A Sweet Treat Without the Calories "Ice Cream Sandwich"

So here lately I have had a sweet tooth from hell. As all of you know, they are super hard to kick and control. I came across an amazing and simple recipe on pinterest the other day.

What you need:
Chocolate Graham Crackers
Light Whipped Topping
Freezer

These total up to about 80 calories per sandwich if you find the same ingredients that I came across. You break the graham cracker in half put a dollop of whipped cream in between the two crackers and freeze them. I would let them completely freeze, because if you do the crackers will soften and it tastes just like an ice cream sandwich. I hope you all find this as delicious as I do!

Daily Workout Plan for a Strong Sexy Body!

Hi Guys,
I have put together a daily workout plan for that strong sexy body! I just did a five day one so that you can rest a couple of days. It's very important for your body to rest and recoop. When doing this exercise please use caution, because it can become pretty intense. Know your body's limits, but don't forget to push yourself! I left our the burpees, but they're always good for an additional push or challege! So challenge yourself to do some burpees each day. They help get that heart rate up! If you want to do them start with say five the first day and try to do more of them each day. Hopefully by the end of the week you have tripled the number of burpees that you can do! :)
I hope everyone had a fabulous spring break!
MONDAY
80 Jumping Jacks
60 Crunches
20 Tricep Dips
20 Squats
15 Lunges ( Each Leg)
70 Russian Twists (with a kettle ball) 100 (without)
30 Standing Calf Raises
30 Second Plank
10 Lung Split Jumps


TUESDAY
60 Jumping Jacks
50 Vertical Leg Crunches
30 Sit Ups
20 Tricep Dips
15 Squats
15 Sumo Squats
15 Left Lifts (Each Leg)
50 Bicycles (Each leg in and out is one cycle)
20 Wall Push-Ups
40 Russian Twists (with a kettle ball) 70 (without)


WEDNESDAY
80 Jumping Jacks
25 Tricep Dips
20 Sit-Ups
40 Bird Dogs
20 Supermans (with a 3 second hold each time)
30 Squats
60 Crunches
15 Oblique Crunches (Each Side)
30 Standing Calf Raises


THURSDAY
90 Jumping Jacks
15 Scissors
20 Sumo Squats
20 Push-Ups
50 Russian Twists (with a kettle ball) 80 (without)
20 Second Side Plank (Each Side)
10 Walking Lunges (Each leg for a total of 20)
10 Jump Squats
1 Minute High Knees ( At Moderate Intensity Level)


FRIDAY
70 Jumping Jacks
60 Vertical Leg Crunches
25 Sit Ups
20 Push-Ups
10 Walking Lunges ( Each leg for a total of 20)
20 Tricep Dips
20 Skaters
1 Minute of Butt Kickers (At Moderate Intensity Level)
10 Jump Squats
15 Jack-Knife Sit-Ups

Burning Core Workout For That Flat Summer Tummy!

So as summer time quickly approaches most of us, especially females like myself, want a flat tummy! The easiest way to get it, it to work for it! It's something that you can be proud of.

I know some people hate crunches, scissors, and jack knives, but they really work! You have to feel the burn! I love it, and it's refreshing in a way. I guess I sound crazy, but some of you know what I'm talking about.

Here's a workout to try.

50 crunches
40 mountain climbers
30 side crunches
20 in & out
10 scissors
20 in & out
30 side crunches
40 mountain climbers
50 crunches

This may be a bit much for the beginner, but push through it. :)

1x for beginners
2x intermediate
3x advanced

Before Shower Routine

So I know we all sometimes lack motivation to do our workouts, runs, stretches, and so on. That's why you need motivation daily just like a shower or bath!
Here's a quick circuit to do right before you shower or bathe. It's a nice habit to get into and if you did this alone and nothing else I'm sure you will see results. This is also nice for toning your mid section and arms.
Have a fabulous Monday!

Do:
75 Jumping Jacks
15 Push Ups
45 Crunches
35 Mountain Climbers
55 second Plank

Tips for Waking up Early for Workouts and Starting a Good Day!

So if any of you are anything like me, you have a very very VERY difficult time getting out of bed and actually making into the gym. So today I've gathered a few tips to help you get up and get to the gym or on the streets running from youmefit.com.

First off, set your alarm, but move the alarm across the room so you have to physically get out of bed. If you think that you will get up and turn that one off and head back to bed, turn multiple alarms on. You'll eventually get tired of getting out of bed and just stay up.

I know this sounds super funny, but sleep in your workout clothes. They're comfortable anyways so they shouldn't keep you from sleeping.

If you don't feel like sleeping in your clothes lay them out the night before so that you're reminded when you wake up that you need to get busy.

When you wake up drink a glass of water, it helps to get you jumpstarted, but don't forget about breakfast either. You should eat within one hour of waking up to help boost your metabolism and wake it up. This also helps people who are wanting to lose weight as well.

Another thing that helps keep you awake in the morning is to go ahead and pop those ear buds in and start listening to your workout playlist. This helps to get you pumped and moving.

I like to pre-make some breakfast items like energy bites or cut up fruit for a smoothie, so then I'm motivated to get up and eat my breakfast because I know that it's going to be delicious.

I hope that some of these tips have helped! Enjoy your Weekend!

Thirsty Thursday!

Looking for some good beverages, but without the calories, sugar and maybe a little protein? Looking for something to boost your metabolism. Couple things here that can do these.

The first one, low cal, low sugar, and added protein.
I have found a peanut butter banana smoothie recipe that I love! It doesn't have much sugar and it's a good day starter!
The recipe I use makes two servings.
Ingredients:

• 2 frozen bananas sliced into small chunks I never freeze them, but this might make it a little runnier.
• 1/4 cup oats and grains - sometimes I opt to skip these and add some flax seed. Oats will help to keep you fuller for longer
• 1/4 cup unsalted peanut butter
• 2 cups milk- I have even used soy or almond milk
• 1 tsp of organic Stevia, I use splenda because I normally don't have Stevia on hand.
• (optional) 1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (plain flavor works too if you want the added nutrients but not the vanilla flavor) I always include this in my smoothie. Adds a little extra protein.
• (optional) 4 tablespoons cocoa powder- makes it a chocolate smoothie

This is tried, true and delicious!

Another really good thing you could incorporate to your diet is green tea. It has a lot of good things in it for you body. Here are some of them:

I hope everyone's having a good week and has some good active plans for the weekend! I know I do, it's supposed to be beautiful this weekend!

Sources: http://www.herbslist.net/green-tea-benefits.html

http://www.bestsmoothierecipes.org/healthy-peanut-butter-banana-smoothie-recipe/

18 min Cardio Sculpt Workout

I'm a member of SparkPeople.com and have found it very helpful and motivational.
I LOVE their workout videos. Coach Nicole is amazing. Today I was going to go run, but my hubby's staying late at school and I wanted to spend tonight with him. Plus he has my gym card, so I can't go anyways before he gets home. So to save some time and switch things up a bit I went to SparkPeople and of course found a great cardio video to do.
It's a part of their boot camp series and gets a good sweat worked up.
If you're a beginner or quite advanced they have modified moves for each three levels. (beginner, intermediate, and advanced)
It's an 18 minute video and has a warm up within those 18 minutes, you may want to do your own cool down.
It's located at this url: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/videos-detail.asp?video=32

If you're not a member already I do recommend becoming one. It's very motivational and they have water, calorie, and exercise trackers.

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start!

Motivational Monday!

Hey there!
It's been a while since I've posted something of huge significance, and when I say this I mean it's been awhile since I've spent more than just a few minutes writing a blog post.
I'll start off by sharing some of my accomplishments, lemme tell ya folks. If I can do these things, ANYONE CAN!
In the past month I started off only being able to run a couple miles MAXIMUM.
After running, I hurt BAD. I didn't want to do it the next day, but I'm so glad that I did.
On Saturday, only a couple days ago, I ran my first 7 mile run. Yes that's right 7 miles! It took a lot of hard work and dedication, but I did it. It wasn't my ideal time, but hey again, I did it!
My 1/2 marathon race is in just 19 days and here lately I've been getting discouraged, just about other things going on in my life and when I'm drained emotionally it's hard for me to keep up.
However, with this change in my life, meaning running, I feel like running is a stress reliever and it helps me cope with outside things. This is just my time of day where it's me and my headphones.
I've learned to love myself and am becoming much happier day by day.

Now I say that anyone can run if I can, because, I used to hate running. (like everyone hates homework or washing dishes by hand). Yeah that much. I  love to run now and although I'm not seeing much difference on the scale, I am seeing a difference in the mirror. Friends, co-workers and family are noticing and this alone is an ego boost!
If you can push yourself to just get to the gym, on the treadmill or to lace up your shoes, you're good to go. that's the hardest part.
If during your run you feel sore, KEEP GOING. I cannot emphasize this enough. There have been SO many days where my legs hurt and feel like they are going to fall off, but I keep going and the hurt goes away once I'm warmed up.

I know this blog was me blabbering about my 7 mile accomplishment, and that may not seem huge to everyone, but to me it is. And that's what matters. :)

For those of you who are struggling today, this week,  or even this month, KEEP GOING. You'll be glad you did a month from now.

Have questions for me about your fitness journey? Feel free to email me directly at:
missxcrystalynn@yahoo.com

Have a great week!

http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/clubs/triathlon/training/Half_Marathon.htm
Another 1/2 marathon training program to help fit someone's hectic schedule!

Chicken Gyros

I came across this amazing recipe on Pinterest, Chicken Gyros with homemade Tzatziki sauce. I made these last night and they are to die for. Not only are they delicious, but they're affordable and pretty damn healthy. My husband loved them and is taking them for lunch today. If you're looking to make these I will warn you that the chicken has to marinate for about two hours and the sauce has to sit for about an hour. Other than that, you're golden. 

Check it out here, http://basil-albi.blogspot.com/2011/11/chicken-gyros-with-tzatziki-sauce.html 

Marathon Training

Okay so my wonderful sister in law showed me this marathon training program. It's training to run a marathon in four months. Well as you may know, I'm running a half in 1 month and 3 days.You can use this to train for a half marathon, however you will be about three miles short of 13 miles. I'm not worried about it, because on race day I'll be so pumped that my adrenaline will carry me the last three or close to it. I'm not racing for time, I'm racing to finish and to say I did it! I found this extremely helpful and do-able. I hope you all enjoy this.

http://www.fitsugar.com/Four-Month-Training-Schedule-Your-First-Marathon-1517016#

So here's a little motivation for those of you who are having a rough time.

Training for a Half Marathon

I found this today, because I'm running a 1/2 marathon March 23, 2013. It's crazy I know, but I will do it! Check out this website for a good schedule for running. Please note that you should be able to run 3 miles at least 3 times a week before starting this program. If you cannot it's okay to go ahead and start it, however it will be tough. I have a good 2 mile base built up and can do 3 miles in one workout, but I just go a little slower. It's always important to remember that your pace doesn't matter. As long as you can hold a conversation with someone, then you're going the right pace. 

http://www.halhigdon.com/assets/_legacy/halfmarathon/halfnovice.pdf

Resources for Starting Your Journey

Hey guys! 
I wanted to create a post to give you some helpful websites for starting your weight loss journey. I mentioned in another post that I use calorie and fitness trackers. The two main ones I use are,
www.sparkpeople.com
www.myfitnesspal.com
Both of these are free! They both have supportive communities and track great things for you. (calories, nutrients, water, calories burned, and how many you have left to consume for the day.)
Another thing I find helpful before starting a fitness program is calculating your ideal weights and BMI.
http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm this will calculate both for you. It's a very helpful tool to figure out where you should want to be. It also gives you a window of a healthy weight.
If you're going to start running, I recommend mapping your runs. I do this on my iPhone with the Nike+ app. It's wonderful and I love it. It gives you your average mile pace, and can also show you on the map where you ran your slowest and ran your fastest.
Another great way to get fit is to train for a race. Most people start with a 5K or 3.1 miles. I'm currently training for a 10K since I've already ran a 5K. I have an app on my phone for that too. It's very similar to the "Couch to 5K" program that you may have seen.  If you want to start running here's a good program to start with if you stick with it! http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/
These things take dedication, but I'm sure you know that. Remember in 2 months you're gonna wish you started today if you don't start today.

Feel Short on Time Today?

If you're feeling short on time today don't skip your workout all together, try this one instead!
It takes a whole whoppin' 30 minutes and I promise you'll feel good about it once you've done it.
Start off by doing a 15 minute mile on the treadmill
2 sets of 20 sit ups
3 sets of 10 push ups
3 sets of 1 minute wall sits
50 right leg lifts
50 left leg lifts
2 sets of 25 squats
50 jumping jacks
5 minutes of stretching
If you need more of a challenge try a set of dumbbells with squats and when you do push ups why not put your feet on the couch so you're doing them at a decline.

Jump Free Workout if you Live on the 2nd Floor

I've found a jump free workout for those of you who live in an apartment like myself. :-) 
Start off with a 1 min march in place
5 ankle circles (each leg)
10 arm swings (each arm)
20 standing calf raises
15 squats
10 plie squats
10 lunges with twist (each leg)
2 push-ups
10 chair dips also known as tricep dips
20 Russian twists
5 Pilates roll-ups
10 donkey kicks (each leg)
20 bird-dogs
20 side lunges (each leg)
2 min march in place

This one burns, at least for me. I hope you enjoy it. This workout was found at backonpointe.tumblr.com 
She has tons of great stuff on her site.

Full Body 10 Minute Workout Video

This video is a great 10 minute workout with four simple moves. Lateral shuffles, lunges, bicycle crunches, and mountain climbers. Check it out, you will feel the burn!
http://www.fitsugar.com/10-Minute-Full-Body-Crossfit-Workout-23065707

The All Cardio Challenge

Looking to work a little extra hard today, because you had one too many hot chocolates like I did last night? Well try this all-cardio challenge found on backonpointe.tumblr.com. 
40 jumping jacks
30 seconds jump rope
20 seconds high knees
20 seconds butt kickers
30 mountain climbers
5 jump squats
5 burpees
30 seconds jump rope
WATERBREAK
25 jumping jacks
20 pivoting upper cuts
30 second march in place
5 burpees
35 jumping jacks
40 seconds jump rope
5 jump squats
30 second high knees
Don't forget to cool down with a march in place and to stretch.

8 Week Bikini Body Challenge

As we all know it's February and Summer's coming fast! I found a challenge that you all may or may not be into. It's called the 8 Week Bikini Body Challenge it can be found here-> http://fit.lifeplusfitness.com/bikini-body-8-week-program.html. I've looked through it pretty well and it looks, well, tough. However you don't receive gain without the pain. It's a Love Hate relationship. So as stated in the title, it runs for eight weeks and targets all areas of your body.  The workouts for the challenges are in circuits and you repeat them x amount of times. You do a different workout each day targeting different areas of the body. You have one day off each week from your workouts. Something that people always seem to forget when trying to lose weight or to become more lean and tone, is DIET. Diet is so important! If you're not watching what you eat then you're throwing your hardwork away before you ever see the payoff. So please remember to form some sort of diet awareness plan. I use calorie trackers online and on my iPhone. These are great for tracking food and exercises to see where you stand. www.sparkpeople.com is free and has a great community as well as other helpful videos. Coach Nicole does a great job! An app I use on my phone is My Fitness Pal, it's free as well and also has a community that you can connect with for support. My username on my both is mccaulley25. Find me if you use one of these. 
And the last important thing to remember when trying to tone up or get fit is to DRINK WATER. Not tea, not diet soda, but good ol' H2O! You should be drinking anywhere from 8-10 glasses per day to help flush things out of your system.
Have a marvelous day! :)

300 Ab Crunch Challenge

While browsing the web the other day I came across a very interesting challenge program. It's exactly what the title says it is. 300 crunches for your abs, each day. You can find it here ->http://kayciesantics.blogspot.com/2012/03/300-ultimate-ab-and-core-challenge_22.html This blog goes through the moves step by step and has pictures to guide you along. You do 25 of each kind of crunch, eventually getting you to 300. This is brutal and you will hurt, but it gets better as you progress. I've been doing it for four days now and I'm past the hurt. Also feel free to modify any of these moves to fit your own range of motion and personal progress. Remember, as long as you're doing something, you're doing better than your buddy sitting on the couch at home with a bag of potato chips. :)