IIFYM Meal Plans

Good Evening!! 

Man am I tired today!! This gal is going to be ready for bed shortly!! So If It Fits Your Macros is a program where you basically eat what you want as long as you are getting your macronutrients in in the proper amounts. You can find them on the internet or you can get them from a trainer/nutritionist. Mine are from a nutritionist. I use My fitness pal to track the macronutrients. I track Carbs, Fat, Protein, Fiber and Sugar! Using this plan I also eat every 2-3 hours. I can just track as I go, but I like to plan and make up a few days of meal plans in advance. So these meal plans of course fit MY macros, but they will give you ideas of what you can get or make for your nutrients!

Plan 1

Breakfast- Special K Flatbread Breakfast Sandwich and a green apple 

Snack 1- 1cup FF Cottage Cheese, 1/4cup FF Cheese, 1/16 Cup sunflower kernels

Lunch - 4oz steak, 1.5 cups of three pepper and onion blend (Kroger) on a 90 calorie Flat Out Wrap with 1/2 Cup salsa.

Snack 2- Quest Bar 2TBSPs Almond butter

Preworkout- 1/2 scoop protein powder

Post workout 1/2 scoop protein powder

Dinner- 4oz chicken, 2 cups lettuce, 4TBSP FF ranch, 1/4 Cup  FF Cheese

Bedtime- 1/2 scoop protein, 2 TBSP PB2

Plan 2

Breakfast- Special K Flatbread Breakfast Sandwich and 1/2 a green apple 

Snack 1- 1 Banana 2 TBSP PB2, 10 almonds

Lunch - 4oz Chicken, 1/4 cup black beans, 1/2 cup rice, 1 slice FF cheese

Snack 2- Quest Bar 2TBSPs Almond butter

Preworkout- 1/2 scoop protein powder

Post workout 1/2 scoop protein powder

Dinner- 1 Bell pepper, 4 oz ground turkey, 1 slice FF cheese 

Bedtime- 1/2 scoop protein

Plan 3

Breakfast- Special K Flatbread Breakfast Sandwich and 1/2 a green apple 

Snack 1- 1/2 a green apple, 2 hardboiled egg whites, 4 TBSP PB2

Lunch - 4oz ground turkey, 1/2 cup salsa, 1/4 cup black beans, 3oz sweet potato, 1 slice FF Cheese

Snack 2- Quest Bar 

Preworkout- 1/2 scoop protein powder

Post workout 1/2 scoop protein powder

Dinner- 4oz chicken, 1cup chopped broccoli, 3oz sweet potato, 1 slice FF Cheese

Bedtime- 1/2 scoop protein, 2 TBSP PB2, 2 hardboiled egg whites

What are some of your favorite foods that you like to squeeze into your meal plans?? I love the Special K Flatbread Breakfast Sandwiches so I love that I can have them when I want and still be on point!

-J

First Day and My Makeup Routine

Good evening everyone!!

 Sorry this post is coming to you late, but I was up and out the door this morning!

I wanted to thank everyone for all the well wishes for my first day!! It was overwhelming but great! It is a whole new adventure! I'm Customer Service Agent in the sales department at a master distributor and manufacturing company. Once I'm all done with training, I'll be entering orders and quoting orders for other companies and all those kinda things. So today was day 1 of back on track for me, I had a light breakfast, my manager took me to lunch and I had a light supper. Lunch was Pizza Hut, whomp whomp, but I took all my vitamin packets for Trim 10 program and ate a salad and 2 slices of thin crust pizza. I don't feel like it was too heavy of a meal for me. But my lunches here on out will be off my meal plans.

I felt so grown up and pretty today! Sorry for the bad bathroom selfie, but I wanted to be able to show off my awesome outfit from Kohls! I had to make sure my make up was SPOT on today well frankly because I got my picture taken for my badge and I'll have to deal with it for a long time!

So I had an inquiry on Instagram about my makeup, so I'm going to break it down on here nice and easy for ya!

First off I use 

as a Primer- it is cheap and works great! After I prime I apply Revlon Photoready BB Cream all over my face and lightly down the top of my neck to get a nice coverage and blend. Finally I use Physicians Formula corrective foundations. I use the highlight underneath my eyes, my T zone, and the top of my cheeks. The cover I use on just problem spots I have. I pat with my fingers to blend. No I don't use brushes or sponges, I use my fingers.

Next I use Physicians Formula Mineral Wear powder and a buki brush. I love this powder, it covers and is VERY light. I apply this all over my face and lightly down my neck to blend.

I do my eyeliner and mascara before shadow. I use Maybelline Unstoppable in Onyx Black and the Younique 3D Fiber Lash Mascara.

It is obvious that I LOVE LOVE LOVE L'oreal Infallible eye shadows. The bottom right is "Bronzed Taupe" I use this with an angle brush to draw on my eyebrows. I just trace my natural shape, I have blonde/clear eyebrows so they need color BAD! Then I move to the bottom left one in "Iced Latte". This is my highlight I sweep from under the brow all they way to my lid line. I use the short fluffy powder brush for it. The top right is "Amber Rush" I use this as my primary color. with a flat short brush. Last but not least is "Eternal Sunshine". This is a secondary color I use when I layer colors or do a fade off of the main color. I also use it for the full lid if I'm going for a full natural look/ no color just bright eyed.

These are the two basic patterns I use. Today I used the right one. Dark-Bronzed Taupe, Medium-Amber Rush, Light-Eternal Sunshine and Highlighted with Iced latte. Left- Main Shade- Amber Rush, Contour- Bronzed Taupe OR Eternal Sunshine and Highlight with Iced Latte.

I wash my face every morning and night with Noxzema Original Cleansing Cream. I SWEAR by this stuff!!

And that's that!! Tomorrow I will post some of my Meal Plans for you guys!

How was your Monday?!

What's your gotta have beauty product?!

-J

Cha-Cha-Changes

Hello hello all!

Okay so I know I haven't been consistent on here and have been gone randomly. I apologize for the up and down on here and everything. I've had a hard time staying on track with myself in real life also, but I have some good reasons and some half ass excuses.  And all of that will be changing, I will be back normally, and will be back on track with everything, starting next week. I've had a lot I wanted to say and share but for a lot of reasons I had to keep quiet.

So at my current job, I love it, I really do, but there are some issues in the management and a lot of us regular staff have been attempting to deal with it but the last few months have been miserable. We have all slowly started to trickle away. The hours are shifting and the business flow just isn't consistent like I need or want for a steady paycheck. When we moved to a new town, I began driving 25 minutes each way. I didn't mind the drive or anything. I wanted to stay there, but when all the staff issues began to arise, the drive became more and more unbearable. But I truly believe that when one door closes another opens up and sometimes sucks you in. 

I put myself and my resume out there and well a friend gave me a leg up and got me an interview at the company she works at. Well that led to an job offer that they presented to me, and it's a hell of a deal. It's an significant increase in pay, better benefits and a better environment. So as of Monday I will go to work for a new company in the sales and marketing department. It is a new job and the more I think about it, I was/am in need of a change. Which is also part of the reason for my new hair-do. New job, new life, new look- right? With a new job comes set hours, set lunch breaks, weekends and holidays off- oh and a gym membership! The new job will be 15 minutes away too so my drive will be cut in half.

Today will be my last day at my current job. Because of all over the place-ness at this job, my workouts took a hit, they either got shortened or missed. I hated it. Then I began Jillian's 30 Day Shred, I freaking love Jillian and the shred but of course stupid excuses reared their heads after a week and a half. My eating has stayed fine but, My niece made a surprise appearance for the last two weeks, so my attention has been on here, from zoo trips, shopping trips, kites, bubbles, play doh, movies and everything in between. I only see her a few times a year so I try to drop as much as I can to spend time with her. 

But I'm refocused, recharged and ready to go! With all my interview meetings and site tours I was back and forth with my new job and my old gym membership was up for renewal so I had to let it go, so now with now gym the last two weeks, I am so ready to go reconnect with the gym and fall in love with the weight rack and stair mill. I've planned my heart out to not be able to fail. Yes my last two attempts have went up in excuse smoke and died a hard death. But not again, I'm back on the toning train and results central is my next stop. I've used my macros and did a lot of meal planning and came up with some new meal plans that will be work friendly. I spent most of my morning yesterday food prepping and the afternoon reorganizing my closet and cleaning my house to get my surroundings as organized and ready to go as I am.

Oh yeah I did have to go celebrate a little bit in honor of my new job, it was a happy event for me. My stylist had an excellent special going on, 68$ for a cut color and brow wax, I couldn't resist! My mom and I had a girls day and we took advantage of some store specials and I got some new clothes for work and with some money I had stashed back I treated myself to a new pair of Nikes(on sale) and a pair of the old version of Beats By Dre, I got them off of Amazon new for over half off! I'm a sucker for sales.

Seven inches goneeee!

Now here is my new plans. I will be working Monday-Friday 8-5. I will be going to the gym each day after work to do my Mshell workouts and kick ass, hopefully! I also have planned out all my meals. I'm using the IIFYM system ( If It Fits Your Macros). I have Breakfast, snack 1, lunch, snack 2, Pre workout, post workout, dinner and bedtime. The pre, post and bedtime are all some protein drinks so only five meals. I do only meal prep on my lunches. I will each snack 1, lunch and snack 2 at work. I'm home in time to make my dinner without having to worry about hurrying. I will be following my meal plans strictly through the week and then I will have one cheat meal on the weekend and both Saturday and Sunday I will just track my macros and make sure I stay in my numbers. I will also be taking the Trim Ten program from Complete Nutrition. Ten days worth of capsules to help get me back on track. After those ten days I will go back to my normal supplements, probiotic, B12, a morning fat burner, fish oil, carb blockers when needed, water reducer and at bedtime a night time recovery pill. 

So here it all is, the reason I've been gone and lazy with posts was due to a new job. My workouts lacked because of me. But we are back on like donkey kong. Tatum is going to kick my ass anytime I even think about skipping or getting off track! 

Should we start a Diet Bet ladies??

Here is to new beginnings, new gear and new hair!

-J

(Sorry this ended up being soooo long!)

Grieving.

TGIF!

So to many this is a blog about fitness/health. But to me this is my place to speak what I need to. I get to express myself when I need too. But expressions are not always something of happiness or inspiration.  Today is a day when I just need to express my sorrow. Everyone grieves in their own way. My aunt passed last night and I have trouble  grieving publicly. Which is ironic, meaning the thousands of people that will be able to see this post. But this post is words and not my self, I guess, which is why it comes easier this time. I like write poetry, to get out my emotions, it's just what I've always done. Whether others think they are good, or anything. Its what works best for me. So here today is a poem, I wrote in remembrance of my dear Aunt Ruth Ann, may she rest in peace.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I will be back next week all the way back to the normal.

-J

Listening to Your Body

Right when I was getting down to business and back into running. I got a case of runners knee, IT Band pain, tight quads and all the ailments that went along with it. The thing was I needed to listen to my body. I need to stop before I made it worse. I began foam rolling, stretching and serious bouts of icing. Now after a 5 day not planned running sabbatical, I'm fully prepared to go out and hit the pavement in the morning. I'm so excited to get back out there. All though along with just listening to my body and treating the injury, I'm due for a new pair of shoes. They say a pair of running shoes should be replaced every 400 miles. Along with getting back into running I'm going to sign up for a 5K in August. 

With injuries, you have to be careful. You need to know when to take a break, keep going or see a doctor. It's also important to know how to avoid injuries.

I need to take more care of my body as to preventing injuries and stretching more. I've been abusing it. Along with my running dry spell, I also had to give dear old Jillian a rest too. This whole deal put my July goals on a delayed flight to success town. So along with restarting running tomorrow, I'm restarting Jillian again. I had to take a break with those movements. Along with starting those back I'm also going to throw some yoga back in my life. I found this sequence for runners, which will hopefully help with my stretching and prevent future injuries. I'm also vowing to foam roll for 10 minutes each night.

How do you avoid/treat workout injuries?

Tips, tricks?

-J

DIY Foam Roller

With running comes great responsibility, and pain. My quads and IT band have been very sore, and well one of the best things is foam rolling. One problem, the foam roller I occasionally use is gym property and I'm not always at the gym when I need it. Next problem? Foam rollers run about $30, bye Felicha. Or at least the high density large ones do, the one I needed/wanted. So the only plausible solution is to make my own. And I did, for $11 actually and it could outlive the store bought ones as well.

So before you can make your own, you should probably understand foam rolling and its purposes.

A foam roller is a dense piece of foam in many different lengths and densities that is designed to massage the muscles and the tissues around them using your body weight to press against the foam. People who perform repetitive exercise will cause the muscles and the connective tissue to tear and repair in away that form areas that cause pain that reduce muscle movement. Foam rolling is an inexpensive way (vs sports massage or in severe cases, surgery) to increase mobility of the muscle, blood flow to the tissue and relax contracted muscles. It creates almost immediate relief from muscle tightness.

Tips:

* Avoid bony areas and joins, don't roll directly over knees, hips, or shoulder joints, this will cause too much pressure on the joint itself.

*Roll slowly and stop when you feel the pain. When you find a painful spot, you've found the cause of the problem. If the pain is tolerable roll it out slowly. Make sure you get it from all angles and the areas beside it. If the pain is too intense work around it first then work up to the painful spot.

* Each area should be worked for about 60 seconds each. 

Now lets make one!

You'll need:

2 Pieces of 1 inch pre cut foam pipe insulation (Plumbing Department)

1 Piece PVC Pipe, I choose a 3 inch diameter that was 2 feet long

Duct Tape

Scissors 

Make the duct tape double sided and place along the pipe, make sure to get the top and bottom to hold the foam in place.

Open the foam up along the pre cut slit. While holding it open, press it on to the duct tape. Use one hand to keep opening up the next section and the other to press it on to the duct tape. Cut the foam even with the edge of the pipe. One piece should cover each layer. 

Start a long piece of duct tape on the inside of the pipe and follow the seam and finish it on the inside of the other end. Repeat on each seam.

I wanted my a little thicker, so I double layered it. Repeating all the steps again.

Viola!

You can spice it up and use what ever tape you want or go around the edges to make it look snazzy, the important thing is it works!

When it came to making my own I did some research and this one should stand up pretty well. Most foam rollers are solid foam and the foam begins to break down after a while, because this one has a sturdy center it won't be able to completely break down! Because I made it my self, for less than 5 dollars I can replace the foam if I ever needed to. I thought about a pool noodle, but they are a very light and airy foam that would break down easily and doesn't have a solid core.

Here are some breakdowns of how to use the foam roller:

And here is a video that goes more into detail :  How To Use a Foam Roller

Do you foam roll? Tips or tricks?

-J

Vegan Cherry Almond Cookies and July Goals/Plan

Happy Day! Right now its a chilly 57 degrees here. I love when the days are warm, but the nights are nice and cool and you can open your windows and sleep to the breeze.

So somebody needs to get me out of the kitchen. I've made yet another recipe for you. Like really all I want to do is cook/bake lately. I was craving something sweet the other night, and we had sweet cherries on hand and I really wanted to incorporate them, thus Vegan Cherry Almond Cookies.

Vegan Cherry Almond Cookies

2 Large Bananas, peeled, chopped.

1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

1 Capful Vanilla Extract

6 TBSP Diced Almonds( I threw them in the Ninja Blender)

1/4 Cup Chopped Sweet Cherries ( I used 14 cherries to get this amount)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. In a bowl combine bananas, oats and vanilla till the banana is broken down and you have a "batter". Add in half the almonds and half the cherries, combine. Add in the second half, combine. When you do it in parts it allows for everything to get perfectly mixed. Make golf ball or smaller balls and place on cookie sheet. Take a greased fork or cup and press cookies flatter. They will not expand so you can put them close on the sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 5. Makes 20.

Enjoy.

My mom is a Vegan, my dad is diabetic, and my husband is picky. I made them all give them a try and good is the general consensus. I thought they were downright yummy.

Amount Per Serving
Calories		42.8
Total Fat		0.4 g
	Saturated Fat	0.0 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.1 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.1 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		0.2 mg
Potassium		59.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate		6.6 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.9 g
	Sugars	2.4 g
Protein		0.7 g

I use Spark People to get my calorie information.

Now lets talk goals people!!

I just finished off 4 more weeks with my trainer. Now that I don't live in the same town as a gym, I've decided to take things back to basics.

I started my entire journey to health in my living room and it did wonders for me, like really it did. I love the gym, don't get me wrong but I've started to get complacent. So whats the best thing to do? 360 it. For the month of July I'm going to go old school on you. I'm running each morning and doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred each night. Last year around this time I did the shred and had FABULOUS results, really, check them out HERE.

Thats the plan stan, now goals.

July Goals:

*Drink 2 Gallons of Water Consistently Each Day(I try for two but sometimes only get in 1 gallon)

*No Skipped Meals (with my crazy days sometimes I've managed to miss a meal here or there)

*Ensure my running pace is under 9:20 a mile.

*Be less stressed each day.

*Enter a 5K, whether the race be this month or not.

What are your goals this month??

Here is the results of this mornings run...

It was a tough 3 miles. My knee hurt, my nose was running, and I hadn't ran for awhile. But I had to push myself in order to be able to make a change. I had to get the hard run out of the way so I can now start improving. Mile 1 was 9 minutes, mile 2 was 9:53 and mile 3 was 9:57 for an average of 9:37. Not to far from my goal but definitely something to work towards!

Happy Thursday!

-J

4th Of July

Can you believe the 4th is Friday already!?

The fourth is only a few days before the hubs and I's anniversary so we like to spend a little extra on Fireworks. We both love blowing shit up so its only suiting. We always spend the fourth with just the two of us, that's just how we like it. But I'm not going to lie, I'd love to throw a big fourth party. So with the power of pinterest, I'm going to plan a fourth party on here, right now and show you what all I'd have! I'm crazy, but its okay.

So I love mason jars and I would use them for all the decor. From citronella candle holders to cutlery.

I would dress in this. It is too freaking cute and every outfit needs matching nails.

Snack Trays...

Main Course...

Dessert

and of course, a drink..

I would serve them in mason jars to go with the theme.

So this is my ideal fourth of July Party!

And no fourth is complete without fire works..

The hubs favorite, super loud.

My favorites, colorful.

And we love lots of night time sky lighting up style ones. Oooohhh Ahhhhhh kinda ones.

What are you doing for the fourth? Or what would your ideal party look like?? Favorite fireworks?

-J