So, I Made Homemade Mayo....

I admit that I've fallen off significantly from my little health and fitness kick I was on last year. After feeling like a lazy slob and with a renewed desire for bikini-worthy abs, I'm slowly but surely easing back into it. To start, I need to get back into eating healthier. That doesn't mean I'm gonna become a vegan or anything (because lord knows I love a good sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich) but the least I can do is start making healthier choices in my diet.

I was over on a website/blog called 100 Days of Real food started by a mom who took the challenge with her family to cut out processed foods for 100 days. That's a bit much for me and I know I couldn't just jump into it. They also have a 10 day challenge which I may start at a later date. For now, the idea of slowly cutting out processed foods appealed to me.

My homemade mayo. I think it looks pretty good.

I've never been one to read labels but you'd be surprised at all the extra crap in everyday food. Things like mayonnaise for example. Anyway, long story short I was inspired to try to make my own mayonnaise and the results were pretty good. This is the recipe I used ---> click here.

I only had two real issues with my results. At first it came out more like a creamy salad dressing than a mayo but after being in the fridge a couple of nights the consistency is more like real mayonnaise. I also don't care for the olive oil taste. It's a bit strong for me so next time I'll either add a bit less or use a different type of oil (some have suggested grape seed.) Try it for yourself and enjoy!

And again....yum!

August Workout Challenge

After successfully completing the beginner's calender from Blogilates.com, I decided to dive in and try the August calendar. Just by looking at this calendar I can already tell it's going to be much more physically challenging than the beginner's but that makes sense. For starters, each of the workouts this month are about an hour long compared to the previous calendar with 30-40 minute workouts. That means exercising for at least an hour a day 6 days a week. Good stuff.

                                              

One thing I really like about the August workout calendar are the meal/recipe suggestions each week. Let me break it down because I know you care....

Sunday - Cook a new recipe from the blogilates.com recipe index (all healthy, cheap eats)
Monday - Meatless Monday
Tuesday - Eat fruit anytime you want to snack
Wednesday - Drink 8 oz of water before each meal or snack
Thursday - Give up one "bad" food or condiment for the day
Friday - YOLO meal aka splurge on whatever you want
Saturday - Veggies with EVERY meal today

I have to admit, I've already failed my first meatless Monday. I just couldn't shake the craving so I'm gonna try to go meatless another day during the week to make up for it and start fresh next week. I also haven't bothered to cook a new recipe from the website but I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually. Other than that I've been good about following the diet suggestions so far.

The monthly calendars on the website are password protected so I wouldn't feel right posting it on my blog. If you're interested just sign up for the newsletter. It's definitely worth it. That's all for now!

Beginner's Pilates Challenge: DONE!

So, a while back I decided to try the beginner's workout calendar over on Blogilates.com as a way to help me start working out on a regular basis and as an intro to Pilates which I've been wanting to try for a while now. I'm happy to say that I have officially completed the entire calendar. Yay me! This is a huge accomplishment for me because in the past I've never actually stuck with a workout routine. I'll usually start and stick with something for about a week or so before I get lazy and just say forget it. I'm really proud of myself for sticking with it and completing the entire four weeks.

There were a couple of days that I didn't get up early to do the workout videos before starting my day but I made sure to do them later in the day when I had time. There was also one day that I didn't workout at all so I had to double up and do two day's worth the next day to stay caught up. Also, on rest days there's healthy meal suggestions but I only tried the very first one; the banana pancakes recipe. Now that I'm done with that calender I'm not sure what to do next. I'm not going to jump into the July workout calendar at the end of the month so I decided to make my own schedule for the last couple weeks of the month. I just went back through the calendar and picked out some of my favorite videos to do.

To be honest I haven't seen much, if any physical results but it's largely my fault. I really haven't changed my diet too much and I know I should. Just working out isn't enough to see real results, you have to change your diet too which I've learned. That's a lot harder for me and it's gonna take a while. It's actually really easy for me to ADD healthy foods to my diet but getting rid of unhealthy ones is my real challenge. What can I say, I'm a work in progress.

That's all for now.

Beginner's Pilates Challenge: Week 1

My week in review:
***Disclaimer: I'm not sure if I'm gonna do a post like this every week. If I do it may not be as detailed.***

Day 1: Total Body

Not much to tell for today. I woke up at a reasonably early hour and did the total body workout per the calendar. I've actually done that particular video before so I knew what to expect. However it's been a few weeks since doing it so it was a little tougher but doable. That's really it.

Day 2: Abs

Due to a change in my work schedule I didn't get up and do my workout first thing in the morning. Had to be to work by 8am and I really wasn't trying to get up that early to exercise so I put it off until later in the evening. First off, I nearly died doing that 1 minute plank. I wasn't able to do the full minute all at once but I was able to last about 20 seconds at a time before breaking down. I think that's good considering I've never done a plank before in my life.

Day 3: Total Body

It probably took 30 minutes or more for me to do 10 roll ups because I had to rest between each. Terrible I know. The cardio workout was really fun. The total body was cool but I realized yet again how terrible my balance is with some of the side lying moves. Guess I have to keep trying.

Day 4: Lower Body

The 10 burpees were easier to do than I was expecting. For some reason I really thought I would struggle with that because I've never done them before but I didn't. Although they did make me VERY winded. I was so out of breath after it was crazy. I'm still having balance issues with some of the workouts calling for you to balance on one knee and one hand but otherwise the videos were today were alright. Also, I really enjoyed the quite cardio this morning. Not much else to say about today's workout.

Day 5: Abs

Another ab day. I honestly don't have much more to say than that. Oh, other than the fact that my balance is still terrible. That's it.

Day 6: Total Body

I realized that I can just barely do sit ups but around about 15 of 20 I got a little better. The back workout was okay but nothing I'd want to do on my own. The booty workout was short but definitely intense. I really felt the burn with that one. Not much else to say about today.

Day 7: Rest

Self explanatory.

4 Week Beginner's Pilates Challenge

Okay, so I'm not entirely sure this thing I'm doing is called a challenge, but it will be for me. Over on blogilates.com there's a 4 week plan for those just beginning their Pilates journey which is perfect for me. For one it has everything you need to do each day spelled out in front of you so you don't have to worry about it. Also, there's a different combination of workouts everyday so you don't get bored. There's also a rest day included with healthy meal suggestions.

Basically, there's a calendar that you can print out that has a few different workouts each day for you to check off and sign to mark your progress. On the website there's links to the videos for each day so you don't have to bother with trying to search for them. 6 days of Pilates workouts and 1 day of rest at the end of each week. I've already decided that I'm probably not going to follow the healthy meal suggestions just because I don't want to have to go out and buy anything. I'll just continue with my smoothies, salads and oatmeal and call it a day. I'll make weekly posts updating my progress.

See you in a week!