You won't want to miss this.....It's going to be BIG!!!

We are in the beginning of something really big. I want to be able to offer more individual help, encouragement and counsel to those truly interested in changing their life style, becoming more active, improving nutrition, replacing fat with muscle and staying motivated.

I've decided the best way for this to happen is to offer a membership option for My Beautifully Holistic Life. For those who have had enough of being unhealthy, unmotivated, tired, sick and overweight, this is a life changing opportunity and you will get more than just what you are getting from my Blog, Twitter and Facebook page.

If you sign up for our membership option during the pre-launch you can get your membership at just $5 per month and that price will never go up.

Here are some of the benefits of becoming a member. 10% off at our store (coming soon), a weekly e-newsletter containing news - recipes - contest info and much more, automatic entry into all of our prize giveaways. (Plus and more to come)

We are going to start this thing big with a $20,000 prize giveaway to members only. You will get 1 entry for every month you are a member prior to our launch. Join today and you will be guaranteed at least 4 entries into this giveaway before our grand opening.

For more information as to what prizes are being offered, visit the link called Prize Alert! at the top of the page.

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Day 5 Food & Fitness

Playing soccer yesterday must have warn me out because I slept until almost 10:30 today and woke up starving.

Breakfast  ~ 2/3 cup Trader Joe's Chocolate Almond cereal with 1/2 cup 2% milk, scrambled eggs with veggies, 2 waffles w/ syrup (750 cal.)
Snack  ~ None
Lunch  ~ 2 pieces of toast with Cocoa bliss and a large salad (466 cal.)
Snack  ~ None
Dinner  ~ Cheese Veggie Quesadilla, 1 tortilla (230 cal. approx)
Snack  ~ Smart Ones - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundae (140 cal.)

Total calories for the day: 1726 (under by 274)

Exercise:

• 1 Minute Vigorous Jumping Jacks
• 20 sit-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 20 calf raises
• 50 Russian Twists
• 20 Squats
• 40 High Knees
• 20 Reverse Crunches
• 2- 30 second Planks
• 2- 15 second Planks on each side
• 20 Minute Mari Winsor Pilates workout
• 2.4 mile walk

Good amount of exercise, lot's of beauty sleep, not to bad on the eating.

Day 4 Food & Fitness

I don't know what was up with today. I guess I missed eating big high calorie meals or something. I was just so hungry and couldn't stop eating. Only went over by 383 so it wasn't horrible, but still.

Breakfast  ~ 1 cup milk, serving of scrambled eggs w/ cheese and veggies, crape filled with yogurt & fruit (402 cal.)
Snack  ~ Pumpkin Seeds (190 cal.)
Lunch  ~ Tomato soup with a grilled mozzarella & turkey sandwich and a basil, mozzarella and tomato sandwich (862 cal approx.) ~ it was soooo good but was way to many calories.
Snack  ~ None
Dinner  ~ Italian Style Wedding Soup, turkey and swiss sandwich, 1 cup yogurt (860 cal. approx) aaarrrggg. twice in one day
Snack  ~ 1 chocolate chip cookie (69 cal. approx.)

Total calories for the day: 2383 (over by 383)

Exercise:

• 1 Minute of vigorous Jumping Jacks
• 20 sit-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 20 calf raises
• 50 Russian Twists
• 20 Squats
• 40 High Knees
• 20 Reverse Crunches
• 2- 30 second Planks
• 2- 15 second Planks on each side
• 20 Minutes of soccer with my sister & brother-in-law

Day 3 Food & Fitness

Actually woke up at a decent hour. Hooray!!

Breakfast  ~ 2/3 cup Trader Joe's Chocolate Almond cereal with 1/2 cup 2% milk (310 cal.)
Snack  ~ Wheat Thins (140 cal.)
Lunch  ~ Tuna melt on a sweet potato & 1 piece turkey bacon (309 cal approx.)
Snack  ~ Pumpkin Seeds & 5 chocolate nibs (105 cal. approx.)
Dinner  ~ Italian Style Wedding Soup (140 cal. approx)
Snack  ~ 2 Serving popcorn (248 cal. approx.)

Total calories for the day: 1252 (under by 748, not good)

Exercise:

• 40 Jumping Jacks
• 20 sit-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 20 calf raises
• 50 Russian Twists
• 20 Squats
• 40 High Knees
• 20 Reverse Crunches
• 2- 30 second Planks
• 2- 15 second Planks on each side
• 20 Minute Mari Winsor Pilates workout
• 2.4 mile walk

Not a bad day over all. I felt like I ate to much so I was trying to be careful and ended up under eating. Maybe I will carry a little book with me and add up the calories up as I go so I don't keep going over and under. I'm shooting for 2000 cal. a day.

Day 2 Food & Fitness

So, I slept in and missed breakfast so I didn't eat my first meal till 8:30. Not great, but better than yesterday. I was also disappointment because I went to the store and bought a multivitamin, came right home and took one......and just now noticed all these hours later that one of the ingredients is caffeine. Really? Is that necessary?  I live clean, no smoking, no drugs, no coffee and nothing but herbal tea. I am really mad! I guess for most people it's not a big issue but I don't feel like I shouldn't have to read the ingredients of my multivitamin to make sure it doesn't contain caffeine. (I get that I'm making a big deal about this, and it probably shouldn't be......in fact, if it was only me to worry about I would probably just take it for a month and see how it went, but I'm still nursing and my sweet beautiful daughter doesn't need a shot of caffeine with her lunch.)

Breakfast @ 8:30 ~ 1/4 cup scrambled egg, 1 hash-brown, 2 pieces turkey bacon (556 cal. approx)
Lunch @12 ~ 1/2 lb turkey burger with spinach and feta  (153 cal approx.)
Snack @ 2:30 ~ wheat thins and a protein bar 140 (410 cal. approx.)
Dinner @ 6 ~ Shredded BBQ chicken, topped with fresh mozzarella cheese. (700 cal. approx)
Snack @ 8 ~ pumpkin seeds and 2 servings popcorn  (348 cal. approx)
Other ~ 3 breath mints and 10 chocolate nibs ( 15 cal.)

Total calories for the day: 2082 (over by 82 calories for the day. Not bad!!)

I didn't exercise today. :( I feel sad about that. I am dealing with a lot of pain in my body. I have a minor case of scoliosis which is a partial contributor. I am out of shape....perhaps another contributor. My biggest issue at the moment is the sciatic pain. I have a stiff lower back and any pressure on my tail bone makes it so I walk hunched over in pain like a little old lady when I get up. I have sharp shooting pains going through my left hip in front, down the back of both legs starting at my butt and stopping at my knees, through the side, front and back of my left calf and both ankles. (although my left ankle is worse.)

I had these pains, slightly worse because before I got pregnant because they included my upper body. My doctor thought it might be fibromyalgia but the in the testing process of all the things they have to eliminate before they can decide that is what it is, they discovered I was vitamin D deficient. I wonder if that is the issue now too.....maybe? It's why I bought the multivitamin. Stupid vitamin.

Day 1 Food & Fitness

Here is what my day looked like.

I slept in and missed breakfast so I didn't eat my first meal till 9. Plus the day was a little off because we were bringing my sister-in-law to the airport and she wanted to walk around town and visit the shops before she left.

Snack @ 9 ~ 2/3 cup Trader Joe's Chocolate Almond cereal with 1/2 cup 2% milk (310 cal.)
Lunch @12 ~ 1/2 Coconut Frozen yogurt topped with peanuts and raspberries. (150 cal approx.)
Snack @ 2:30 ~ Swedish meatball meal from Ikea. (900 cal. approx.)
Dinner @ 6 ~ Italian bread with shredded BBQ chicken, topped with fresh mozzarella cheese. (900 cal. approx)

Total calories for the day: 2260 (over by 260 calories for the day)

Exercise:

• 40 Jumping Jacks
• 20 sit-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 20 calf raises
• 50 Russian Twists
• 20 Squats
• 40 High Knees
• 20 Reverse Crunches
• 2- 30 second Planks
• 2- 15 second Planks on each side

I didn't go for my mile walk because we walked around town for 1 hour and than walked around Ikea for one hour. I figured that ended up being over a mile in the end.

Week 2 Workout & Week 1 Results

As week two is starting I am feeling pretty optimistic. I took yesterday completely off. I stuffed myself full of spaghetti, ate a giant no bake cookie and tons of popcorn. I know that sounds counter productive but I feel like it's a smart idea to have a day off to let muscles repair and mentally chill. (I justified the carb loading by needing to put more effort into today's jog....I didn't really need to carb load because I still have approx 80 lbs of fat that I should be burning instead.)

This week's goals are:

• Exercise 5-6 days. 
• I am going to double my resistance series from last week. I will now be going through it twice, just like it says I should be. I will post it again below for those new to this blog, but it's worth going back to read older posts. 
• I am also want to by the end of the week double my jog (so I will be going 3 miles).

Week one results:

I am feeling stronger and can get through the daily resistance training without complaining and it is much easier than it was a week ago, that's for sure.

I don't know my final time for jogging but I can jog over 50% of the route now. I am so impressed.

In the end I lost 1.4 lbs for the week and 2.5 inches over all.

Here are my updated photo's after a week of working out, drinking green smoothies daily and cutting down portions. To see my before picture and measurements visit the About Eliza page above.

Week 1 Check Up

Ok, so this EASY little workout that I choose ended up kicking my butt. I guess I was worse off than I thought. Day one I did the first two things....the whole time wanting to quit. After the first two items I seriously looked at the list and said "WHAT! There are that many more things to do????"

I pushed myself and did them all. Day two was a bit easier as was day 3. I hope it keeps getting easier.

Jogging? Well, it's mostly walking but when I do jog I pick a land mark and say to myself "I'm not stopping until I reach that _____, no matter what." Day one my average time per mile was 15:28, today it was 14:49, so I have shaved a little time off so far.

"Self discipline is doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, even if you don't want to do it."

Sprouting Lentils

Sprouted lentils are a tasty, super healthy treat. I make a new batch every 1-3 days. I think they are sweetest right after they have begun to sprout and become more bitter the bigger they grow but you should try them to see what stage you like them best at. Here is what you need.

1. Small mouthed mason jar
2. Either a mesh lid or the cover to a Parmesan cheese container
3. Lentils

Instructions:

1. Measure anywhere from a few tablespoons to 1/2 a cup of lentils into the jar.
2. Put twice as much water in the jar as there are lentils and swish them well.
3. Drain well.
4. Put twice as much water in the jar as there are lentils again, this time let them soak for 8-12 hours. (I always do mine for 12 hours.)
5. Place on your counter to soak out of direct sunlight

Note: If you are using a Parmesan jar cover leave the side with the small holes ajar to air can pass through. Living, growing things need air.......don't suffocate your sprouts.

6. After 8-12 hours rinse your little lentils well. They have just had a long bath and want to be rinsed. (it's like if you just spent 12 hours laying in the bathtub.....you might feel a little slimy and want to rinse before getting dresses.) Drain well and leave the cover cracked so they can breath.

YOUR SPROUTS ARE NOW ALIVE! Feel free to try some.

7. After another 12 hours, rinse well, drain well...........Remember to let them breath.

You can repeat step 7 another 3-5 times depending on how big you want then to grow. I recommend trying a few after each rinse so you know at what stage you like them best. When you have them how you like them they can be stored in the fridge. Make sure they are dry to the touch before storing them.

Fun ways to eat sprouted lentils. You can munch on them straight out of the jar. Toss a few on your salad. Put some in a green smoothie. Sprouts are alive and full of amazing nutrients. Your body will thank you.

Week 1 Workout

Here we are at the beginning. I just jogged (I use that term loosely -- See my video "My Beautifully Holistic Life is Born") my first 5k less then a week ago. I have pack up and left my old life behind for the time being and am in Michigan with my sister and her family. It's time to spend some time on me and seriously improve my health and fitness.

I am sorely out of shape. I want to do everything but can't. Just taking a flight of stairs gets me winded and hurts my hips. I need to start slow and build muscle and endurance over time. This will be a challenge for me because I can visualize the end and I want to already be there. I always try to skip to the hard stuff and burn out fast. This time I am going to use baby steps.

I found this wonderful workout on Pinterest. It sounds easy. Thank you to movenourishbelieve.com for coming up with this and for who ever posted in on Pinterest for me to find.

I now it says to go through it twice, but determined to stick to my baby steps I am only going to go though this series once per day for the next week. I can do it.....cuz it's easy.

I am also going to walk/jog for 1.5 miles per day ( at least 5 days per week ). I want to start training for my next 5k. I don't want this next one to be such a disaster.

Wish me luck. I'm off!

Fight Fat with Tabata

It's FITNESS FRIDAY!! Blast fat with this 4 minute Tabata workout. 

I know you can find 4 minutes in your day to exercise. Tabata is great because it is a compact high intensity workout that you can customize to fit your needs. Your workout can grow with you because you simply do as many reps as you can do of each exercise in 20 seconds. Maybe week one you can only do 10 pushups in 20 seconds. Don't give up......by week 5 or 6 you might be able to do 15 or 20. ( or even more)

Don't have anyone to watch the clock for you and tell you when 20 seconds is up? No problem, you can find Tabata timers just about any where.

Gymboss makes a great little interval timer/stopwatch pictured below. If you are in the habit of working out away from home or at the gym, this is a great investment.




 If you have your computer near by and want a free timer I recommend http://www.tabatatimer.com/
This is a great little free timer you can customize. Check out the screen shot below.

 Tips: *Any exercise is better than none.
          * Switch it up with different exercises. There are plenty to choose from including: jogging in    place, burpees, sit-ups, bicep curls.......you name it.
          *Exercise first thing in the morning revs up your metabolism and is a great way to start your day.