You are being watched

While no one expects us to be a “perfect” parents it really isn’t that complicated to raise happy, healthy, well adjusted kids. I am no expert and I am still raising my kids..(not out of the woods yet ha ha) but I did learn so far that kids need love. Kids need boundaries. Kids need someone to look up to and learn from.

 This post was inspired by our older son. Couple of weeks ago he did his first 5k with me and loved it. Today he did his first solo 1k. He is only 8 and it was a big deal for him. He completed it effortlessly and was so happy about his accomplishment. On the way home he actually thanked me for signing him up and said he loved it and he has been wanting to do it because he loves that I do them. He said that one day his wish was to complete a stop free 5k with me in under 30 minutes. That is a huge reward to me. I knew this before and it was just a reminder that kids look up to us, they see what we do, what we say, how we act, if we work hard for something and how we react to things. How we go through life teaches our children how to go through life. That goes for anything. If they see us making a goal and working on that goal wether we accomplish it out not it teaches them to try. If you are using bad language or bad behavior,  do not be surprised if you hear your child speaking like that tomorrow. If we eat healthy and take care of our selves we teach them to love their body and nourish it with the best quality it deserves. 

Our job, as a parent, is to lead by example. Modeling the kind of behavior that we want our kids to adopt. Becoming a role model, of course, often means taking a close, honest look at how we live our own life. This kind of self-examination can be uncomfortable, but it’s absolutely necessary for the well-being of our children. This may be a great discovery for us and them. 

• Be your best 
• Be dependable
• Take care of yourself 
• Be attentive
• Be loyal
• Be honest
• Admit when you do something wrong, and teach what’s right. 
• Enforce consequences when your children do something wrong. 
• START NOW. You are being watched. 

  

  

So proud of him and his friend and all the children and parents involved today.

Groceries and Meals for the Week

I thought I’d share one week example of my groceries and family meals. I change it up every week and of course depending on the season. During fall and winter crock pot is a life saver so a lot of the meals are made in the crock pot…spring and summer we fire up the grill for whatever we can. Oh how I love summer. I have posted here before that Sunday is groceries and meal prep day. I dice whatever I can, clean the fruits, and store in fridge for week ahead. Saves me on prep time. I grill chicken to use in other recipes however I NEVER reheat chicken in the microwave, only on stove. Reheated chicken in microwave REAKS! I do not know if its the high temp on short time or what but its gross.

CLICK HERE FOR Grocery ListPDF

Monday

Grill!!

We grilled steak garnished with parsley and garlic with side of grilled Zucchini and avocado. I also had my husband grill chicken wings for the boys they prefer it more than steak. I also had him grill the chicken breast for Tuesday….

Tuesday

Made this up lol

Diced onions, diced sweet peppers, diced zucchini, sautéed on a table spoon of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, paprika. Then add tablespoon of flour stir. Add 1 ½ cup of vegetable stock. Add diced grilled chicken, simmer 5-10 minutes. Serve with brown rice or quinoa. Dinner done in 30 minutes or less 😊

  

 

Wednesday

Chicken kielbasa and kale pasta. Recipe posted before here.

Thursday 

Grilled chicken breast and cut into strips. (This is another big package of chicken so half will be saved for Friday) Cut remaining of sweet peppers length wise, whole onion, 1 clove of garlic. Toss on high head for 5 minutes or less, just to sear it. Mix with grilled chicken and season with fajita seasoning mix or any seasonings you like. Serve with rice or Quiona. I totally failed and forgot to snap a picture but I am sure everyone has seen fajitas before 😂.

Friday

 Salad – cold chicken breast cubed on fresh spinach or whatever lettuce I have hanging around. Cooked and cooled quinoa, boiled egg, mashed avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers. I had some corn and beans in the pantry.  Seasoned with rice vinegar. It’s scarp Friday, whatever we have left over toss it together and make it a salad.

Breakfasts we usually have smoothies, pancakes, omelets. Lunches we have left overs from dinner or I make salads, egg salads, tuna salads. Fresh fruits and veggies at lunch as well. My older son gets sandwiches fruits and veggies, cliff bars, baked chips or sometimes he just eats school lunch. Each week changes. I rarely repeat the same food in the same month. I am not a chef by any means, I cook with my heart. I do not know proper chef verbiage so please excuse if there are funny errors. I make up recipes all the time. Hope this helps someone with planning. It saves us a ton money not eating out and we eat wholesome foods. I buy whatever I can organic, I’d rather spend more money for quality foods then eat out and have shortcuts. I buy rice, dry beans, olive oil, healthy snacks for boys (granola bars, baked chips, chocolate (yes they eat chocolate)) seasonings and whatever else household items in bulk at Sam’s so we do not have to restock weekly. Because I prep ahead dinner is ready and severed by 6 or 6:30 pm, we eat together as family and we have the rest of the night to do whatever :-).  Boys love it. We eat out or order in on Saturdays but it’s usually Chinese.

I would love to hear your ideas or work week tactics. Tips are always welcome so please share!

Healthy Snack Ideas

Here are some of my favorite snack ideas.

Quest Bars

By far top of my list are Quest bars..most of their flavors. I have tree nuts allergies so obviously I eat all except the ones that have that. I buy a ton of them at GNC sometimes they have buy 2 get 1 free. They are pricey but worth it. If you go to instagram and quest page there are a ton of ideas to make out of quest bars. You can check them out here.

Rice Cakes
Ton of different ways to eat these.
I spread a little peanut butter, drizzle of honey.
I also add banana to it or dried fruit like cranberries or raisins.
Peanut butter and diced apples on top.
Peanut butter and Hershey’s dark chocolate chip
Hummus and cucumber slices
You get the idea. You can create your own. I use plain rice cakes for all of this.

Boiled Eggs

Boiled eggs are good protein and satisfying snacks. You can eat it alone with a drizzle of sea salt or..
Remove egg yolk and fill it with
Humus
Mashed Avocado
Salsa or pico
Cottage Cheese
Cucumbers and Vinegar
Slice cucumber and season with dash of Rice Vinegar (or any of your choice) with salt and pepper.

Steamed Sea Salt Edamame

I buy mine at Walmart. Individual serve containers. You steam them for 3 1/2 minutes. They are PictSweet brand. These are addictive so don’t say I did not warn you 😉

Raspberry Kisses

For those days when your monthly friend is telling you to eat sweets or you are just on a sweet kick. Dark chocolate Hershey chips and raspberries.

Dates

There are many benefits from dates. They are high in sugar so I would not recommend a lot, snack on it on the day that you do not consume many fruits.

Grapes and Cheese
Handful of Almonds
Fresh fruits and veggies
Roasted Chickpeas (My recipe here)

That’s all I can think of now. Sometimes I get on a kick and will eat one of the above for a week straight and then switch it up. What do you like to snack on?

Whats on my menu today

Sorry I do not post often. I try to post at least 1-2 posts a week, that’s all I can make time for lol. After all I am a busy mom in a busy world 😉 Today I snapped pictures of my food intake for the day and wanted to share with you all. Maybe it gives you an idea to try something new 🙂

Breakfast

Berry Kale Smoothie 1/2 C. fresh or frozen blueberries 6 oz. plain or vanilla Greek yogurt (I use Danon) 1/2 C. almond milk, coconut milk, or milk (I use lactose free for me) 1-2 C. fresh kale and/or spinach 1 scoop of Pure Protein Whey Powder (Especially if I plan on working out in the morning) Blend away!!! So YUM!

Snack

Mid morning snack. Peanut Butter and honey rice cake. Rice cake I buy at Aldi by Fit and Active. Peanut butter I use Earth Balance natural butter and flaxseed. Its 190 Cal per tablespoon but I barely use 1 tablespoon. Sometimes I add honey or half a banana sliced.

Lunch Protein Power Bowl Salad 1 cup of Quinoa ( I cook it according to package instructions except instead of water I use Vegetable stock it gives it a better flavor) Handful of baby spinach 1 boiled egg diced 1 small-medium avocado diced 2 mini sweet red bell peppers diced couple of cherry tomatoes halved ( I was out last night so did not use it this time) Dressing: 2 oz of rice vinegar, dash of olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix all together and enjoy.

Afternoon Snack Apple 🙂

Dinner Pinto bean soup. 3 cups of dry pinto beans soaked 30 minutes then cook 30 minutes in water only then drained. 1 whole Vidalia onion finely chopped. 2 garlic cloves minced 2 whole carrots diced 1 stalk of celery diced 2-4 small sweet belle peppers diced 2 quarts vegetable stock plus extra water if needed. 2 whole tomatoes finely diced 2 tablespoons of olive oil salt, pepper, paprika and any other seasoning that you may like In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery, carrot, peppers, and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper (and other seasonings you like), to taste. Add the diced tomatoes, drained beans and vegetable stock. Bring to boil then cook on low heat 30-40 minutes. If you like you can add chicken or beef kielbasa you would dice it and sauté it  with the veggies in the beginning. I like to add diced avocado or fresh spinach to mine right before I eat it. (Avocado addict here lol) I cook it ahead its better the next day.

 

Now I am going to go work this off 🙂

My Tuesday workout

Tuesday’s workout felt so good, it was 1010 calorie burn good 🙂 It was an hour and 20 minute session in our garage with my husband.

2 mile HIIT. If you are not familiar with what it is here it is. If the speed is too fast for you lower it to your comfort.

10 Burpees
20 30lb Barbell weight squats
10 Push Ups
30 second wall sit

Repeat 3x

30 10 lb weight Russian twists
30 Mountain Climbers
15 Sit Ups
30 10 lb weight plank rows
Repeat 3x

12 Barbell clean and press / overhead press
12 Barbell deadlift
12 Bent over barbell row
12 Barbell good morning
Repeat 3 x (I used 30lb barbell weights)

The website for illustrations is http://www.workoutlabs.com  You can create your daily workout sheets for your work outs and print them. And the final result……FELT SO GOOD!

Update on FitBit Charge HR Review

Recently I did my review on FitBit Charge HR. I was so excited. My employer enrolled into Humana insurance this year which automatically involved us in Humana Vitality. It’s a program that you get points for doing a wellness exam, health assessment, walking 10,0000 steps a day, for logging food and workouts…in the end you can earn gift cards and different prizes and also drops our premium rates. We all decided to track this through the FitBit. We have been using it for about 3 weeks and I have learned that the fitbit is only good for that….sleep tracking, step tracking and food logging. If you are hard core workout person, running or weight training I would not recommend spending your money on this gadget but rather a Polar watch or another watch that has a heart rate strap as it is more accurate. I found that during weight training on the fitbit the heart rate was blank, it was not measuring at all. I tried positioning it higher and lower on my wrist still the same. I even turned it around so that the heart rate would be in the inside of my wrist still nothing. I had my husband wear it to see if it was a user issue and still the same for him as well.

So I put it to the test and wore both watches at the same time, one on each arm.I did a quick HIIT run on the treadmill and weight trained. Here is a comparison.

THAT’S A HUGE DIFFERENCE! FitBit 181 and Polar 546.

So I think FitBit is a good motivator to get you moving. Everyone at work loves it for that purpose. We are also very competitive so its a healthy competition in who will make more steps. I would recommend it for people who are just starting to workout walk/run. If you do Crossfit, intense training, weight lifting, look into a Polar or something with an actual strap.

2015 Hunger Walk

Today has been an awesome day. My boys and I went to the turner field in Atlanta with some very dear friends of ours and participated in The Hunger Walk. The first sucessful hunger walk/run was in 1984 and has been held every year since then. In 2014 it raised over $800,000 for local hunger relief. 

Today’s progress so far.



My older son understands the idea of the walk and because we were in downtown Atlanta we passed quite a few homeless people, even cheering us on, he saw them and said “mom this is for them.” My younger stubborn one had no idea why we were walking but by all means he wanted to walk too, and for his little feet he made it almost a mile on foot, the rest I carried him and pushed him in the stroller when he fell asleep. 



Our children supporting the cause







There were so many people I could not even capture a good shot to show you guys. It was insanely awesome!!!  If you want to learn more about the event or wish to donate you can go to the website here Hunger Walk. 

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend! 

Do girls run the world or run DOWN the world???

This is not really fitness related but I just had to speak my mind on something. I am sure I will get some attacks but here goes. I was scrolling through my Facebook yesterday and saw several different “viral” posts. Like the fitness model that is 8 months pregnant and still works out and has abs (Comments were that she is a bad mom already or is her baby even healthy). Another one was the Duggar daughter that is about to have her 3rd baby (many women commented that her mother did not teach her anything other than to reproduce or that she had no life), and one more I saw was a lady that used to be really fit and into fitness and decided to gain weight and says she is happy with her 30% BMI (On this one comments were that she is setting bad example for people who are over weight trying to lose weight).

So you are thinking why am I complaining about this…Well out of curiosity I clicked on comments on all 3 of those topics and I was completely shocked. Not only were the comments 90% from women but the things that were said about these women that the topics were about was completely shocking.
I have realized this before but its just proves my realization more, women do not worry about impressing men I think we are worried about impressing other women and that is a SHAME. If you are a woman who is hiding behind your screen and are slamming other women on social media for being fit, fat, a good mom, or fighting for any goal in their life, the way they dress, the way they look then shame on you, I call you the internet bully. We fought for equal rights, even to this day we are quick to point out that women are discriminated against any opportunity we get but we run over each other first moment we get. We have an opinion and we thing we know what is right in every situation. Well guess what WE DO NOT.

If you are a fit an healthy person please do not judge the one who is not you don’t know their struggles.

If you are not fit and you are judging the fit please do not you don’t know their struggles.

If you are a mom and have given birth, do not judge another mother on her postpartum weight, she grew and nurtured for 9 months and she gave a life for crying out loud, shame on you.

Don’t judge someone’s worth by the brand of clothes they have, how they dress, how much $ they have, where and how they spend. Have you not heard the saying “Don’t judge the book by its cover”

If you are a mom especially of a daughter and you do any of the above shame on you for setting that type of example for your daughter.

In today’s society girls will not run the world, we will run it down at this rate and hate, and we ask why we don’t have women presidents.

I wish women would empower each other and praise other women that are successful in any way. We all have different goals in life, just because yours is different than mine it does not mean mine is wrong or vice versa. Ladies lets stop the hate and show the world that we can run it. I find it that a lot of negativity is coming from jealousy and the ones that are not happy with their life. Be in love with your life and enjoy every minute of it and if you do not like your life change it, nothing will change if YOU do no change it. But whatever you do, do not use your words to hurt others you never know what someone is going through and what it took to get there, you never know how your words can hurt a person. Think before you speak, and if you have nothing nice or supportive to say and you disagree then don’t comment, keep scrolling.

If you have been bullied by other women before, or if you have been the bully please pick up one of these books. It may help you.

1. Be impeccable with your word-
Never use the power of the word against yourself.
2. Don’t take anything personally-
All humans live in their own world, in their own movie/story/dream and you in yours.
3. Don’t make assumptions-
Most assumptions are not the truth; they are fiction.
4. Always do your best-The only thing you can “do”;
the first three will naturally follow.
5. Be skeptical and listen for the truth.
When you listen, you start to understand the story-both yours and theirs.
~Miguel Ruiz

The Fifth Agreement by Miguel Ruiz found here

The Voice of Knowledge by Miguel Ruiz found here

SORRY FOR THE LONG POST! BUT THIS HAS TO STOP! SPREAD LOVE LADIES!

Sunday Funday

This week Georgia has had all four seasons of weather but today it’s the best! It is 66 degrees and sunny and I am thinking about going to Stone Mountain to enjoy this weather. But before I do I wanted to share this awesome cool thing that saves me time.

 I don’t know if many of you like to listen to music while working out but my workout results are based on how good my playlist is, but what annoys the life out of me is tangled headphones. When I grab them from my purse or my gymbag I have to first waste time in detangling them and once I do the cord is all out of shape. I recently found Cordskinz and  I think I finally solved my problem. It’s basically a skin for the cord that prevents it from bending and  tangling. If you have the same problem I do you can get yours at http://www.cordskinz.com they have it in many different colors. 









Here is a video that explains this simple and easy time saver. 

http://youtu.be/zEYUIwCWXKM

What I love most about it I can change colors with my outfits 😂😂 gotta look cute all the time. 

Some of my favorite phone apps

There is an app for everything!!!

I love technology and I can not decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing LOL. My phone is my go to place for a lot of things when it comes to organization. I have an Iphone 5 and I love that I can launch Siri and just tell her to put stuff on my calendar and not bother to even open my app or type. So the calendar is a major favorite of mine. Here are a few others that I love.

Artkive– I LOVE THIS APP. I have an older son who is in elementary school. I got this app when he was in kindergarten. It lets me take pictures of all his creations (artwork, projects, ect) and print it into a book. This way we do not have art and paper all over the house I can have it all in one place. PhotoVault- I got this app for a lot of reasons. Its started for my progress pictures, then my kids just in case phone is ever stolen. You can store and protect your pictures under a password. I hate when someone wants to see a specific picture on my phone I show it to them then they start flipping back and forth through my pictures

RunKeeper and MyFitness Pal – Run keeper I use a lot when running outside. I link both apps together so it gives me a good idea of my calorie intake too which I obviously log through MyFitnessPal. I love that myfitness pal app even has foods listen from my home country of Bosnia so I don’t have to struggle to figure out how much calories something is. It also has all restaurant food and bar codes, so if you eat lets say a protein bar you just scan the bar code and it will log it. I link both of these app with my health insurance Humana Vitality and score some major points and rewards 😉

Now the shopping apps!!! Grupon- I have used this app from ordering flowers for a friend to booking a getaway with my dear hubby. There are always awesome deals. If you have not tried it you MUST! Target Cartwheel– I am sure a lot of mommies out there are familiar with this app. Especially if you had to buy a lot of diapers 😉 It is basically their app for digital coupons and discounts.

Apart from general social media, Pinterest and WordPress apps I also have a SnapSeed (awesome photo editor) and my new FitBitt app. DO YOU HAVE AN COOL APP YOU WOULD RECOMMEND?