Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Planet Fitness

Guess what?!?!?!?! Our Planet Fitness FINALLY opened a few weekends ago SQUEEEEEEE!!! We went for the first time the first Monday night after it opened, and have been going almost everyday that we can and I'm in love.  I didn't think I would ever be this excited about working out, but I'm actually looking forward to it and wait for it every night when I can go! This is the first time in my life I have felt that way and it makes me ecstatic.  It makes me feel like this time can FINALLY be the time this works and this happens for me!  It's  the first time where I actually feel confidant that I'm going to keep with it and reach my goals!  We also went and got ourselves some tennis gear!  We figured we might as well use all the amenities while we are living on campus!  We had a fun date night Saturday playing a few rounds of tennis.  It was nice to be outside in the fabulous weather and do something a little different out of our norm.  It will be good too because we can still walk over and play some tennis and get our workout in even on those days we don't make it all the way to the gym!

Eric's new shoes he just had to have





 Our beautiful new rackets!
 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Tips and Tricks Part 2

Breakfast
I  can not tell you how big of a difference this has made for me.  I have always been bad about eating breakfast but my doctor got on me for it!  So now I make sure I always eat SOMETHING even if all I grab is an apple or a yogurt, that is better than nothing.  It gives me so much more energy and it makes me less likely to over eat at lunch or eat something bad because I have given my body nutrition.  I'm loving Yoplait new 100 calorie Greek yogurts, that's a frequent item on my breakfast list.  I also really love smoothies and have tried all sorts of different recipes but for a quick and easy one I like the yoplait frozen bag ones that are already prepared for you!  Each bag makes two and they are 100 calories when you use regular milk.  I use almond milk so each smoothie ends up only being about 80 calories.  They are super tasty and filling.  I like to add spinach in there to give it the extra veggie kick! While shopping at Albertsons last night I also saw that they have a store brand kind that is about $2 cheaper and it's ten less calories YAH!!!!
 
Egg beaters
These have been one of my all time favorite things!! Yes they are perfect for breakfast, but I find myself eating this for lunch and sometimes even dinner.  Yes eggs are good for you and have a lot of protein but there is a lot of calories in the yolk of an egg and I always hate throwing it away when only using the egg whites! This is the perfect solution.  They are low in calories and you can have twice as much, no cholesterol, no fat and made with real eggs!  I'll do scrambled eggs a lot but I also love making omelets.  I like to put spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms in mine.  If I'm looking for a more filling meal I'll sometimes add some turkey or some low fat cheese!
 
Progressive
I know that having canned or processed food over fresh is not always the best or cleanest version of eating, but when you live a busy life and are at work all day you need to make compromises.  My compromise is this soup.  It's something I can grab quick and it will prevent me from eating out.  It's so super low in calories and is actually pretty good!  Most the time I'll pair it with some veggies or a piece of fruit and wallah you have a quick, easy and low calorie lunch!
 
Sugar free vs. fat free
This is a tip I first started to learn when I did weight watchers a few years ago.  They suggested get sugar free pudding instead of fat free pudding. The sugar free was less calories and had less of a lot of other things.  The fat free may have been fat free but still was loaded with sugar and high in carbs.  The image explains it way better than I ever could, so have at it!
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Happy Cow
I can not tell you how much I love these things.  For a girl whose best friend is cheese Dieting equals the worst break up ever! I love these because I can have my cheese without feeling guilty and I can get all the creamy goodness.  I'll put these as a spread on my wrap or I'll eat them with some celery as a snack!  Each little triangle is only 30 calories! Yum yum!  My favorite flavors are Garlic and Herb and French Onion.
 
 
Eating Throughout the Day
This tip helps me to not over eat, get super hungry and then eat bad things and keeps me full of energy!  If you are more consistent at eating small meals several times a day it is much better for you then eating 2 HUGE ones!  It gives your body time to use the food, to digest it and work it off!  I like to pre package some snacks because then I'll be more likely to eat healthy throughout the day and then they are already sorted out into portions and calories and then I don't over eat like I would with that opened bag of chips!
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Portion Control
This is an important one to watch and is very important if you are counting calories.  Americas portion sizes are HUGE and are not what we should be eating.  We always eat meat portions that are WAY over 4 oz and pile our plates sky high with way more then we need.  So my last tip for today is pay attention to portions.  It's always better to start with less, eat it slowly and let it digest.  Your body will tell you when you are full.  If you still fill hungry you can always have a bit more.  A good tip at restaurants is to either always share a meal with someone, or ask for a to go box at the beginning and safe half of the meal for later.
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I can't tell you how much I can't wait to finally be an after!  I have always been the before and I'm done with it!  Here is to getting it in gear and getting to the after photo!  It's possible folks!
 
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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Womens Retreat 2013

This past weekend I was able to go the the FUMC women's retreat!  I went last year to do the decorations.  You can see what I did last year here.  Well I guess I didn't screw it up too much, because they asked me to come back to help with the decorations again this year.  This year I was flying solo so I had a lot of work on my hands!  It was so fun though and I think it really turned out great!  It was such a fun weekend and I met a lot of great ladies!  The theme this year was "Sweet Jesus"  we focused all on grace.  

Each year each table has a different name/title to go with the theme.  This year we focused on the "Sweet" and each table was a different candy bar.  I made 8 different candy bar bouquets and these were the bases.


Then for the front table at the entrance I wanted something a little different so I made some blow pop topiary.  They turned out way cute and I got all the supplies at the dollar store. 











I used my lovely new silhouette to cut out a bunch of cupcakes and candy shapes.  I then sewed them together to make these streamers. 
































I used the silhouette to sketch a bunch of candy, chocolate, or cupcake quotes.  I paired them all with cupcake cutouts and had them posted on the wall.









I had streamers hanging, then a paint ship garland and then I made a cupcake liner garland I hung as well.







Reese's Table
 



Butterfingers table
 
 Snickers table


3 Musketeer Table 

 Twix table
 






Kit Kat table



The photo booth set up


Photo booth supplies


 Decorations in the chapel