinoa, or farro and a vegetable.

(This is not 100% "clean" because of the soup mix, but you can check the ingredients and replace with other seasonings.)

Enjoy!

Set the Stage!

What you’re doing now (today) sets the stage for everything else that follows in the next 11 months.  This includes your workout routines, eating habits, and your motivation.  If you set a strong foundation now, you can build on it the rest of the year and accomplish your fit and healthy goals toward a new body.

•  For your workouts, make them part of your everyday routine.  Schedule them as you would a job or an appointment that you cannot miss.  I journal my workouts every day so I can track weights, times, and progress.
• Make your eating (habits) routine as well.  After I started writing everything down in a journal, I have the ability now to look back at my progress and/or ways to improve, etc.  I write down the time (I eat every 2-3 hours), what I eat, and the protein grams.  I always try to eat my weight in protein.  I’m not concerned with calories because I eat clean which means no added bad fat or sugar.  (Everything in moderation, of course.)
• Motivation.  What can I say?  This seems to be the biggest problem for everyone after a while.  A lot of people ask me how I stayed motivated through my transformation.  Honestly, I just kept doing it and when I started seeing actual changes in the mirror, it forced my motivation to a new level and propelled it forward.  If you can just get to that point, you will see what I’m talking about. 

MO = Make the most of an Opportunity to work out…

TI = Try not Ignore this decision that you’ve made…

VA = Validate what you wish to Achieve…

TION = Take Initiative On a New way of life.

This time next year when the curtain opens, you will be so thankful that YOU took charge, that YOU made it happen, that YOU were in control of your body, and that YOU set the stage in January.  Do it now!  

Get Stealthy!

Full blown winter is here!  Curling up on a warm cozy couch in the evening is what’s happening in millions of American homes now and for several more months.  Comfort foods, hot chocolate, cinnamon rolls, snacks…you know how it goes.  Before you know it, your New Year’s resolution of losing weight and getting in shape was just a faded wish that you had the last night of 2010.  Year after year it’s the same old story.  

Think ahead to the beginning of May.  If you get a jump-start now, you have time to get that spring and summer body that you’ve always wanted.  While everyone else is getting more “plump” on the couch, you can be silently working your butt off (literally).  When it’s time for those shorts, sleeveless shirts, and swimsuits, you will swoop in undetected like a Stealth Bomber and…BAM!  There you are with your hot, fit, and healthy body!    

Don’t wait…do it now…today…this minute!  Make your plan and execute it.  Fly under the radar while no one is looking now, and in a few months, you WILL show up on everyone’s radar.  Get Stealthy! J