Planet Fitness

We decided with the cold months looming, it would be better to go ahead and join the gym again. Then we cannot use the cold as an excuse to not go walking, and paying money for the gym will help keep us honest about going. With Freddy's arthritis it'll give him better control of his workouts having the machine versus free weights or just out walking the neighborhood.
                                                   
The other nice thing is with Planet Fitness, we can go to other locations when we travel to go see friends or family. We're big road trippers and having the convenience of Planet Fitness's locations, we'd have access to our gym in nearly every city! We always go to Alabama for Christmas and I know there is a location in the city that we visit.

Also, to be completely honest, this is the absolutely best song to get pumped up for a workout! 

This week we are working on continuing to limit our processed food intake and to make better choices. Freddy is drinking tea more than soda and I have only had soda for a few mixed drink over the weekend. I'm going to premake some stove popped popcorn to have around this week for a healthy snack instead of wanting to go get chips or anything else that would be an unhealthy choice. 

Stay tuned! 

Saturday night's dinner, alright alright alright, ooh

For dinner last night I made the family a Blackened Chicken Caprese Salad. I think my favorite part of this meal is the chicken and fresh mozzarella. It's a break from casseroles, hamburgers, and even taco nights. As delicious as they are, they're dishes we easily find ourselves making over and over. It's also a quick dish that you prepare earlier in the day or even the night before and just let sit in the fridge until you're ready to eat it!

   Ingredients:

16oz box Rotini pasta

8oz container cherry tomatoes

8oz Mozzarella  pearls

3/4th cup Pesto

3 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

1 teaspoon Cayenne

Parmesan to garnish

3 chicken breast

Directions:

1. Cook and drain the pasta.

2. Slice cherry tomatoes in halves.

3. Mix in mozzarella pearls.

In a small bowl mix in pesto, olive oil, vinegar and cayenne.

4. In a large bowl or pot mix pasta in with tomatoes and mozzarella.

5. Stir in liquid mixture.

6. Prepare chicken anyway you like, we blackened ours!

7. Add chicken into bowl and refrigerate for minimum 2 hours.

Like a Bowlful of Jelly

Santa Claus conjures up images of snow covered cities, bright twinkling lights, presents under the tree, and most notably:

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.

 While this is fantastic for Santa Claus, this probably doesn't bring warm fuzzy feelings when it's your round belly that shakes when you laugh.

My husband, Freddy, and I, Stef, have decided to shrink down our bowlfuls of jelly and lose weight together. When we first met in Chicago, Illinois we were both in better shape and enjoyed going out a great deal. As the years went on and our happiness grew, so did our pant size.

We're in our thirties and now living in Lubbock, Texas. We miss having the energy had when we first met. After discussions of our unhappiness with aspects of our life we decided it was time to make a change. Healthier meals and a more active lifestyle is going to become a main focus in our lives.

While exploring new job opportunities we've been setting our alarm in the morning and getting up for a walk to start our day. We have a miniature dachshund named Lucy who we take along with us. Back in September she hurt her back and couldn't walk for about two weeks, so we purchased her a wagon that she gets to ride in when she isn't feeling up to walking.

In the coming weeks we will be working on cleaning up our eating habits. Neither of us believe going cold-turkey is healthy and it would make it harder to stay on track. So, each week we are going to cut our something else from our diets. This week I've cut out sodas and Freddy is cutting down his consumption considerably.

Next week we are set to start cutting out processed snacks and coming up with healthier snacks that are both healthy and tasty. I've lost 160 pounds before and before we met Freddy lost 185 pounds on his own. We both know how this works and we both fully agree that chemical filled diet food isn't what works. Learning how to make nutritious meals and snacks that are delicious IS possible.

 I'll be sharing some of the recipes we try and enjoy along the way. As well as the occasional special meal. I refuse to call them cheat meals, because in reality an individual with healthy eating habits allows themselves a decadent meal now and again. However, it is important to let those meals come along sparingly.

Right now our work out routine will be walking in the morning and as the months grow colder (yes even in Texas) and our stamina increases, we will join a gym to increase our workout and start adding in strength training.

Stay tuned!