HBBC Week #1 Recap

So, Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge Week #1 is in the books. Bottom line: it was awesome. I was so inspired by everyone's daily workouts that I surely ran and worked out more than I would have had I been left to my own devices! I hope that I can continue to use the amazing motivation and carry this on through the remaining 6 weeks.

There is still time to join. Click Here!

HBBC Week #1 Roll-Up: (I'm going to borrow Jill Conyers method of wrap-up)
Miles Run/Walk: 9.17
Strength/Core Workouts: 6
Yoga Practice: 0
Group Cardio Workouts: 4
Days w/ Complete Freggies Intake: 7

Total Weekly HBBC Points: 41.1




Week 1 Goal: Eat my fruits and veggies

I did very well. I realized that I was actually doing better than I thought I'd been before the challenge, however a lot of that was coming from juice and I'd like more of it to come from whole fruits & veggies. During week #1, I did increase my whole Freggies intake, so that's good. I just want to keep it up.

No, this isn't my workout buddy,
but it's the only pic I took this week! ha!

Surprise of the week: Matt had more free time than we'd expected, so we got in a lot of buddy workouts, which is always awesome. We did BodyCombat together on Wed, BodyCombat and CXWORX on Thanksgiving, and he was able to come to both of my BodyPump classes on Friday and Sat, after which we sweat on the elliptical together and then joined our friend Katrin for more CXWORX. It makes the workouts so much better when my buddy is there. ;) And with his busy schedule, I know he loved having the time to get some quality workouts in as well!

Were you able to stay on track with your goals through the crazy holiday week? Do you have your own method of accountability to keep your workouts and nutrients on track?

Healthy Breakfast in a (semi) Hurry

Ok, so, we all know breakfast in a HURRY can involve, well, to be honest, nothing - Bad Idea. Other, slightly better-for-us options could include:

• protein shake
• protein bar
• smoothie
• perhaps some whole lean protein, a piece of fruit, and a handful of nuts (nice quick option)

As I awoke this morning with just enough time to grab a Clif bar and run out the door to teach BodyPump, I left ME and Kel in the kitchen. Kel is always on the go and often eats breakfast at work, but ME was heading off to school and could have used a nice hearty, healthy breakfast! I felt guilty leaving him in the dust to fend for himself when, if I’d just gotten out of bed 10 minutes earlier, I could have given him a nice healthy send off - and Kelly too! (rewind the clock to 6 am when I heard my alarm go off and scrambled eggs with the lean turkey I already have browned sounded just SO HARD to put together!) 

When I returned from the gym, I whipped up an even faster breakfast so that next time I find myself lying in bed with this dilemma, I will choose to be a caring wife who chooses cooking breakfast for her husband over getting 6 more minutes of sleep! (now, don’t let me guilt you here, husbands are just as capable of cooking their own breakfasts, but sometimes, I like to pamper him...but to be fair, he often cooks me breakfast in bed. i.e. YESTERDAY! - now I feel even MORE guilt! ha!)

In about 5-6 minutes, here is what I threw together:

Eggs “Almost” Florentine

2 Eggs, fried over easy

2 Handfuls of raw baby spinach

2 oz. low sodium deli ham, sliced

Braggs Liquid Amino Acids

Cooking spray

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the spinach and stir occasionally until slightly wilted (If the spinach begins to stick to the pan, add some water or broth to the pan). Place wilted spinach on a plate and season lightly with the Liquid Amino Acids.  Spray the same skillet lightly with cooking spray. Add the ham and stir lightly, then push to the side to continue to heat through as you use the remainder of the pain to fry your eggs.

To plate: Add ham atop spinach, and place the eggs on top. Enjoy!

Yes, that's half-eaten! Don't judge!

Now, if you wanted some carbs for some nice energy, you could be cooking an easy pot of oatmeal at the same time as your Eggs! Again, I was too lazy for that today! ;)


~ Samara

Do you SERIOUSLY want to put that in your body??

Hi All, It's been a while since I posted, Samara has been picking up the slack for me.  I've been putting in a lot of hours and the day job and then training as many clients as I can at night and I've started Prepping for my next show...more on that later :)  So, not only have I not blogged, I haven't been able to catch up on TV either!  I just got around to watching a three week old episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. That show makes me so angry I almost blogged last night, but it would have been filled with curse words!! I'm more calm this morning, but I've got to tell you, I'm really really upset about what we are putting in our bodies and the bodies of our precious children.  During last night's episode, he had a classroom full of kids and he let them make an ice cream sunday with all the usual fixins, candy bits, sprinkles, whipped topping, sugary sauces...you know, the good stuff:)  Then he asked them if they knew what they were really eating. There were over 250 ingredients in their sundays!!! I couldn't even pronounce the majority of those 250 ingredients.  You could see the look on the kids face change as it started to sink in.  He then went on to explain what those ingredients were actually made of...the shellac on the shiny candy coating - beetles! Other ingredients were derived from duck feathers, pig intestines and human hair...tasty huh??  By then the kids were gagging and I knew he had made his point.  People, please, read the ingredients and if you don't know what it is....DON'T BUY IT!  We are already exposed to so many toxic chemicals in our every day environments, please don't needlessly put more toxins in  your body!  So next time you are at the grocery, read the labels and avoid anything that sounds like it came out of your 9th grade chemistry class!!  Have a healthy day! -Kelly