A New Venture

Guess what guys? This is my last official blog post for Fit Minded Mom.

It has been a fun run(no pun intended) but I just don’t feel like this is the place for me any longer. While I have enjoyed my time writing and sharing my fitness and healthy food endeavors with you all, it is simply time to move on.

Don’t you worry though, I am by no means giving up the blogging thing, I am simply revising it. Rather than continue here, I decided to start a new blog, called Mixing It Up!!

If you have been a reader for any length of time you have probably seen how I have struggled with keeping my blog centered on mostly healthy topics. While healthy living is most definitely a part of my life, it isn’t my only life. I have so many other interests, many of which include family and friends, reading great books, food(of ALL kind), and yes even fitness. I still plan on blogging about the healthy topics but my new blog will not be necessarily be centered around it.

I have to say, I am quite excited about my new blogging venture and feel like a writing weight has been lifted from my shoulders!! I sure hope that you will continue to follow me, read along and comment often!! If not, that is okay, too. 🙂

See you soon at:

www.mixitmom.com

Spring Starts NOW!!

Sayonara Winter, and hello Spring!!! Today is the first day of Spring and I could not be more excited about it, y’all!!!

To celebrate, this morning I headed out for a nice two mile walk/jog around my neighborhood. It was actually a bit chilly when I started out(50 degrees) but I warmed up a couple minutes into it and really enjoyed the slightly cooler temps, especially with the sun shining down on me.

You know what else made my run enjoyable?

My new IPhone 5!!!

Yesterday I found out I was eligible for an upgrade and boy was it needed. My last piece of crap phone,  the Samsung Infuse was irritating me on a daily basis. It was constantly freezing and frustrating me so I was pleased to get rid of it. Of course, I am a cheap-o as I have mentioned many times before so I figured I would just get the free upgrade(IPhone 4) or the 4s if I was really convinced by the salesperson.

I went to Best Buy to upgrade and they have a phone trade-in policy. I was able to trade my old phone in and get a $105 credit towards a new IPhone. Now, that is what I am talking about, people!! Long story short(ish), I ended up with the IPhone 5 and couldn’t be happier with it!! I also ended up with an $80 case to protect it because this momma can’t afford to purchase a new one before her two years are up. Ha!!

Back to that whole workout thing now!! After my run, I came home and did a quick upper body workout. It may have been quick but it killed. There was really no rhyme or reason to it but it kind of looked like this:

• bicep curl to shoulder pess
• overhead tricep extension
• triple scoops(these kill, for real!!!)
• salt and peppers(another killer!!)
• tricep kickbacks
• pushups

I did about a minute of each exercise without rest and then went back through and did a few more randomly. Cause I am like that….kind of random, ya know 😉

After working out I was S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G!! I should mention that it was almost 10am by this time and all I had consumed thus far was a cup of coffee. Bad girl.

I whipped up a quick breakfast of Ezekiel raisin toast with some natural peanut butter and a cup of Oikos Banana Creme Yogurt. Delicious and filling. Sort of. It will at least hold me over until lunch time which will be happening in oh….about 45 minutes!!

Now however, it is time for me to get cleaned up because I have some errands to run. Between my little Liam having his 5th birthday party this weekend and Easter next weekend, I have some major party planning to get finished up.

Questions?

How are you celebrating the first day of Spring?  Is the weather warming up in your neck of the woods?

What type of Smart Phone do you have? Do you spend a lot of time on your phone?

I do. Too much actually and I am working on that.

New Stuff

Good morning!

You may have come to my page this morning and noticed a new header on my blog? If you didn’t notice, that is okay, too!! What is up now is very simple and hopefully, very temporary. Well semi-temporary I guess. I have hopes of getting someone to actually design a blog header for me but to be honest, I don’t know where to start. I don’t want to pay an arm and a leg, after all this is a hobby and nothing more!  I want it to remain simple but FUN so if y’all happen to know someone you can recommend, I would love for you to share their info!!

I also changed my “tag line” up. It used to read: “A healthy life is a happy life” but now it says, “Where family, food and fitness meet”. I sometimes felt stuck with the former and felt like I couldn’t stray too far away from all things health and fitness related. Though, obviously I did. A lot. Anyhow, I feel like I have opened up what I can write about and make my blog centered on everything, not just fitness. That will still be a big part of it but you know, I certainly don’t live my life focused on only one thing so I don’t want to write my blog like that either 🙂

Saturday

Saturday started bright and early for me because I had a hair appointment at 7:30am. Soooo early for a weekend but the lady I use books up quickly and weeks in advance so I pretty much take what I can get.  Though I like to sleep in on Saturdays, I have to admit, it was nice to be back from my appointment and running errands by 11am. Less traffic=much easier time getting things done!!

Here is the new ‘do!!

I had some blonde highlights added for Spring/Summer and I love it!! It brightens up my face and my attitude!! I really like super dark hair but I am coming to realize that it looks better on other people than it does me. I by no means should be blonde(been there, done that!!) but an in-between works well :-).

I have to share with y’all a delicious new “treat” I came across this weekend.

Chocolate chip cookie dough, Quest bar. O.M.G. This bar is G-O-O-D!!! I have been searching for it at GNC for a while now but they were always out. Luck was with me when I went in this weekend because they had just received a box of them. While I have had Quest bars before and enjoy some of them(some others, not so much) none of them to compare to this one. It tastes just like a chocolate chip cookie!!! And since GNC had a deal of Buy 3 Get 1 free, I stocked up!!

Questions?

Did you design your blog yourself or hire someone to do it?

Obviously, I use free WordPress but I am ready to start customizing it just a tad.

Do you change your hair according to the seasons or do you keep it the same year round?

I’m a Copy Cat

Is Spring Break over yet?

Just kidding! 😉 I am actually really enjoying my week but it has left me little time for much of anything else, like blogging. Reading or writing. The thing is, I promised myself I would try to be more “present” with my kids this week. Truly interact with them and give them large amounts of my attention.(Or should I say LARGER amounts) I still have to fit in my workouts, house cleaning and errands so blogging had to go on the back burner this week and that is A-OK!! I won’t lie though, I am kind of looking forward to school starting again on Monday and having a bit of a breather!!

Want to see some of what we have done this week?

Well, I would love to show you but my stupid phone will not upload my pics to Picasa for anything. It has been acting goofy for a week now and it is really starting to get on my nerves. I depend on my camera phone for easy pics while I am out and about but what is the point if I cannot share them? Grrrr!!!

Let’s just say that it has been a nice mix of visiting local places like the Fort Worth Log Cabins(educational and fun), play dates with friends along with park visits, while mixing it up with some fun playtime at home.

Play-doh is my enemy but my kids love it so I found a solution. Play outside with it until your little hearts are content and then it is easy breezy clean up for me.

Friday we will take a visit to the Forest Park Train in Fort Worth. This picture is obviously an older one but hey, I thought it would be fun to throw it in since I can’t show many from this week.

All of you single gals, enjoy your wild Spring Break days because in the not too distance future your life will probably look a lot like mine. And you will love it, too!! 🙂

You know what else there is to love?

This fan-freaking-tastic casserole that I made last night!!

I have been craving a cheeseburger something bad(thanks, Mother Nature!!) but I knew that giving in to a greasy burger would leave me feeling yucky so I found an awesome alternative.

Cheeseburger Casserole!!!

Again, I have to throw credit to Courtney for the idea!! My kitchen life would be quite boring if I weren’t always copy-catting her meals, lol!!

The original recipe is actually one from SkinnyTaste but I never knew about it until I saw Courtney’s post so that is why she gets the credit!

This casserole tasted so similar to a cheeseburger that it was crazy!!! My craving was certainly fulfilled.

The green things you see on top, that is pickle. Sounds weird, right? I promise, it tastes SOOOOO good!!!

The casserole serves 9 so you are able to eat a nice sized portion for under 300 calories. I like that!! Don’t you hate when you make something that tastes really good but the portion size is so small that you aren’t even close to full?

As far as clean eating, yeahhhhh I wouldn’t say this really qualifies. It certainly is not unhealthy but I don’t think cheese falls into the clean eating category. Unless someone wants to argue with me that it does. I promise, I will let you be the winner in that one ;-)!!

Workout

Just call me the queen of copy cats today because my workout was also borrowed!!

Thanks, Presley!!

It was a great workout and I felt the burn for sure!! Especially since the warmup and cool downs are done on a giant hill. Let’s just say that between leg day yesterday and the Tabata workout from today, sitting down on the toilet might be pretty hard tomorrow. I love it, though. I am ready to start seeing some physical changes to my body and I know workouts like this will make it happen. Short and sweet but most of all: EFFECTIVE!!!!

Questions?

How do your spend your Spring Break? Laid back, vacation or lots of parties?

What is your favorite healthy food that satisfies the craving for something”bad”?

Do you like Tabata and HIIT style workouts or do you prefer steady state cardio? I like a little bit of both!

Batch Cooking and Healthy Parmesan Patties

How’s it going this Monday? I can’t complain over here!!

Today starts Spring Break for my kids but we are using today as a “relax” day. Today is the only chilly day out of the entire week so it worked out perfectly for staying home. The rest of the week will be in the 70’s and 80’s so I plan to spend many hours outdoors. I just LOVE Spring!! Now that we have “Sprung forward”, it really feels like Spring time. I couldn’t help but smile when I looked at the clock at 7:00pm last night and the sun was still shining bright.

Now, I just have to hope that the weather is mild this season and does not bring any dreaded tornadoes to our area!!

Weekend Fun

My weekend fun consisted of batch cooking up a large amount of food for Lance and I to have for breakfast and lunch this week.

• Quinoa
• Ground Turkey
• Mixed veggies
• Egg Muffin Cups
• Oatmeal Muffin Cups
• Brownie Protein Bars

All of that prepping and cooking took a good 2.5 hours but it will make the rest of the week a breeze, at least I hope so!! However, next week I think I will be a bit smarter and just make double or triple of what we have for dinner next Sunday night. Doh!! Why didn’t I think of that sooner. 😉

Last night’s dinner was phenomenal and I have to give all credit to Courtney at Sweet Tooth Sweet Life because it was her recipe, with a few very minor changes.

Healthy Parmesan Burgers(or patties in my case)

Last weekend we happened to be at a new to us store and they had ground chicken breast for a great price. I am always leery of anything ground, unless it is beef or turkey. However, I remembered seeing this recipe on Courtney’s blog at an earlier time and thought this would be the perfect time to make it.

I did make a few substitutions because there were some items I was missing in my cupboard but it was no big deal and worked out perfectly. I didn’t have buns on hand but that was no biggie. I just whipped up a side of Roasted Ranch Red Potatoes as our carb.  Also, I didn’t have any marinara sauce in my cabinets but I did have an awesome supply of canned tomato products from Red Gold. Last month they sent me some of their products to try out and boy are they good!!

Mission Accomplished, Red Gold!!!

Last night, I used a can of Red Gold diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano seasoning as my marinara sauce.

I just emptied the can into my Ninja, pulsed for a few seconds and had a delicious sauce. It was so fresh tasting and I actually liked it even more than traditional spaghetti sauce!!

My family gobbled up this dinner and my husband requested that it be put into regular rotation. No problem, honey!! I got you covered on that one 🙂

Workout

• Today’s workout consisted of a nice upper body workout(chest and triceps done circuit style) that left my arms nice and wobbly. It isn’t a plan I can share because I got the workout from a program that was actually purchased. It is part of a 6 week at home workout guide. It is going to be perfect for me because the workouts are broken up into 5 days of training per week. 3 workouts are weight based and the other 2 workouts are HIIT based. The best part: each routine can be done in 20-30 minutes. Of course, that means you really have to push and give it your all to see results but I am cool with that!!

• 2 miles on the gym treadmill. I was able to get my kids to the gym(and to behave while I was there) for a quick 20 minute cardio workout. Cardio is not my fave but it is essential right now because I am pretty serious about getting 5-10 pounds off my frame. Once I reach my goal, I will cut back on the cardio and just do the 2 days in the 6 week workout plan.

I have mentioned my friend before because I truly believe in the workouts/cookbooks/e-books that she offers. Anyhoo, if you are stuck in a rut or just want to change up your workouts and start seeing results(at home OR the gym) you should visit Kyra at The Get In Shape Girl!!

Questions:

What do you think of the time change? Like or dislike?

I will gladly lose one hour of sleep for months of additional sunlight!!!

Do you batch cook your meals for the week or do you eat whatever you can find?

What do you think about ground meat? Do you prefer turkey, beef or chicken?