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Yep, it’s Insanity?

by De

Updated: January 12, 2020

Workout WednesdayInsanity

Recently I decided to try an Insanity Class. I am sure that you have seen the infomercials. A high-intensity cardio workout that is supposed to get you results. Also, the name alone is something to either be very cautious of or curious. I chose curiously; now I am not a BeachBody representative or distributor. They did not pay me nor do I get any commission from this post but I am exploring different forms of exercise on my weight loss journey and having a lot of fun trying new things. I was invited by a friend of mine to try this class. I went for three reasons:

1) I’ve been in another plateau for the last few months. (So annoying)

2) I was curious I wanted to see why some people just love to put their body through an insane amount of cardio for 45 minutes. I do not like cardio, but I need it to boost my metabolism and get this stubborn weight off. So, why not make it fun too and have some fun with my friend.

3) It was free. Yep, the first class, was free so what did I have to lose other than a few calories.

Before Insanity
So, I did it. I went, and it was, insane! (Yep pun intended) We started off with a warmup and instantly my body went into sweat mode. Not sure if the heat was up but those short 3-5 minutes which felt like 30-50 got me revved up. Then we would do five different moves that worked different areas for three sets. For example, one set would be five plyometric moves that we do for 30 seconds each; take a break for about 1 minute then another two lays down the same. At the end of the third set, we do something called a “power move,” which was some crazy hard (at least for me) move that we do for a minute. Take another break and then move onto something like Agility moves, or Strength, Core and Abs. These mini circuits lasted for about 45 minutes ending with a cool down and for me lots of praise thanking God that I didn’t throw up or pass out. Yes, you do the same thing repeatedly expecting different results. In this case, the result is a lot of huffing, puffing and sweat.

I’ve been working out for over ten months now, regularly and I’ve never felt so out of shape. It was challenging for me, and I burned 376 calories in my first class, which was a bummer because in my 20 minutes of strength training I usually burn about 355 calories. I felt like I put myself through a whole lot of work and even more sweat for nothing. Another thing about cardio is that it only burns calories while you’re doing it but Strength training continues for 24-48 hours after the 20-minute workout (at least for HIIT). Despite all of these downers, I would totally add this to my workout routine, why?

AfterInsanity

It was fun; I know that sounds sadistic, but it was. It was fun hanging out with other like-minded women and making crazy moves to some intense music and at the end being proud and thanking God that I made it through. Also, it switches things up for me. Strength training is great but despite what people say you need to do cardio to lean out and slim down. Why not, have fun while doing it. Working on plyometrics and agility is also a great well-rounded workout to add to strength training. Now, I don’t plan on becoming a cardio queen. I still prefer lifting heavy stuff, but I think I will continue to add some new cardio classes, moves to my weekly routine. Have you tried Insanity? Did you like it? Do you want to try?

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No Carb Cheesecake

by De

Updated: June 23, 2022

Crab Salad in Avocado

by De

Updated: June 23, 2022

What is this Carb Cycling thing I have heard about?

Have you ever heard of Carb Cycling? Carb cycling is basically intermittently switching from hi,low, no carbs (and I mean good carbs not pasta, bread etc. more like carrots, brown rice and sweet potatoes). By eating this way it allows your body to burn fat while conserving muscle. All this hard work I can’t afford to lose any muscle. So, say in a week Monday is low carb, Tuesday and Wednesday is No Carb, Thursday is Low Carbs and Friday is High Carbs and again it’s (Carrot, peas, brown rice and sweet potatoes) not a pizza, french fry and burger buffet. You still have to stay within a certain caloric intake but it’s just the type of calories you are consuming. I am not a fan of diets. I am all about lifestyle changes and this sounds complicated, I know and that is why I have avoided it for so long. After lots of research I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try and see the results are.

If it’s ain’t broke don’t fix it

Until now, I have been doing a heavy weight training routine and lots of HIIT a few girls in my accountability group are doing Carb Cycling and I have seen great results so I figured I would give it a try. I am in the second half of my weight loss journey. I can see the goal but still have a ways to get there. I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to try a new diet. So, like most things I jumped in and started researching and it became very intimidating. There are so many view points on it and I like my food to be simple. Anything complex and I just give up and reach for the yummiest thing I can find. Notice I didn’t say healthiest. I have come so far so why try something if it’s not broken. So, Carb Cycling eve came and I was on the verge of bailing. With a pep talk from my husband I created a week meal plan. I figured I won’t die in a week and trying something new never hurt. I never thought I could workout with 20 lbs weights or do push-ups or burpees and now those are a part of my routine.

Where do I begin?

So, I did it like all my other meal plans. I flipped to my Meal Plan page (You can download my meal planner here) in my Planner and started planning like I always do but a little bit differently. I usually eat mostly Produce and Protein and Complex Carbs after workouts and before noon. So, I excluded that. So, my meal plan looked like this for a Carb Cycle week:

CarbCycle Meal Plan

So not only did I try a new meal plan but I added a new meal to the menu. I didn’t want to go into total change meltdown but while scrolling on Pinterest I found this yummy recipe and it inspired my own. I basically took the idea and created my own ingredients and it turned out delicious and will be a regular on the meal plan. Have you heard of carb cycling before? What do you think? Could you do it?

Yum

Crab Salad in Avocado

Ingredients

1 Avocado
8 oz. Lump crab
1/2 cup Scallions,cut include whites
2 clovesGarlic minced
1/4 Onion minced
1/4 Red Peppers minced
1 Tbsp. Celery seeds
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. Cilantro
1-2 tbsp of rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. Greek yogurt, optional

Instructions

Pulse garlic, onion, peppers, scooped out avocado and Rice Vinegar
Mix in by hand lump crab, scallions,celery seeds, salt and pepper and greek yogurt
Put scoop in avocado
Chill and Serve

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https://faithfueledmoms.com/crab-salad-avocado/

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Southwest Quinoa with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

by De

Updated: February 29, 2016

9 Comments

ostella bistro (1)

Are you looking for a recipe that is really easy? Very Tasty? Healthy and Fresh? This is it. I don’t even know where I got this recipe but over the years I have made it my own. I was raised in a faith that was vegetarian so a lot of our meals were plant based protein. One of my favorite meals from childhood is called Haystacks which is very similar to this but no quinoa and refried beans instead of black beans. I think one day playing around in the kitchen as you know I often do, this recipe was born. I started bringing it to functions for my potluck and everyone ask me the recipe. So, one day I sat down and wrote out exactly what I do but there are so many things that you can do with it, add to it.

This is a great meal to take for Potlucks because it’s great for people with food allergies, or preferences. Swap a few ingredients and it can be Vegan or Vegetarian. Quinoa is gluten free friendly too and it taste so good. Got lots of protein and iron too. I love making this all year long and it is really simple and easy. Everyone loves my Southwest Quinoa. Another great thing is it freezes AWESOME! Can’t go wrong. Top your salad, eat it with Tortilla chips, in corn or flour tortillas,casserole and even in Wontons with some cheese baked or fried its the best appetizer. Its also one of those recipes you can adapt. Sometimes I add green enchilada sauce or red enchilada sauce instead of the avocado cilantro dressing and it takes on another flavor. I am sure there are other ways I serve it but just can’t think of them at the moment but those are a few ideas. Its one of my families favorites. Let me know what your family thinks of it and other ways you end up serving it.

Yum

Southwest Quinoa with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

Ingredients

Southwest Quinoa with Avocado Cilantro Dressing
1c. Dry black beans
1c of Tri colored quinoa
1 packet Goya Sazon
6 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 large onion or 1 medium diced
2 tbsp. Ground Cumin
1/2c. Sweet Corn (Cut from the cob or frozen)
1/2 Large Red Pepper diced
1/2 Large green pepper diced
1c. Cilantro (chopped)
1 tomatillo diced
1c Cherry or Grape tomatoes Diced
1 Serrano Pepper ribbed (unless you like spice) and minced
1/4c. Green onions chopped
4c. Chicken or Turkey Broth (Vegetable Stock or Water for Vegan Option)

Instructions

Directions
Place Black Beans, 2c. Broth, 1/4 onion, 3 garlic cloves, Sazon packet , Ground Cumin in pot. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer until beans are soft. Or, place beans in crock pot on hi for 4 hours.
Place 2c. Of Broth and Quinoa to boil then simmer until soft
Once beans are done place remaining ingredients in mixing bowl.
Add Corn, Peppers (Red, Green and Serrano), Cherry Tomatoes, Cilantro, Green Onion, and Quinoa
Mix and Serve (best if refrigerated overnight) in tortilla (corn/flour), on salad or with tortilla chips (great for potlucks)

Notes

Avocado Cilantro Dressing

1 Avocado 1 1/2c Cilantro chopped 1/4c White Wine Vinegar 1/2 lime 2 tbsp Ground Cumin 4 cloves garlic 5 oz. Greek Plain Yogurt (My favorite Latta Russian Kefir or Vegan Option Soy or Almond Greek Yogurt) 2 tbsp Olive oil Salt & Pepper

Directions 1. Cut Avocado and pit, juice lime 2. Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse till smooth and creamy 3. DONE!!

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https://faithfueledmoms.com/southwest-quinoa-with-avocado-cilantro-dressing/

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Feeling Stuck

by De

Updated: November 6, 2022

19 Comments

FeelingStuck

Rocky Foundation

For those of you who have been following me the last 6 months. I have been on a serious weight loss journey. I have changed every aspect of my lifestyle. I have never had to try so hard to lose weight. I was always a “skinny” girl. I could eat whatever I wanted. not workout and not even gain a pound. I was only 118 pounds but completely out of shape. My eating habits were poor, I was a fast food, soda addicted junkie and didn’t care because it didn’t show. Then, I began to have the diva’s and all of those bad habits caught up to me.

With my first daughter, I gained 95 pounds. I know that is unheard of, I think mothers of multiples don’t even gain that much weight. I wasn’t pregnant with several children I was only carrying one little 6 pound 12 ounce baby girl. Needless, to say the bag of size 4 jeans I packed to go home in did not even come up one of my thighs. I went home wearing my maternity pants. But I worked it off, I made it a full time job to lose the baby weight. I worked out 6 days a week for 3-4 hours a day and survived off of wheat grass and dew (just kidding). I really don’t recommend that weight loss plan but it worked and 9 months later I had lost all of the pregnancy weight and was comfortably zipping up my size 4 and back to my drive thru hopping.

Another Weight loss Round

Then came my next little diva. I played it smart this time at least I thought I did. I went to a nutritionist twice a week and worked out until I was 7 and a half months pregnant. Tallying in at a whopping 85 pounds weight gain when I went into the delivery room. Giving birth to my 9 pound, sweet little “Boo Bear.” Again, I went fast and furious into the weight loss but this time I breast fed so it made it a little easier. I had two little ones so that made working out a little harder. So I bought the newest (at the time) Beach body workout series and got my “Slim in 6” tail in gear. I couldn’t live off of wheat grass and dew this time because I was nursing so I did eat fairly healthy. It took a little longer to lose the weight because I didn’t have the ability to workout 6 days a week 3-4 hours a day and eat nothing so I was zipping up my size 4’s in about a year and half. (Still not a recommended weight loss plan). Maintained my figure by running but I still had horrible eating habits. Toxic after toxic processed meals in my body daily. I had also acquired a lethal sweet tooth and cupcakes had become a girls’ best friend.

105poundweightloss

Getting my Mojo Back

Then came diva number 3, six years later. This time around I was unable to exercise because I was severely sick in my first trimester. Unknowingly it was the result of being pregnant with twins. At 11 weeks (almost made it to my second trimester) I lost one of my twins and carried out the rest of my pregnancy in a depressed state. I was also bed ridden till I was 17 weeks and filled the void with any and every craving my heart desired. I did do a little better on the weight gain this time around, weighing in at a 75 pound weight gain (I know not better at all). I added 20 pound to that in the first two months of my little ones’ life and began a different weight loss journey.

There was no sprint to the finish line this time go round. I didn’t have time, energy or resources with three little divas’. As the number on the scale grew my determination decreased. I thought I would be content with living the rest of my life heavier (clinically obese at this point). The thing that really was disheartening that when my baby girls was born I had changed our entire families lifestyle to clean eating but I did not change my portions and I did not add to my activity so it was all in vain. It wasn’t until after my baby was one year old and a complete stranger asked me “when I was due” that I got a spark of determination to get my body back. This time I vowed that I would not go back to my toxic ways, I would not work myself to exhaustion and stress.

This weight loss was going to be the old fashioned way, great nutrition and a great workout routine. I am a very determined person so when I started on the journey I had a goal in mind. I hit the ground running losing 6 pounds in my first week. I think my body was just shocked that things were changing. I had continued the clean eating journey but I had to cut the portion sizes and the way I was eating. The workouts were something that I never did before. High, Intensity, Interval, Training had me huffing, puffing and sweating in as little as 20 minutes. I began taking brisk walks and really doing more efficient workout. Then I did a 30 day cleanse. Its not the type of cleanse that you are thinking. This cleanse allowed me to eat but just on a lower level. I did not consume alcohol or sugar for 30 days and I fasted 1 day a week for the four weeks. I also for the first time intentionally prayed everyday for 5-10 minutes for my body during this 30 days. I literally was getting all the toxins out of my mind, body and soul and my body was screaming the praises of all this goodness and I lost 10 pounds and 31 inches in a month. I had never felt better and I was ready to take this weight loss to the next level. Then it happened. I got stuck!

45poundweightloss

What does stuck mean?

What does stuck mean? When I came back to reality-not cleansing, still clean eating, still working out world. My body just didn’t budge. There were no more inch loss, no more weight loss, all the work none of the glory! At first, I thought I have reached a plateau that happens just push through. Then one month went by and only 2 pounds loss. Then the next month went by and no pounds no inches. Then I thought okay, maybe I am not doing what I was doing maybe I am consuming too many calories. So, I kept food diaries, added another workout day but nothing other than a new full time job; Managing my weight loss. Tracking everything I put in my mouth, increasing my weight and giving every workout every bit of energy I possibly can. But still nothing. A plateau that I thought would last for a week or so is now carrying on to four months. What do I do now? What have I done wrong?

Again, I brought it to God! Intentionally praying for 30 days. Instead of a weight loss freedom something different has been happening I have been assessing and checking my mental “baggage” or weight. I think I am heavier mentally than I am physically more so than I thought. My weight loss has not progressed but I know the last 30 days I have been growing stronger and stronger in the Lord. I know that this plateau-(which at this point I am not sure if you can call it that) is for a growth in other aspects of my life. In the last few months I have desperately wanted God to change my physical situations but it wasn’t until the last few days that I realized that God wants this situation to change me. Alot, of my problem is my body image- I have the image of a “skinny”girl body in my mind so when I look in the mirror its is honestly sometimes shocking what is looking back at me.

Isaiah5518

What am I doing wrong?

I was thinking the other day, “I wonder how mountain climbers get through the steepest part of the climb?” The part where you are like, “why did I decide to climb this high of a mountain? Or, is this the part I turn back and go the way I came? Or, if I would have known then what I know now would I have still climbed this mountain?” Can you imagine being on a mountain working really hard to get to a certain spot and looking up and realizing you’re still not at the top of that mountain? And you think you worked hard before? Well then you really need to dig in deep to finish. That’s where I am, digging in deep, trying to find the strength within myself to keep moving forward.

Then I woke up yesterday morning with the song by Chris Tomlin, “I will follow” in my head. The thing is I don’t often listen to that song. I usually listen to Spotify it was never in my playlist (until now). I opened up my daily devotional and the topic for the day was “releasing our destinations,” and the prayer was:

“Lord, where do you want me to be? What plans do You have for my family and loved ones? Let me be in the places and situations that You ordain. Oh Lord, my life is in Your hands. You have a purpose for everything, I rest in Your guidance and provision. Amen.”

None of these were coincidental but definitely God trying to get my attention. And then the definitive voice that I always hear just when I need it, told me to “Be still.” If you haven’t read my post before, when God tells me to “Be still” he wants me to reflect take a self assessment on how I am trying to do things my way and getting in His way. When I am trying to follow my own plan and not His; I feel stuck. But I won’t be there much longer or maybe a little longer who knows. I am not going to worry about what my role in this is any longer. I am going to go back to following His lead and try to stay there. The journey is just a lot easier and I am so much stronger when He has all my burdens. I guess this is one of those stay tuned…..

Have you ever felt stuck? How’d you get unstuck?

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Yep, it’s Insanity?

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No Carb Cheesecake

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