Tone It Up Turkey Pumpkin Chili Yumminess

It has been cold this weekend in Oklahoma. We actually got freezing rain and sleet so all I wanted to do this weekend is curl up on the couch, watch TV and read. It was a relaxing weekend.

Well while browsing Instagram, I noticed one of my Tone It Up sisters posted that she was making the Turkey Pumpkin Chili and I thought why not try making it. I have almost all of the ingredients and I just changed a few of them plus I added kale. Gotta get your greens in when you can.

I will tell you this recipe is wonderful. It is savory and sweet at the same time. The recipe is on their blog here. Like I said earlier, I just added kale and it was so filling. Plus I have a lot leftover for this week to eat for lunch.

Why not try it? I think you will love it and add it to you monthly cooking schedule.

Tone It Up 7 Day Slimdown Round 2

I completed the Tone It Up 7 Day Slimdown again last week. This was my second time doing the slimdown and this time seemed to be easier. Here are my tips for having a successful week.

1.  Make sure you have all the groceries you need for the week. Here is my grocery list from the first slimdown. 

2. Get gallons of water and I love LaCroix. This is sparkling naturally flavored water. I love the Peach Pear.

3. Change up the way you fix your meals. I say this because you will be eating the slimdown scramble a lot. In order to not get tired of it, this time I made them into quiche cups. They were delicious.  Also used my omelet maker.

4. Drink lots of water. It will keep everything flowing.

5. Keep a positive attitude.

6. Make your meals a presentation. You will feel better about what you are eating.

7. Plan, plan, plan. Do not get upset if something goes wrong. Just get immediately back on track.

8. Be prepared to be hungry. By the fifth day, I was ravenous but stuck with it.

9. Try to find others on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook to do the slimdown with you. It will change everything and keep you motivated. Follow me on instagram @okgetfit or twitter okgetfit

10. Do your workouts but if needed do light cardio and yoga. Do what your body tells you to do.

11. Take some time to just enjoy yourself. I had a great evening on the back porch with a candle and new book.

12. Be prepared to feel good and proud of yourself when you are done! I lost four pounds and really felt fantastic. My body felt lighter and overall stronger.

Perfect Fit Pumpkin Cookie Dough Bites

Happy Fall! I want to share a recipe with you today. A couple weeks ago I created a recipe because I was craving pumpkin and cookie dough. I combined these two flavors to make these semi-healthy Pumpkin Cookie Dough Bites.

1 c perfect fit protein powder or other favorite vanilla PP
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp salt 
1 tbsp butter melted, can use butter substitute
about 1 cup pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling) Start with 1/2 cup and keep adding until you get the moistness you like. 
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ c coconut sugar or brown sugar or stevia (whichever you prefer)

1. Mix together the dry ingredients first and mix the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Then combine them together and mix throughly, adding more pumpkin if needed. See above note.
2. Next line a baking sheet with wax paper. Take an ice cream scoop to help portion mixture and create 24 cookie dough balls. Place on lined baking sheet and put in freezer for about 30 minutes. Just enough time to get them to set properly. Then you can store them in a glass or plastic container. They will stay moist for up to 2 weeks. 

Enjoy!

Tone It Up Frisky Fall Weekend Challenge - Say Wow

Happy Friday.

Still rocking the Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge. Had a little detour this week while my parents were here but just on food. However I did get lots of miles in due to walking all over the place with them. Plus finishing another 5K race.

Today my parents are gone and almost home so I told myself I need to get serious. There are not many days left until Halloween. This is when the challenge ends. So I am challenging you today to do something beyond your normal day to day activities this weekend.

Push yourself a half mile farther on your walk or run.

Finish the book you have been trying to finish in forever.

Meal prep on Sunday.

Go hike a mountain.

Clean out your closet.

Make a new healthy recipe.

Try a new fitness class.

Paint a picture.

Just do it! You will be glad you did and feel great about your accomplishment.

Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge Day 8

Moving right along on this challenge and nothing really to post on food or exercise but going to post on motivation.

One area that we all need to remember to work on every day is our brain. Our brain controls the rest of our body and are daily activities so always keep a positive outlook because it will change how you feel about yourself and your accomplishments.

Plus it just feels better to keep a positive outlook on life.

Smile!

5 K Addiction

I realized I not published this post but still wanted to share.

Since it is January most people set goals for the year and so far I have only one for 2013. My goal is to complete a 5k race every month in 2013 and do a 12k in Vegas on Thanksgiving. I smile as I say this because I have become addicted to 5k races.

Last year I did a race in May for the first time in awhile.  I walked it and was very scared. However I met a lady named Robin that was my life saver. We started chatting before the race and she walked with me throughout the whole race. I am not sure if I would have made it without her. I will be forever grateful. You see I was scared and tired and hurting and emotional but I have learned that this is a good thing because after the race I felt such a jubilation and excitement that I completed a race. Plus I was so darn proud of myself.

Well I went back into the office the next Monday after that race and told my coworker about the race. She had done several before and knew what I was saying about my feelings. We immediately found a race that we both signed up for called Color Me Rad. Well long story short, the guys from Color Me Rad stopped by our office and gave us free goodies for the race. It was really cool because my coworker had contacted them on Facebook. Because of this I ended up signing up for a Color Me Rad race in Oklahoma July 14, 2012 and then in Virginia July 21, 2012. I did the race with coworkers in Oklahoma and my brothers in Virginia. Boy were they different races. If you have ever been to Oklahoma in July, you know that it can be very hot and it was the day of the race. I really did not think I would finish it and I am grateful to my coworker because she hung right with me through every stop that I made saying I cannot finish. It was truly stressful for her and I felt bad that she probably did not enjoy the fun of this race. Check out the fun of this race in this picture.

However when I did it with my brothers in Virginia, the race was very different. Weather was better. Race organization was better. Plus I loved being with my brothers. I see them rarely.

My First Yoga Class Was A Success

I realized I never published this post but wanted to share.

Last week I signed up for my first yoga class. Well actually I signed up for two classes because I was feeling brave about trying something new. One class on Thursday and one on Saturday.  Boy was I excited and scared at the same time.

I pulled in the parking lot looking around to see who might be in my class and a million thoughts were running through my head but I walked through the door and was greeted by the instructor who made me feel right at home. 

The class I took was a gentle class which ended up being perfect for me. The moved through the poses at a slower pace and she really helped me understand what I should be doing throughout the whole class. I will say the hardest part was at the end when you do the corpse pose. This is where you lay on your back with your arms out to the side and close your eyes for 5 minutes. Well to someone that cannot sit still, that was the longest five minutes of the class but I was so proud of my self when I finished. I felt great but my jaw was tense and I think this was due to me being nervous. 

My second class was a beginner class and went a lot faster. I was sweating and my face was beet red because we moved at a faster pace.  Meaning we did not hold our poses as long as in the gentle class plus we did more poses.  I really liked it though and felt even more amazing when I left.  The second class was much more calming to me because I felt more comfortable with the process.  

I am taking another one tonight and I recommend adding yoga to your exercise routine. It is harder than it looks but brings a calmness to your body. So glad I branched out to something new.  Next week is Tai Chi and then hopefully a Kettle Bell class.

Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge First Weekend and Color Run Tips

Well I made it through the first week of the challenge and overall it went well. I just got a bit off track on eating on Sunday and I think this is mainly due to not having groceries in the fridge plus not having time to go to the grocery store.

The main part of the weekend I want to share with you is that I did my monthly 5k race. I talk more about my monthly 5k races in a later post. The race I did this month was Run or Dye, which is a color run. If you haven't done a color run, I definitely recommend doing one. They are a lot of fun. However this one was not my favorite mainly because it rained like crazy which caused a lot of disorganization with the race.

Here are some tips I learned from doing this race in the rain. These would also apply even if it does not rain.

1. Be prepared for anything and keep a positive attitude.
2. Have fun.
3. Do the race with friends, family or coworkers. However if you do it by yourself, talk to other people and enjoy yourself. It will make it more fun.
4. Wear sunglasses. I did not for this race because of the rain but tried to keep my face covered by my hat when they threw the powder. 
5. Do not do this race before a special event. You will have color on you even after showering.
6. Bring a change of clothes. Your change of clothes will still have color on it from your skin but it will be better than your covered outfit.
7. Bring towels and garbage bags and clothes that you do not care about if it calls for rain.
8. Cover your car seats with the towels and plastic before the race. I did it after and still had color all over my car.
9. Wear old shoes. I always wear a pair that I am getting ready to get rid of because then I do not care what they look like at the end of the race.
10. Grease your hair up with conditioner or oil. The color will come out easier. However I wore a hat and hair band so my hair really did not have color in it. Plus I have a really cool hat now.
11. Keep baby wipes in your car. Your hands will be a mess.
12. Keep your phone in a plastic ziplock or bring a camera you do not care that much about getting dirty. Designate one photographer in your group so not everyone gets messy. If you take pictures with your phone in a ziplock, make sure you pull the ziplock tight over the lens or your pictures will be blurry. 
13. Shower with a body scrub. It will help get most of the color off but you will still have some on you for several days. 
14. Bring water and a snack. Usually these races run out and do not provide any food at the end. 
15. Last tip. I will say again, Have Fun!

Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge Day 4

Today my eating and exercise was pretty much the same so this post will be short. I do want to share with you my favorite fall breakfast, pumpkin oatmeal. I actually did another post about this dish and you can find it here. I will say the more I make this I realize I like it as it sits in the refrigerator for a couple days. It gets really creamy. Plus it is so easy to make because you do it in the slow cooker. Hope you will try the recipe.

1 can pumpkin or 3 cups fresh pumpkin (peeled, seeded and cut into chunks)

5 cups water

1 and a 1/2 cups steel cut oatmeal

1/4 cup agave syrup or sweetener of your choice

1 TBS brown sugar (I omitted this time because I do not like my oatmeal sweet)

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients very well in slow cooker.  Cook overnight for 6- 8 hours on low.  Will come out very creamy and delicious after stirring in morning.  I added unsweetened coconut and pecans. This recipe is 4 points on Weight Watchers and with the added toppings a total of 6. This is based on how much I added to mine.

This recipe makes a lot, around 8 cups so cut in half if needed but I am going to try and freeze some for later use.  I also am going to try freezing in an ice cube tray to add flavor to yogurt.  Will let you know the results in a later post.  Enjoy!

Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge Day 3

So far, so good. If you are just reading, check out my first Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge post.

My eating was really the same as yesterday except I did not want to eat the same thing for dinner so I fixed a bowl of tomato soup, small salad, and a grilled ham and cheese on a whole wheat thin. It really hit the spot.

One thing that was really great yesterday was I got to swim laps at lunch. This is always relaxing and a great workout for me especially because I have been having lots of issues with my right knee.

I also want to share the hashtags you see in the above picture. They are the main Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge hashtags. I use them mostly on Instagram. You can find me @kisstastic2. The #friskyfall one is obvious but the #100byhalloween one is Katrina and Karena want you to log 100 miles by Halloween. I love this part because it really makes me accountable on my exercise goals and gets me moving. I also follow some of the TIU girl's leads by making a board to track my progress. It is a great motivator because it is in my office.

One last thing I want to mention is that after my walk with Chloe I had a craving for something sweet and I enjoyed this Mango Banana Popsicle I made. I will share the recipe in a later post. Really yummy.

Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge Day 2

Yesterday I talked about Tone It UP's Frisky Fall Challenge starting and how I want to be more accountable. So I am going to try and post every day during this challenge. If you would like information about the challenge, you can find it here. 

My focus yesterday was on eating. I had prepped my food for the week on Sunday so everything was already made and portioned out into containers. This made it really easy on what to eat and was a life saver when I came home last night from work. I was too tired to cook so I just pulled out my container of food. Here is what was on my plates yesterday.

M1 peach and low fat string cheese

M2 perfect fit protein pancake

M3 spaghetti with brown rice pasta and green beans

M4 sugar snaps and hummus

M5 parmesan turkey cutlets, rice and roasted veggies

M6 (not pictured) pumpkin spice pudding made with almond milk

The wonderful drink in the ball jar is my favorite now. It is a mixture of pineapple juice, coconut water, and club soda. So refreshing.

Also I joined Weight Watchers yesterday. I have had a lot of success with tracking so I am going to use the Tone It Up plan for eating and exercise but use Weight Watchers for accountability. I really like the social media interaction that Tone It Up offers and I love the meetings and tracking that Weight Watchers offers so lets see what happens.

Tone It Up Frisky Fall Challenge

Wow! It has been forever since I have done a post. I am going to try and be better at posting especially because Tone It Up just started a new challenge and I think it will make me more accountable if I blog. Check out their Frisky Fall Challenge post it will give you basic information about the challenge. They are really encouraging and have weekly workout schedules.

So in order to set a good tone for the challenge, yesterday I set some goals and created a new journal. I am going to try and write in it everyday. I have been seeing a nutritionist and she told me weight loss and healthy eating are about feelings just as much as what we eat so I am trying to give the feelings area more attention. This is hard for me so I will need encouragement.

Here are my goals:

Get rid of 15 pounds

Finish 2 5k races

No gluten

Positive daily attitude

Ask for support

Motivate others

Try a couple new recipes

Journal, journal, journal

SMILE!!!!!

What are yours?

Green Glow Smoothie by Tone It Up

I follow the Tone It Up girls, Karena and Katrina and they posted a recipe yesterday that I wanted to try. It is called a Green Glow Smoothie.  I really like smoothies but was curious about adding an avocado to a smoothie.  I had never done it before now.

I will definitely be adding avocado to other smoothies in the future.  I dare you to give it a try.