April 9

SNOW day!! 

We already have about 8-10 inches, and we're supposed to get 10-12 more! We weren't able to make it to the grocery store last night, so we're out of a lot (silly us). For breakfast, I remembered that I had frozen the oatmeal waffles I made last week, so Tom and I had oatmeal waffles with blueberries and starfruit (*and a little agave nectar) for breakfast as well as nice hot coffee :) Spending the morning snowed in with our puppy watching The Hunger Games. Pretty awesome day! Hopefully we'll be able to make it to the gym tonight, otherwise Bailey and I are going to brave the snow and go for a run. 

*I use 100% pure Blue Agave nectar. It is a natural sweetener and a healthy alternative to refined sugar. I use it in a lot of different dishes. 

Snack: cottage cheese - high in protein, low in carbs

Lunch: Tom cooked a fabulous salmon dish with quinoa

Snack: Dark chocolate is high in antioxidants and makes for a perfect little snack. Luckily, I don't like milk chocolate so I only ever want dark chocolate. I just have to keep myself in check and only eat a small amount at a time. 

Small meal: mashed sweet potatoes! One of my absolute favorite foods ever. I ate it completely plain with the exception of boiling it with a pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt. 

Dinner: Tom's mom is a fabulous cook! She made us Polynesian chicken and salad for dinner. 

Week 2: Day 1

Breakfast: Greek yogurt, coconut sugar, strawberries,
blueberries, starfruit, and 1/2 banana

Lunch: Tuna salad (made with yogurt instead of mayo)
on greens with carrots and a single piece of whole wheat bread (to help
make me full without too many carbs) 

Small meal: Quinoa sweetened with a little agave
nectar topped with mangos and blueberries 

Dinner: rice bowl with cabbage, spring mix, grilled chicken,
black beans, zucchini, and salsa

Weekend: Eating and Exercise

Sunday night lift: (15 reps, 3 sets each) Deadlift, bench, overhead press, single-arm rows, tactical lunges w/ kettle bells, pull-ups, and abs (invert glute ham raises with 10-lb plate).
1 hour, 356 calories burned

High protein snack: Cottage cheese with ground flaxseed and a banana

Dinner: Spring mix salad, Mom's homemade potato salad (can't say no, so just had a small portion), swai and cod filets

Starfruit and mango

Starfruit may be the cutest food ever :) 

Breakfast of champions: 1/2 starfruit and 1/2 mango = delicious combo!!

Snack: Pita chips with sea salt. A single serving is 11 chips, 120 calories.

Lunch: Lean beef (3g carbs, 17g protein), pepper jack cheese, egg, mushrooms, and a spring salad 

Day 5

Breakfast: Oatmeal waffles! (I froze the extra so I can have a quick, easy breakfast a few more days this week, and that way I limited myself to a single serving today.)

Recipe:

3 cups oatmeal (pulse until fine in a food processor) *can use gluten-free rolled oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (Chobani is my favorite) 

1 cup milk *soy milk can be substituted

2 tbsp olive oil 

1 tbsp agave nectar (or honey) 

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken then place on waffle iron until cooked. Yumm!!

Oatmeal flour - 3 cups of oatmeal ground finely in a food processor 

Fruit syrup: strawberries, blueberries, and pomegranate juice blended together

Day 4

Live by these words every day! You are worth it!

Since I have 8:00 class, I often don't have time to prepare a decent breakfast. Instead, this is a Body by Vi protein shake. I add chia seeds (yumm!!) for extra flavor and nutrients. I have Vi shakes, whey protein, and Tropical Strawberry Shakeology. If anyone would like a sample to see if you'd like to try one of these shakes for yourself, email me. I'm not an advocate for either, but I have a lot of friends who use Body by Vi and have had great diet results, and most of the fitness coaches that I follow swear by Shakeology. Regardless, they are great alternatives to a meal or post-workout shake and they're easy to make on the go. My friend Jake almost always brings donuts to our early classes, and it takes all the willpower I have to say NO to sweets. To fight the desire (and the sweet smell of sugar in the room), I had my shake and then 2 bottles of water. It keeps me full, and makes it easier to say no. 2 minutes of satisfaction is not worth ruining all the hard work I've done in my workouts. I have to remember: success is 80% diet, 20% exercise. If you're not eating healthy, then ultimately, you're not getting anything from your workouts. 

(Water: I have a 22 oz water bottle - my goal each day is to drink a gallon of water, which is 6 full bottles. Water is great for your body, it keeps you from binge eating, and it makes you feel full longer.) 

Lunch: Spring mix salad with carving board chicken, strawberries, slivered almonds, carrots, and raspberry vinaigrette. 

Small meal: Oatmeal with flaxseed, blueberries, half banana, sweetened with agave nectar

Small meal: (stolen from my mother's pantry - brings me back to grade school) applesauce "squeezer" - only ingredients are applesauce, apple juice, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) 

Workout: 40 minute basketball game for rec league 

Dig deep!

I created this blog in an attempt to hold myself accountable, and to possibly motivate a few of my friends/followers along the way. Speaking with a lot of my friends, most of us struggle with staying consistent in our workouts and maintaining a healthy, clean diet. I found that the best way to keep myself in check is to photograph everything I eat, write down what I eat in a journal, and document all of my workouts. That way, I know that at the end of the day, I'm going to have to write down whatever I ate. I absolutely hate writing down unhealthy food. It makes me feel like I failed myself, so keeping a food journal actually helps hold myself accountable.

I follow a few fitness celebs and BeachBody coaches on Facebook and Twitter (follow me on Twitter - @KelseyPTieszen - I repost a lot of their posts), and seeing their posts about workouts, recipes, and even motivational quotes each day helps give me a support system and keeps me on track. I figured that if I could help out even a few of my friends to stay motivated with recipes and/or workouts, then maybe creating a blog would be worth it. I thought about creating a new Facebook page, but I didn't want to annoy everyone with my constant posts, so I figured a blog was a good way that people can check back whenever they like, and help give me feedback to keep me accountable.

I think the best way to reach our goals is to help each other. I hope a few of you decide to follow my posts, and that I can help you with motivation to reach your fitness goals. Feel free to leave comments, motivational quotes, questions about recipes, etc. In return, I ask that you help hold me accountable, too, so that we can all get in the best shape of our lives with the support of great friends!

It was about 70 degrees this afternoon, so Bailey bug and I went on a great run on the bike path through the canyon and city park. We were a little tired afterwards. I'm also going to lift tonight, too, so I get both cardio and strength training in today.
(Btw: I love my heart-rate monitor to keep track of my calories, time, and heart-rate. I add the total calories I burn in a day to my journal to compare with my overall calorie intake from food.)

Dinner: Hawaiian chicken, boiled edamame, and baked sweet potatoes with olive oil and sea salt

Run: 51 minutes, ~4.5 miles (running with a puppy is not the most efficient way to run :)

Lift: (high reps) squats, push ups, inverted rows, leg press, lat pulls, box lunges, abs

Day 3

Tom had to take his car to get a tire fixed this morning so while we were waiting, we got breakfast at a local coffee shop. A bad excuse, but they didn't have many healthy options so I opted for a raspberry scone and a coconut coffee. Better to have a sugary breakfast than no breakfast, and one bad meal won't ruin everything. Just gotta workout a little extra today and eat healthy the rest of the week. 

The best recipe of the day by far though was homemade strawberry banana coconut "ice cream." I found a recipe on Pinterest that said you could make ice cream using only one ingredient: frozen bananas. Well, I happened to have 2 overly ripe (almost black) bananas that I decided to freeze. *Note: peel the bananas BEFORE freezing. Otherwise, it's a pain to get the skin off.* Anyway, I mixed the frozen nanas, strawberries, 1/4 cup of whole milk (much healthier for you than skim milk -- it's more natural, has more protein, and contains lots of nutrients and good fat), and a tablespoon of coconut sugar, my new favorite healthy sweetener, and blended all together. It was nice and thick, and it tasted just like ice cream! Seriously my new favorite addiction. I'm going to have to get creative with the fruit I use.