A good option in a sea of BAD...

Thursday Recap:

Morning Workout:  30 minutes dance + 1 minute planks + 2 sets of arm weights + 2 sets of squats

8:30am:  Breakfast- Perfect Fit pancake with peanut butter & syrup

Thankfully, yesterdays 'cake looked more like this oneJ

12:00pm:  Lunch- Jersey Mike's Turkey & Cheese sandwhich

I fully planned on having the 'in a tub' option at Jersey Mike's yesterday, which is where they make a "sandwich" with all of the filling ingredients, but ditch the bread and make it 'in a tub' for SIGNIFICANTLY less calories.  But by yesterday morning I was starting to feel that droopy-eyed/tired feeling I get after not having carbs for a couple days (just like I did last 'slimdown'), so I opted for SOME BREAD this time and nearly instantly perked up.  Smetimes a gal just needs some breadJ  Not to mention this rosemary Parmesan bread (since they were out of wheat) was a FABULOUS choiceJ hahahahaha  The sandwich and water still clocked in around 400 calories, so I ain't mad at that.

Besides, I got tons of working out from chasing Katie around the beach & teaching her how to play ski ball yesterday on an ABSURDLY gorgeous day on the Jersey shore.  $5 parking & free beach vs. the arm & a leg you spend exactly SEVEN DAYS prior (aka-pre Labor day) = SOOO worth a couple warm days in EARLY September.J

3:00pm:  Snack- 

And once we hit the boardwalk for a bit, I KNEW I needed some sort of pick-me-up for an afternoon snack, so I opted for a kids sized frozen yogurt from Kohr's with some rainbow sprinkles.  By my calculation, it clocked in at a VERY satisfying 120 calories and completely hit the spot.  

Not a bad option in the SEAAAA of BADDDDDDDD options  (oh, funnel cake, you WERE soveryclose to swaying me!)

6:00pm:  Dinner- Squash & Sausage 'stir fry'

This is such a quick & delicious meal...especially for the end up summer, when squash is a dime a dozen (even better, from a friend's garden!  Thanks, Jackie!!)

I simply sliced up the squash lengthwise and tossed it on the grill, along with 3 of these sausage links...

Once everything got a quick kiss of the grill, I brought them in and gave everything a dice...

...and tossed em in the bowl along with some torn fresh spinach, juice of 1 lemon, a couple tablespoons of capers, salt & pepper and a handful of Parmesan cheese (last time I also used kalamata olives, basil, chives and parsley for even MORE flavor, but was plum out of all of the above this time).  The heat from the sausage & squash wilts the spinach a bit and makes all of the flavors blend together perfect!

Quick, easy and SUPER healthy, give this one a try before all those summer veggies say sayonara!

Evening Workout:  Hatha Yoga

I was BEAT last night (even those sandwich carbs couldn't perk up a day spent running in the sand, surf & sun...NOT that I'm complaining about THAT, for sure), but I was NOT in the mood to push myself into any poses last night!  Oh well, that's what yoga's about...doing what you feeling like doing IN that momentJ

Alrighty...well, today is a GLOOMY one and I can't say I'm SUPEREXCITED to hit crazy, power yoga THIS morning either...but I'll just feel wrong if I skip it.  So off I go to get KILLED by my Friday teacher, who is the QUEEN of crazy, power, difficult moves.  We usually call the class "Ruth's torture factory"...how very Namaste, no??J  (but we LOVE you, Ruth!!)

Hope you guys have a great weekend and fingers crossed for a HUMIDITY BREAK in NJ!!!

(yes, that statement was THREE exclamation points worthyJ)

Have a great weekend!J

Breakin into the snacks...

Wednesday Recap:

Breakfast- Perfect Fit Pancake with peanut butter & lite syrup

And I'd be lying if I said that the above pancake was the actual one from yesterday, as I had yet ANOTHER pancake disaster yesterday morning.  I don't understand it since I've had a perfect track record with the Perfect Fit ones...buttttt, let's just say yeseterday got UGLY!  Sorta looking like this little number.

Morning Workout:  Power Yoga Class

Where my teacher decided to talk about how far we've come and celebrating the little victories of what we've accomoplished....which, of course, made me cry in pigeon poseJ

1:00pm:  Lunch- Salad with grilled chicken, roasted pears, walnuts & blue cheese (not pictured)

It always cracks me up when I forget to take pictures of food since it's what I do ALL DAY/EVERY DAY!  Buttttt I completely lost track when I went to meet two of my ole co-workers for lunch at the local diner and we got to chattin up a storm from the minute we sat down...sooooo, yeah, that happenedJ

4:00pm:  Snack- 1/2 granola bar & 7 dried mandarin oranges

So I just HADDDD to break into my NEW snacks sooner than laterJ  The HONEY SMOKED BBQ granola bar was certainly interesting.  It tasted like a mix of beef jerky (??  I know) and BBQ potato chips...and it was actually SORTA spicy.  I mean...talk about uniqe.  1/2 was all I could manageJ  And the dried oranges were chewy and sweet, a perfect mix from that odd little snack comboJ

Evening Workout:  Body Jam

Energy OFF. THE. CHARTS last night.  I always love when you feel like you are BEAT, but the great music and class energy just keeps you going.   THAT happened about 84 times last night, since it was an ENERGETIC releaseJ

7:00pm:  Dinner-  Cucumbers & hummus

I was still pretty full since I ate EVERY drop of salad at lunch and sampled those snacks...not to mention I was sweating like crazy when I got home, so this cool 'dinner' hit the spot to finish the day.

Well....yet ANOTHER hot one in Jersey today.  Headin out to enjoy (hopefully) one more day of 'summer fun.'J

Have a great Thursday!

Another haul...

Morning, all!  Well, as promised, yesterday was a MUCH healthier day...in part because we STOCKED the house FULL of the good stuff!  Hope you liked the last grocery haul video, because I have a NEW one for you today...this time a HEALTHY HAUL from Trader Joe's...JJJ

(or click here for the video)

Monday Recap:

Workout:  HITT Tone it up Routine

I was also planning on doing an afternoon workout as well, but ended up with a MAJOR headache that would NOT QUIT yesterday afternoon and was stuck to the couch for the rest of the night.  Even MORE interesting is that I think the headache was from the ACV shot that I had tried again yesterday morning.  The same thing happened the last time I tried them about a month ago, and it was a bad enough headache that I don't necessarily want to try it out again!  I'm going to skip it today and see how the rest of the day goes, but that's my non-scentific explanationJ

10:30am:  Breakfast- Perfect Fit pancake with strawberry   (and coffee with stevia & almond milk)

1:30pm:  Lunch- Salad

Sorry...I didn't realize how dark that picture was until JUST NOWJ  In the mix...pretty much everything from the video:

• Kale/brussel sprout/broccoli mix 
• 1/2 cup chickpea balela 
• Broccoli slaw
• Shredded cabbage
• Shaved brussel sprouts

+Strawberries

3:30pm:  Snack- 'Slim down smoothie'

• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 1 tablespoon PB2
• 4 ice cubes
• PUMPKIN PIE SPICE!!  (just becauseJ)

6:00pm:  Dinner- Buffalo Chicken Salad

In the mix:

• Spring lettuce mix
• Grilled chicken, coated in buffalo sauce 
• Gorgonzola Cole Slaw:  
• Mix of cabbage
• broccoli slaw
• Gorgonzola
• 1 part mayo to 3 parts non-fat Greek yogurt
• salt & pepper to taste

And besides a mini wheat pita and a scoop of hummus so I could take yet ANOTHER round of Advil for my headache before bed, that about wrapped up my day.  Thankfully, the headache was gone this morning and I'm swapping the ACV shot today for one of my ole 'morning acid' tricks.

That didn't sound good in the slightest, huh??

It's REALLY not as interesting as it sounds, but I'll explain in the AMJ  

Have a great Wednesday!

Back to buisness...

Morning, ALL!  Happy September to you guys!  I'm SO SORRY I dropped off the face of the earth for a minute thereJ  Scott had a vacation week last week and I don't think we stopped moving (or eating) the entire timeJ  We had PLENTY of trips to the beach...

...outdoor lunches...

...Katie's first bites of boardwalk funnel cake...

...and various OTHER boardwalk treatsJ...

...celebrating Nona's LAST DAY OF WORK!...

...rooting for Michigan on their first game of the season (to success!):...

...another gal's night painting  (also a success, since I liked this pic INFINITELY more than the last oneJ)...

...and a RIDICULOUSLY fun day with my family, who gathered at my Aunt's house to welcome my visiting cousin from Rhode Island...

OH YEAH...and EATING EVERYTHING KNOWN TO MAN, starting with a MEAT TASTING PLATTER for Scott's (belated) birthday celebration at Bitter Bob's in New Hope...

...and, my God, you don't even want to KNOW how much else besides!  So much so, that by the end of the week/weekend, "junk food" was no longer that much of a treat or terribly appealing.  The funny thing was, after thinking about it this week, EVERY year I think summer is going to be SUCH an easy/lean time from the excessive amount of fresh fruits & vegetables laying around and yet I think I have 'weight issues' EVERY summer.  Probably a lot of it has to do with us being 'on the go/wanting to go out' more than the rest of the year.  And if I'm being honest with myself AND you, EVERY meal I had out COULD have been on the healthier end of the scale, but I get lazy and just tend to have what I want WITHOUT much thought, which is CERTAIN DEATH of my healthy eating mindset.  I'm wondering if I go into summer KNOWING it's a trouble spot NEXT year, if I can avoid the weight gain and start FALL off on a better foot.  (Just ackowledging this HAS seemed to work well around Christmas time, which I know is another trouble trap for me)  We'll see...but it was CERTAINLY an interesting and eye-opening observation.  

And all that said, I'm BEYOND RIDICULOUSLY READY (I was BEYOND ready over a MONTH ago and could just never get my footing back completely), to get back to business...one that DOES NOT involve Chinese food, pizza, ice cream & cheeseburgers...ALL of which were consumed in EXCESSIVE quantities the last few weeks.  The thing that drives me COMPLETELY crazy is that I KNOW I can still have ALL of those things, as long as I'm MINDFUL of portions and more often than not, pick the healthier option of those choices.  It's only when I get mentally lazy (at least I've still been on my same workout routine, so I haven't gotten PHYSICALLY lazy...hallelujah for small favors), that it causes me problems that seem to snowball (mostly around my waistJ)  So now it's time to get back to picking the healthier option 85+% of the time and REALLY cutting back on those treats...like, A LOT.  Like, I don't even want to LOOK at ice cream at the moment...and hopefully that moment lasts me a good 6 monthsJ  Hahahhahhahhaa

Well, all that chatter as I'm sure EVERY ONE'S ready to get back to SOME type of business as this FALL season approaches....

...oh, and in case you're wondering, NJ had an absolutely BLISSFUL summer and I REALLY enjoyed all of it and all of the beach & family fun it brought this year.  That was until SUNDAY, where the temperature SKYROCKETED from a MONTH of mid-80's to mid-90's.  This has sent me to hibernate in my air conditioner, hoping it passes SOON.  It took me being outside for all of 2 minutes yesterday to remember the parts of summer I am NOT a fan of, how much I didn't miss them and how I'm SOOOO ready for the hot days to be a distant memory, as it is now SEPTEMBER and I can't even decorate properly!  NOT in this heat, at leastJ  Hopefully next week will usher in some niceeeeeee mid-70's, and with that, ALL of my pumpkins & orange accents  (please, please???)

OK...that is BEYOND enough from me!  Do you still miss me yet?? JJ

Have a wonderful, BACK TO BUSINESS, Tuesday!J