I'm Back!!!

Hey guys! Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile...a nasty case of strep throat knocked me out during the second week of the Holiday Hottie series and this is my first week getting back into my workouts!

Tonight's workout was AWESOME! I hit the gym with my case of exercise flashcards in hand - basically just a bunch of exercise routines/circuits I have found on Pinterest and put on flashcards. I knew that the BF was having dinner with his parents and the gym is always dead on Friday night, so I took full advantage!! Just one I got finished with one circuit and thought I was exhausted and done, I grabbed some water, looked through my flash cards, and moved onto the next one!! I was a sweaty mess by the end and LOVED it! Here is what I did....

I started off w/ a quick HIIT WO on the treadmill.

Then I did one round of this bad boy!

Then I did this 3x with 5lb weights.

And FINALLY, I finished it off with this!! Each exercise for 30secs with a 30sec rest in between each for a total of 30 minutes! Phew!!! 

 TGIF!!! This evening has some Crockpot Apples and Perfect Fit Protein Ice Cream in store for me!

OOHHH! One last thing! I am super excited to be participating in @nutritionella & @LeanGrnBeanBlog #elf4health 6wk challenge starting on Monday! If you read this tonight and are interested, it is the last day to sign up for the whole 6-weeks. Definitely recommend everyone checks it out :)

Sleep tight, beauties!!

First Holiday Hottie Weekend!! - Days 6&7

Just wanted to do a quick weekend check in before I get ready to head off to Skyfall!!

This weekend has been really great - except for one thing...I am really good at drinking water throughout the week, but on the weekends I suck!! This will definitely be an area of focus for me moving forward! My weekend has been full of Christmas planning, relaxation, and crockpot apples...I am seriously obsessed! Crockpot apples in my oats, and my yogurt, on their own and with the Perfect Fit Ice Cream! OBSESSED!! 

Last night, I enjoyed an evening to myself! The BF was out on a boys night, so I watched a chick flick, made my 5DSD grocery list and ate this....

OMG! Perfect Fit Ice Cream with Dark Cocoa Powder! I topped it off with some pomegranate seeds and it was complete bliss! I still can't get over this ice cream - the texture and taste are so bang on!!

Thank goodness my order of PF came in, I have been enjoying that stuff like crazy lately!!

I have been keeping on top of the WOs K&K have been posted, and also throwing in #plankaday! I am up to just over 1:30, which is great considering my 1st one from a few days ago was @ 1:14! My arms are starting to take the hint...time to shape those babies up!!

Now onto the BEST part yet....my week one results!!!!

SO close to my #HolidayHottie goal and SO ready to kiss those 180s goodbye!! 

The TIU community has been vital in my success and I am super grateful for you beauties!

I hope you are all have a wonderful Sunday :)

xoxo

Holiday Hottie - Days 4&5, Week 1

Hey Holiday Hotties!!! I didn't a get a chance to post yesterday, so this will be a 2in1 special!! Day 4 of the series started out great, but unfortunately got a bit out of control. There has been some restructuring at my office, which made for a rather upsetting and stressful day. Luckily, this will not effect me directly, but it is still tough to see it going on. I let my nerves get the best of me and had zero appetite. I ended up leaving the office 3 hours late and I felt totally exhausted. I figured since I hadn't eaten anything, my planned cardio routine was not a smart idea. Instead I headed home, ate a couple of salad rolls and enjoyed some much needed meditation. It was an early night, and I was ready to wake up feeling refreshed and strong!

And that I did......  

 

I woke up and got in my 2nd #plankaday, TIU's fine toning plank and 30 crunches, situps and pushups. I was ready to face my toughest challenge of the Holiday Hottie series...today was the farewell party for our students, which meant I was serving up pizza and some of my FAV cake. I knew this was coming, so I brought some of my handmade salad rolls and a couple of Perfect Fit Peanut Butter Balls. AND I DID IT!! No cake and pizza for me :) Saying no was made a lot easier but having my own tasty lunch to look forward to and drinking tons of water.

I also knew that I would be enjoying a fabulous meal with the BF tonight! We cooked up some dijon baby carrots, garlicky asparagus, cajun shrimp and steak-one papa bear and one mama bear size! Normally, we would have had a a big ol' scoop of cheesy mashed potatoes, but neither of us really missed the extra carbs. 

 OK...now for the best part of my day...dessert!!!! I made the sweet crock pot apples and easy perfect fit ice cream from the TIU Blog. I've seen a lot of recipes on Pinterest for this frozen banana "ice cream" stuff, but I was highly skeptical of both the taste and the texture. Ummm, soooo...I'm in LOVE!! It is freaking unbelievable! I added some dark cocoa powder to their recipe, and I was amazed at just how incredible it came out! It can easily and realistically help me fight any ice cream cravings that creep up, and it is sooo versatile! Here I am...clearly excited!

The BF and I had a scoop on top of the crockpot apples and it was absolute bliss! Definitely the perfect treat to end the week :)

Congrats again to all of the #HolidayHottie winners! I am beyond happy for all of you and your dedication has been incredible to watch! I am really looking forward to the slim down next week and focusing on those 2-a-days! I am so thankful to have such a strong support system, both at home and with the TIU community.

Although it is Friday, this girl is a granny when it comes to sleep and it is way past my bedtime!! I am going to wind down with some kitty cuddles and get lots of rest for another Holiday Hottie day tomorrow.

Ooh, one more thing...I am looooving the TIU PB Balls!! If you haven't had a chance to try them yet, I highly recommend you get on that!

Hehe! Sweet Dreams beauties! xo

Holiday Hottie - Day 3, Week 1

Hello everyone!! This post is a wee bit late as I really enjoyed that pumpkin facial last night, and took some much needed me time!

 

 

 

 

After work, I got in 30mins of cardio and the Malibooty workout x3. I looooove that workout, and I felt so strong doing it!

 

I ended my day with some of K&K's delicious Hearty Mushroom Soup, and my first handmade shrimp salad roll! Super tasty :) I then put on my pumpkin facial mask and had some time to reflect on just how much this community means to me....

 

Day 3 felt really great, and it has been wonderful connecting with so many awesome women!! I have received some great support from SO many TIU sisters on Twitter - @berry_holli, @MariePOuellet, @gab365, @TracyTIU, @lauriev767, @GeorgieToningUp, @sophiehowl27....just to name a few :)

Your tweets have been such an inspiration, and I thank every last one of you for following along as I start my TIU journey!!!

 

 

 

 

Much love! xo

 

 

 

 



Holiday Hottie - Day 2, Week 1

 

Phew! That was a loooong day! I think I may have had TOO much excitement for this series yesterday, that I actually wore myself out!

I woke up this morning @6am and headed down to the beach for the Holiday Hottie Cardio Circuit. I keep telling myself that doing it on the sand is what made it so tough...truth is, this series is clearly showing me just how much work I have ahead of me. I am trying not to become overwhelmed, and continue to re-direct my energy towards the positivity and strength within the TIU Community. You can check out my quick booty call check in here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRtviIlfod8&feature=plcp

All day I was feeling pretty beat, and if you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen that brought on a big ol' craving!! I reached for a chocolate truffle...ughh! Good news though!! I dropped that truffle so fast the second I laid my eyes on a packet of Perfect Fit sitting on my desk. I added that to some unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and sipped on that instead :) Yay me! It's those small accomplishments that can turn your day around :)

I <3 Perfect Fit

  

 And turn it around it did!! I came home and started putting together a couple of TIU recipes. First on the list was the Holiday Hottie Hearty Mushroom Soup. I used tofu and added a looot of spice! It's just about done, and I can't wait to have a bowl! Second on the list was the TIU Peanut Butter Balls. Why have I never made this before!?! Have you ever seen that Ikea commercial where the lady runs out to her husband in the parking lot yelling "START THE CAR!!!" If not, she feels like she is stealing because the prices at Ikea are so good....that is how I feel about the PB Balls. For serious. They are that good!

Peanut Butter Balls!!

Hearty Mushroom Soup

 I wrapped up the evening by completing some quick workouts from the Beach Babe DVD. I started off just planning on doing Karena's Long and Lean Routine...but that DVD is so darn addicting! I followed it up with the Summer Arms and Bikini Abs workouts.

 

 What started off as a not so energetic day ended with me feeling relaxed and ready to take on a new day. That is the point of this series after all :) I am certainly starting to listen to my body, and it feels great. Now it is time to sip on some kombucha and enjoy Obama's speech :) 

Cheers to another successful and rewarding day!!

Love! xox

Holiday Hottie Series - Day 1, Week 1

 

I am going to make this super quick, as I am exhausted! It has been such a wonderful and fulfilling day, and I feel surrounded by so much love! It is amazing how connected you can feel to a group of women you have never met. Your support means the world to me, and I am beyond grateful!

Today has been incredibly successful, and seeing My Fitness Pal update at the end of the day left me speechless - If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 167.5 lbs in 5 weeks - SAY WHAT?!? That's @ 20lbs for me and if I end up anywhere near that, I will be SO ecstatic! 

I want to leave you with a couple of things before I sign off for the night...

 Of all my intentions, here is my #1 - Gain back the confidence I need to be my best self. Oh, and rock a @ToneItUp bikini. #HolidayHottie #NBD

Last but not least, I posted my first TIU check in video!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPNIAZ0s59A&feature=plcp

If you are following the Holiday Hottie series, I wish you a successful day 2. Remember why you started, and you will get there in no time!

LOOOVE!!! xo 

Holiday Hottie Grocery Haul

Just got home from doing a bit of grocery shopping for the start of the Holiday Hottie series and thought I'd share with you! Here is a list of some of the items I picked up...

• Bananas - For protein pancakes and a quick breakfast/snack on the go
• Apples - For protein pancakes and snacking
• Pomegranates, Oranges and Mangoes! - One piece
• Lemons - For my water
• Non-Fat Greek Yogurt - Protein Pancakes and scrambled eggs
• ACV and lime juice - Bombshell spell!
• Spaghetti squash, Tomato Sauce and Lean turkey meatballs - Dinn Dinn!
• Kale Salad mix
• Kombucha - So excited to give the bucha brand a try, picked up 3 flavours.
• Egg Whites, tomatoes, mushrooms - Scrambled eggs
 

Excited for tomorrow, and looking forward to checking out all of your posts :) Love!!

Let's DO this!

HELLO! Well, after spending countless hours trying to come up with a blog name, I am finally writing my first blog post! I just finished writing a lengthy post in my "About Me" tab, which I would love for you to check out :)

Starting tomorrow, I will be joining a bunch of TIU girls in the Holiday Hottie Series!

To say I am excited would be quite the understatement! This will be my first TIU series and I can't wait to be apart of it :)

I started off my morning by weighing in, taking my measurements and snapping a few "before" photos...*cringe* If that wasn't motivation, I don't know what is!

I am going to make this first post super short, as naming this blog and filling in the "About Me" section  has left my brain feeling rather mushy!! Besides, this girl has some Holiday Hottie grocery shopping to do! See you on Twitter and Happy Sunday! xox