Blueberry Kale Smoothie

Losing weight postpartum takes a lot more than exercise...it also takes eating right. I'm sharing with you today my go-to breakfast. Since I am now a stay-at-home mom caring for an infant and a three-year-old...I rarely have a moment to myself, so it's important I have something that I can make quickly and I want it to pack a lot of punch because it could be a while before I get the chance to grab anything else to eat!

Right now, I love a good blueberry kale smoothie. Kale is quite the super-food. According to Wikipedia, kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, and rich in calcium. Kale is a source of two carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties.

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I also throw in some chia seeds for some good Omega-3 fatty acids and calcium.

Here is my personal recipe:

Blueberry Kale Smoothie

1 c. fresh kale (loose)
1 med. banana
3/4 c. frozen blueberries
1 tsp. - 1 tbsp. chia seeds
3/4 c. skim milk or almond milk
1 tbsp. natural peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/2 c. ice

Blend and enjoy!

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5 On Friday

Happy Friday, y'all!

I am soooooo glad it's Friday. I've had a Hellacious week in terms of work. It all started Friday when my office's internet just up and decided to stop working mid-afternoon. I had to go home and finish out my day {OK, didn't really mind that}. I then had to work from home on Monday until ATT called me to let me know they were headed to the office to check it out. When we got there around noon, we discovered it had started working again fine on it's own {which I had told them it probably would}. Then Monday night, as I'm hacking away at some work emails from home, my antivirus program on my work laptop starts it's scheduled scan. I shut down all of my open stuff and let it run. After it was over, my computer would not connect to the internet. It wouldn't pick up any wireless connections, and not even work when I hard-wired it. I tried everything I could {and I'm pretty computer savvy}. I ended up taking it to Staples and they found out my computer's drivers just vanished....so weird. They tried to reinstall those, but it wouldn't work, so they ended up having to reinstall Windows completely. I. lost. everything. Mind you, all of this fixin' took all of Tuesday and Wednesday, so I had to be at home for work both days feeling pretty useless without access to my company's files {they are in Dubai, I'm the only one here in Charleston}. Anywho - I'm just glad it's fixed now!

Well, if I haven't bored you enough yet, here's my 5 for Friday list:

1.  The paternal grandparents are taking the kiddos to stay at a beach house on Folly Beach this weekend. I love those rugrats, but Momma is glad to be getting a break!

Y'all see that craziness? Yeah, it's ALWAYS like that.

2. Thanks to #1, Hubby and I are getting a date night! We plan to go to a friends' pool party on the Isle of Palms tomorrow afternoon and then head to the Windjammer to see a Michael Jackson tribute band that is supposed to be pretty good. Thanks to our VIP status at the Jammer {due to Hubby's obsession with beach volleyball}, we got our names put on "the list" and will get in for free. That's how we roll, people. This is us at the OAR concert last week {another rare moment sans kids!}

3. I've quit my so-not-worth-it side gig as the opener at my gym. I've actually decided to start running my cleaning biz again on the side. Any of you in the Charleston area looking for housecleaning, or know someone who might be, please contact me. It's A Modern Cinderella - Licensed - Bonded - Insured. I've run it since 2009, but took a little hiatus earlier this year due to the gym job and my full-time job. I'm headed to NYC in December and I really need some extra spending money, so my plan is to put everything I make from cleanings into that pot.

A Modern Cinderella on Facebook

4. I think I'm slowly becoming obsessed with Tyler Hubbard of Florida-Georgia Line. It must be the songs? I think it's his voice...so country...so hot. {C'MON!!} I don't know. Right off the bat, he's not the type of guy I normally find attractive. But I LOVE their song "Cruise"...especially the Nelly version. So far, I like every song I've heard from them. Caught this video the other night...he is sexy. {Sorry, Hubby. But can he be one of my five freebies? You have to watch Friends to get that.}

5. Lastly, I'm setting a new goal for myself. I work out a lot, but I am not satisfied with where I'm at physically. {Damn you, wine.} I'm setting a goal for myself to lose at least 10 lbs by the time I go to New York in December with my mom. I'm going to do that by changing my eating and drinking habits {I work out a lot already, so I don't think that is where the main changes are needed.} I posted about my new favorite green smoothie on my blog, The Gym Bunny. These have been great and really do keep me full in the mornings. If you check out the blog, I hope you'll become a follower.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

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Monday Musings

You may want to stop reading this post right now if you have a fear of boredom. Because I can't say that the weekend I had would excite anyone. Although, it was a great weekend. Why?

I didn't drive my car once.

I was able to sleep in until almost 8am each morning {thanks to my 7yo knowing how to turn on the Wii by himself and the 2yo being a sleepyhead}.

I napped {both days}.

I got my laundry 100% caught up and done.

I took the boys to the pool and got some relaxation reading done in the sun.

I went makeup-less on Saturday {until we went to the neighbors' house for a BBQ}.

I made homemade healthy popsicles with the boys using our Zoku.

I enjoyed a glass of wine and my Kindle on the porch while the boys ran around the backyard eating popsicles and playing.

There you have it...the concoction for one great weekend {at least for a working mommy}.

Bonus points: Weighed myself and found I've lost 4 lbs since February. Yay for clean eating and working out religiously!

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Tanner's got just 3 weeks of school left and then we are headed to Kissimmee, FL the day after his last day to spend a week going to Disney World theme parks, Busch Gardens & possibly Sea World. It will be our first real family vacation together - just the four of us. I'm so excited for a lot of fun in the sun. I'm thinking I'm due for a new bikini or two before the trip...

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Beach, Bikini Season and Florida Vacay

I'm happy to report that after my post yesterday on Tanner, he did have a much better attitude by the time I picked him up after school. I took the boys to the beach last night to watch Daddy play volleyball at the Windjammer...it was also my first time taking Sugar with us and she was so well-behaved!

Here she is helping them make sandcastles:

 

 

 

I try to get out there with the boys at least one weeknight per week since Jake plays volleyball there on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

We are headed to Florida in just over 3 weeks to go to Disney World and Legoland and I really need to get my butt in gear to look good in a bikini whilst I lounge at the resort pool. I've been working out a lot, but I think that changing some of my eating and drinking habits is what is going to be the most effective. I eat pretty well most days, but I definitely am not hard enough on myself as I should be. I need to be a little more strict and less complacent. I also need to cut out alcohol for a little bit. {I think those daily glasses of wine are beginning to add up. Ha.} I've been making our dinners from a site called Skinny Taste. I've mentioned that site on here before. I mostly stick to fish, turkey and chicken recipes - not much of a red meat eater. Other than that, I've been buying a lot of fresh and organic produce to snack on, and staying away from sugary, processed foods. I tell you, since starting to read The Honest Life by Jessica Alba this past week, I had a whole change in mindset while at the grocery store on my last trip - and I typically buy pretty healthy anyway! But there are a lot of chemicals that are disguised with "healthy" packaging that I never really thought about before. I highly recommend her book.

I suppose if I can't get myself bikini-ready, I could always sport something like this:

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Super-cute, right? I am bikini-ready {with the exception of a tan}, but I definitely could work a little harder. I mean, I am 30 now - no more messin' around!

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Thursday Thoughts

I've been thinking lately {look out!} about how I've just turned 30 and how I've heard from some people that they literally had to start working out harder the minute they turned because their body instantly became stubborn it seemed. I feel like lately I've been pretty darn good about working out...lots of barre classes, started doing Spin again, and then my strength training sessions. But for some reason...I feel like I'm staying the same. Maybe that's just me? I hope so. But regardless, I'm not seeing the number on the scale budge much - though I know muscle weighs more than fat. But I don't like that to ever be my excuse! I also feel like my postpartum belly seems to not be as hard as it once was...so not OK with that...maybe I'm just crazy, or bloated this week. But it has been bothering me a lot the last couple of days.

Anyway, the belly thing got me thinking that I need to pump up the cardio {apparently Spin and elliptical are not enough?} and I realized I have done almost zero running this year. Sporadically at best. I'm not a "runner" per se, but usually by this time of year, I've got at least three 5Ks completed, and one 10K - the Cooper River Bridge Run. {But we all know I skipped out on that due to late night painting of the living room last month.} So how many have I done? Zero. Zilch. Nada. {Womp-Womp}

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I also had a goal last year of running my first half marathon and I still need to do that. Obviously I need to train for that. I have my heart set on the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon in October, so that gives me just under 6 months - plenty of time if I use it right. Normally most training schedules are 12-16 weeks for a half marathon, but I think I want to get a head start. And I need to start getting some 5Ks done to help keep my motivation going. I did a search on www.active.com and my first 5K this year might be a Mother's Day run.

I also need to eat clean. I have been lax on that lately...I either eat too little or too much some days...I eat the wrong things even though I know better. As far as family dinners, I have tried hard to keep a menu going, getting most of my recipes from Skinny Taste, so at least there's that. But often times, our day gets hectic and my meal plans change last minute. I also need to get up earlier so I can make a good high-protein breakfast...and I need to pack a lunch and healthy snacks for days I go to the office. It's easier said than done, I know, but I've been good before - I can be good again.

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And then there's Andee from The Honeybee blog...who is just so disciplined with her eating {and stunningly gorgeous as well} and she just recently posted her one year post-partum body on her blog...she looks AMAZING. Puts all those postpartum ladies with nothin' but excuses to shame. Hell, I work hard and she put ME to shame. Though, after I had Tanner, I will admit, I snapped back quickly {WARNING: Blast from the past below}:

Post-Beach in May 2006 - 6 Months Postpartum

But after Baby #2, it got hard...and things were somewhat displaced. These are more recent pics of me, the first from the Target dressing room in March and the other from my Roxy photoshoot in February.

I know I don't look bad, but I look at it and think I could be better. I guess that's the way I am.
I don't want to make excuses because I could always be working harder than I have. So I'm not going to make any...I'm just going to set my goals...set my mind to them...and get it done.

To Be Continued!

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New Year's Health & Fitness Resolutions - Check In!

I posted yesterday on my other blog, Style Oyster, about where I am so far with my New Year's resolutions. I posted my health and fitness resolutions here earlier this month, so I thought I'd do the same with those. Please don't judge because I have a feeling I'm not doing so well...but if this is how I can hold myself accountable, so be it. 

To refresh, here's the resolutions:

1. Well, I think it's safe to say I haven't completely accomplished this, but I am definitely down 3-4 lbs from when I first posted these, so progress IS being made, people! Woot!
2. I am not doing so well with this. I did forgo the January half marathon due to falling so behind late December with my surgery and all. I am still trying to work out a good schedule to get all of my runs in, so I can be ready for March. I really want to do this!
3. I have been doing well with this!
4. I'm kind of halfway on this one...was doing well...this week, not so well...but I plan on getting back on track with a menu plan, stat!
5. I've been doing pretty well with this one.
6. I haven't started yet, but I do have my Groupon for some barre classes and will start next week.
7. Yeah, need to work on this.
8. Have not done this.
9. Would like to do this, but it's not the end of the world if I don't.
10. Didn't do this once this month. I blame the cold, don't you? {Though it did hit about 80 degrees one week this month, so I really have no excuse.}
11. This is still the plan - ongoing goal.
12. Gotta start this.
13. Need to implement this in our daily routine.
14. I haven't done it 5x a week, but a lot more than I was...and working on it.

So did you have some health and fitness resolutions this year? How are you doing?

New Year's {Health & Fitness} Resolutions

Yesterday I talked about what it takes to make a good, solid New Year's resolution/goal. Hopefully you've had some time now to think about your resolutions for this year and have created a good plan for sticking to them. Here are my health and fitness resolutions for the New Year. {You can see my other New Year's resolutions here.}

Best of luck to you in obtaining your health and fitness goals this year! I hope you'll continue to read along and share the triumphs and challenges in fitness with me. Happy New Year!

Taking It Up A Notch

For some reason, I am unlike the norm and actually like to work my ass off throughout the fall and winter season. Don't get me wrong, I of course like to keep in shape for bikini season, but I feel like workout-wise, I am much better about it during the colder months. Must be due to the fact we don't actually do a lot during this time of year in terms of traveling and social things so I don't have a lot standing in my way? We have holiday parties and such, but really nothing too hectic.

I am training for my half marathon coming up in January, so that is definitely one way I'm kicking my own ass this winter. But I've decided I also want to take on Insanity again.

There are a few reasons why.

1. The obvious - to have a hot body. Yeah.

2. Anytime I've been doing Insanity, my running has benefited. I can run further, faster...it definitely increases my endurance.

3. Completing a 60-day round of it is on my Thirty Before 30 bucket list and as of today, I've got 5 months to go. Subtract 60 days from that and I really have to start within the next 3 months. I figure now is as good a time as any. {You will also see I then have completing a round of Insanity: The Asylum on that bucket list, which is a 30-day program, so really I have within the next 2 months to get going...so again, starting sooner than later is best!}

Have you ever taken on the Insanity challenge? You can purchase it here if you are interested in trying it. If you already have the workout, I encourage you to do it with me! I am starting today.

Here is the schedule if you need it:

And for the sake of it...here's what I'll call my "before" pictures {ever-wonderful and overexposing they are - but it's necessary for motivation and progress tracking}:

Forgive my hair, I had just run. And here are my stats for right now - will take measurements later this week:

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 135 lbs

Wish me luck!

Meal Planning and Prep

The busy life of a mom, much less a working mom, can easily get in the way of clean eating efforts. Today, we are often on the go from here to there, from sun up to sun down. It's nearly impossible to stay on track with your nutrition without proper planning ahead of time.

My best, cleanest eating weeks are those where I set aside a little time after the boys have gone to bed, usually on a Sunday evening before the work week begins, to prep and package my food to be easily thrown in my lunch bag every day of the week. You will also find, you might save a lot of money this way, as you hopefully will spend a lot less on meals out.

Here's a peek of how I do it:

This week, my plan was to have a leafy spinach salad with cucumbers and grape tomatoes for lunch each day. {Some may prefer more variety, but I absolutely love this salad, so I have no issue eating it every day.}

I often make the salad in a very large Tupperware container I own:

And I spoon some into a smaller Tupperware dish to take with my in my lunch bag the next day.

I then make sure to have a small dish with my current favorite salad dressing in it. This is Newman's Own Lite Sesame Ginger...it is sooooooo good...and only 15 calories per serving. I make sure to take just a serving's worth.

Additionally, I like to have some good protein to go with, so I hard-boil some eggs to get me through the week {and a few extra for Tanner's lunches}.

As far as snack foods to get me through my long work days, I pack things such as string cheese, raw almonds, carrots, apples, grapes...just anything that is naturally low-cal and nutritious.

As soon as I'm done with prep, I pop a day's worth of snack and lunch into this super-cute lunch bag I found at Marshall's for $9.99:

Isn't it cute? I just love it. And it's the perfect size, like a purse. I plan on getting it monogrammed eventually. So everything goes in here when I'm done, and into the fridge. The next morning before work, I take it out, pop a freezer-pak in it and go.

As far as breakfast, I usually carve out a few extra minutes in the morning to scramble up some egg whites, top them with avocado and drizzle with hot sauce {to get that metabolism going!} If I don't have time for that, I make a whey protein smoothie...I'll have my personal recipe for you here on the blog soon.

How do you plan for a healthy week?

Just Grin & Barre It...

I am in love with barre class.

You may have heard of this fitness method - places such as the Bar Method and Physique 57 have really helped bring it to the mainstream in the world of health and fitness. It's claim to fame is that the exercises help you achieve dancer-esque body status - you know, long, lean and tone muscles.

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I danced for so many years and I'd love to look a lot more like a dancer again. These classes are training muscles I haven't utilized in years. It is definitely challenging - but what is challenging is what transforms you.

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Be warned - this is not like the dance classes you may remember taking as a little girl {though I remember those being quite strenuous as well, especially during competition season}. These classes use balls, bands, weights and likely some muscles you didn't even know existed.




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I always look forward to my next class.

See you at the barre.